Mavs 105 Spurs 97

[Lor20]

Originally Posted by CadBane

Just to reiterate what I've already said, coach RC

"Dirk had fouls in the first half. They were paying a lot of attention to him. In the second half, because of how they were playing him, even though he wasn't scoring a ton of points, the way they were playing him allowed us to get offense in other ways. Sometimes with great players that's what you have to do. If you try to fight and force the ball to him, they're going to make you look bad. The onus is on the other guys to step up."

I really like this quote because that has been our issue the past two playoff seasons. They doubled Dirk and we still forced the ball on him and he had to make awkward shots (more awkward than usual) or we ran the shotclock down to 5 trying to get it to him and then had some kind of bailout play - we are obviously a much stronger TEAM if we make them pay for doubling dirk. That is the reason why Josh is so important for us - if they double dirk josh has a lot of freedoms - we need at least 2 other consistent scorers on the court when Dirk is there and those two are JET and Josh - and in spurts Bass and barea (and sometimes singleton).


Damp was really good last night. A lot of good screens on offense (and with them doubling terry and dirk on more than one occasion there wasn't a single spurs player in the paint - that really made it easy on barea...

[alby]

Parker had 24. Duncan 27. The Spurs went 11-14 from three point land including 5 for 5 from Finley.

And they still lost, they are just not a very a good team IMHO.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by alby

Parker had 24. Duncan 27. The Spurs went 11-14 from three point land including 5 for 5 from Finley.

And they still lost, they are just not a very a good team IMHO.

Exactly. They threw everything they had at us. I was worried about Mason and Finley going off, and they kinda did.....we still win. Why? Because every Mav is as focused as the terminator now. They just look like they are playing a different game on a different level.

It's really hard not to be over-confident because the Mavs worked their asses off for the victory. They didn't just get hot at the right time. They attacked, rebounded, defended, and were dead-focused. The offense is as versatile as ever.

Go Mavs.

[alby]

Add to that, the fact that Dirk and JET were relatively quiet as well gives us a bright outlook on the series. Let's hope our bench continues to step up and Damp can continue to play one on one defense on Duncan without getting into foul trouble.

[Caseman]

It's weird that Pop didn't take JJB seriously. Wasn't he the first coach to actually put a good defender on him (Bowen) earlier this year when JJB was hot?

[monty55555]

What impressed me was the composure of the Mavs. They fell behind by 13. Earlier in the season, they would have just folded the tent and given up. But these past few weeks, they have shown a determination to win. They didn't give up. They continued to play smart basketball. And they willed themselves into a win. It really gives you hope that these Mavs have developed some toughness, both mentally and physically, to overcome the trials and tribulations that come their way.

Credit goes to Rick and the coaching staff and of course the entire Mavs team.

[G-Man]

I'm holed up in a TV Free mountain house,so I could only listen to the game. But it sounded like this win could be credited to the hard work JJB and Bass have put in to become better players, and to the team realizing that Josh Howard can score in the 2nd half if he is asked to.

A year ago, Bass started the season hot, but by the end, everyone knew how to block him at the rim. Now he has added a variety of fakes and moves to get his shot off, or get to the line. Last year his jump shot switched from hot to cold faster than a faucet. But towards the end of the season, its become far more consistent.

JJ has gone from novelty to a very poor man's Tony Parker. I think the leadership skills he developed carrying the Puerto Rican National Team each summer has really helped. He has what every tiny NBA player must have...confidence that he belongs.

The last 2 years, we got hammered in the playoffs because of our lack of athleticism. The additions of Bass,Singleton, Wright and JJ mean we match up better than we could before on defense, and can really give trouble to a team full of old guys like SA.

The Mavs will go as far in these playoffs as Josh Howard's ankle will take them. The team's record and playoff positioning is the result of play without Howard. When he's playing well, this team is much better than its record. The same could be said of SA and Ginobli, PHX and Amare, HOU and McGrady, Boston and Garnett. The diff is we got Howard back and playing his best ball ever. If his ankle holds up, and JJ and Bass stay consistent, we may be as good as any team not housed in LA or Cleveland.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Originally Posted by G-Man

HOU and McGrady

Nope, they're the exception, as their record is much better without him.

