Mavs vs Rockettes game thread - Page 2 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

jacktruth · 01-13-2005, 10:21 AM

Over the past 3 years, my observation of the mavs is that the third quarted makes or breaks them. Starting Terry/Armstrong was decent. It caused a lot of first half turnovers, but we didn't convert. Even so, good shooting kept us ahead. Houston was consistently on the verge of busting through if we stopped shooting so well.

Then came the third quarter, Houston made adjustments, our shooting went cold.

The only thing a team can do to get back in a game is play good defense and take high percentage shots. Nellie adjusted to a Bradley centered zone, which Houston ate for lunch. VanGundy is too good of a coach to hand a zone defense too. As for high percentage shots, the tree in the middle sent those right back to us.

It's possible that a zone is the only thing Bradley can play. But Bradley played man-to-man in the first half. When he was fronting Yao, it caused all kinds of turnovers. But they abandoned that. I think Bradley gets too hungry for shot blocks sometimes. He then get's burned on the pass and forget's how effective he is at filling passing lanes.

jibikao · 01-13-2005, 10:25 AM

I watched the game last night. I was hoping to see more development from Terry and Dampier.

Terry - started off pretty hot with his shooting and then later he turned into a dribbling machine... he acted like he has never dribbled before. Sure the guys were standing around but he wasn't creating anything at all. A lot of passes he gave out are pretty crappy. If he can't penetrate and create for others, pass the ball to Dirk, which comes to the 2nd point...

Dirk - started off REALLY hot and then in 2nd and 3rd quarter, he was pretty much neglected. Exactly why? I don't know. Even the reporter noticed Dirk was left out in the offense. HELLOOOOOOOOO??? How come the ball didn't go to Dirk most of the time? Sure, Dirk was well guarded but the ball still needs to go to him. I don't car if Dirk was shooting bad. He is the leader and he needs ball in his hand.

Dampier - he looks like he is still struggling... I don't see any confidence in him. That's all I can say.

Finely, Armstrong, Devin - they sure love to pass the ball around. So many passes and result in nothing. Shoot the damn ball!!! Finely was cold but he just kept passing and passing at the perimeter, wasting time. Offensively, there was no flow.

Because there was no flow, Stackhouse stepped up. If it weren't for Stackhouse's one-on-one, Mavs would probably lose 20pts. I am glad he stepped up.

Overall, 114 is good enough to win a lot of games but not when Rox was shooting 61% which is HIGHLY unusual for them or for any team. I am not particularly impressed with Mavs but this loss is one of those games that you just don't want to think about. Rox was freaking hot in the end. T-MAC being a 6'8 guard can shoot over almost anybody and Juan Howard was just "unusual". If Howard can shoot like that consistently, Rox should have a much better record by now.

Defensively it was alright... I mean we didn't get enough rebounds because Rox made most of their shots. Let's move on and focus on Spurs. Is Josh Howard going to play?

Jimmy

Rockets34Life · 01-13-2005, 11:02 AM

What a great game!

Juwan finally stepping up. Hopefully it's consistent.
T-Mac kicking ass as usual and dishing dimes.
Yao getting more aggressive. Still had his average points/rebounds.
Dirk shut down after the 1st quarter.
Dampier, even though he was in foul trouble, didn't do sh!t.
Finley stepped up at the right time....w/ 30 seconds left in the game.
Rockets shot 61% and outrebounded the Mavs 40-29.
Rockets had 35 assists to the Mavs 21.
Rockets beat the Mavs at their own running game.

What a great game!

[img]i/expressions/thumbsup.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

vinnieponte · 01-13-2005, 11:13 AM

I knew this before last nights game, and I definantly know it know. WE WILL LOOSE FRIDAY AGAINST THE SPURS!

ZueriMav · 01-13-2005, 11:31 AM

Don't feed the trolls!

Or more politely: The only I care is the standing after 82 games, and the team play in play-offs.

sike · 01-13-2005, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: vinnieponte
I knew this before last nights game, and I definantly know it know. WE WILL LOOSE FRIDAY AGAINST THE SPURS!

insightful, balanced, fact based, backed by proof, comical, challenging, great post

sike · 01-13-2005, 11:37 AM

does anyone know why we saw so little of Damp last night...after shutting Yao last time, I tought they'd play him till he fouled out.....

