Official Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Squirts Gameday Thread

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

I'd pick the Mavs to win also. But, I would also expect them to rebound the ball much better.

What exactly are you disagreeing with in my post?

I thought you said the Mavs would definitely lose to the Spurs if they didn't pick it up on the glass.

I'm just sayin', I think we could spot this rag-tag team a few boards and still send their asses home. But I'm afraid someone else may do it first!

[Murphy3]

23 straight games for Dirk with at least 23 points. In 12 of those games, 30 + points. And yeah, he has been extremely efficient as well.

It's great to see Howard playing so well on the road. That was huge.

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

I don't get this halftime analysis. This is EXACTLY where the Mavericks want the Spurs at the half. They don't want to give it everything they've got in the first half, and then let the Spurs make a run back at them and get the crowd involved. No. The Mavs want to put this away in about an eight-minute stretch starting with roughly two minutes left in the third. All they need to do until then is keep it close to tied.

My sense says that the Mavs are going to win this game tonight. And I don't expect it to be close in the last minute or two. SAS is smoke and mirrors right now.

Just wanted to point out how prescient I was.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

I thought you said the Mavs would definitely lose to the Spurs if they didn't pick it up on the glass.

I'm just sayin', I think we could spot this rag-tag team a few boards and still send their asses home. But I'm afraid someone else may do it first!

Chum, my point is that I don't think the Mavs can hold them to 37.8% shooting for a series. If they make just a few more shots, the issue the Mavs had on the defensive glass suddenly makes a huge difference.

I think the Mavs are the better team, but they just need to make sure they attack the defensive glass a little better. And yeah, the offensive glass as well...only 4 boards on the offensive side.

But yeah, ..hell yeah..great win. I completely believe that the Mavs will do a much better job on the glass... Just saying that they need to.

[Murphy3]

There has got to be more people on here talking some Mavs ball.. this just isn't good enough.

[Murphy3]

My adrenaline is still maxed right now.

[NXperience]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

There has got to be more people on here talking some Mavs ball.. this just isn't good enough.

Maybe all people went to spurs boards

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Chum, my point is that I don't think the Mavs can hold them to 37.8% shooting for a series. If they make just a few more shots, the issue the Mavs had on the defensive glass suddenly makes a huge difference.

I think the Mavs are the better team, but they just need to make sure they attack the defensive glass a little better. And yeah, the offensive glass as well...only 4 boards on the offensive side.

But yeah, ..hell yeah..great win. I completely believe that the Mavs will do a much better job on the glass... Just saying that they need to.

It's a true point. If all else were equal, yet the Spurs made some more shots, the rebounding would have been costly. But part of the rebounding deficiency may have had to do with the respective lineups, and those respective lineups may also have had to do with the Mavs outshooting the aged, hapless Spurs by a wide margin.

I do think it's likely that we won't see a lot of these matchups next time out, assuming the Spurs can hold off the fast-charging Lakers or Kings. But then again, I'd have loved to have had Adrian Griffin in this game. Something tells me Griff would have found a few missed shots with his name on them.

I'm starting to think Griffin may be every bit as important as Harris to our ultimate postseason success, if not more so.

[Male30Dan]

All I have to say is thank you Sacramento! That victory really made this chase possible again and now we just need to take care of business and hope San Antonio slips up!

[KFunk]

I'll talk mavs ball for you

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
DIRK NO FREAKIN WITZKI!!!!!

I was about to start yelling at the announcer who tried to discredit the win, talking about how they missed Horry's defense on Dirk.
Thankfully the other announcer came right back and said "how about dallas missing a guy like adrian griffin... a guy like devin harris... a guy like keith van horn"

[NXperience]

Originally Posted by Male23Dan

All I have to say is thank you Sacramento! That victory really made this chase possible again and now we just need to take care of business and hope San Antonio slips up!

Yes that's right. And I'm so hoping for Memphis to upset them so we "just" need to win out.

[bernardos70]

Excellent. Just Excellent. This was a grind it out game, and that's the most satisfying type of victory against the Spurts. No "we caught on fire" win, "they couldn't hit the wide side of a barn" win, this was just a workman like win. They went into the SBC center and handled business appropriately, which is to say, we handed them their ass on a platter.

