Say what you will, Bradley above it all

[MavsFanFinley]

Say what you will, Bradley above it all

Friday, November 21, 2003

This is Shawn Bradley's eighth season with the Mavericks. In that time, he has heard every rant, rip and catcall possible.

A uniform reaction starts at Mavericks home games when Bradley appears.

Groans.

No local performer has inspired such a negative response since former Rangers reliever Terry Mathews. A decade ago, the club stopped announcing Mathews when he entered games in a failed attempt to cut off the boos.

Bradley knows what everyone in the seats, and sometimes on the benches, thinks of his often-maddening play. This is his response:

"I love playing basketball in this town," Bradley said. "I love the people here. This is home."

He meant it.

The most amazing thing about Shawn Bradley is that after a difficult decade in the NBA, he is not bitter. If there is an iota of resentment in his 7-6 body, he hides it well.

Bradley has been mocked and ridiculed more than any other player in the league. He can be clumsy on the court, bringing cruel laughter.

The treatment has not broken him.

It's an acquired skill.

People have said hurtful things, intentional or unintentional, about Bradley all his life. His challenge was to deal with the slurs, or descend into despair.

Bradley has kept his grip by keeping basketball in balance. He enjoys every moment of his career, but "my true happiness" comes from wife Annette and their five children.

Bradley's play can be erratic, but his psyche is well grounded.

"I was always different," Bradley said. "It's not always easy, and sometimes [comments] hurt. But that's not where I get my validation.

"I understand there are going to be comments. Such is life. But I still love to play this game."

That is important for the Mavericks, the league's terrors from tiny town. They need Bradley now more than ever.

"We'll get our bell rung if we don't have Shawn Bradley available," coach Don Nelson said.

Not much has changed about Bradley's game. He will pick up fouls in a hurry. He can be overpowered and will not score much.

He also leads the club in the one quality that cannot be taught, coached or developed.

Height.

In putting together a roster full of scorers, the Mavericks left themselves looking up at the rest of the league.

The Mavericks, as always, go against the grain by having only Bradley and Dirk Nowitzki at taller than 6-9. A lack of big men, no matter their skill level, is a tremendous disadvantage in the NBA. Every team has size.

Consider Saturday's opponent: Denver. The Nuggets have four players taller than 6-10. They will need all of those big men and more to chase down the misses of a team that began Friday's play with an atrocious 37.1 shooting percentage.

Nelson can use Danny Fortson and Eduardo Najera at center for spurts. Both have more muscle than Bradley, but height eventually wears down strength.

Fortson and Najera are also only 6-8. That is not nearly tall enough to anchor the back of zone defenses. Opponents can pass over Fortson and Najera.

The Mavericks must play zone defenses. Those zones helped the Mavericks reach the Western Conference finals last season. Nelson had Bradley and Raef LaFrentz, at 6-11, to use in those defenses.

With LaFrentz traded to Boston, the burden falls upon Bradley. If he is active, the zones are effective.

Bradley's playing time has been limited as he continues rehabilitation from off-season surgery on his left knee. In his brief exposure, Bradley has shown he can help a team full of scorers just by being tall.

With Bradley in, opponents have made only 65 of 170 shots for a 38.2 percentage. The Mavericks have a 110-98 rebounding advantage during Bradley's minutes.

Bradley alone does not do that, but he helps. Fortson compared Bradley's defensive presence to that of Houston's Yao Ming. The shooter always worries about Bradley, Fortson said.

That showed during Thursday's 95-92 win against San Antonio, when Bradley had seven rebounds and three blocks in a season-high 22 minutes.

With Bradley in, the Spurs made 15 of 37 shots for a 40.5 percentage. With Bradley out, the Spurs made 20 of 42 shots for a 47.6 percentage.

"Shawn's been consistent the last couple of games," teammate Michael Finley said. "That's hard to say, because when you do, he usually goes back to playing bad again. But when he plays like he did [against the Spurs], he makes us better."

[Fah Q]

"Shawn's been consistent the last couple of games," teammate Michael Finley said. "That's hard to say, because when you do, he usually goes back to playing bad again. But when he plays like he did [against the Spurs], he makes us better."

