Detailed conditions to give us the best chance of winning this series...?

[DULLAH]

Some of this is on the players, and some of this is on Rick to impart to the players with as much verbose detail and intensity as he can convey:

5 detailed conditions to give us the best chance of winning this series:



1. Shawn Marion playing excellent on-the-ball defense on Manu, and making timely cuts into the paint when Dirk is doubled, recognizing who the defender in the paint is, and whether to shot fake or go up quickly. Shawn has also been a career overachiever on the glass for his size, so i would like to see him attack the offensive glass especially.


2. Weakside players attacking the basket quickly before the Spurs rotation can recover when there are openings, or shooting the 3 point shot when their body weight and catch/timing make the shot comfortable. this goes for Caron, JET, Barea, Kidd, etc. San Antonio's depth is their weakness, so getting their bigs in foul trouble by attacking and shot faking in the paint, can yield a significant advantage.


3. Dirk recognizing when he has a comfortable move that he can go to prior to a double team arriving, or in a direction away from the double team, and also recognizing that when he does not have enough time or space to go into a comfortable move, to survey the floor with a strong grip on the ball and make a hard pass over the double team.


4. Haywood watching tape of Timmy together with Dampier, working intensly to become accustomed to Timmy's positions of comfort, and positions of frustration. Dampier must become the payer coach, as all other aspects of Haywood's game and energy are superior to the 2010 Dampier. This can be Damp's specific role to earn the ring he should have gotten in 2006, almost becoming player coach like


5. Jason Kidd must push the ball at every oppurtunity, and must help to physically wear down the Spurs guards by being overly physical with them when posting up in the half-court. Many Dallas games this regular season I have seen Kidd playmake from the post, in addition to just flat scoring off the glass when backing down a smaller, lighter, weaker PG, much like an older brother playing one-on-one with his younger brother. Popavitch has not shown an intention to double team Kidd when Backing down the smaller parker, or the thinner still george hill. So I think Dallas making a concerted effort to do just that is one more way to put pressure on the Spurs in a substantive way, both Physically, and mentally.


I am curious to hear everyone els'e ideas of what they feel are crucial to pulling this series out and making a small piece of NBA history (and helping to right the Golden State wound) by joining the number of teams to come back from 3-1.....

[xrobx]

joey crawford making all the calls in the mavs favor

[DULLAH]

Originally Posted by xrobx

joey crawford making all the calls in the mavs favor

LOL well, yes.
But you certainly must have other ideas other than this farfetched scenario.

[rabbitproof]

I think you covered the map, my man.

I'd add that Rick can't be afraid to go to his bench. Pop is rotating like crazy and the starting five is good enough to counter all of them but not for extended minutes. I like that he gave more minutes to our wings at their forward spots. He also didn't play favorites. He saw JJB was hot, as was Caron, while JET wasn't so JET didn't play that many minutes in the first half. Damp got zero burn. He did a good job of finding the right lineups without overplaying his hand. It will be harder in a close game.

Also, defensively, Dallas was very active and grab rebounds. Dallas cleaned up the glass. I haven't looked at the numbers but it certainly felt like the Spurs got a lot less second chance opportunities. I think this is directly correlated to the amount of zone Dallas played and then in turn correlates to the amount Dallas is able to run.

SA committed 18 turnovers (series high) and it felt like more because Haywood was deflecting some shots. This also helps us run and get Marion/Butler/JJB some action.

[xrobx]

Originally Posted by DULLAH

LOL well, yes.
But you certainly must have other ideas other than this farfetched scenario.

i don't think it's farfetched... he'll most likely be the official in game 6 and he has a bad history with duncan

other than that the mavs just need to cut out the turnovers, don't give them second chance opportunities and keep the pace up and score 100

[mac222b]

we won 52-41 on the boards. also we had 14 steals, twice our average, to their 5.

[twelli]

At this point of the series, it's all about intensity. They have seen all our stuff, we know all their stuff. Now it's just time to grab those rebounds, make those and 1 shots despite being fouled hard, run the floor right crazy, make that extra pass, start both halves ready and with focus. If you play more intense than the other team, the rest will come naturally.