Pop talks up humilty, "aw shucks, I'm just a professional" etc, yet some of his recent coaching moves seem to indicate that he's got a bit of an ego problem.
Not playing Hill, at a time like this, doesn't seem to be a basketball decision, but rather a Pop decision.
Disturbingly, sometimes when I've watched the Spurs, it seems like the Pop show. Especially the past couple of months with the weird decision to give up on Hill. Shocking, really.
Last edited by Capt Bringdown; 04-16-2009 at 03:50 AM.
As far as the Spurs have sunken, I don't think the Mavs are in the same league anymore. Losing Harris, subtraction by the addition of Kidd, the emergence of Parker as an all world player, Dirk losing that fire in his eye after the Heat + Warrior's series, and the additions of Thomas + Ime + Gooden + Hill have to make us the heavy favorites against the Mavs.
ghill will be the difference maker, since bowen is at the end of the bench with him doing nothing besides hey look, touch it
Im not sure if im comfortable with Hill on Howard. Bowen has trouble with his mid range game and his pull up Jumpers. Josh is about 6'7" with a 7'2" wingspan, Hill just gives up too much size.
I actually think Gooden might be the Spurs best option on Dirk. Hes by far the most mobile of the bigs on the perimeter. Hes post D and Help D might be bad, but he has good quickness and length, similar to a Udonis Haslem, only stronger - who has given Dirk problems in the past.
Its easy to say, but i think the key is to keep your poise and stay on your feet, Dirk has height but he hasnt got great length. Its generally the long, athletic guys in the 6'8" to 6'10" range that give him the most problems. Guys like Stephen Jackson and Udonis Haslem have given him problems in the past. Gooden hasnt got the defensive reputation of those two, but he has the tools and hopefully alot of tape and information from Pop and co.
Bonner could stay with Dirk on the perimeter, but hes a 6'10" guy who plays about 6'7", his arms are just way to short to do anything about Dirk's fall away jumpers.
Kurt Thomas will only be backing up Duncan, hes minutes will probably be around 12-15 and no more - he just doesnt matchup up with the Mavs.
Gooden on Dirk
Bruce on Josh.
I think the best matchup for Hill will be Terry. I havent seen anyone on the Spurs since Bowen 3 years ago, who is as quick as George chasing people around screens, and Terry is a master at using screens to get open. Then George has great length to bother his shots.
Hill on Terry.
Mavs have a lot of "small" players with Kidd, Barea and Terry. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pop trying to put Hill on one of them if/when he becomes hot.
If Hill can't slow him down, he will be back in the doghouse.
I think Mason can defend Kidd, maybe even Ime if the Mavs go Super Small with JJ and Terry. Allowing Parker and Hill to take JJ and Terry.
But again, that forces Spurs to go small too - i dont like the idea of Mason or Ime on Terry. Neither are quick enough.
Yup, thats pretty much my worst fear. He's going to get one shot to stop someone and if he s it up I wouldn't be surprised to see Pop abandon it for the rest of the series which is sad.
The player I actually like Hill on the most is Kidd. Hill's best defensively when he's pressuring fullcourt and he could possibly make life hard on Kidd. Hill's not too good at guarding shooters yet and he doesn't really have the size to guard one of their wings, but I do like the idea of Hill on Kidd and Parker on Terry. Parker's quickness is the best hope at not allowing Terry to get off.
Hill is going to be glued to the bench. And Ime has been our best rebounder that's not a big (that is, for the games he has had his head out of his ass). One of the problems _allas has since Avery left the building is that they don't have the defensive discipline anymore. You can actually make big runs on them, and get them into a hole they can't come out of. Also, JJ Barea skills are suspect at best, and he's basically the Mavs bench, scoring wise. We'll see how he does with playoff pressure on him and a overall slower pace.
Jason Kidd isn't going to be guarding Tony Parker in this series...I guarantee you that Jason Terry will. Add to that, Terry has the quickness to stay with Parker and make him working on defense at the other end as well.
I think this series we are going to see A LOT of Udoka. Pop seems to like him and think that he is worthy of the minutes...hopefully he has a series like he did against the Hornets last postseason. And I actually like Matt Bonner in this series...at least it'll force Dirk to expend SOME energy on defense at the other end, something which he didn't have to do in 06. Also, Bonner is deceptively strong, doesn't look like it, but I think he can push Dirk around a little bit at least.