Wow that was a backhanded compliment by a team leader

[Murphy3]

I really think that the compliment has a little bit of sorriness in it. I didn't hear Finley making comments about NVE last year concerning his very inconsistent play.

I like Fin and all, but I can't say that I'm not disappointed in him.

[dude1394]

It is really frustrating to be in the arena and hear the drunk idiots yelling at bradley for everything. If he doesn't block every shot, get every rebound, make every shot, they blast him.

Number one I hate to hear the fans boo their team, it is way too much like philedelphia. But some of the drunks at the arena don't do much else than gripe, it's a pain.

And he and walker both put their hands over their hearts during the national anthem. I like 'em both.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Fah Q

Wow that was a backhanded compliment by a team leader

I think there is little doubt that Nellie's influence is showing here and not in a very positive way I might add. I would have hoped that Fin would have been able to overcome the negative influence from his coach.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: dude1394
It is really frustrating to be in the arena and hear the drunk idiots yelling at bradley for everything. If he doesn't block every shot, get every rebound, make every shot, they blast him.

Number one I hate to hear the fans boo their team, it is way too much like philedelphia. But some of the drunks at the arena don't do much else than gripe, it's a pain.

Dude some of those drunks probably think that they are in Philly. And I'm with you, no place to be booing your team or it's players. But everyone likes to be able to pick on someone and Bradley is just a convient target. Doesn't make it right, just makes those who do it look very imature.

[dude1394]

There is one guy who sits up in the pizza inn section and has a really annoying way of "cheering". When the other team scores he boos. So what is he booing, the other team or the fact that the mavs let 'em score. Arrrrggggg....

I would say he's booing the other team but he's also got a constant commentary of come ON mav's with a really negative tone. I just have to make enough noise to drown him out. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[MavsFanFinley]

I wish we could have heard the tone when Finley said this. Was he being harsh and negative towards a teammate? Which is out of character for Fin, at least, in a public forum. Or did he say it knowing that Bradley can put a string of games together that is dominate and not want to jinx him by complimenting him now?

[dude1394]

Well it looked like he was just being honest. That has been shawn's bug-a-boo, consistency. If he would just play hard every night, slam it when he can, then I would be very pleased. Start him about 10 minutes in the first/second half.

[Murphy3]

Even if it is honest, that does not mean that it needs to be said by a teammate. Much could be made by teammates griping about Finley and Dirk having off shooting years last year. No one ever publicly criticized NVE for being horribly inconsistent.

Sometimes it's best just to keep your mouth shut

[dirno2000]

I think there is little doubt that Nellie's influence is showing here and not in a very positive way I might add. I would have hoped that Fin would have been able to overcome the negative influence from his coach.

Mike Finley is a grown man and is fully capible of forming his own opinions. Face it, sometimes Shawn just doesn't show up and on those nights it's not just Nellie who realizes it.

[Murphy3]

Then Finley needs to start stepping up and calling out everyone that has bad stretches including himself.

[u2sarajevo]

Bradley rising above it all!!!!

[mercury_rev]

"I was always different," Bradley said. "It's not always easy, and sometimes [comments] hurt. But that's not where I get my validation.

"I understand there are going to be comments. Such is life. But I still love to play this game."

Intelligent attitude.

[jayC]

Murph,

The knock on bradley for a long time is that he didn't put forth the effort every night. Until last year you could say that was true. The mantis has always been inconsistent but it could be that he just didn't have a good post defender playing beside him. It seems as Dirks post D has improved, Bradley's play has too.

[Chiwas]

Opponents can pass over Fortson and Najera.

Not quite true, I mean passing can be made regardless of the height, but not of the speed.

Maybe, but I'm not sure either cause the muscle factor but "opponents can make easier jumpshots or lay-ups over Fortson and Najera" could be better.

I was going also to say "dunk over", but I think Shawn has his own stories here.

And in the offensive end, I prefer Najera, then Shawn, and hardly Fortson.

However, none of them can play like an actual starting center, 30 or more minutes night after night.

