Listened to the second half of the Clippers visit to Dallas tonight and it sounded like the Clippers have a pretty good team to have lost several games in February. Cassell, Mobley and Brand sounded like they had the game under control and Dirk was not having an All-Star night. But Howard kept them in it during the Clippers' big run; every offensive play was going through Howard and he seemed unstoppable. But when he went to the bench for a blow, Mobley was unstoppable. Then Dirk hit a couple of clutch 4th quarter baskets, but JT, Daniels and Harris just didn't seem to have anything going. Daniels couldn't stop Mobley at all so Howard had to come back in. Fortunately the clock ran out as Howard and Stackhouse made only 1 out of 4 FTs. The defense will need a little fine-tuning, but Howard picked up where he left off last week looking like a point forward who has developed alot of offensive confidence in his jumper and could get to the rim at will on both ends of the floor.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TDoug:</div><div class="quote_post">Listened to the second half of the Clippers visit to Dallas tonight and it sounded like the Clippers have a pretty good team to have lost several games in February. Cassell, Mobley and Brand sounded like they had the game under control and Dirk was not having an All-Star night. But Howard kept them in it during the Clippers' big run; every offensive play was going through Howard and he seemed unstoppable. But when he went to the bench for a blow, Mobley was unstoppable. Then Dirk hit a couple of clutch 4th quarter baskets, but JT, Daniels and Harris just didn't seem to have anything going. Daniels couldn't stop Mobley at all so Howard had to come back in. Fortunately the clock ran out as Howard and Stackhouse made only 1 out of 4 FTs. The defense will need a little fine-tuning, but Howard picked up where he left off last week looking like a point forward who has developed alot of offensive confidence in his jumper and could get to the rim at will on both ends of the floor.</div> Dirk did not hit clutch baskets..He did make a few in a row in the 4th quarter when there was no pressure and when the Mavs were leading comfortably. But he bricked the most important one as usual when the lead was cut to one at 92-91. I doubt if he will ever make any shots when its most needed. Mavs were really lucky to get this one in the end. If not for Stackhouse's rebound off Howards miss, we'd be tied with the Spurs now.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk did not hit clutch baskets..He did make a few in a row in the 4th quarter when there was no pressure and when the Mavs were leading comfortably. But he bricked the most important one as usual when the lead was cut to one at 92-91. I doubt if he will ever make any shots when its most needed. Mavs were really lucky to get this one in the end. If not for Stackhouse's rebound off Howards miss, we'd be tied with the Spurs now.</div> Interresting. Maybe we're not watching the same games. j
Come on. Dirk's in the top 5 or so players in points-in-the-4th-quarter. in the regular season he is a pretty clutch player. but you're right he has yet to prove his playoff clutchness
Scoring the most points in the 4th quarter is not the complete grading of how clutch a player is..Dirk is not the go-to guy if your team is down 1 with 3 seconds left in the game, when it matters most. The fadeaway shot he missed last game when we led 92-91 was an exact replay of shots he's missed in his career in similar situations. I think that's one of the main weakness of this Mavs team and is going to hurt come playoff time. There isn't one player you can count on making a bucket coming off a timeout in the winding seconds of the game.
Man, the mental mistake at the end by Livingston really cost us in this game. Shaun should've passed to Mobley who was extremely open, he's still young, but he should know that when someone is that open, it's okay to break away from the designed play. I can't blame him though, he helped in the initial comeback in itself, and Brand and Cassell also had chances to put us up earlier.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk did not hit clutch baskets..He did make a few in a row in the 4th quarter when there was no pressure and when the Mavs were leading comfortably. But he bricked the most important one as usual when the lead was cut to one at 92-91. I doubt if he will ever make any shots when its most needed. Mavs were really lucky to get this one in the end. If not for Stackhouse's rebound off Howards miss, we'd be tied with the Spurs now.</div> The eyes can see more than the ears can hear. I was listening while working but it sounded like the announcers were down on Dirk and then when the Clips had come back Dirk hit some shots in the final 4-5 minutes. By clutch I meant that the points stemmed the comeback, not the other definition of clutch which means the final chance to tie or win. And you are right about Stackhouse's rebound, but still the Clips only had a second left to score at the other end.
Nothin against you man..Its just that I get I get pissed off when people mention Dirk and clutch in the same sentence. He doesn’t play defense, and he’s not a clutch scorer. When was the last time Dirk made a shot to win a game for the Mavs? I can’t remember one. I’ve seen Terry make that shot, Stackhouse as well, but not Dirk. I don’t think he really wants to even take it. And don’t give me that Dirk should be an MVP candidate talk either. By season’s end, he may not even be the Mavs’ MVP.
DD, my post was not intended as an installment of the Nowitzki fan club. Dallas is my favorite team because of Josh Howard. We live near Winston-Salem and I saw most of his college games and have seen him improve steadily for 7 years. Since I would hate to upset anyone who appreciates J. Howard's game, I won't attempt to defend any of the adjectives in my post except to say that I was very grateful for another Dallas game and win against a good team and another good game for Howard. I really want to see the young man become a star and earn the money he deserves. If he can get the type of money a star in the NBA earns I believe he will help alot of people in Winston-Salem and in Dallas. NBA.com runs an admittedly cheesy Nestles' add which answers your questions about Nowitzki's game winners.
