How to play against Dirk, and with him (longer than you can imagine!)

[wmbwinn]

"Finally, one down note, why in the world wasn't Dallas ready to play against the double teams last year?"-SeriousSummer

We asked that question all last season. The Mavs ended up losing to the Heat primarily because the genius Riley put Shaq the king on the bench. Riley played Alonzo Mourning and had Zo play behind Dirk and several different SG/SF's play in front of Dirk. Riley got away with this because Dallas had no low post offensive threat. Zo could ignore Damp and Diop because they couldn't score anyway.

Next year (the year in question), Dallas tried to fix this. Damp and Diop (mainly Damp) showed evidence that they had been working on their offensive game. The pickups (Croshere) were brought in for offense but they were perimeter players in the mold of Dirk. We needed low post men and we still didn't have them when we faced the Warriors. Interestingly, no one except Nellie learned what Riley taught the NBA the previous year. Dallas didn't face that double team until they walked into the playoffs.

This year, Damp and Diop are showing further evidence of continued work on offense. And, Bass is an incredible find. Bass has a future. Once he starts using the glass instead of trying to dunk on NBA starting centers and PF's, then he will really shine.