An interesting discussion on Norm's show about the Mavs next opponent...

[Murphy3]

Do you think that the Mavs next opponent will be a better team than the Lakers? He seems to think that it's a 100% certainty that the next opponent will be "better" than the Lakers. Personally, I don't agree at all. I think the Lakers played some pretty damn good basketball in the first three games. They just couldn't close out the first and third games. They shot themselves in the foot a time or two, but majority of the time, it was about the execution of the Mavs. Phil Jackson even talked about how well the Lakers played in the first and third games..

As for the last game, that was the Mavs creating a mismatch and taking advantage of it over and over again. Dribble penetration or via the entry pass that created mismatches on the outside.

So, what do you think? Will the Mavs next opponent be a better team than the Lakers? It's my opinion that they will create different matchup issues, but that they're not "better" than the team in purple and gold.

[mavs777]

I won't be as worried as I was going into the Laker series

[JeffViggiano]

every round we are the underdog.i don't care about it,we are good.we can win.

f*ck the experts.

[Kidd Karma]

Lakers couldn't close the deal, 4th quarter was the difference, we had better depth, we exposed their need for better PG's. Would Farmar and Sasha made a difference? Possibly, I mean extending leads, and maintaining them late, would they have slowed Barea and Jet down, maybe? But for whatever reason, they decided to not to keep them. Our depth was better than there's we continually exposed their weaknesses. What are the weaknesses on Ok City and Memphis? Do we have an answer for it? I mean we didn't see this coming, we didn't think Barea would expose their PG's. There are many variables we won't see until things are played out. I'd probably think we would zone up Ok City and man up Memphis. Man to man, we can defend Memphis, doubling down on Zach every so often. Ok city, I would think chasing Durant and Westbrook is not our best defense against them, allow them to pick their spots and allow them to chuck it 20-30 times a night.

[alexamenos]

I don't think either of these teams are playing any better ball than the Lakers played in games 1-3. OKC's execution late in game 4 was awful, and memphis was lucky.

[Maringa]

I think the next series will be like the Portland series. It definitely won't be a sweep...It might even end up 7 games. The only thing that could go wrong is if a Golden State situation came up where, we just simply couldn't match up. During 2007, we played so well the entire year, but for some reason kept losing to Golden State duirng the season. When we were matched up with them in the first round, I remember well, that all of us on the board shrugged them off before the first game, saying that we weren't focused, or we didn't have such and such player playing during the season, etc. Then came the series and Golden State just wanted it more, and we simply didn't adjust and Avery was hard headed in trying to match up to them vs. them to us. In a similar situation, I expect Carlisle to respons better.

Needless to say, it will be tough and hard fought. OKC/Memphis will want it - they think that they can just beat us with athleticism and grit. Because of that, I expect us to lose one of the first two games. Hopefully we adjust by the third game like against Portland and the Lakers...

[tsar]

Originally Posted by Maringa

I think the next series will be like the Portland series. It definitely won't be a sweep...It might even end up 7 games. The only thing that could go wrong is if a Golden State situation came up where, we just simply couldn't match up. During 2007, we played so well the entire year, but for some reason kept losing to Golden State duirng the season. When we were matched up with them in the first round, I remember well, that all of us on the board shrugged them off before the first game, saying that we weren't focused, or we didn't have such and such player playing during the season, etc. Then came the series and Golden State just wanted it more, and we simply didn't adjust and Avery was hard headed in trying to match up to them vs. them to us. In a similar situation, I expect Carlisle to respons better.

Needless to say, it will be tough and hard fought. OKC/Memphis will want it - they think that they can just beat us with athleticism and grit. Because of that, I expect us to lose one of the first two games. Hopefully we adjust by the third game like against Portland and the Lakers...

Lose first 2 at HOME? Seriously? I don't think that will happen. Mavs will win in 5. These are inferior opponents compared to the Lakers.

[LonghornDub]

Norm is a dumbass.

[dude1394]

The next series will be a lot more athletic than the lakers were. They'll both be tough.

[bernardos70]

They are different, not better. We are very well equipped to deal with them, but in short, no, they're not better than the Lakers.

We could sweep either team, but that doesn't mean the games will be easy, and no matter which path they took to get there, they'll still be a Western Conference finalist team. Teams don't get to the WCF by accident.

[dude1394]

It is frustrating to hear norm downplay the sweep, which is what he is doing however. He can't wrap his head around it.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by dude1394

It is frustrating to hear norm downplay the sweep, which is what he is doing however. He can't wrap his head around it.

It's not just him, either. The old line was, "No way the Mavs can beat the Lakers. They're awesome and they're the champs." The new line is, "The Mavs swept the Lakers, but the Lakers suck."

The Mavs are being penalized by certain media members for beating the Lakers so badly. It's ridiculous.

[Underdog]

I don't know why any self-respecting Mavs fan would care about anything that anyone on the Ticket says about the Mavericks - they haven't had a decent basketball mind working there since Skin left... Hell, most of those guys don't know or care about the Mavs any more than the average casual fan on the street.

