Mavs defense is underrated. - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Simon2 · 08-19-2003, 08:22 AM

I have been reading some other sites and the knock on this trade is that the Mavs still don't have defense. The naysayers describe the Mav defense as if the Mavs just stand around and let people shoot around them. I think people tend to forget at the end of games last year, Nash and Nick were the guards which meant that one of them had to guard the other teams sg. I think the defense will be better this year because 4 players on the starting five will be playing in their natural positions. Some would say that Duncan and Shaq's inside play was the one that killed the Mavs. So let Duncan or Shaq get his, shut the other people down. I think the Mavs will have a better defense this year. Dirk should also come back with better one-on-one defense.

dirno2000 · 08-19-2003, 08:36 AM

I agree. This is now the default criticism of the Mavs and it always will be. Being a "good defender" or a good defensive team has a lot to do with reputation. That's why Payton is still considered The Glove although he's not the ball hawk that he used to be, and Garnett is considered to be a great defender when Dirk always gives him 30. We don't have many good one on one defenders, but our team defensive is not as bad as it's portrayed to be (when we make an effort). People say we don't have anyone to stop Shaq and Duncan. Nobody does. They can't stop each other. When we contain a teams perimeter players we usually have success. That being said, I am concerned about Jamison matching up with small 3's.

Simon2 · 08-19-2003, 08:41 AM

I think the other team will worry about their sf stopping Jamison first. This is were Nelson's offense philosophy kick into play. Nelson won't sub to stop a player but he will sub to create a mismatch. Jamison will be a mismatch for most shooting forwards in the league.

Dooby · 08-19-2003, 08:43 AM

Anybody that really followed this team closely last year can see that this trade makes us better defensively. Jamison playing the 3 at the end of the games makes us better. There is no more small ball. Before you couldn't say that-you had Nick playing as an undersized shooting guard and Fin as an undersized small forward. Now, when the Mavs put there best five players on the court, they have five guys playing in position both offensively and defensively.

The pundits have no idea how much that is going to help this team defensively.

madape · 08-19-2003, 08:44 AM

The Mavericks were ranked the 11th best defense in the NBA last season in terms of field goal percentage allowed. This is truly the best statistic to measure different defenses because it takes the pace of the game out of the equation. The Mavs run a more up-tempo style. There are more shots. The score is higher. But on average, Maverick opponents make their shots at a lower clip than they do against two thirds of the NBA.

Here's the rankings

1 Sacramento 42.0%
2 San Antonio 42.7%
3 New Jersey 42.7%
4 Indiana 42.8%
5 Houston 43.3%
6 Utah 43.4%
7 Boston 43.5%
8 Atlanta 43.6%
9 Minnesota 43.7%
10 Miami 43.7%
11 Dallas 43.8%
12 Phoenix 43.8%
13 New Orleans 43.8%
14 Detroit 43.8%
15 Chicago 43.9%
16 Washington 44.2%
17 L.A. Lakers 44.3%
18 Denver 44.3%
19 Seattle 44.7%
20 L.A. Clippers 44.7%
21 Portland 45.0%
22 Philadelphia 45.2%
23 Golden State 45.2%
24 Cleveland 45.3%
25 Orlando 45.5%
26 New York 45.7%
27 Milwaukee 45.8%
28 Memphis 46.0%
29 Toronto 46.1%

kg_veteran · 08-19-2003, 08:50 AM

The most encouraging thing is that the Mavs will field a starting lineup where everyone plays their proper position (except perhaps LaFrentz).

Also, there are other reasons for optimism:

Michael Finley will now be able to concentrate less on scoring and more on defense. Finley turned in some fantastic defensive performances in the playoffs against Peja Stojakovic and Tony Parker. With Jamison there to ease his scoring load, I think Finley may actually come to be regarded as a *gasp* good defender.

Jamison may also be the same way. For years he has been regarded as "the man" in GS and has been required to carry the scoring load. When that's the case, players typically stop playing defense. In Dallas, Jamison should be able to to focus much more on the defensive end (including the defensive glass). Sure, Jamison may have trouble with small 3's, but how many of those are there in the West? I'm willing to bet he'll be able to stay even with Stojakovic, Sczerbiak (sp?), Fox, and Bowen.

If we are able to acquire a backup PG who can defend, that should also help the perimeter defense considerably.

If our perimeter defense improves even moderately, imagine the onslaught of shotblocking that will occur when opponents are foolish enough to roam into the lane! The blood of our opponents will run freely from Shawn Bradley's elbows!

Turkey · 08-19-2003, 09:11 AM

Why not put fin at PG?

MFFL · 08-19-2003, 03:07 PM

I am trying not to be a goober-fan here but I REALLY think Finley is going to do a solid job defensively this year. I would not be suprised if he is our best one on one defender this year.

