My Verdict - Long!!!

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Male22Dan

Then get in here on time when I PM you!!!

Period!

Male22Dan just to let you know that moderators are not paid. This is volunteer service that we do. We also have to work to earn a living. This means that we cannot immediately respond to every request.

Now chill out, and get your thread back on topic.

[Walkerforthree]

One thing I've noticed, Fortson has gotten few minutes lately. That is somewhat heightened by the fact that we have been playing running teams, but still i'd like to see a bit more of him.

[Male30Dan]

I know this and that is fine... But if nothing is done, I can easily call the guy out myself... Those that take up the responsibility of a VERY BUSY message board to be the Mods might want to make sure they can fit the duties into their schedules, (not that you arent or anything - just saying is all)... Regarding getting the thread back on topic... I never took it off now did I... As you so genuinely pointed out, that was done by the great Walkerforthree...

[Walkerforthree]

Originally posted by: Male22Dan
I know this and that is fine... But if nothing is done, I can easily call the guy out myself... Those that take up the responsibility of a VERY BUSY message board to be the Mods might want to make sure they can fit the duties into their schedules, (not that you arent or anything - just saying is all)... Regarding getting the thread back on topic... I never took it off now did I... As you so genuinely pointed out, that was done by the great Walkerforthree...

lets stop bashing the mods and get back on track like i have.

[Male30Dan]

I agree, but when everyone else is grabbing the boards against a smaller team, Fortson really can be a bit of a liability in other areas!!

[Male30Dan]

Hahaha... You just have to keep trying to make yourself look good dont you... Oh yes, you are a great human being walker, great indeed... And all mods are perfect and superior to us all... Well not all of us, just all of us but you...

Now back to what I was saying........

[Mandyahl]

Originally posted by: Rhylan
I walked right by the diaper guys going into the game. There were about ten painted people standing in two lines, trying to get people to walk between them and give them high fives and stuff going into the AAC. I started to run through them, chest bumping and acting like I was being announced in someone's starting lineup, but I decided against it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Didn't wanna end up with blue paint all over me, somehow.

oh darn, i missed you rhylan. my three friends and i and those six guys in diapers were the ones making the "mavs tunnel"...we were the ones in hula skirts made out of pompoms... yeah, too bad, but i didn't see you.

[grndmstr_c]

I wasn't paying specific attention to Dirk's D all night last night and had to step out for a couple minutes here and there, but I'll still throw in my two cents regarding what I did notice. As far as Skinner is concerned, most of the time that I saw Dirk guarding him I was rather pleased with Dirk's defensive aggressiveness. Granted, Skinner's not much on O, but it still looked to my that in the 1-on-1 situations Dirk was doing a good job. He did let Kuckoc get by him a couple times late in the game, but with Dirk's ankles I'm not inclined to criticize him too much for that. I thought Howard's perimeter D slipped noticably in the second half last night after that pile up where he sprained his ankle. Can't really comment on Dirk's positioning/team D away from the ball. Just didn't watch him closely enough.

[V]

Originally posted by: Walkerforthree

V, I agree. I love his O game around the bucket, but he was being burned repeadetly last night. That's one reason I would trade him for you're boy Sheed [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Walk - It's hard to have an intelligent debate if you agree with me. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Jamison's defense is, no doubt, terrible. But I think the Mavs can work around that problem if jamison is willing. All I've ever read about Jamison is that he's a very hard worker... In fact, last season, there were quite a few basketball-types speculating that Jamison would be a better all-around player than Vince Carter because of that ethic.

For Jamison to be successful I think three things need to happen:

(1) Jamison needs a favorable matchup defensively. This may cause Nowitzki some problems, forcing the Mavs to go zone, but I think the O rebounding & scoring can make up for that.

(2) Jamison needs the ball when & where he likes it.

(3) Jamison needs to learn the offensive & defensive schemes & become part of the team. This may be his biggest problem right now. We all know good team defense is based on trust & understanding of roles... but if Jamison doesn't know his role, or where he is supposed to be on the floor.... we're in trouble.

The reason I'm brining all this up is that I'm starting to get a bad feeling about Jamison is the way that I got bad feeling about LaF last season. Nelly calls is basketball IQ... an innate abililty to positively impact the flow of the game by knowing where to be on the court & where to go with the baskball. LaF doesn't have it. Say what you want about Walker, but he does have it. Let's hope Jamison does too.

