Collab for April 20th game against Seattle

Aye Aye Aye. Hurry up!

 

C to SF Matchups



C- <font color="DarkRed">Yao Ming</font> vs <font color="Navy">Erick Dampier</font>- This is a pretty crucial matchup here. Very different players here, Yao plays through jumpers and finesse while Dampier plays more physically and bodying. However, Houston's fate in the playoffs depends on this matchup. Yao Ming needs to really step it up and bring down rebounds and points. First off, since Dallas makes a lot of their shots, its very important to grab the ones that they don't. Between these two guys, Yao has more capabilities of scoring than Dampier- but has to score as well. He has the obvious height advantage over Dampier as well as a bigger offensive arensal. Question is, can Yao step it up for the playoffs and bring his A game? Houston Advantage



PF- <font color="DarkRed">Ryan Bowen</font> vs <font color="Navy">Dirk Nowitzki</font>- Definitely not a matchup of the century. Here we've got Dallas' best player against Houston's weakest position. However, thats not really the point here. We already know that combined, all the power forwards on Houston probably can't outscore Dirk on a given night, so the key here would be for Bowen to contain Dirk's scoring. Bowen's got the height, speed, and hustle to do it, so the question is if he can keep up with Dirk and draw double teams away from McGrady. If Bowen gets open shots, he needs to take it to make Dallas think twice about doubling McGrady. Meanwhile, Dirk will probably have his usual game on- hitting the threes, scoring inside, and giving Houston a world of troubles. Dallas Advantage



SF- <font color="DarkRed">Tracy McGrady</font> vs <font color="Navy">Josh Howard</font>- This matchup hopefully will even things out with the whole Dirk thing going on. Basically, Dallas is sticking their best defender on McGrady and trying to contain the game that he brings. On any given night, McGrady can light up the crowd and will the team to victory. Plus, he has a huge arsenal of offensive weapons at his disposal- the one on one game, the long range, the inside, and the midrange. Which is like the entire court. Don't underestimate Josh Howard however, if he stays aggressive, he can put up around twelve points a night and grab a decent amount of boards. However, the just doesn't equal McGrady. Houston Advantage

Prediction

I think the key for Houston would be two things- control the tempo and for Yao to step up. For the past two playoffs, Yao hasn't been doing that stellar and has really backed off from the pressure. However, if there was ever a time to step up, this would be it. Also, controlling the tempo would help stop Dallas' insanely fast offense and give us some edge. If Houston plays good enough defense and good enough offense, they should be able to give Dallas a run for their money. Stop everyone other than Dirk- stop Dallas.

Houston win, 105-101.

 

Aznxballer, would you mind writing the whole preview and posting it tomorrow if Dan Le and magno still don't show up with their parts by 10am tomorrow, EST? I'll be away tomorrow and only be back in time for the game, but I'd like it posted earlier. I would write it if I had the time, but I would have to go to sleep soon.

Thanks for the help, Trip

 

Shooting Guard to Sixth Man Matchups

[VS.

SG-
David Wesley/Michael Finley
Key matchup here, Finley still hasn't lost that explosiveness he once had, and Wesley is a deadly spot up shooter. Shooting-wise, both are basically even, but Finley's ability to score in the oddest situations, whether he is tripled, or throws up a random shot, seperates the two. If Wesley can just hit his shots, this matchup shouldn't be as uneven as it could be, but by going by pure talent and stats, Finley wins this.
Advantage: Dallas

VS.

PG-
Bob Sura/Jason Terry
These two are very streaky players. Both can go off for 30, or give you 7 a game. But both have the ability to keep their team in the game. Whatever defense you throw at him, Terry can will his way into scoring points. Sura can will anything into happening, battling back from surgery and asserting himself in our offense well. Terry is to big of an offensive threat to be left alone, so do not expect Sura to be doubling Dirk. This is a tough one to call, so I'll say it even, but Terry has a bigger advantage on the offensive end.
Advantage: Even



Sixth Man-
Mike James/Jerry Stackhouse
A Former Superstar in Stackhouse, versus an experienced, talented role-player who won a ring last year with Detroit in James. Most people would pick Stack' in this matchup, but they shouldn't be playing each other straight up consistently. James is just as explosive as Stackhouse, and his defense is rated higher. If the Rockets take out Stackhouse in this series, they have a HUGE chance to win it, that being said, Dallas should have a really hard time taking James out of the series. Like Terry, he can find a way to score.
Advantage: Even


Prediction
This game should be hard fought, with Houston being a good road team. But Dallas is playing at home, and this being their first home play-off game, the crowd should be up for it too. A close, high scoring contest being decided late in the fourth. As badly as I want the Rockets to take this one, which is very possible (See first game against LA last year), Dallas should be just as hungry and ready on their turf.
Rockets 113
Dallas 119

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">Aznxballer, would you mind writing the whole preview and posting it tomorrow if Dan Le and magno still don't show up with their parts by 10am tomorrow, EST? I'll be away tomorrow and only be back in time for the game, but I'd like it posted earlier. I would write it if I had the time, but I would have to go to sleep soon.

