GameDay thread: Mavs vs SadSacKings

[OutletPass]

Originally posted by: nowitzki_prophecy
"Walker has no business being in a Mavs uniforms"

-- Cuban unveils Walker's new uni. for the playoffs.

(It's only a joke, people...just a joke) ...just riffing off Np's comment.

[Bayliss]

Nash played like trash. Finley played like trash. Daniels played like trash.

When Emmitt Smith said year before last about: a diamond among trash" he was referring to Dirk today. Dirk was the only player that played hard on both ends.

Had any of the other players played roughly half as well as Dirk today, we would've won this game.

And why Nelson believes in giving Daniels and Howard chances after chances after they screw up and screw up is beyond me. Both of them sucked. Yet Daniels and Howard played more minuytes than Jamison. And Howard's defense is a mirage. If people consider him the best perimeter defender we are in trouble. He repeatedly let Peja shoot over the top of him. And Christie drove around him constantly.

[DubOverdose]

Why didn't Jamison get more PT today? He was efficient on the offensive end when he was in.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Bayliss
Nash played like trash. Finley played like trash. Daniels played like trash.

When Emmitt Smith said year before last about: a diamond among trash" he was referring to Dirk today. Dirk was the only player that played hard on both ends.

Had any of the other players played roughly half as well as Dirk today, we would've won this game.

And why Nelson believes in giving Daniels and Howard chances after chances after they screw up and screw up is beyond me. Both of them sucked. Yet Daniels and Howard played more minuytes than Jamison. And Howard's defense is a mirage. If people consider him the best perimeter defender we are in trouble. He repeatedly let Peja shoot over the top of him. And Christie drove around him constantly.

Dirk had 5 blocks. He could/should have had 7-8 blocks but the refs bent him over and screwed him 2-3 times.

[Simon2]

Pinning your hopes on two rookies = a big letdown

Originally posted by: DubOverdose
Why didn't Jamison get more PT today? He was efficient on the offensive end when he was in.

[Murphy3]

Why didn't Jamison play more? Nellie simply overlooked him on accident in much the same way that he forgot that Shawn Bradley plays the Mavs as well.

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: Murphy3

Didn't dirk go for 17 in the second half?
Just because Adelman says it doesn't mean that it's correct.

The Mavs really went away from Dirk late in the third when they had a chance to build a lead and the kings were reeling just a bit. But, the Mavs didn't make them pay. In the fourth quarter, Dirk really didn't get many touches regardless of the position that he had down low or how open he might have been from mid range or from the outside.

When virtually everyone else is struggling except for your best player, doesn't it make sense to at least try and get him the ball just a bit more?

Anyone have a shot chart. From the play-by-play dirk took 9 shots. 8 officially but one was a foul. Almost half of his 19 attempts. I think they went away in the 4th honestly.

[kg_veteran]

Dude, according to the Yahoo! GameChannel, Dirk got 8 shots in the 3rd and 3 in the 4th.

[Misfit Mav]

I haven't read through the entire thread, so I apologize if I repeat anything that's already been covered.

I just wanted to note a few positives that we can take from the loss:

1. Daniels' average-at-best play should help keep his head on his shoulders and should keep other teams from throwing money at him this summer. I think Daniels will be very important to the future of this team, but we need to re-sign him and develop him, and he's still a rookie so he can't get a swelled head.

2. It has to be an anomaly when Fin AND Nash don't show up. They are one of the top back-courts in the league, and at least one of them should be playing well on any given game. If we got a good performance out of at least one of them, the game would have been a lot closer if not a win.

3. We can take some solace in the fact that home teams are 8-0 so far in the playoff. We were at least one of the few road team that were able to play in a competitive game. The officials really seem to be gift-wrapping games for the home teams. I think we'll look a lot better in Dallas.

4. As Murphy and others have mentioned, if we do lose the series it will highlight some major flaws in the team that must be addressed in the off-season.

5. Finally, the best news: many fans can forget (I often do), that although Dirk is often defferent to other players in the regular season, and doens't look out for his numbers very often, he is a conistent 28/12 player in the play-offs. 7-footers that can score 25-30 pts. in the play-offs are what win championships. There are a lot of flaws in his game, but every player has flaws. With a more balanced roster and a little defense, Dirk can win us a title. His line tonight was fantastic: 32/13/3 plus 3 steals and 5 blocks.

