Dallas in 6.
I think the spurs stand a good chance of making the WCF thanks to that finley guy and a nice pick by duncan. However the lakers are ranked like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 in the west and the spurs are #8. Portland is good, but the spurs show mental stability will take out younger teams like NO and this year portland.
This will be a nail-biting series as usual. I would have preferred to play Houston because as I have always said, Yao is soft and does not have the strength to survive the entire playoff series'. You saw him run out of gas in the 4th agianst Dallas last night. He's just not tough enough. Houston would have been a much easier opponent.
But anyways, I agree this will be a of a series and as much as I love the Spurs, I am still wondering whether Duncan's knee will hold out.
Harris and Diop were the main reasons the Spurs lost in 2006. They were the X-Factors. With them gone the matchup issues just aren't there. Spurs in 5.
you get close to top but fail in end?
This clone just doesn't have what it takes to cut it yet.
I never saw that mix. I liked it a lot. The Laker mix's use way too much "epic" music.
This is going to be a good one; I too think it will go at least 6-7 games. I'll go with my Spurs to take this one. They are starting to gell somewhat....though it wouldn't surprise me if Dallas prevailed...I'd be disappointed but not surprised.
better send me back down to the minors any mavs forums you recomend?
mavtalk.com
The thing is, the Mavs play better in SA than the Spurs do in Dallas.
Even if the Mavs go down 0-2, it wouldn't surprise me to see them tie it up after 4 games.
Last time we played the Mavs, they got an effin layup drill as we were a step slow on our rotations in defending the paint. Josh Howard kills us, and I really hope TP can slow down Terry without having to burn himself out at both ends of the court.
I hope Gooden turns out to be a pleasant surprise in this series.
I'm looking forward to the series. Hopefully it'll be a good 6 or 7 game stretch.
Since the playoffs mean to me this year, I hope Dallas wins just cause Suns fans understand how frustrating it is to be a Mavs fan (and some Spurs fans on this board just piss me off beyond belief, besides Ghazi the Mavs fans here are cool), and the mutha in JET is one of my favorite players. I even like J-Ho just cause everyone hates him.
This series IMO depends him how well Kidd can defend Parker. Obviously he's a lot worse and Parker's a lot better since 2003 when Kidd owned Parker, but I have a hunch Kidd has some good defense left in him. I never thought I'd say this, but Dallas might be wishing they still had Diop during this series. If Kidd can break even with Parker to a certain extent in production, the Mavs will win the series.
Kidd won't guard Parker very much. He'll be on him in spells, but Antoine Wright and JJ Barea will take more turns. Kidd will guard Mason or Finley when they're in and will free safety the passing lanes. I'm not worried about Duncan, he'll get his 25 and 12 in the playoffs against us like he always does. But Parker worries me. It all comes down to whether or not Barea and JET together can equal his offensive production.
IMO, the Spurs will have a harder time guarding Dirk and Terry than the Mavs do guarding Duncan and Parker, which will be the difference in the series and lead the Mavs to a series victory.
What the Mavs have done recently is put Kidd on the opposing 2 or 3. Against the Cavs he defended LeBron better than Mo Williams! Kidd is very strong for his position but hes slower.
Do the Spurs have a big, brute SG or SF though? Both Manu (i know hes out) and Parker are quick guards. But my point is Kidd will most likely guard Finley or other Spurs guards, not Tony Parker.
agreed im almost 100% positive that Antoine Wright will be guarding Parker
*cue the "Oh God, please let that happen!" response from SpurFan"
I agree that Dirk is gonna run a train on the Spurs given that based on Pop's recent behavior Finley is gonna guard him 35 minutes a game.
The funny thing is George Hill can probably guard Terry WAY better than any other Spur, and Popovich won't use him at all. We'll probably see Terry go off against Vaughn.
Lakers > Jazz, 4-1: Jazz get one at home.
Hornets > Nuggets, 4-2: Nuggets are still prone to errors. Billups helped them clean up some of it, but this has always been a team that doesn't appear to pay attention to details.
