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LonestarROB · 12-10-2001, 12:11 PM

I see the Mavs getting beat up.

Mavs 87
Jazz 104

After the game a blockbuster trade is announced sending both Raef and Malone to Dallas [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] .

TheKid · 12-10-2001, 12:41 PM

Is Dirk playing tonight?

LonestarROB · 12-10-2001, 02:27 PM

Don't think so [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] .

Chef Ed · 12-10-2001, 03:34 PM

Wang, and Eduardo have monster games tonight, and Mav's escape with a win. 93-89....

MFFL · 12-10-2001, 04:01 PM

I'm not gonna predict ever again. Last time I made a prediction, not only did we lose but Dirk got hurt. I'm out of the prediction business.

Flying Tiger · 12-10-2001, 06:17 PM

Fin has a break-out game, career high 40 points, mavs win...109-97

zk18 · 12-10-2001, 06:51 PM

Hey guys, havnt been here in a while. I see the Mailman having a huge game tonight..again, but i see th eMavs escaping with a victory. 99-97. Go mavs and MANTIS dominates.

Bayliss · 12-10-2001, 07:26 PM

If Dirk plays, we'll win. If he doesn't play, we'll lose. It's as simple as that.

(And I'm split. On one hand I want him to be a gamer and play. On the other hand I want him to rest and fully recover.)

Rod1975 · 12-10-2001, 07:58 PM

I'm with MFFL, I predicted extended garbage time against washington and we lost Dirk and a game.
I do think whether or not we win hinges on the game-time decision the docs and Dirk make.

FineCubanCigar · 12-10-2001, 08:38 PM

Lookin like Dirk wont see the floor, Wang gets intimidated by the Mailman and company(not that the game hinges on it or anything), Findawg scores 25 plus, Nash goes 18-10asts... Jazz win 98-93.

MavsFanFinley · 12-10-2001, 09:09 PM

On espn, a poster said the announcers that's televising the game said Dirk will play.

FineCubanCigar · 12-10-2001, 09:24 PM

that would be nice, hope it doesnt hurt in the long run

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 09:39 PM

Dirk plays. He has 6 pts and 3 rbs after the first. Nash has 10 pts.
The game is tied at 25.

Hoopsmeister · 12-10-2001, 10:09 PM

Turnovers are killing us. Nice to see that we finally too advantage of one ourselves.

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 10:12 PM

Utah free throws are killig us too. They already attemted 27.

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 10:13 PM

We need more offensive production out of Howard and Finley. Finley is having a poor game so far.

Bayliss · 12-10-2001, 10:16 PM

Bradley's dominance on defense is again on display. He's blocking shots, grabbing rebounds, getting into people's faces, converting on opportunities.

Oh wait, he's not? Oh yeah... I forgot, he left his heart in Dallas. Instead, he's getting the ball stripped away, not fighting for rebounds, making lazy passes, and lacking intensity.

So evilmav, and mavinator. What's yall's excuse for him playing terrible tonight?

MavsFanFinley · 12-10-2001, 10:22 PM

Howard is just in a funk and doesn't look like there will be an end to it. Not good at all.

As for Fin, I find it interesting that he was more agressive in the Wizards game and more hesitant in tonights game. He's going to have to break that as well. He really should be 2-6 cause that last second prayer was dumb.

Funny, Nash couldn't hit the side of the barn against the Wizards and is lighting it up once again with Dirk back.

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 10:30 PM

MFF,
like I said before I believe Finley is having problems to adjust his game, due to the fact that he´s clearly option Nr.2 (sometimes 3) on the Mavs offense now.

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 10:33 PM

Nash just picked up his 4th foul.

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 10:35 PM

So did Howard. Damn those refs.

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 10:44 PM

Hardaway please stop shooting!!

Maringa · 12-10-2001, 11:01 PM

Mid 4th quarter...No matter how this game ends, Najera is making a statement that he should be playing more minutes...great game by him...

dallmav · 12-10-2001, 11:15 PM

And don Baby takes him out. I dont understand this coach.A guy is playing his ass off and he takes him out. Come on damnit

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 11:23 PM

It´s over. I can´t believe we actually lost this game.

