Mavs need not be one and done -- just give it to Dirk

[mavsfanforever]

Mavs need not be one and done -- just give it to Dirk

By Jim Reeves

Star-Telegram commentary


Somehow, I feel like the last man at the Alamo. Everybody else has gone home and left me holding the fort and I'm really not up to the assignment.

For the past 24 hours, all I've heard about is what's going to happen when the Mavs lose this first-round series to Sacramento.

Ramifications, Brother Galloway called them in his Wednesday missive. Sounds grim.

Ditto for beat man Art Garcia, who gave us a preview of what's likely to happen once the Kings finish off the Mavs, probably tonight in Game 5 at Arco Arena.

Even head coach Don Nelson said Tuesday, the day after the Mavs' 94-92 loss in Game 4 at AAC put them down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, felt like "a day of mourning."

Et tu, Nellie? Giving up so easily?

I must be the only fool in Fort Worth-Dallas who thinks the Mavs can still win this thing. Seven games, I told you the other day. I'm sticking with that prediction until the bitter end.

Why?


Because as bad as the Mavs have been at times in this playoff series, the Kings have done almost nothing to impress me. They are not nearly as good a team as they've been in previous playoff matchups with the Mavs.


Because if the Mavs hit just three more of their 13 missed free throws Monday night, the series is squared at two games apiece.


Because two plays, each with eight seconds left, separate the Mavs from being the team that's up 3-1 in this series.


Because I just happen to think the Mavs, with all their problems, are the better team in this series.


Because I want to see the Mavs wipe the smirk off Doug Christie's face.


Because I want to see Eduardo Najera show that insufferable Chris Webber one more time that the Mavs can and will play physical basketball.


Because I think Steve Nash and Michael Finley are better than this.


Mostly, because I want to see Nellie get the last play of the game right for once.

Put the ball in the best player's hands and let's see what he can do. Give it to Dirk Nowitzki, for crying out loud.

How hard is that to figure out?

Nellie's tried Finley on an isolation play, and that failed miserably. He tried getting Nash and Dirk to run the screen-and-roll, even though he admitted afterward he knew that there wouldn't be enough time for the play to set up and work.

That forced Nash to try and shoot over 6-foot-10 Peja Stojakovic while Mike "Mini-Me" Bibby took Nowitzki out of the play. Are you kidding me?

"We ran our strong two-man game and didn't really have time to post on the [Nowitzki-Bibby] mismatch," Nellie said after the game.

Excuse me? The Mavs had the mismatch they wanted, but Nash couldn't get the ball to Dirk. Why call a play that you know beforehand won't have time to develop?

Twice the Mavs had a last chance to tie a critical playoff game and twice the ball never touched Nowitzki's hands. What's wrong with this picture?

Get the ball to Dirk, clear out and let him work. He'll get the shot or, if the Kings double-team, he can find the open man.

Right here, right now, in the playoffs, is when Nelson needs to forget about a Big Three and go with a Big One.

Put this thing on Dirk's back and ride him as far as he can take them. Sure, he had a lousy game Monday night. His legs lacked life and he couldn't finish his shots, even though he was going hard to the basket.

But that's what the Mavs must do. It's time to make Nowitzki the focus of everything the Mavs do offensively. He'll need help, of course, or it won't work anyway. But they're not getting there riding Finley, or Nash, or Antoine Walker or the rookies or anyone else.

It's Dirk, or it's nothing.

Here's what the Mavs must do to win tonight. They must take the game to Sacramento. They must come out breathing fire. They must play as they did in Game 3 on Saturday night in Dallas.

Pedal to the metal, baby, or else all these doomsayers will be absolutely right.

Put some pressure on the Kings and see how they react. Win tonight, and bring it back to AAC for Game 6. Win that one, and let the Kings start sweating about blowing a 3-1 lead.

And believe me, no one sweats like Vlade Divac sweats.

That's the formula. Now the Mavs simply have to make it work.

They can still do this, but obviously it's not going to be easy.

Certainly the odds are stacked the other way, which is why most of the rats abandoned this listing, if not sinking, ship long ago. But I'm a stubborn rat. If the ship's going down, I'll ride it to the bottom.

The Mavs have been a lousy road team all season, but they did win in their first visit to Arco. They've won there when they've had to win, too.

We all know the Mavs are a better shooting team than they've shown. They're due to get hot and stay hot for a spell. But the key, of course, is Nowitzki.

