Game 2: Houston @ Dallas Gameday Thread

[akaarod03]

That was one of the most listless and uninspired performances I've ever seen by the Mavs the other day. AJ simply got outcoached by JVG. Sure...it doesn't help that our superstar gets outplayed by their superstar. It also doesn't help that our key role players in Finley, Stackhouse, and KVB shoot a combined 8-28 (roughly 29%) from the field. I love Harris...he will be a star one day...but you talk about 7 ineffective minutes...he didnt score, had 1 assist, turned the ball over once, and got schooled by James on a number of occassions. I'd like to see Daniels play in Game 2. I thought Terry played pretty well...but he wasn't aggressive on the offensive end...attempting only 6 shots. Damp and Bradley need to play more than a combined 28 minutes. Nowitzki has to step up in Game 2. One of the best posts that I've ever read was written by the great U2 in regards to our performance in Game 1:

"Yeah. Houston kicked our butts. Yeah. A lot of us were really confident in our teams abilities in this series. Yeah. We got a rude awakening yesterday. But you know what? F the Rockets. F Bowen. F McGrady. This is a battle for our playoff lives and I am sick of seeing the "blah blah blah if we're going to have a chance against Houston". Don't be scared. If you're scared you need to go to church. Get that crap out of here. Who cares if the Rockets "stole" home court advantage. I have a feeling that will last until Thursday night. We aren't chicken feed people. Dirk doesn't suck. Avery, although still green, is still Avery Johnson. F the Rockets."

Dallas needs to heed those words in Game 2. If the Mavs can get off to a good start in tonight's ballgame...I think Dallas can come out of the American Airlines Center with a win. Go Mavs!

91-83 Mavs

[capitalcity]

F' em.

MAVS 105
ROX 91

[ZueriMav]

F'em all!

[Phil Helmuth]

We crush them. Dirk goes crazy. We burn the AAC to the ground.

[mercury_rev]

This one's for Chum:

Each Mav must take to heart this paraphrase of Jules from Pulp Fiction: "Well I'm a mushroom-cloud-layin' motherf*****, motherf*****! Everytime my fingers touch [the ball] I'm Superfly TNT! I'm the Guns of the Navarone!"

Mavs 103
Rockets 89

[bgantz]

what else can you say? it's pretty much must win if you ask me, and i think they will win because the team knows they have to.

[Misfit Mav]

Mavs 102
Rockets 93

[G-Man]

Game one was just like so many Mavs home games this season. They play badly at home against teams they think they should beat. A little reality check can be a good thing.

Mavs 109
Rox 96

[Steve13]

A must win, no doubt about it.

[vjz]

Send the kids to bed early, its gonna be a slaughter. Mavs win a blowout: 102-78.

[AnMan21]

i'd say the best thing that could happen to the mavs, happened in game 1. a humbling loss opened the mavs eyes. if i'm avery i would've let dirk sit while my team was rallying with him on the bench. it would've given them confidence in knowing they can do it without dirk if need be. the minute dirk came in and stood around, the rest of the mavs did too. we've all seen the tape, and dirk has seen the tape. he knows he has to be more active on both ends of the floor, especially if his shot isn't falling. in the past he's gotten the message, and tonight will be no different.

i look for the mavs to come out attacking the basket early to get yao and mutumbo in foul trouble as well as get some offensive confidence, make quicker defensive adjustments, and make tmac beat them alone by shutting down wesley and james. in the third quarter (and start of the fourth), tmac was launching any and everything, and taking his teammates out of the game - the mavs rallied. by putting the clamps on houston's role players, the same thing can happen. keep someone fresh guarding tmac, keep him in front of you, and make him hit a pull up jumper over the defender. and if the mavs double him, make sure the defense rotates ON TIME so their role players don't get open looks!

there are far too many mavs that can score for dirk to be taking 19 shots when he's stone cold and standing still. distributing shots is the huge advantage the mavs have in this series, but saturday they shut themselves down with their tentativeness in pulling the trigger. was is playoff game jitters? maybe - but there are too many veterans on this team to let that happen again. the mavs know what they need to do. dirk and finely will see to it they get the W.

[DubOverdose]

F'EM! Jet needs to shoot more. Dirk needs to find his shot. A center must be played for 48 minutes. Intensity must be high. If the Mavs improve on those points, it should be a win. If not, then they don't deserve to be in the playoffs, because every other team is bringing intensity and players are stepping up their game. If we are down and looking for answers, I want to see DA, Marquis, Henderson, Harris, Bradley. Each of those players has the ability to change the game completely, whether it is pace, passing, offensive rebounding, blocking shots, defense, energy, etc.

