Mavs ponder lessons learned in finals

[mavs>spurs2]

Lasanga Diop

[ambchang]

I really do not understand how the Mav fans can believe the Mavs improved "a lot" this offseason. Other than Buckner, none of the new additions are worth anything, and they lost Marquis Daniels.
Besides, the Mavs STILL don't have a point guard who can dictate the tempo of the offense, still don't have a decent low post scorer, and Nowitzki still requires help on D. The Mavs are in no way in sure fire finalist this year, and quite frankly, this team reminds me of the Kings a few years back, good, but not good enough. When you have something as sure fire as the a series vs. the Heat, and you lose, you just have a LOT of convincing to do.

[George Gervin's Afro]

I thnk I have figured out why we have so many head Mav posters: championship envy..It's ok mav fans ponder your one shot at winning a championship

[dirk4mvp]

They argue in circles, its annoying. Especially considering that the Heat, particularly Haslem, played good defense against Dirk, I wouldn't call the Mavs unguardable at all. The Heat played surprisingly good defense.

Do you Spurs fans not argue in circles? "Yall won't get back to the Finals!!1! Choke choke choke!! Hasselhoff won't help"

That's about all I hear from the Spurs fans.

[dirk4mvp]

I thnk I have figured out why we have so many head Mav posters: championship envy..It's ok mav fans ponder your one shot at winning a championship

Yeah, I'm sure the Spurs are going to the Finals in 07. They're so much better than the Mavs now it's not even funny.

[phyzik]

Its funny to think how we Spurs fans can have so much respect for one team's fans on this board... but this other teams fans just dont seem to get it. Ignore the idiotic statements by some Spurs fans and step back to realize this is a Spurs board first and foremost.... you should EXPECT some homerism here.


While your taking a step back and pondering that, take a look at yourselves mav fans at how brazen and full of some of you have become all because you barely squeeked by the Spurs in a 7 game series.

[mavs>spurs2]

Other than Buckner, none of the new additions are worth anything, and they lost Marquis Daniels.

Anthony Johnson? It's ok, maybe you just don't know about baskeball.

I forgive you.

[Emily Rose]

I really do not understand how the Mav fans can believe the Mavs improved "a lot" this offseason. Other than Buckner, none of the new additions are worth anything, and they lost Marquis Daniels.
Besides, the Mavs STILL don't have a point guard who can dictate the tempo of the offense, still don't have a decent low post scorer, and Nowitzki still requires help on D. The Mavs are in no way in sure fire finalist this year, and quite frankly, this team reminds me of the Kings a few years back, good, but not good enough. When you have something as sure fire as the a series vs. the Heat, and you lose, you just have a LOT of convincing to do.

[FromWayDowntown]

Anthony Johnson? It's ok, maybe you just don't know about baskeball.

I forgive you.

Some Mav fans think Anthony Johnson is a top 10 point guard because he had one really high-scoring playoff game . . . which his team lost.

Of course, those same Mav fans think that Devean George played a substantial role in the Lakers' successes in the early part of the 2000's and that they now have one of the elite role players in the game stashed on their bench.

[Emily Rose]

Some Mav fans think Anthony Johnson is a top 10 point guard because he had one really high-scoring playoff game . . . which his team lost.

Of course, those same Mav fans think that Devean George played a substantial role in the Lakers' successes in the early part of the 2000's and that they now have one of the elite role players in the game stashed on their bench.

so true

[ShoogarBear]

Hmmm. Interesting. That's not what you originally posted.

[mavsfan1000]

Some Mav fans think Anthony Johnson is a top 10 point guard because he had one really high-scoring playoff game . . . which his team lost.

Of course, those same Mav fans think that Devean George played a substantial role in the Lakers' successes in the early part of the 2000's and that they now have one of the elite role players in the game stashed on their bench.

Who would think that? They are solid bench players but no one expects a ton out of them. Anthony Johnson just has to do what Darrell Armstrong couldn't do last year. When Harris is struggling or starting you got a guy that can come off the bench and not lose anything. The biggest help was replacing Van Porn with Croshere.

[phyzik]

Game 1: SAS 87, DAL 85 - 2 points
Game 2: DAL 113, SAS 91 - 22 points (only large margin of victory)
Game 3: DAL 104, SAS 103 - 1 point
Game 4: DAL 123, SAS 118 OT - 5 points
Game 5: SAS 98, DAL 97 - 1 point
Game 6: SAS 91, DAL 86 - 5 points
Game 7: DAL 119, SAS 111 - 8 points

Anyone got the regular season stats? I couldnt find them.

You dont have any young athletic wingmen

On the same token, you dont have as many seasoned playoff/championship veterans

Lack a backup pg

Last I checked we picked up a few people that should be able to handle a few minutes, nevermind the fact if Paino Udrih finally decides to stop being a Puss, he is quite capable as a backup. Besides all that, Parker seems to be willing to up his game even more this year.

full of scrubs/pieces of

Despite Horry's age you should NEVER count him out, thats a huge mistake people have made more times then I can remember.

Just because you havnt seen Oberto play doesnt make him a scrub, People thought the same about Parker after his first couple of years as PG... look at him now.

Barry stunk it up last year and I wouldnt mind a trade with him involved but I think this year he has something to prove and when he is hot no one can deny his presence on the court, plus I like his hustle, he doesnt give up easily.

