New Fangled - DallasBasketball.com Article

[ReDIRKulous]

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New-Fangled
Mavs' New Plan? Same As Old One

By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com
Still ripping on the Mavs because of this new-fangled ‘Greatest O On Earth’ strategy? Stop it. It’s not new-fangled. It’s old-fangled. It’s just new-and-improved old-fangled. Last year, when the Mavs advanced to the Western Conference Finals on the strength of an offensive-first fivesome, did you enjoy it? Did you praise it? Did they contend?
All the Mavs are doing this time around is the same thing, the same philosophy, only better. Don Nelson is driving the same car with better parts.
You liked Pamela Anderson back when she had a humongous chest? She just got bigger.
The Mavs who got the minutes during last year’s run toward the title were: Dirk Nowitzki, and he’s back; Michael Finley, and he’s back; Steve Nash, and he’s back; Nick Van Exel, and he’s been replaced by Antoine Walker; and Raef LaFrentz, and he’s been replaced by Antawn Jamison.
If you are uncomfortable with this year’s Big 5, you must have despised last year’s. ... because this year’s is substantially superior.
Remember that this wasn’t Dallas’ first choice. Nellie was excited about, for essentially the first time in his 26-year coaching career, having a club anchored in a more traditional manner, with traditional (and probable Hall-of-Fame) center Alonzo Mourning.
That stab at convention didn’t work. So instead, the Mavs went to Plan B – which is a souped-up version of what did indeed succeed last season.
It is infuriating to hear quotes from folks like Doug Collins who say, ‘At some point in playoff championship caliber basketball, you've got to be able to score in the paint, get to the line, defend and rebound. I don't see them headed in that direction."
Infuriating to hear quotes from Charles Barkley, who says, "I don't know what the hell Dallas is doing, but it ain't gonna work. ... They'll be fun to watch, but they're not going to win in the playoffs. They might win that StreetBall tour going around, but they should've learned by now, you can't win an NBA championship trying to outscore somebody."
You think these Mavs can’t score in the paint? (Wait until they get a load of this unknown Jamison character.) Can’t succeed at the free-throw line? (Check out the NBA free-throw numbers from the last few seasons under assistant coach Gary Boren.) Can’t rebound? (There are things Nowitzki, Walker, Fortson and Jamison cannot do, but rebounding isn’t on the list.) Can’t win in the playoffs? (Last season, only two teams, the eventual finalist Spurs and Nets, won more!)
Infuriating, most of all, because:
If Barkley doesn’t know what the Mavs are doing, he must’ve not watched any Dallas games last season. Because what the Mavs are doing is the thing they did during their 60-win, WCF 2002-04 campaign – the same, only better.