Sac v. Minn - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

dirno2000 · 04-08-2004, 11:22 PM

T-Wolves look horrible...shooting 39% against a team that allows 45.5%.

jayC · 04-08-2004, 11:32 PM

Go Sactown. Yeah I know I said it but. We would be much better off with T-Wolves slipping to the fourth slot and the mavs moving up to the fifth spot.

dirno2000 · 04-08-2004, 11:38 PM

I'm also finding it hard to root for Sac.

OutletPass · 04-09-2004, 12:12 AM

Er...Minny is making this close down the stretch....let the dogfights continue.

mavsfanforever · 04-09-2004, 12:20 AM

If not minny give me SAC

kg_veteran · 04-09-2004, 12:35 AM

Amazing. The Timberwolves are about to pull off a HUGE win and secure the division title.

Wanna know why the Kings lose tonight (assuming they do)?

Chris Webber.

dirno2000 · 04-09-2004, 12:36 AM

Major choke job by the Kings...Peja misses a good look at a 15 footer then Bibby misses a layup becaue he hears KG's footsteps.

Give me Sac in the playoffs. Kandi is playing decently and his height, along with KG's, would give us problems. Sam Cassell is a bigtime shot maker. No opponent will be easy, but I'll take my chances with Sac.

mavsfanforever · 04-09-2004, 12:39 AM

Minny has played a great game while Sac choked like they normally do. Props to wolves. Give me SAC.

OutletPass · 04-09-2004, 12:39 AM

Minny is kicking ass...6 ahead with 1 minute to play...rallying from 8 down at half.

SheWebb 8-19 as Minny is ahead 24-11 in the 4th quarter.

What a choke job.

Sacto is in big trouble.

kg_veteran · 04-09-2004, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: dirno2000
Major choke job by the Kings...Peja misses a good look at a 15 footer then Bibby misses a layup becaue he hears KG's footsteps.

Give me Sac in the playoffs. Kandi is playing decently and his height, along with KG's, would give us problems. Sam Cassell is a bigtime shot maker. No opponent will be easy, but I'll take my chances with Sac.

That's exactly what I was thinking as I watched the fourth quarter. A few days ago, I was hoping for the T-Wolves. I'd be okay with playing them, but at this point I'd much prefer to see the Kings, and the way they're playing we very well may see them in the 4/5 matchup in Round 1.

kg_veteran · 04-09-2004, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: OutletPass
Minny is kicking ass...6 ahead with 1 minute to play...rallying from 8 down at half.

SheWebb 8-19 as Minny is ahead 24-11 in the 4th quarter.

What a choke job.

Sacto is in big trouble.

I said Chris Webber was the reason for the loss because the Kings have inexplicably forgotten Stojakovic. They keep trying to feed the ball to a hobbled Webber while their best player rots in the opposite corner.

dirno2000 · 04-09-2004, 12:50 AM

Quote:

I said Chris Webber was the reason for the loss because the Kings have inexplicably forgotten Stojakovic. They keep trying to feed the ball to a hobbled Webber while their best player rots in the opposite corner.

I think playing with other star players hides the fact that Peja is a terrible clutch player considering how good he is otherwise. The ball always seems to elude him in close games. I'm no longer blaming his teammates, I'm blaming him.

OutletPass · 04-09-2004, 12:51 AM

Peja wasn't exactly on fire, KG...he was 5-15. But your point is well taken...a slumping Peja is still a better option than SheWebb. Honestly, I have no idea why they're making SheWebb the focal point when so much is at stake. I agree with Dirno, Peja disappears in the 4th, but you have to go away from SheWebb the way he's been playing lately.

I'll take Sacto in the first round, please.

That team is in disarray. A very bad collapse at home.

Webber finishes 9-21.
Peja 5-15
Vlade 1-5
Bibby 8-18

That's 23-59 or 39%

And Sacto loses by 8 after being up 8 at halftime.

The most telling stat:

Minny wins the 4th quarter 33-17.

dirno2000 · 04-09-2004, 12:59 AM

Quote:

I agree with Dirno, Peja disappears in the 4th, but you have to go away from SheWebb the way he's been playing lately.

True...when you really think about, they had no good options. Hard to believe.

Evilmav2 · 04-09-2004, 01:04 AM

Ahhhh... the beautiful dream of a Sac-Dallas 4-5 matchup. This statement may sound silly to y'all, but I will say it nonetheless. After watching quite a lot of Webber recently, I really think Antoine Walker would take CWebb's lunch in a seven game series (and almighty help the Maloof's finest if they try to cover Dirk with a gimp-legged #4)...

