Sonics @ Mavs Game Day Thread

[bloodyhell]

I liked it when he'd wear those really thick socks and tape his ankles. He looked like a barbarian in leg furs or something. Actually I think he still wears the bulky socks.

[JLEEHASMUCHGAME]

Did you notice that rather than risk his ankles, dirk just allowed his body to hit the ground on the play he kind of got undercut on? I can't say that I blame him, with all his ankle issues, but that fall just looked terrible. Dirk has got some serious heart going after rebounds like that.

[MavsFanFinley]

Mavericks Head Coach Don Nelson

We played a terrible first half and a great second half. We didn’t have enough to win the game. We played really well in the second half on both ends of the floor. We had a little trouble scoring the ball. It turned into being a good game. I have no complaints about anything. I wish we would have made a shot or two that rolled out. They are a hot team right now. The best team in the West, record-wise. On a back-to-back night, to beat San Antonio one night and us the other, is pretty strong credentials. Between them and Phoenix, they are the two standouts in the West so far and we knew we were going to have to play a great game and we didn’t. We didn’t rise up like we needed to in the first half.

On Finley’s play after being out:

It was good to have him out there. He will get stronger as he plays. There were some lapses, but he wasn’t the only one.

Mavericks Guard Darrell Armstrong
Both teams seemed to be really sharp in the first quarter?

The tone was great. Unfortunately, they (Sonics) were just hitting shots. We started out ahead 8-2. The biggest thing was that we continued to lead most of the first quarter, but they continued to fire at us too. They're a difficult team to play because they have so many weapons from outside. They cause a lot of switches and advantages for them. Marquis (Daniels) was getting to the basket late and also finding guys for shots. It became difficult for them too, but it didn't hurt that they were missing shots in the second half.

Talk about coming all the way back in the fourth and then unable to pull out the win?

We really fought to get back into the game and take the lead and the crowd got back into the game, but it just seemed liked they (Sonics) hit big shot after big shot. You've got to give them a lot of credit. They found a way to take the lead and keep it the rest of the night.

Mavericks Forward Marquis Daniels
What did you think of Michael (Finley) being back in?

It's great for him to be back out there. He still had a little rust on him, but he played very well tonight. He played better than most guys who are not injured. He's a great leader and he brought a lot of emotional leadership to this team. Just to know he's out there gives us another scoring threat along with Dirk and the other great scorers we have on this team. He knows this whole system and knowing where everyone suppose to be helps out a lot.

Talk a little about losing so many close games early this season at home?

We haven't really played Mavericks basketball. We still have guys with injuries nagging guys. Once everyone gets healthy, the skies the limit for us. We're not very concerned right now. We know that we have to pick it up and play four quarters as opposed to just a half.

[bloodyhell]

Dirk amazes me. Losers like barkley say he's not tough and all this nonsense, but i see the guy take a lot of pain and punishment and he keeps coming back.

[Mandyahl]

i was at the game tonight, and i really thought they were going to pull it out...but i guess it wasn't meant to be. a few observations/questions:

1. nellie is an idiot. i really haven't criticized him much before, but i honestly have no idea what he was thinking tonight. when you're losing the board battle by a large margin and you can't even get the ball past mid-court, why the hell do you play 4 shooting guards/small forwards and a power forward? don't you think a center or a point guard would help these problems. and then, when finley is clearly the man getting us back in the game in the fourth and dirk is clearly the man in general, why the hell do you insist upon going to marquis daniels in the post on every single freaking possession? marquis shouldn't even have been in the game, let alone have been the focus of the offense. why does terry not play more in this game? he was playing well...nellie, i have no idea what was going through your mind.

2. have i ever mentioned how much i hate danny fortson?

3. finley had a much better game than i expected...it seemed like he really sparked a comeback/kept us in the game when dirk was out of the game. also, i think he did a much better job on allen than daniels or howard did...he really stayed in ray's jersey and kept him from blowing up in the second half like he did in the first.