[Blackspider972]

Originally Posted by cinemablend

There's a lot to feel really good about in this game for Mavs fans.

Looking at this game, I really can't think of anything else that the Spurs could throw at the Mavs. Duncan got his points, Parker was able to penetrate, they shot lights out from the 3 point line, they played great defense on Dirk and Jet, basically eliminating them as a factor...

What else could San Antonio possibly do?

Meanwhile the Mavs top 3 players, Jet, Dirk, and Kidd didn't even really have a great game. Part of that was SA, part of that (Kidd) was that they were just a little off. And yet they still handled SA pretty convincingly.

The only way the Mavs get in trouble is if they have one of those games where everyone on the team just goes cold, but barring that man... it's hard not to see the Mavs winning this series after tonight's game.

I don't know man. Parker missed a lot of layups he usually makes. Duncan missed quite a few short shots. Can't expect that to happen every game. Parker got to the hole quite easily but that was to be expected. Duncan did his thing like he usually does.

But we also missed some easy shots Dirk usually makes also.

Dallas settled for a lot of jump shots like I was afraid of, especially Howard early on. I hate when they fall in love with the jumper. The reason they came back and beat Houston was because they took it to the hole. Good things happen. You either get a layup, get fouled or make the defense collapse and pass it out to the open man.

I want to see Kidd post up Parker more and make him work on defense. He has the size to just back him down with ease.

I want to see Barea try and break this defense down every chance he can get and go to the basket even more than he did. I don't particularly care for him as a jump shooter even if he makes them.

And I like how Dallas go the lead at the end and kept it. San Antonio never really got back into it and made you real worried.

Don't be complacent and settle for the split. Go for the throat tomorrow night and try and get these both to give themselves some breathing room and a stranglehold on the series coming back north on 35.

[tcat075]

Originally Posted by monty55555

What impressed me was the composure of the Mavs. They fell behind by 13. Earlier in the season, they would have just folded the tent and given up. But these past few weeks, they have shown a determination to win. They didn't give up. They continued to play smart basketball. And they willed themselves into a win. It really gives you hope that these Mavs have developed some toughness, both mentally and physically, to overcome the trials and tribulations that come their way.

Credit goes to Rick and the coaching staff and of course the entire Mavs team.

I agree. You have to wonder what caused this drastic change? If I had to make a guess, I might guess that Darrell Armstrong might be one reason why this Mavs demeanor has really changed. He probably could still be playing on a team as a 12th man veteran, to be honest. He can relate to the guys, is a veteran guy who keeps the spirits up and I think he may influence the guys into having more mental toughness.

[tcat075]

Originally Posted by Blackspider972

I don't know man. Parker missed a lot of layups he usually makes. Duncan missed quite a few short shots. Can't expect that to happen every game. Parker got to the hole quite easily but that was to be expected. Duncan did his thing like he usually does.

But we also missed some easy shots Dirk usually makes also.

Dallas settled for a lot of jump shots like I was afraid of, especially Howard early on. I hate when they fall in love with the jumper. The reason they came back and beat Houston was because they took it to the hole. Good things happen. You either get a layup, get fouled or make the defense collapse and pass it out to the open man.

I want to see Kidd post up Parker more and make him work on defense. He has the size to just back him down with ease.

I want to see Barea try and break this defense down every chance he can get and go to the basket even more than he did. I don't particularly care for him as a jump shooter even if he makes them.

And I like how Dallas go the lead at the end and kept it. San Antonio never really got back into it and made you real worried.

Don't be complacent and settle for the split. Go for the throat tomorrow night and try and get these both to give themselves some breathing room and a stranglehold on the series coming back north on 35.

I do think Parker had a poor game by his standards. Let's be honest now...JJ Barea is not the answer to stopping Tony Parker. JJ played him okay, but Parker did miss shots like you said.

