Mavs vs Wizards Gameday Thread

[Lvubun1]

Can't expect to win if Dirk only gets 8 shots, period. That is the problem with having so many players who shoot, other guys tend to get lost. I know they both played well but if Walker and Jamison are taking a combined 31 shots that means that Dirk isn't going to get the amount of shots he need for the Mavs to be at their best.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Bayliss

He averaged like 8 rebounds at Wake Forest. He averaged (I think) 6-7 boards in the summer league.

He rebounds as well or better than Finley.

Come on bayliss. I know that you look for reasons to knock Finley but this is ridicious. Howard has the >potential< to rebound like Finley. But remember that potential means that you haven't done it yet.

[Novice#41]

JOHN MARKON
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Nov 6, 2003
....
Last night, for example, the Mavs showed up a with a case of East Coast road- trip malaise and weren't allowed to leave the floor until they'd been spanked 100-90. To be fair, Dallas point guard Steve Nash missed most of the game with a shoulder injury and the Mavs are still in the adjustment phase after a nine-player, mid-August trade that shuffled coach Don Nelson's roster a little too vigorously. Asked if his team was having more trouble defending against fast breaks or set plays, Nelson's answer was "Yes."
....

[Evilmav2]

The Findawg always starts the year off slow, but in this year of transition his discombobulation is seriously hurting the Mavs. In the past, Nelson has traditionally played Fin major minutes at the beginning of the season to work his shot and game back into shape, and he is doing it now, but I really think it is hurting guys like Jamison, Bradley, Fort, Delk, etc... because it burns up their possibly productive minutes...

Obviously, Finley has to be a big part of the team if we want to have success in the post-season, but I just want to know why the hell doesn't he ever start the regular season with a functional jumpshot and with proper conditioning? I am sure the man keeps himself in moderate Summer shape, and I know that over the years he has played with other NBAers in Chicago games, but really, it has never looked like Fin has spent much effort to improve his game over the Summertime months and I suspect that he is used to playing himself into form in the early season, so during that Summer he cruises when it comes to his conditioning and shooting drills.

Fin's slow start normally wouldn't get me so agitated, but I absolutely hate it when he looks like crap on the floor and he is taking away minutes from players who might- just might- be able to enable us to beat a powerhouse team like the Washington Wizards...

I am sure Fin will look good in a couple of weeks, but I just hope that we don't sacrifice a couple of crucial game wins to the yearly ritual of his necessary beginning-of-the-season training crash course...

[seelenjaeger]

My conclusion after this game:

it´s painful, though encouraging, to see that - after all this additions - we STILL rely SOLELY on the performance of our one and only superstar - Dirk.

He´s the key and anchor of our game, and if he´s off, we´ll struggle. Especially when his Rebounding effort isn´t there, which is even more important than his scoring. When he stopped rebounding vs. the Lakers, we lost. We had troubles vs. the Heat. We lost vs. Washington.

Having Jamison and Walker helps. Losing Nash and having an off-Fin hurts more. Our depth is there. It just cannot make up for the lack of on-court experience. We need time on the court together.

Positive: Delk, Jamison, Walker will pay off in the long run.
Negative: Finley´s game has disappeared so far, or at least it´s hiding pretty good. Nash is inconsistent in his on court appearences, but we cannot replace him. Dirk is still in off-season mode. Hopefully he´ll find the switch.

[kingrex]

My conclusions from this game.

On my prediction I thought that we would be out of synch, but I had no idea we would be this off. We looked exactly like what we are, a team that has been put together within the last few weeks. Now it didn'thelp that Nash was out, but Nash has nothing to do with missing open jumpers or lack of hustle. This team showed no focus last night and was always one step slower than their opponent.

Defensively, this zone is set up to give up certain shots to the opponent in an effort to guard against higher percentage shots. We happened to play a team that would not miss last night. Was it poor defense or just one of those nights?

Coaching-wise, Nellie might as well had fallen asleep on the bench. Whatever he tried didn't work. The only one that semi-worked was bringing Bradley in of all things. I'll give props to Big Brad it kept inside scoring down and hauled in some rebounds (like he should). Otherwise, I think Nellie was out-coached. Eddie Jordan coached a scheme that foiled this so-so Mavs zone, and Nellie never adjusted until the game was out of hand.

In the whole, it was only one game in November, and I have full-faith that the Mavs will bounce back.

[MavsFanFinley]

I'm wondering why so many are focused on Fin's shooting this year? The argument has always been that if he wasn't shooting well, he had to do other things.

1. He's shooting less (10 spg, down 7 from last season), but people are still saying he's shooting too much and taking shots from others. Cold or not, if 13 shots is shooting too much for a guy like Finley, then why have him shoot at all? From most reports, he took a lot of open shots last night, but missed. Are we wanting Finley to pass up open shots now? Everyone has failed to mention that he took 7 ft's last night. 6 really, since one was a technical ft.

2. We still have people saying he's playing too many minutes. Again, he's down from last season. Is he supposed to play under 30 minutes?

3. When he's not shooting well, he must do other things. People are real quick to point out the 3-13 shooting, but forget his ft attempts (7), rebounds (4), assists (5), and steals (2). This was Fin's worst rebounding effort this season. Yet, he had 5 assists and 2 steals.

4. Play better defense. How is he supposed to when no one else is? Especially in the zone. Has someone gone off on Finley?

I'm not saying Fin's shooting isn't atrocious. I know it is and have commented on it. I just don't see how he's still shooting too much or why many are still focused on the shooting when he's been decent in other areas? 6 rebounds and over 2 assists a game. He and Jamison are both averaging 1.6 turnovers a game while Dirk/Walker/Nash are over 2 a game. He's 3rd in ft (21) attempts behind Dirk (32) and Nash (23). He's only taken 13 3-pt attempts which puts him behind Walker, Delk, Dirk, and Nash.

Again, I'm not out to make Fin as a stud this season or something, but 5 games into the season and all I keep reading is what he's sucking at. He can't do this, can't do that. No lift in his legs, shooting too much, not playing defense, logging too many minutes, and so on.

Has something changed? Is he really lagging in all the other areas so much that we have to still point to his shooting as for why we're losing and how Finley is taking away from everyone else?