Spurs > Mavs, 4-3: Tough series, but the Spurs prevail due to homecourt. If Pop decides to play a lineup of Parker, Hill, Finley, Thomas and Duncan, with Bowen 1st guy off the bench? Spurs in 5. But this will never happen.
Blazers > Rockets: 4-1: Blazers actually doesn't have to double Yao, and the rest of the Rockets suffer. Watch Artest launch questionable shot after questionable shot.
Here are the key differences between now and 2006 which make the Mavs less effective:
Last time around Duncan had a serviceable defensive big on him at all times (Diop/Dampier). Which is one of the reasons he ran out of gas in OT of that epic game 7. If Bass/Hollins are going to see time on the floor, I like Playoff Duncan's chances. Bass is too short, and Hollins is too slender.
2009 Parker >> 2006 Parker. Also, no Devin Harris means Parker doesn't have to exert himself too much, no matter whether it's Wright or Terry or Kidd he's up against.
Gooden/Thomas/Bonner > Rasho/Nazr/Horry, especially since Horry sucked in the 06 playoffs. Dallas killed us with their rebounding in 06, and I'm more than confident that the Spurs will hold their own on the boards this year.
The slow death of the Avery-era iso offense. The Mavs killed the Spurs with their iso sets for Dirk, Howard and Stackhouse. This year's Mavs play a more conventional style with more passing and screen-roll, although Dirk iso-ing at the FT line is still seen a fair bit.
2009 Dirk and 2009 Howard < their 2006 counterparts.
Stackhouse/Marquis in 2006 > Wright/Singleton in 09
Their 2 PG lineup (Kidd/Barea) doesn't scare the Spurs, it's the perfect setting for playing George Hill alongside Parker or Mason.
Finley, believe it or not, has shot better this year compared to 06.
Mason/Udoka >>> Barry/Van Exel
Hill and Mason have the potential to keep the offense rolling in the absence of Manu. Hopefully Pop plays Hill alongside Parker/Mason and lets him drive at Terry/Kidd/Barea
The changes that I expect will adversely impact SA:
Duncan being banged up is huge. Earlier we could expect him to put up 30/12 against Dallas. If we get 20/9 this year I'm happy.
No Manu. Mavs didn't have an answer for a healthy Manu.
Terry has been more productive/consistent this year, while Bowen has declined
SA's team defense is a step slower than last year.
I'm sure Mavs fans will argue that Manu's absence and Duncan's injury overshadow all the other positives for the Spurs. However, it's a 7-game series, and the Spurs have enough role players with talent who can step up and make a difference. I'm hoping Pop gives Gooden and Hill enough minutes to prove themselves.
Lakers>Jazz, 4-0. Sweep. Jazz suck
Nuggets>Hornets 4-1. Billups will play a good series on Paul and there is just too much athleticism
Mavs>Spurs 4-0. I'm seriously not even kidding. the way we're playing right now i think we'll take 2 games in SA and then the Spurs will just mail it in. Every dynasty or run has to come to an end, usually in an ugly manner. ala the Pistons/Lakers in 04, Bulls/Miami in 07 i think this is the series that SA fans will look back on and say this was the end of our era
Blazers>Rockets 4-2 As tempted as I am to say flat out sweep, i think Houston is still a quality team that matches up pretty well and will get in a game or two either home or away. Portland is simply better though, they will advance
What's disgusting looking at these teams is if the Suns played with intensity on both sides of the court and put in the effort to win they could easily be the 2nd best team in the West. J-Rich could be a first team all NBA defender if he tried hard.
Why the am I getting lip from your Nash hatin, Jewish cuckold ass?
I suppose the "cool" Mavs fans are the ones who give up on our guys, who start Dirk for Tyrus ing Thomas threads, who call our ing franchise player a "pussy got". THAT . (U KNOW WHO UR !).
Shut da
And Kidd cannot guard Parker.
And Diop is a non factor. All of the Spurs' bigs are either scrubs or old and busted.
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