4. on that note, is it just me or is daniels just a bad defender? i know the ankle is slowing him down right now, but seriously, he got scored on a whole lot tonight...more of a reason to TAKE HIM OUT OF THE GAME, NELLIE!

5. how the hell did howard only get 1 rebound in 30 minutes in a game where we were losing so badly on the boards?

6. why is stackhouse so bad? granted, he did some good stuff late, but that just negated all the moronic things he did the rest of the game.

7. when the hell will chris arnold be fired? is there a more annoying human being on the planet?

although the game sucked because we lost and we were so close, i think there are some positives to take with it...basically no one played all that well, and nellie coached like a complete idiot...so we can be a lot better in the very near future. and if we got close to beating a good sonics team with these two things holding us back, think how good we can be when people play up to their potential and nellie stops dicking around.

[bloodyhell]

>think how good we can be when people play up to their potential and nellie stops dicking around.

Maybe nellie will stop dicking around soon. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] Seriously though, nellie did make a few mistakes, although no one is perfect, you'd think they could of had bradley or someone else besides dirk trying to grab boards. We got hammered there.

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: JLEEHASMUCHGAME
Did you notice that rather than risk his ankles, dirk just allowed his body to hit the ground on the play he kind of got undercut on? I can't say that I blame him, with all his ankle issues, but that fall just looked terrible. Dirk has got some serious heart going after rebounds like that.

He DOES have some serious heart. But after looking at that play I might have called a foul on dirk, it looked like he just plowed over the dudes back, great for dirk to be so aggressive and then he got up and hit both ft's. One tough hombre, for sure.

[V2M]

Originally posted by: dude1394

Nellie is trying to find a regular rotation and harris isn't in it right now. He'll sit for a while and then get some time. But seattle is the best team in basketball right now and nellie coached it like he wanted it. Unfortunately (AS IS EXPECTED) our PG play is pretty dang poor right now. I'm hoping like heck it will get better, but it will probably be a struggle most of the year.

Nellie's always trying to find a regular rotation. Show me a year or heck, a couple months in a row, where he had a steady starting lineup and a bench that knew when they'd get in and how many min they'd play. The reason why Spurs, Kings, Suns, Sonics or even Pistons are doing so well is not 'cuz they have better talent than the Mavs... but simply 'cuz, they have a steady rotation and every player knows his role and works on it day in, day out. Nellie keeps tinkering with the lineups until there's no chemistry left in the team and until there's no confidence left in the players. He's just a mad scientist who cares not for the titles but always cares enough to find that right matchup for every single team so he can keep piling up his regular season winning record.

[dude1394]

Let's see. I won't count last year because that was a cluster-****. No one could have found a rotation with that bunch of goof-balls.

So let's go back two years ago.

Stevie, Fin, Griffin/Najera/Raja, Dirk, Raef. Off the bench first was NVE, Raja, Shawn. Sprinkle in some Walt Williams..

How's that.

Let's see that team was pretty good I think. 60 something wins and 2 games from a championship as I recall.

[V2M]

Originally posted by: dude1394
Let's see. I won't count last year because that was a cluster-****. No one could have found a rotation with that bunch of goof-balls.

So let's go back two years ago.

Stevie, Fin, Griffin/Najera/Raja, Dirk, Raef. Off the bench first was NVE, Raja, Shawn. Sprinkle in some Walt Williams..

How's that.

Let's see that team was pretty good I think. 60 something wins and 2 games from a championship as I recall.

If I remember right, that year, we started out 14-0 and 28-5 with Shawn starting and playing extremely well. We at one time had a 9 game lead over our divisional rivals Spurs & Wolves only to lose it all and end up losing home court advantage to the Spurs... and all of that primarily 'cuz our coach couldn't stand watching Bradley in the middle for too long. He had to change and change he did, for the severe detriment of our team's playoff positioning and thus title hopes.