He has to believe in himself. He has to believe that he can psychologically lift his team, just as Shaq and Kobe lift the Lakers, just as Kevin Garnett carries the Timberwolves. The Kings, even with Peja, have no one who can match Nowitzki when he's at the top of his game.

They need him tonight, like they've never needed him before.

Chances are the Mavs have already blown this thing. Winning three in a row is an almost impossible task. The Kings, smelling blood in the water, will be doing everything they can to end it tonight.

This could be the final scene. If it is, if you're about to bombard me with an email barrage, or an idiot alert, let me warn you with the same words Billy Bob Thornton's Davy Crockett spit in the faces of the Mexican troops at the Alamo as they came at him with fixed bayonets.

Watch out, I'm a screamer.

Jim Reeves, (817) 390-7760
jreeves@star-telegram.com

[ddh33]

That may be my favorite article from all season dedicated to this team.

[bernardos70]

You see, the Kings aren't gonna win the series it looks like, it'll be the Mavs that are gonna be losing.
"Because two plays, each with eight seconds left, separate the Mavs from being the team that's up 3-1 in this series."
We must not lose sight of what's going on here, all these games were darn close. We sucked, but we hang around till the very end on two of those games, and had chances to win. If ONLY we played a bit better we could beat the Kings. They're not winning these games. We're defeating ourselves.

What I agree with most, and have been discussing with some of my friends is how Nelson won't run an ISO for Nowitzki. I saw him do it only once the whole year, a play isolated so he could get a score as time was running out. It was in the first seattle game at seattle. What was the result of the play? A dunk, dirk FLEW past Ray Allen. So AFAIK it has an 100% rate of success. True, it's a small sample, but how many times has the ISO for either Nash or Finley worked? None.

[grndmstr_c]

dirk FLEW past Ray Allen

Technically, it was Antonio Daniels that he blew by. And to be fair, there was no help defense whatsoever. Still, I agree with your point. That ball needs to get into Dirk's hands.

[dirno2000]

This is my biggest problem with Nellie and why I finally support his unconditional dismissal. Every player on the team admits that Dirk is the best player, but Nellie's coaching doesn't bear that out. If Dirk is not going to seize the role of “go to player” then Nellie should force him into that role with his play calling. By not it’s obvious that’s not going to happen.

[irontoad]

Originally posted by: dirno2000
This is my biggest problem with Nellie and why I finally support his unconditional dismissal. Every player on the team admits that Dirk is the best player, but Nellie's coaching doesn't bear that out. If Dirk is not going to seize the role of “go to player” then Nellie should force him into that role with his play calling. By not it’s obvious that’s not going to happen.

It seems like such a simple concept, doesn't it? Making your best player the main option? Oh, but wait, Nelson said earlier that Dirk won't score 100 points in a game, so they can't go to him all the time. The guy who wrote this article is obviously forgetting that. [img]i/expressions/moon.gif[/img]

[PubaNWO]

Well they did give it to Dirk in game 4......

22 times....

only 5 were converted....

1 guy can't win you it all....

this team needs to step up.....instead most of the team have stepped down (in terms of results) but the effort is still high....

get easy BUCKETS!

[irontoad]

Originally posted by: PubaNWO
Well they did give it to Dirk in game 4......

22 times....

only 5 were converted....

1 guy can't win you it all....

Dirk obviously had a bad game, which he doesn't have too many of in the playoffs... more often than not he's going to hit a lot more than 5 out of 22 times. He needs at least this same number of shot attempts tonight.

[PubaNWO]

Originally posted by: irontoad

Dirk obviously had a bad game, which he doesn't have too many of in the playoffs... more often than not he's going to hit a lot more than 5 out of 22 times. He needs at least this same number of shot attempts tonight.

I agree.

He actually needs more than 22 shot attempts in this game especially if he's hot.

However if Dirk did get the ball in the last seconds of game 4 and he missed the game tying or game winning shot....all Mavs fans would be all over Nellie for forcing the ball to a cold Dirk asking him to make a pressure shot like that.....

....there wouldn't be a good play at all unless the ball went into the hoop....

[FilthyFinMavs]

When it comes to the last shot is this Dirk not wanting the ball or Nellie not wanting it in his hands? I can't imagine 2 games straight were Dirk doesn't get the last shot. For starters i'd rather have Dirk in the post rather than the 3 point line were a guard can strip him.

[MightyToine]

why do I have the feeling that the Mavs will win tonight on some crazy-azz shot by someone OTHER than Dirk?