If Spurs choke this season who will you blame?

[mavsfan1000]

Well I agree that the Mavs don't matchup as well to the Pistons but I think Dampier is strong enough to hold Ben Wallace away from the boards. Also Josh Howard has had a lot of success against Prince in previous games. Also Dallas can throw Daniels or Griffin on Billups if needed to matchup strength wise. They are on opposite conferences so why are we talking about this matchup? I'm thinking mavs and spurs first.

[big3bigD]

Change your diaper, junior.

The Mavs have a chance.

Whoopie.

Stay out of my business there son, nobody gives a damn what someone like yourself thinks about anything. I'm simply stating the ignorance of that most frequently used argument against the Mavs. All of this means nothing anyway. The playoffs are all that matter.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Well I agree that the Mavs don't matchup as well to the Pistons but I think Dampier is strong enough to hold Ben Wallace away from the boards. Also Josh Howard has had a lot of success against Prince in previous games. Also Dallas can throw Daniels or Griffin on Billups if needed to matchup strength wise. They are on opposite conferences so why are we talking about this matchup? I'm thinking mavs and spurs first.

oh, how feeble minded you are. please save this for may. i want you to see how misguided you are. rust in peace.

[ChumpDumper]

Stay out of my business there son, nobody gives a damn what someone like yourself thinks about anything.

And everyone on the Spurs board gives a flying about your paper championship?



Don't forget to powder, you'll get a rash.

[mavsfan1000]

Well paper championships sometimes come true. I think visualizing the game and what it takes to spread out San Antonio's defense while at the same time keeping the defensive intensity that Dallas has been doing all year is the key. Of course I only get dumbass responses like the ones above that hardly have any thought to them.

[ChumpDumper]

Well paper championships sometimes come true.

I got $7.45 that says they haven't for the Mavs.

[big3bigD]

Well, sometimes we see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe.



That's a fairly remarkable statement, given the relative success that Billups had with Parker in last year's Finals. Billups can muscle both Terry and Harris and divert them from where they wish to go, and in the heat of a Finals series, he'll get away with it because officials actually let the teams play. It's remarkable to me that anyone could honestly think that Chauncey Billups is somehow a bad matchup against any NBA point guard.



Dallas doesn't play Detroit every night. Rebounding numbers during the regular season are all relative -- they're skewed to some extent because good teams tend to rebound the ball well (Phoenix would be an exception) and that rebounding fuels their success. I don't see that Diop or Dampier have the lateral quickness to stay with Ben Wallace as he roams the lane looking to rebound the ball. Even if they can get a body on him, I'm not sure that either is physically strong enough to deny Ben those boards on a regular basis. I doubt you'd find many who would agree with your suggestion that they could do that.

The notion of penciling Dirk in for 10 rebounds a night is something of a stretch, given that he's not even averaging 9 rebounds per game this season.

I'll address the rest later; it's all academic, though. The Mavericks would seem to have one game left with Detroit this season.

I'm beginning to see what you mean about seeing only what you want to see. Some, but definately not all of the fans here are strictly dwelling in the past and not even addressing the present.

I never said bad matchup, just favorable with what the Mavs have at the 1. He's not quick enough to handle either player. Parker has a history of chocking in the post season, it's no surprise that Billups dominated him.

If you read the post, you see that I suggest that the entire Mavs team is capeable of rebounding successfully against the Pistons, not just those two. I don't see how regular season rebounding numbers can be skewered. Talk about seeing only what you want to see. LOL

I agree though. This is all academic. To get to the Pistons, the Mavs would have to beat the Spurs, Suns, Clippers ect..., and there is plenty of work for Dallas to do until they worry about any of that.

Good talking ball with you. You are obviously a knowledgeable fan of the game.

[milkyway21]

I'll blame it on this

[big3bigD]

I'll blame it on this

LOL. true enough.

[Jesus]

I disagree. The Pistoins do not have particularly good personell which which to defend the Mavs.

As for your rebuttals to my rebuttals:

Billups isn't nearly quick enough to consistently defend either JT or Harris, nor has he ever dominated either player. His only advantage will be on offense if he can post up either one because of his strength and size. Other than that, he doesn't match up well with Dallas' 1's.

