Stein - Interesting theory about Franky and the mavs

[tim_duncan_fan]

I didn't hear a lot of dialogue about this after the Mavs won in San Antonio last weekend, but I certainly noticed.

Spurs newcomer Francisco Elson, after shadowing Dirk Nowitzki so impressively in the season opener, barely went near Nowitzki in the Nov. 24 rematch.

My theory?

From espn's weekend dime

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailyd...dime-061202-03

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich liked what he saw from Elson on Nov. 2 ... length, athleticism and activity that A) Nowitzki isn't accustomed to seeing from San Antonio's defense and B) enabled Bruce Bowen to focus on Josh Howard while helping Tim Duncan stay out of foul trouble.

Fabricio Oberto did a fair job against Nowitzki in the teams' second meeting, but I suspect Popovich simply prefers now to expose Nowitzki to Elson as little as possible before the playoffs and save that wrinkle for the seemingly inevitable Mavs-Spurs series in May or June.

[BeerIsGood!]

Pop plays with the regular season like a mad scientist. He doesn't want to win every game. He wants the occasional losing streak. Why? Because he knows the leadership on this team will be forced to focus and take charge. Nothing like a good losing streak to be the perverbial slap in the face to a great team that makes it step up a few notches. We've seen over the last few years how HCA doesn't matter as much as people say, so Pop would rather have his team fighting down the stretch for playoff positioning with a fairly rested and healthy team than have a team so far out in front they can coast and get lazy. Nothing about his regular season rotations surprise me anymore.

[phyzik]

The Spurs fan in me wants to agree....... The "that is total bull " in me doesn't.

[tim_duncan_fan]

The Spurs fan in me wants to agree....... The "that is total bull " in me doesn't.

I feel the same way. They really do need to get Franky more minutes.

[Walton Buys Off Me]

Some people just give Gregg Popovich way too much credit. Give me Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and I'll get you two les in four years also.

Pop's an average coach at best and when an opposing coach does somthing 'out of the ordinary', he's lost for three and a half quarters.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

So in other words it helped us as a team to lose to our best division rival?

[boutons_]

This sounds like bull .
FO needs as much PT as possible, guarding Dirk or anybody else.
Pop has always said there are no secrets, everybody studies everybody else's DVDs.

If FO is effective in guarding DN, both DN and FO will adjust and counter-adjust to each other each game.

[Kori Ellis]

I guess this theory would be good if Elson got significant minutes in the next game (Seattle).

What was Pop doing in that game? Holding him out because they didn't want to reveal his technique as the Petro stopper for the playoffs?

[ducks]

Second-best center in the West?

One month into the season, it's a pretty wild conversation.

You'd have to favor Denver's Marcus Camby at this point.

You'd likewise be wise to pay attention to that Amare Stoudemire kid in Phoenix, although the league's most famous microfracture patient is starting to show signs that his recovery just might put him back in contention someday for far bigger accolades than this one. (Anyone else notice that Amare's critics have suddenly gotten awfully quiet?)

However ...

Two names that have to be included -- names that wouldn't have been nominated by their own families when the season began -- are Golden State's Andris Biedrins and Dallas' Erick Dampier.

Biedrins has hyperbolic Warriors coach Don Nelson comparing the Latvian to Dave Cowens and calling Biedrins his best center since Bob Lanier ... and Biedrins' amazing start actually justifies some of that hype. His truly horrific free-throw stroke is an affront to lefties everywhere, but everything else looks great, with the energetic 20-year-old averaging 11.1 points and 9.8 rebounds, shooting 65.2 percent from the floor and impressing countless observers with his eye for passing and ability to catch all kinds of passes.

The best part? Biedrins wouldn't even be playing if Mike Montgomery were still coaching the Warriors. Team insiders note, furthermore, that Biedrins was always restricted to low-block duty on the rare occasions Montgomery did try him. Under Nelson, not surprisingly, Biedrins has been converted to a high-post center whose quickness and agility allow him to speed past bigger defenders and get to the rim.

Dampier regressed to the point last season that coaches and teammates stopped expecting anything from him. An improving DeSagana Diop was presumed to be this season's starter. But Dampier quietly worked out in August and September as hard as any Mav -- even running sprints with little guards, on occasion -- and just completed his best month since signing his regularly slammed seven-year, $73 million deal.

Even as the league's field-goal percentage leader (.690), and with seven double-doubles already compared to just four last season, Dampier will have to do this for more than a month to hush the skeptics and win back frustrated fans. History, furthermore, says he can't (or won't) keep this up. But Dampier really hasn't gotten enough credit for the offensive rebounding and shot-blocking he's supplied Dallas during its 11-game win streak, especially since no one was really expecting dramatic improvement even after his summer of hard work.



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I didn't hear a lot of dialogue about this after the Mavs won in San Antonio last weekend, but I certainly noticed.

Spurs newcomer Francisco Elson, after shadowing Dirk Nowitzki so impressively in the season opener, barely went near Nowitzki in the Nov. 24 rematch.

My theory?

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich liked what he saw from Elson on Nov. 2 ... length, athleticism and activity that A) Nowitzki isn't accustomed to seeing from San Antonio's defense and B) enabled Bruce Bowen to focus on Josh Howard while helping Tim Duncan stay out of foul trouble.