[dude1394]

So is 8 shots in the third out of 19 going away from him??

[Bayliss]

It wasn't the 3rd. It was the 4th... he shot 3 times. And considering he missed his first two of the game he shot 12-17 since. I would say that is smokin'. Why not start off with that several times in a row in the 4th? In fact why not shoot as much as Garnett already has against Denver?

[Murphy3]

The wolves are loaded offensively but Garnett has 28 attempts while not even shooting the ball efficiently. Dirk gets only 19 shots while red hot with other players on the team struggling.

There's something wrong with a coach that allows that to happen.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Bayliss
It wasn't the 3rd. It was the 4th... he shot 3 times. And considering he missed his first two of the game he shot 12-17 since. I would say that is smokin'. Why not start off with that several times in a row in the 4th? In fact why not shoot as much as Garnett already has against Denver?

Dirk stopped getting looks late in the third if memory serves correctly.

[MavsFanFinley]

Anyone have a shot chart. From the play-by-play dirk took 9 shots. 8 officially but one was a foul. Almost half of his 19 attempts. I think they went away in the 4th honestly.

First quarter/Second quarter (totals for first half):

Finley, 3-7,1-2 (4-9)
Dirk, 4-6, 1-2 (5-8)
Walker, 2-4, 0-1 (2-5)
Daniels, 2-5, 3-3 (5-8)
Nash, 1-3, 1-3 (2-6)
Jamison, 0-1, 2-3 (2-4)

Third quarter/Fourth quarter (totals for 2nd half)--totals for game:

Finley, 0-3, 0-1 (0-4)--4/13
Dirk, 6-8, 1-3 (7-11)--12/19
Walker, 0-3, 1-3 (1-6)--3/11
Daniels, 1-4, 0-3 (1-7)--6/15
Nash, 2-4, 1-4 (3-8)--5/14
Jamison, 0-0, 5-6 (5-6)--7/10
Howard, 0-1, 0-2 (0-3)--4/8

[Drbio]

You can always count on MFF. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[PubaNWO]

Through 3 quarters it was a game.

That was with Dirk playing exceptional and the other 2 members of the Big 3 were playing mediocre at best. Mostly everyone was riding on the back of Dirk, then came the 4th quarter and the mistakes from the rooks. Well if all 3 members of the Big 3 showed up then those rookies would never have to be in that position to make those mistakes. The rooks are not the offense, but rather they are the compliments to the Big 3.

Nellie needed to give AJ more minutes. Save Eddie for the home games where he is effective.

[Murphy3]

Save Eddie for the exhibition games in Mexico.

[PubaNWO]

Kings gave the Mavs nearly their best game.

Mavs need to step up....all of them....for game 2.

[EricaLubarsky]

Scott Williams was licking his chops every minute of the 19 minutes Divac was in the game. I kept looking for him in front of the scorers table but he never showed up there. Here's hoping for a S-Will appearance on Tuesday.

[sike]

Originally posted by: PubaNWO
Through 3 quarters it was a game.

That was with Dirk playing exceptional and the other 2 members of the Big 3 were playing mediocre at best. Mostly everyone was riding on the back of Dirk, then came the 4th quarter and the mistakes from the rooks. Well if all 3 members of the Big 3 showed up then those rookies would never have to be in that position to make those mistakes. The rooks are not the offense, but rather they are the compliments to the Big 3.

Nellie needed to give AJ more minutes. Save Eddie for the home games where he is effective.

true...and funny...best of both worlds...Eddie does not need to see another minute barring severe injury...

as for AJ not seeing the PT, there is no excuse....

as for Dirk getting only 19 shots and three in the fourth when he was as hot as he was...no excuse.....poor coaching IS the answer.

[sike]

also, I would like to apologize to Murph for Nellie tarnishing his good game day record!

[Novice#41]

Posted on Mon, Apr. 19, 2004
Mavs fade late in Game 1 loss
By ART GARCIA
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Steve Nash gathered his Dallas Mavericks teammates around him late in the fourth quarter of Game 1. The opener of the Western Conference first-round series against the Sacramento Kings appeared all but lost, but Nash wanted his cohorts to know one thing before they broke the quick huddle.

``We have to stay with it,'' he implored, ``the whole series.''