[LonghornDub]

Does 103.3 have any good basketball minds? Galloway and his cronies seem to know absolutely nothing about hoops.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

Does 103.3 have any good basketball minds? Galloway and his cronies seem to know absolutely nothing about hoops.

I don't think you can tune into ANY good Mavericks discussions on the radio these days - the internet seems to be the only haven for rational Mavs-talk... Seems like all the radio personalities are, at best, casual fans, or, at worst, completely misinformed about what the Mavs are about, just like a majority of sports "journalists"...

How hard is it to actually watch a game and draw accurate conclusions about a team??

[ShaggyDirk]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I don't know why any self-respecting Mavs fan would care about anything that anyone on the Ticket says about the Mavericks - they haven't had a decent basketball mind working there since Skin left... Hell, most of those guys don't know or care about the Mavs any more than the average casual fan on the street.

+1

I said this in another thread somewhere... Stop freaking worrying about what these dumbass "analysts" spew out their sucks! None of them are invested in the Mavericks, so why do you care? They get a pay check for you listening to them. That's it!

GAC, B & S, Sturm have all flip flopped throughout this whole journey. They don't know shit! They just get paid to banter about whatever is in the moment. It's unfortunate because Sturm is very intelligent and has a solid opinion most of the time.. I just listen casually to pass the time of driving from work to home...

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I don't think you can tune into ANY good Mavericks discussions on the radio these days - the internet seems to be the only haven for rational Mavs-talk... Seems like all the radio personalities are, at best, casual fans, or, at worst, completely misinformed about what the Mavs are about, just like a majority of sports "journalists"...

How hard is it to actually watch a game a draw accurate conclusions about a team??

Exactly, and it's even worse when they start trying to draw conclusions about the other teams. "Blah blah blah, Lakers, blah blah..." Really, Norm? How many Lakers games did you watch this year?

[Murphy3]

I can't get past Ben and Skin's personalities.. If I could get past that, I might actually enjoy what they have to say. And I wouldn't go as far as to say that the ticket has no one.. Bob and Norm are more than capable. They aren't always right, but they are more than capable of talking basketball.

I'd probably slit my wrists if I had to hang out with Ben and Skin.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

I can't get past Ben and Skin's personalities.. If I could get past that, I might actually enjoy what they have to say. And I wouldn't go as far as to say that the ticket has no one.. Bob and Norm are more than capable. They aren't always right, but they are more than capable of talking basketball.

I'd probably slit my wrists if I had to hang out with Ben and Skin.

Yeah, Skin knows a hell of a lot about hoops, but he seems to "try too hard" in the comedy department - listening to him during the Mavs games usually has me shifting between absolute agreement and complete annoyance...

[Murphy3]

Their's a reason as to why they haven't succeeded thus far as radio talk show hosts.. it doesn't have anything to do with their basketball knowledge.

[BGMaverick9]

M
O
R

#justsayin

But I think Skin does a great job with Ben, I don't have a problem with their comedy.

[Murphy3]

Too much hip hop related music and comedy.. and they try to shoe horn in their friends that just aren't remotely entertaining.

[jthig32]

Ben and Skin are great. I was in Murph's camp when they were on the Ticket, but their show now is rock solid. Norm has been relegated to "only during commercials for 103.3" status for a long time now for me.

Oh, and let's stop lumping Ben and Skin together as far as basketball knowledge. Skin is a great basketball mind. I would love to just sit around and bs about hoops and the Mavs with him any time. Ben is not that. At all.

And I'm not real interested in Sturm's opinion on basketball either. I think he's the best sports personality in the market by a mile, but his work on basketball isn't great.

[LonghornDub]

I think Skin's hilarious. Color me not even remotely surprised that Murph disagrees and would "slit his wrists" if he had to hang out with him. No offense, Murph.

[chumdawg]

Love me some Ben and Skin, and have for quite a long while.

If it's a big Mavs news day, I will favor Galloway and Co. just because they will bring on serious guests, such as Stein and Donnie Nelson. The Hardline is best reserved for slow news days.

Actually, I find the most informative Mavs radio time of all to be Chuck's interview with the coach on the pre-game show. Often some juicy nuggets there.

[Murphy3]

I will give you that they are better now that they're on whatever station they're on. I think they've been forced to turn it down a notch.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Love me some Ben and Skin, and have for quite a long while.

If it's a big Mavs news day, I will favor Galloway and Co. just because they will bring on serious guests, such as Stein and Donnie Nelson. The Hardline is best reserved for slow news days.

Actually, I find the most informative Mavs radio time of all to be Chuck's interview with the coach on the pre-game show. Often some juicy nuggets there.

I can definitely agree that Mike and corby are not where you want to be when things are hopping in Mavs land.

[fluid.forty.one]

As far as our next opponent, they will definitely be better than the Lakers were in game 4.

[Rhylan]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

I think Skin's hilarious. Color me not even remotely surprised that Murph disagrees and would "slit his wrists" if he had to hang out with him. No offense, Murph.

Co-sign. Having hung out briefly with both, I think they would awkwardly stare at each other and throw out obsure '80s DFW sports references until one just walked away silently.