I mean 19 min 3 fouls....he was 2-3 and had five rebounds in that streach....I know Shawn played well, but where was Damp?

ames7 · 01-13-2005, 11:46 AM

There goes my attending unbeaten streak. It's kinda hard to get mad at this one. It didn't seem like we were playing that bad defense to me. They just hit everything.

But that doesn't stop me from coming to the conclusion that I've had it w/Nellie. What is so wrong about calling a timout to stop a run? And Bradley was terrific in the first half, I'm so glad he didn't come back in in the second half until the 4th, by which time he'd had plenty of time to get cold. Yeah, that was delightful. [img]i/expressions/moon.gif[/img]

Sigh.

HexNBA · 01-13-2005, 11:47 AM

I think Damp was just bothered by his knee

Simon2 · 01-13-2005, 12:06 PM

What happened in the game? Sounds like Nellie panicked and went small ball and zone most of the time. Couldn't access the forum too.

EricaLubarsky · 01-13-2005, 12:06 PM

It's going to be a brave poster that is going to post the San Antone Gameday. Without Howard I sure as heck won't.

DubOverdose · 01-13-2005, 12:11 PM

Dampier wasn't all too effective last night. He had some tough rebounds, but that was about it. Bradley was VERY effective for a while with his 8pts or so in a quarter. The game would have been much better if they didn't call touch fouls on the Mavs, then not call a foul when four Rockets HACK at Dirk under the basket when he tries going up. They would have lost either way since the defesne was horrid. Nobody covering TMac when he has already made a few shots in a row?! Nobody picking up Wesley when he's hit MULTIPLE 3pt shots in the pocket.

DubOverdose · 01-13-2005, 12:19 PM

Yao got SO many calls, it wasn't even funny...at half he had 13 pts, 9 of which came from the foul line. If someone touched him, the whistles blew. I can't believe the Mavs didn't pass to Dirk more, he was making his shots.

ZueriMav · 01-13-2005, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: EricaLubarsky
It's going to be a brave poster that is going to post the San Antone Gameday. Without Howard I sure as heck won't.

I'll do that Erica.

Will try to calculate the time difference and start the thread ;-)

Max Power · 01-13-2005, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: EricaLubarsky
It's going to be a brave poster that is going to post the San Antone Gameday. Without Howard I sure as heck won't.

I was planning on it but my streak ran out against the Rockettes.

James92se · 01-13-2005, 12:53 PM

One thing that really frustrated me last night (and has been frustrating me for a while now) but it's been sort of glazed over with the winning. But what is up with Dirk's uber slacking in the rebounding department over the last 15 games or so?

Granted I know Damp is playing *slightly* better as of late and that Dirk's scoring is up but that by no means explains Dirk's lack of effort in that area. I know some nights you're just not gonna grab 15 boards and that sometimes there arent many to grab, but he's not even trying to get into the paint and grab some. I mean these 3, 5, and 6 rebound nights are just unacceptable for Dirk, regardless of if he put in 30 that night.

grndmstr_c · 01-13-2005, 01:17 PM

What an annoying game. Mavs' D could certainly have been better, but Houston's apparent inability to miss a shot for most of the game was just absurd; just drew a hot team tonight. Shawn was great, as was Stack. Dirk was solid (I'm still pissed about that BS loose-ball foul that gave him his third near the end of the 1st half - whichever ref called that should be forced to play an hour of smear the queer with the entire ManiAAC's crew in a 10' x 10' room). But what the heck was up with Fin? That's about as ineffectual as I've ever seen him. Hope he comes out motivated against SA. It looks like the Mavs got pounded on the boards, but they actually did well on the defensive glass. Couldn't get anything going off of offensive boards, though (not having Josh hurt them there), which didn't help in getting the Rockets out of their offensive rhythm.

grndmstr_c · 01-13-2005, 01:22 PM

Quote:

One thing that really frustrated me last night (and has been frustrating me for a while now) but it's been sort of glazed over with the winning. But what is up with Dirk's uber slacking in the rebounding department over the last 15 games or so?

Granted I know Damp is playing *slightly* better as of late and that Dirk's scoring is up but that by no means explains Dirk's lack of effort in that area. I know some nights you're just not gonna grab 15 boards and that sometimes there arent many to grab, but he's not even trying to get into the paint and grab some. I mean these 3, 5, and 6 rebound nights are just unacceptable for Dirk, regardless of if he put in 30 that night.