[dirk41nowitzki]

Can someone tell me why Nellie keeps switching the pick and roll on defense?
Everytime, Allen or Ridnour runs pick and roll with James or whoever Dirk is guarding, they switching, Dirk ends up on the opposing guard, and the guard beats him off the dribble. Not only does it create a chance for Seattle to score, it pulls Dirk away for the rebound. Dirk has not be boarding well these past few games.
It happens everytime down the stretch.
I really do think Nellie is a clown. He just uses all these weird lineups so he could create mismatches, but does he not think that on defense it is also a mismatch in favor of the other team?
The Mavs used to be able to play small ball because they had Nash or Van Exel running the point, and the team kept on running and gunning. Now I just don't think it works. He tried to play Dirk at 3 and Henderson at 4 to start the 3rd to get more rebounds, but that didn't work as well.
I just don't think Nellie is helping this team much.

[Max Power]

I just noticied that Finley played 37 minutes after being out for 15 games. Woo, that's a lot of minutes.

[dude1394]

What I see is that you can't acknowledge that your comment was wrong about a set rotation.

[V2M]

Originally posted by: dude1394
What I see is that you can't acknowledge that your comment was wrong about a set rotation.

What are you talking about?? I just proved to you that Nellie didn't stick to his set rotation even during our most successful year of his era. You'd see some games it's Bradley and some games it's LaFrentz starting at 5. Then you have games where both of 'em play with Dirk sliding down to 3. Then you had times when Fin would move back & forth between 2 & 3. The 3 position was never set that year between Bell, Najera, Walt Williams, Finley and Dirk. During our small ball games, NVE & Nash would regularly switch between 1 & 2. In fact, he had changed lineups multiple times during the playoffs also (remember the Portland series?!).

I don't see how you could say that we had a set rotation during that year or any year during Nellie's era for that matter.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: V2M
We at one time had a 9 game lead over our divisional rivals Spurs & Wolves only to lose it all and end up losing home court advantage to the Spurs... and all of that primarily 'cuz our coach couldn't stand watching Bradley in the middle for too long. He had to change and change he did, for the severe detriment of our team's playoff positioning and thus title hopes.

I think the incredible run by the Spurs was the main cause of us losing the division. We went 12-8 over the last 20 games which is respectable but I think the Spurs only lost two games in their last 20 or something like that. Plus Finley missed 12 of those 20 games and 6 of the losses came while Finley was out.

Bradley had 8 games of over 20 minutes in the last 20 games (and one 19 and one 18 minute outing). So it wasn't like he was getting ignored.

[V2M]

Originally posted by: Max Power

I think the incredible run by the Spurs was the main cause of us losing the division. We went 12-8 over the last 20 games which is respectable but I think the Spurs only lost two games in their last 20 or something like that. Plus Finley missed 12 of those 20 games and 6 of the losses came while Finley was out.

Bradley had 8 games of over 20 minutes in the last 20 games (and one 19 and one 18 minute outing). So it wasn't like he was getting ignored.

My point was that Nellie never settles on a rotation. He never proved to me that he could have a settled lineup that practices and plays together for a few months if not the whole year. If he's proven to you & dude1394, I'll just take your word for it and will go get some sleep now. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Max Power]

I didn't have a dispute with your contention that Nellie has never had a set rotation. That is rock solid. I still remember the arguments about why Nellie would play guys one game and then sit them on the bench the next game. It was the same comments that we use now.

My dispute with you was your example of Bradley getting benched as being the cause for the Mavs not winning the division that year.

[V2M]

Originally posted by: Max Power
I didn't have a dispute with your contention that Nellie has never had a set rotation. That is rock solid. I still remember the arguments about why Nellie would play guys one game and then sit them on the bench the next game. It was the same comments that we use now.

My dispute with you was your example of Bradley getting benched as being the cause for the Mavs not winning the division that year.

Point noted. I do remember that the Spurs had an incredible run from right around the all-star game and the Mavs struggled a bit at the end mainly due to Finley's injury.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: bloodyhell
I don't know, i just know it wasn't in the 1st. Maybe someone can say when it was eexctly. To be honest I completely forget when it happened as he went down twice and the other one seemed to be more serious at the time and made me forget about the ankle one. The ankle is probably the worst one, now looking back. Let's hope the ankle is ruined. Geez how many times has he screwed up his ankles already this year?