However, I thought Duncan played as well as he could of. Dampier just smothered him defensively. Perhaps Damp got away with a couple calls (I think he did) but Dampier pretty much didn't allow Duncan to get anything easy. If anything, we might see a let down in Damp's defense, but Duncan did all he could.

Dirk will probably take closer to 30 shots this next game, or at least I hope he does. 15 shots for a superstar is obviously a low number. I don't think he missed any "easy shots" like you said, but he didn't take enough shots period.

[TheMaverick]

Parker still had his 24 points. Isn't that above his season average?

[monty55555]

Originally Posted by tcat075

I agree. You have to wonder what caused this drastic change? If I had to make a guess, I might guess that Darrell Armstrong might be one reason why this Mavs demeanor has really changed. He probably could still be playing on a team as a 12th man veteran, to be honest. He can relate to the guys, is a veteran guy who keeps the spirits up and I think he may influence the guys into having more mental toughness.

I'm sure DA has really had a positive impact on the team. I remember that even Josh publicly stated that DA has done wonders for him.

There can be a couple of possible reasons. Maybe Carlisle giving the keys to Kidd allowed Kidd to impose his will and toughness on the Mavs team. Maybe the coaching staff has motivated the players well to see that they are indeed good and that they can be better if they were more confident of their abilities. Maybe the players have developed great belief in their coach which made them see that they are in good hands. Confidence in your coach will always lead to good things. Maybe the camaraderie and bond this team has is really making the players play team basketball rather than thinking of their own selves. They have been playing unselfish basketball as of late.

Whatever it is, its been great to watch a Mavs team that hasn't buckled down under pressure. Its amazing to see the difference in body language.

This is a confident team. I hope they continue to play with determination and confidence because they can go a long way.

[Blackspider972]

Originally Posted by TheMaverick

Parker still had his 24 points. Isn't that above his season average?

That's just it. He had 24 pts and still left about 10 more on the court because of easy layup misses that he usually makes. We have no answer for him but really no one out there does. I can live with him and Duncan doing their thing. Just don't let the lesser people start getting theirs like we usually let happen when we play other teams. Make those 2 do all the work. But don't let Bonner, Finley, Gooden, Mason and Bowen start getting theirs. That's trouble.

And to the person who quoted me, I do think Dirk missed some of the jumpers he usually makes. But with jumpers, sometimes you are on, and sometimes you aren't. That's why take it to the hole. They've already shown they can do it to SA if they want to.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by CadBane

I'm going to quote myself from the GDT and then I'm not going to say it again. You have to understand how the game of basketball works.

CreditXpert?

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

CreditXpert?

Oh believe me, we already checked IP addresses on that one.

[Lor20]

the spurs were shooting pretty badly from inside the 3pt line -
38 of 81 overall
14 of 26 layups
12-40 2 pt Jumpshots
11-14 3 pt jumpshots
1-1 dunks
10-12 free throws

Parker only missed 4 of his 11 layups - that's not that bad. His J didn't fall but he really is not that good a Jumpshooter and the Dallas D was a lot better last night than on most nights.

dallas was 42-78 overall
11-16 layups
23-42 2 pt jump shots
5-17 3pt jump shots
3-3 dunks
16-17 FT's

[antoinewalker]

barea = TONY PARKER STOPPER.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Lor20

the spurs were shooting pretty badly from inside the 3pt line -
38 of 81 overall
14 of 26 layups
12-40 2 pt Jumpshots
11-14 3 pt jumpshots
1-1 dunks
10-12 free throws

Parker only missed 4 of his 11 layups - that's not that bad. His J didn't fall but he really is not that good a Jumpshooter and the Dallas D was a lot better last night than on most nights.

dallas was 42-78 overall
11-16 layups
23-42 2 pt jump shots
5-17 3pt jump shots
3-3 dunks
16-17 FT's

The 2 pt jump shots were the bread and butter.

The Mavs HAVE to start hitting some threes though. 5-17 won't cut it.