Both Diop and Damp should fare just fine against Detroit's bigs, and Howard's length and athleticsm will allow him to hang as well. As I said before, Dallas is a very good rebounding team this season, and does not allow alot of odffensive rebounds while actually being among the league leaders in getting offensive rebounds. Also, talk all of the mess you want about Dampier, but he is currently the league leader in offensive rebounds. Dirk may not be physical when compared to either of the Wallace boys, but you can still pencil him in for his 10 boards a game. Most of those rebounds will be on the defensive end, further limiting Detroit's second chance opportunities.

Look for Griffin to start out on Hamilton, but he will have to switch on him alot. Griffin may actually spend some time on Billups also. Harris, Daniels and Howard will all probably take stabs at chasing Hamilton down. Daniels is an extremely versitle player, believe me, having him in the game is definately a good thing for Dallas. The same point of high energy applies to Howard. He does not get tired in games.

I've seen the Dirk/Rashweed matchup many times. Even in the Portland days up until now, Dirk wins that matchup. Dirk actually has much better stats when being gaurded by Sheed than does Sheed when being gaurded by Dirk. I'll take that matchup every time for the Mavs.

The most favorable matchup for Dallas is Dirk/Sheed. Howard is actually basically as long as Prince. Prince is 6'9 with a 7'2 wingspan. Howard is 6'7 with a 7'1 wingspan. So, Prince has exactly 1 inch over him, but as you said, Howard is the better athlete.

Any way you look at it the Mavs would have several problems with the Pistons in a 7 game series. They would also win that series.

You should write for SI

[milkyway21]

LOL. true enough.

lol. IF Tim Duncan didn't have this injury he could be playing for his 3rd MVP right now..

There's no real threat. Kobe had 81 pt-2nd best all time record but he's still catching his breath looking in for the 8th seed right now.

KG simply does not have the "IT" this yr.

the Spurs have the best record so far in the West.

there's only Nash, Dirk & Elton.

But Tim beat Dallas twice & Nash tiwce as well as of this moment.

that only leave Elton Brand. But Spurs has better record. Edge.

only there's this nagging Plantar Fasciitis.

and the Spurs' destiny for a repeat remains a big question. How long can Duncan survive the pain?

[T Park.]

Well, sometimes we see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe.



That's a fairly remarkable statement, given the relative success that Billups had with Parker in last year's Finals. Billups can muscle both Terry and Harris and divert them from where they wish to go, and in the heat of a Finals series, he'll get away with it because officials actually let the teams play. It's remarkable to me that anyone could honestly think that Chauncey Billups is somehow a bad matchup against any NBA point guard.



Dallas doesn't play Detroit every night. Rebounding numbers during the regular season are all relative -- they're skewed to some extent because good teams tend to rebound the ball well (Phoenix would be an exception) and that rebounding fuels their success. I don't see that Diop or Dampier have the lateral quickness to stay with Ben Wallace as he roams the lane looking to rebound the ball. Even if they can get a body on him, I'm not sure that either is physically strong enough to deny Ben those boards on a regular basis. I doubt you'd find many who would agree with your suggestion that they could do that.

The notion of penciling Dirk in for 10 rebounds a night is something of a stretch, given that he's not even averaging 9 rebounds per game this season.

I'll address the rest later; it's all academic, though. The Mavericks would seem to have one game left with Detroit this season.

Nice quote job I have to agree with this post

[Extra Stout]

Whatever man. You are still just spitting out that simple, dumbass opinion of yours. The only facts that your challenged mind is able to muster have are references to past seasons. We are talking about different teams now. The pistons made the Finals two years a row in the WEAK EAST??!! SO WHAT?? That's like being the 3rd 4th or 5th best team in the West.

Experience has to come from someplace. It was the Pistons who had no experience the year that they beat the Lakers. Experience,blah, blah, blah... It is[B] all about matchups, or have they stopped playing the games and just decide the champs based on what they did in the playoffs last season??

The Pistons cut their teeth the year before. First they lost in the conference finals to New Jersey, then they made the jump.