[bcrav4]

The Mavs (and especially Dirk) made me proud!

*special props to Diop also for the great defense on Duncan and the big blocks.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

It's a true point. If all else were equal, yet the Spurs made some more shots, the rebounding would have been costly. But part of the rebounding deficiency may have had to do with the respective lineups, and those respective lineups may also have had to do with the Mavs outshooting the aged, hapless Spurs by a wide margin.

I do think it's likely that we won't see a lot of these matchups next time out, assuming the Spurs can hold off the fast-charging Lakers or Kings. But then again, I'd have loved to have had Adrian Griffin in this game. Something tells me Griff would have found a few missed shots with his name on them.

I'm starting to think Griffin may be every bit as important as Harris to our ultimate postseason success, if not more so.

Well, Griff would have helped some. But, the big issue wasn't the lineup. It was the Mavs only getting 3 defensive boards combined out of Diop and Damp in a combined 47 minutes.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

Dirk had a very poor first quarter. He rushed just about everything. He was downright awful. But boy oh boy did he ever settle down and get in a groove. He dictated where and when he wanted to shoot. If he ever realizes that Bowen and Co. will not block his shot and he can take his time. Watch out. He realized it tonight. I want him to continue it in the playoffs.

And like the NatureBoy says:

WOOOOIHHHHHHHHHH!

[bernardos70]

Boards aside, our centers did a very good job at protecting the basket, and manning up Duncan.

[WraithXx]

hey Murph and Chum, glad to join you... was busy drinking beers and going insane over our win tonight... hell yes

goin to the game tomorrow against NOK (which stands for New Ortegal Kunnilingus) yeah surprised at my on-the-fly-imagination?

anyway, we beat these asshats minus Tony Parker stopper Devin Harris, and minus Bowen counter Adrian Griffin. KVH doesn't count b/c Dirk playing more minutes is better than KVH playing at all.

I love these guys. the end.

[jleefilled]

Awesome win. Only during that one stretch early in the second quarter was I ever nervous. The Mavs controlled this game. In my mind, Dirk sealed his right to the MVP. Too bad the voters will probably get it wrong.

[rabbitproof]

Josh Howard was an animal in the first half and kept this team in it while everything was getting settled. Then Dirk put this team on his shoulders and carried us. BOWEN WHAT!

But give it up to J-HO AND THE DIGGLER. Is there a better 3-4 combo in this league??

We may not get the #1 seed but I am confident in our chances vs SA, homefield or not. Wait til we add Dev to the mix. It'll be a messy, sloppy, ugly, nasty, brutal, disgusting war.

And we're gonna win it.

[jleefilled]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

I'm starting to think Griffin may be every bit as important as Harris to our ultimate postseason success, if not more so.

That is precisely why I was shocked at all the negativity that came about during the three game losing streak. Griffin, Harris, and Howard are all very important to the Mavs.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Mavs > Spurs

[chumdawg]

For the Spurs, I will put this one on Manu Ginobli. He had a terrible possession with a little over a minute left. The Mavs had just got done with a bad possession on their end, going scoreless, and the Spurs had the ball down four. Finley passed to Manu, and he drove it into double-coverage underneath. Had he looked behind him, he had a wide-open Finley for a three that would have made the rest of the contest a game. Instead he pushed it over to Bowen for an ill-advised three--which, once missed, spelled the end of the Spurs' chances.

For all the Spurs' defensive prowess, they failed miserably on that one all-important offensive possession down the stretch.

[kg_veteran]

Fantastic game tonight.

The defensive scheme, particularly against the pick and roll, was terrific. Other than Ginobili in the first half, the Mavs did a very solid job of forcing the Spurs guards to drive the opposite direction of the way they wanted to go (e.g., Van Exel and Ginobili to the right), and our guards were also very solid at getting over the top of screens and then riding the Spurs guards right into our bigs while cutting off the passing angle back to the Spurs big. Jason Terry, in particular, was outstanding. That was the best pick and roll defense I've ever seen him play. He really did a good job on Parker.

