11-19-2004, 11:22 AM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 695
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Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
OMG DID NELLIE JUST SAY HE WILL BE USING DIRK AS OUR CENTER, WE NEED DIRK TO SHOOT, NOT BLOCK THE POST!!!!!!!
To deal with injuries, Mavs coach may have something up his sleeve
11:50 PM CST on Thursday, November 18, 2004
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
Don Nelson was not quite ready to reveal his mad scientist experiments.
After a long, closed practice Thursday, the Mavericks coach emerged, saying the team had a lot of work to do because of injuries to Michael Finley (ankle), Jason Terry (ankle) and Erick Dampier (hip). So, coach, how did you decide to deal with it?
"I'd rather not talk about that, if you don't mind," Nelson said coyly. "You might as well keep a secret as long as you can."
With the New York Knicks coming to American Airlines Center tonight for a 7:30 p.m. game, Nelson will have to unveil his plan quickly. While Jerry Stackhouse has done a nice job replacing Finley, and Devin Harris solves a big part of the problem at point guard in light of Terry's injury, the longest practice time Thursday could have been spent trying to adjust to the absence of Dampier.
"We'll not be as good without him," Nelson said.
The obvious plan for the Mavericks will be to use a combination of Alan Henderson, Shawn Bradley and Calvin Booth to fill in for Dampier. But Nelson has never been obvious. While Bradley could see his minutes expand the way they did when Dampier was injured against Phoenix (Bradley played 21 minutes, up from the eight he was averaging), he also realizes Nelson could go with a "small-ball" lineup that features Dirk Nowitzki at center.
"Nellie has a lot of tools," Bradley said. "I wouldn't be surprised at all to see [small ball]."
Bradley said he is a different animal than Dampier.
"Erick has really come in and given a low-post presence," Bradley said. "Guys are looking for him, and he's allowing the guards to have some open shots. He's taken that role, and he's really excited about it.
"My role is to go and clog up the middle," Bradley added. "I know what I'm supposed to do, whether it's for three minutes or 20 minutes. We'll play zone pretty much when I'm in there, and I understand that."
That is, unless Nelson has some secrets for the Knicks.
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11-19-2004, 11:26 AM
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#2
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Old School Balla
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 13,097
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
It seems my lineup prediction may have been accurate.
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11-19-2004, 11:47 AM
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#3
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,048
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
I will be extremely upset if Nellie plays Dirk at center for a significant amount of minutes. You still have Bradley and Booth, not to mention Mbenga that can give you trash minutes at center. To place Dirk down low is nothing more than Nelson trying to get fans acclimated to the false notion that is "ok" to do it; which it isn't.
I understand that NY's center's are the equivilant to Western Conference PF's but I still feel placing Dirk at the 5 is inexcusable in these circumstances.
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''Nowitzki'' is a German word that, translated, means, ''Good Lord, doesn't this guy ever miss?''
-Miami paper on Dirk Nowitzki
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11-19-2004, 11:55 AM
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#4
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Member
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 695
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Quote:
Originally posted by: Dirkenstien
I will be extremely upset if Nellie plays Dirk at center for a significant amount of minutes. You still have Bradley and Booth, not to mention Mbenga that can give you trash minutes at center. To place Dirk down low is nothing more than Nelson trying to get fans acclimated to the false notion that is "ok" to do it; which it isn't.
I understand that NY's center's are the equivilant to Western Conference PF's but I still feel placing Dirk at the 5 is inexcusable in these circumstances.
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coudn't of said it any better!!!! If I have to see another small ball game tonight, i'm leaving early! Dirk is our #1 one shooter and the last guy I would use as our main defender. If this is true we will be 7 & 3 no doubt.
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11-19-2004, 12:59 PM
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#5
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Golden Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,971
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
i would like to see
harris
daniels
howard
dirk
dj congo/booth starting with bradley getting a lot of mins as the backup if the starters don't work out.
agree that dirk should never play center this year unless booth,bradley,mbenga and dampier are all hurt at the same time..even then, you could use henderson
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11-19-2004, 01:33 PM
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#6
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 8,509
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
If he plays Dirk primarily at Center and loses, he can expect a visit from Principal Cuban.
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11-20-2004, 02:18 AM
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#7
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Banned
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,640
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Quote:
Originally posted by: Dirkenstien
I understand that NY's center's are the equivilant to Western Conference PF's but I still feel placing Dirk at the 5 is inexcusable in these circumstances.
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Why would it matter? Dirk at center is bad against teams with decent centers. NY does not qualify. I'd rather see Dirk at center with Bradley backing him up (against weak centers) than any other lineup.
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11-20-2004, 09:23 AM
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#8
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Inactive.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Posts: 42,598
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Dirk at center only works if we can stop penetration. If we can't then we need someone to stop the penetration from turning into easy points.
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11-19-2004, 01:51 PM
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#9
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 7,938
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RE: Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Quote:
If this is true we will be 7 & 3 no doubt.
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Or not...seeing as the Mavs are +20 per 48 minutes with Dirk playing at the 5 this year. Still, I'd prefer to use it as a change-up rather than in the starting lineup. Beyond that, this writer's a bit of a moron. In his preview of the game he talked of Devin Harris filling in for "injured starter Jason Terry". And nowhere in this article is there a quote saying that Nellie will start Dirk at the 5. That's not to say he won't. It's just that it's a little silly for everyone to start freaking out about a lineup that's been pretty successful this year despite its unorthodoxy when the source of your frustrations is an article that provides absolutely no information whatsoever regarding what Nellie plans to do.