Scoobay · 08-19-2003, 04:40 PM

fin has pretty bad handles, even for a sg. however, he probably could bring the ball up court at least...

steponhens · 08-19-2003, 06:07 PM

I think the Mav's defense will be improved this year, however I don't think it will need to be much better. The main problem was when we stopped the other team we allowed too many offensive rebounds and they would get tons of second chance points.

This trade vastly improves our defensive rebounding with Jamison and Fortson. The less the other team has the ball the less they will score.

Epitome22 · 08-19-2003, 06:11 PM

Except for the addition of guys like daniels and Howard, I fail to see how the Mavs defense will be much better. It will be harder to hide Finley's defensive weaknesses playing the 2 again and Jamison is not a strong defender. We areonce again left in a situation where we have no above average defenders on the floor.

MFFL · 08-19-2003, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
The most encouraging thing is that the Mavs will field a starting lineup where everyone plays their proper position (except perhaps LaFrentz).

Also, there are other reasons for optimism:

Michael Finley will now be able to concentrate less on scoring and more on defense. Finley turned in some fantastic defensive performances in the playoffs against Peja Stojakovic and Tony Parker. With Jamison there to ease his scoring load, I think Finley may actually come to be regarded as a *gasp* good defender.

Jamison may also be the same way. For years he has been regarded as "the man" in GS and has been required to carry the scoring load. When that's the case, players typically stop playing defense. In Dallas, Jamison should be able to to focus much more on the defensive end (including the defensive glass). Sure, Jamison may have trouble with small 3's, but how many of those are there in the West? I'm willing to bet he'll be able to stay even with Stojakovic, Sczerbiak (sp?), Fox, and Bowen.

If we are able to acquire a backup PG who can defend, that should also help the perimeter defense considerably.

If our perimeter defense improves even moderately, imagine the onslaught of shotblocking that will occur when opponents are foolish enough to roam into the lane! The blood of our opponents will run freely from Shawn Bradley's elbows!

Epitome22 - I think kg answered your question in advance.

Epitome22 · 08-19-2003, 06:23 PM

Finley's subpar defense had little if anything to do with some load he had to carry on the offensive end. It's not as if he was the man or even the second option, or on some nights even the third. Finley was a much better defender back when he was the only guy on the mavs who could put the ball in the hoop than he is now where he plays third fiddle at best. He's a tremendous competitor and I don't doubt that he will put in a tremendous effort on the defensive end every night but he can't defend well anymore. As for Jamison, his lack of defense has to to with the fact that he can't keep up with swingmen and he gets overpowered by big forwards. I doubt simply lessening his scoring load will radically transform his athletic ability but we can always see. And of course, Shawn Bradley eternally sucks.

Evilmav2 · 08-19-2003, 06:32 PM

Quote:

If our perimeter defense improves even moderately, imagine the onslaught of shotblocking that will occur when opponents are foolish enough to roam into the lane! The blood of our opponents will run freely from Shawn Bradley's elbows

Is that you KG, or is this Madape in disguise?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Blood running from Bradley's elbows... Great imagery....

Great points too... A shored up Mavericks perimeter defense will likely produce a horror show of Bradley/Raef shot-blocking dominance that will not be compromised by our pivots getting into early foul trouble...

Plus, you just know that having longer, rangier players like Jamison, Howard, and maybe Welsch in the rotation is going to make our Bradley anchored zone even more effective (that and the possibility of an ineffective Raef could help #44 win another shot-blocking title)...

I think the defensive improvement that the Mavs are likely to show next year, is going to shock the league...

EVAN · 08-19-2003, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Epitome22
Finley was a much better defender back when he was the only guy on the mavs who could put the ball in the hoop than he is now where he plays third fiddle at best.

You forget that Finley is getting OLDDDDDDDDDDDDDD! come on man lighten up, every mavs fan knows that our total defense is just mediocre, its not great but sacramentos total defense is equal to ours, I believe Dallas allowed 95.Something ppg, and Sac allowed 95.Something ppg. Analysts just like to "playa hate" and bash Dallas because they saw Four white guys and 1 black guy in the starting lineup and somehow came up with the word SOFT! so analysts talk alot of b/s and its nothing to worry about, the mavs will prove them wrong yet again....

Yesterday on sportscenter while they were bashing the trade as all sportscasters try to do if you're not the lakers, they mentioned that "Jamison cannot REBOUND"! WTF?!?!?! he had 7.Something rpg!!!!!!!!!! How does that translate into "CANNOT REBOUND"

Whatever man analysts suck i say f'em all to hell when Dallas goes to WCF two times in a row and in 04-05 wins a championship