<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ May 29 2006, 03:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well Howard can lean into Marion enough so Marion won't be able to block his shots on layups. Howard has a very quick step around the basket and it is very hard to guard when his timing is on and he is patient with his offensive moves. He plays better at home than on the road anyways. San Antonio did as good of a job as anyone against Howard. Bruce Bowen guarding him.</div>So Bowen was guarding 2 players at the same time? No wonder San Antonio lost. Bowen isn't THAT good.But Marion is stronger and he's a good defender. Guarding fast players isn't a problem either. He's a guy that can guard big power forwards and faster guards. Howard won't have a dominant game at least. He'll definetly have some good ones.That's funny Melo. I bet you had a lot of time to think that one up with your team out of the playoffs and no football team to talk about. :happy0144: D'Antoni is a good coach and does more than say "run". Getting to the WCF twice, especially this year is a big accomplishment. You can laugh all you wantright now, but no one will be laughing next year.
Marion might have a jumping advantage but I still think Howard will have the speed advantage along with a position advantage. Howard is the best kept secret in the nba.
Howard is a great player and he could be as good as Marion, but more consistent in the playoffs, in the future. He's one of my favorite players. The Marion-Howard match-up is a very good one. Right now I think Marion has a small advantage though.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>That's funny Melo. I bet you had a lot of time to think that one up with your team out of the playoffs and no football team to talk about. D'Antoni is a good coach and does more than say "run". Getting to the WCF twice, especially this year is a big accomplishment. You can laugh all you wantright now, but no one will be laughing next year.</div>Getting to the West Finals twice, is an accomplishment, especially in back to back years.BUT, you have to admit, and easy route to the WCF's did help out alot. I know the Suns can't determine who they play, but it DID have something to do with it.OH, and I know with Amare the Suns would be even better, but I think your shortchanging the Mavs, and Spurs, if you think the Suns would obviously have a title, last year or this year if he was healthy...I think the Suns will improve, with Amare coming back...but I think the Spurs bounce back strong after being dethroned by the Mavs.But I also think that the Mavs will be better next year too, for these reasonsirk gets better every year.Howard is just now starting to become comfortable with being the #2 guy on the team.It took till the SA series to realize that Terry was actually a SG and not a PG.Harris will improve in his 3rd year, remember, with all the time he's missed, he's still basically a rookie.Marquis Daniels should get more playing time next year, and as a result, we should be better.Oh and lets not forget Diop, who after getting better as the season come along, should develop some post game, and become a better rebounder in his second season with the Mavs.And basically just the overall improvement of a team that plays together for several years.I think for those reasons, the improvement the Suns will get threw getting Amare, and Thomas, and even Bell back, will be matched by the natural progression of the Mavs players, and team play.So the series you see now, could possibly be the same teams you see next year fighting for the title.And all in all, the West will still be loaded, and tons tougher than the East, IMO.
We had it easier this year, but the Clippers were also a huge match-up problem for us without Kurt. And also last year we had to play you guys instead of a worse Sonics team so it works both ways. And who knows, maybe if Stackhouse wasn't there we'd have Joe Johnson then... I think the injuries this year in a way have improved the team. Amare will not dunk over everyone but should hopefully be a better overall player. Diaw got a lot of playing time and has kept improving. I think he will become an all-star caliber player in the near future. We discovered Tim Thomas with KT's injury, someone who fits perfectly in our style and has played defense and rebounded better than expected. I think all we right now is an experienced back-up point guard who can play a little D. I'm thinking trade Barbosa with some picks for someone....but that's for the offseason discussion, not the playoff forum.I know if we were healthy this year we probably would have been the best but yes the off-season does change things and I agree with what you said about the Mavs, except I think Dirk has almost reached the top. I wouldn't expect too much of an improvement. If we don't screw up though I think we should be the team to beat.
You might be right about Dirk peaking...but we haven't seen it yet. He's improved greatly for the last 8 years, always coming back with better game.As of last year, his defense, post game, and passing were his only question marks, and at the very leasdt his post game and passing ability has improved immensely.I do think his defense is improving more and more every year, and that's the only thing I think he can get better at...and he just might.But overall, untill we see him digress, he just might, have another plain he can reach.I'm not sure about the Amare deal though. I mean he was a high flyer, dunking on everyone last year, and missing an entire season, won't make him a better player, he might actually take a small step back...y'know bad, long term injuries are a tough thing to deal with, both physically and, more importantly to me, mentally.But I expect him to come back as good as he was last year...but I don't think his game will have improved...I think game experience is the only thing that can do that.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>If we don't screw up though I think we should be the team to beat.</div> No the team that wins the championship is the team to beat. I still haven't seen what Amare is like coming back from this injury and going through a full season. Just because he's back I don't expect to just hand best team title to the Suns next year. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>And who knows, maybe if Stackhouse wasn't there we'd have Joe Johnson then... </div> What?
Yeah I must have skipped over that comment about them being the "Team to beat". I think even last year, when they had the best record, I think the Pistons as defending champs, and maybe even the Spurs were the teams to beat...