[Justin Credible]

Last night was a great game for sure, but the battle is far from over. I highly doubt that San Antonio feels threatened at this point given the fact that they did successfully keep Dirk under 20 pts and kept Jet quiet for the game. There are definitely a lot of things to worry about as a Mavs fan, but there are an equal number of things to be happy about.

One thing that scares me is that the officiating team made it very clear that they weren't going to fall for Dirk's foul-drawing early on. Let's face it, Dirk fouls defenders quite often and gets away with it because they end up fouling him right back. San Antonio's defense really did an outstanding job not falling for the bait and letting Dirk get called for the offensive foul. That in itself takes Dirk way out of his game and puts us in a bad position. The Mavericks depending on their role players last night and, while that's good for one or two games, it's not going to win a series. They need to find a way to get Dirk and Jet on step and comfortable in their match ups. I foresee a lot of attempts at the Dirk/Jet two man play on the right side of the floor in the coming games.

Another thing that worried me was the fact that the Mavericks proved, yet again, that they don't have a stop for Tony Parker. At one point Jason Terry was "guarding" parker. That has to be one of the silliest moves that I've seen in a while. Jason Terry basically paced parker and let him get away with murder out there, which parker will exploit every single time. I'd say that I'd like to see Wright on Parker but he's fallen into this habit of just fouling instead of defending properly. That means that Wright would just get in foul trouble (again) and send Parker to the line. It's a lose/lose situation. At this point I really do like Barea defending Parker, but we can't expect him to draw fouls like he did last night throughout the whole series. In the process of drawing those two fouls he also ended up trying to draw fouls and leaving Parker wide open when he failed. This makes me think that Hollins is the best answer that we have for Parker. He has the athleticism to pace him and the hops to put pressure on his shots and hopefully take him out of step a bit.

Let's face something though; jumpshots are crack and the Mavs are tooth-less junkies. We can hope and pray all day long that they don't revert back to that same old stuff but it's going to happen at some point in time. When this happens I hope that Carlisle really does throw this lineup into the mix:

Kidd - Dirk - Howard - Jet - Hollins

That lineup really could change the pace of the game. It's faster and it gives Kidd the chance to draw defenders in the paint and either kick out the ball to an open shooter or toss up the alley oop to hollins for the finish. Hell, I would be okay with taking Dirk out of that lineup and replacing him with Barea. The 3 guard lineup has done a lot of good things for us in the past, it just comes down to the proper tempo. That lineup is garbage if we're playing a half court game, but if we're playing a run-and-gun game then it has the potential to be killer.

Our success really comes down to a few things IMO:

• Controlling the pace, no half court offense
• getting Dirk and Terry more on step with their game
• Utilizing Hollins more.. Faster pace is always good for this team
• Solid rotations like we saw last night
• Josh Howard

I think that we really do have the upper hand here and can definitely take this series.. But it's going to take the entire Mavericks team, not just role players or starters.

[left texas]

Originally Posted by antoinewalker

barea = TONY PARKER STOPPER.

I hope he can continue the play he had last night. I thought the refs did a more than fair job last night of calling the charge on Parker when he lowered it shoulder into Barea. I hope the next crew sees it the same way.

As said earlier, at times his speed looks alot like Harris's.

[Murphy3]

San Antonio can't be happy about many things.. Yes, they slowed Dirk and JET, but what are the odds that they'll contain Dirk next game? And what are the odds that they'll shoot such an insane percentage from beyond the arc?

Sure, there are a couple of positives for the Spurs, but they had their collective asses handed to them from the second quarter on.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

San Antonio can't be happy about many things.. Yes, they slowed Dirk and JET, but what are the odds that they'll contain Dirk next game? And what are the odds that they'll shoot such an insane percentage from beyond the arc?

Sure, there are a couple of positives for the Spurs, but they had their collective asses handed to them from the second quarter on.

Yep.

