Game Primer: Spurs vs. Mavs - Jan. 8

[timvp]

The San Antonio Spurs have won a lot of games lately, however the quality of opponent has been lacking. The Dallas Mavericks coming to town will provide a legitimate litmus test. At the final buzzer, Spurs fans will have a much better understanding about their team's current status.

Keys to a Spurs Victory

1. Rebounding. In recent years, the rebounding totals have been extremely telling when the Spurs and Mavs meet. Last year in the playoffs, the one game the Spurs won was the one game they had the rebounding advantage. In 2006, a large rebounding disparity was arguably the number one reason the Mavs were victorious. If the Spurs are to win game, they need to stay compe ive on the boards.

2. Avoid small ball. Dirk Nowitzki being basically a seven-foot shooting guard makes it difficult for the Spurs to play two bigmen at the same time against the Mavs. That said, Pop needs to avoid the temptation of going small. Neither Richard Jefferson nor Keith Bogans rebound well enough as the small ball power forward. Additionally, the Spurs need size in the middle to prevent the Mavs from relentlessly driving the ball to the hoop.

3. Start strong. Coming out of the gates, the Mavericks love to get Josh Howard going early. The Spurs are usually poor at defending Howard to begin the game and equaling the energy level early against Dallas. The Spurs need to come out ready to roll at a high level from the opening tip.

Matchup to Watch

vs.

In the first game of the season against the Mavs, Antonio McDyess had a lot of success against Nowitzki. With Matt Bonner out with injury and Bruce Bowen in bow ties, he's without question the best hope the Spurs have for slowing their German nemesis. DeJuan Blair may get the call early on but his lack of height likely won't allow him to challenge Nowitzki's jumper -- not to mention the high likelihood that Blair sees early foul trouble. Pop's decision will likely come down to McDyess or small ball ... and we know how disastrous the second option can be against Dallas.

Inside the Numbers

Stats point to Manu Ginobili and Jason Kidd being each team's x-factor. In wins, Ginobili scores 15.4 points per game on 49.1% shooting from the field and 48.6% shooting from beyond the arc, while Kidd in wins averages 9.1 points on 45.3% shooting from the floor and 45.4% shooting on three-pointers. In losses, Ginobili averages 9.1 points on 27.6% field goal shooting and 23.9% three-point shooting, while Kidd in defeat averages 6.6 points on 32.1% shooting from the field and 26% shooting on threes.

Did You Know?

On the season, the Spurs have yet to beat a team with a record of four games over .500. The closest the Spurs came was when they beat the 5-2 Mavs on Nov. 11. Dallas, on the other hand, has wins against Phoenix, Cleveland and Denver in the last month alone.

[DPG21920]

Rebounding is the key to almost every game that any team plays in the NBA. I don't want to say it is the most important stat because there are so many variables, but rebounding wins games. The Spurs are a very good rebounding team and I agree that it plays a particularly huge role against the Mavs; another excellent rebounding team.

I wonder if Blair gets the start if Dampier is in the line up? I know in the first match-up he did because Damp is not an offensive threat (except off tips and oops), but his size is still a factor. Blair should be able to out quick him though.

Josh Howard has not been starting as of late so I don't know if that is something Rick will try and change for the reason you mentioned. If not, that could help the Spurs out because Josh does start out very aggressive in the first quarter and is the type of player that can give the Spurs trouble.

Dice did an excellent job against Dirk and I am extremely anxious to see if he can repeat his performance.

Dallas has played very well and they are designed to beat the Spurs, but I truly feel the additions of RJ and Dice have altered the mis-matches. I think that the Spurs will see those two players help out against the Mavs more than any other team.

Timvp, an idea I have if you are going to do these threads before every game is to post the previous games box scores in here so we can review them. Just a thought.

[Cane]

I wonder if Hill is going to get some minutes defending Dirk - IIRC he did a decent job before.

I've got tickets to this game, can't wait!

[polandprzem]

Dirk destroying schemes for frontlines on defensive end killing the teams.

Two major problems - protect the rim and take care of long rebounds.



I need to watch the game

[timvp]

I wonder if Blair gets the start if Dampier is in the line up?

I'm wondering if Blair gets the start ... period. Blair against Dirk to begin the game is asking for trouble. Dirk will have him in foul trouble by the 10 minute mark of the first quarter. Add in Pop's dislike for putting Duncan on Dirk and I'd say there's a pretty good shot that McDyess starts.

Josh Howard has not been starting as of late so I don't know if that is something Rick will try and change for the reason you mentioned. If not, that could help the Spurs out because Josh does start out very aggressive in the first quarter and is the type of player that can give the Spurs trouble.

If there is ever a time to get Howard playing well again, it'd be playing him a ton of minutes against the Spurs. That'll fix him

Timvp, an idea I have if you are going to do these threads before every game is to post the previous games box scores in here so we can review them. Just a thought.