Chris Webber: A Portrait of Failure

dirno2000 · 04-09-2004, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Ahhhh... the beautiful dream of a Sac-Dallas 4-5 matchup. This statement may sound silly to y'all, but I will say it nonetheless. After watching quite a lot of Webber recently, I really think Antoine Walker would take CWebb's lunch in a seven game series (and almighty help the Maloof's finest if they try to cover Dirk with a gimp-legged #4)...

Doesn't sound silly at all. The way Walker is attacking the basket, C-Webb wouldn't be able to stay in front of him.

Shaq Attack2 · 04-09-2004, 02:52 AM

Malone would work Webber in the post. Walker? He'd burn Webber into ashes. Webber can't guard a post, let alone Walker or any other quick young player.

kg_veteran · 04-09-2004, 11:38 AM

Dirno, OP hit on my point. I know Peja is historically a terrible clutch player, but throughout the course of the second half, the Kings just forgot about Peja. And that was a big mistake, IMO. I realize he shot 5-15, but if you watched the game you know that in the second half he threw it up every time he got the chance, good shot or not, because he wasn't getting the ball. Good decision on his part? Maybe not, but most of his poor shooting was due to jacking it up even when tightly covered, not cold shooting.

dirno2000 · 04-09-2004, 11:52 AM

No doubt, there is a power struggle with Peja playing like an MVP candidate pre All-Star break and Webber being dropped into the mix. Peja has been the man all year, but Webber's been the man his whole career. Another reason to hope the Kings fall to 4th.

kg_veteran · 04-09-2004, 12:24 PM

No question, but I looked over the schedules this morning. The unpredictable keeps happening (LA and Sacto losing key games at home), but we know based on the remaining schedules for Dallas and Memphis that Dallas *should* end up No. 5. So the focus becomes, WHO is No. 4? Looking at the remaining schedules for the Top 4, for today at least, the most likely No. 4 teams are LA or San Antonio. Both would have to win out to ensure that doesn't happen.

For instance, Sacramento could lose at home to LA and still win the division by virtue of the tiebreaker (better conference record), unless LA goes 4-0 or Sacramento goes 1-3 (not likely).

Minnesota can lose at home to Memphis and still win the division from the Spurs, unless the Spurs go 4-0 (in which case the Spurs win the division by tiebreaker). Even then, we need LA to go 4-0 to push Saramento down to No. 4.

So I guess what I'm saying is, if you want Sacto in the first round, you need to become LA fans, and quickly, because they can't lose again.

Also, you need to root for Minnesota to win the division now if you want to see them in the second round, because I don't see any way they end up No. 4 unless for some odd reason they lose in GS tonight.

kingrex · 04-09-2004, 01:08 PM

Nice breakdown kg.

Trusting your analysis, I think it is inevitable that Dallas will face either LA or San Antonio, which would be unfortunate. The Mavs just doesn't match-up that well with those 2 teams, so at best the Mavs win a hard-fought series or at worst the Mavs will be swept.

Either way, Mavs fans need to be prepared for a one and done scenario this year.

Poindexter Einstein · 04-09-2004, 08:30 PM

KG...here is what I am rooting for ....This is my version of "A Mavs Fan's Dream Playoff Scenario" and it is all within the realm of possibility

MINNY ....wins their last 3 (UT, GS, MEM) ... #1
LA ...wins their last 4 (MEM, SAC, GS, PORT) ... #2
SA ...wins their last 4 (PORT, LAC, PORT, DEN) ...#3
SAC ... loses to LA plus one more (road games @PHO, DEN, GS)
DAL ...finishes 5 with a win vs MEM, but they need to go 4-0 also for momentum
MEM
HOU
DEN ...with the above scenario, home wins over PORT and SAC will wrap up the #8 slot

MINN - DEN ....looks predictable, but hopefully the altitude games in DEN will silently sap the TWolves even in victory
LA gets its nightmare matchup in HOU
SA gets its nightmare matchup in MEM (MEM won the season series 3-1)
SAC - DAL ...Mavs can beat a faltering Kings team, and then push the altitude-tired TWolves (that they match up well with anyhow) in a running game

In this world, the survivor of the LA-SA bracket will have had to wade through their mightmare matchup plus (most likely) the grind of SA-LA basketball.

