F--- small ball. F--- Poopavitch.

[manuginobili20]

last year we let amare stoudemire go off for 40 a game and still managed to win the series rather easily, so i would say put nazr/rasho in the game more and let nowitzki go off but stop penetration to the basket by the guards

[kg_veteran]

The Spurs have two basic problems on defense.

First, Duncan can't guard either of the Dallas forwards, so he has to guard a center. The Spurs have tried putting Duncan on Howard in the past. He erupted for about 20 points in a half (see the April 7 matchup). Pop doesn't want a repeat of that, so he has religiously avoided putting Duncan back on Howard. I can't say that I blame him.

Second, the Spurs don't have enough good perimeter defenders. In fact, they really only have one. And he's busy trying to shut down one of the Dallas forwards. Ginobili is good at digging out steals and getting into the passing lanes, but he doesn't have the quickness to stay in front of either Harris or Terry. Parker has plenty of quickness, but he hasn't shown the ability to stay in front of Harris, either.

As a Mavs fan, I understand the frustration of not wanting to "match up" with the other team, because we did that for years under Nelson. IMO, though, if you left a center in the game in this situation, it would just be trading one set of matchup problems for another.

(NOTE: I'm not saying the Mavs can stop the Spurs. Obviously, they have no one who can stop Duncan, just two centers who can work hard and make him earn his points. They also have had difficulty with Parker and Ginobili, respectively, at varying points in this series because of their ability to go to the basket.)

[beirmeistr]

last year we let amare stoudemire go off for 40 a game and still managed to win the series rather easily, so i would say put nazr/rasho in the game more and let nowitzki go off but stop penetration to the basket by the guards

Bingo!!! You are right on.
End the small ball. Enough of the Spurlings. Let us have the Spurs!

[strangeweather]

First, Duncan can't guard either of the Dallas forwards, so he has to guard a center. The Spurs have tried putting Duncan on Howard in the past. He erupted for about 20 points in a half (see the April 7 matchup). Pop doesn't want a repeat of that, so he has religiously avoided putting Duncan back on Howard. I can't say that I blame him.

Duncan on Howard is no panacea. And if Howard beats us, so be it.

But I want to see our real lineup in there, fighting and playing defense with the series on the line. Trying to beat the Mavs' at their own game just hasn't worked.

[baseline bum]

The Spurs badly need a center. Mohammed is doing his best Van-Exel impersonation this season.

[kg_veteran]

Duncan on Howard is no panacea. And if Howard beats us, so be it.

But I want to see our real lineup in there, fighting and playing defense with the series on the line. Trying to beat the Mavs' at their own game just hasn't worked.

It's a very difficult spot for Popovich to be in, but I see your point. The Mavs have been able to stick with their basic philosophy on both ends, while the Spurs are having to change theirs to match the personnel they are putting on the floor.

[CubanMustGo]

One thing to remember is how many injuries the Mavs had in the regular season. Everyone is healthy now and it is causing matchup problems. That is prolly one reason why Pop isn't playing Rasho/Nazr.

Our only hope is that KVH makes an appearance in each of the remaining games and plays his usual game.

[Busta Cap]

Our only hope is that KVH makes an appearance in each of the remaining games and plays his usual game.

Like myself, I think most Mav fans could do without seeing KVH the remainder of this series.

[Nbadan]

The Spurs had the chance to win the game and Tim missed the shot, if they had gone big with Rasho or Nazr it would have been a blow-out for Dallas.

[EVAY]

last year we let amare stoudemire go off for 40 a game and still managed to win the series rather easily, so i would say put nazr/rasho in the game more and let nowitzki go off but stop penetration to the basket by the guards

I think this is a great sugestion. Rasho could guard Diop or Dampier, and he does two other things well, too ( at sometimes) ...he is the best "pulling guard" ( to borrow a football term) for Tony and Manu. They, especially Tony, tuck up behind him and then follow him right to the basket and a layup. They did all the time when Rasho was in the lineup. The other thing he does is block shots. Tim is getting fouls called him because he's trying to do it all, guard on the perimeter at times, block shots at times, and set picks the rest of the time, when he's not trying to score himself. Pop may be a good coach a lot of the time...but man, he is really getting shown up in this series.

[FromWayDowntown]

The Spurs had the chance to win the game and Tim missed the shot, if they had gone big with Rasho or Nazr it would have been a blow-out for Dallas.

I'm not sure, in that end-game, why Duncan went middle when he had been absolutely abusing Dampier on the baseline. Given the call that had just occurred on the other end, I'd have thought it a safe bet that a good hard drive by Tim would get him a shot at the rim from a comfortable spot and might have even given him a chance to go to the line. He went middle, ala the closing seconds of Game 5 in 2004 against LA, only this time, he couldn't get the roll. I can't fault Duncan for making that decision, but I wonder if he wishes he had that one over.

On another note, I don't think the decision to not put Duncan on Dirk for long stretches has anything to do with Tim being incapable of defending Dirk. I think it has more to do with further exposing the absence of a 2nd big on the floor and deciding that it's not worth risking foul trouble. In overtime, Pop put Duncan on Dirk and Tim played him well. Tim is certainly capable of defending a player like Nowitzki for extended stretches, but in the context of this series and the other decisions that Popovich has made, I think doing so would be a horrendous misallocation of an extremely limited resource.

[blaze89]

last year we let amare stoudemire go off for 40 a game and still managed to win the series rather easily, so i would say put nazr/rasho in the game more and let nowitzki go off but stop penetration to the basket by the guards

That happened cause the Spurs were able to shut down or slow down Richardson and Marion. For the Mavs, it's Terry, Harris, Stoudemire to go along with Howard and Nowitzki.

[blaze89]

That's why we put Tim on Howard, not Dirk.

On Dirk: Bowen, Horry, Oberto, Finley. In that order, if there are foul problems.

Bowen most likely will get into foul trouble, Horry is too slow and unless you really want to go further down the bench, Nowitzki will be have 40 FT attempts by halftime.

You make it sound as if we are getting blown out by 15 or 20, with the exception of game 2, these games have gone down to the wire. The speed of the Mavericks and the lack of an athletic big man is hurting the Spurs. Don't forget that the Mavericks are making anything they just throw up in the air.

[strangeweather]

Bowen most likely will get into foul trouble, Horry is too slow and unless you really want to go further down the bench, Nowitzki will be have 40 FT attempts by halftime.

You make it sound as if we are getting blown out by 15 or 20, with the exception of game 2, these games have gone down to the wire. The speed of the Mavericks and the lack of an athletic big man is hurting the Spurs. Don't forget that the Mavericks are making anything they just throw up in the air.

So no one can hope to cover Nowitski, but the Spurs are playing them pretty even? I'm not sure I get your point.

[spur4life]

I guess the people who are so concerned about matchups have no problem with the fact that we had Finley and Parker guarding Dirk for much of the game last night. What a joke.

nothing is funnier than seen parker & finley guarding nowitzki...very silly!!

[spur4life]

it seems to me the front office & pop have their shortcomings...they ought to have forseen these potential matchup problems before the beginning of the season/ during the midseason & should have gotten players that match up.....especially since we played dallas in 2003 west finals....