This "weak East" stuff is BS. Sure, down past the elite teams, the middle of that conference is weak. Most of the real dogs, like Atlanta and New York, are in the East. But at the top of the conference, those teams are legit. Besides, the West isn't exactly anything special anymore. Other than SA, Dallas, and Phoenix, nobody is exactly tearing it up.

And matchup advantages are great and all, until you're asking a guy who's never been in a certain situation before to execute at the level necessary to beat a team like the Spurs. And the situations are totally different in a long series when the opposing team becomes familiar with every strength and weakness of your team. They take away your comfort zone. Can you win anyway?

Teams will let you settle into a rhythm playing one way for three quarters, then mix up their looks and force you to execute something else in the fourth quarter. If Dirk Nowitzki is taking all the big shots through three quarters, can Jason Terry and Josh Howard stay mentally prepared to take the big shots in the fourth quarter, when the defense changes and forces the ball out of Dirk's hands? Can they stay in the rhythm of the game? When you haven't been in the flow of the game for 36 minutes, even wide-open shots are tought to hit if you haven't maintained that level of mental discipline and intensity. If the offense breaks down, is there still somebody to act as a safety valve?

With any of the legion types of adversity that a team can encounter, do they still know how to respond? Teams with experience in the deep playoff rounds already have gone through those situations. They aren't rattled by them. They aren't caught unprepared.

And rare is the team that can figure it out on the fly against a proven, experienced, successful playoff contender. Much more common is the team that gets whacked the first time or the first couple of times, figures it out, then comes back the next year and has a real shot to win.

The Spurs had to figure it out against the Lakers
The Pistons had to figure it out (once) against the Nets
The Lakers had to figure it out against the Jazz and the Spurs
The Bulls had to figure it out against the Pistons
The Pistons had to figure it out against the Celtics
The Celtics had to figure it out against the Sixers
The Sixers had to figure it out against the Lakers
...and so on, back into the distant NBA past

Occasionally, a team gets lucky and breaks through in a wide-open year when there is no king of the mountain to topple, like the Spurs in 1999, or the Rockets in 1994. But that is not the case this year.

If you choose to ignore the countless examples of that in the past, it's because you don't want to deal with it. You want to believe that THIS is the Mavericks year, that they're not going to win 63 games and flame out in the second round.

Now, I hate to admit it to a -for-brains like you, but Dallas may well be the team that knocks the Spurs off the throne, say in '07 or '08. They're a well-built team, with depth, a variety of players with complementary strengths, good chemistry, and great coaching. But they're not ready to take out of the oven yet. They stll have to earn their stripes.

[kskonn]

I'm beginning to see what you mean about seeing only what you want to see. Some, but definately not all of the fans here are strictly dwelling in the past and not even addressing the present.

I never said bad matchup, just favorable with what the Mavs have at the 1. He's not quick enough to handle either player. Parker has a history of chocking in the post season, it's no surprise that Billups dominated him.

If you read the post, you see that I suggest that the entire Mavs team is capeable of rebounding successfully against the Pistons, not just those two. I don't see how regular season rebounding numbers can be skewered. Talk about seeing only what you want to see. LOL

I agree though. This is all academic. To get to the Pistons, the Mavs would have to beat the Spurs, Suns, Clippers ect..., and there is plenty of work for Dallas to do until they worry about any of that.

Good talking ball with you. You are obviously a knowledgeable fan of the game.

well I can only say this, I personally think the Mavs have a good shot at making some noise in the playoffs this year.

However I also think that their biggest issue will be sustaining a high level of defense for an entire series. We saw them breakdown in the spurs game, but maybe their offense will be good enough to overcome that.

Also if you want other people to quit dwelling in the past then so should you. Tony parker has done everything this year better than in the past, so because he has had sub par performances in past playoff performances does not automatically mean he will do the same this year. he could very well be the guy that leads the spurs to another championship.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

The Mavs fans are right, we shouldn't live in last season. Instead let's live in last week where the Mavs dropped games against the Suns and Spurs in the fourth quarter. Championship teams can ball for 48 minutes. The Mavs can't. Therefore the Mavs are not a championship team. Easy enough?

[Fat boy]

well I can only say this, I personally think the Mavs have a good shot at making some noise in the playoffs this year.

However I also think that their biggest issue will be sustaining a high level of defense for an entire series. We saw them breakdown in the spurs game, but maybe their offense will be good enough to overcome that.