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Even if it is honest, that does not mean that it needs to be said by a teammate. Much could be made by teammates griping about Finley and Dirk having off shooting years last year. No one ever publicly criticized NVE for being horribly inconsistent.

Sometimes it's best just to keep your mouth shut

I do agree with you. Of course all of the other players could constantly harp on finley for being too timid to take it to the rack. Something like..
"Yeah he really was aggressive and took it to the rack today, but that's the thing with finley, he'll then just start settling for jumpers".
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: jayC
Murph,

The knock on bradley for a long time is that he didn't put forth the effort every night. Until last year you could say that was true. The mantis has always been inconsistent but it could be that he just didn't have a good post defender playing beside him. It seems as Dirks post D has improved, Bradley's play has too.

This is interesting JayC.. Bradley has always been saddled with being Yao Ming before Yao was cool. For the mavericks for many years he was expected to be the last line of defense, the last line of a very porous defense I might add. This year the whole team seems upgraded so that even when he's in there, the rest of the team is rebounding, playing defense.

But as nellie was talking about he does seem to lose conditioning easy. I wonder if he has ever attempted something like karate to improve his balance and overall conditioning. He really has nice hands for a big guy and if he could ever get better balance I think he would be really effective.

Also (assuming shawn stays healthy) he's really a nice long-term center. There is a picture of him up at el fenix I guess when he first came to the mavericks and he's easily 50-60 pounds heavier. In a few more years he will probably be 300 lbs and possibly again even more stable. I think bradley will be a very nice long-term center for the mavs, the fans should appreciate a guy who makes such an impact for a measly 5 million a year.

But it's really tough changing popular opinion because the folks making it usually don't know what they are talking about and want to give out shtick rather than resonded commentary.

Go MANTIS!! My bud and I at the arena allways have a great time cheering for shawn to MATISIZE someone.

[Murphy3]

JayC, I'm not saying that what Finley said wasn't true. I'm saying that regardless of whether or not it was strue, it's something that a leader should not say especially when the player in question appears to be playing as well as just about anyone on the team.

[Bayliss]

Give Bradley 30 minutes every night and he will produce. It really is as simple as that. The number 1 reason why Bradley appears inconsistent is because his coach does not allow him to play regular minutes. There are three people that have the most impact on our team: Dirk-Nash-Bradley. And on defense the roles are reversed somewhat: Bradley-Dirk-Nash. But does Nellie only give Dirk and Nash 10 minutes one night after having a bad game? Nope. And he shouldn't. In order to find rythym and consistency, the coach has got to have consistency in his rotations and minutes. Nelson has never done that. And it doesn't matter what Bradley does. He can play 30+ minutes one night and get a double double, and the next night not even get off of the bench.

[sike]

[quote]
Originally posted by: Fah Q

"Shawn's been consistent the last couple of games," teammate Michael Finley said. "That's hard to say, because when you do, he usually goes back to playing bad again. But when he plays like he did [against the Spurs], he makes us better."

this is not something (team leader or not) that a teammate should say about a fellow teammate to the MEDIA!....In the room it is fine to vent or blow off frustration or just be honest about personal feelings about a guy....but even the TRUTH can be detrimental when placed in the wrong hands(reporters)...if this were said about any player other than Bradley there would be reason for major concern to question this teams lauded "chemistry"....but because it is Shawn, most will just brush it away....and that is not right!

Hey, I am no Bradley apologist, but he is a teammate and deserves the respect of his fellow ball players...at least in a public forum! Not Fin's best move, ture or not![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: Bayliss
Give Bradley 30 minutes every night and he will produce. It really is as simple as that. The number 1 reason why Bradley appears inconsistent is because his coach does not allow him to play regular minutes. There are three people that have the most impact on our team: Dirk-Nash-Bradley. And on defense the roles are reversed somewhat: Bradley-Dirk-Nash. But does Nellie only give Dirk and Nash 10 minutes one night after having a bad game? Nope. And he shouldn't. In order to find rythym and consistency, the coach has got to have consistency in his rotations and minutes. Nelson has never done that. And it doesn't matter what Bradley does. He can play 30+ minutes one night and get a double double, and the next night not even get off of the bench.