The Kings took the 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Sunday afternoon's 116-105 victory before a sold-out Arco Arena. The series resumes at the same site for Game 2 on Tuesday night before moving to American Airlines Center for Games 3 and 4.

Nash's message - Sacramento led 109-94 at the time - was simple: One game (or loss) does not a series make. Especially in a series that easily could go the distance.

``I want guys to realize that if we're going to go down, we better go down swinging,'' Nash said. ``We've got to do what we came here to do and not change anything. If we come back or not, you've got to continue to play hard through the whole series, continue to stay positive, and not let the highs get you too high or the lows get you too low.''

The Mavericks have been here before, dropping the opener of last year's Western Conference semifinals against the Kings at American Airlines Center. The Mavs, despite giving away the home-court edge, came back to win that series 4-3.

For the Mavs to get past Sacramento a second consecutive year, they'll have to get over the lows that plagued the second half of Game 1. A winnable game - the Mavs were down only 86-85 going into the fourth quarter - began to slip away as they drifted out of their offense and the defense broke down inside and out.

``We did a lot of good things in the first half,'' Mavs coach Don Nelson said, ``and we didn't do them in the second half.''

Dirk Nowitzki, operating almost exclusively out of the pick-and-roll, scored 29 through the first three quarters. It was an exercise of catch-and-shoot for Nowitzki, as Sacramento's big men - Vlade Divac and Chris Webber - couldn't stay with the Mavs' All-Star on the perimeter.

But Nowitzki was effectively taken out of his game in the fourth quarter. Guarded by the smaller Peja Stojakovic to open the final period, Nowitzki attempted only three shots in the decisive quarter.

``You have to give them credit for the small lineup, putting Peja on me,'' said Nowitzki, who finished with 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting and 13 rebounds. ``They put their big guys on someone else. That was a smart move by the coaching staff.''

Nowitzki didn't get much help, though, as the other four starters combined for 44 points. Of the five Mavs in double figures, two were rookies Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard.

``I was telling Dirk that if he had one more guy to help him, we win this game,'' said Michael Finley, who scored nine points on 4-of-13 shooting in 38 minutes. ``It's tough to beat a good team like Sacramento with just one guy.''

Stojakovic and Mike Bibby (14 points, seven assists) opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers, pushing the Kings out to a 92-85 advantage. That matched Sacramento's largest lead, but it marked just the start of the Mavs' demise.

Through the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, the team missed nine of 12 shots and committed three turnovers as Sacramento, Doug Christie in particular, turned up the defensive intensity. The Mavs found themselves down 105-93 with half of the fourth remaining.

``They made some big shots,'' Finley said. ``They made us pay for our defensive lapses and that got them a nice comfortable lead.''

As Nelson promised, the Mavs stuck to their small-ball game plan and were able to dictate matchups and the pace in the first half. Though the Kings are no stranger to up-tempo, the Mavs' 65-63 lead at halftime seemed better suited to the visitors.

Mavs' jumpers didn't fall as easily in the second half and the Kings began to exploit their size more effectively. Even with Brad Miller scoring only two points, Sacramento enjoyed a 50-38 points-in-the-paint edge. The Mavs scored only 40 points over the last two periods.

``They went small and had to play for it,'' said Divac, who scored 12 in only 19 minutes.

How much the Mavs continue to play remains to be seen.

``It's still just one game,'' reminded Finley, echoing Nash's sentiments. ``If my memory serves me right, I think they won Game 1 last year in Dallas. It's still just one game. We still have to win four. They did what they had to do on the home court. Fortunately enough for us, we have one more opportunity to get one on Tuesday.''

[PubaNWO]

Mavs should still be very confident....

They had a rough start.....on the road and many many awful calls that went against them in the game.

The Kings were shooting liights out and that's not going to happen anymore....that game told the story, the Kings A game can beat the Mavs C+ game but not by much.

Mavs will take game 2 and win the rest.....

Is this a 2-3-2 setup or a 2-2-1-1-1 setup???

[u2sarajevo]

It's 2-2-1-1-1.

I always thought 2-3-2 was unfair for the higher seed.... but now I think it would be great. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[PubaNWO]

Well I still feel the Mavs can win game 2 and then the next 3....

the 2 games winning at home will be enough momentum to bring another road win home!!