I thought the biggest key to the defense besides the scheme, though, was the focus. In the game on March 2, the Mavs had a number of key defensive lapses down the stretch. Not so tonight. The Mavs had very few mental errors on defense all night long, and they had none that I saw down the stretch. They forced the Spurs to take very difficult shots, and it was the difference in the game.

On offense, the Mavs were incredibly patient. Whatever the Spurs threw at Dirk, the Mavs calmly ran their offense and beat the defense. When they doubled Dirk, Dirk made the right passes. When they tried to use a small like Bowen or Finley, the Mavs patiently got Dirk the ball in position to do his damage, and he did. When the Spurs went to Mohammed on Dirk, Dirk abused him. When the Spurs tried Duncan, Dirk ripped him apart, too.

Dirk has to be the MVP of the league.

Have I mentioned Josh Howard on offense yet? He was terrific in the first half, and he really kept the team afloat until Dirk got going to take over the game. He was aggressive and attacked whoever was guarding him, with great success. As someone else mentioned, great to see him play well on the road. If he does that in the playoffs, this is truly a team to be feared.

There's a lot more going through my head, but that's a good start. Best win of the year, and it really puts the Mavs in a good psychological position going into the playoffs, whether they are No. 1 or No. 4.

They know they can beat the Spurs. Now all they have to do is go out and do it.

[jleefilled]

Good thing Manu didn't pass the ball to Fin because that guy had "kill the mavs" autographed on every open shot he took.

Somebody made an interesting point about tonight's game that conflicted with the ESPN pre-game show saying that the Spurs have the deepest team in the league. The Mavs basically wore out the Spurs tonight. They didn't have any more punches to throw the last few minutes of the game.

[dirno2000]

The Spurs were dead when Dirk hit that jumper over Bowen early in the 3rd. If you've watched Dirk enough you can tell when starting to feel it.

Huge shot by Josh Powell in the 4th when they left him alone.

JT didn't have a big scoring game but his six points after the Spurs went up by 11 were huge.

[jleefilled]

Originally Posted by kg_veteran

On offense, the Mavs were incredibly patient. Whatever the Spurs threw at Dirk, the Mavs calmly ran their offense and beat the defense. When they doubled Dirk, Dirk made the right passes. When they tried to use a small like Bowen or Finley, the Mavs patiently got Dirk the ball in position to do his damage, and he did. When the Spurs went to Mohammed on Dirk, Dirk abused him. When the Spurs tried Duncan, Dirk ripped him apart, too.

Dirk has to be the MVP of the league.

Sorry, I didn't read your whole post, but I skimmed through and found this nice little nugget of wisdom which reminded me about something. Dirk didn't have to fight nearly as hard as he had to during the last Spurs game. Most of the game, I didn't even notice whether or not Bowen was on the court.

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by kg_veteran

Fantastic game tonight.

The defensive scheme, particularly against the pick and roll, was terrific. Other than Ginobili in the first half, the Mavs did a very solid job of forcing the Spurs guards to drive the opposite direction of the way they wanted to go (e.g., Van Exel and Ginobili to the right), and our guards were also very solid at getting over the top of screens and then riding the Spurs guards right into our bigs while cutting off the passing angle back to the Spurs big. Jason Terry, in particular, was outstanding. That was the best pick and roll defense I've ever seen him play. He really did a good job on Parker.

I thought the biggest key to the defense besides the scheme, though, was the focus. In the game on March 2, the Mavs had a number of key defensive lapses down the stretch. Not so tonight. The Mavs had very few mental errors on defense all night long, and they had none that I saw down the stretch. They forced the Spurs to take very difficult shots, and it was the difference in the game.

On offense, the Mavs were incredibly patient. Whatever the Spurs threw at Dirk, the Mavs calmly ran their offense and beat the defense. When they doubled Dirk, Dirk made the right passes. When they tried to use a small like Bowen or Finley, the Mavs patiently got Dirk the ball in position to do his damage, and he did. When the Spurs went to Mohammed on Dirk, Dirk abused him. When the Spurs tried Duncan, Dirk ripped him apart, too.

Dirk has to be the MVP of the league.