Bayliss this sounds like a bradley man-crush. ;^)

I like bradley but I also have NO problem with the way that nellie uses him, part of this is the hate-nellie-first syndrome. But bradley really becomes less effective as he tires, he doesn't move his feet, grabs and then gets frustrated and makes silly fouls (something dirk does as well it seems).
If he can't stay in shape then he shouldn't play, it's just that simple. He IS inconsistent, he HAS come in and not given effort some nights. I suspect it's conditioning.

I actually like his feistiness and chippiness. It makes him a pest for the opposing team I would like to see the rest of the team back HIM up a little bit more as he's busting rear in the paint. If anyone thinks that's easy they haven't watched much ball, it is a REAL battle down there. The high flying guards are the fly-boys, the interior guys are the real warriors.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: dude1394

Bayliss this sounds like a bradley man-crush. ;^)

I like bradley but I also have NO problem with the way that nellie uses him, part of this is the hate-nellie-first syndrome. But bradley really becomes less effective as he tires, he doesn't move his feet, grabs and then gets frustrated and makes silly fouls (something dirk does as well it seems).
If he can't stay in shape then he shouldn't play, it's just that simple. He IS inconsistent, he HAS come in and not given effort some nights. I suspect it's conditioning.

I actually like his feistiness and chippiness. It makes him a pest for the opposing team I would like to see the rest of the team back HIM up a little bit more as he's busting rear in the paint. If anyone thinks that's easy they haven't watched much ball, it is a REAL battle down there. The high flying guards are the fly-boys, the interior guys are the real warriors.

Dude I partly agree with you. Bradley does lose his effectiveness if he plays too long a stretch, and that is because he does tire. I think it is best to play him no moe than 5 to 8 minutes without at least a 4 minutes breather.

I do have a problem with the way Nellie will refuse to give him any minutes outside of garbage time for several game stretches or just play him 2 or 3 minutes and sit him the rest of the game. I'm sick of the argument that Shawn isn't consistent. No player on this team is 100% consistent and few would be as consistent as Shawn is if they had their minutes jerked around the way Shawn does. NVE was very much more inconsistent last year and got tons more playing time.

Playing Shawn between 22 and 26 minutes a game on average would probably be optimal. Don't play him for long stretches where he will get tired. And play him consistently. He won't always play great, but he will many more times than not if used in the right way.

[Murphy3]

Bradley will only increase his effectiveness this year because the Mavs are better on the perimeter and they have more help on the inside. Better outside defense along with adding another rebounder in the lineup will make Bradley's job easier. He won't be called on to stop nearly as many layup lines as he has been called upon to do in the past. This will make him much more effective on a consistent basis. However, he's alwasy been the best option for the mavs defensively in the past.

[dude1394]

LRB:

But the guy going in and getting minutes has to earn them. Bradley does seem to go through periods where he is just going through the motions, then he's a drag on the whole team. Not necessarily that game, but in the long run.

I've been happy with nellie pulling dirk/walker/finley/steve out at times this year when they weren't getting it done. I think that some of that is because we have enough talent to do so and still be in the game. But it's good all the way around.

[Murphy3]

Bradley has more than earned them.
The minutes were taken away from him in the past even when Bradley had earned them.

He's the only defensive game changer that the Mavs have on heir team. In the past, Nellie simply was not willing to sacrifice a little offense in exchange for defense

[LRB]

Dude I totally agree that the player needs to earn them. That's why I'm upset at nellie giving other players Shawn's minutes who haven't earned them as Shawn has. This happened last year when Shawn played great at the start of the season with LaFoul and NVE being out. Then LaFoul and NVE come back and take most of Shawn's minutes while stinking the court up with their play. Not coincidentally, the Mavs record took a huge dip. It's not about earning minutes it's about being a Nellie favorite, and Shawn is not that. When a player has great games but then sits several with either DNP's or only garbage minutes afterwards, it sure doesn't sound like it's a case of earning the minutes.

