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Suns and Mavericks
Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 9:42 pm
by Kitao
Oh, oh, oh!
Suns outscored them by one point in the regular season, on a questionable call.
It will be enjoyable.
Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 9:45 pm
by Diekan
I can't wait till this shit is over so I can start watching Law and Order reruns again... f'en basketball EVERY friggin night on TNT.
Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 11:20 pm
by vonkaar
Vonkaar wrote:I can't make any predictions on Phoenix. If we played like we did last night, we'll win the finals. THAT is my prediction. However, 1 out of 7 is clearly insufficient to count on. Phoenix gets 7 days to prepare and rest for the Mavs. We get one. I think that Dirk will explode in Phoenix and Damp will do a fair job shutting down Amare. Jason Terry did a 'good-enough' job on Nash... but most importantly, we are playing ourselves. It's no secret that the Suns are playing Don Nelson basketball... and the Mavs have become the peculiar hybrid between Nellie small ball and typical big-5 center-anchored defensive ball. I think we match up quite well, an even better comparison than Dallas / Houston.
The two main positives for the Mavs in this next series:
Dirk only has to deal with Marion. There is nobody else on the team that can guard him, and it takes a double team to stop the German.
Momentum. We are now only the THIRD team in league history to come back from losing both home games at the start of a 7-game series and our 40-point victory is the highest game-7 margin EVER. That's a great motivational help.
Our bench is still #1 in the playoffs. I predict that both Stackhouse and Henderson will have great success in the series.
The biggest negatives I can see are...
We still haven't seen consistency. Will we play like last night or will we play like we did in game one?
Rest. The Suns have had it, we haven't.
Van Horn. The Suns have absolutely no answer for a PRODUCTIVE bench 4. Marion and Dirk play at the same time - always. Shawn sits when Dirk sits. If Van Horn doesn't heal up in time, that's a huge loss. He's absolutely critical (IMO) to our 'good' chances in Phoenix.
I won't make any predictions simply because the first 'negative point' is too strong to ignore.
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 12:23 am
by Rotj
Sadface
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 1:45 pm
by Tadpole
wow...suns are going all the way.
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 1:55 pm
by xaoshaen
Tadpole wrote:wow...suns are going all the way.
I'd hold off on the champagne. They haven't seen the Spurs, Pistons, or Heat yet, and they've only beaten Dallas once, in Phoenix. They're
supposed to win that game...
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 4:22 pm
by vonkaar
no shit
it took us 2 losses to figure out Houston...
We 'won' 2 of the 3 games in the regular season... if you watched them you know what I mean.
They won't make it past the Spurs, even if they beat the Mavs.
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 5:46 pm
by LostCause
Lol Law N Order funny thing they started off Episode 2 of New Season Family Guy like that funny shit
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 9:22 pm
by Zanchief
Dallas aint done yet.
Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 8:33 pm
by Arlos
Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 9:13 pm
by Lyion
He seems to be responding, as I watch the game. He has 10 points so far
Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 11:30 pm
by vonkaar
[font=Tahoma]WHAT NOW?[/font]
Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 6:17 am
by Tacks
game 3 blowout
Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 2:34 pm
by Zanchief
Zanchief wrote:Dallas aint done yet.
Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 11:44 am
by Lyion
They are unless they have an answer for Stoudemire underneath.
Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 1:20 pm
by Rotj
For sure..he's killin' em. What a beast. :o
Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 1:55 pm
by vonkaar
This series is all about adjustments... We lose, we change it up... we win... they change it up... they win...
The best thing that we have going for us for game 4 is that Keith comes back... and he's been fucking huge for us.
Not giving an inch just yet. It *still* could go either way. They lost arguably their 4th best player and we are getting back one of our most productive bench assets.
Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 2:13 pm
by Lyion
I'll be curious to see how the next game plays out.
Early on I thought Dallas would run away with it, but for some reason they were too cold from the field.
If Finley and Dirk play like they did in game 4, the Suns will route them again, I think.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 6:50 am
by vonkaar
Game 4 notes...
