Injuries force Mavs' Nelson to mix and match

[vinnieponte]

OMG DID NELLIE JUST SAY HE WILL BE USING DIRK AS OUR CENTER, WE NEED DIRK TO SHOOT, NOT BLOCK THE POST!!!!!!!

To deal with injuries, Mavs coach may have something up his sleeve


11:50 PM CST on Thursday, November 18, 2004


By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News



Don Nelson was not quite ready to reveal his mad scientist experiments.

After a long, closed practice Thursday, the Mavericks coach emerged, saying the team had a lot of work to do because of injuries to Michael Finley (ankle), Jason Terry (ankle) and Erick Dampier (hip). So, coach, how did you decide to deal with it?

"I'd rather not talk about that, if you don't mind," Nelson said coyly. "You might as well keep a secret as long as you can."

With the New York Knicks coming to American Airlines Center tonight for a 7:30 p.m. game, Nelson will have to unveil his plan quickly. While Jerry Stackhouse has done a nice job replacing Finley, and Devin Harris solves a big part of the problem at point guard in light of Terry's injury, the longest practice time Thursday could have been spent trying to adjust to the absence of Dampier.

"We'll not be as good without him," Nelson said.

The obvious plan for the Mavericks will be to use a combination of Alan Henderson, Shawn Bradley and Calvin Booth to fill in for Dampier. But Nelson has never been obvious. While Bradley could see his minutes expand the way they did when Dampier was injured against Phoenix (Bradley played 21 minutes, up from the eight he was averaging), he also realizes Nelson could go with a "small-ball" lineup that features Dirk Nowitzki at center.

"Nellie has a lot of tools," Bradley said. "I wouldn't be surprised at all to see [small ball]."

Bradley said he is a different animal than Dampier.

"Erick has really come in and given a low-post presence," Bradley said. "Guys are looking for him, and he's allowing the guards to have some open shots. He's taken that role, and he's really excited about it.

"My role is to go and clog up the middle," Bradley added. "I know what I'm supposed to do, whether it's for three minutes or 20 minutes. We'll play zone pretty much when I'm in there, and I understand that."

That is, unless Nelson has some secrets for the Knicks.

[kg_veteran]

It seems my lineup prediction may have been accurate.

[Dirkenstien]

I will be extremely upset if Nellie plays Dirk at center for a significant amount of minutes. You still have Bradley and Booth, not to mention Mbenga that can give you trash minutes at center. To place Dirk down low is nothing more than Nelson trying to get fans acclimated to the false notion that is "ok" to do it; which it isn't.

I understand that NY's center's are the equivilant to Western Conference PF's but I still feel placing Dirk at the 5 is inexcusable in these circumstances.

[vinnieponte]

Originally posted by: Dirkenstien
I will be extremely upset if Nellie plays Dirk at center for a significant amount of minutes. You still have Bradley and Booth, not to mention Mbenga that can give you trash minutes at center. To place Dirk down low is nothing more than Nelson trying to get fans acclimated to the false notion that is "ok" to do it; which it isn't.

I understand that NY's center's are the equivilant to Western Conference PF's but I still feel placing Dirk at the 5 is inexcusable in these circumstances.

coudn't of said it any better!!!! If I have to see another small ball game tonight, i'm leaving early! Dirk is our #1 one shooter and the last guy I would use as our main defender. If this is true we will be 7 & 3 no doubt.

[rakesh.s]

i would like to see

harris
daniels
howard
dirk
dj congo/booth starting with bradley getting a lot of mins as the backup if the starters don't work out.

agree that dirk should never play center this year unless booth,bradley,mbenga and dampier are all hurt at the same time..even then, you could use henderson

[MavKikiNYC]

If he plays Dirk primarily at Center and loses, he can expect a visit from Principal Cuban.

[grndmstr_c]

If this is true we will be 7 & 3 no doubt.

Or not...seeing as the Mavs are +20 per 48 minutes with Dirk playing at the 5 this year. Still, I'd prefer to use it as a change-up rather than in the starting lineup. Beyond that, this writer's a bit of a moron. In his preview of the game he talked of Devin Harris filling in for "injured starter Jason Terry". And nowhere in this article is there a quote saying that Nellie will start Dirk at the 5. That's not to say he won't. It's just that it's a little silly for everyone to start freaking out about a lineup that's been pretty successful this year despite its unorthodoxy when the source of your frustrations is an article that provides absolutely no information whatsoever regarding what Nellie plans to do.

[Turkey]

This has been the theme of nellie's whole career as a head coach---mix&match trying to find mismatches (That is the reason Booth is in the doghouse). When is he going to teach the players how to play team ball? When is his philosophy going to change from find mismatches to creating plays that will make it easy for the player to score?

Let's be honest, we had some pretty talented players last season (walker included) and he couldn't utilize any one of them correctly. Why? Because he chooses to feed the ball to Duck when instead he should have been preaching to the players on how to play team ball.
Let the game decide on who the ball should go to instead of the coach.

Now let me ask you, has anything changed from last season compared to the present. Has our ball&player movement gotten better?
Nellie's excuse in the prior seasons was that Dallas had no true center. But that is not true---we have Bradley and had Lafrenz-both were and are decent centers.

Given this, we should not expect to be going anywhere this season just like prior seasons. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out.

[GP]

The Knicks don't really have a center to speak of with any size. Dirk can definitely play them but I think the Mavs best move would be to start Bradley and play him as much as possible. They don't need any tricks to beat this sad sack Knicks team. They should be able to line up and kick their ass even with the injuries. I think they should use their size advantage and play big instead of small. Small is all the Knicks have. They can't match up anywhere except point and if they pressure Marbury enough then he becomes basically useless because he jacks bad shots, dribbles the clock out and then makes desperation passes. He'll get his 20 pts and 10 assists but at the expense of winning the game.

