Dallas @ Washington Gameday Thread

[akaarod03]

The Wizards are way more talented than the Nets. The message is clear...do not take this team lightly. Even though they got blown out by the Cavaliers yesterday and looked downright silly...this is a dangerous group. With that said...if Dallas can get off to a good start in this afternoon's ballgame...I think we can come out of Washington with a win. Go Mavs!

91-83 Mavs

[alby]

back to backs.. on the road.. sigh=\

[EricaLubarsky]

Sunday, same tip time for the Mavericks against the Wizards at the MCI Center in Washington, but this foe is in fact heavily stocked with offensive skill, but somewhat suspect at the defensive end of the court. Washington is averaging 102 ppg entering its Saturday afternoon clash with Cleveland. It possesses a threesome of Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison that can score with the best of them at the point guard, shooting guard and small forward. Add to this triumvirate bench punch from Jarvis Hayes, Juan Dixon and Anthony Peeler and you have the makings of an imposing task for Dallas' defense.

In fact, given the fact that this will be the second game of a back-to-back sequence I would not be surprised to see the Mavericks surrender their first 100 plus point game defensively in this one. But that doesn't mean that they'll lose, because if Dallas comes ready to fire on all cylinders itself at the offensive end of the floor this could be a 115-110 type of game.

The Mavericks must be mindful of getting back defensively against a Washington squad that loves to run and create quick shots in the open floor. If Dallas is successful in retreating quickly it could well force the Wizards into some poor decision and sudden, bad shots.


Josh Howard
Make no mistake that last year's NBA 6th Man of the Year Jamison will be fired up for a big afternoon of scoring against a Mavs squad that sent him to DC this offseason in a trade for Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and rookie Devin Harris. Jamison will likely be guarded by Josh Howard through much of the afternoon. Howard knows his game well which should help when 'Tawn goes one-on-one with the ball, but he's slick off the ball and when the shot goes up, so Josh will need to be solid in all phases to keep Jamison from dominating this game.

On the flip side, Washington starts Michael Ruffin an interior ruffian at the power forward spot. He will have no chance to check Dirk Nowitzki. Expect the Wizards to call on the more mobile Jared Jeffries to try to keep Dirk under wraps at the defensive end of the floor. Jeffries is a quicker defender than Ruffin, but lacks experience at age 22.


Marquis Daniels
The Mavericks will need to get into quick sync offensively in this game and get back defensively after misses to force Washington to play halfcourt ball when it has the ball. I suspect that the Mavericks tandem of Harris and Terry will bother Arenas and his back-up Dixon at the point with their full-court pressure. I also suspect that Marquis Daniels will be effective operating against Larry Hughes at the offensive end of the floor.

If the Mavs follow through on their game plan, they should emerge victorious in this game. But this is a dangerous foe in this spot that is quite capable of flat outscoring Dallas if it allows the Wiz a quick start and early confidence at the offensive end of the floor.

[mercury_rev]

I'm sorry if this is a recurrent question, but do all NBA teams have the same number of back-to-back games in their regular season schedule?

[alby]

im pretty sure all teams do

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally posted by: alby
im pretty sure all teams do

Sacramento has 15
we have 17.
LA Lakers have 17
San Antonio have 19
Boston has 19
Charlotte has 22.
Atlanta also has 22.
Bulls have 22

Those are just random teams I picked out of a hat and I found a variation of up to 7 back-to-backs, so not entirely true. Also, very few data points, but it seems that lottery teams get screwed.

Also, 13 of our 17 back-to-backs require that we either play at home and fly out, or play on the road and fly back home. We better get used to playing tired, or we'll have quite a few "scheduling losses" like we had in Orlando, including our first two games with Minnesota.

[EricaLubarsky]

Its difficult to predict this team. If we play decently okay, we take the cake and end our road trip 3-1. If we come out flat, there is a good chance that we will lose this game. One thing is certain: our defense can turn the tides of this game.

[alby]

wow i had no idea it was different from team to team.. thats pretty interesting actually. i guess i wouldn't call it being 'fair' or 'unfair' or whatever, but i wonder what other variations there are? tipoff times of certain games because of tv schedules, etc.

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally posted by: EricaLubarsky

Sacramento has 15
we have 17.
LA Lakers have 17
San Antonio have 19
Boston has 19
Charlotte has 22.
Atlanta also has 22.
Bulls have 22

Those are just random teams I picked out of a hat and I found a variation of up to 7 back-to-backs, so not entirely true. Also, very few data points, but it seems that lottery teams get screwed.

Also, 13 of our 17 back-to-backs require that we either play at home and fly out, or play on the road and fly back home. We better get used to playing tired, or we'll have quite a few "scheduling losses" like we had in Orlando, including our first two games with Minnesota.

Wouldn't hurt if Nelson would learn to use his depth in situations like these either.

[rakesh.s]

mavs by 10 today

106-96

i'll keep repeating myself: this team is going to get back to the 27-14 road record that they had for the two years before last

the orlando game was an anomaly

[fin4life]

I think the mavs win it, and win it big. We will come out and have a small lead at halftime, then blow it open in the third quarter. It is important to keep in mind their lack of bigman depth. Kwame Brown and Eton Thomas are out... which means jamison will gaurd Dirk a lot. That has mismatch written all over it. Big game for Dirk... I also hope either Harris or Terry steps up and nuetralizes Arenas with about 20 points and good D.

