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Well when I saw who wrote this..................I didn't really bother to read a line of it.
The guy who has made a career of writing Spurs suck-fests has a few not so nice things to say about David Robinson. I can't wait for reaction to this.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7454094
Mavs' performance a good ego boost
Game Time: Mavericks 105, Spurs 92
In the wake of a convincing win against the defending champs, here's the Mavs' latest report card.
Pass
Dallas hit the floor running at full throttle and took full advantage of San Antonio's rather lethargic start. The Spurs started off with Fabricio Oberto guarding Dirk Nowitzki, and the MVP was just unstoppable. Along the way, Nowitzki was defended by Tim Duncan, Michael Finley, Brent Barry and Francisco Elson, but never by the Spurs defender who has historically given him the most trouble — Bruce Bowen. Obviously, Gregg Popovich wants to save this matchup for later in the season, or even for the playoffs.
The Mavs were intent on pushing the ball at every opportunity — even after the Spurs made shots. This hurry-up pace was a little quicker than the Spurs wanted, and it also nullified Bowen's ability to keep up with — and play his brutal defense against — Josh Howard.
The Mavs' ball-sniping produced six first-quarter turnovers, with every pass and dribble being contested. As a result, over the initial 12 minutes Dallas played about as well as it possibly can. The Mavs' effort created a 33-18 lead, and for all intents and purposes the game was over.
For the duration, the Mavs swung the ball from inside to outside and from side to side, always looking to make the extra pass. Only Nowitzki and Erick Dampier forced shots for Dallas.
Nowitzki, Dampier, DeSagana Diop, and Brandon Bass all took turns guarding Tim Duncan, a move that for most of the game prevented Duncan from getting comfortable — though he did manage to score a flurry of post-up points against Bass.
Later in the game, when the Spurs doubled Nowitzki on the wing, slick reversal passes located an open shooter (usually Jason Terry) on the opposite wing.
The Mavs chumped most of San Antonio's defensive switches. For example, on one possession Josh Howard easily beat Duncan on a drive that resulted in a layup-plus-one. At another juncture, Nowitzki took Tony Parker into the pivot and was immediately fouled.
Devin Harris out-quicked Parker all game long. Even better, it seemed that every one of Harris' successful pull-ups and drives served to beat a Spurs rally. (He had 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.)
Fail
The Mavs' bigs had trouble sealing Oberto and Duncan off the offensive glass. In the second half, Matt Bonner's defense on Nowitzki featured a perpetual barrage of elbows, hip checks, grabbings and bangings. Consequently, Nowitzki wasn't much of a factor in the end-game — not that he needed to be.
The Mavs' second unit — usually consisting of Dampier, Jerry Stackhouse, Bass, Terry and Josh Howard — was consistently outplayed by the Spurs subs. Twice, Avery Johnson had to cut short the second unit's rotation and plug the starters back in to keep the Spurs at bay.
Nowitzki was mostly stymied when he was fronted in the low post.
Incomplete
It remains to be seen if Maurice Ager can play at this level. He started in place of the injured Eddie Jones and showed wonderful athleticism in finishing on a pair of fastbreaks. But he was lost on a weak-side screen that left Manu Ginobili wide open for a 3-ball.
In addition, Ager made good decisions when he passed the ball in half-court sets — but he committed a charge when he tried to force his way into the lane. Plus, the one jumper he attempted crashed off the backboard as though the ball weighed 10 pounds.
Dampier hasn't fully recovered from his shoulder woes, so it was understandable that his timing was off. His defense was unusually passive and he also took a crazy driving flipper that hit high off the backboard and didn't come within two feet of the rim.
It also remains to be seen if the Mavs can play with the same intensity for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. If they can, Mark Cuban might be dancing on air come June.
Beating the Spurs in such a decisive fashion was a major accomplishment and will go a long way toward rebuilding the Mavs' fractured confidence. But it's not even Thanksgiving, so their legs and their chops are still fresh.
Straight Shooting: Admiral's Legacy
Contrary to popular opinion, David Robinson was one of the most overrated players of all-time. Here's why:
Although he was a terrific shot-blocker from the weak-side, he was just an average on-the-ball defender.
He was a turnover machine.
His offense was limited to elbow jumpers and put-backs. Otherwise, he liked to take his left hand to the middle and start faking — but if his defender stayed put, then Robinson was always hard-pressed to find a decent shot.
B.D. (before Duncan), the Admiral was infamous for missing clutch free throws in the playoffs.
He played with a remarkable lack of passion, and was always reluctant to bang with the other bigs.
He never won diddly until Tim Duncan showed up in San Antonio.
But Robinson was intelligent, well-behaved, an all-around nice guy, and had nifty numbers. Good enough to fool the media, who fooled the fans.
Vox Populi
I would like to see a list of players whose greatest contributions to their team's success is not measured by primary statistics, i.e., scoring, rebounds, assists, and are consequently mostly ignored by the fans and the media.- Mike K, Winnipeg, Canada
This is my favorite kind of list! Thanks for asking.
Shane Battier — Does his job — shooting 3s, playing defense and executing the offense — with no bluster or complaints.
Raja Bell — A belligerent defender who puts some grit into the Suns' game plan.
Nick Collison — Bangs, hustles, overachieves.