LonestarROB · 12-10-2001, 11:24 PM

I understand takin him out for a rest but Not putting Najera back in just baffles me [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] .

Fidel · 12-10-2001, 11:39 PM

I´m really sick of Hardaway. He´s actually doing none of the things the Mavs expected him to do. I´ve never seen Omar Cook play, but perhaps it´s time to give him a shot as Nash´s backup.

Bayliss · 12-10-2001, 11:43 PM

Najera hustles his ass off, plays with high energy and is a key to the Mavs getting the lead. Do we need that energy in crunchtime? Well I guess Nellie didn't think we did. **groans**

Damn I wish Finley cold've stepped it up. I wish Bradley could've stepped it up. I wish Howard would do something. But as my momma always said: if wishes were horses beggars would ride.

MavsFanFinley · 12-10-2001, 11:55 PM

After reading replys and looking at box scores (I know they don't tell the whole story but enough to get some ideas) of the Laker game, Wizards game and tonights game for Finley, I think it's obviously what the problem is. Surely, Im not the only one who notices it.

Hoopsmeister · 12-11-2001, 12:53 AM

Care to give us a clue MFF? I looked at the box score again and can't guess what you are reading there.

MavsFanFinley · 12-11-2001, 01:47 AM

Im not like others here that are good with words, but I'll give it a try.

Fin is sitting around watching the other 2 play and is waiting to see what they do first. He needs to get pissed and make sure everyone else remembers he's part of the big 3, but first he has to remember it himself.

Laker game, Fin is sitting around on the outside, Dirk and Nash are being the more agressive. His shots come inconsistantly. Fin settles for the jump shot. 2 things happen, Fin looks surprised that he gets to shoot and throws up something ugly or he has an advantage and throws back out to Dirk or Nash to reset the offense. He's either knee jerking and shooting or too hesitant to take the shot. He takes 2 shots in the 4th quarter before fouling out. Mavs shoot 21% (4-19) Fin plays 31 minutes, Dirk--44 and Nash--34.

Wizards game, without Dirk, Fin is more aggressive, gets his shots in a more consistant way and shoots 59% on 13-22. Nash is of no help offensively and goes for 4-12. We get some unexpected help from Wang and Najera, but still lose. Instead of fading to the outside, he curls inward towards the basket and somebody finds him for an easy layup or hook shot. Was that called for him or was he just doing it? Nothing special, but better than the fadaway, etc..We all think Fin is back, but nope.

Tonights game, Fin is back to sliding to the outside, plays 36 minutes and goes for 2-11. Looks eratic again, but isn't in foul trouble despite the 4 fouls. That was fouling and hoping they miss so you get a shot at the end. Shots come inconsistant again. Nash (where was this in the Wizards game?) and Dirk look aggressive and get things rolling early. Fin sitting around watching and throwing up bad shots that look as flat as Howards. Sits for a good amount of time in the 3rd, like the Laker game, and doesn't take a shot in the 4th quarter, Im pretty sure. 2 things happen again, like in the Laker game, he jacks up something ugly, or has the advantage on Crotty on the low block and instead using that he throws out to Dirk or Nash to reset the offense. How about that missed dunk? When's the last time Fin missed a dunk?

Don't get me wrong, it's not Dirk and Nash's fault, a lot of it lies on Fin's shoulders by lacking the confidence he had last year. Some of it lies on the coaches for not running something for him either.

You add a Finley that stands around watching the others play to the non-existant inside game that we don't have and that spells trouble.

Like I said, Finley needs to remember he's part of the big 3 and remind everyone else of it too.

I don't know if that explained what Im trying to get across, but Im sure other's will chime in too.

Hoopsmeister · 12-11-2001, 02:25 AM

Ah, I can pretty much agree with this--I'm just surprised you could see it all in the box score :-)

Two things,
First, it did seem like the team ran more plays for Finley than they have been, but I agree that Finley seemed more hesitant to shoot it. He only had 11 shot attempts. Even given that he was shooting so badly (18%!) that is pretty low for our second option. And Finley needs to be our second option; I am a big fan of Nash--a bigger fan than I am of Finley to be honest, but the strength of his game is that he's a true point guard. He needs enough offense to make the other team respect him, but he's at his best setting up others to score.