Also if you want other people to quit dwelling in the past then so should you. Tony parker has done everything this year better than in the past, so because he has had sub par performances in past playoff performances does not automatically mean he will do the same this year. he could very well be the guy that leads the spurs to another championship.

Good post!

[Extra Stout]

The Mavs fans are right, we shouldn't live in last season. Instead let's live in last week where the Mavs dropped games against the Suns and Spurs in the fourth quarter. Championship teams can ball for 48 minutes. The Mavs can't. Therefore the Mavs are not a championship team. Easy enough?

But... but... there's no mental aspect to basketball! They have matchups! They have Devin Harris! Executing under pressure while elimination looms is the easy part! Metroplex fans are so smart because they listen to ESPN 103.3!

[Troll]

lol. IF Tim Duncan didn't have this injury he could be playing for his 3rd MVP right now..

There's no real threat. Kobe had 81 pt-2nd best all time record but he's still catching his breath looking in for the 8th seed right now.

KG simply does not have the "IT" this yr.

the Spurs have the best record so far in the West.

there's only Nash, Dirk & Elton.

But Tim beat Dallas twice & Nash tiwce as well as of this moment.

that only leave Elton Brand. But Spurs has better record. Edge.

only there's this nagging Plantar Fasciitis.

and the Spurs' destiny for a repeat remains a big question. How long can Duncan survive the pain?

This person makes many good points!

[mouse]

'

Yeah, I'll seriously disagree with your assessments. A playoff series is a different beast than a single regular season game. My point is that in a playoff series, the Mavericks don't seem to have personnel that can deal with the particular problems that the Pistons present and the problems that the Pistons can create with adjustments to take advantage of their personnel. Meanwhile, the Pistons have people who are capable of consistently defending the Mavericks biggest threats and dealing with the Mavs relative defensive strengths.

As for your rebuttals to my particular points:

Billups is perfectly capable of hanging with either Harris or Terry. He's able to hang against pretty much every point in the NBA that he doesn't dominate.

I don't know that Diop or Dampier are athletic enough to get a body on those Detroit bigs on a consistent basis. Detroit kills teams because their bigs are so athletic that they can't be kept off the glass by big-bigs consistently, which allows them to end possessions on the defensive end and get second and third looks on the offensive end. Dirk is not the sort of physical presence that will have much to say about what the Wallace boys want to do on the glass, and Josh Howard is going to have a difficult time dealing with their length and strength.

I think the bigger problem is what to do with Hamilton -- I don't think Griffin is quick enough to run with Hamilton for very long; Daniels might be able to do some of that, but that means you have to play Daniels for long periods of time, which I don't see as advantageous to the Mavericks. If you put Howard on Hamilton, you will waste his energy on the defensive end and make him far less effective on the offensive end. Hamilton isn't a player who gets tired or worn down, so it's not an answer to say that he'll have to work on the defensive end.

Rasheed would, indeed, get his over the course of a long series -- if Dirk tries to defend him, Rasheed will go nuts.

Josh Howard is not as long as Prince (though if Howard tries to check Hamilton, that would be irrelevant) and isn't in Prince's league as a defender, a ball-handler, or a shooter. Howard is a more prolific scorer, probably a better rebounder, and maybe more athletic overall. But if that's the most favorable matchup for the Mavericks, I'd say they've got problems.

This person is SI material!!

[Old School Chic]

If Spurs choke this season who will you blame?


You

[mugatu]

If Spurs choke this season who will you blame?


You

short and to the point

[Old School Chic]

short and to the point

Exactly

[coopdogg3]

If I had a nickel for every Mav matchup paper champion post in this forum, I'd have $7.45.

Remember all those paper matchups that were presented by those Pacers' fans?? Those were fun too.

[Smackie Chan]

Well paper championships sometimes come true. I think visualizing the game and what it takes to spread out San Antonio's defense while at the same time keeping the defensive intensity that Dallas has been doing all year is the key. Of course I only get dumbass responses like the ones above that hardly have any thought to them.

This person here can lay down the smack, and has to deal with over 100 of you, all by himself

[I am Tom]

Exactly

post of the day!