Postgame Comments - Good one by Finley in bold

[mavsfanforever]

Mavericks Head Coach Don Nelson
That was a good win for us. We played well for a long, long period of time and then we went to sleep for a little bit. We couldn’t guard anybody in the fourth quarter, but we had a big enough lead and kept scoring that it was never in jeopardy.

It was good to see Eddie Najera step up and have a good game. He played terrific tonight. I was glad to see that because it’s important to us.

Marquis continues to play well. He’s a pretty special rookie. Josh Howard has a hamstring that he’s injured a couple times this year and couldn’t get it loose. He did not re-injure it, but we did not want to take any chances in a game that we had a big lead in. It gave Mike a chance to play a lot of minutes. We needed him to be good tonight.


Mavericks Forward Antawn Jamison
On the Kings being a tough test:
Well we wanted to stop the bleeding a little bit. The have the best record in the League, so we knew it was going to be a dog fight coming in.

On using this game as a springboard:
It can. I think once we got back from the road trip and we got into this homestand we knew we had to get some wins. It was a game that we could have slipped up in so guys do what is expected of them.

On possible Playoff scenerios:
We just need to play good basketball. We match up pretty well with some of these teams, but the most important thing for us is to get on a roll and get back to the things we were doing before we hit that road trip. We need to execute offensively and defensively and make it tough on other teams. If we get on a little run before the Playoffs it would definitely boost our confidence. It doesn't matter if we start at home or away.


Mavericks Guard Steve Nash
On his career high in assists:
I don't think I found people who were more open, I just think there were more possessions in this game. When you play in a game where you have over 100 points at the end of the third quarter and you play 40 minutes, you are going to have some assists.





Kings Head Coach Rick Adelman
On if he has any optimism coming off losing two games in two days:
The last quarter and a half. I don’t know if it was that we got embarrassed or mad, but we started playing. We haven’t seen that. We didn’t play with emotion and we didn’t play with good intelligence. We are still a team that has won 52 games and we have to find out how we did that. It hasn’t just gone away, but the last quarter and a half we got our attitude and that is what you have to have is an attitude. You also have to play with intelligence. We made some awful mistakes that should have never happened in our transition defense and in our rotations. We were just running around and not thinking about what they should be doing. We have two days to get back to where we were.

On if Chris Webber’s second half performance is getting close to what is expected from him:
That’s what we are hoping to get to. However Chris progresses, we have to have the other people being where they were as well. It’s a whole team thing. I would to have Bobby Jackson and Brad Miller back right now, that would certainly help as far as our rotation and what we can do. I think it is the way we are playing. The last quarter and change, we played with more of a purpose and played with intensity. It’s not going to be given to us. We have to go from here. That’s what I am going to try and build upon.


Kings Forward Chris Webber
On if he thought tonight was a step backward for Sacramento:
Actually, I think tonight was a step forward. What I talked to the team is that it is not about winning, ultimately that is what you want to do, but it is about the way in which you lose too. Tonight we can walk out of here with our heads up. It’s the NBA, you are not going to win every game. The fight that we brought to that we didn’t give up; that’s all you can ask for. You don’t know if you are going to make shots, and you don’t know if you are going to get stops, but if you put the effort out there, then what can you be ashamed of. Tonight I think we put the effort out there.

On how he is feeling after playing back-to-back games:
There are good days and bad days, so we will see in the morning. I bumped knees there at the end. So we will see how it comes in the morning with the knee and the hand. This is what I live for is to be a part of that, to be a part of the team whether we win or lose. Mentally I feel good and I think I am headed in the right direction. I am getting more comfortable on the floor and not second-guessing on attacking the basket and looking for people. For me, it is a process, and I just hope it keeps continuing to get better.

[mavsfanforever]

I like this quote by Finley--

"When you look at the big scheme of things, the team was put together to complement us," Finley said of the Big Three. "We have to continue to play our game and not take away from our game, because then it takes away from the reason they brought the other guys in.

Also 19 assists is the highest by any player in NBA this season. Props to Nash.

[Waschdel]

[quote]
Originally posted by: mavsfanforever
I like this quote by Finley--

"When you look at the big scheme of things, the team was put together to complement us," Finley said of the Big Three. "We have to continue to play our game and not take away from our game, because then it takes away from the reason they brought the other guys in.

