PGT Raptors@Mavs: My eyes are still hurting

[sefant77]

What an ugly win, oh boy.

Great first half but didnt take advantage of the rebound advantage and then an ugly *ss 2nd half. Raptors hanging around all the time and at the end a really close win.

Collison kind of back to earth. OJ and Kaman again very solid. Carter too.

Murphy need to knock down more of his open shots.

Brand and no James and less Murphy is allready a huge improvement.

Our S5 with Dirk and Marion gonna rock

[sefant77]

4-1

With Dirk out
Kaman 2 DNP
Brand 1 DNP
Roddy 3 DNP
Marion 1 DNP

Awesome start

[Underdog]

Our rebounding was much-improved over the last game...

[Melonhead]

Play of the game: The bucket didn’t count, but Carter still gave folks watching in Toronto a flashback to his early NBA years with a high-flying, two-handed finish on a fast-break lob from Darren Collison. Center Aaron Gray delivered a forearm shiver to Collison’s chest as the Mavs’ lightning quick point guard delivered the leaping lob pass. A flagrant-one foul was called on Gray, which is why the basket didn’t count.

Anyone have a video of this? Or a link to the replay of the game? TIA


Mavs might be onto something here once the gang gets going in december.

[markus1234]

lets go UTAH !
lets go LAC !

[Aggie E]

I thought our pG play was kinda weak tonight which caused the offense to stagnate in the 2nd half. Great game by Kaman and very strong overall game from Mayo...

[b_o_r]

Originally Posted by sefant77

What an ugly win, oh boy.

Great first half but didnt take advantage of the rebound advantage and then an ugly *ss 2nd half. Raptors hanging around all the time and at the end a really close win.

Collison kind of back to earth. OJ and Kaman again very solid.

-More like great 1st qtr. After that, the Mavs held on to victory.
-That was a very physical beating Collison took tonight.
-Derozan had his way with Crowder which I was surprised to see. Seeing how bulky Crowder is, he had no trouble back him down in the post.
-Like to see more Carter in the post.
-Wright played 28 minutes but I felt he should have played more.

[nowhereman]

I thought OJ played an amazing floor game. Great patience, and great job in the fourth especially solving a couple of hard doubles from the Raptors, and working the ball inside for easy baskets. Again, the Mayo/Kaman p&r game was excellent. If that's a sign of things to come with Mayo and Dirk, I'm really excited.

Vince played some very solid defense and hit some big threes. I thought Jones as again very good in the third and fourth, playing aggressive D and pushing the tempo and making some good reads on the p&r. I thought James was playing pretty poorly whever I saw him out there (I missed most of the first half though), but in the end, great job filling up the box score. Crowder was terrific - played in control, and had one especially awesome defensive stop against Derozen in isolation in the post.

This team is very well coached. Smart ball movement, alert and active defense, and constantly getting the ball in the hands of the right people to settle everything down with disparate parts. Gotta keep getting these wins with Dirk out. Great way to start the season.

[EricaLubarsky]

Ugly, but gutsy. I'll take it.
No Dirk
No Marion
No Brand
No Roddy
No problem

Lots of defensive breakdowns-- this is going to be the biggest thing that we need to work on. We're active-- just missing a lot of communication and fluidity. Can't be sad about 4-1 with so many injuries.

[tron#1]

I laugh because there we're people on here questioning if oj could average 20. More important we got the win. This is the kind of game I want mayo to play every night.

[FINtastic]

I'm a bit shocked that Mavs have already notched a 4-1 record without Dirk.* Gotta give Carlisle worlds of credit for having this team ready to play.

*To make it sweeter, the Lakers just fell to 1-4.

[LSMF]

Any win we can get while missing so many key players is a good win. Now on to NY, I would love if we can get a win in NY and stun their fans. Similar to the way we stunned Laker fans in the 1st game of the season. However, NY will be a tough challenge because those guys are playing some very good basketball. It'll be good to play vs TC again and hopefully DC lights up that Grandpa who used to play for us. (And no, I'm not talking about Kurt Thomas)

[grndmstr_c]

As others said, not pretty, but will all the lineup flux the team has been dealing with, I'll still call it a good win. Lots of guys who brought solid efforts tonight, even if nobody was completely dialed in. Good job taking advantage of a weak rebounding Raps team to finally come out ahead in that category. The Mavs needed every advantage they could get after finally stubbing their toes on their open jumpers (and some inside shots as well) a bit tonight.