[MavsFanFinley]

I wonder why Finley would start criticizing players now? He's never done so (that I can remember) before with a player or coach. And he's been one of Bradley's supporters.

Fin said this after the Spurs game and I would bet he chose his words poorly instead of calling out a player. Especially after a game when Bradley was solid.

[LRB]

Well MFF one does have to suspect the reporter as well. Reporters have a bad habit of taking things out of context to make a better story of if that doesn't work, just making them up.

[Mavs Rule]

Ohhhhh, the enigma that is Bradley! Is there any other player that fans love to weigh in on more? Is there any other player that can cause as many posts on this board? Bradley is a conversation magnet whose potential is his own worst enemy at times.

I think LRB has a great point about Nellie not giving him the minutes he deserves even after he is proving to play well. I think the same thing is being done to Jamison, but that is another topic. Nellie needs to ride his horses that are pulling more than their weight more often and for more minutes. But what he does instead is use his players according to matchup analysis with no flexibility for the use of players' hot times, whether in a single game or multiple games. Bradley is hot now, and while conditioning is always a limiting factor, he should be playing more minutes.

There are going to be times when Bradley stinks it up badly. Only then after several games of this, should Nellie reduce his minutes. There should be a reward system in place whereas better play = more PT and worse play = less PT. This encourages players to play better. Bradley has seen over the years that his good play has nothing to do with his PT and that is a shame. Nellie is too whimsical with some decision making, and it is hurting the level of play sometimes.

[kg_veteran]

With Bradley in, opponents have made only 65 of 170 shots for a 38.2 percentage. The Mavericks have a 110-98 rebounding advantage during Bradley's minutes.

With Bradley in, the Spurs made 15 of 37 shots for a 40.5 percentage. With Bradley out, the Spurs made 20 of 42 shots for a 47.6 percentage.

Great article, and I thought I'd bring these stats up again, since they seemed to get lost in the shuffle. These numbers are a ringing endorsement for consistent playing time for Shawn. He does something no one else on this team can do, and he does it as well as just about anybody in the league.

As for the argument about Shawn being inconsistent vs. Nellie just not giving him consistent minutes, I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Shawn's history has been one of inconsistency, and so it's understandable that Nellie is sometimes hesitant to use him. At the same time, Nellie himself admits, "We'll get our bell rung if we don't have Shawn Bradley available." I think Nellie understands Shawn's importance, and I think as the season wears on he'll start to give him more consistent minutes. Have I always agreed with his use of Shawn in the past? Obviously not. Do I trust him to handle the situation appropriately this season? Yes. Perhaps I'm getting soft in my old age, but I am all about tolerance for Nellie this season. I think he will have this team ready to go come playoff time.

As for Fin's comment, well, I really don't have a problem with it. Shawn's a big boy -- he can handle it. Like the article says, he's heard it all. Plus, we don't know what their relationship is like behind the scenes, and it's not like Fin's turning it into a whole Alonzo vs. Kenyon/New Jersey-type scenario. (Side note: nice acquisition by the Nets. Enjoy the four years of non-productivity.)

BTW, dude, I was at the SA game and heard the groans when Shawn came in each time. I turned and yelled at the fans around me to get a clue. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[sike]

I turned and yelled at the fans around me to get a clue. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][/quote]

don't ever change kg![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[dude1394]

Way to go KG.. In fact more often than not I'll be standing and applauding when shawn comes out. The one thing that drives my buddy crazy is when shawn tries to do his dipsy doodle around the rim. Pretty funny I must admit, but in all honesty I'm not sure what difference there is between missing one of shawns wacko shots and someones 20 footer, same thing, missed shot.

The only thing i'm arguing is that many folks on this board already think nellie is some sort of idiot. And then when he pulls shawn that just verifies it to them. But I think that nellie would LOVE to have shawn in there playing well, hustling and doing what he's supposed to do, why wouldn't he?? I just cannot and do not believe that nellie does not use shawn for either some weird hatred of him or because he's so enamored of offense.

