I might as well start this thread early. :rock: Game starts on Thursday on TNT. Hopefully Devin Harris and Howard are healthy enough to play. If not they still have depth like Daniels and Armstrong play backup point guard and Griffin can play SF. As predicted lineupPG Terry vs. Parker. Should be an interesting offensive attack by both players. Terry more of an outside shooter and Parker the slasher. I would give an edge to Parker since he has had a fantastic year. SG Ginobili vs. Griffin. Though Ginobili is the better player Griffin should do a decent job containing Ginobili. Griffin will definitely not be the only player guarding Ginobili with help from Daniels, Howard, and maybe Harris. Advantage Ginobili.SF Bowen vs. Howard. Though Bowen is a great defender Josh Howard usually goes with the flow of the offense and doesn't force many shots. I think Bowen will find it hard to contain Howard though Bowen is probably the best man to man defender in the league. Advantage goes to Howard. PF Duncan vs. Nowitzki(Diop). I doubt these 2 players will guard each other but I think Diop is well suited to guard Duncan. Diop is very athletic and long and might force Duncan to the perimeter more. Dampier should help some to. Advantage goes to Duncan but the gap is closed a little.C Nazr (or Rasho) vs. Diop (Nowitzki). This matchup favors Nowitzki heavily. There is no way either Rasho or Nazr can keep up with Dirk on the perimeter and on the other end they aren't going to score that much.Mavs Bench vs. Spurs Bench. The mavs have Harris, Daniels, Stackhouse, Van Horn, and Dampier. That lineup could be a starting lineup. That is how good it is. The spurs also have a good bench with Van Exel, Finley, Barry, Horry, Rasho. A good lineup though almost all the players are past their primes. Probably the oldest bench in the league. The edge definitely goes to the mavs. Prediction: Mavs win 90-85. The mavs play well on the road and are rested for this game. It will be tough but the mavs are on fire right now.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The spurs also have a good bench with Van Exel, Finley, Barry, Horry, Rasho. A good lineup though almost all the players are past their primes.</div>That bench is experienced, and rivals our bench. It's too close to call, I'd call it a wash.I see Diop on Duncan, Rasho on Dirk. Both stars should take it to them. Griff/Gino matchup should be fun to watch, both have high iq's and Griff should be able to watch for Gino's flops.Howard should be put on Parker, Terry on Bowen, simply because we need to contain Parker, and Terry is not a great defender. Howard has size and the quickness to at least keep Parker from going off. Terry just needs to stay on Bowen and recover fast enough on his 3's. This is a big game, as we need to take both games against Spurs, if we do, should be enough for 1st seed.
I would put Daniels in the starting lineup for this game and have him guard Parker. Than Armstrong can do a decent job. I would try to save Howard and Terry for offensive purposes along with Dirk since they will be playing a great defensive team.
I predict that the Mavs run away from this one. The Spurs are the defending champs and all, but Duncan is having a below-average year by my standards (he might show up for playoff time) and he will be guarded by Diop most of the time unless Dirk is assigned to defend TD, the Mavs' interior defense will be likely to shut down Parker from getting to the basket, or Ginobili, for that matter. The only hope for San Antonio is their bench. Finely can light it up and so can Van Exel despite being aged and all. Both are spark plugs off the bench and Poppavich will look to get some production from them. Dirk will have a great game, Howard will struggle a bit, and if SA makes a run in the game Harris and Stack off the bench can put SA's runs to sleep. I know the crowd is in it for SA, but I expect Dallas to come up big late in the game and they usually do. 101-91 Mavs
the dallas defense needs to play parker very well, he can kill the mavericks(or really any team) with his drives to the basket.it will be a close game but the mavs should have enough to pull out a win.final score - mavs 108-103
I would be more confident if the mavs were healthy but I heard Harris isn't playing and Dirk, Howard, and Van Horn aren't 100%. It would be amazing if they won in San Antonio despite health.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I would be more confident if the mavs were healthy but I heard Harris isn't playing and Dirk, Howard, and Van Horn aren't 100%. It would be amazing if they won in San Antonio despite health.</div>We don't need excuses, this game was winnable, had we kept control of the ball and drove to the basket more often. I'm starting to question the Mavericks offense, ever since All-Star, we've had so many long droughts that are killing us. But it's only one loss, and time to move on to Bobcats.