Mayo didn't shoot as well tonight as he had in his last couple, but this was his best floor game, I thought. Still some defensive lapses, but the player of the game for the Mavs IMO.

DC was kind of passive tonight, a couple flashes notwithstanding, which made Mayo's taking the reigns of the offense even more important.

[sefant77]

Defense is a work in progress but with everyone healthy its elimates the minutes of James and Murphy and then it should look much better.

[nowhereman]

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

Mayo didn't shoot as well tonight as he had in his last couple, but this was his best floor game, I thought. Still some defensive lapses, but the player of the game for the Mavs IMO.

DC was kind of passive tonight, a couple flashes notwithstanding, which made Mayo's taking the reigns of the offense even more important.

Agreed on all accounts.

[grndmstr_c]

So, um...the Mavs are about to be tied for 1st in the West.

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

So, um...the Mavs are about to be tied for 1st in the West.

Do you think that is at all meaningful?

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Do you think that is at all meaningful?

Not at all, but I'm sure NO ONE had us being the 1 seed at ANY point of the season.

[Budapest Maverick]

Good first quarter, terrible from that point. Toronto at this point is a hot mess, but we still made it close. Then again, we are a major work in progress as well, despite that 4-1 start. I really don't want to get my hopes up, because i know this team will have patches when they're gonna struggle, especially defensively.

Knicks will be a huge challenge with their pesky defense, and great ball movement. They're kinda play like us at the moment offensively, but they seem to have a much better defense than us at this point.

Wouldn't be shocked if we're blown out, wouldn't be terribly mad either. truth is, the only decent team we faced so far was the Jazz. (Lakers are terrible at the moment). Would be awesome if the guys prove me wrong, and win on friday, i just don't see it.

[dirt_dobber]

Bernard James leads the rebounding assault as Mavericks whip Raptors
http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/2012/...-raptors.html/

Rookie Bernard James didn’t like seeing the Mavericks at the bottom of the NBA’s rebounding standings. So he did something about it.

With Elton Brand and Shawn Marion – two capable rebounders – on the shelf, James went in and grabbed nine boards in 18 minutes in the 109-104 win over Toronto. Those nine rebounds just happened to be the amount that the Mavericks won the board game by.

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure it was an emphasis,’’ said James, who also had six points. “That’s a pretty big team, so we wanted to make sure we got a body on people and worked for the rebound.’’

The Mavericks worked all night long and got the payoff. They benefited from diverse offense and a pick-your-spots defense that kept the Raptors from getting any closer than the final score during the second half.

It took the perspective of a coach to frame the quick start to the season.

“It points to the fact that, to this point, we’ve taken advantage of a favorable schedule,’’ Carlisle said. “All these wins are very good wins. These are quality teams. Portland’s going to be a factor in the West. Toronto’s going to be a factor in the East. The Lakers are going to be a top team in the West before it’s done. We caught them at a good time. We’re on the road now and it gets tougher.’’

It starts Friday in New York against the Knicks and Jason Kidd. But the key on Wednesday was that the Mavericks finished off a 3-0 home stand with a quality effort in spite of some tough circumstances.

The Mavericks were down to 11 healthy players as Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion were out with knee trouble, Elton Brand was in New York with his wife for the birth of their baby girl, and Roddy Beaubois remained out with an ankle problem. And yet, they got contributions from all over in the win.

“As usual,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said, “Rick’s doing a hell of a job with this group with bailing wire.’’

[dirt_dobber]

Bernard James 6' 10", 240 lbs
Highest +/- of the night at +14

2013 Salary: $473,604 - 2 years remaining

[DevinHarriswillstart]

The Mavs are still killing it offensively which is a nice new sight. The O last season was terrible. When Dirk gets back then the team will be almost unguardable.

Is there any doubt that Kaman is the best offensive center the Mavs have ever had? Just gotta stay healthy.

