<div align="center">@ <font color="blue">New Jersey Nets (19-14)</font> vs <font color="royalblue">Dallas Mavericks (26-10)</font> American Airlines Arena Yes Network, 8:30pm</div> [div=50%] <font size="2">The Dallas Mavericks enter tonight's matchup sitting 2nd in the West and consider by some as the only team that can keep the defending champion Spurs from getting back to the Finals. While sitting amongst the league's top tier teams is no shock for a Mavs team that has won 50+ games for 5 consecutive seasons, its their apparoach to winning that now makes them and others that watch them play feel they have finally made the step toward being a true chip contender. The Mavs under virtually new coach Avery Johnson has taken an effort to put the D back in Dallas. They have put the pieces in place to become a solid defensive team. While Dallas will never be consider Detriot or San Antonio on the defensive end, young athletic defenders on the perimeter like Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard, along with a shot blocking machine off the bench in Desagna Diop, has put the Mavs in the position to be a team that can at least come up with key defensive stops in big situations, something they could not do under Don Nelson. And that makes the 05-06, Mavs more balanced then any other team they have taken to the playoffs post Derek Harper and Rolando Blackman. The Mavs look to show off such balance tonight vs. Jersey</font> Projected Starters [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jason_terry.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">PG: <font color="royalblue">Jason Terry</font> Quitely Jason Terry has done a quality job taking over for Steve Nash at the point guard position. Many questioned the move after the depature of Nash to Phoniex, but Terry has answered his critics. Critics said Terry's shoot first style wasnt built for winning success in Dallas. But the Mavs have gone 84-34 since Terry has arrived. And while Tery isnt the playmaker Nash was for Dallas, he has provided them with much better on ball defense at the point then Nash ever provided. And he has proven to be the teams most clutch perimeter player probably since Nick Van Exel, wore a Dallas uni in 02-03.</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/marquis_daniels.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">SG: <font color="royalblue">Marguis Daniels</font> Defining one thing that stands out about Marquis Daniels game may be a bit difficult because the 3rd year wing man does a bit of everything on both ends except shoot the three. He can guard all three perimeter positions and also contribute on the boards and offensively, combined with Terry, and Howard...Dallas may have the most interchangable perimeter in the league.</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/josh_howard.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">SF: <font color="royalblue">Josh Howard</font> Josh Howard's is Dallas version of Richard Jefferson, he is a slashing leaper, who is an above average rebounder at the small forward position, he struggles with the perimeter shot at times like Jefferson. But the intangables that Howard provides more then makes up for his lack of jumpshot consistency. Howard ranks 3rd on the team in scoring, and 3rd in rebounding. Howard also provides another athletic body to throw on a high scoring wing player like Vince Carter.</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/dirk_nowitzki.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">PF: <font color="royalblue">Dirk Nowitzki</font> If you are talking league's best all-around power forwards then Dirk's name may not come up in the talks to the level of that of a Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett. But if you are talking league's best scoring bigman, its hard to find on better then Dirk. Nowitzki can score in a variety of ways, with his back to the basket facing up etc. But the thing that makes him such a difficult guard is his shooting range. Dirk's ablity to stretch is shooting range out to levels that most guards in this league cant shoot from, makes the 7-footer darn near impossible to guard for most bigman in this league. Nowitzki, 26.2ppg and 8.9rpg is easily putting together a season that rivals that of last year, which was a career best. Since the lost of Nash, Nowitzki has not only shoulder the scoring load but the leadership as well. And with the assumption of leadership, comes the critism, so Nowitzki often carries the load of the critism when it comes to the lack of defense in Dallas over the years, but he is one of the players who is at least trying to give an effort to change that around for the Mavs.</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/erick_dampier.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">C: <font color="royalblue">Erick Dampier</font> If asked what is the weak link in this Dallas Mavericks lineup? for sure, the name Erick Dampier is the first thing that comes to the minds of many. Dampier, inconsistency and lack of effort since getting a fat paycheck to come to Dallas before the 04-05 season, hasnt sat well with many that follow the Mavericks. Dampier, who averaged a career best 12.3ppg his final year in Golden State has avareged a depressing 9ppg last year and even worst 5.6ppg this year. Dampier has not been the staple in the middle that the Mavs expected and that maybe their undoing down the road come playoff time.