Mavs/Blazers Thoughts

[ddh33]

The Mavs take care of business against a young Blazers team at home. It seemed to be a very business-like game too.

I was very impressed with how the Mavs just put the game away in the fourth. That has been the theme of the season more times than not. I think that is something that is pretty special. Congrats to Dirk for getting the consecutive free throws made record tonight. He was also named the Western Conference Player of the Month too.

The Maverick centers (all of them) were very good tonight. Dampier is quietly doing some good things for this team. It's seldom talked about, which isn't exactly fair. It seems that when Damp struggles everyone wants to pile on, but when he plays well, people just snidely comment that he's supposed to play good. Tonight, Damp played with high energy once again. He was active and did a good job on the boards. But I was very pleased with how he owned the lane. Not only did he block shots, he really locked down the basket area for stretches.

Diop also played well. I know that some folks have been concerned about him fading somewhat lately, but I'm really not. I keep saying it, but as long as he comes in and plays hard, this team is fine. Diop did a very good job on the boards in limited minutes tonight and got a couple more blocks.

More and more, DJ is showing that he belongs on the court. In just three minutes he got 3 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block. Just imagine if he played all 48 minutes He also showed off his ability to run the floor.

Dirk was once again great. The funny thing about it is that his comments after the game was basically that he wasn't happy with his performance tonight. So how did he do? 22 points on 14 shots, 8 rebounds, a couple of assists, and a block. Ho hum...

Van Horn is just really struggling lately. I feel bad for the guy because I think the effort is there. In fact, in the previous couple of games, I thought he was showing signs of breaking out of his slump because of that higher energy. Instead, I'm wondering if he's starting to force things way too much. The turnovers are very concerning. Hopefully some of those shots will start falling again soon and things will be better for him.

Josh Howard is another guy who has been struggling with his shot lately. I seldom fault the player though because it's obvious how much effort he gives, and I think some of his trouble has been due to playing out of position for stretches while having to play at the 2. I've been concerned about some of his decision making, but I thought he played more under control tonight. By the end of the night, he had a very impressive stat line of 21 and 10 with no turnovers.

Adrian Griffin made an appearance tonight. It was just situational, and if there were any questions about who was going to fall out of the rotation, then I think those questions have been answered. I love Griff for accepting it like a pro though, and I think he's still going to be needed before this season is over.

Marquis Daniels just had an awful night trying to get the ball in the basket. Finally, his last shot fell. Believe it or not, I actually thought he had a pretty nice floor game though. Maybe I just like seeing guys be able to do what they do best...

Jerry Stackhouse continues to show why he is so valuable to this team. The guy is so tough and brings such an attitude with him that the team just feeds off that at times. His turnovers were also a little high tonight, but I won't complain too much. He finished with 10-4-4 and a couple of steals. Actually, I could have sworn that he had more than 2 steals. I think people need to understand though that he isn't back to 100% yet. It's funny that a guy can go out and get 15 points a couple nights in a row and people think he's magically healed. I've said for a long time that Jerry will be able to get out of bed when he's 40 years old and get 20 points in an NBA game because he just knows how to score. Proof that he isn't back to his normal self: Stack couldn't quite explode for a dunk on a break and ended up blowing the easy two. I know that hurt his pride, but that wasn't all. Ruben Patterson later posterized Jerry by dunking all over him and drawing a foul from Stack...And you know something? I loved that play as a Mavs fan. That sort of sums up the things about Stackhouse that I love. We know he isn't completely healthy. We already saw that he can't jump like usual. Patterson is way out in front of him. 99% of the guys in this league just let him have the dunk and play on. Stack has too much pride and is too competitive for that though. He challenged him. It didn't work out this time, but I will guarantee you that Avery and others associated with the Mavs appreciate that kind of effort and showing of guts. I know I loved it.

Devin Harris, get back soon. This team needs him. Devin injured his thumb very early in the game. In the short time he was on the floor though, he made his presence known. He already had a basket, an assist, and two blocks in just three minutes. I don't think he could wait to get back on the floor after struggling last time out.

With Harris out, Terry got more minutes, and he delivered. He had 22 points and 7 assists and played under control. There wasn't a ton of flash to what he did. He just played really well.

One final thing in conclusion is just how the Mavs outplayed the Blazers tonight is seen in holding them to 37% shooting, out-rebounding them by 12, being +8 in assists, and +6 in blocks.

The Mavs are going to have a busy week though, so they are going to have to be ready play every night. It should be fun...

[DubOverdose]

Anyone have word on DA? I saw his arm was all wrapped up tonight. It would be really nice to have him available if Devin will be out for a stretch.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Dirkster took nowhere near enough shots. That's all I got to say about that.

