who matches up and how well do they matchup?

[Murphy3]

just curious as to any thoughts on how the mavs starters matchup vs minny, LAL, Sacto, and SAS...and vice versa. Can Jamison guard Peja? Who will guard dirk?..etc etc

[kg_veteran]

This is something you and I have discussed via PM. And it's a very interesting subject...

<u>Sacramento vs. Dallas</u>

When the Mavs are on defense, I think you'll see this:

Nowitzki - Divac
LaFrentz - Webber
Finley - Stojakovic
Jamison - Christie
Nash - Bibby

When the Kings are on defense, I think you'll see this:

Divac - LaFrentz
Stojakovic - Nowitzki
Webber - Jamison
Christie - Finley
Bibby - Nash

Notes: Webber will be torched by Jamison. Can Jamison stick with Christie? I think so.

<u>San Antonio vs. Dallas</u>

When the Mavs are on defense, I think you'll see this:

LaFrentz - Duncan
Nowitzki - Nesterovic
Jamison - Bowen
Finley - Ginobili
Nash - Parker

When the Spurs are on defense, I think you'll see this:

Nesterovic - LaFrentz
Bowen - Nowitzki
Duncan - Jamison
Ginobili - Finley
Parker - Nash

Notes: Duncan's going to pound us no matter who we put on him. Jamison, however, will really make him work on the defensive end. Nowhere for Duncan to hide on defense.

<u>LA vs. Dallas</u>

When the Mavs are on defense, I think you'll see this:

LaFrentz - O'Neal
Nowitzki - Malone
Jamison - Fox/George
Finley - Bryant
Nash - Payton

When the Lakers are on defense, I think you'll see this:

O'Neal - LaFrentz
Malone - Nowitzki
Fox/George - Jamison
Bryant - Finley
Payton - Nash

Notes: Really, the most difficult matchups will once again be Shaq and Kobe. Also, Jamison is going to pound their SF, and Nowitzki is going to make Malone look really slow and old.

<u>Minnesota vs. Dallas</u>

When the Mavs are on defense, I think you'll see this:

Nowitzki - Olowokandi
LaFrentz - Garnett
Jamison - Szczerbiak
Finley - Sprewell
Nash - Cassell

When the Wolves are on defense, I think you'll see this:

Olowokandi - LaFrentz
Szczerbiak - Nowitzki
Garnett - Jamison
Sprewell - Finley
Cassell - Nash

Notes: Garnett will get his, and Wally will make Jamison work. Nowitzki will torch Szczerbiak, and Jamison will really make Garnett earn his title as a "great defender".



My two cents...

[Drbio]

excellent analysis.

[u2sarajevo]

KG... good matchups.... but one question I have about LA's D on Dallas. You said Shaq would be matched up on LaFrentz when LA is on Defense. Isn't that what we want? Wouldn't that play into our hands? LaFrentz on the perimeter and Shaq guarding him....

I just don't see that happening. Not consistently, especially if we are able to start pounding the ball inside.

[Murphy3]

who else would shaq guard other than lafrentz?

he can't guard dirk..he can't guard jamison...finley?..Nash?

will the lakers use some for of a zone to play the mavs? the mavs would then have quite a few wide open looks from the outside..

if you can draw shaq away from the basket some, it will allow you to pound the ball into dirk and jamison.

[u2sarajevo]

I know Murph.... on paper it just makes you wet your pants thinking about it.

[Drbio]

u2- Shaq will have to play Raef. I doubt he gets sucked out to the perimeter much unless Raef is just draining threes, but who else will he play? The Mavericks present so many match up problems for the flakers. It's great.

[kg_veteran]

Murph and Doc both said it, but Shaq has to guard Raef, because anybody else on the court would torch him. And Raef, if his head is screwed on straight, should be able to really make Shaq work hard and actually come out and cover. If Shaq doesn't come out, I'm happy with Raef draining jump shot after jump shot, which I'm confident he can do. I honestly think the Mavs have to attack Shaq. If Shaq comes out high, fine. But if he wants to stand in the paint, the Mavs should just let Raef play horse. Raef should just catch and shoot with confidence, and Shaq's fat ass will quickly be limping to the perimeter, courtesy of a Phil Jackson tongue lashing.

And when that happens, like Murph said, the inside opens up. With Shaq drawn from the middle, the Lakers have no prayer of stopping Nowitzki or Jamison inside. Of course, all of it is predicated on Nellie's willingness to keep giving Raef the ball.

[Fah Q]

Kg it is all predicated on Nellie giving Raef the ball. your right on that. IMO if Raef hasn't gotten over his fear of shootingthe ball (pausing longer than he should before he shoots) the Mavs will have some very long nights against the lakers. How much rope do you think Nellie will give him? Knowing how Nellie has been the last couple years, I don't think he's gonna give him much.

[kg_veteran]

I think the whole equation when playing the Lakers starts with neutralizing their defensive anchor. If you allow Shaq to stand in the paint and wait, he'll make life difficult for you. The same is true of Duncan. You have to make those guys work and move them around so that they can't play goaltender.

[Nash13]

Dallas v. Sacramento

Dallas will use Antawn Jamison more than anybody else, mainly because he can't be guarded by anyone on that team. Peja not good enough, and Webber can't guard him anywhere near the perimeter. Nash will thrash Bibby like last year. The only area where they have us at is center. And even then, i don't think they will go to Divac and Miller that much.

Dallas v. San Antonio

They will be the hardest because i think Rose can guard Jamison, and nobody can guard Duncan. The main thing we should do is go to Dirk and Nash. Finley will probably a lot more shots than Jamison. We can also try going to Raef, mainly because Rasho is there weakest link.

Dallas v. L.A.