Then here comes the "run your legs off" Mavs team.

OutletPass · 04-09-2004, 08:40 PM

Love your optimistic scenario, PE.

After all, it's a New season....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

bernardos70 · 04-10-2004, 01:24 AM

Poindexter....... so far, so good for your playoff scenario dream [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Sac-to just lost to phoenix while the spurs and the lakers won. And Memphis lost of course, since they played the Lakers. We're 5th [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

kg_veteran · 04-10-2004, 09:13 AM

Quote:

For instance, Sacramento could lose at home to LA and still win the division by virtue of the tiebreaker (better conference record), unless LA goes 4-0 or Sacramento goes 1-3 (not likely).

It was unlikely, but it happened, demonstrating just how crazy things are right now in the West.

I like your breakdown and the positive take, PE. I feel pretty much the same way you do.

The game on Sunday in Sacramento with LA is HUGE. Whoever loses that one probably gets to face the Mavs in the first round.

Poindexter Einstein · 04-10-2004, 09:32 AM

UPDATE ON "A Mavs Fan's Dream Playoff Scenario" [and it is all still very much within the realm of possibility] ... aka The Intelligent Mavs Fans' Guide to Who to Root For as the regular season wraps up

MINNY ....need wins in their last 2 (UT, MEM) ... #1
LA ...need wins in their last 3 (SAC, GS, PORT) ... #2
SA ...need wins in their last 3 (LAC, PORT, DEN) ...#3
SAC ... with the above scenario, will lose to LA and finish #4
DAL ...finishes #5 with a win vs MEM, but they need to go 4-0 also for momentum
MEM
HOU
DEN ...with the above scenario, home wins over PORT and SAC will wrap up the #8 slot

Max Power · 04-10-2004, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: kg_veteran

Quote:

For instance, Sacramento could lose at home to LA and still win the division by virtue of the tiebreaker (better conference record), unless LA goes 4-0 or Sacramento goes 1-3 (not likely).

It was unlikely, but it happened, demonstrating just how crazy things are right now in the West.

I like your breakdown and the positive take, PE. I feel pretty much the same way you do.

The game on Sunday in Sacramento with LA is HUGE. Whoever loses that one probably gets to face the Mavs in the first round.

I wonder if the Lakers fans are thinking the same thing we are - lose the game and have an easier time to the Finals.

Nah - the Lakers KNOW that they have what it takes to win a title. They don't need a favorable schedule.

Murphy3 · 04-10-2004, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: dirno2000
No doubt, there is a power struggle with Peja playing like an MVP candidate pre All-Star break and Webber being dropped into the mix. Peja has been the man all year, but Webber's been the man his whole career. Another reason to hope the Kings fall to 4th.

I think we can officially say that Peja is no longer an MVP candidate. I don't think he's really been an MVP candidate for a very, very long time. This has been a two man race for quite awhile. More realistically, it's been a one man race for much of the season. The MVP is KG's.

Poindexter Einstein · 04-15-2004, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Poindexter Einstein
This is my version of "A Mavs Fan's Dream Playoff Scenario" and it is all within the realm of possibility

MINNY ....wins their last 3 (UT, GS, MEM) ... #1
LA ...wins their last 4 (MEM, SAC, GS, PORT) ... #2
SA ...wins their last 4 (PORT, LAC, PORT, DEN) ...#3
SAC ... loses to LA plus one more (road games @PHO, DEN, GS)
DAL ...finishes 5 with a win vs MEM, but they need to go 4-0 also for momentum
MEM
HOU
DEN ...with the above scenario, home wins over PORT and SAC will wrap up the #8 slot.

Well looky looky looky, what do we have here in the NBA playoff schedule? Does it look suspiciously like the above fantasy schedule that was offered almost a week ago?

Well, let's call that part 1 ...now what does part 2 need to be? Lets repeat below ......

Quote:

Originally posted by: Poindexter Einstein
MINN - DEN ....looks predictable, but hopefully the altitude games in DEN will silently sap the TWolves even in victory
LA gets its nightmare matchup in HOU
SA gets its nightmare matchup in MEM (MEM won the season series 3-1)
SAC - DAL ...Mavs can beat a faltering Kings team, and then push the altitude-tired TWolves (that they match up well with anyhow) in a running game

In this world, the survivor of the LA-SA bracket will have had to wade through their mightmare matchup plus (most likely) the grind of SA-LA basketball.

Then here comes the "run your legs off" Mavs team.