Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Mavs Feb. 28

[Findog]

As far as the Mavs are concerned, they honestly looked pretty good. Jason Kidd is going to allow their scorers to get open shots. Dirk Nowitzki looked better than I have seen him all season. While they are definitely a work in progress, Mav Fan should be happy with what he saw.

That said, I feel really good about how the Spurs matchup with the Mavs now. Kidd is a great player but that trade makes life easier for the Spurs. Devin Harris and DeSagana Diop aren’t really that good of players but they are extremely effective against the Spurs. Before the trade, I would say the Mavs had the upper hand if the two teams played each other in the playoffs. After the trade, I’d say it’s either even or the Spurs have a small advantage. I’d still rather the Spurs avoid Dallas in the postseason, but it’s no longer as vital.

Are you sure? whottt says we should forfeit anytime the Spurs appear on our schedule, there's just a huge gulf between the two teams now.

[to21]

Great report.

I like that kid Bass. I think Tim got tired guarding him and his play on the offensive end tilted slightly in the second half. I'm sure (hope) he'll be ready for him next time.

[SAGambler]

Does anyone else notice this little bit about Manu? Start of 4th, Manu starts drawing fouls. Last night he got 3 in probably under a minute. If they would have kept sending the ball back to him, Dallas would have been in the penalty way earlier than they were.

On Dirk.....He shoots 30 frigging percent and yet ends up with 28 points because they send his ass to the free throw line anytime someone breathes too heavy on him. 17 goddamn points on FTs. It's just ridiculous. He trips over Udoka's foot, falls to the floor screaming, and gets to shoot FTs. I'm beginning to think this er is a bigger flopper than Ginobili ever was. He just does it in a way they don't see it. Duncan shoots 60 percent from the field and yet only outscores the guy by 3.

And did anyone else notice that picture they threw up of Dirk and a couple of other guys. He looked like a flaming queen. Not the first picture I have seen where he looked like that. Is this guy...uh...strange....or what?

[01Snake]

Next up is the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, which likely means the win streak ends. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

HAHA! You're probably right!

[leemajors]

i liked dampier's body check on dirk near the end of the game. i thought they would call a foul there.

[Sportcamper]

Why didn’t J Kidd play in crunch time? Why doesn’t Dirk get tough in the low post?

[spursfan09]

I have a question. Y do the Spurs go small ball against Dallas? Why don't they try staying big? They couldn't get a defensive rebound there for a while and it was so annoying.

[peewee's lovechild]

I was lucky enough to be at the game.

The AT&T Center was rocking with energy.
It was a great game, eventhough the refs gave the Mavs every opportunity to win the game.

I was a little concerned with Tony's inconsistent offensive play, but he made up for it defensively. Damn, he even covered Nowitski a couple of times.

The only bad thing about the game is that there were some annoying Mavs fans sitting a few rows in front of me. I don't know the percentage of Mavs fans in attendance, I'd have to get with Monosylabic to figure out how he gets his percentages just by looking at jerseys, but there were more than a few.

All in all, it was a great game.

Can't wait for the playoffs.

[peewee's lovechild]

Why didn’t J Kidd play in crunch time? Why doesn’t Dirk get tough in the low post?

That was stupid move by AJ.
But, I'm not really complaining.

[degenerate_gambler]

it's amazing that he can dish it out but isn't man enough to take it, or at very least to expect it.

small man syndrome...


there's alot of 'em with that at ude.

[travis2]

LJ, compared to what you wrote above, every other Spurs/Mavs recap sucked!

[wildchild]

-Fabricio Oberto played 14 minutes and was only decent. While on the court, he finished with four points, one rebound and two steals. His perimeter defense out on Nowitzki was commendable but he hurt the team by not pulling down a single defensive rebound. It wasn’t a bad game but Oberto has definitely seen better outings.

-Robert Horry got ten minutes of playing time and had a pretty awful game. He had a team-worst plus/minus of -14 and was hopeless when matched up against Nowitzki. The Mavs appear to be a team that Horry just doesn’t matchup well against. He’s not quick enough to guard Nowitzki and he’s not strong enough to guard Erick Dampier or Bass. Even with the Kidd trade, Horry remains virtually useless against Dallas, which is reason enough to try to avoid this team in the playoffs.

I'm not sure. He was wide awake. I really liked Oberto on Dirk and Bass didn't scored over him.
Also, Oberto drew two Dampier's offensive fouls.
With a quiet game of Robert, I don't know why Oberto didn't see more minutes.

[Ghost Writer]

Nice observations, timvp.

My thoughts:

Bowen is a dirty, but I'm glad he's on my team. I was really pleased with his offense last night; he made good decisions with the ball and hit a few midrange shots, taking what the defense gave him.

Manu is having one of those years, where he is perpetually in the zone, because his confidence is astounding. Even when he lost his shot in the second half, his body language still suggested that he'd make them all. His assist to a dunking Duncan late in the 4th was huge, because he had just picked up a bad foul on a needless steal attempt on Terry.