.... Then we can forget about Wallace - unless, he goes to the Spurs [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: grndmstr_c
I wasn't paying specific attention to Dirk's D all night last night and had to step out for a couple minutes here and there, but I'll still throw in my two cents regarding what I did notice. As far as Skinner is concerned, most of the time that I saw Dirk guarding him I was rather pleased with Dirk's defensive aggressiveness. Granted, Skinner's not much on O, but it still looked to my that in the 1-on-1 situations Dirk was doing a good job. He did let Kuckoc get by him a couple times late in the game, but with Dirk's ankles I'm not inclined to criticize him too much for that. I thought Howard's perimeter D slipped noticably in the second half last night after that pile up where he sprained his ankle. Can't really comment on Dirk's positioning/team D away from the ball. Just didn't watch him closely enough.

But that is just it Grnd... For someone that has little to no O, Dirk SHOULD DEFINITELY be aggressive and SHOULD DEFINITELY do a good job... The problem is that I really did watch him close, and I must disagree in that he didnt, (in my opinion), play like a good/great defender would... Regarding Kukoc, I again have bad ankles, and they heal VERY FAST, but can sprain again VERY FAST... My point is I do not think he is hurting anymore... After the game he even said that he was feeling great... We cant keep using excuses for Dirk's inability to do certain things well... Thanks for the input though...

[Mandyahl]

Regarding not knowing how long you can play that sort of defense, please see Ron Artest last night versus LeBron, (while he had a good first quarter, Artest was draped over him the entire game and played great defense the entire game) - DEFENSE!!! I know this is not something that ANYONE can do, but it is something that I expect a defensive stopper to do, which is all I said Finley was NOT... He just seems to really pick it up at times, and can really become emotional, but as a team, the Mavericks really need to see that consistently... I will say that it is very hard to guard these great shooting Bucks though...

i didn't see the game with artest, so i can't argue very well here, but the link you sent me said:

James finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes but he couldn't shake free in the fourth quarter from Artest, who was draped all over him.

so it sounds like artest played spectacular fourth quarter defense, which is what finley did last night. lebron had a very good first quarter and was quiet the rest of the game...redd had a very good third quarter and was quiet the rest of the game. and most of redd's points came off three-pointers, even some that finley contested as well as you can, not driving past finley.

now, i am not saying that fin should make the all-defensive team or anything. i just think that he can be, and has been for most of this season, a good to very good defensive player.

[V]

Originally posted by: Mandyahl

i didn't see the game with artest, so i can't argue very well here, but the link you sent me said:

so it sounds like artest played spectacular fourth quarter defense, which is what finley did last night. lebron had a very good first quarter and was quiet the rest of the game...redd had a very good third quarter and was quiet the rest of the game. and most of redd's points came off three-pointers, even some that finley contested as well as you can, not driving past finley.

now, i am not saying that fin should make the all-defensive team or anything. i just think that he can be, and has been for most of this season, a good to very good defensive player.

I also think Finley played well in the fourth. As 22Dan pointed Finely he can definately turn it on when he wants to.

At one point I saw a very spirited conversation between nelly & Fin (Nelly screaming, Finley whining) about Finley's defense of Redd. After that talk Finley only let Redd get one touch that I can remember... and it was on a play where Redd sort of sneaked away.

Anyone sitting close enough to know what Nelly was so peeved about? Was it that Finley was not giving the effort expected of a defensive stopper?...

[Male30Dan]

I believe within the link there are other mentions though of him playing him hard throughout the night... If not, I sent you the wrong link... Nonetheless, my point is many great defensive players play the entire game VERY HARD and then yes, can step it up even a notch further at certain crunch times... Finley can definately do the latter, and does it quite well at times, but he is inconsistent at remaining good throughout the game...

Regarding Redd, he did have several three pointers, but two of the third-period three pointers were uncontested... Sure a lot of this comes from the coach running bad schemes on defense, but great defenders do not even let the guy get the ball... That is the kind of thing Artest is known for... Also, Finley guarded Mason some as well when the Zone switched up...

All in all, Finley, as I said, played well... Better in the fourth including that nice fade-away jump shot...

[Mandyahl]

Anyone sitting close enough to know what Nelly was so peeved about? Was it that Finley was not giving the effort expected of a defensive stopper?...

definitely wasn't sitting close enough, but i did watch the game tape and i watched that sequence a few times. the moment came after redd had just hit an open three in transition, and i gathered that nellie was very unhappy about redd being that open since he was so hot that quarter, and nellie was letting fin know about it. that play fin had been covering someone else's man and then ran over to redd when it was too late, and by the hand motions i think he was explaining that to nellie. nellie just kinda gave him a look, and then fin got that determined look in his eye and then was all over redd from that point forth.