[dude1394]

I thought mavs just sort of toyed with portland tonight. Reuban Patterson again came in and really gave us fits, he always seems to for sure. If he could have made a few more fts it might have been really tough on the mavs.

I wasn't crazy about dirk not getting a lot of shots but he really didn't need to tonight. Although josh seemed to be taking tough shots they were all in the paint and he got to the line 8times making 7 with 10 rebounds. A double-double on ~50% shooting, I'm not sure what all of the griping is about.

The only thing that I think folks were fussy about was that dirk just couldn't miss and they wanted to see him shoot more. But anytime we can win with dirk playing a relatively easy 36minutes, I'm good with.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by DubOverdose

Anyone have word on DA? I saw his arm was all wrapped up tonight. It would be really nice to have him available if Devin will be out for a stretch.

He had it early but took it off in the second half, I haven't heard anything else however.

[DeusDeOmini]

Ruben Patterson is a cancer, but I like his game, shame he is such a bad guy.

[Murphy3]

Dude, I don't buy the whole toying thing...For a team that has been in as many close games as the Mavs have, I find it difficult to believe that they'd have that attitude especially with the game being as close as it was most of the time.

[dude1394]

Murph...I don't know, it just seemed like it to me. Pretty workmanlike effort it seemed. I never got the feeling that they thought Portland would be able to score enough to beat them when it counted.

[Murphy3]

It's a bad sign if they're looking at any game that way especially when the game is as close as it was throughout.

[chumdawg]

Someone remind me what the score was before Dallas made two three-pointers in a row.

They were NOT toying with Portland. This game was much closer than the final score indicated. If it had been Portland making two threes in a row, the Mavs would have been in trouble. And that's just how quickly these things can change. It's why a team count solely on defense to win every night, no matter how good their defense is. They need little spurts of offense to put games away. Thankfully for the Mavs, they got theirs tonight.

[dude1394]

But it just seems like they do this a lot. They can't sustain leads to save their neck. They don't blow ANYONE out, no one. Portland shot 37% and it took a couple of 3pts to really put it away.

They just don't have a killer instinct yet it seems.

Thank god they have the MVP of the league.

[DeusDeOmini]

Originally Posted by dude1394

But it just seems like they do this a lot. They can't sustain leads to save their neck. They don't blow ANYONE out, no one. Portland shot 37% and it took a couple of 3pts to really put it away.

They just don't have a killer instinct yet it seems.

Thank god they have the MVP of the league.

We blew Detroit out

[dude1394]

True deus... I shouldn't talk in absolutes... But I think you get my drift...That was about 22 games ago.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Dirk needed to shoot more. He needs to take over the game and demand more touches when he's shooting that well.

[DeusDeOmini]

Originally Posted by dude1394

True deus... I shouldn't talk in absolutes... But I think you get my drift...That was about 22 games ago.

yes, we do play some close ones, not always good for the stress my friend

[ilMavvento]

If Portland hadn't been playing so poorly I think this could have easily been a loss.

Hopefully Avery can also develop more of a set rotation. It seemed like the lineup was different every couple of sequences....a little hard to establish any flow that way.

If they hadn't gone away from Dirk for that long stretch it could have opened up into a blowout pretty quickly. Dirk really didn't look like he was going to miss anytime soon.

Really liked the Mavs' center play tonight....especially DJ.

[Stranger]

Originally Posted by dude1394

But it just seems like they do this a lot. They can't sustain leads to save their neck. They don't blow ANYONE out, no one. Portland shot 37% and it took a couple of 3pts to really put it away.

They just don't have a killer instinct yet it seems.

Thank god they have the MVP of the league.

I would like to see more big wins. According to the Sagarin rankings, point differential is the most accurate barometer for future success. Even though we've got the 3rd best record in the league, we are 5th in point differential, behind the Pistons, Spurs, Cavs, and Suns. I'd like to see that change.

I will cut the team some slack, however, since they've played a more difficult schedule than any of those four teams to date.

[twelli]

Originally Posted by ddh33

It seems that when Damp struggles everyone wants to pile on, but when he plays well, people just snidely comment that he's supposed to play good.

Thanks again for your summary.

Only one thing, Dampier IS supposed to play good. What was his salary again?

[kriD]

Originally Posted by ddh33

More and more, DJ is showing that he belongs on the court. In just three minutes he got 3 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block. Just imagine if he played all 48 minutes

= 45 Pts, 60 Rebs, 15 Blocks

[Arne]

Originally Posted by kriD

= 45 Pts, 60 Rebs, 15 Blocks

haha, would'Ve been a quite good performance.

[kg_veteran]

I think dude's right. The one thing the team doesn't seem to do often is put teams away early in the game. That is evidenced by the fact that they have a lower point differential than teams like Cleveland and Phoenix even though they have a better record.