Dirk is Dirk. When you put a shooter's skill's in a center's body, it creates problems. I actually think the fact that the Spurs throw multiple players of different body types at him is a strength for San Antonio. Dirk has to discover different ways to score.

Anyone who thinks Kidd is not a boon for the Mavs is a re . Coach Johnson should have put his ego aside and had him in at the end there.

Parker needs to find his wind... and his jumper. Both will come in due time.

Doug Collins called Mike Finley's eruption. I like the passion that Finley showed... nice to see him contribute defensively, too. He always gets up for the Mavs games.

Terry needs to grow up.

I like Manu off the bench (he and Parker don't seem to be on the same page offensively.

Duncan looks like he turned back the clock. He's quietly improving on those FTs, too. If I had to nitpick, I want to see more blocked shots, as he was dunked on. Twice.

You bet your @ss this game was important. I loved seeing Pop raise his hand up for hi-5s at the end.

[41times]

I thought this was just another Great Game in the long series of Great games that these 2 teams always seem to play. If the NBA Finals were played by these two teams, the Fans all over the country couldn't help but love it.

Every time these two teams play it is back and forth and the great players always play great. This game brings out the Best in Duncan and Dirk and it is just a blast to watch.

Now for those Spurs fans who thought that our trading of Harris and Diop would make for an easy victory over the Mavs, I hope you have re-thought that. Kidd and Bass are as good or better than Harris + Diop.

Basically this matchup is as dead even as it has ever been. And probably if Jason Terry and Avery not gone completely crazy last night the Mavs would have won the game.

I just hope we get to play in the Playoffs because it will be 7 great games!

[T Park]

And probably if Jason Terry and Avery not gone completely crazy last night the Mavs would have won the game.

If Parker and Ginobili show up offensively the Spurs blow out the Mavericks.

[wildchild]

Bowen is a dirty, but I'm glad he's on my team. I was really pleased with his offense last night; he made good decisions with the ball and hit a few midrange shots, taking what the defense gave him.

You read my mind.

[maxpower]

RE: Why Vaughn over Stoudemire...

The tnt crew mentioned Stoudemire's back was bothering him(tightened up) as the reason they went with vaughn initially.

[Findog]

I have a question. Y do the Spurs go small ball against Dallas? Why don't they try staying big? They couldn't get a defensive rebound there for a while and it was so annoying.

The Spurs go small against Dallas because Pop doesn't believe he has anybody that can guard Dirk consistently well, and he doesn't want Duncan getting into foul trouble by doing it. Plus, Dirk can take him out to the free-throw line extended and away from the basket. Surrounding Duncan with four wings against Dallas leads to best results, offensively at least.

[clambake]

i can't wait to see how the mavs are playing down the road. there is still much confusion on where to be on the court, and too many turnovers. they'll work it out to every other teams dismay. kidd could make bass a monster.

[rAm]

great game, and an even better recap.

I agree with everything you said TimVP, we need to rest Manu a little bit more and let Mighty Mouse get some more minutes to build chemistry. You can see Manu getting a little tired out there.

[urunobili]

Next up is the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, which likely means the win streak ends. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

wtf???

[FromWayDowntown]

A 10-1 February in the books.

[Agloco]

Still haven't seen the Spurs play a complete game start to finish, and they only play well in very short spurts. Duncan just fell asleep on defense way too many times. Pop went with a really weird rotation. I don't know what he was trying to do, but something about having AJ in the building causes him to make questionable decisions. He also had some really strange combinations on the floor for stretches. Horry and Vaughn were really terrible, and Finley's bad team defense was made up for by some really good individual plays and a good shooting streak. I'm hoping for a commitment to defense and rebounding, as well as a healthy Brent Barry with a " it-I'm gonna shoot" at ude once the playoffs roll around.

Part of me thinks that Pop doesn't want the Mavs to see too many plays or lineups that are effective for the Spurs at this point in the season. Pop does go with some crazy matchups against Dallas. I think it's to guard against them getting too familiar with what we like to do.

[timvp]

I have a question. Y do the Spurs go small ball against Dallas? Why don't they try staying big? They couldn't get a defensive rebound there for a while and it was so annoying.

The Spurs don't have a big who can guard Dirk. The bad thing is the Spurs don't have a small who can guard Dirk either.

You'd think the Spurs would have addressed this at some point between the 2006 series and now ... but they haven't.

[K-State Spur]

The Spurs don't have a big who can guard Dirk. The bad thing is the Spurs don't have a small who can guard Dirk either.

You'd think the Spurs would have addressed this at some point between the 2006 series and now ... but they haven't.

i still think there was a flaw in strategy in that series.

bowen made dirk work hard, but Dirk still got his.

i think we'd have been better off letting bowen put the clamps on Howard and then just letting Dirk go Amare on the defense.

dirk can have his 35-40, just keep howard/stack from going off.