Besides all that, if we really ARE full of scrubs/pieces of ... what does that say about your team that was taken to a full seven game series? Come on, Im trying not to be a homer, cant you?

have proven that we can blow you ers out in some games while you can barley win by 2-4 points

see stats above.... one game, and yes it was an embarassment, but dont make it out like The Mavericks can do that on a whim, we have proven over the last 10+ years that we can dominate you... what does that prove?

[mavsfan1000]

The only player on the spurs that I think will get better this year is Parker. No one else will get better so it is Dallas playing pretty much the same team this year. Dallas is slightly improved so we'll see what happens.

[mavs>spurs2]

Some Mav fans think Anthony Johnson is a top 10 point guard because he had one really high-scoring playoff game . . . which his team lost.

Of course, those same Mav fans think that Devean George played a substantial role in the Lakers' successes in the early part of the 2000's and that they now have one of the elite role players in the game stashed on their bench.

Nobody said he was top 10, but he is a good backup. The arguement someone made was that the only improvement the mavs made was buckner, but Anthony Johnson is obviously an improvement over DA.

[phyzik]

The only player on the spurs that I think will get better this year is Parker. No one else will get better so it is Dallas playing pretty much the same team this year. Dallas is slightly improved so we'll see what happens.

I also honestly feel that there is no way Dirk has a year like the last one. If he does, he better get MVP.

[FromWayDowntown]

It strikes me as asinine to think that Tim Duncan will average less than 20 ppg and closer to 10 rpg than to 13 rpg.

And if Tim proves me right, he will have improved.

[phyzik]

It strikes me as asinine to think that Tim Duncan will average less than 20 ppg and closer to 10 rpg than to 13 rpg.

And if Tim proves me right, he will have improved.

exactly... call it what you will but a large number of the Spurs main roster was injured for the majority of last season, to say they wont improve over that is a bit of a stretch.

[mavs>spurs2]

It strikes me as asinine to think that Tim Duncan will average less than 20 ppg and closer to 10 rpg than to 13 rpg.

And if Tim proves me right, he will have improved.

But will he improve upon his 32ppg and 12rpg during the semifinals?

[phyzik]

But will he improve upon his 32ppg and 12rpg during the semifinals?

He probably CAN do it, but does he really need to? That remains to be seen. All this talk about Spurs are better then mavs and Mavs are better then spurs is all just supposition. Until we see how each team plays towards the end of the season EVERYONE is just blowing smoke out of their internet asses.

[FromWayDowntown]

But will he improve upon his 32ppg and 12rpg during the semifinals?

If he's defended the same way in a playoff series, I'd be shocked if he didn't.

Given that the Spurs have added depth to their roster and likely won't be running out of gas at the end of such games, I'm also inclined to believe that he'll make those end-of-game shots that he missed last spring, even if his numbers aren't as crazy-good as they were last May.

If he makes those shots -- and I do think he will -- it's not going to be pretty for the Mavericks.

[ambchang]

Anthony Johnson? It's ok, maybe you just don't know about baskeball.

I forgive you.

It is quite a bold statement to label someone you have never talked to about don't knowing anything about basketball.
And you are talking about Anthony Johnson? The some player who played for 6 teams in 8 years (now his 7th in 9 years)? The slower than tortoise PG who fits into the Pacers system, but is now on a Mavs team that relies on quickness on perimeter defense? The player who played relatively well as a Pacer because of their PG oriented offense vs. the free flowing offense on the Mavs?
In retrospect, the only thing that showed me not knowing anything about basketball is that I actually think Buckner could be of significant impact.

[FromWayDowntown]

And you are talking about Anthony Johnson? The some player who played for 6 teams in 8 years (now his 7th in 9 years)? The slower than tortoise PG who fits into the Pacers system, but is now on a Mavs team that relies on quickness on perimeter defense? The player who played relatively well as a Pacer because of their PG oriented offense vs. the free flowing offense on the Mavs?

but . . . but . . . but . . . he scored 40 points in a playoff game last spring.

[ambchang]

The only player on the spurs that I think will get better this year is Parker. No one else will get better so it is Dallas playing pretty much the same team this year. Dallas is slightly improved so we'll see what happens.

So who do you see as someone who would improve on the Mavs this year? People continue to talk about how the Mavs are better, but how?
Nowitzki is as good as you can get offensively, he might improve this year, but if he could improve significantly over last year, he would be Larry Bird, and since Bird is a once in a lifetime kind of player, and I am not dead yet, I doubt Dirk would be that good.
Josh Howard has improved last year based mostly on increased minutes (at least statistically). He is probably the player with the most upside this year on the Mavs. He reminds people of a young Pippen, which is fair, but it remains to be seen whether he could mature into a prime Pippen.
Devin Harris is quick as , and has no jumpshot, his next significant improvement comes from a consistent jumper, and I have seen little evidence of this developing.
Who else is there to improve?
BTW, I don't think Parker will improve too much this year. He is already pretty damned good, and after 5 years, he is probably as good as he will ever get.
Young != going to get better.

[ambchang]

Nobody said he was top 10, but he is a good backup. The arguement someone made was that the only improvement the mavs made was buckner, but Anthony Johnson is obviously an improvement over DA.

So you would think Anthony Johnson is going to make some impact with the minutes he is going to get behind Jason Terry and Devin Harris? How many minutes do you expect him to get anyways? 10? 20? 30?
I am guessing somewhere close to 10 to 12 minutes a game, too few for him to make any real impact.