Mavs vs Spurs - Preseason Game Thread

[Bookit]

I sure hope Devin Harris pulls his head out before the season starts. He looks nonexistent out there.

[Pro]

buckner and croshere need to go

[VivaNajera]

Whoever thought Buckner was a 3point threat must have been smokin crack. nobody in the league fears his shoot, thats why he is always open and cant hit 3's. Id rather have Ager or George take his minutes bc I have never been impressed with his game, he needs to go back to the old buck that plays inside and posts up and gets rebounds.

[MavsFanFinley]

Diop hasn't missed a beat. That man hustles and goes after everything. I agree with whoever said he looks skinnier too.

MBenga looks better than last time I saw him. I also agree with whoever (I think Bayliss) said he seems more aware of where he needs to be on the court.

Dirk is Dirk. The only thing of concern is that the Spurs big men did a good job of keeping him in front of them. Last year he blew by whoever he wanted.

Croshere sucks. My gosh I don't remember him being that bad. What happened to him?

Howard looked the same and was hitting the jumper. I wonder if Pop plans on using Bowen on him or if tonight was a gimmick?

George brings what? This is the first game I've seen so maybe it was a fluke but he did nothing for me tonight.

Buckner had some nice plays and then some that made me throw the nerf ball at the tv. I'm glad to see him wearing a Mavs uni again.

Stackhouse just looked rusty and not enough playing time to say more than that.

Johnson I thought would bring more but he wasn't as good as I remembered him either. I was disappointed.

Terry and Harris were the two guys I was most concerned about. Yes, I know it's one game and meaningless but they were torching the Spurs guards last season but tonight it was the exact opposite. Beno freakinUdrich and Jaque freakinVaughn were staying right with Harris tonight. Hell even Barry kept Harris from getting to the basket at will. The Spurs guards owned the Mavs tonight.

I'm not worried or anything like that I just expected more from some of the new guys and was a bit disappointed there.


For the other side:

The big 3 did their thing and that was no surprise. That was the Ginobli I remembered from a couple years ago so the only question is whether he'll stay healthy. If he does the Spurs can't be so easily dismissed by some here.

Oberto starting at center is intriguing. He's so undersized but he has great positioning and goes after everything. He moves his feet better than I remember too. I wonder if Pop keeps him as a starter even if Elson or Butler outplay him just to keep those guys out of early foul trouble?

Barry looked more comfortable than he did last season. I was surprised how hesitant he was last year but he looked very active tonight.

Bowen and Horry stay the same. You know the defense will be there and some nights they'll hit their shots and other nights they're a little off.

Butler has the potential but looks pretty raw still. If he makes an impact this year it probably won't come till after the all-star break.

Elson was more impressive than I remember him in Denver. Even with the mistakes Pop can afford to leave him out there cause he runs the floor so well and can get out on guys outside without being totally embarassed. Both he and Butler looked much better than Rasho or Nazr ever did so maybe the Spurs didn't make such bad moves there after all.

Bonner struggled. He might hit those 3's eventually and his hustle will get him some playing time but he looked pretty lost out there.

Williams was a surprise actually. I thought he was done and while he looks extremely out of shape he might just give them some solid spot minutes.

The Spurs looked pretty good playing a more uptempo game without going away from their system.

[amuseddaysleeper]

Originally Posted by MavsFanFinley

The big 3 did their thing and that was no surprise. That was the Ginobli I remembered from a couple years ago so the only question is whether he'll stay healthy. If he does the Spurs can't be so easily dismissed by some here.

there are actually idiots who are already dismissing the spurs?!

by the way, great recap mavsfanfinley, but its just pre season so I'm sure we're ready for the real season next week in dallas

I hope my Spurs start the season on the right foot!

[Big Shot Rob]

I was at the game sitting in one of the luxury boxes. (I have never been in one before in my life, so this was a nice experience).

The vantage point was unique. Not as high as nose bleeds, but high enough to be able to look down the floor and see a lot of action all the way up and down the court.

I don't have the basketball savy that most fans here on the message board possess, but I will do the best I can to the best of my feeble ability.

Something was out of kilter with the Mavs most of the night. Maybe that is what some people call spacing. Alot of times, it just seemed like alot of Mav players were all bunched together--too close together at times to the point of almost being in each other's ways. If that is true, maybe it is nothing more than the fact that there are alot of new players still learning the Mav system and there is still a learning curve that a few weeks of playing together and practice will solve.

Dirk's shot just looks magnificient--so effortlessly.

JET still looks like he is either still hurting or is simply showing the signs of not being able to undergo conditioning. He wasn't his usual kick-ass self, but I believe that the rust will soon wear off.