Jeff Foster — Defends, makes few mistakes and is a rebounding fool.
Trenton Hassell — He's Bruce Bowen minus the spotlight.
Eduardo Najera — The ultimate tough hombre. Bad wheels have hindered his career
Fabricio Oberto — The perfect role player for the Spurs. Count on him to be in the right place at the right time.
Bo Outlaw — Plays defense, works his butt off in games and in practice, and is a terrific presence in the locker room.
Malik Rose — A warrior and a pro's pro who can still play nasty defense.
Darius Songaila — A coach's dream who's willing to do whatever off-the-ball trench work that needs to be done.
DeShawn Stevenson — Extremely talented. He plays both ends of the court but is willing to sacrifice his offense.
Travels with Charley
It was late in the 1992-93 season when I happened to be at the press table to eyeball the Nets hosting the Spurs — a thrilling game that wasn't decided until the last possession.
The Spurs were up by one and the Nets had the ball, and the game clock was down to single digits. The Nets ran a play for Drazen Petrovic (may he rest in peace), who drove hard into the middle. There to meet him at the basket was David Robinson, the NBA's reigning shot-block champion.
However, instead of making an effort to smack Petrovic's win-or-lose shot, the Admiral chose to hold his ground and try to draw a charge. Petro made a slick left-to-right adjustment as he left the floor that avoided any meaningful body contact, and calmly sank the game-winning bucket.
In the postgame locker room, several members of San Antonio's coaching staff were hopping mad at Robinson.
"The guy's as soft as butter!" fumed one suit.
"He was gonna let the refs decide the game?" barked another. "Unbelievable!"
"You know what the trouble with Robinson is?" said Suit No. 1. "He doesn't really love to play the game. I mean, he doesn't love it."
"I agree," chimed his colleague. "That's why he never works on his game during the off-season. I mean, the guy's too intelligent for his own good. He'd rather mess around with his computer than work on his post-up moves. What a waste!"
The prosecution rests.
Well when I saw who wrote this..................I didn't really bother to read a line of it.
Trade David Robinson
really? is it because you don't like his stuff or what? i figured Spurs fans would love Charley Rosen. this article is obviously not as complimentary but usually he can't wait to kiss Spur ass.
here whottty, whottty, whottty
He's a horrible writer.
Old news. Rosen is a longtime DRob hater.The guy who has made a career of writing Spurs suck-fests has a few not so nice things to say about David Robinson. I can't wait for reaction to this.
It's understandable though because Rosen is a Phil Jackson lover and Robinson ended his reign. Rosen is just a scorned Laker homer.
How you knock a guy with two rings and a bunch of statistical records blows my mind.
He gets paid to write stuff...
He obviously has nothing to say if this is the stuff he comes up with.
The Admiral was not overrated.
I agree with that, but I've never seen a writer more biased towards the Spurs.
Are you serious?
Rosen has been pretty Spurs-friendly the past few year but he's long been one of the biggest DRob playa hatas.
Did you just start reading his stuff after 2003?
Does he give statistics and specific instances to back up his overrated claims? I'd like to see a little substance if you're going to completely dog out a Hall-of-Famer.
edit:
I looked up turnovers and Tim has almost as many in 10 seasons (2151) that David had in 14 (2417 counting the 6 games he played in 1996-97). Guess that makes Tim on the verge of being an overrated turnover machine as well.
name one that is.
Have you not followed basketball for more than a year?
it, it's what I should have expected. As long as we on the Suns fans it's "well gee you Mav fans ain't so bad" but as soon as the Mavs win one meaningless regular season game and Rosen doesn't get the kneepads out for the Spurs Dynasty it's back to "you have no clue WTF you're talking about ya bag Mav fan".
delete thread. this was the worst idea ever.
If only Drob was tough and loved the game...you know, like Shaq...he'd probably still be playing.
Playing in pain...giving it all up for the team...like Shaq.
really? is it because you don't like his stuff or what? i figured Spurs fans would love Charley Rosen. this article is obviously not as complimentary but usually he can't wait to kiss Spur ass.Exactly. Rarely have I read positive stuff about the Spurs from Rosen...his stuff goes back into the 90's against the Spurs.It's understandable though because Rosen is a Phil Jackson lover and Robinson ended his reign. Rosen is just a scorned Laker homer.
Over-react much?
Rosen was definitely a DRob hater, he didn't start kissing Spur ass until after DRob retired in 2003. Now you know.
The problem isn't the Mavs won a game. The problem is not knowing that Rosen is a Phil Jackson's boy toy who has a long standing negative view of David Robinson.
To Spurs fans, Rosen hating on Robinson (even for no reason like he was in this article) is about as unexpected as Stephen A. Smith calling out Dirk.
It's the same junk he's spat out plenty of times, and the numbers just don't bare it out. IIRC, Robinson is in the top ten in career scoring, not the sort of position you expect to find someone with a limited offensive game. If that was really all his scoring consisted of I'm at a loss for how bad the NBA's entire defense must have been for such a predictable player to win a scoring le. Also, I've never seen or heard of a guy winning a rebounding le who wasn't willing to mix it up with big guys.
It's ok, it won't hurt forever.
David Dupree
It's fool's gold for a Spurs fan, because Rosen's opinions are so out of whack.
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