TP has been torching the Mavs on a consistent basis for the last 10 games or so. He'll be extra motivated being it's the playoffs, I just think it's going to be murder. JET is a great offensive player, but defense is not his forte. I don't think they have an answer for Tony to be honest with you. I think they're going to have to bet on JET scoring just as much to even out the playfield.
Parker should get the primary defensive assignment on Dirk. He tends to take 20 ft. fadeaways when Parker is guarding him, and he almost always misses. Seriously.
Best example is the game against Suns where the Suns were able to get whatever they wanted on ofense.
If our shooters will click Spurs will be fine. But damn we need Tim to clean the paint. Spurs are the most efective when Tim is being doubled.
If Tim won't be double teamed spurs are in trouble. We do not have much of a versitile ofense.
Considering Dampier is the only cover, I fully expect a steady diet of double teams and traps on Timmy... If we play those smart, we should be good to go.
I never said that Parker wouldn't be an advantage or that the Mavs could stop him. I just pointed out that there's no way Jason Kidd will be on him as another poster alluded to and JET is their best option as he has the quickness to stay in front of Parker, more so than Kidd.
TP has been torching the Mavs on a consistent basis for the last 10 games or so. He'll be extra motivated being it's the playoffs, I just think it's going to be murder. JET is a great offensive player, but defense is not his forte. I don't think they have an answer for Tony to be honest with you. I think they're going to have to bet on JET scoring just as much to even out the playfield.
The best the Mavs can hope for is that Jason Terry's offensive production matches Parker's and makes it a semi-wash.
I disagree. I think Hill would be better on Terry for the fact that Hill is great at contesting/altering shots. Hill has the length and stamina to compete and bother Terry. Terry is not as young as he used to be so i can see a Hill vs Terry Saga in this playoff series. Gonna be fun to watch
I think that strategy will be dictated by how Damp does covering Tim one-on-one. During the last game played in Dallas, Damp did a remarkable job of keeping Duncan from getting his position on the block. He routinely pushed, shoved and, of course, he fouled him a few times when TD tried to face up. If Damp is able to keep this up, that will allow the other Mavs defenders to focus on pushing the Spurs long-ball shooters off the arc.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle was on local Dallas Sportstalk radio this morning and he confirmed the thing he is most concerned about trying to keep the Spurs shooters off the arc. He almost conceded the fact that it's virtually impossible to keep Parker out of the lane.
Can't say I disagree. IMO, this upcoming series is tailor-made for a player of Hill's strengths. To me, Pop needs to "get over himself" and ignore the fact that this kid is "just a rookie" and utilize him for the superior defensive abilities that he has. If Hill can make the team better, and the Mavs use a small-ball format quite a bit, use his ass. Forget how long he's been in the league.
The Mavs are such a terrible defensive team that the Spurs MUST keep the pressure on them constantly. Their offense cannot get bogged down when Parker is on the bench.
I love seeing Pop use Parker and Hill together. After all, Carlisle uses Kidd and Barea together "a lot".
Also, Gooden has the opportunity to come up big by putting up some great production. I agree with others in that he and Bonner MUST rebound and defend, for the team to be successful.
True dat. Actually, there's a ton of reasons to play Hill a lot. He's good, albeit raw. Why Pop won't see that still infuriates me.
He did see 3 minutes against NO in the game last night, to my pleasant surprise. And, it wasn't garbage minutes. I wonder if Pop will actually play him in the PO's?
Jason Terry will be in foul trouble if they are foolish enough to do that.
If the Tim that shows up to play is anywhere near the Tim that played last night in overtime, Dampier has no chance. The only thing he can do is hope for home cooking, but that's not going to last with the Spurs having HCA. Unless Joey Crawford referees a game or Duncan knees are shot.
What you could argue bothers Tim the most is length, not strength. Dampier shouldn't have a chance against Tim one on one.
Dampier defends Duncan like Shaq does. If hes on the low block, Dampier has a chance at blocking his shot but if Duncans perimeter game is going....he doesnt have a chance.....
I hope last night was an indication that Duncan is feeling a bit better. That was probably the quietest near 20-20 performance I've seen in a while.
our no.1 concern should be the REFS.
last time Dirk could do absolutely anything, throw his elbows, flop, step on your foot, or even just stand there and a foul would be called.
if this series is called the way the 2006* one was, we are in deep trouble cause dirk will be shooting 20 FT a game.
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