I don't believe that the champion is the team to beat really. It all depends on the off-season. Teams don't usually repeat as champions and I don't usually think of the LAST season's champions to be THIS year's best team.I said Amare would be better because his shooting improved a lot as some people saw in his first game back. I also heard he's been automatic from 3's(even though I know practice is different and I never will expect him to be a 3-point shooter). His mid-ranged shot is much improved though. He won't be dunking over everyone like before. He may get a couple dunks a game but I'm sure he's been working with the coaches and the veteran big men learning more moves inside. His passing was better from what I saw and have heard also. His defense should be alright. He might not get many blocks, but again with the veteran big men there I think he will be smarter. And i've always said, I think he can be a solid defender with more maturity which I think a year would give him. He screwed up so many times last year because he ALWAYS argued with the ref and didn't get back on defense.Amare really wants to get out there and play. He is a hard worker and if anyone is going to get back from this injury it's him. If Tim Thomas stays him and Amare will share time at the beggining I'm guessing. They won't throw Amare out there for 40+ minutes right away. I do expect him to average close to a double double with a few assists and a block. I think it will take him another year to get closer to 100%. I think overall this time will help him. He undoubtedly has spent his time off wisely like Tim Thomas did.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ May 29 2006, 08:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>What?</div>I'm just talking about how the Suns had to face the Mavs who were a tougher team than the Sonics and maybe since Stackhouse wasn't there we'd still have JJ for the whole series, but who knows?
lol, I don't think the Suns are going to win 3 in a row. No way. We need to put Thomas back in and Raja needs to return by at least Game 6 and then we might win in 7.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (STAT @ May 29 2006, 10:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I still have to go with the Suns in 6.</div>You've got to be kidding right?
Kurt Thomas is not a help for the suns against the mavs. He slows down the suns offense and doesn't have a low post prescence player like Duncan to guard. Maybe in general Phoenix is a better team but against Dallas you need to play small and force Dallas to play against their strength and that is slowing the game down on offense.
I dont want Kurt to come back because of the flagrant he did on daniels early in the season. That was a sh*tty play on his part.
Jhoward, if you are going to complain about Kurt's flagrant do the same about Howard's on TT...Mavs, he will definetly help us. He has never slowed down our offense before. When we had him we still scored 120. And even if he slows us down some, it's not like we are running much anyway. We need rebounding right now and he is our best rebounder. He gives us some defense so that Dallas doesen't drive to the basket as easily. He is maybe the best at drawing fouls down there for us too. We also need more depth. 6(5, 1/2, 1/2) players won't help us win. We brought him in for the playoffs and we need him right now. The whole team is worn out, we need some depth. D'Antoni said Raja should be back for Game 5 or 6 but Kurt WILL help us to win now. It's time to bring him back and all the Suns fans know it. Don't make a mistake, Mike.
To me whoever wins the championship is the team to beat next year. It's that simple, just like all year Spurs were deemed the team to beat and were called the champs throughout the playoffs. You have to beat the champ, to become the champ. Also, having the best team on paper doesn't translate to being the team to beat. Who cares, you still beat us without JJ for a couple games. It's redundant to even bring it up. The difference is Kurt's sidelined Daniels a couple weeks, and he's had problems with his neck through the rest of the season. I don't see anything wrong with Tim Thomas after that foul, except his balls shrunk. I hope you do play Kurt, it only benefits the Mavs, who can now bring in Dampier and our other centers. One of our best strengths is our center play. So again, I hope Mike brings in Kurt. Rebounding edge should still be in favor of Mavs despite the move.
His balls shrunk, hmm what do you mean by that?And i'll repeat, Kurt has never slowed down our offense. Dampier will still be the slowest guy out there. We will do better in rebounding. With Kurt we won't let those easy rebounds get by. Dallas will have less offensive rebounds and more rebounds=more fast breaks for us. The guy that rebounds usually isn't in the fast break anyway so it doesen't matter if Kurt is a little slow, but he was always there at the end to take a mid range shot if they needed him.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>His balls shrunk, hmm what do you mean by that?</div> That his balls shrunk . After that hit, he decided to push himself through 4 Mavs to get to the free throw line. Not only after that did Mavs start to cut into the lead, but it was our pace from there on out. So technically speaking that whole incident only fired Mavs up, while Tim Thomas proceeded to just disappear. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>And i'll repeat, Kurt has never slowed down our offense. Dampier will still be the slowest guy out there.</div> Um that's the point though, with Kurt out there, Damp would be able to play. Damp is one of our best rebounders, especially on the offensive end. So we only get better with being able to play him. Also, we want a slow pace, I don't expect Kurt to beat Damp back to the court, and on top of that I don't expect Kurt to be shooting three pointers, allowing Damp to stay in the paint. All benefits to the Mavs. So again, I hope Mike plays Kurt. Your only allowing Mavs to be able to play one of our strengths. And I don't think Kurt improves your rebounding, Marion is getting mid teens in rebounding because of our small lineup. With Damp/Diop out there, and Kurt, Marion's rebounding numbers decrease, and pretty much I expect those teens numbers that Marion was getting to be split with Kurt/Marion. Not decreasing or increasing imo. Were outrebounding you with Dirk/Van Horn/Diop, you adding Kurt, were just add Damp, rebounding is still our edge.
With Kurt in the line-up during the regular season Marion still got as many rebounds. With Kurt we won't let easy ones that we should have gotten get away. Kurt was running well this year so I don't understand why you think we'd just slow down. He has a nice shot too that would take Damp out of paint. He can also run better than Damp(especially since he lost a lot of weight this season to be able to play with us) so if you guys put in Damp then our offense will go back to scoring in the 100's. Without Kurt we were one of the softest teams with the worst rebounding and worst inside defense. He will only help. And he's actually smart enough to flop once in a while and get us some calls. With his injury I think some people have forgotten how important he was to the team. If he's ready to play he needs to be put in there. There's a reason why all of the Arizona fans and Arizona writers that have watched him play the whole season know that he should be put in there. Even if it's for a little while.