Thanks for the help, Trip</div>

So, now that magnomonkey posted his, what am I supposed to do?

 

Hmm. Tell you what, I'll write my part, and if Dan Le doesn't post his by 10am tomorrow, could you write his part (keys to the game for Dallas). If not, I could PM kingrex, the Dallas poster who's been spending time in our forum, and ask him to help by doing that. I personally would go with him since he probably knows more about it and it wouldn't put such a heaven burden on you. Then again, we'd be pretty screwed if Dan Le does show up with his part...

I guess I would PM kingrex right now and ask if it would be alright for him to do it, and if we need him to when Dan Le doesn't show up, I guess you could PM him again tomorrow morning and then put it together and post it. Or you could do it yourself, it's your choice.

 

Threes - The Rockets attempt quite a few three pointers every night. With great perimeter shooters like David Wesley, Jon Barry and Mike James on the roster, it should be deemed reasonable that the Rockets live and die by the three at times. If Houston wants to win on Saturday, they'll have to make their three point attempts.

Yao/Mac Produce - Like a lot of teams that rely on stars to pull them over the hill, the Rockets' success each night depends on the MacMing combo. Both players will have physical defenders on them, so they would have to be smart and not get stupid offensive fouls. McGrady would have to make his shots and Yao would have to do a good job getting offensive rebounds and scoring in the post.

Keep rest of Dallas in check - Houston will most likely feature Ryan Bowen, Scott Padgett and Clarence Weatherspoon in an effort to stop Dirk Nowitzki, he the same superstar who scored 53 points on the Rockets in December. The team will have to face this bleak reality: Nowitzki will score at least 30 on you. Thus, it is very important to make sure no one else on the Dallas roster scores too much. Keep everyone else from putting up big stats; Dirk can't win games by himself.

Prediction: Both teams have ended the regular season on big winning streaks. Houston needs to keep check of Dirk, while Dallas needs to find a way to stop McGrady, who no doubt would be playing like a mad man in his search for victory in the playoffs. It's a fairly even matchup but I would go with the Mavs since they have the playoff experience and have homecourt advantage.

Houston: 99
Dallas: 105

 

So, you wanna do Dan Le's part tomorrow if he doesn't show up or do you want me to PM kingrex?

 

I went ahead and posted it, without the Mavs' keys to the game.

 

oh alright.. I had half of the preview done, but its fine then. We'll just get it for the next game.

 

Don't think we need to change much. I'll edit the keys to the game depending on how game 1 goes, but the matchups wouldn't need change barring any injuries or lineup changes. If you guys have any new observations, you could of course edit your matchups.

 

Keys to the game for Dallas by Dan

Ineffective Yao - If the Dallas Mavericks can get Yao Ming into foul trouble then their second best player is out of the game, Yao has proved that when he gets the minutes he can fill up those stat sheets, lately he has been averaging more blocks and shown more agression on the court, but if the Mavericks can draw the fouls most of the time the foul will be called on Yao, obviously this is a big advantage for them, a benched Yao can't do much can he?

Shooting - Besides from maybe Dampier, the whole starting line up can shoot the ball, Dirk Nowitzki being the deadliest of them all, if he can get his shots to go he'll be unstoppable, there's no one on the Rockets that can guard him well. Jason Terry is another, a very very fast point guard, he can speed past you and lay it up or pull up for a jumper with ease, this what makes him so versatile on offense, the uprising Josh Howard has shown some of his potential as well. The other players to watch out for are Michael Finley and Jerry Stackhouse.

Don't Underestimate - Players like Mike James, Jon Barry, Dikembe Mutombo and Ryan Bowen are all good players in their own field, Mike James can hit 3-4 shots in a row over a defender if he gains enough confidence, Jon Barry is a fantastic shooter that is completely unpredictable, even if he's open he'll pass it to another player if he sees they have a better chance at scoring, very unselfish player and even puts some style into his passes. Dikembe Mutombo is a rebounding machine, even at his age he'll pick up 9 rebounds and block 2 shots in about 20 minutes he has also gotten alot better at free throws so don't foul him purposley thinking you just got away with 2 points...

Prediction
Both teams have been playing great in the regular season, we finished with a 7 game win streak and the Mavericks finished on 9, we're a great road team but Dallas are just such a great team now that Avery has taken over they're even better, honesty we don't have anyone that can guard Dirk, we're in trouble.

Houston - 82
Dallas - 96


Also I'm really sorry I didn't post anything, I was at a sleepover with some friends and completely forgot we have collabs for every playoff game, also with this preview I wrote it up with what I would of said before I saw the boxscore, so it'd match in more.

Again really sorry....

 

Hmm crap. magno and Aznx, I don't need changes to your parts of the preview but I need new predictions. I'll post the preview now and as you post your predictions, I'll edit them into the preview.