Nellie wants a couple of things I think:
- Play hard.
- DO what you are supposed to do. What coach wouldn't be driven NUTS by players free-lancing. Nellie especially has issues with this.
- If you are role player you'd better play EVEN harder. Nellie like many other coaches does not treat role players like star players. Tough.
- So shawn is a role player and nellie treats him like one. Just like he does/did najea, griffin, raja, shawn. He just rides them harder, maybe it's to make them pick it up, maybe it does/doesn't work for them, but that's the way he does it.

Also I don't understand going back to the start of last year to make some sort of point. Yes shawn played well and nellie and the team said so and praised him for it. But he did NOT play as well in the later parts of the year and nellie called him out as well as raef. If shawn played hard every game THIS team would have a chance to win it all each year. But somehow he seems to weaken/get distracted or something else as the season goes on. That's what drives nellie nuts and he begins to pull shawn quicker, what's the point anyway if nellie sees him in practice, sees how he's moving, hears the rest of the team bitching about him (which they do, the team rags him as much as the fans it seems sometimes, is it fair I nor anyone on this board knows if it is or isn't).

bottom line on this rant is that to blame nellie for shawn is silly in my opinion. Shawn is 7'6" and if he played hard every night would make a big,very big impact, what coach wouldn't want that. Nellie does as well.

[Murphy3]

Shawn was the scapegoat for Nellie. Nellie had to bad mouth shawn so that he could justify playing more small ball.

You didn't hear Nellie calling out Finley for having his worst shooting year by far as a Mav. You didn't hear nellie publicly calling out NVE for being even more inconsistent than Bradley could ever dream of. You didn't hear him calling out Dirk or Nash.

Why? Because they are 'Nellie' players. They fit into the scheme that Nellie wanted to run. Why would he bad mouth them? Obviously, the big three are definitely better players than Bradley and more important to the team's overall success. But, when NVE was languishing around 40% and stagnating the offense at times with his often selfish play, all we heard was that Nellie wanted NVE to shoot the ball even more.

The sooner that the Nellie realizes that Bradley is the only difference maker the Mavs have on the defensive side of the ball, the better it'll be for the Mavs. The sooner Nellie decides to go with Bradley for 20+ minutes consistently this season, the better it'll be for the Mavs. The sooner Nellie realizes that the Mavs can be dominant offensively even with a defensive minded player in the game, the better it'll be for the Mavs.

Now, I'm not saying that Bradley has always played up to expectations. However, the Mavs will be better with Bradley getting consistent minutes even when he does have his struggles. It's ok to allow a defensive minded player to fight through some struggles. That just doesn't work with offensive players.

[kg_veteran]

Shawn was the scapegoat for Nellie. Nellie had to bad mouth shawn so that he could justify playing more small ball.

I don't believe this. I may disagree with how Nellie used Shawn last year, but you're implying that a) Shawn really was playing consistently well, and b) Nellie had some hidden agenda whereby he wanted to bench Shawn even though he was playing well because he preferred to win games playing small ball. First, while Shawn had an incredible start to last season, he WAS inconsistent. I called for more minutes for Shawn as much as anybody (because I thought and think that you have to put him out there a certain amount of time even if he is playing poorly), but to suggest that Shawn wasn't getting benched even though he was always playing great is just not correct. Second, whether he was right or wrong, Nellie was going with the rotation he used because he thought it gave him the best chance to win. How could you think any differently?

You didn't hear Nellie calling out Finley for having his worst shooting year by far as a Mav. You didn't hear nellie publicly calling out NVE for being even more inconsistent than Bradley could ever dream of. You didn't hear him calling out Dirk or Nash.

Why? Because they are 'Nellie' players. They fit into the scheme that Nellie wanted to run. Why would he bad mouth them? Obviously, the big three are definitely better players than Bradley and more important to the team's overall success. But, when NVE was languishing around 40% and stagnating the offense at times with his often selfish play, all we heard was that Nellie wanted NVE to shoot the ball even more.

I think Dude is right on this. You handle different players differently. That's just a fact of life in the NBA. If you're a roleplayer on the team, you're probably going to hear more criticism than if you're one of the stars. And Van Exel was one of the stars. I can see your point about comparing inconsistency, but asking for Nellie to criticize all players equally is probably just unrealistic. There's not a coach in the league that does that.