[V]

Originally posted by: Mandyahl

definitely wasn't sitting close enough, but i did watch the game tape and i watched that sequence a few times. the moment came after redd had just hit an open three in transition, and i gathered that nellie was very unhappy about redd being that open since he was so hot that quarter, and nellie was letting fin know about it. that play fin had been covering someone else's man and then ran over to redd when it was too late, and by the hand motions i think he was explaining that to nellie. nellie just kinda gave him a look, and then fin got that determined look in his eye and then was all over redd from that point forth.

hmmm.... might that have been JAMISON'S MAN?!?!

I don't remember... but I'd bet dollars to donuts it was.

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: V

hmmm.... might that have been JAMISON'S MAN?!?!

I don't remember... but I'd bet dollars to donuts it was.

Hahaha... I think you would be gaining weight in this bet if you made it... But you sure would get a good treat!!!

[Male30Dan]

You know something else that I will point out is that these guys are much bigger in person [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Im sure I am probably the last guy to actually get to a live game, but Fortson was HUGE and Bradley was SO DAMN tall... Damn near everyone was ripped/toned, (trust me, my wife kept sarcastically pointing it out)... Just pretty cool to see that many massive players up close... Another thing me and Crystal talked about was how we were probably never that close to 30 millionaires/billionaires, (I dont know how much money Cuban is actually worth with his companies and stocks and what not), for that long of a time before in our life...

Weuns are jus des Wacoans down souf!

[V]

Originally posted by: Male22Dan
You know something else that I will point out is that these guys are much bigger in person [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Im sure I am probably the last guy to actually get to a live game, but Fortson was HUGE and Bradley was SO DAMN tall... Damn near everyone was ripped/toned, (trust me, my wife kept sarcastically pointing it out)... Just pretty cool to see that many massive players up close... Another thing me and Crystal talked about was how we were probably never that close to 30 millionaires/billionaires, (I dont know how much money Cuban is actually worth with his companies and stocks and what not), for that long of a time before in our life...

Weuns are jus des Wacoans down souf!

Yep they are big. I see Dirk, Nash, Najera all the time & it still amazes me. I saw Pippen at a party last year & you would never think someone that big could move like he does.

BTW - I speak a little english, spanish, french, italian, malay, and some japanese & I have no idea what this means: "Weuns are jus des Wacoans down souf!"

[Male30Dan]

Hahahahaha... It means We are just these Waco-residents down south!

LOL... I was just acting stupid with a southern accent... Say it to yourself...

That just made my day!

[MightyToine]

Originally posted by: LRB
1st of all Male22Dan, lay off the name calling. That's not appropriate at any time.

Walkerforthree you started this one. You post was condescending and attacking to the poster. It's OK to have a differing opinion, but telling someone that they didn't watch the game properly is instigating trouble. So knock if off.

Just how does one watch any Basketball game PROPERLY? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

Is there some special instruction manual out there on how to sit, eat, drink, talk, go take a dump during commercials or something? [img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]

[Captain Disaster]

Actually, there are some hopeful signs coming out of Male's original observations about the team. What we are seeing is a team that badly wants to win, number one. Secondly, we are also witnessing the sacrifices that all the players are making to try to make it work (Jamison's facial expressions, Nash's fewer shots, Dirk's struggling defensively as a center, Walker showing signs of tailoring his game to this team, Finley learning to pick his moments, Howard outright scrambling for everything, etc...). Finally (Remember that the jury's still ultimately out on the dismantling of last year's team), we need to give this group a year or more to get going (IMO) because I think that most of the frustration that we often feel towards the team is related to the bar being elevated to the ultimate level last year (we could see that we really were a true contender), and the obvious flashes of brilliance we've seen so far from this group (and the flashes of confusion). At this point, it looks like Nellie just needs to continue to go with the tight rotation to get players used to what each can & will do in every situation, & to separate the main guns from the role players in everyone's mind; AND to develop a solid bench (we may have to sign additional or different players for this one). I am concerned about whether or not we keep Jamison. Just because he is a defensive liability, he sure can score quickly.

[Walkerforthree]

Originally posted by: MightyToine

Just how does one watch any Basketball game PROPERLY? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

Is there some special instruction manual out there on how to sit, eat, drink, talk, go take a dump during commercials or something? [img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]

I never said he didn't watch properly, so I don't know. All I said was mabye he didn't watch closely, I don't know.

[V]

Whew... thought I was loosing it.... that's pretty funny...

btw - The only japanese I know is Baru anatawa caba... which I think means: V smells like a hippo.

(some kids told that to me once) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]