Mavericks vs. Utah Jazz preview7:30 p.m. today, American Airlines Center, Ch. 21; ESPN-FM (103.3), KFLC-AM (1270, Spanish)07:54 PM CDT on Saturday, April 15, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning NewsSeries: Mavs lead, 2-1KEY MATCHUPCARLOS BOOZER VS. DIRK NOWITZKIThere's little doubt that if Boozer had played all season, the Jazz would be in the playoffs. He missed the first 49 games, and the Jazz is 10-6 since he was inserted in the starting lineup in mid-March. It also has won five in a row as it makes a belated charge for the last playoff slot. During the winning streak, Boozer is averaging 22.8 points and nine rebounds and shooting 57.3 percent from the field. Nowitzki probably won't play more than 30 minutes. With Utah still in a playoff race with Sacramento, don't be surprised if Boozer has a big night.Inside the JazzRare air: At his current pace, Andrei Kirilenko will join some elite company, becoming just the fourth player in league history to average at least 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks for a season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it six times. Bob Lanier and David Robinson each did it once.Briefly: The Jazz has already improved by 14 wins over last season, the second-biggest turnaround in the league behind New Orleans. ... Coach Jerry Sloan has the longest tenure of any NBA coach, 18 seasons. He's 53-25 in his career against the Mavericks.Inside the MavericksLogic rules: Avery Johnson will neither rest players nor overplay them in the final two games. "We want to get everybody some minutes," he said. "[Last year] we rested them too much, maybe. And we got a little lazy, probably, as a team. And we were playing great. [Now] we're not playing great, and we're not going to be lazy."Briefly: They are 24-4 this season when accruing 20 or more assists, which mainly illustrates that they haven't gotten that many often. ... Jerry Stackhouse has at least three turnovers in eight of his last nine games.PROBABLE STARTERSJazz Pos. MavsCarlos Boozer F Dirk NowitzkiAndrei Kirilenko F Josh HowardMehmet Okur C DeSagana DiopMatt Harpring G Adrian GriffinDeron Williams G Jason Terryhttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ap.25bf9fb.html
Read that stuff in the newspaper, plus the other article, but anyway, Dallas needs to win this game and get some rest. I'd give Nowitzki the first 6-8 minutes of the first and second quarters, 3 minutes in the third, and then all of the fourth.
If you want him to rest, then why give him all of the First?I'd give him most of the first half, then cut the minutes way down by the fourth.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I'd give Nowitzki the first 6-8 minutes of the first and second quarters, 3 minutes in the third, and then all of the fourth.</div>You should be shot just for saying that. Normally its the other way around. Just like Marvin said. If Mavs are up big in this game, why give Dirk 12 minutes in the fourth quarter. Those are the minutes for him to rest. Just like every team in the leauge right now, they are resting their stars in the fourth. Dirk will only be playing big fourth quarter minutes if Mavs are in a tight run to win tonight, and same with Clippers
I dont think you read what I put...<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Dirk will only be playing big fourth quarter minutes if Mavs are in a tight run to win tonight, and same with Clippers</div>
How about who cares if were in a tight run with the Jazz Waqas. This game is meaningless. Jazz will probably win because they have something to play for, while Mavs don't.
I would say play Dirk 7 minutes a quarter to get about 28 minutes for the game. Avery probably wants to win but it is more important for Dirk to play the right amount of minutes that will prepare him best for the playoffs. Trying to prevent rust or fatigue.
^WTF was that for? It's a meaningless game, and he'd probably have to do that for the Jazz to win.All I know is that they better not bring Dirk's minute big time, cause he even admitted to be out of rythem last year.
Bronchitis? That is what I think Dirk struggled last year. Also Mcgrady's defense was great. He is an underrated defender when healthy.
Well he had bronchitis during the Suns series, but the first round he was off due to a combination of TMac's defense, and the fact that he wasn't in rythem the first round.
Everyone else tells me the opposite. He got over it by the end of the Rockets series and improved during the suns series.
Come on, stop using that as an excuse. If it was bad, he wouldn't have played. Jordan played ill and scored what over 50 pts? Just move on from the bronchitis and focus on this year.
Daniels isn't a PG, he has some PG skills, but he's a scorer, and more of a fit at the SG position.Plus Avery trusts DA, as he should, since you know what your going to get with DA, the good and the bad. You don't with Marquise.BTW, Damp is playing like a beast right now.
Armstrong equals turnovers and poor shooting though he is playing well tonight. The home crowd and the 2 days off has helped everyone on Dallas.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Apr 17 2006, 01:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Armstrong equals turnovers and poor shooting though he is playing well tonight. The home crowd and the 2 days off has helped everyone on Dallas.</div>i agree that Armstrong is turnover prone, but his shooting % is kind of decieving. He does shoot pretty awful from the field, but you also have to know when he is shooting the ball. He isnt shooting the ball that much when the game is on the line. Most of his shots are when the game is a blowout and its at the end of the game. So even though its bad, he doesnt shoot the ball alot.
Mavsfan, well idk if I can even call you that anymore. Change your name to dirkandharrisfan. Understand Armstrong isnt on the team for his capibilty to be a elite player on this team. To me, and I would hope many other Mavs fans, I dont care if he takes 5 shots and misses all of them. He's not here for that. You have to look behind on how he plays. He is a important role in the locker room, I would have to say he could be the brains of the team. Lots of players look up to him. He's a guy that will teach players, Devin Harris for an example. DA already had his prime, he's old, I dont care how bad he plays. His bad proformance wont hurt this team one bit, we have plenty other players to realy on. Bash him about not being a poor shooter and a turnover machine, but respect him for the other things his has brought to this team
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lazy @ Apr 17 2006, 01:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Mavsfan, well idk if I can even call you that anymore. Change your name to dirkandharrisfan. Understand Armstrong isnt on the team for his capibilty to be a elite player on this team. To me, and I would hope many other Mavs fans, I dont care if he takes 5 shots and misses all of them. He's not here for that. You have to look behind on how he plays. He is a important role in the locker room, I would have to say he could be the brains of the team. Lots of players look up to him. He's a guy that will teach players, Devin Harris for an example. DA already had his prime, he's old, I dont care how bad he plays. His bad proformance wont hurt this team one bit, we have plenty other players to realy on. Bash him about not being a poor shooter and a turnover machine, but respect him for the other things his has brought to this team</div>I bash him for the player he is now. I want the BEST players on the court at all times and not the most respected. To me Daniels is a better backup point guard than Darrell Armstrong. If Harris was healthy we wouldn't have to deal with DA's weak point guard skills. :no1:
