AJ regarding Manu: "We put three guys on him...could not stop him

[Extra Stout]

Yeah, it's all over for the Mavs. They're playing out of sync in all-important December. AJ must be losing the team. Jason Terry must be ripping the locker room apart. Championships are won and lost on December 5. Size the Spurs for their 2007-08 rings.

[angel_luv]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....700ccc96.html

Instead, they got what they deserved – a 97-95 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, who played without Tim Duncan.

"I just got to be more aggressive when it's there and swing it if it's not," Nowitzki said. "I'm just finding my way of finding when to shoot and be aggressive and when to swing it and make my teammates better. Hopefully, we as a team, and I will get better from month to month, so we'll be there at the end

Just now, Dirk?

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Allowing one player to score 37 points shows a total lack of defensive effort by the Mavericks & an unqualified coaching staff as well...AJ is not a game coach...He does not have the ability to adjust his strategy during the flow of the game...We are talking Manu here, Not Wilt....

You are crazy. They tried absolutely everything on Manu. AJ made changes, it just didn't work for them. Manu was mentally stronger than anyone else on the court.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

I think what we may be seeing with the Mavs is that Johnson is losing the team a little bit. I've always thought that his personality was a little grating. If you combine that with his tenaciousness and desire to win, you can definitely alienate players over the long term. This is a man who pushed even Robinson to anger during his career in his desire to have him play more aggressively.

Now that he's been with the Mavs for a few years his act may be wearing a little thin with some of them. He's a talented coach but his demanding at ude, especially after some tough flameouts in the playoffs could be causing trouble in the locker room. The Mavs lost again after coming off a 3 game losing streak earlier. Very unusual for them.

I tend to agree with this. They knew, especially AJ, that the spurs usually come strong in the 3rd quarter. Also, he doesn't appear to know when to stop pushing his players. I can imagine some of them are frustrated with this. I think this is a key difference with Pop. Pops puts a lot of pressure, the "proper fear" mentality but gives breathing room as well. And if you really suck then he benches you forever like with Beno.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Quote:



"I just got to be more aggressive when it's there and swing it if it's not," Nowitzki said. "I'm just finding my way of finding when to shoot and be aggressive and when to swing it and make my teammates better. Hopefully, we as a team, and I will get better from month to month, so we'll be there at the end



Just now, Dirk?

Yeah, I thought the same, I would expect a rookie talking like that, but not an established guy. That's an excuse. It's sad as he has class, we all know that.

[Sportcamper]

Solid D- I would save the braggadocio until after next week...The Spurs will have to face The Lakers Big Three...Mihm, Kwame & Bynum....

[travis2]

Solid D- I would save the braggadocio until after next week...The Spurs will have to face The Lakers Big Three...Mihm, Kwame & Bynum....

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Solid D- I would save the braggadocio until after next week...The Spurs will have to face The Lakers Big Three...Mihm, Kwame & Bynum....

Best. Joke. EVER!

[T Park]

I think what we may be seeing with the Mavs is that Johnson is losing the team a little bit. I've always thought that his personality was a little grating. If you combine that with his tenaciousness and desire to win, you can definitely alienate players over the long term. This is a man who pushed even Robinson to anger during his career in his desire to have him play more aggressively

The exact same thing I said on the ride home last night.

[Solid D]

good one, Sportcamper. The "Secret of Mihm" will be revealed and unleashed!!!

[FromWayDowntown]

If AJ was going to send 3 guys at Manu last night, maybe he should have tried Salvatore, Wood, and Richardson.

[Solid D]

Actually, what I think AJ is talking about when he said he sent 3 at Manu is, when Manu worked off the high screen/rolls, both defenders went with Manu and a third weakside (usually corner) defender trailed the play in case Manu switched directions...as he often does. This created a 3-man fan across the lane. When the Mavs did that, Manu found the open guy and there were usually 2 if the spacing was good. The Spurs (including Jacque Vaughn) knocked down their shots, which killed that strategy by Dallas.

[jack0fspeed]

I think Avery is kidding himself. He needed to blitz the P&R a lot earlier than the last 2 minutes of that game. Once they did that and stuck with Finley in the corner, that's when the Mavs started getting some stops.

If I'm Avery, I'm giving Bowen all the corner threes he wants last night. And if Parker wants to take 20 footers he can have those too. He did hit a couple, but I'd rather those than the layups and the "and-1s" that the P&Rs were producing.

[FromWayDowntown]

He did hit a couple, but I'd rather those than the layups and the "and-1s" that the P&Rs were producing.

We must have seen different games -- the Spurs had exactly 1 "and 1" last night and that came at 1:55 in the first quarter on a Ginobili layup.

I don't disagree, though, with the notion that AJ might have been better served by blitzing Manu everytime he came off a screen and conceding the look to Bowen in the corner.

[LilMissSPURfect]

Somebody tell AJ to keep it in the Ditka thread.

[ShoogarBear]

I think what we may be seeing with the Mavs is that Johnson is losing the team a little bit. I've always thought that his personality was a little grating. If you combine that with his tenaciousness and desire to win, you can definitely alienate players over the long term. This is a man who pushed even Robinson to anger during his career in his desire to have him play more aggressively.

Now that he's been with the Mavs for a few years his act may be wearing a little thin with some of them. He's a talented coach but his demanding at ude, especially after some tough flameouts in the playoffs could be causing trouble in the locker room. The Mavs lost again after coming off a 3 game losing streak earlier. Very unusual for them.

I could maybe agree with this except AJ has shown an exceptional willingness to adapt what he does from year to year. He is trying this year to a lot more things differently, both Xs/Os and tempermentally, than last year. If anything, maybe he's trying to change things too much. And I don't see why his personality is any more grating than Pops.

Compare him to Mike D'Antoni, who is stupidly stubborn to a fault.

[exstatic]

If AJ was going to send 3 guys at Manu last night, maybe he should have tried Salvatore, Wood, and Richardson.

He did. At one point in the 4th Q, it was like 14 Dallas FTs to 2 for SA.

[ehz33satx]

Just now, Dirk?

Hey I was thinking the same thing when I read this. What a mentally fragile man Dirk has become. It's sad.