It occurred early in the second. As for Dirk in the first, he was pretty much lights out. He didn't have many touches, but I think he managed 8-10 points on 4-5 shots.

[Murphy3]

What I've learned from this thread:

1. Dirk is a baby.
2. Finley isn't a warrior.

What I'm sure to learn relatively soon:

3. PE will let me know why it was a good idea to leave Daniels in at the point for so long.

[jibikao]

Originally posted by: rakesh.s
i must be missing something but the sonics are a REALLY good team..nothing to complain about..

at this point they're better coached and play better...they don't choke when teams come back on them..something spurs fans might be familiar with

i personally thought finley shot the ball way too much tonight..take the open jumpers but don't start shooting fadeaways when the double team is coming at you..especially when you're coming off an injury

Yeah, Finely took as many shots as Dirk. sigh... We know Finely is important but he doesn't need to prove that the first game he came back.

Nelly is gotta change or fired.

Jimmy

[jibikao]

Originally posted by: ames7
This is one of those losses that make me feel sick to my stomach. We just can't seem to get into any sort of streak, it's win 2, lose 1. Granted, Seattle's a damn good team this year, this I now buy. But I really wish we could have executed when we got w/in 2.

I feel like this team, in the long run, is probably going to be fine, but it doesn't feel that way right now. Hopefully we can beat who they're supposed to beat in the next few games & maybe get into a rhythm now that we're mostly healthy.

Exactly. I've been waiting for that BOOM moment. The first few games of this year were great but after that, there's no rhythm at all. Dirk held the team together but under Nelly, there's not much Dirk can do.

I have a feeling that this year is going to be like last year. WASTED... not a step forward at all. sigh.

Jimmy

[MavsFanFinley]

I just noticied that Finley played 37 minutes after being out for 15 games. Woo, that's a lot of minutes.

Returning Finley almost up to task

By Dwain Price
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - After missing 15 consecutive games with a sprained right ankle, Michael Finley had a chance to be the hero Thursday night.

But his 3-point field goal try with the Mavs down by two points hit the back of the rim and sailed over the backboard with 22.3 seconds left. The Seattle SuperSonics went on to slam the door on the Mavs 107-102 at American Airlines Center.

"On that 3, that's the one we needed to score," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "But it was good to have him out there. He will get stronger as he plays."

The potential game-winning shot by Finley was dead-on line from the right wing. But like a lot of things that went wrong for the Mavs, the shot failed to find its intended destination.

"I thought it was good," point guard Jason Terry said. "But you win some, and you lose some."

Finley scored 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting in 36 minutes, and also added two steals and a blocked shot. The scoring output tied for his second-highest point total of the season, as he provided the offense the Mavs have sorely needed to complement Dirk Nowitzki.

"For the most part [the ankle] held up well," said Finley, who hadn't played since suffering the ankle injury during a Nov. 9 game in Orlando. "I think maybe I surprised myself a little bit and even surprised the coaching staff with the amount of minutes I did play."

Terry was impressed with the way Finley handled himself on the floor following a career-high absence that lasted a month.

"I thought Fin played solid," Terry said. "He made some big shots out there, and he did all he can do.

"He did a great job, and he played good defense, too."

Finley started the game, but didn't start the third quarter. However, he tallied 10 of his points in the third period when the Mavs started making their move from a 15-point deficit.

Despite the loss, Nelson knows Finley is the emotional leader his team has been lacking.

"You have to be on the floor to be the true leader," Nelson said. "You can't do it from the locker room."

Finley buried his first shot of the night from 18 feet and provided the Mavs with the fire they needed to hang around.

"I thought he did a good job tonight," center Shawn Bradley said. "Unfortunately, we as a team didn't do what we needed to do to win."