EDIT: more crap lol. Dan I need your prediction to actually talk about the second game. We've already proven we could guard Dirk...

Looks like I'll post this tomorrow.

 

Yeah Trip that one there was just for the first game if you could edit that back in the game preview, don't worry i'll write up another one for the upcoming game...

 

Stop T-Mac - In the last meeting Tracy Mcgrady scored 34 points to lead the game in scoring, that needs to change, the Rockets have a very good win record whenever Tracy scores over 30 points, they'll have to rethink their defence and try to come up with a way of retaining him or at least holding him to just over 20 points because as it seems whne he has a good game, everything changes, the confidence, the defence, and this isn't just by him, it's by the whole Houston team!

Draw Fouls - They're going to have to get to the rim, try and draw the foul to get them 2 easy shots, in the last game Yao Ming only played 20 minutes of the game before being fouled out, he had only scored 11 points and only grabbed 8 rebounds, Ryan Bowen was also fouled off after 31 minutes of play, although on offense he wasn't too flash he played great defence on Dirk, but couldn't stay out of foul trouble. Dirk had 13 free throws and 11 points from free throws alone, if they can get Yao into foul trouble and maybe even T-Mac they'll obviously have a huge advantage, but easier said then done.

Shooting - I don't know if I can be any more straight foward here, this is the same as any game for any team but is really a key to the Mavericks success, they will have to find a way for Dirk to score, although the Rockets did a great job on guarding him, he should find another way to get the ball in the basket, another player who didn't shoot too well is Michael Finley he only scored 5 points on 2/8 shooting and he's another one of their key players, it may of been the defense that stopped him, it may of been that he was just in a slump, but he has got to get out of it, Jerry Stackhouse had 14 points but was also 4/13 from the field which is far from impressive, this all had to change, but Jason Terry did have a good shooting night and Josh Howard got the points on the board before being fouled out too.

Rebounds - The Dallas Mavericks really have to take advantage of this on the offensive and defensive end, they should have a big advantage in this, the Rockets only above average rebounders are Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo, where as the Mavericks have Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier and even Keith Van Horn, in Game 1 the Mavericks only had 5 more rebounds, which is still good, but if they want a really big advantage they'll have to fight for every single rebound, be agressive about it to stop a second chance basket or to create one for themselves.



Thats for the Game, i'll post my prediction later...

 

Okay, I was fixing my normal computer last night, so now I can't get online at home at all; I'm in school right now.

I'll need someone to post up the whole preview. I guess we'll have to make do without my wonderful predictions.

Much appreciated help.

 

Yeah, remember last time when Dan Le wasn't here and you asked me to get some Dallas previews? Well I asked Kingrex on Saturday but he gave me a preview today, which is a bit late. But if you want it Trip, here's his keys to the game-

1) Deny McGrady the ball. McGrady showed in Game 1 that it doesn't matter who's defending him, when he has the ball, he can score. Therefore, make him work to just get the ball. If you can limit his touches, then you have a better chance of slowing hime down.

2) Post Nowitzki on the blocks against quicker defenders. The blueprint to defend Dirk is to put a smaller and quicker guy on him (most effectively done my Shawn Marion) where he can't drive the ball. Dirk's best counter will be to use his superior size on the blocks against this type of defender.

3) Be the aggressors. In Game 1, the Mavericks were put back on there heels by the more aggressive Houston team. The Mavs, in contrast, played tentative on both ends. They need to match Houston's hustle and effort and allow their deeper talent to shine through. Without the effort, talent means nothing (see the Bowen v. Nowitzki match-up in Game 1).

My Prediction

In Game 2 of this first round matchup, Dallas is going to go strong. They lost against Houston in the first game and won't lose at home again. Avery will probably have worked out a new strategy for his team and probably will utilize Terry and the swingmen more to take some pressure off Dirk. Once these guys get going, they are going to burn us out since they are an incredibly deep team. If Houston can just stay in the game with some defense and have a nice inside out game with Yao and McGrady, we might be able to pull away. With that said, this should be a tightly contested game.

Dallas win, 98-94.

BTW- Sorry Trip, but I can't post the preview tonight since I have a ton of homework to do. About three tests tomorow, I'm definitely not going to make it if I do the preview. Sorry guys.

 

My Prediction

We won game 1 when Dallas were at home, Dirk was having an off night, Michael Finley was having an offnight...That won't happen again. The Mavericks are going to find a way to score if not through Dirk then through Terry, you have to remember this team had a 9 game winning streak heading into the playoffs, I think the only way we can survive in this game is play great defence and T-Mac has a really good game again.

Dallas - 102
Houston - 96

 

So who's posting the preview?

 

Post the preview? you mean just copy everything of all the different parts in a new thread? I don't know if thats what you guys mean but since no one has posted it i'm getting kinda worried...i'll post it myself and if I did something wrong someone just delete it...