We'll let Nash hit 45+ points all day long if he's turning it over 8 times and only dishing 5 dimes (3 for most of the game). We stopped Amare and Marion as well as possible. Let Nash drive the lane and score at will, keep Shawn and Amare out. Recipe for success.
Are ya'll seeing why I love Josh Howard so much? You all have a whole bunch of nationally televised games to get to know him by - use them!
Dirk was effective - for once. Even scoring below his average, he made a big difference.
We can take this to a 7 game series - Phoenix' 40 MPG players won't keep up.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 6:59 am
by Tacks
The games I had seen the Mavs play during the regular season they didn't really impress me, although they were hardly ever on TV. But you're right Josh Howard is an animal. He's been the most consistent through the playoffs for the Mavs IMO. If they want to make it to the finals though Dirk is going to have to step it up, he's been playing pretty lackluster (for him). Dampier actually played a half decent game for once, even though he didn't score much he was a huge presence under the basket.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 7:21 am
by Lyion
vonkaar wrote:This series is all about adjustments... We lose, we change it up... we win... they change it up... they win...
.
Good call chief.
The swarming of Stoudemire and forcing Nash to shoot was a good game changer. I'll be curious to see what adjustments Phoenix makes.
Dampier did decently early on, and Taxx is spot on, Howard is a fucking animal.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 8:12 am
by vonkaar
I wish I could figure out how people hook their Tivos up to their puters... maybe you will remember it anyway...
Late third quarter, Howard sprinting by 3 defenders for a quick slam. TOTALLY reminded me of Pippen... who he's ALWAYS compared to. It was freaking awesome.
Damp IS a great center, he just doesn't understand how to NOT FOUL. Last night, he played like he did for most of January through March... until he broke his foot. This is why he is and was so critical for us.
Dirk was great last night... he doesn't have to put up 30 points to be effective - like the old days. He has become so feared that they simply HAVE to double him 90% of the time. That's been our best asset this whole series - double dirk, Stackhouse, Finley, Howard, Daniels or Terry will cruise right in.
I agree with Lyion here... I'm curious as hell as to what D'Antoni is going to do to adjust. We basically laid out the red carpet for Nash's lane, and we seriously don't care. Nash isn't Iverson... if we did that for Philly, Iverson would have 95 points. Our gameplan looked pretty much like, DISRUPT THE PASS, BLOCK THE 3P-shooters... Guard the inside as best you can. If Amare can't get those beautiful dimes, he's playing like his rookie-of-the-year season: cool, double-double player... and?
It's a chess match... and IMO, D'Antoni is a one-trick pony. Johnson has a MUCH better coaching staff, and he can always call in his buddies for tips.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 3:01 pm
by Zanchief
Dampier isnt a great center, Vonk. He's passable.
The real surprise in the series and I think one of the major differences has been Stackhouse. This guys been invisible in the playoffs in years past and he's giving them a lot off the bench. Terry is surprising me too. Howard is really emerging too(although I'm sure you'll tell me he's been this good all along) but I did underestimate him. He's a solid player.
Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 6:08 am
by vonkaar
Well... compared to what else is out there, he's a great center. Seriously, who would rank higher?
Shaq, Yao, Miller, Ilgauskas... maybe Rasho and Magloire? When Damp was healthy, he was giving us double doubles with a few blocks... there aren't many centers that can put up comparable numbers night in and night out. Well, besides The Shawn©.
And yes... Howard has always been this good. Last game was a big breakout game, sure... but ya'll have to remember all the games I've posted Josh's stats all over the place. I've talked about him since he was drafted. He's been my favorite Mav since about midway through his rookie season.
Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 8:05 am
by Lyion
Gotta agree with Zan. He's the best the Mavs could get, but he's not 'GREAT', Vonk. That is unless you are solely comparing him to Bradley, in which case he's Godlike.
He might be great one day, but for now he's serviceable with a lotta potential.