</font> <div align="center">Keys To The Game</div> <font color="royalblue">Make Someone Other than Carter Beat You</font>. Facts are facts without Jefferson in the lineup the Nets are extremely limited when it comes to offsensive options. Dallas needs to take advantage of this...get the ball out of Carter's hands trap him, double him up, dont let him be the guy to beat you. Make guys like Krstic, Robinson, Vaughn and Murray have to make plays. <font color="royalblue">Take Advantage on the Boards</font>. Along with missing Jefferson on the offsensive end the Nets will also be without their best rebounder, this creates another weakness that Dallas can and should exploit. Create 2nd chance opportunies against this Nets frontline without Jefferson. <font color="royalblue">Dont Commit Silly Turnovers</font> Realistically Dallas has alot of edges in this matchup with New Jersey being without their possible best all-around wing man...so New Jersey needs Dallas to do things to beat themselves. And how can Dallas beat themselves? with sloppy ball handling and silly, unforced turnovers. If Dallas can play a virtually mistake free game and get into their offensive sets, New Jersey will be in for a tall order. [/div] <font size="2">New Jersey comes into tonight's ball game lossers of two straight and searching for some answers. Earlier this season questions surrounded what was the indentity of this basketball team. Now questions surround the health of Richard Jefferson, who has missed basically three straight games(if you included the game he left early in Toronto) with Back Spasms. It isnt known when he will return to the lineup. And the Nets have to figure out how to win against a quality team without him. Last game against Memphis they were clearly out matched without the pressence of Jefferson. And now have to take a trip into Dallas and try to knock off the 2nd best team in the West likely without Jefferson once again.</font> Projected Starters [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jacque_vaughn.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">PG: <font color="blue">Jacque Vaughn</font> With Jefferson down Jacque Vaughn has entered the starting lineup, mainly for defensive reasons. But onffesively Vaughn has struggled, going 6-16 in the 2 games he started for Jefferson vs. San Antonio and Memphis. And 2-7 in the game in Toronto, where he played extended minutes once Jefferson left. It seems as if Vuaghn is trying to do too much. He is pushing the ball up quickly in transition which can be a good thing, but it hasnt been effective because guys arent really running with him, so Vaughn is forced to try and go coast to caost, not only being the playmaker on the break but the finsiher in transition as well. And that doesnt work out well for Vaughn or the Nets, Vaughn has never been that type of player in his career. So Vaughn needs to settle down and not try to create too much when nothing is avaible. Let Kidd and Carter be the creators and then play off that. One thing Vaughn can do is put some pressure on Mavericks ball handlers, get up on them full court and try to fource some turnovers</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jason_kidd.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">SG: <font color="blue">Jason Kidd</font> With the absense of Jefferson Kidd has found himself in more of a scores role and that has effected his playmaking. He is playing alot more off the ball with Vaughn in the backcourt along side him. And you can see the effects of that in his assist totals over the last two games, as he has combined for only 9 assist in his last two. Also Kidd seems to lack a running mate and finish on the break without Jefferson. But look for Kidd to stepup to the changelle and except the fact that he needs to score more. But also try to balance it out and make plays for guys like Padgett, Robinson etc, shooters that New Jersey has to get more involved to shoulder some of the load.</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/vince_carter.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">SF: <font color="blue">Vince Carter</font> Vince Carter as every Nets player did struggled against Memphsis going 5 for 18, Eddie Jones and the Grizzlies excuted their game plan of making Carter have to work to recieve the ball.And then throwing different double team looks at him to fource him to pass or take a bad well contested shot. And every team will take that same exact apporoarch until Jefferson returns to the lineup. Its Carter's job to stay aggressive, attack the basket. But still trust in his teammattes. The fall away jumpers with a hand in his face, arent the shots you want to see an aboundance of if your coach Franks. You want Carter on the move toward the basket, if he doesnt have the shot then put other guys in position to get a better shot off. And trust they can & will make it.</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jason_collins.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">PF: <font color="blue">Jason Collins</font> Without a doubt Collins is going to give the full effort trying to defend Dirk Nowitzki, effort is the staple of Collins game, but another staple is his lack of moblity. And that will be his undoing in the matchup against Dirk. Nowitzki will cause simliar type of problems that Gasol did during the Memphis matchup...but Nowitzki will be even more difficult to cover because he can take the slow footed JC futher away from the basket then Gasol can.