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally Posted by dude1394

But it just seems like they do this a lot. They can't sustain leads to save their neck. They don't blow ANYONE out, no one. Portland shot 37% and it took a couple of 3pts to really put it away.

They just don't have a killer instinct yet it seems.

Thank god they have the MVP of the league.

I've noticed the same thing, but the more I think about it, the less it bothers me.

For one thing, I think real blowouts where a team takes an early lead and keeps it throughout are going to be relatively rare. Just doesn't happen that often around the league. Even a bad team like the NYKs will make a run at some point later in the game and close a 20-point lead to single digits.

For another thing, I'm not at all sure that it's a bad thing that they are learning to win close games, performing and executing under pressure.

Also, as I think I read you say above, they seemed to be in control of the game more or less throughout.

None of which isn't to say that I wouldn't like to see them do a better job of keeping the other team down, but I'll take what they're doing for now.

[dude1394]

It's a little concerning to me Kiki' in that much of their wins have been in doubt until the end. If jason is like 10% less in BSBs (Big Shot Bobs) then we probably have a couple more losses.

What I really think it shows is just what AJ and Dirk have talked about, the team just doesn't play consistently solid defense. Last nights 14-4 run by the blazers as example. The blazers really are not very good, I know they are an NBA team, but you work hard for that 12 point lead in the first half and then just give it up.

Last night was actually okay in my book. They took control at the start of the 4th, put their foot down and didn't let up. If the team were doing that (instead of blowing people out) I'd be happier about it.

[sike]

Originally Posted by dude1394

True deus... I shouldn't talk in absolutes... But I think you get my drift...That was about 22 games ago.

blew out the Pacers

[DubOverdose]

Originally Posted by dude1394

But it just seems like they do this a lot. They can't sustain leads to save their neck. They don't blow ANYONE out, no one. Portland shot 37% and it took a couple of 3pts to really put it away.

They just don't have a killer instinct yet it seems.

Thank god they have the MVP of the league.

I'd say we DO have the killer instinct more than the past seasons. We know that the 4th quarter is our time to shine and its hard to beat us then. Sure, we could blow out teams, but is that going to help us in the playoffs? I have an itch that keeping it fairly close, then pouncing on the team at the end is going to come in handy in the playoffs since almost all the games are close, except when you play Houston in a game 7.

[sike]

I am concerned with the pattern of allowing the lower teams to hang around. Take the warriors game per example. The defensive intensity and lack of early offensive excution was such that all it took was the Warriors running the break and hitting a three every few attempts and then they were shooting for the win. The Trailblazers are not loaded with shooters like GS...they did not have the firepower to make a huge move...but still the Mavs played them far too close until 3.5 minutes left where they allowed Dirk and JT to do their thing. I suppose I just wish they were allowed to play like that all through the game. Maybe it's not AJ....maybe it's just when Dirk and JT decide to "take over"...but AJ should observe their amazing success in the end of games and go to them more often in the first, second, and third...maybe then this team would not have to pull out close wins against the dregs of the league. There will be enough close games in this league without aiming for it. I'm not saying they should blow more people out, I'm saying they should have more wins by 8+ pts than your average team.

[dude1394]

I do think that AJ was thinking hard last night about tommorrows game with Minnie. But we are 4th in the league in point differential. A sort of distant fourth. If it creeps up as the year goes along that is great, if not it means we are going to trip up and not catch San Antoinio.

Teams are Detroit, Spurs, Phoenix, Dallas at 7.75, 6.58, 6.30, 4.80. I know our schedules been tougher but it seems of concern.

[sike]

Originally Posted by dude1394

I do think that AJ was thinking hard last night about tommorrows game with Minnie. But we are 4th in the league in point differential. A sort of distant fourth. If it creeps up as the year goes along that is great, if not it means we are going to trip up and not catch San Antoinio.

Teams are Detroit, Spurs, Phoenix, Dallas at 7.75, 6.58, 6.30, 4.80. I know our schedules been tougher but it seems of concern.

I agree...as the season wears on....they will need to learn not only how to grind out the gritty W, but also to put teams away so as to rest Dirk and JT in the latter stages....I think they've figured out the gritty aspect...now its time to lean to put people (especially lesser opponants) away in the first three and a half quarters.

[V2M]

Originally Posted by kriD

= 45 Pts, 60 Rebs, 15 Blocks

Just to nitpick, it'd have been 48 Pts, 64 Rebs and 16 Blocks

[kriD]

Originally Posted by V2M

Just to nitpick, it'd have been 48 Pts, 64 Rebs and 16 Blocks

Negative. He played 3 minutes and 11 seconds