Mavs' defense improved, but still has holes

[VivaNajera]

Mavs defense improved, but still has holes

Charley Rosen / FOXSports.com
Posted: 1 hour ago

During the 21st century, the Mavericks have never had any trouble scoring.

In 2000-01, they were the fourth-rated point-making team in the league, then first from 2002-04 to third-best last season. No wonder, since their lineup of big-time scorers over that span included the likes of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Nick Van Exel, Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry and Juwan Howard.

Too bad the Mavs' defense has always been their downfall. In the past five seasons, their average placement among the NBA's defenses — determined by points yielded per game — has been 21st

At the beginning of his initial full season in the Mavericks' command seat, Avery Johnson has vowed to improve the effectiveness of his team's defense — and after four games, there has been some slight improvement. Going into Wednesday's visit to Philadelphia, Dallas' defense was ranked 14th while their offense was 12th.

So, even though Dallas was outscored by the Sixers 112-97, here's what Johnson's new-look defense looked like.

Jason Terry

Any defensive scheme designed for the Sixers starts with trying to stifle Allen Iverson. Accordingly, Jason Terry regularly pressured him starting 20-feet or so beyond the time line.

Perhaps this tactic significantly contributed to a rather lackadaisical game by Iverson (8-for-21, 25 points), who didn't rouse himself until the issue was decided midway through the fourth quarter. However, Terry repeatedly failed to throw a hand at Iverson's jumpers and opted to go under most screen/rolls (S/R) that were presented for A.I.'s use. Also, Terry was passive on weak-side picks and showed quickness and energy only when rotating into the lane.

Overall, Terry's straight-up man-to-man defense was basically sound. But when asked to deal with screens of any kind, and with weak- to strong-side cuts, Terry was routinely abused.

When asked to deal with screens of any kind in Wednesday's loss to the Sixers, Jason Terry was routinely abused. (George Widman / Associated Press)

Dirk Nowitzki

As ever, Nowitzki would rather swipe at the ball than move his feet to assume a contain position. When he did rotate to the ball, he showed quick hands, but frequently ventured too far in help situations and couldn't get back to his man in time to prevent a wide open shot. In defense of one revealing fast break, Nowitzki was caught with his back to the ball and ended up fouling Iverson with his butt. Nowitzki paid the price for his faulty defense by picking up several quick fouls.

This guy plays defense like a maitre d' in a fancy restaurant showing a customer the way to his table.

The Maverick's all but forfeited their chance to win the game when Nowitzki suffered a lower back strain near the end of the second quarter and was out for the duration.

Josh Howard

An impatient defender who can't wait to jump and block shots, Howard also made terrible decisions in several switch situations and showed absolutely no defensive presence.

Doug Christie

He still has quick hands. Reaching into the passing lane for an quick steal. Making a terrific switch in the fourth quarter that forced a turnover. Blocking Andre Iguodala's shot in a one-on-one fast-break.

Too bad the rest of his body has slowed considerably. Leaning forward to bother Iguodala's dribble, then not straightening up at all to challenge the forthcoming jump shot. Getting scorched on two successive plays by Kyle Korver — on a head fake, then on a down-screen.

For Christie, playing even adequate defense is a long, lost memory.

Erick Dampier

After a slow start, Dampier played some surprisingly effective defense, rotating with speed and precision to stymie a backdoor cut and then to jam Iverson on a baseline drive. But Dampier played his best defense when Dallas showed a 2-3 zone — coming up with a deflected pass and two steals.

Indeed, the Mavs played their zone for only three sequences in the middle of the fourth quarter and, besides Dampier's thievery, gave up a foul to Chris Webber. The two points that Philly scored on these three occasions is well below the league average of 1.1 points scored per possession. For sure, zone defenses were part and parcel of Don Nelson's game plan, and Johnson wants to be his own man. But …

DeSagana Diop

Wow! This guy lost more than 30 pounds during the off-season and has finally blossomed into a defensive force. He had five blocks in his 10 minutes of daylight and altered several others as well. Diop's only reliable offense consists of dunks, but he's simply got to play more. It's entirely conceivable that Diop could be the centerpiece of the kind of threatening defense Johnson imagines.

Devin Harris

Too young and too fast for his own good. He was wiped out by a quick move made by Iverson into the middle (join the club) and was clever enough to induce a charging foul on Chris Webber — unfortunately, the refs sucked their tooters, and Webber escaped having committed the perfect crime.