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"He's coming off the bench aggressive right away, looking for his shot. If he has any daylight, we need him to shoot the ball. We know it's going in."
-Dirk Nowitzki on Jason Terry, after JET's 16 point 4th quarter against the Pacers.
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11-19-2004, 02:16 PM
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#10
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 826
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
The Knicks don't really have a center to speak of with any size. Dirk can definitely play them but I think the Mavs best move would be to start Bradley and play him as much as possible. They don't need any tricks to beat this sad sack Knicks team. They should be able to line up and kick their ass even with the injuries. I think they should use their size advantage and play big instead of small. Small is all the Knicks have. They can't match up anywhere except point and if they pressure Marbury enough then he becomes basically useless because he jacks bad shots, dribbles the clock out and then makes desperation passes. He'll get his 20 pts and 10 assists but at the expense of winning the game.
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11-19-2004, 02:39 PM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 916
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
I would start booth tonight and have Bradley off the Bench. I think Bradley has responded well as the big guy off the bench. He has put up solid minutes.
I also wouldn't mind Dirk and Henderson in the game for stretches. Throw Henderson on Kurt Thomas and let Dirk guard the spare Knick center for stretches.
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11-19-2004, 02:43 PM
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#12
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Old School Balla
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 13,097
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Quote:
Originally posted by: grndmstr_c
Quote:
If this is true we will be 7 & 3 no doubt.
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And nowhere in this article is there a quote saying that Nellie will start Dirk at the 5. That's not to say he won't. It's just that it's a little silly for everyone to start freaking out about a lineup that's been pretty successful this year despite its unorthodoxy when the source of your frustrations is an article that provides absolutely no information whatsoever regarding what Nellie plans to do.
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The source of my frustration about Dirk as a center has nothing to do with this article, and my speculation that he will use Dirk quite a bit at center with Dampier out has nothing to do with this article. And regardless of +/- numbers this year, Dirk at center has been and will continue to be a terrible idea except in extremely limited situations. I guess that's what you're referring to as a "change up".
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11-19-2004, 04:39 PM
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#13
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,265
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RE: Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
The knicks don't have any big threats at the 5. I wouldn't mind seeing Dirk at the 5 only with henderson, DJ or maybe booth on thomas at the 4.
However, there's absolutely no reason to play Dirk and four guards with the Mantis riding the pine for more than a couple of minutes over the course of the game.
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The computer can't tell you the emotional story. It can give you the exact mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows. -Frank Zappa
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11-19-2004, 04:54 PM
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#14
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 680
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Ha, ha! Nellie "forced" to experiment with a small line-up. I bet he hates that!
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When asked after the Dallas Mavericks impressive game 3 win over the Sacramento Kings whether he thought the Mavs won because they played well or because the Kings played poorly, Nelson responded that it was hard to tell, much like a thermos. "How do it know?" queried the ever eccentric Nelson. When you put something hot in it, it stays hot. When you put something cold in it, it stays cold. "How do it know?"
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11-20-2004, 12:49 AM
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#15
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Inactive.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Posts: 42,598
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RE: Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Being talented and being skilled are different? Maybe it has to do with the ebonic 'be'.
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11-20-2004, 12:57 AM
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#16
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 158
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Being talented is just something that is aquired naturally. Walker has a natural aptitude to run the offense, to pass the ball, and to make plays.
Being skilled or skillful is something that is aquired through training and hard work and comes with time (but not always as we see with walker).
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11-20-2004, 01:08 AM
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#17
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Member
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 458
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
I would say Walker knows how to jack up three point misses to no end. The other night, on al harrington's return to indiana, he shot 9 threes with only two makes. If that is your idea of running an offense, then sure, the man's a natural.
by the way turkey, what's the deal with your sigs? Why must they always be of the disturbing variety?
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11-20-2004, 01:30 AM
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#18
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 158
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Quote:
Originally posted by: JLEEHASMUCHGAME
I would say Walker knows how to jack up three point misses to no end. The other night, on al harrington's return to indiana, he shot 9 threes with only two makes. If that is your idea of running an offense, then sure, the man's a natural.
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Not exactly what I meant, but you do have a point.
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by the way turkey, what's the deal with your sigs? Why must they always be of the disturbing variety?
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I really don't know. Maybe something is in me.
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11-20-2004, 02:03 AM
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#19
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Member
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 458
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RE:Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
edit to keep thread on topic
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11-20-2004, 10:21 AM
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#20
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Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
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RE: Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
If it wasn't obviious before it was obvious again last night. Dirk has no business playing center, it makes him tentative on defense and does NOT stop anything at the hoop.
And turkey that is one disgusting sig, how about changing it. yuck.
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"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’
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11-20-2004, 11:53 AM
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#21
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 7,938
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RE: Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match
Quote:
And turkey that is one disgusting sig, how about changing it. yuck.
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How about we just ban Turkey from having a sig. He's on a role with those things.
__________________
"He's coming off the bench aggressive right away, looking for his shot. If he has any daylight, we need him to shoot the ball. We know it's going in."
-Dirk Nowitzki on Jason Terry, after JET's 16 point 4th quarter against the Pacers.
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