</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/nenad_krstic.jpg[/imgl]<font size="2">C: <font color="blue">Nenad Krstic</font> Coming off two striaght games that saw Krstic get into foul trouble, the first thing the Nets need from Krstic is for him to stay on the court. Then they need a strong bounce back preformance from the 1-4 stinker he had against Memphsis. Dallas has a bit of a soft spot defensively in the painted area in their starting lineup, the Nets need to use Nenad toexpose it...that means they need an assertive and aggressive. Non of those cupcake layups, he was trying to attempt against Memphis. Krstic isnt most comfortable with his back to the basket..but expect to see Coach Frank call plays for him early down on the block to test Dallas' interior and to get some rythm back into Nenad's game.</font> Keys To The Game <font size="2"><font color="blue">Strong Performances From Robinson, Padgett and Murray</font>. If you look at the Nets roster and say who needs to step up collective to help shoulder the load of Jefferson being out, its those three. While non of those guys are going to provide you with the athletic things that Jefferson does...they can fill in in other ways. Mainly by taking some of the offsensive production burden off Kidd and Carter by stoking the ball well from deep. If those guys can make some consistent jumpers then that opens up things for Carter and Kidd to penetrate. When Jefferson is in the lineup those guys are look at as 5th, 6th maybe even 7th scoring options, but when you are collectively trying to fill in for someone the level of RJ, certian guys roles must expand if your going to be success, so now guys like Robinson, Padgett and Murray must except the roles of moving into the 4th or 5th scoring slot. And take some pressure off the main three guys Kidd, Carter and Krstic. <font color="blue">Matchup up against Dirk</font>No one player on New Jersey matches up particularly well against Dirk, so the Nets are going to have to throw a bunch of different looks at Dirk. Starting with JC, then Cliff and double from time to time. But Dallas, like Memphis did in the 2nd quarter when they put Jackson, Miller,Jones on the floor to play off the Nets doubling Gasol, can surround Dirk with a linup of shooters and scorers Van Horn, Terry, Stackhouse etc, so New Jersey has to rotate strong out of the double to get back to shooters. And they can live by the double team. Their bigs are going to have to man up during certain points and try to cover Dirk in the team concept without the full fledge double team. <font color="blue">Keep The game Under 90</font> As hard as it will be to do, keeping the Mavs under 90, definately under 95 is their only legit shot at winning this ball game. They have to win this game by making the Mavs offsense uncomfortable and fource those guys out of their normal sets. If Dallas establish any type of sustained rythmn and it because a back and forth up and down game the Nets will be starring down their 3rd straight loss.[</font>
Nice preview, Hencay. Quick correction though. Marquis Daniels isn't playing he's out with some injury which will force him to miss a week or two.
Good pre-view, I just wanted to throw out a prediction and say that the Nets will run all over the Mavs...Jason Kidd and Vince Carter are too much to handle.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice preview, Hencay. Quick correction though. Marquis Daniels isn't playing he's out with some injury which will force him to miss a week or two.</div> Your right, Adrian Griffin has been starting in replace of him....but Dallas likely wont miss much defensively...Adrain Griffin has been a noted defender everywhere he has went. And I think he will end up covering Vince. And he probably matches up better then Daniels would...because he will be more phsyical with him. And that may shy Carter away from the contact and pshyical play around the basket.
Great game thread Henacy, you covered it well. I think Dallas takes this off, they probably won't be able to contain Vince Carter to a horrible game but I can imagine them forcing the rest of the team to struggle. With RJ out, Dallas has Howard and Griffin to defend Carter. Who will guard Dirk? Will Uncle Cliff get some extra minutes? Dallas Forum Preview, our perspective of things
Dallas did everything right, we did everything wrong. They defended well, and they were on fire from everyspot on the field. We were sluggish on defense, and we were careless with the ball. I saw no ball movement on our part, reminiscent of some games played earlier this season, and our guys didn't get back to defend off the transition, also reminiscent of games played before the streak. It also doesn't help when our shooting has been ice cold the past two games. I think there needs to be some serious trade talk if the Nets even want to consider competing for the title. The team has no depth compared to the Pistons, Grizzlies, Spurs, Heat, Suns, Mavs, Cavs, even the Pacers.
THe game is just so much harder for Carter without Jefferson's help with the scoring load, and freeing up Carter to go one on one with his defender. Jacque Vaughn is a terrible starter. He has no confidence in that jumpshot as a starter vs. when he comes off the bench.