That is another encouring quote. Thinking of Dirk´s wake-up call after the Miami loss and the attitude Steve Nash showed in his recent interviews I have the feeling that the big three finally decided to take over. Maybe the heart of the Mavs just began to beat in a rhythm that strengthens the whole body. I might be wrong but I like the assumption.

[Simon2]

Great way to recognize which three should be taking the shots in the game.

Originally posted by: mavsfanforever
I like this quote by Finley--

"When you look at the big scheme of things, the team was put together to complement us," Finley said of the Big Three. "We have to continue to play our game and not take away from our game, because then it takes away from the reason they brought the other guys in.

Also 19 assists is the highest by any player in NBA this season. Props to Nash.

[Chiwas]

We have to continue to play our game and not take away from our game, because then it takes away from the reason they brought the other guys in.

The entire failure of the season is summarized here. He told the treatment, but one can easily obtain the diagnosis from it:

- The Big Three didn't play their game

- The reason for the other players to be brought in to the Mavs wasn't respected.

Personally I think that the very moment that spoiled our season was when CCC Nelson prefered or had to ask Jamison for playing off the bench and to put Walker as starter.

[MightyToine]

Originally posted by: Chiwas

The entire failure of the season is summarized here. He told the treatment, but one can easily obtain the diagnosis from it:

- The Big Three didn't play their game

- The reason for the other players to be brought in to the Mavs wasn't respected.

Personally I think that the very moment that spoiled our season was when CCC Nelson prefered or had to ask Jamison for playing off the bench and to put Walker as starter.

If it was the OTHER WAY around, do you think it would've made a difference in the Mavs record, Chiwas?

[Chiwas]

Absolutely.

Jamison is a very disciplined player and he could have learned screens, pick and roll's, zone defense, etcetera, being a starter. All of the things that Walker DIDN'T WANT to do. Ask Dirk for more information.

With Jamison, Dirk had played PF and Bradley and Co. as Centers. Howard and Daniels had been our 6th and 7th men. That way the big three had been in command since the beginning, winning lot more games.

Not big science. I don't eat the rebounding factor.



Edit. Spelling.

Edit: Well, Walker could have been our 6th or 7th according to the circumstances of every game.

[Stitch Jones]

Originally posted by: Chiwas

The entire failure of the season is summarized here...

I wouldn't be so quick to call this season a failure just yet.

Painful yes, but I think the lessons learned through our struggles might serve us well in the playoffs. Is there any doubt that if we had played the entire season in the way we've played the last 3 games since returning to small-ball, we could have matched (or at least come close to) last year's win total?

Say what you want to about small-ball, but the most telling thing about it is that Steve, Mike and Dirk seem to believe in it. They are no doubt responding to it (I know it's a modified version of small-ball from last season, but I digress...). I think it's been a psychological relief for them - to return to their run n' gun style. I for one have gotten a chill here and there over the last few games when the Mavs seem to "offensively overwhelm" their opponent, that I haven't felt since the playoffs. I felt it again last night. That's how we "used to" win - all offense and just enough defense.

However, in the playoffs there will be a need for half-court offense at some point and I think at that point, the true value of the first 3/4 of the season will reveal itself. We remained in the thick of it in an improved Western conference all year, playing styles other than what we've seen the last 3 games. We'll have to call on that experience in the playoffs I believe. Hell, even Walker (cringe) will have some value at that point.

[Chiwas]

Well, for me to be at 6th at this point of the season is a failure.

Of course if the Mavs -a huge IF- can get the WCF's, it won't be a failure at all.

But the fact is, we are in the 6th position today almost with the regular season ended.

About the small ball. I think we are mixing things. The little success of the last 3 games is not due to small ball in the same way that Walker isn't more tall than Daniels and Howard, cause the latter are in the same relation more taller -and many more things- than NVE.

What has been the key? Second part of it, a couple of young players who don't whine, follow their coach, have a lot of enthusiasm, and play very well. But first of all, the big three playing again the once dominated system.

[Chiwas]

In any way, I believe there are good points here:

Say what you want to about small-ball, but the most telling thing about it is that Steve, Mike and Dirk seem to believe in it. They are no doubt responding to it (I know it's a modified version of small-ball from last season, but I digress...). I think it's been a psychological relief for them - to return to their run n' gun style. I for one have gotten a chill here and there over the last few games when the Mavs seem to "offensively overwhelm" their opponent, that I haven't felt since the playoffs. I felt it again last night. That's how we "used to" win - all offense and just enough defense.