Fabricio Oberto did a fair job against Nowitzki in the teams' second meeting, but I suspect Popovich simply prefers now to expose Nowitzki to Elson as little as possible before the playoffs and save that wrinkle for the seemingly inevitable Mavs-Spurs series in May or June.


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You probably heard the vow earlier this week from Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, after a flurry of Pau Gasol trade rumors, that there's "no damn way" Pau is headed elsewhere.

Something else interesting out of Memphis that you probably haven't heard: Grizz president Jerry West, before Heisley's proclamation, apparently addressed Memphis' players to tell them that the recent speculation about coach Mike Fratello's imminent dismissal was unfounded and should be ignored.

Yet you better stay tuned away. If the proposed sale of the team goes through, which would empower former Dukie Brian Davis to make the authoritative statements, everything changes and anything is possible.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailyd...dime-061202-03

[NBA Junkie]

Mehmet Okur should get some consideration here as well.

I'd still give the nod to Amare even if he is playing out of position at center.

[VaSpursFan]

I guess this theory would be good if Elson got significant minutes in the next game (Seattle).

What was Pop doing in that game? Holding him out because they didn't want to reveal his technique as the Petro stopper for the playoffs?

that theory is complete bull .

[Dalhoop]

I suspect Popovich simply prefers now to expose Nowitzki to Elson as little as possible before the playoffs and save that wrinkle for the seemingly inevitable Mavs-Spurs series in May or June.

This does make sense. Its the same thing that the Mavs did to the Spurs before the playoffs last year. The Terry / Harris backcourt was played in one game and had great success in that game. After that game the Mavs didn't play the Terry / Harris backcourt again until Game Two.

Now that doesn't explain his lack of playing time, maybe he has a minor injury or is in the doghouse that is effecting that, but vs the Mavs, I can see a good coaching staff "play their cards close to the vest" against an almost certain playoff opponent.

[Racspur1]

The Spurs fan in me wants to agree....... The "that is total bull " in me doesn't.

[LEONARD]

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

[texas84]

Anyone else see this? Any Spurs fans believe this?

"I didn't hear a lot of dialogue about this after the Mavs won in San Antonio last weekend, but I certainly noticed.

Spurs newcomer Francisco Elson, after shadowing Dirk Nowitzki so impressively in the season opener, barely went near Nowitzki in the Nov. 24 rematch.

My theory?

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich liked what he saw from Elson on Nov. 2 ... length, athleticism and activity that A) Nowitzki isn't accustomed to seeing from San Antonio's defense and B) enabled Bruce Bowen to focus on Josh Howard while helping Tim Duncan stay out of foul trouble.

Fabricio Oberto did a fair job against Nowitzki in the teams' second meeting, but I suspect Popovich simply prefers now to expose Nowitzki to Elson as little as possible before the playoffs and save that wrinkle for the seemingly inevitable Mavs-Spurs series in May or June."

[SenorSpur]

I probably would be a bit skeptical about this, except for something I heard on local Dallas radio this past week. Avery was on his weekly radio show and he discussed how HE himself used the most recent Spurs/Mavs game to try a "wrinkle or two" to see evaulate the results. See how his San Antonio countered this wrinkle. See if it worked in certain situations. His intentions were to "file away the results for future reference". Of course, he never revealed what the wrinkle was.

If that's true, then it's not far-feteched to believe Pop would subscribe to the same strategic theory. As everybody knows, Avery learned quite a lot of his own strategic planning from CIA Pop.

[KB24]

Pop plays with the regular season like a mad scientist. He doesn't want to win every game. He wants the occasional losing streak. Why? Because he knows the leadership on this team will be forced to focus and take charge. Nothing like a good losing streak to be the perverbial slap in the face to a great team that makes it step up a few notches. We've seen over the last few years how HCA doesn't matter as much as people say, so Pop would rather have his team fighting down the stretch for playoff positioning with a fairly rested and healthy team than have a team so far out in front they can coast and get lazy. Nothing about his regular season rotations surprise me anymore.

That's great Championship Mentality.

[usckk]

I agree.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

You guys realize dirk probably wasn't trying very hard in the opener either right

[PM5K]

You guys realize dirk probably wasn't trying very hard in the opener either right

Why wouldn't he be?

[nkdlunch]

Marc Stein:
I didn't hear a lot of dialogue about this after the Mavs won in San Antonio last weekend, but I certainly noticed.

Spurs newcomer Francisco Elson, after shadowing Dirk Nowitzki so impressively in the season opener, barely went near Nowitzki in the Nov. 24 rematch.

My theory?

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich liked what he saw from Elson on Nov. 2 ... length, athleticism and activity that A) Nowitzki isn't accustomed to seeing from San Antonio's defense and B) enabled Bruce Bowen to focus on Josh Howard while helping Tim Duncan stay out of foul trouble.

Fabricio Oberto did a fair job against Nowitzki in the teams' second meeting, but I suspect Popovich simply prefers now to expose Nowitzki to Elson as little as possible before the playoffs and save that wrinkle for the seemingly inevitable Mavs-Spurs series in May or June.

[Squid]

Wow this is the 8th thread about the same comments.

[Kori Ellis]

Fifth time posted.

Is this a record?



Scroll down a couple threads.

[nkdlunch]

ooops sorry

[Kori Ellis]

That's okay. I merged four of the threads together.