Just imagine for a moment.....

[Mavs4skin]

If Dallas could play defense they would be unstoppable!!! Hopefully this season they wake up and smell the coffee.

Do you think with the additions and subtractions this offseason they will have better defensive capabilties? Assuming this trade for Dampier takes place.

[fin4life]

No question. We will be much stronger.
Terry> Nash.
Damp>Dirk/Walker (whoever was at center last year).

To add to those major improvements, J-ho will be a year older, stack can D-up pretty well (better jamison). Dirk will be in his natural position, Daniels will be a pretty good defender. We will be very tough this year.

[Kleany]

no excuses for not having good defensives players. if we still have crap defense, its kuz of Nelson.

[Day1MavsFan]

The question isn't will we better on defense, the question is will we still be good on offense?

[EricaLubarsky]

We showed in the Sacramento series that we could lock the opponent down and we were had a very poor roster defensively. We proved in numerous games that we could score at will. I would like it if we could do both.

[StvNash13]

Scoring shouldn't be a big issue. Dirk is unguardable, Marquis can score up to 20 if needed, so can Jet and Stack. Fin can still shoot lights out. Losing Nash and Jamison hurts the offense, but then again, losing Walker sure as hell doesn't.

[V2M]

We were #1 in offense and #28 in defense last year. This year, I'd guess, we'd be at least top 5 on offense and top 15 in defense. I'd put 'em top 10 in both categories if it wasn't Nellie coaching the team.

[mavsman55]

Originally posted by: StvNash13
Scoring shouldn't be a big issue. Dirk is unguardable, Marquis can score up to 20 if needed, so can Jet and Stack. Fin can still shoot lights out. Losing Nash and Jamison hurts the offense, but then again, losing Walker sure as hell doesn't.

Don't forget about our new weapon Terry. He should be able to contribute something on offense and defense every night.

[madape]

We won't be a top five offensive team next year. With the loss of Nash, and the apparent addition of the garbage man Erick Dampier, we will be forced to play a slower paced half-court game. Having Dump on the court prohibits us from running and Terry is not the open court playmaker that Nash was. In addition, Dirks game will be hurt because Dump's slow butt will be parked in the paint, prohibiting the penetrate and dish game, the high pick and roll, and plays run off the elbow. The staple plays of the Nelson era are not going to work with this lineup. We will be much better defensively, but expect a big drop off on offense.

[sike]

Originally posted by: madape
We won't be a top five offensive team next year. With the loss of Nash, and the apparent addition of the garbage man Erick Dampier, we will be forced to play a slower paced half-court game. Having Dump on the court prohibits us from running and Terry is not the open court playmaker that Nash was. In addition, Dirks game will be hurt because Dump's slow butt will be parked in the paint, prohibiting the penetrate and dish game, the high pick and roll, and plays run off the elbow. The staple plays of the Nelson era are not going to work with this lineup. We will be much better defensively, but expect a big drop off on offense.

i agree with monkey's statement about them being a better overall defensive team....
but..

With the loss of Nash, and the apparent addition of the garbage man Erick Dampier, we will be forced to play a slower paced half-court game. Having Dump on the court prohibits us from running and Terry is not the open court playmaker that Nash was.

Nash was perhaps the second best floor runner in the league(Kidd being #1) but to suggest that terry is somehow not a good open court player just wrong. That is where he thrives...He IS an open court player...he loves to push the ball and manufacture the break..maybe not the level of a 30 year old Nash...but give him time...he's only 26.
..and to suggest that a team cannot run the break because it does not have a gazelle for a center is nonsense...go make this argument to the "showtime" Lakers, Kareem did not fly to well down the court in his old age, but they still ran every chance they got.
this team will be able to run the court...yes they might out run their center...but how often do centers do anything other than trail the break anyway? History just does not support this claim.
also

Having Dump on the court prohibits us from running and Terry is not the open court playmaker that Nash was. In addition, Dirks game will be hurt because Dump's slow butt will be parked in the paint, prohibiting the penetrate and dish game, the high pick and roll, and plays run off the elbow. The staple plays of the Nelson era are not going to work with this lineup.

all these possible offensive problems you just mentioned could be(and will be) rectified simply by moving Damp down the opposite base line or out to the opposite high post or even just by moving him to the opposite block. Terry will still be penetrating and dishing, that is the way he plays, seeing damp as anything but a positive to his game is just looking for doom and gloom...and Dirk will still be jacking up for that sweet 18-10ft pull up we love so much....I just dont see these arguments as valid....
I am willing to bet this team will be a top five offensive team.

[Simon2]

I think there won't be a drop off in scoring for the Mavs. Here are the reasons why:

These are all in theory. Reality is a different story.

1. Terry > Nash when it comes to defense.
2. Dampier > Dirk/Walker in frontcourt defense and rebounding.

These two will mean more possessions and more fast-break opportunities for the Mavs.

Also,

Player FT% MadeFT-AttemptedFT TO 3PT-Attempts 3PT%

Terry 83% 215-260 229 146-421 35% 16.8 ppg
Nash 91% 230-251 209 104-257 41% 12.5 ppg

Walker 55% 103-186 202 82-305 27% 14.0 ppg
Dampier 65% 217-332 131 NA NA NA 12.3 ppg

I compared the two principal new players with the old players for last year. Nash turned the ball over 20 times less than Terry but Dampier turned the ball over 71 times less than Walker. That's 51 less turnovers! I expect Terry's TO number to go down since he won't be the focal point of the offense like in Atlanta. Hopefully, there won't be too much of a drop-off there.

When we compare Walker to Dampier. Dampier shot 114 more free throws! Granted, he's more of an inside player than Walker but that's what the Mavs need. I didn't even compare rebounding numbers because it wasn't funny.

Scoring wise, the Nash-Walker tandem averaged 26.5 pts a game while the Terry-Dampier combo averaged 29.1 pts a game. The shot distribution on the Mavs will be different for Terry and Dampier but at least this shows that they can average more scoring wise than Nash and Walker.


Some interesting notes:

Terry's best scoring game was against Dallas in '02 when he droped 46 on the Mavs.

I think scoring won't suffer and the defense will be greatly improved. That all depends on how Nellie uses the players as well. If he uses a zone often and doesn't utilize Terry's defensive skills, he's not gonna get much out of Terry. If he camps in the perimeter on offense, there goes his offensive rebounding. It all depends on Nellie's usage. One thing we know though, it will still be run and gun.

[LRB]

We won't be a top five offensive team next year.

So Ape if we're in the top 5 on offensive categories at the end of the season, will you wear Dampier's picture for a month as your icon?

[MikeB]

I've always heard it is easier to run when you make the other team MISS.
It's hard to fastbreak when you are constantly taking the ball out of the net.

[madape]

Originally posted by: LRB

So Ape if we're in the top 5 on offensive categories at the end of the season, will you wear Dampier's picture for a month as your icon?

Hey, I'm not scared to put my icon on the line. Are you?

If Dampier plays in 50% of the games, and averages over 20 mintes per game and the Mavericks ARE top five in either points per game or offensive FG%, I will be Dampier for a month.

If Dampier plays in 50% of the games, and averages over 20 mintes per game and the Mavericks ARE NOT top five in both points per game and offensive FG%, YOU must wear a garbage can as your icon for a month.

If Dampier goes down to injury or winds up in Nellies doghouse, all bets are off.