Second, I'm not sure Nash's game against Washington can really be blamed on Nowitzki's absence. His shot was off Saturday night and on tonight, but otherwise his stats and game were very similar--10 vs 8 assists, 4 turnovers. The turnovers, nearly twice what he was averaging, are the real problem in the last two games, and I'm not sure where that is coming from.

MavsFanFinley · 12-11-2001, 02:29 AM

Forgot to add this:

Fin may be inconsistant at times, but has been around 45% shooting most of his time here.

I find that it has to be more than his ball-handling skills or lack of driving to the basket for him to go from a 3-10 (11pts) non-existant performance to a 13-22 (32pts) showing to a 2-11 (6pts) poor effort.

That isn't an inconsistency, that shows there is a bigger problem. That shows that there is 2 different players in those games.

And I find it hard to believe that it all lies on Fin's shoulders.

FineCubanCigar · 12-11-2001, 06:05 AM

Findawg always has been a streaky player(and especially shooter)... there is absolutely nothing wrong with that ... however for a streaky player to get hot, he needs to see shots and minutes. Findawg never lacks minutes as we all know, so the problem seems to be Finley not taking the shots he needs to take, or settling for the outside jumper(which is not the right way to start a good streak). Finley needs to find a way to get into a game wether or not he is scoring, it could be rebounding, playing good D, or putting up assists. All of those numbers are down this year ... maybe last year was a career year, afterall it was a contract year for him to(because we all knew the mavs would release him early last season). The problwm isnt Finley however, the problem is poor post play and apparent bad substitutions ... and those problem lie with the coach and general manager. Dont get me wrong i love Nellie to death and im sure he will find a way to make it all work somehow, but he isnt a championship caliber coach... yet)i hope)

Murphy3 · 12-11-2001, 05:13 PM

the thing is..is that he is a streaky shooter..yes.
however, we can't wait around for him to get hot. if he's not hot and other players are, i'm sorry, then someone needs to be taking the shots.

it's about time that fin starts doing some o fthe little things that he used to do.

how many damn shots does he need before you realize that he doesn't have it on a night?

would 4-20 be good?
hell, if he's cold..just give him 30 shots..he's bound to hit 6-7

Murphy3 · 12-11-2001, 05:14 PM

Yes, he needs to score..but the main problem wasn't offense..it was lack of defense..and you could see that as soon as dirk got into foul trouble, the mavs had absolutely nothing on the inside. the mavs need a center or they need to pick up a defensive presence at the 4 spot

Hoopsmeister · 12-11-2001, 06:13 PM

Yeah, but that one's almost a broken record Murph. Everybody can see that we have nothing in the middle besides Dirk--including opposing coaches which is why Washington kept going to White and Haywood the other night

Murphy3 · 12-11-2001, 06:26 PM

i know that...but it needs to be reinforced...people start writing that the reason the mavs didn't win the game was because they didn't get the ball to finley enough to get him started...he had the ball enough..that wasn't the problem...he wasn't shooting the ball well ..but he did get enough touches.

the problem was on the inside. juwan sucks...dirk is a bit above average and getting better on the inside...bradley has sucked this year, wang can't play much "D" on the inside...najera can sometimes guard players at the 4 spot...
but guess what?..add all of that together and you still don't have 96 minutes of solid inside defense and rebounding.... you have dirk and no one else consistently.
dirk isn't great at "D" on the inside..but, he is the best the mavs have...
the problem with the mavs isn't with shooting or scoring..it is with the inside defense and lack of rebounding

Rod1975 · 12-11-2001, 06:28 PM

My accurate observation: when Nellie pulled Najera in the 4th, the Mavs lost thier intensity. When is Nellie gonna realize that Najera brings it?

Murphy3 · 12-11-2001, 06:41 PM

yes, he does bring a lift..however, the mavs still haven't addressed their situation on the inside..their lack of a solid defensive presence. dirk is slightly above average and whoever else plays 4 or 5 has played way below average on the boards and defensively