The sooner that the Nellie realizes that Bradley is the only difference maker the Mavs have on the defensive side of the ball, the better it'll be for the Mavs.

What makes you think he doesn't? I think Nellie's quote in the article indicates that he does.

The sooner Nellie decides to go with Bradley for 20+ minutes consistently this season, the better it'll be for the Mavs.

Now, I'm not saying that Bradley has always played up to expectations. However, the Mavs will be better with Bradley getting consistent minutes even when he does have his struggles. It's ok to allow a defensive minded player to fight through some struggles.

I agree with this.

[dude1394]

So nellie is going to rag a player so he can have an "excuse" to play small ball. give me a break murph. First he doesn't need an "excuse" he just needs to win....(note the "periods").

He doesn't call out dirk,finley,nash,nve for the same reason that jimmy johnson didn't call out emmitt, michael, troy. They are the STARS man, they are the ones that he will either get there with or not. Shawn is not the same, never has been, never will be.

It's the same in corporations and everywhere, the guys who bring in the sales, design, points, whatever get special breaks. They get cut slack because at the end of the day you know they are the ones going to get it done.

If shawn is so dang good, why aren't people knocking down the doors to get him? Why because he sometimes completely dissappears and doesn't contribute.

I just don't buy into the fact that some strange conspiracy goes on with nellie and coaching. He likes offense ok, but he was a defensive player and knows that the team much play defense. But this team does NOT have shaq/duncan so he's doing it differently, good for him and cubes. Again it was 1 game and a quarter from winning the championship last year, not exactly chopped liver they DO look better and stronger this year.

[Murphy3]

I'm not implying that Shawn played consistently well.

I realize that you handle different players differently... especially when they are players that play the style of game that you like compared to players that don't.

basically, it boils down to this.

NVE was just as inconsistent on the offensive end as Bradley was on the defensive end
Bradley was a better offensive player than NVE was a defensive player.

Nellie simply wanted to go with more offense even though defense was a bigger need. In the end, it had little to do with the player of Bradley. It had to do with the coaching style and philosophies of Nellie. Nellie wanted to go with more offense in lieu of additional defense. I honestly believe that the Mavs end up first in the Western Conference last year if they go with less small ball and more consistent minutes for Bradley.

[Murphy3]

NVE wasn't a star with the Mavs...except for his hot stretch in the playoffs.

If he was a star with the Mavs, then you're using the term 'Star' very, very loosely.


I'm sorry, but 12.5 points and a little over 4 assists while shooting barely over 40% from the field...those aren't the numbers of a 'star'.

Quite frankly, more consistent minutes dedicated to Bradley simply made more sense than more small ball. Bradley has a skill set that was desperately needed from the Mavs..much moreso than an extra scorer on the court that couldn't help out defensively or on the glass..

[dude1394]

During the playoffs he was very much a "star".. He was inconsistent as well.

Now as for shawn being as inconsistent defensively as nick was offensively then so what? Nick was inconsistent but when he was on brotha' he was ON and he would flat out kick the other teams teeth in. Shawn just didn't have that ability. I KNOW he could alter a lot of shots and did, but at the end of games they would have just gone right at him and gotten fouled or he would have gotten frustrated, you know it, I know it.

Bradley just doesn't make that kind of impact, again ESPECIALLY at the end of games. I still contend his conditioning is the one thing that drives him to mediocrity. Just think if he could actually play 35 minutes?? That would mean that in at least 25 of those he was very energetic and active. It's more like he plays 25 and 15 of those he's really energetic and active.

[Murphy3]

When Bradley's on defensively, he can dominate a game. When Bradley's not on defensively, he's still 7'6 and changes shots just because of his height.

And yes, NVE was a star in the playoffs..which is why I made that exception.

At the end of the games, I would have liked to have seen less small ball as well. The Mavs struggled to get shots and struggled deciding who would get the last shot. Why? Because the player that should have been the 4th option ended up with too many shots down the stretch of games.