Have I mentioned Josh Howard on offense yet? He was terrific in the first half, and he really kept the team afloat until Dirk got going to take over the game. He was aggressive and attacked whoever was guarding him, with great success. As someone else mentioned, great to see him play well on the road. If he does that in the playoffs, this is truly a team to be feared.

There's a lot more going through my head, but that's a good start. Best win of the year, and it really puts the Mavs in a good psychological position going into the playoffs, whether they are No. 1 or No. 4.

They know they can beat the Spurs. Now all they have to do is go out and do it.

Quoting the whole thing, but it's the bolded part I want to second. I absolutely LOVED what JT contributed on the defensive end tonight.

And yeah, if you don't view Dirk as the player most deserving of the MVP at this point (admittedly with a week's worth of games to go) you're a complete moron.

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by dirno2000

JT didn't have a big scoring game but his six points after the Spurs went up by 11 were huge.

This bears seconding. JT was huge in the first half when the Mavs were struggling a bit. Not necessarily that someone else wouldn't have made the shots, but it was nice to see JET step up there.

[jleefilled]

I was very pleasantly surprised by both how JT attacked the rim on the offense and how he manned up on defense. I don't know if I've ever seen him play better D. My one gripe with him tonight is that I don't like the tone he sets in the half-court game -- everything seems to slow down to the point where all rhythm is lost.

[chumdawg]

Looking back at the play-by-play I was reminded that the Mavs played the ENTIRE second hald from ahead. Yeah, they were down two at the half. But they scored the first four points of the second half and they took control from there.

Poor San Antonio. They were embarrassed tonight. Particularly given how their season has gone of late, I suspec that they are done shortly after the postseason starts. At this point, I expect they will lose in the first round.

[MavsFanFinley]

I left for work and the Mavs were up 1 with 3 minutes or so in the 1st half. I called home at the half to see what the score was and I hear about Finley hitting another 3 at the end of the quarter.

I called home a couple more times to check the score and was pleased with the Mavs win. It's too bad that the Spurs still have a 1 game lead but here's hoping that Memphis helps us out some with a win on Sunday.

I know one thing for sure. It doesn't matter (to me) who has homecourt advantage anymore because this 2nd round matchup is going to rock.

[Dtownsfinest]

Yea I think the Spurs have to feel like shit right now but I expect that to pump them up rather than kill their pride. Spurs would've done better just playing their bench out there. Talk about stinking it up. The starters should put the blame on their shoulders. The only resaon the Spurs were in this game was because of the Spurs bench.

[MavsFanFinley]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

Spurs would've done better just playing their bench out there. The starters should put the blame on their shoulders. The only resaon the Spurs were in this game was because of the Spurs bench.

I was thinking the same thing when the Mavs made their run late in the 1st half. The Spurs bench came to play (Finley, NVE, Oberto) and the only Spurs starter to show up was Ginobli.

Duncan put the blame on himself in one of the recaps I read. He's done nothing in this series and that should worry the Spurs.

I couldn't help myself I scanned one of the Spurs boards (funny how many Mavs fans are there talking shit and they mentioned the same thing about the bench contributing more than the starters.

[foglemann]

Great win, wonderful to win in that arena and win with defense.

First, I hate that the rebounding was so horrid in the first. It was better down the stretch, but man, Oberto Beef Jerky really hurt us.

Second, don't expect the Spurs to shoot that well from three ever again. Its probably the only reason this game wasn't a blowout. Two lucky threes by finley to end the first and second quarters and NVE hitting from everywhere. It reminded me of that last Detriot loss we had, where they were like 9-12 from three I think. If all the spurs can do to stay in the game is hit 50% percent from three, that bodes well for our matchup later.

Third, if we play strong perimeter defense, stopping penetration from Manu and Parker, we will kill this team. Duncan against our giants can't do anything and he's slowed so much that his foot speed isn't faster than Diop or Damp. IF our guys like JT, Devin, and DA can keep in front of Parker and IF griffen, Josh, Marquis, and Stack can keep Manu outside the lane, we got this in the bag.

Great job by Josh for keeping us in the game in the first and give it up for Dirk for being the MVP and finally realizing that no one, I mean no one, can guard him in this league.

[MavsX]

MFFL