[endtroducing]

if Daniels doesn't get any playing time tonight, I will scream. if Daniels plays, we will win. Finley should only be in the game when McGrady is off the floor or if he is paired with Daniels/Howard.

I want to see this lineup for at least 10 minutes:
Daniels
Stackhouse
Howard
Nowitzki
Dampier

[kg_veteran]

F the Rockets.

Mavs chew the Rockets up and spit them out.

[kingrex]

The Mavs need to take the fight to them. Every possession needs to be a battle. The Mavs need to be the agressors on both ends.

If the real Mavs show up for this game, then I expect a hard-fought win. Anything less than that will be a disappointment.

Mavs by 3.

[Harrisment]

I think this game will be tough for the Rockets to win. The Mavs will come out with a sense of urgency and probably build a lead early.

That said, this will be close in the 4th and it comes down to which superstar makes the plays. My money is on McGrady.

Rockets 99
Mavs 95

[Big_Dog]

Dirk goes for fifty... 111-93

[Quetzalcoatl]

I pry for a Mavs victory.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Sorry: I pray [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[vjz]

Originally posted by: endtroducing
if Daniels doesn't get any playing time tonight, I will scream. if Daniels plays, we will win. Finley should only be in the game when McGrady is off the floor or if he is paired with Daniels/Howard.

I want to see this lineup for at least 10 minutes:
Daniels
Stackhouse
Howard
Nowitzki
Dampier

I totally and completely agree here. Daniels was huge last year in the playoffs, and he has a knack of getting some critical steals and generating some energy. Its ridiculous to just keep him on the bench.

[Nash13]

Just found out i got a new job today. hopefully my good luck can continue with a Mavs win.

[sike]

Mavs by 8

Mavs 109
Rockets 101

[mavsfanforever]

mavs win this one. Game stays close until 4th quarter and mavs win by 15 with their defensive leading to 30 fast break points.

[chumdawg]

Originally posted by: mercury_rev
This one's for Chum:

Each Mav must take to heart this paraphrase of Jules from Pulp Fiction: "Well I'm a mushroom-cloud-layin' motherf*****, motherf*****! Everytime my fingers touch [the ball] I'm Superfly TNT! I'm the Guns of the Navarone!"

Mavs 103
Rockets 89

It's dangerous to have a racecar in the red!

In the same vein...

The path of the righteous team
Is beset on all sides
By the inequities of the referees
And the tyranny of TMac and Ming
Blessed is who shepherds his team
Through the Western Conference Playoffs
For he is truly his brother's keeper
And the finder of the elusive ring
And I will strike down upon thee
With great vengeance and furious anger
Those who attempt to poison
And defeat my Mavericks
And you will know my name is the Lord
When I lay Dirk Nowitzki upon thee.

[digit]

Last game was more than painful to watch...where was the energy, the hustle? It's playoff time, so it's wake-up time for the Mavs..
I expect to see a totally different Mavs' team.

107 - 89 Mavs

[Bookit]

I have a hard time believing that a team that won 16 of the last 19 games will lose two in a row to the same team on its home floor!

Mavs 97
Rockettes 89

[mr_boo]

Rockets Fan here...while I was watching game 1, I was wondering why the heck M. Daniels wasn't playing. I don't watch many Mavs games at all, but the few I've watched, he's always seemed effective...he rebounds, he drives in, plays pretty good D, and he seems to play the post pretty well. As I watched Game 1, I thought he was injured or something. Is he in AJ's doghouse? Cause if he's was on the Rockets, no way would this dude be on the bench.

Anyways, I think your Mavs are gonna come out with gunz blazin' and if my Rockets can keep their cool and composure and hold their course steady, I think the Rockets may steal this one.

[orangedays]

Originally posted by: Nash13
Just found out i got a new job today. hopefully my good luck can continue with a Mavs win.

Congratulations buddy,

One of the things that I think AJ did well was go small at certain points of Game 1. The Rockets' big men aren't very mobile (one's like...150, the other's just plain huge) and if you put pressure on them to defend the pick and roll that is going to wear them out alot faster. I agree that a lineup of 'Quis, Howard, Stack, Fin/Terry and Nowtizki would do considerable damage against the Rockets because we'd be pitting our slashers and shooters vs. theirs and to be honest, I think ours are a bit better. Let's see how the Lil' General plays it tonight.