[tcat075]

Originally Posted by Lor20

the spurs were shooting pretty badly from inside the 3pt line -
38 of 81 overall
14 of 26 layups
12-40 2 pt Jumpshots
11-14 3 pt jumpshots
1-1 dunks
10-12 free throws

Parker only missed 4 of his 11 layups - that's not that bad. His J didn't fall but he really is not that good a Jumpshooter and the Dallas D was a lot better last night than on most nights.

dallas was 42-78 overall
11-16 layups
23-42 2 pt jump shots
5-17 3pt jump shots
3-3 dunks
16-17 FT's

I find it funny that the two teams combined for only 4 dunks.

LeBron alone had that many dunks in his playoff game...

High flying, we are not.

[Flacolaco]

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/ga...18&game=DALSAS

Finley with the -20 last night.

[tcat075]

Originally Posted by TheMaverick

Parker still had his 24 points. Isn't that above his season average?

Just because you score more points that your season average, it doesn't mean you had a good game. In this case, Parker took 22 shots to get those 24 points. That's why he had a bad game.

[dude1394]

Parker missed some shots but finley/mason didn't. The mavs also went at parker all night and at the end he looked gassed.

I hope to see jkiddo posting him up 5-10 times every game. And JJB running him off dampier screens also.

[Flacolaco]

Apparently Kidd was vomiting on the bench last night in the first quarter...

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archi...-practice.html

Big Ed Sefko reports that Jason Kidd was absent from today's practice due to stomach problems. Kidd was vomiting on the bench during Game 1, according to a team official.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Yuck, I hope Kidd is ok. Stomach problems are hard to fight through since they weaken you.

[monty55555]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Apparently Kidd was vomiting on the bench last night in the first quarter...

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archi...-practice.html

Oh boy. I hope he gets better soon. Get well soon JKidd.

[horse900703]

GREAT WIN!

[LonghornDub]

If anybody can fight through a stomach bug, it's Kidd. Dude's tough as nails.

[sefant77]

So...will Barea start or stay on the bench with extended minutes?

I like him chasing Parker from minute 1, i like him playing against the benchmob and Mason as PG...

Hopefully he can make Parker tired like he died in the 2nd half...

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Eat my nuts Bonner!!!

[mac222b]

Love what JJB brings and his aggressiveness driving to the hole is just what this team needs. However he sometimes has tunnel vision. If he can learn to occasionally kick to the wing/corner for the 3 he'll be more effective against teams like Den. w/ Nene,Martin,C.Andersen or NO w/ Chandler,Armstrong. Teams with shotblockers. A couple times Barea forced shots when Dirk was open next to him. He made most of them but this won't always be the case. Also whoever suggested posting Kidd whenever Parker is on him-absolutely. I think making Parker work on defense will really pay dividends at game's end. He's got to do so much for them. They actually miss Udrih lol! Great win for the Mavs. Great to see Bass, J-ho step up. Wright with 2 clutch shots.

[CadBane]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

CreditXpert?

Care to elaborate?

[DirkFTW]

Originally Posted by horse900703

GREAT WIN!

Great to have you back.

[Popeye]

Kidd can back Parker down but he can't really do anything around the basket once he gets there. That's the problem with posting him. You really have to hope the other team takes the bait and doubles him so he pass out, because he's not gonna finish a high percentage of the time.

[ghazi]

Hope Kidd is alright.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Originally Posted by mac222b

Love what JJB brings and his aggressiveness driving to the hole is just what this team needs. However he sometimes has tunnel vision. If he can learn to occasionally kick to the wing/corner for the 3 he'll be more effective against teams like Den. w/ Nene,Martin,C.Andersen or NO w/ Chandler,Armstrong. Teams with shotblockers. A couple times Barea forced shots when Dirk was open next to him. He made most of them but this won't always be the case.

I agree with this. Remember the 2OT game when Pop moved Bowen over to cover JJ late in the game? While Ortegel was busy saying this was a great compliment for JJ in drawing the Spurs best defender, I saw it differently. It looked like Pop was taking advantage of JJ's inability to pass the ball. Why bother defending Dirk and Terry closely if they aren't going to get any touches? If Pop rediscovers this about JJ, I expect that he will adjust accordingly for Game 2.

That pass to Wright for the corner three is a good sign though. And maybe it will mask JJ's weakness.