Specifically regarding last night, Dirk's low rebounding total was due to two things: 1) the Rockets weren't missing, hence fewer defensive rebounding opportunities, and 2) the other Mavs were getting the defensive boards. It's only a concern to me if Dirk's lack of rebounding productivity is to blame for the other team getting more than their share, and that wasn't the case against the Rockets.

aexchange · 01-13-2005, 01:36 PM

i thought dirk had one of his worst defensive performances of all time. this season he's been fairly solid on the defensive end, sometimes spectacular, but last night he was abysmal.

to let a scrub like howard look like the second coming of a young karl malone is ridiculous. there is no excuse for letting howard go off for over 25pts considering the single coverage yao was getting most of the game.

just awful.

FilthyFinMavs · 01-13-2005, 01:50 PM

It's going to be a long night when you have Yao and T-Mac playing like superstars let alone having Wesley and Juwan playing like one. Even with Josh I don't think we had a chance. They just couldn't miss.

FilthyFinMavs · 01-13-2005, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: aexchange
i thought dirk had one of his worst defensive performances of all time. this season he's been fairly solid on the defensive end, sometimes spectacular, but last night he was abysmal.

to let a scrub like howard look like the second coming of a young karl malone is ridiculous. there is no excuse for letting howard go off for over 25pts considering the single coverage yao was getting most of the game.

just awful.

I agree. The same can be said for every player on this team. If this is the result of what happens when we miss Josh Howard then he's our MVP of the season. This team looked clueless with him not on the floor.

Bayliss · 01-13-2005, 01:59 PM

Quote:

This team looked clueless with him not on the floor.

Part of that could be because the coaxh decides two point guards and zone will help the defense.

grndmstr_c · 01-13-2005, 02:10 PM

The Mavs get by fine without Josh on the floor...provided he's being backed up by Quis/Stack. It's when we lose him and are without Quis, have to slide Fin on one of his worst nights or Stack over to SF for the entire game, and play more than half the game with a pg at the sg position that we have trouble.

As for Juwan, what I saw was a guy who kept getting the ball when he was uncovered because Dirk or whoever was defending him was helping off of him (normally a good strategy since Juwan typically has to be within 8 feet of the basket rather than 18 to shoot the ball with that kind of accuracy) or because the defense lost him in the shuffle switching off and playing zone. He wasn't beating guys one-on-one, so I see no reason to put all the blame on Dirk for the success Juwan had (especially not as often as I saw Dirk doing a respectable job singled up out on the perimeter against guards). The team defense as a whole just wasn't up to the task of guarding a team that was as hot as the Rockets were.

FilthyFinMavs · 01-13-2005, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Bayliss

Quote:

This team looked clueless with him not on the floor.

Part of that could be because the coaxh decides two point guards and zone will help the defense.

I didn't mind the small ball but I do agree with you on the zone. It seems like everytime we go into the zone Dirk doesn't or can't rebound and the rest of the team isn't helping.

FilthyFinMavs · 01-13-2005, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: grndmstr_c
The Mavs get by fine without Josh on the floor...provided he's being backed up by Quis/Stack. It's when we lose him and are without Quis, have to slide Fin on one of his worst nights or Stack over to SF for the entire game, and play more than half the game with a pg at the sg position that we have trouble.

As for Juwan, what I saw was a guy who kept getting the ball when he was uncovered because Dirk or whoever was defending him was helping off of him (normally a good strategy since Juwan typically has to be within 8 feet of the basket rather than 18 to shoot the ball with that kind of accuracy) or because the defense lost him in the shuffle switching off and playing zone. He wasn't beating guys one-on-one, so I see no reason to put all the blame on Dirk for the success Juwan had (especially not as often as I saw Dirk doing a respectable job singled up out on the perimeter against guards). The team defense as a whole just wasn't up to the task of guarding a team that was as hot as the Rockets were.

Yea no one was guarding anyone. Only person I saw being guarded was T-Mac and he was just blowing past everyone the Mavs put on him. You can't blame Dirk solely for Howard going superstar on us but he definately didn't board. I think the blame goes to everyone last night. You can blame Fin for his bad shooting but regardless we scored over 110 but you do not let the opposing team especially the Rockets score over 120 on you. With that being said I do think it was a bit of a fluke that they weren't missing any shots. I'd let Juwan Howard and David Wesley beat me from the perimeter any night just last night they were shooting lights out.

grndmstr_c · 01-13-2005, 02:34 PM

Quote:

You can't blame Dirk solely for Howard going superstar on us but he definately didn't board.