This is going to be more similar to the Sacramento Strategy. The Nash/Dirk duo will have to be solid. Nash will have a difficult time trying to score. I think Finley will have big games against the Lakers if he could slash like he did in the San Antonio/game 7 against Sacramento series.

Kg, i think since they say Kobe is a good defender, i think he'll guard Jamison, but it won't do any good. Jamison will come close of getting points in the paint as Shaq, mainly b/c he can post up Kobe/Fox/George. The key factors vs the Lakers are Finley and Jamison.

Dallas v. Minnesota

Minnesota is going to be knee deep against us. If Jamison can use his post skills, they are going to have a long night. And count the fact that Dirk already averages 34ppg against them doesn't make it any easier. If we run our zone, they won't be as good unless Hudson plays.

[Murphy3]

i'm ok with raef taking the open jumper.

but you're right, even with shaq in the paint, the mavs should still go down low.

[kg_veteran]

Shaq can't stop everything. With big advantages at both forward spots, the Mavs have to pound the ball inside.

[Murphy3]

and whoever guards malone, don't nick his arm on the jumper. can't have him at the line 15 times a game

[Psychedelic Fuzz]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
i'm ok with raef taking the open jumper.

but you're right, even with shaq in the paint, the mavs should still go down low.

Personally, I think a shot as pretty as Raef's ought to find the basket a little more often.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Psychedelic Fuzz

Personally, I think a shot as pretty as Raef's ought to find the basket a little more often.

More often than what? the guy shot 51.8% from the field and 40.5% from behind the arc.

that's pretty damn good

[Nash13]

good point Murph. I've always thought Nelson's expectations on Raef was too high. I'll admit, there's no exuse why Raef's rebounding number went down, especially on our team where he'd get more opportunities to rebound, but he doesn't receive the ball enough to score like he did for Denver.

[Simon2]

Originally posted by: Drbio
u2- Shaq will have to play Raef. I doubt he gets sucked out to the perimeter much unless Raef is just draining threes, but who else will he play? The Mavericks present so many match up problems for the flakers. It's great.

If the idea is to get Shaq out on the perimeter, why not put someone outside who can really hit the shot? Then, Shaq will have to guard Dirk. Oh my, is this small ball again?!

[Drbio]

Shaq cannot guard Dirk. Dirk would make him look foolish and slower than he is. Shaq cannot guard Finley, Jamison, or Nash either. That only leaves Bradley or Raef or Fortson or whoever is actually playing the 5. Most likely it will be Raef. If Raef is hitting from outside, it would force Shaq out of the key to guard him (unless the flakers used soem kind of zone, etc). If that happened, Jamison and Dirk are going to go off. If they don't, I'm sure a slashing Finley would step up.

[dirno2000]

I think too much is made of pulling Shaq from under the basket. Shaq is still more moble than we give him credit for. He's not Oliver Miller. Since Raef is really not a threat to put the ball on the floor, he doesn't make Shaq move much on the perimeter. Shaq just tries to get a hand in his face.

One of Raef's best games was when he scored 26 against the Lakers, and we were still throughly beaten. When we did beat the Lakers with Shaq, the year before last, I don't remember Raef having a great scoring game. We did get Shaq in foul trouble, which brings me to my next point.

Shaq is more likely to foul down low than on the perimeter. I want him down low. I just want to see us going at him. He will block some shots, but he will also commit some fouls. S.A. was successful using this strategy in the playoffs. Shaq does'nt jump like he use to. use that to our advantage. Why can't we just feed Raef down low against Shaq? He's been a low post scorer his whole life, until he came here. We're turning him into a 3 point specialist, while complaining that we don't have enough low post scorers.

[Murphy3]

i wouldn't recommend feeding the ball to raef much down on the low block when he's being covered by shaq. it would be more effective for dirk or jamison to post up, draw shaq over on the double and dish to raef..or, penetrate and draw shaq then dish.

making him move from side to side to help out..that's how you'll get him in foul trouble. Plus yeah, you attack the basket

[u2sarajevo]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
i wouldn't recommend feeding the ball to raef much down on the low block when he's being covered by shaq. it would be more effective for dirk or jamison to post up, draw shaq over on the double and dish to raef..or, penetrate and draw shaq then dish.

making him move from side to side to help out..that's how you'll get him in foul trouble. Plus yeah, you attack the basket

Exactly Murph. The whole reason I doubted the Shaq/LaFrentz matchup. I understand everyone questioning who else would he defend, but I think Jackson will keep Shaq from moving to perimeter defense. Our options inside have increased and Shaq works best there.

[dirno2000]

I'm not calling for a steady diet of Raef. I'd just like to see him get a couple of touches when he's closer than 17 ft. from the basket. Not just against Shaq, but in general. He can score in the post. The year we traded for him, he almost lead Denver to a victory in the AAC. He killed us in the paint.

[EricaLubarsky]

I have NBA live 2003 all updated with all the new rosters and I just realized how much I like the possible defensive lineups in the front court against Sacramento. Look at this.

Fortson(c)-defends Webber, knocks him around
Nowitzki(pf)-defends divac, etc and gives them hell on the opposite end
Jamison- defends a christie or whatever
Finley- I would keep guards together, but Finley knows Peja pretty well so he could slow him down there
Nash- well....Bibby's best defender is himself.

Or

Lafrentz- matches up with Miller really well in style and strength
Nowitzki- take on Peja. He's be a hair slow for PJ, but he would have height advantage
Jamison- Webber when he's around. He cant really stop him or even slow him, but...who can? He's faster than Webber though and he can be pesky with blocks and steals occasionally
Finley- their SG
Best- their PG

I also really like the potential Howard has as a perimeter defender. He COULD possibly stop Peja in his tracks. Who knows? Najera does a nice job defending Webber too...