The Mavs look like the team to beat in the west even though the Spurs easily have a better roster than Dallas.
are we the run-and-gun, great regular season destined for a 1st or 2nd round exit and they building on a defensive mindset to get a lower seed but further into the playoffs? mavs looked impressive against utah, spurs struggling with wolves, which i had hoped against but wasn't stunned by.
The Mavs look like the team to beat in the west even though the Spurs easily have a better roster than Dallas.
I was wondering the same thing. It does seem like the Mavs have become defensive oriented and the Spurs have become more offensive. I just always assumed that with that Spurs core in still in tact, and Pop still as the head coach, the Spurs would address or stress more defense at some point. Its what made them so successful.
Dallas defended very well under Avery also. And them having a great regular season is not really new. However, they're well aware that success in the regular season don't necessarily translates to going deep in the playoffs.
Is this a joke?
The Mavs have won 50+ games every regular season this entire decade. They won 67 and looked scary good that Golden State year. Theyve looked impressive before. Theyll find a way to it up come playoff time.
Until the Spurs integrate Splitter in to 30mpg, or Dejuan becomes the 18-10 guy we thought in the preseason. THen yes, we are way to weak inside and on defense to win more than one round.
No.
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it's funny cuz its true
I don't see how that franchise has any fans that believe they'll ever win a championship.
Well, DEFENSE wins championships. Dallas is second. The Spurs are 19th. If its not too much of a struggle, do the math.
No. No one on that Mavs team has a killer winning instinct. From Kidd to Dirk to Terry, they all tend to choke when it matters, unlike the 3 guys we have here who have stepped up plenty of times to get it done in the clutch.
Their defense has certainly improved quite a bit. It's not a coincidence that they signed (traded?) for Tyson Chandler this off-season. His post defense is quite superb and hes not a slouch on the boards. I still remember how hard it was for Duncan to earn his points against him in 08. I haven' seen any Mavericks games this season but I'm not surprised.
I have also been wondering the same thing. One thing is clear, the Mavs are playing a level of defense that is superbly better than even back in the Avery era. The difference is Tyson Chandler. His presence on the back line gives their team a frontcourt, rim-protecting, dimension, that they've never been afforded before. Combine that with Shawn Marion or DeShawn Stevenson's pressure on the perimeter, and you have a foundation for their defensive upsurge.
Additionally their head coach, Rick Carlisle, also deserves a ton of credit for continuing to hold his team accountable on the defensive end, just the way Avery did. It's something that he constantly preaches - non stop.
The Mavs could always score, but now they're winning by virtue of getting key stops, when they need them.
Meanwhile, the Spurs team defense has declined with the departure of Bowen, on the perimeter, and the erosion in Duncan's defensive skills and his mobility. IMO, those two key factors are the biggest reasons the Spurs have declined defensively. Without the addition of players, who could even remotely replicate those contributions, and it's easy to see why the Spurs have morphed into a different style of ball.
are you out of your mind?
Shawn Marion is a ghost of what he once was, and DeShawn Stevenson is flat out ing horrible. Pop attacked him relentlessly with Ginobili last game until Carlisle was forced to take him out of the game. Dallas no more has a perimeter stopper than we do.
yeah, but they won that game, and more than marion, who i fully expect to evaporate in the playoffs, chandler isn't really being asked or expected to do anything more than what he is doing, i.e., not score but rebound and defend. i'm just rapidly losing faith in this team, to be honest, this whole bonner thing and jefferson still being shaky (in my book anyway) just seems like another 2nd round exit if the defense doesn't improve and, noting the guy talking about duncan and bowen, that seems like a stretch.
You have mistaken the main problem about Mavs. Regardless of whether they focus on defense or offense, they can never shake off their true iden y of being chokers during the playoffs.
Even though Mavs and Spurs have had the best start this season, you wouldn't know it from reading ESPN. Barely has a spurs story been included in a Dime. Judging by their coverage, only Boston, LA, Chicago, Orlando, and Miami are worth following.
But for Cuban and Terry, I'd like the Mavs. Spurs have a slightly better record, but Dallas has had the tougher schedule.
Shawn Marion is a ghost of what he once was, but right now, he's probably a better perimeter defender than anyone the Spurs have on their roster, as is Stevenson.
I'll agree with you on Terry and Kidd but after the type of performances Dirk has had on the Spurs over the last few playoff series-how does anybody that keeps up the Spurs-Mavs rivalry actually think this????
Dirk has been a monster over the past few years and has absolutely been the best player in the last 2 Spurs-Mavs playoff series(no disrespect to Tim or Manu).
The Spurs are not a bad defensive team. In fact, we play stretches of the game where our defense is great.
By the end of the season, Spurs will be close to the top for defense. When you beat teams by 8+, you are playing defense but sometimes get lazy because you win by so much you can let your guard down.
That won't stop fans, namely Spurs fans, from slobbering over them.
I don't get you people. This franchise has won four championships, that franchise has won zero. Yet it's as if this fan base is envious of that team. From their star, to how they're playing at the moment/stylistically, etc. It's ridiculous.
The difference between the old Spurs and the current Mavs is, the Spurs were, not just a good defensive team, but a historically great defensive team and also, they had the best player and best low post player in the game. In order to win a championship, you need a go-to low post player and a go-to perimeter player ('99 and '03 Spurs were the rare examples of a team winning with only one of those two things). The Mavs have neither.
Another ty take from Mr. Vanilla
That kind of math is a struggle to some spurfans
this might be butthurt post of the year
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