However, in the playoffs there will be a need for half-court offense at some point and I think at that point, the true value of the first 3/4 of the season will reveal itself. We remained in the thick of it in an improved Western conference all year, playing styles other than what we've seen the last 3 games. We'll have to call on that experience in the playoffs I believe. Hell, even Walker (cringe) will have some value at that point.

And I liked a lot this from Nash (as doc wrote it):

We may not be the best defensive team in the playoffs, but you have to play us.....

We still have coiled string in our clock. (Popular saying in a remote and beautiful country.)

[kingrex]

I agree Chiwas, this is a cleaned up version of the ol' "F'em" philosophy so popularized by one NVE. Say what you want about the old guard's inconsistent game, but he had the right philosophy for these Mavs in the playoffs.

We are the Mavs. We know we don't play great D, but can you out run and out gun us?

Just as the Spurs force you to play their style of game with their defense, the Mavs must force teams to play their style of game with their offense.

It is true that no NBA team has won a championship without a good defense, but all NBA champions have won when they dictated how the game was played. Maybe these Mavs can dictate their style. A fan can only hope.

[Max Power]

I wonder what Walker thought of this. Finley just told him that Walker was brought in to fit in around FINLEY'S game (and the other two of the big three). Finley is better than Walker and now Walker has had his nose rubbed in it.

[Murphy3]

Unfortunately, I believe that Finley is incorrect. There is nothing in the way that Nellie used Walker early in the season that would suggest that he was brought in to compliment the Big 3. Yes, the Mavs should have brought in players to compliment the big 3, but that obviously wasn't Nellie's intent with Walker. Walker was brought in to be just as much of the core and even moreso than at least one of the big 3. It was a huge mistake by Nellie.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Unfortunately, I believe that Finley is incorrect. There is nothing in the way that Nellie used Walker early in the season that would suggest that he was brought in to compliment the Big 3. Yes, the Mavs should have brought in players to compliment the big 3, but that obviously wasn't Nellie's intent with Walker. Walker was brought in to be just as much of the core and even moreso than at least one of the big 3. It was a huge mistake by Nellie.

Didn't Cuban bring in Walker? I'm sure Nellie had no problem with it but I don't think Nellie intended on trading for Walker. I think the only way Walker will fit on this team is if he continues to go on the boards and stay in the post. He should look for the Big 3 before he decides to jack something up which is exactly what he did last night I think.

[mavsfanforever]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Unfortunately, I believe that Finley is incorrect. There is nothing in the way that Nellie used Walker early in the season that would suggest that he was brought in to compliment the Big 3. Yes, the Mavs should have brought in players to compliment the big 3, but that obviously wasn't Nellie's intent with Walker. Walker was brought in to be just as much of the core and even moreso than at least one of the big 3. It was a huge mistake by Nellie.

But we do agree that the trade was not wrong for the franchise. We got rid of a horrible contract and now we can get a pretty good return for walker. But you are just taking a part of Finley's Quote. he might not have even considered Walker when he quoted this.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Unfortunately, I believe that Finley is incorrect. There is nothing in the way that Nellie used Walker early in the season that would suggest that he was brought in to compliment the Big 3. Yes, the Mavs should have brought in players to compliment the big 3, but that obviously wasn't Nellie's intent with Walker. Walker was brought in to be just as much of the core and even moreso than at least one of the big 3. It was a huge mistake by Nellie.

Nellie is Nellie - he wants the players to take charge and take control of the team. It's just the way he is. Because the big 3 stepped back and LET Walker take control of the team, it is really the fault of the big 3. When it looked like Nellie was going to get fired, the big 3 took control of the team and started to right the ship. We had a flare up with Walker's comments to the press but Dirk corrected that with HIS comments to the press. I don't know what will happen in the postseason but I like the fact that the lockerroom has survived this situation and is ready to move forward. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

[Murphy3]

MP, I just don't think that's correct. It wasn't about Nellie wanting the big three to take charge. Nellie took the control out of their hands and gave it to AWalker for the first half of the season. It was a failed idea. Control should have never been taken from the big 3 by Nellie.