[V2M]

We need to get Jamison in foul-trouble early. That's a dangerous scorer especially when the game's close in the 4th quarter.
On defense, I expect JHo to guard Jamsion and let Dirk take their other forward (whoever that is).
Also, our perimeter defense (Harris, Quis, Terry, etc.) need to take Arenas & Hughes out of their comfort zone.

I expect Damp to have a big game as Washington lost a couple big guys inside.

Both teams are playing back-to-back. Dallas got more depth & talent. Washington's got a good offense and playing at home. I expect Dallas to win 96-89.

[gogojojo73]

Dirk has another big game. 30+

Damp has a double double

Mavs take the lead early and never look back.

Mavs 110
Wiz 90

[Mavdog]

about b2b, this is one for Washington too. They just mentioned on the pregame they played away yesterday at noon.

[ames7]

I have the upmost respect for Jamison now & I expect he'll step up for this game. I'd like to see Damp do something today since it hasn't exactly been a remarkable roadtrip for him. It's kinda sad, but I think he needs a confidence-boosting big game.

[MavsFanFinley]

Taken from the FWST:

Finley's return

Michael Finley, on the injured list with a second-degree right ankle sprain, will likely be out through at least the Nov. 22 game at Minnesota. The Mavs should have a better idea of Finley's return around Nov. 23, two weeks from the day he was injured at Orlando. Finley will have missed seven games by then.

Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard stand to benefit the most from Finley's absence.

Unlike veteran Jerry Stackhouse, the two second-year swingmen are still learning the game at the NBA level.

"We don't have to rush [Finley] back," Mark Cuban said. "We need Finley on the floor because he's one of our leaders, but it's a great chance for [Daniels and Howard] to grow up."

[dude1394]

mavs 102-90

[dude1394]

Very nice pass josh...

[Mandyahl]

just out of curiosity, who is guarding jamison and who is guarding dirk?

[dude1394]

I think jamison is being guarded by howard, dirk is all over the place, no one seems to be guarding him.

Commentators say "hays" ??... But no one seemed to know what to do about him so a quick timeout occurred.

[Murphy3]

When will Harris learn that it's always a better option having Dirk taking an open jumper compared to taking the open jumper himself?

[dude1394]

Good god, howard is laying bricks out there...

[Mandyahl]

seems like neither team has decided to play defense yet...

[Murphy3]

Amazing, they have no chance of guarding Dirk but he only has 2 shot attempts through 6 minutes...one of those attempts was when Dirk grabbed an offensive rebound and hit the open jumper just before the shot clock expired.

Almost every game the Mavs come out NOT looking to go to Dirk....why?

[Mandyahl]

is it just me or does stackhouse turn the ball over in the first minute he gets into the game almost every time?

[Murphy3]

Who's going to show up today?

[Mandyahl]

dear lord, just get the ball to dirk and get out of the way today!

[Murphy3]

dambn dirk...that's two horrible passes.

[Murphy3]

dambn dirk...that's two horrible passes.

[DubOverdose]

I'm jealous...my brother is at the game!

[rakesh.s]

couple sloppy passes from dirk but you got a glimpse of gilbert "it's all about me" arenas on that fumbled fastbreak

[dude1394]

See why they don't go to dirk murph. . He's a turnover machine. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[DubOverdose]

Dirk is on FIRE!

[#41]

Should we like what we see or not? Dirk with perfect from the field and on the boards, but has 2 Tos yet, and the Mavs trail by 2. I hope the Wizards get tired and give up some more points

[orangedays]

I'm watching the game on CSN...

Dirk is unbelievable...they should be getting him more shots...he's hit nothing but net so far.

Jamison is hurting us with those stupid little running flipped up shots, and Haywood is killing us in the paint. Damp looks like his knees are really tender, he's slow to get up court and he's getting pushed around quite a bit by Haywood, blocked at least twice already.

We're not taking care of the ball at all, Wizards keep picking our pockets. Outside of that we look like we're in alright shape, the Wiz seemed to dominate the first quarter but we're only down by 2.

I know the game's already started but I'm thinking we win 117-109.

I'll keep ya'll posted.

[dude1394]

This fsn feed is horrible. Constantly breaking up.

[MavsFanFinley]

Wizards lead 30-28 after 1st quarter:

Howard (7) 1-3, 0-1, 2pts, 1rb, 2as

Dirk (12) 5-5, 1-1, 11pts, 5rbs, 1as, 2tos, 1stl

Dampier (12) 3-5, 0-1, 6pts, 2rbs, 1as, 2tos

Daniels (5) 0-1, 1stl

Harris (6) 2-5, 0-1, 4pts, 1rb, 1as

Stackhouse (7) 2-4, 1-1, 5pts, 1as, 2tos, 1stl

Terry (6) 0-1, 3as, 1stl

Henderson (5) 0-1

[mary]

Dirk...benched

[#41]

Little hint for Nellie: Play Dirk 48 minutes [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[dude1394]

BENGA!!!!!!!