The point is that Harris has the tools to play fiendish defense but lacks both experience, as well as the respect from the three blind mice.

Marquis Daniels

Plays OK on the ball. Lost on the weak-side. Is extremely susceptible to leaning too far into the passing lane and letting his man cut back door.

Darrell Armstrong

Only played a few minutes in the fourth quarter, but at age 37, he can still motor. Armstrong applied terrific extended pressure when Kevin Ollie replaced Iverson at the point. Also anticipated a slo-mo drive by Korver and stepped in to draw a charge.

Armstrong can still amp up the Mavs' defense, but there's precious little playing time available behind Terry and Harris. Still, he's the only player on the squad who can keep up with jet-footed runts.

Keith Van Horn

He's a "mistake player" on both ends of the court, but his defensive lapses are more noticeable and more costly.

What does he do wrong? Gets lifted off his feet by elementary head fakes. In S/R situations, Van Horn rotates too late, too far or not far enough. Gives up too much room on the perimeter to shooters. Meekly tries to front post-players, then settles into a passive mode. He's a sucker for a brisk jab step, and was repeatedly chumped by Webber, Iguodala and Lee Nailon.

For sure, he's an above-average athlete with above-average skills, but Van Horn's positives are often more than negated by his foolish errors. For example, the value of his 19 points and 13 rebounds against the Sixers was tainted by his five fouls, six turnovers and one silly offensive goal-tending. Van Horn is easily the worst all-around defender on the team.

So what did Johnson try to accomplish with this mixed bag of defenders?

Double-team S/Rs and rotate to cover the roller. With exception of Van Horn, Dallas did a passable job here.

Push drivers baseline, then crowd them with rotating bigs. This was the most consistently effective of the Mavs' coordinated defensive maneuvers.

Employ a full-court trap. They attempted this five times and the Sixers cashed in on a pull-up jumper by A.I., an open jumper by Korver, a layup by Nailon and a backcourt foul by Terry. Dallas managed to force a single turnover. Back to the drawing board.

And what about the hard fouls that Johnson was touting as a way to show that the Mavs were serious about playing defense? Nowitzki forcefully grabbed Webber's wrist to prevent an easy lay up — and Webber only converted one of the two resulting free throws. Iverson was knocked head-over-heels as he drove for a layup, but since the fouler (Josh Howard) was backing away and trying to avoid contact, this was purely accidental. Sum total of ONE hard foul.

Johnson must certainly be praised for trying to change the focus of the Mavs' traditional game plan. But on the basis of what they showed in Philadelphia, Dallas' defense remains full of holes.

Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the current one being A pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.

[dude1394]

I'd like to see Charley Rosen's take on another team's defense. Does anyone have a link like that. I mean basically he's saying they all suck. I have a hard time believing they all suck.

[grndmstr_c]

If I never see a Rosen piece posted on this site again it will be too soon.

[birdsanctuary]

An interesting take, I thought it was a fair evaluation of the Philly game.

I think he needs to watch a few more games before making such generalizations of the team.

[edit] while writing he was high on Diop, or maybe he was just high while writing?

[Red-Phase]

Charlie is completely biased agianst te mavs. So there goes his credibility.He always recycles the same old FUD and Doom predictions and bashes the team so he can look legit to other biased "reporters". Charles Rosen is Charles Barkley Part 2 he hates the team and his monotone,repetitive,and passionate doom and gloom predictions show his lopsided agenda.

Please stop posting his propaganda articles he is just a troll/fanboy in a "reporter" body.

[chumdawg]

Look, say what you want about Rosen--and I'm not saying if I agree or disagree with what he said in this piece--but I think it's safe to say that he gives a deeper analysis of the game than any other writer I've seen. Do you ever hear anyone else talking about such nuances of defense, for example?

I'm not all that up on Rosen's background. Was he a coach? My impression has always been that he is very connected to high-placed scouts. Whatever he has said about the Mavs, it has always been my guess that he got those things from people who were paid to watch the Mavs (and other teams).

I don't at all find him worthless. In fact, I find him very valuable. I can get past whatever bias he may have against the Mavs, and find something useful. (In many cases, more useful than I can find anywhere else.)

[Red-Phase]

his bias renders his reporting null and uncredible.