Has Mavs defense really improved? Or it's only an Illusion?

[jibikao]

Hey guys,

I guess I was just very disappointed in last night's loss. It's another ugly home court loss to a contending team. That just makes Mavs NOT READY at all.

Well, I've heard Mavs' defense has improved quite a lot this year, So I did a little search to see why Mavs couldn't stop the Pistons from scoring... Here is what I got:

Mavs
Point Per Game: 98.6
Point Per Game from Opponent: 95.6 <-----

Before Nash left, people have been criticizing that Nash is one of the big reasons why Mavs' defense sucks. Ok, here is another stats:

Suns
Point Per Game: 107.8
Point Per Game from Opponent: 95.9 <-----
11.9 point difference!


That's ugly comparion if you ask me. I am quite disappointed. We traded for defense players but the result is quite disappointing. Maybe I am hoping for too much but the point differential is UGLY. Mavs can only win by 3 pts per game while Suns can win by 11.9.

Spurs has these:
Point Per Game: 96.1
Point Per Game from Opponent: 84.1

Spurs has 12 pt differential and you wonder why they are so good.


Sigh... Mavs really needs to worry about their defense. They have too many people fighting for shots. Dirk SHOULD get the most shots and the other guys should be the supporting cast. Josh Howard has been playing great but I am not so sure about other players. Too much ups and downs. One day Terry scores 20... another day Stackhouse scores 20... it's just so inconsistent. Mavs keeps changing lineups and I really doubt if it's beneficial in the end. Who is the REAL point guard? One day it's Harris...then Terry and now it's Armstrong. WTF??

Sorry for all the venting...

Jimmy