Interesting idea.

[timvp]

I wonder if Hill is going to get some minutes defending Dirk - IIRC he did a decent job before.

He won't be assigned to Dirk but perhaps Pop will switch pick-and-rolls if Hill is involved and give Hill a chance to play post defense against Dirk. Pop used to do the same thing with Avery Johnson since AJ's deceptive strength made him a surprisingly good post defender.

[DPG21920]

Even if Howard does start, I think RJ handles him. That is the main reason I said what I did about the acquisitions of Dice/RJ with regards to this particular match-up.

[neboat]

GHill did a pretty good job on Terry the last game if I remember correctly...I hope that trend continues. We need to keep the lid on Barea as well...I hate it when that dude breaks down our defense

[benefactor]

I would be nice to see RJ play well in this game and the Lakers game. He has started to look more comfortable on both ends of the floor in the last 5 or 6 games. Him showing that he can elevate his play against the Mavs would be very encouraging in looking ahead to a playoff matchup.

[DPG21920]

RJ played a huge role in the first win against the Mavs.

[timvp]

GHill did a pretty good job on Terry the last game if I remember correctly...I hope that trend continues. We need to keep the lid on Barea as well...I hate it when that dude breaks down our defense

Good points. Hill on Terry has worked out well for the Spurs. Hill on Barea has also been advantageous.

If the starting lineups are:

Duncan
Blair
Jefferson
Bogans
Parker

vs.

Dampier
Nowitzki
Marion
Barea
Kidd

who will guard who? I'd guess Duncan vs. Dampier, Blair vs. Nowitzki, Jefferson vs. Marion, Bogans vs. Barea and Parker vs. Kidd. However, Pop likes to put length on Kidd so perhaps Jefferson will guard Kidd, Bogans will guard Marion and Parker will guard Barea.

As I said earlier, McDyess starting ahead of Blair makes sense. For the Mavs, you gotta think Carlisle will be very tempted to put Howard back into the starting lineup for matchup purposes. Besides, Barea off the bench gives him better matchups to cause havoc.

[Spurs Brazil]

I hope we see no small ball. Dice did a good job on Dirk in the 1st game

I think Bogans on Kidd, TP on Barea, TD on Dampier, Blair on Dirk, RJ on Marion or Pop may do one of his crazy things and put TD on Marion, RJ on Dirk and Blair on Dampier.

In the past 2002 and 2003, Pop put TD guarding Buckner and A.Griffin in the start of some Mavs games so Bruce could guard Dirk. Marion is better than those guys but with Pop we never know

[timvp]

Pop may do one of his crazy things and put TD on Marion, RJ on Dirk and Blair on Dampier.

In the past 2002 and 2003, Pop put TD guarding Buckner and A.Griffin in the start of some Mavs games so Bruce could guard Dirk. Marion is better than those guys but with Pop we never know

If Pop wants to go really old school, perhaps he considers Duncan on Kidd a la Duncan on Mark Jackson back in the day

But yeah, this game screams craziness from Pop. He's going to do something strange ... not sure what it will be yet.

[lefty]

Mavs matchups + Joey Crawford = game over

[Flux451]

I am perplexed about how the matchups will turn out this game.

THEO anyone?

[Libri]

Pop might let some of the Spurs play heavy minutes and then try to get them some rest the next game against the Nets.

[Spurs Brazil]

1. Rebounding.
2. Avoid small ball.
3. Start strong.

At the half

1 - No
2 - No
3 - Yes

If we can get a yes on 1 in the 2nd half we'll win this game

[Spurs Brazil]

Terrible job on the boards, small ball almost the whole game = Loss

For me 2 key moments

The tip in to end the 3rd and in the 4th we were up 5, TP drible, drible, shot, without running the O, missed, Dampier 3pt play, 2 pt game and it was downhill since then

[L.I.T]

Yup, giving up 12 boards and getting out boarded by 7 overall and only forcing 7 TOs

[DAF86]

We need size. I'd trade for Camby

[ducks]

manu did not score 19
ho him he was -19 though

[z0sa]

Where was the Joey Crawford (and co) portion of your game primer?

As sad as that is, it's the reason the key matchup ended up being RJ vs Dirk as opposed to Dyess vs Dirk.

[Spurs Brazil]

Where was the Joey Crawford (and co) portion of your game primer?

Zarba was much worst than Crawford

[z0sa]

Zarba was much worst than Crawford

hence the co the refereeing is so inconsistent nowadays, it's literally impossible to expect getting into a groove consistently from game to game. At any time, portions of a team's whole strategy changes based on the refereeing

[Admidave50]

Terrible job on the boards, small ball almost the whole game = Loss

At the same time, our bigs were in foul trouble and Dirk was still well defended. We need another big...