Stackhouse being ultra selfish in this game. He was forcing up crap and dribbling in traffic so much. Dirk got owned by Bowen but the refs let Bowen get away with so much the whole night. The mavs weren't making shots and didn't get into their sets. I gotta give Bowen the credit for a lot of these problems. He was all over the place. Congrats to the spurs and it was disappointing once again that Dirk couldn't come through.
How did the Mavs lose to the Spurs without there best player?Well Spurs played a great game and Parker just dominated.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Mar 3 2006, 12:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Stackhouse being ultra selfish in this game. He was forcing up crap and dribbling in traffic so much. Dirk got owned by Bowen but the refs let Bowen get away with so much the whole night. The mavs weren't making shots and didn't get into their sets. I gotta give Bowen the credit for a lot of these problems. He was all over the place. Congrats to the spurs and it was disappointing once again that Dirk couldn't come through.</div>damn dude you're everywhere, spurstalk and here and i think i've seen you on a few other boards before too. so now you are joining the ray allen and vince carter club of being a whinny ....... and blamin the refs? what a shame.......the mavs just ain't better then the spurs......tim isn't healthy, horry just came back from having his hips realigned, manu is in a huge slump for some damn reason, and we have the worse home crowd of any winning team in the league and still beat ya'll. it's gonna be more of the same in the second round of the playoffs
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Peja16 @ Mar 3 2006, 06:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>How did the Mavs lose to the Spurs without there best player?Well Spurs played a great game and Parker just dominated.</div>The last I saw Bowen was playing. lol<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (koopa @ Mar 3 2006, 06:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>damn dude you're everywhere, spurstalk and here and i think i've seen you on a few other boards before too. so now you are joining the ray allen and vince carter club of being a whinny ....... and blamin the refs? what a shame.......the mavs just ain't better then the spurs......tim isn't healthy, horry just came back from having his hips realigned, manu is in a huge slump for some damn reason, and we have the worse home crowd of any winning team in the league and still beat ya'll. it's gonna be more of the same in the second round of the playoffs</div>You have a short term memory. The mavs did the same thing to the spurs in the first game in Dallas. Congrats to the spurs on the regular season win. Yeah this site and spurstalk are the 2 sites I go to the most.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Mar 3 2006, 12:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The last I saw Bowen was playing. lolYou have a short term memory. The mavs did the same thing to the spurs in the first game in Dallas. Congrats to the spurs on the regular season win. Yeah this site and spurstalk are the 2 sites I go to the most.</div>omg that first game was our third game of the season, not much to be proud of, who the hell actually looks that far back into the season??? that almost like saying we beat ya'll in the preseason.
Mavsfan yes we know the refs were awful but the spurs won. Plain and simple. You're defense let you guys down.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>How did the Mavs lose to the Spurs without there best player?Well Spurs played a great game and Parker just dominated.</div>What? Duncan played.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>damn dude you're everywhere, spurstalk and here and i think i've seen you on a few other boards before too. so now you are joining the ray allen and vince carter club of being a whinny ....... and blamin the refs? what a shame.......the mavs just ain't better then the spurs......tim isn't healthy, horry just came back from having his hips realigned, manu is in a huge slump for some damn reason, and we have the worse home crowd of any winning team in the league and still beat ya'll. it's gonna be more of the same in the second round of the playoffs</div>I agree with what you said, but one thing for sure, is Mavs match up well with Spurs better then past years. We just need to tweak some of our offense and continue improving our d for the playoffs. It's not gonna be a walkthrough for either teams.
Diop is a great defender. Your excuses for Duncan is pretty lame. I heard Duncan is getting worse by the month as well (not better).
Lame? How about you're complaints against the spurs? isn't that lame?Duncan is injured.period. Plantar fasciitis isn't something that is a joke and it effects you're game, ask kobe bryant about that. I took kobe a good 2 months and a half to finally get better. Considering the spurs can beat the clippers or memphis in the first round, Duncan will be better once they face dallas.
What are you? Duncan's doctor? No one knows if Duncan will get better. Just because Kobe got better doesn't mean Duncan will be better. In some cases PF is a chronic problem. It gets old that you find a new way to discredit Dallas for what they have achieved so far this year and what potential they have in the playoffs. I am definitely not giving up on this team and feel we have a legit shot at knocking off the spurs.
