It's not that he dodged doing so IMHO. According to what i saw, the Mavs just did a wonderful job keeping the Spurs outside of the areas near the basket. Even Manu was handled pretty well and didn't get a pinch of opportunities to penetrate, and was forced to shoot the ball too ing much from longer range.
Could Temple possibly play worse than Mason or Bogans? I don't see how.
Ian could possibly play worse than anyone else on Dirk? So he'd go 14 for 14 or make some more foulshots. Since he is their go to guy I don't think he'd get that many more chances. On the other hand, Ian's length might alter a few shots.
There is no Dirk stopper.
The only word I'd modify in your statement is "now." He's been an object of criticism as long as he's under-performed... which has been all season long, unfortunately.
Don't forget Barea/Boubouis either... others the spurs have to keep an eye on who are capable of lighting it up
Butler had 5 t/o's too..
Spot on. Pop's playoff coaching has been more about mistakes than anything else the last 2-3 years.
He's coaching like a robot now, PJ's "simulator crew" jab has never been more appropriate.
Combine that with age and injuries, and you have the current heartbreaking state of the Spurs.
Last edited by Capt Bringdown; 04-19-2010 at 08:15 AM.
this will be quick and painful if they play like this again.
These two were really missed.
The team needs to get RJ going early and often. We know that Tim, Manu and Tony can get it going pretty much whenever they want. If RJ establishes himself early, that totally changes how the Mavs have to defend.
True...
as painful as it is, RJ is the key for the Spurs success. The Big 3 no longer has what it takes to carry the team in a 7 games serie
Oh and Ian would help too...
When the spurs wave the the white flag, you will see this lineup....It would get destroyed especially with a gimpy hill and Ian would probably stay on the floor for 5 minutes before fouling out.
If this is the case, we can thank Derek Fisher for ing another Spurs le run.
Yavozerb we all know you pining away for that Euro-stiff named Splitter but give me a break.. 5 minutes? C'mon at least be reasonable.
The mavs version of "foul machine" Mahinmi (Dampier) stays on the floor more often than not 20+ minutes a game. He played 30 minutes last night, and garnered only 3 fouls.
Heck, if Mahinmi could even do half as good as that (1 foul every 5 minutes) and give the spurs good interior defense and rebounding he could play up to 30 mins a game.
can't you tell? we like to make things interesting by playing jj barea.
I didn't watch the game. But from the box score, I see that Nowitzki had a very good shooting game. And like what OP said, that Long Arms was playing 18 passive minutes. Despite all these, we only lost by 6 points on the road.
Pop's decision to play Long arms was questionable.
To win the next game, it will be based on 3 things.
1. Getting the better of dirk.
I don't think anyone can keep up with that kind of shooting % even for 2 games. Put all kinds of defenders on Dirk to change alter his shot selection and not let him get too comfortable.
2. Letting manu run all plays.
Self explanatory.
3. guard rotations.
Long arms should not have played. Bad game time decision. 18 minutes could have gone to tony and temple. Honestly, our front line is very weak. Only way to win the series is by tony and manu scoring against an aging kidd and a small berea. Look at the box score. Manu and Tony combined for 44 points. If long arms didn't play, they would exceed 50 points with help from temple/mason.
Any contribution from RJ would be a bonus. However, let's face it. Does anyone think that he's capable of "ramping up" his play to give the Spurs the much needed lift they need? He's struggled all year and he's STILL struggling now. I'm sorry, but I don't have any faith that he's capable of doing that.
I don't think RJ is a bad player, he's simply miscast on this offense and on this team.
dirk will be guarding whoever is playing small forward for the spurs... or at least on someone where he can hide on defense. why would the mavs waste nowitzi's energy when they have guys who can do the job?
Last edited by m33p0; 04-19-2010 at 01:05 PM.
I haven't read any of the posts in this thread so I may be rehashing somethings. I was disappointed with our lapses in judgement. The unforced turnovers were killers.. We will never get away from breathing on dirk and getting called for a foul but we sure as can stop turning the ball over. I have no fault with our effort but the unforced errors are deadly.
Duncan got stripped of the ball repeatedly on face ups, at least 5X he was forced into a turnover... he needs to stop facing up on the elbows and either go down on the block and post more or do P&R
Agreed. Here's what we need to do the next game to win...
-NO Roger Mason Jr.
-NO cute passes.
-ALL fouls need to make sure the ball doesn't get to the rim, And 1's kill.
The Spurs LOST, the Mavs didn't win other than the fact that they didn't try to get cute or have RMJ on their team.
Now let's sack up and get to work!
The turnovers and careless ball-handling are an issue. However, they're certainly not new issues. This team has stuggled in this area all season.
Unfortunately we need more firepower vs. Mavs so we still will see more Mason. I think Bogans could have a good defensive impact so we also will see more of him.
we really don't have anyone with balls out there besides Tim, Dice, Manu and Parker.
The rest of the team is playing like a regular season game. wake up mother ers, it's the playoffs!!!
I agree with no more Mason. Insert Garrett Temple instead.
Less Bonner. more Blair. While I don't know if there is anything he and the team can do to slow down Dirk, perhaps they should make him work on the defensive end. At least Blair will make up for his lack of size by his effort, desire and glass cleaning.
Perhaps it's even time to allow Ian to take a turn at Dirk. I know that will NEVER happen in the playoffs, but because of the severe matchup issues they have with the Mavs, Pop doesn't have a lot of options.
If Pop was desparate enough to resort to the dreaded "Hack-a-Damp" strategy, he should be desparate enough to try some other personnel matchups. At this point, I don't believe Pop can afford to wait until Game 5 to shake things up. He needs to start now.
Oddly enough, and as bad as he has been playing, I agree with this... this team without a healthy George Hill needs to get some scoring off the bench and with RJ not getting many touches since Parker came back and Bonner curling up into a s and Temple being much too green for the intensity of a playoff game.. the spurs desperately need a boost from Roger Mason Jr. in order to have a chance in this series.
Nice write up, timvp. I agree with everything. Hopefully Temple will get some time on the court to prove whether or not he can contribute. Mason has already shown us what he contributes, although those fouls on Damp were the only use of him.
Although the fouls being called for anyone near Dirk were irritating, it was also expected. The refs sure seemed to swallow their whistle every time the guys got near the basket, so hopefully that will swing to the Spurs favor is they get more aggressive.
Over all, I agree with everyone that the Spurs just did not play as sharp offensively as they need to and should not leave Kidd alone on the 3 pt line. Manage the turnovers, get some contribution from the role players other than Masons, and there is a good chance at a win.
I still like putting Bogans on Buttler when RJ is out. We lose on offense, but he bodies up on him well. Matt did about all he can do on Dirk, but unless he is going to hit those 3's, we might as well have Blair in there getting the fouls.
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