[Chicago JK]

I would start booth tonight and have Bradley off the Bench. I think Bradley has responded well as the big guy off the bench. He has put up solid minutes.

I also wouldn't mind Dirk and Henderson in the game for stretches. Throw Henderson on Kurt Thomas and let Dirk guard the spare Knick center for stretches.

[kg_veteran]

Originally posted by: grndmstr_c

And nowhere in this article is there a quote saying that Nellie will start Dirk at the 5. That's not to say he won't. It's just that it's a little silly for everyone to start freaking out about a lineup that's been pretty successful this year despite its unorthodoxy when the source of your frustrations is an article that provides absolutely no information whatsoever regarding what Nellie plans to do.

The source of my frustration about Dirk as a center has nothing to do with this article, and my speculation that he will use Dirk quite a bit at center with Dampier out has nothing to do with this article. And regardless of +/- numbers this year, Dirk at center has been and will continue to be a terrible idea except in extremely limited situations. I guess that's what you're referring to as a "change up".

[Cybertx]

Originally posted by: Turkey
This has been the theme of nellie's whole career as a head coach---mix&match trying to find mismatches (That is the reason Booth is in the doghouse). When is he going to teach the players how to play team ball? When is his philosophy going to change from find mismatches to creating plays that will make it easy for the player to score?

Let's be honest, we had some pretty talented players last season (walker included) and he couldn't utilize any one of them correctly. Why? Because he chooses to feed the ball to Duck when instead he should have been preaching to the players on how to play team ball.
Let the game decide on who the ball should go to instead of the coach.

Now let me ask you, has anything changed from last season compared to the present. Has our ball&player movement gotten better?
Nellie's excuse in the prior seasons was that Dallas had no true center. But that is not true---we have Bradley and had Lafrenz-both were and are decent centers.

Given this, we should not expect to be going anywhere this season just like prior seasons. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out.

What the hell are you talking about everything changed for las season.


Let's be honest, we had some pretty talented players last season (walker included)

You got to be kidding, man.

Because he chooses to feed the ball to Duck when instead he should have been preaching to the players on how to play team ball.

that was the damn problem last year dirk didn't have the ball enough.

[SeriousSummer]

Center: D.J. M'Benga plays a maximum of five minutes before fouling out--three is my prediction;
Bradley is good for 20 to 24 minutes. I don't think his conditioning will let him play more;
So unless you can stomach Booth wondering around lost for half the game, then Dirk is going to have to play some center. Face it, Dirk & Henderson are going to be more effective against the Knicks than Dirk & Booth--unless Booth plays radically better than last time.

My prediction, and the best I think the Mavs can do is:

Bradley -- 21 minutes
Benga -- 3 minutes (and fouls out)
Booth -- 8 minutes (might be only 6 if the game is close)
Dirk -- 16 minutes, maybe as many as 20 if the game is in doubt

[Psychedelic Fuzz]

The knicks don't have any big threats at the 5. I wouldn't mind seeing Dirk at the 5 only with henderson, DJ or maybe booth on thomas at the 4.

However, there's absolutely no reason to play Dirk and four guards with the Mantis riding the pine for more than a couple of minutes over the course of the game.

[Misfit Mav]

Ha, ha! Nellie "forced" to experiment with a small line-up. I bet he hates that!

[Turkey]

Originally posted by: Cybertx

What the hell are you talking about everything changed for las season.


Let's be honest, we had some pretty talented players last season (walker included)

You got to be kidding, man.

Because he chooses to feed the ball to Duck when instead he should have been preaching to the players on how to play team ball.

that was the damn problem last year dirk didn't have the ball enough.

I said the guy got talent. Never did I say the dude got skills.

[EricaLubarsky]

Being talented and being skilled are different? Maybe it has to do with the ebonic 'be'.

[Turkey]

Being talented is just something that is aquired naturally. Walker has a natural aptitude to run the offense, to pass the ball, and to make plays.

Being skilled or skillful is something that is aquired through training and hard work and comes with time (but not always as we see with walker).

[JLEEHASMUCHGAME]

I would say Walker knows how to jack up three point misses to no end. The other night, on al harrington's return to indiana, he shot 9 threes with only two makes. If that is your idea of running an offense, then sure, the man's a natural.

by the way turkey, what's the deal with your sigs? Why must they always be of the disturbing variety?

[Turkey]

Originally posted by: JLEEHASMUCHGAME
I would say Walker knows how to jack up three point misses to no end. The other night, on al harrington's return to indiana, he shot 9 threes with only two makes. If that is your idea of running an offense, then sure, the man's a natural.

Not exactly what I meant, but you do have a point.

by the way turkey, what's the deal with your sigs? Why must they always be of the disturbing variety?

I really don't know. Maybe something is in me.

[JLEEHASMUCHGAME]

edit to keep thread on topic

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Dirkenstien
I understand that NY's center's are the equivilant to Western Conference PF's but I still feel placing Dirk at the 5 is inexcusable in these circumstances.

Why would it matter? Dirk at center is bad against teams with decent centers. NY does not qualify. I'd rather see Dirk at center with Bradley backing him up (against weak centers) than any other lineup.

[EricaLubarsky]

Dirk at center only works if we can stop penetration. If we can't then we need someone to stop the penetration from turning into easy points.

[dude1394]

If it wasn't obviious before it was obvious again last night. Dirk has no business playing center, it makes him tentative on defense and does NOT stop anything at the hoop.

And turkey that is one disgusting sig, how about changing it. yuck.

[grndmstr_c]

And turkey that is one disgusting sig, how about changing it. yuck.

How about we just ban Turkey from having a sig. He's on a role with those things.