Dirk's boarding is a nonissue in this game, IMO. Mavs rebounded better than 73% of the Rockets' misses. No real reason to get on Dirk for his rebounding when the Mavs did a good job controlling the defensive glass. Team-wide it's one of the areas the Mavs actually held there own in.

kg_veteran · 01-13-2005, 03:14 PM

Man, I'm getting tired of hearing people say, "The Rockets were just hot."

I would wager that ANY team in the league could stand there and knock down the vast majority of their shots if no one was guarding them. That's pretty much what happened last night. Their guards shot wide open jumpers and three-pointers, and Howard hit a bunch of what amounted to free throws.

What was it that Avery said about "contested shots may wound us, but uncontested ones will kill us?"

However he worded it, he was right.

FilthyFinMavs · 01-13-2005, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
Man, I'm getting tired of hearing people say, "The Rockets were just hot."

I would wager that ANY team in the league could stand there and knock down the vast majority of their shots if no one was guarding them. That's pretty much what happened last night. Their guards shot wide open jumpers and three-pointers, and Howard hit a bunch of what amounted to free throws.

What was it that Avery said about "contested shots may wound us, but uncontested ones will kill us?"

However he worded it, he was right.

That's true but when guys are shooting career lows in shooting percentage and you have T-Mac out there on there perimeter you gotta risk someone shooting the ball. Even open Wesley has missed jumpesr like that all season long. I agree though we definately need to contest shots. I don't know if the Mavs know this but it's much harder to miss a jumper when you have a hand in your face.

jibikao · 01-13-2005, 03:39 PM

Nobody expects Howard would be THAT HOT. That's like highly unusual.

And I did see Dirk trying to put his hand up every time he shoots. It's just one of those nights that you want to give up... because putting your hand up means nothing when the opponents are that hot.

If I remember correctly, Dirk was in foul trouble and so was Dampier. Dirk already got 4 fouls before going to 4th I think. This takes away his ability to play tough defense 'cause we can't afford him to have 5 fouls. Not when Howard and Daniel are not playing.

Jimmy

seelenjaeger · 01-13-2005, 04:00 PM

About "not many rebounds to give":

Mavs got 19 out of 26 possible D-Rebs. That´s 73 % and actually up from their season total from .699.

So indeed, I was wrong, it was not our rebounding that killed is, it was the lack of any D.

kg_veteran · 01-13-2005, 04:29 PM

Quote:

And I did see Dirk trying to put his hand up every time he shoots.

Yeah, he put his hand up all right. He was just typically 5-15 feet away from Howard every time he shot it.

Just a poor effort defensively.

P.S. So that I don't have to listen to anyone accusing me of saying that the sky is falling, this was only ONE game. I just hate piss poor efforts out of professional athletes.

EricaLubarsky · 01-13-2005, 08:14 PM

Agree with you KG, but I'll scapegoat a lot of their poor effort on being confused in the absence of a reliable rotation. As long as no one looks further into that, I'll stand by it.

bernardos70 · 01-13-2005, 08:27 PM

When you have Juwan Howard hitting 20 footers over and over and over and over and over for 29 points, there's just not much you can do. I'll take that loss, that was ridiculous

dude1394 · 01-13-2005, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Bookit

Quote:

Originally posted by: Turkey
the mavs are totally boring. I noticed all the emty seats in the stadium.
Noone likes duck and fin anymore.

Duck made us loss. He never really helped the teams offense. He is so selfish.

My favorite team this season is Phoenix Suns. Boy are they great. Except I block out nash when I watch them.
Because he is a bad boy.

Then why do you spend so much time on this forum??

I think the word you are looking for is spelled T-R-O-L-L.

dude1394 · 01-13-2005, 10:05 PM

Well I couldn't figure out how to guard tmac. He just took a screen and jumped up for a 3ptr, I've never really seen anything like that guy when he gets it going. Pretty simple offense, it's one of the reasons that damp didn't play he couldn't switch on the screen quick enough.

EricaLubarsky · 01-13-2005, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: dude1394
Well I couldn't figure out how to guard tmac. He just took a screen and jumped up for a 3ptr, I've never really seen anything like that guy when he gets it going. Pretty simple offense, it's one of the reasons that damp didn't play he couldn't switch on the screen quick enough.

Josh Howard was pretty alright on him. He probably figured it out.

FilthyFinMavs · 01-13-2005, 11:39 PM

Didn't T-Mac score over 40 on him in a game? It's surprising that T-Mac isn't leading the league in points this year. Do you guys see how high he jumps on a jump shot? Goodness.