Again, I'm torn because I'm a Mavs fan and a Yao fan but I think that the Mavs will bounce back tonight, it's going to be a tight one again and I see something in the area of 98-92 Mavs.

[MrCheerios]

Rockets fan here. All of us knew Dallas was one of the elite teams in the league and would be the hardest first matchups we could have. Just because we took game one does not mean this will be an easy series. Dirk will play much better tonight, as will Stackhouse. But the rockets are filled with gutsy old veterans who know this is their best chance to win a title. One team will blow out the other tonight; it's 50-50 as to who blows out whom.

Oh, but Avery Johnson must let his players be effective. Some of his coaching moves were just silly. He went small because the rockets went small, despite the fact that Damp was effective and had only two fouls. Damp barely got to play. He went with dirk and KVH as the bigs. WTF? As the more talented team, you need to play YOUR game; you don't always need to make counter-adjustments which can throw your players off. There was no offensive scheme for the mavs. There was no ball movement, only dribbling. If dirk is cold, run some pick and rolls with him and Terry to force a mismatch. Do something other than attack, especially when Deke is playing and is less foul prone than Yao. Whatever happened to screens? They do a hell of a god job creating space for shooters, which you have plenty of. Oh, and the mavs need to push the ball even though the rox have good transition d. You're more athletic than us, make it count.

As for the rox: keep it up!

[ames7]

Ain't no way Dirk does that again, this will be the definition of bounce-back game. 102-94 Dallas. LET'S GO MAVS!

[EricaLubarsky]

if we lose this one, you might think about retiring from gameday threads.

[mary]

I predict that after tonight's game there will be a mass exodus of trolls leaving dm.com with their tails tucked between their legs.....or however the saying goes.

[Zack]

If we lose this game then the Playoffs are over..

End Game..

We better step up our 3 point coverage.. Even if we have to foul a 3 point jump shooter every now and then..

The Suns smaked Memphis around with 15...

[endtroducing]

one thing that annoys me about this team: they try to draw fouls instead of score.

I know we get to the line a lot, but the guys on this team are capable of a lot more. Stackhouse needs to be FEARLESS when he drives. instead of just trying to draw a foul, he should go up stronger and try to finish it. Dirk is guilty of the same- trying to just draw fouls, instead of actually going to the rack to score it.
I haven't seen a play this entire year where one of our guys drives into a clogged lane, with total disregard for their own lives, and just jam it down in someone's face. the players we have are STRONG ENOUGH to do that, but for some reason, they lack the tenacity to. if we want to win tonight, and win the series, we will have to go up strong against the Rockets bigs. there is nothing that would be more satisfying than a massive Stackhouse jam on Yao in a lane full of defenders...those plays kill a team's confidence. but, are we capable of doing that?

[waterflea]

Originally posted by: endtroducing
there is nothing that would be more satisfying than a massive Stackhouse jam on Yao in a lane full of defenders...those plays kill a team's confidence. but, are we capable of doing that?

Ask Amare what that will turn out to be! 5 BLOCKS in a row!

[dirk2003]

Too much confidence. Our team likes to choke and dissapoint during the most important times. We lose and the playoffs are done.

[Harrisment]

Originally posted by: mary
I predict that after tonight's game there will be a mass exodus of trolls leaving dm.com with their tails tucked between their legs.....or however the saying goes.

If by trolls you mean any Rockets fan that has posted here, then you're wrong. I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if the Mavs won tonight, and I will still be here tomorrow to discuss the series. On the other hand, if the Rockets win you won't see me on here telling you how much your team sucks or something along those lines. Some of us are over here just to talk about the series and get a different perspective.

[mr_boo]

Originally posted by: Harrisment

If by trolls you mean any Rockets fan that has posted here, then you're wrong. I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if the Mavs won tonight, and I will still be here tomorrow to discuss the series. On the other hand, if the Rockets win you won't see me on here telling you how much your team sucks or something along those lines. Some of us are over here just to talk about the series and get a different perspective.

I'm on board with Harrisment here...you'll see me here (if time permits) until the series is over.

[Julius]

Mavs lose this one BUT win the next 16

[Just211]

101-89 Mavs
we'll still struggle to get going, but we will have one HOT qtr to win it.