Mayo looks to finally be getting what Carlisle is preaching. Six assists and no turnovers? I thought for sure that turning the ball over early in the seas was a given. So far so good...

Would have liked to see a pinch more from Crowder, but I think he has already exceeded expectations for a second round pick.

[dirt_dobber]

Chris Kaman's 22 points tonight is tied for the 2nd most by a Mavs center since 2000-2001 (Chandler had 23 vs WSH on 2/26/11).

Collison, Mayo and Wright are the only Mavs to score in double figures in each of Dallas' first five games.

[dirt_dobber]

Brandan Wright has reached double figures in scoring in all five games this season, the longest streak of his five-year career. He finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

[dirt_dobber]

The Mavs led 61-50 at the half, the third time this season they have reached 60 points before intermission. Dallas has won 22 consecutive games when scoring 60-plus in the opening half. The last loss was on Feb. 5, 2010 against Minnesota.

Dallas has averaged 29.8 points in the first quarter this season, including a season-high 36 points on 60 percent shooting against the Raptors. The Mavericks were plagued with slow starts throughout last season, averaging 24.2 points in the opening quarter.

...................................TOR.....DAL
Total Rebounds.............38........47
Offensive Rebounds.....10........16
Turnovers........................8........11
Fast Break Pts:................3.......19
Biggest Lead:.................2........16
Points in the Paint:.........48........42

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by b_o_r

-More like great 1st qtr. After that, the Mavs held on to victory.
-That was a very physical beating Collison took tonight.
-Derozan had his way with Crowder which I was surprised to see. Seeing how bulky Crowder is, he had no trouble back him down in the post.
-Like to see more Carter in the post.
-Wright played 28 minutes but I felt he should have played more.

Jae needs to work on his flopping.

[sike]

This game is a blowout if the Mavs don't go 23-35 from the line. 65.7%....Come On guys, FOCUS!

I'm sure it is just an anomaly, but anomalies can cost you games.

[Kante]

Win is a win, although it should have been way easier.

I thought James looked good in the first half, while Collison had his first "rough" game.

[EricaLubarsky]

Kaman's FG% just took a dive last night from 89% to 71%

[sefant77]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Kaman's FG% just took a dive last night from 89% to 71%

Time to waive him and pick up Kenyon Martin

[Five-ofan]

It is so much fun to see a center who actually knows how to use his body offensively.

Also I want dirk back as bad as anyone but Brandon wright should be a starting pf for someone. He could easily average 15 a game if given starters minutes and put in good situations.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by tron#1

I laugh because there we're people on here questioning if oj could average 20. More important we got the win. This is the kind of game I want mayo to play every night.

You are high maintenance. It's not about his ppg and there's so many reasons and people have gone over this before several times. But you are right, most important is a win. As far as OJ goes, most important is that he is playing fluid and not forcing his game. He's seeing the floor and finding open men from his creations. Impressed with him so far.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

It is so much fun to see a center who actually knows how to use his body offensively.

He also isn't as slow footed as some had advertised. Nice to see since I still don't think he is fully recovered from the calf injury. I mean, the guy basically hit the game winning shot. Love that Mayo did the smart thing getting it down to him versus forcing a jump shot at the end there.

[LonghornDub]

I didn't think this win was especially ugly, to be honest. They could have won by more, but that's the NBA. They outperformed the Raptors in most phases of the game despite missing four rotation players. Not so "ugly" to my eyes.

[markus1234]

[jamaljasonandjimmy]

if dirk and marion are on the bench with suits lets see the 2011 jewelry

[sefant77]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

Not so "ugly" to my eyes.

Well, i also considered the Raptors. Their first half was just embarassing ugly. No effort, nothing. And when we dropped the ball a little bit in the 2nd half.

Overall it was no pretty game for sure...

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Do you think that is at all meaningful?

I think it's extremely meaningful. It means that Mavs are doing more than surviving without Dirk. Most of us would have been happy with 2-3 at this point.

[spreedom]

PLEASE find a better body to keep on the roster than DoJo.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Well, i also considered the Raptors. Their first half was just embarassing ugly. No effort, nothing. And when we dropped the ball a little bit in the 2nd half.

Overall it was no pretty game for sure...

That's fair I suppose.