They're definitely better under Avery. Gotta work on those turnovers though. Most of those were careless errors.
They still can't win against the Spurs but to say that they will lose in the 1st round is taking it too far. The beat the Rockets when they didn't have a formal system installed yet last year and I believe they'll beat their 1st round opponent this year. Gotta worry about the 2nd round though.. heheheh
Bowen goes a long way towards letting the team guard Dirk one on one and allow the team D to focus on keeping the other Mavs in check. On the defensive end, I worry more about the Suns since Bowen doesn't necessarily cover their primary offensive player.
The Mavs defense impressed me last night. They did a good job of packing the lanes and not allowing Parker and Ginobili many points in "the painted area", as my boy Hubie would say. I think the fourth quarter told you everything you need to know about this team this year. It's still built around Dirk, and Dirk is still soft. Bowen's brand of physical D had clearly thrown him out of his rhythm. Jason Terry looked pretty sharp. If he can step up his game then maybe the Mavs could take the Spurs to 6 or 7, but if Dirk is the go to guy that's a problem.
The Mavericks certainly can keep up their offensive intensity for 48 minutes. But, they have yet to show that they can keep the defensive intensity for 48. The Sours are still superior defensively and that is the difference. I wouldn't call Dirk soft...think that label is unfair. All the talk show guys here in LA used to call Drob soft all the time. Dirk is a player that every team in the NBA would love to have on their roster.
Mavs are much better than they were and will make noise in the playoffs.
Avery, IMO, is the only coach, right now, Id want to coach this team other than Popovich.Maybe one day AJ can replace his mentor when he steps down in SA.
His improvement of the Mavericks defensively, and their play last night and shorttime turnaround in at ude is nothing short of amazing.
He should get coach of the century just for getting the Mavericks to THINK about defense.
The 2006 Mavaricks will challenge the defending champs seriously, not unlike 2003.
The only disadvantage I can think of the Mavs is that Dirk's production typically drops in the playoffs, but it may not happen this year.
If Ginobili peaks in time, and Duncan's performance doesn't drop further, the Spurs will get past them, but with unprecedented effort.
Regular Season PPG: 21.7
Playoff PPG: 25.1
Regular Season RPG: 8.5
Playoff RPG: 10.8
Regular Season BPG: 1.10
Playoff BPG: 1.21
Regular Season SPG:1.02
Playoff SPG: 1.38
These are career stats, and don't really show what he's done in the last few years since he's really become a player.
Really?Dirk's production typically drops in the playoffs,
It's a dirty myth that up until recently I too believed, Adrienne. This was a big topic about two weeks ago I think and one of your people (mavs fan) actually set people straight. I think the reason that it had (and still has) is because while career wise Dirk's playoff numbers are better than his reg. season numbers, last year they did take a hit when the Mavs were "Dirk's team". He didn't have a very good series against the Suns (where he was covered Shawn Marion who is perfectly suited to guard Dirk). Combine that with his emotional outbursts and it looked like he wasn't handling the pressure well, leading people to believe that his numbers in the playoffs can't be very good. It's a textbook case of "truthiness".
Personally I think Dirk's issue is that he's not a very good leader, and he doesn't react well when confronted with physical D (which is exactly what Bowen brings for 48 minutes.
AJ is without a doubt, using his years of experience with the Spurs to drill some defense home to his team. Dallas, at this point, looks better than I think I have ever seen them look. The problem with them against the Spurs, is that Dirk is usually taken completely out of his game, thanks to that guy named Bowen. When you negate the superstar, the rest becomes relatively easy.
I still think it's possible Dallas could take us to 6 or 7 games in a series. But I think in the end, the Spurs playoff experience would win out.
Actually I was on the phone with my BIL at halftime last night who is a big Mav Fan. He asked how I thought the 2nd half would go. I told him to look for the Spurs to keep it close to around the 6 or 7 minute mark and then put the hammer down. In a couple of minutes, I told him, the Mavs will look up and the scoreboard and wonder how they suddenly were facing a 10 point deficit will little time remaining..
Well, the Spurs didn't let me down.
Exactly. I couldn't believe Kerr said last night that Flip was his choice for coach of the year. He inheirited a Championship Caliber team. What exactly has he done, other than let them turn loose of the 3 ball a lot more than they used to?
I'm sorry, Steve, but I do not concur with your choice.
Avery should be Coach of the Year. Hands down. He has actually taken a basically run and gun team, and turned them into a contender. For the first time in history there is actually some "D" in Dallas.
Let's just looke at Dec. Jan. and Feb. Each month Mavs winning percentage has increased. I don't think you can say the same for Flip and Pistons. In fact, after being vaunted as maybe a team that would win 70 or more, they are now hanging on by a thread to maintain HCA.
And yes, I would love to see AJ take over here, should Pop ever decide to hang it up.
i would still take wooden, red, or phil ;0
Unless your team has Michael Jordan, almost every championship team had a low post presence in the middle. It collapses opposing team's defense, creates double teams leaving open players, and creates more open shots for outside shooters.
Your entire Mav offense was predicated on iso's with Dirk, Stackhouse and some pic-n-rolls with Terry. In the playoffs, those shots are going to much much harder to come by.
Dallas has the coaching, the philosophy, and the scheme to win in the playoffs. For the first time, their chances are based upon real substance rather than Nellie's smoke and mirrors.
However, they still have a long way to go in terms of mental toughness and experience. Championship teams have an intensity dial that reads from 1 to 10. Run-of-the mill regular season is 1. 4th quarter & overtime of a Finals game is 10.
The Spurs had the dial on 3, and the Mavs couldn't handle it. Then they started whining about it. While Avery knows something about what it takes to win a championship, those players aren't going to figure it out until they see it firsthand, i.e. when the Spurs kick their asses and end their season in the conference semis.
Two words for Dallas Mavericks: "Josh Howard"
Dirk was the post player when Bowen guarded him. It was that Dallas was not able to capitalize on double teams. That is the other players fault. Having a shooter at the 2 guard is crucial for Dallas that can drain 3's at a high percentage. There is no way San Antonio could double team Dallas if the other players were able to drain shots. It didn't happen last night though. Dirk shot like crap as well and maybe should've used all the attention he got to be a decoy rather than be obvious and just give him the ball.
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