Something was off with Harris as well. Since he has been experiencing hamstring problems most of the summer, it looked like he had lost a step going up and down the court in transition. Last year during the playoffs, he seemed to glide down the court to the point of making Parker almost look slow. Tonight the roles were reversed. Again--it was nothing more than Harris coming off an injury.

For the Spurs--Parker seemed to be able to score at will. Manu was a handful in the paint. Francisco Elson and Oberto looked like they may give the Mavs a few more wrinkles than the Rasho/Nazr combo that we had last year. (But--since those two guys gave nothing, I guess that isn't saying much.)

Overall--I was kinda figuring that the Mavs didn't use the plays they are going to use in the opener and that may be part of the reason why they seemed confused with their spacing at times.

[rakesh.s]

I think the mavs are going to be a 2nd half team this year....after the all star break, they are going to come on strong and make their run, just like the Lakers used to.

It'll take some time for the effects of last year's Finals to wear off. Looking at the first five games, the mavs could be 0-5, but we'll see.

[bernardos70]

Wow, that kid Barea is very fast, I like his style, kind of reminds me a bit of the one PG whose name shall not be spoken. Keeps his dribble alive, probes the defense quite a bit. I think he is a good fit.

[twelli]

Originally Posted by Pro

buckner and croshere need to go

Croshere is my early favorite to become this year's Mavs' fans whipping boy...

But, please, let'm play 20 regular games or so before bashing the new guys, please...

[AxdemxO]

The guys from last eyar are playing good as usual. DJ is plating much better, love watchin him out there.

As far as the new guys. The only one that i thought was effective was Ager. Harris was not doin much either.

From what i saw tonite id rather have Daniels and DA than any of the New guys.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Damn, what happened?

[kriD]

It's Spurs all the way in final exhibition

Mavs didn't have old familiar spark in San Antonio's 100-79 win

01:19 AM CDT on Saturday, October 28, 2006
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO – The energy didn't quite crackle like it did the last time the Mavericks visited the AT&T Center.

But after the Mavericks had all sorts of problems in a 100-79 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the preseason finale, there won't be any shortage of energy in the five days of practice leading up to the regular-season opener.

Avery Johnson will have all sorts of trouble areas to zero in on.

"I bet in the back of his mind, he wanted this to happen because now everybody has to focus in and know that there's work we have to do before next Thursday," Jerry Stackhouse said. "To beat teams like the one we're opening up with, we got some work to do.

"[But] you don't want to show your hand too much. Most of our stuff that we use, we aren't using now. But we'll have it by next week."

Johnson had it on Friday. He yelled more than he had in the first seven exhibitions, venting on Greg Buckner in particular in the first half when a play was botched and Devin Harris in the second half when transition defense was flawed.

By then, the Spurs, who will visit American Airlines Center on Thursday to open the season, were well on their way to an easy win in their first meeting since the Mavs eliminated the Spurs from the playoffs last May.

This one didn't matter in the standings. But it did matter for the tweaking of the Mavs' playing rotation, which has been sabotaged by injuries throughout preseason.

Jason Terry and Anthony Johnson started in the backcourt, a tandem that may start the regular season, although nothing is set. It could be a starter-by-committe.

"I don't know if we need more preseason games or need the regular season to start, but it's one or the other," Avery Johnson said. "We looked at a lot of combinations, but we just didn't have it mentally."

Johnson said he would like to have a consistent starting lineup. But he's open to anything that works.

"We're still trying to jell, not just me and Jet, but the whole team," Anthony Johnson said. "Tonight was disappointing because we didn't defend well, we didn't make shots and we didn't rebound. There's not too many positives we can take out of here."

Dampier rests again: Erick Dampier sat out his fifth game in a row with a sore right hip and hamstring but expects to go through today's practice.

"I'm moving a little on it, and I guess we'll get on the floor when we get back and see how it goes," Dampier said. "You don't want to take a chance of reinjuring it. We have a couple days to let it heal."

Still playing catch-up: Johnson was asked if the Mavericks have overtaken the Spurs in their I-35 rivalry. He said the Spurs still have the upper hand.

"They've still won three championships," he said. "Until we win a championship and consistently compete for a championship, that's not going to change. They're still one of the best organizations in basketball."

The Mavericks are making inroads, but Johnson needs to see a few years of consistency.

Cuban says keep the ball: UT-Arlington professors Dr. Jim Horwitz and Dr. Kaushik De have delivered their first summary of results about the comparison between the new NBA game ball and the leather version.

Based largely on their recommendations, owner Mark Cuban suggested the league keep the new ball but check all arena courts for dead spots and keep extra balls handy at courtside to replace a ball when it gets wet. He also said that the embossing on the ball should be minimized in future seasons. The full results of testing are available at blogmaverick.com.