Anyway.. B&S provide the best Mavs analysis in the area without question.. I'm in the same boat as thig, basically a B&S P1 and only going to Norm if he has a really notable guest. BaD can get Mavs talk done now and then if they focus, just based on Sturm's abilities alone.. but that's a rare occasion. Otherwise, the Ticket is absolutely listless on Mavs talk. But I still listen damn near all day every day.

Ben & Skin's outlook on the world is just right up my alley. The generational / local upbringing synergy is far better than anybody on the Ticket, for me personally. So the music & humor stuff is part of why I stick with them, not a detraction.

[chumdawg]

Isn't Ben responsible for "Is it possible to sweep yourselves?" How can you not love that?

[Rhylan]

Yep. Genius.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Isn't Ben responsible for "Is it possible to sweep yourselves?" How can you not love that?

My favorite part of that was Shannon Brown not understanding that Ben was pretty much openly mocking him. He answered the question seriously. "Yeah, it's definitely possible to sweep ourselves."

Great stuff, Shannon.

[dirno2000]

Skin is without a doubt the best basketball mind on the radio but I can't listen to Ben talk basketball or football. He reminds me of Junior Miller in that too many of his opinions are extrems. Everything is either awsome or it sucks.

Sturm doesn't put in as much work analyzing basketball as he does football but I'm still always interested in what Bob and Dan have to say. They're not "experts" but they have, for lack of a better term, an everyman sensibility to they're analysis. While they're going to throw out Per or TS%, I get the feeling that they know what they're talking about even if they're not totally imersed in it.

Speaking of Junior Miller I don't know if anyone remembers but he once called +/- a stat for basketball idiots or something of the sort. In fact, I think he called Murphy an idiot for using it to make a case for Shawn Bradley in an e-mail back 03' or 04'. Now it's in every box score. I like him as a radio personality but i'm out when he starts talking sports.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by dirno2000

Skin is without a doubt the best basketball mind on the radio but I can't listen to Ben talk basketball or football. He reminds me of Junior Miller in that too many of his opinions are extrems. Everything is either awsome or it sucks.

Sturm doesn't put in as much work analyzing basketball as he does football but I'm still always interested in what Bob and Dan have to say. They're not "experts" but they have, for lack of a better term, an everyman sensibility to they're analysis. While they're going to throw out Per or TS%, I get the feeling that they know what they're talking about even if they're not totally imersed in it.

Speaking of Junior Miller I don't know if anyone remembers but he once called +/- a stat for basketball idiots or something of the sort. In fact, I think he called Murphy an idiot for using it to make a case for Shawn Bradley in an e-mail back 03' or 04'. Now it's in every box score. I like him as a radio personality but i'm out when he starts talking sports.

Ben does drive me nuts sometimes, especially with football. But he's counterbalanced by Skin and the fact that I find them both very entertaining. And I also don't feel like he presents himself as an expert or authority on most of the subjects he talks about. In contrast to....

Completely agree on Junior. I really can't handle the morning show at all when it talks any kind of sports.

[Nowitzness81]

I've always thought the best Ticket bball talk was in the morning on The Musers.

It's entertaining as hell hearing Craig rip on the Mavs as he is a huge Spurs fan.

[vinylstar]

Every Grizz v Thunder game I've watched I thought to myself "Neither of these teams aren't ready." I think the Lakers would kill both of them. I have not had similar thoughts about the East games I've watched.

[dude1394]

Listened to the snake on the ticket today calling out Reiner on his proclamation that the Mavs would rue the day they drafted the dirkster....epic fail there.

Also I believe Ben coined the "one and done boys". Carlisles wife called him out on it and said she wouldn't listen to them anymore and she had liked em.

Some media folks should be eating some major crow right now. I heard sturm munching some good Tuesday.

When dirk was asked about it, his comment was basically I don't give a flying **** what the media says. I'm playing this for a ring for ME and my team, everyone else can stuff it. I'm REALLY looking forward to the next weeks!!!!

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Listened to the snake on the ticket today calling out Reiner on his proclamation that the Mavs would rue the day they drafted the dirkster....epic fail there.

Also I believe Ben coined the "one and done boys". Carlisles wife called him out on it and said she wouldn't listen to them anymore and she had liked em.

Some media folks should be eating some major crow right now. I heard sturm munching some good Tuesday.

When dirk was asked about it, his comment was basically I don't give a flying **** what the media says. I'm playing this for a ring for ME and my team, everyone else can stuff it. I'm REALLY looking forward to the next weeks!!!!

I know for a fact that the second part of the Ben story is true to an extent but is a running joke now. She went up and hugged him after Game 4.

[kchan4487]

Personally, I don't think whomever the Mavs face it will matter much. Oh sure they might be tough to beat 1st couple of games, but thinking of the deeper bench and a week or rest, and the OT's that the MEM-OKC series are churning out, by the third and fourth game, KD and RW/ZR and MG are dead tired, and they don't really have the bench strength to match Dallas.

The analysts would then be going "OKC/MEM got beat coz they were exhausted in their last series. The CHI/HEAT will sweep tha Mavs." LOL.

[Murphy3]

I can definitely see that half of their 600-700 daily listeners post on this forum...