found this interesting article on Fox... lol. I just noticed it was posted 2 minutes ago. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3553934 snippet: "During the regular season, the teams not only split their four head-to-head games, but were also 1-1 on their respective home courts. Aside from somewhat minimizing Dallas' home-court edge, however, none of these previous battles have much significance in the money games to come. Dirk Nowitzki plays defense with his hands not his feet, and has never been able to guard his own lunch. The Mavs' two wins transpired in early December ? when the Rockets were struggling to integrate Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming with a cohesive game plan ? and should be disregarded. The importance of Houston's lopsided 90-69 win on March 3 should likewise be minimized since both Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley were down with injuries. Both squads were intact when the Rockets trounced Dallas 124-114 back on January 2, but in the existential world of the NBA that game is also ancient history."
the Rockets' defense is definitely more legit...the Mavs have been playing stellar defense but only since Avery has had more control...the Rockets have played stifling defense the past two years and also have playoff experience with their defensive system...the Mavs will have to adjust to the playoffs with their new schemes and how to apply them in a playoff setting...
Parts of that article are just silly. Houston's overrated defense...Mike James and Jon Barry strictly 3-point specialists...? C'mon now.
isnt mike james a good defender too? well i think our defense is more true, because if you look at it during the 1st quarter of every game that we play against a tought team, starting the second quarter or even the half we adjust we hold our opponents, and plus our team has many great defenders, deke, wesley bowen mcgrady even though hes not great sometimes he plays smart, mike james. we will play and adjust like we always do and thats what a good defense in my opinion does.
Houston's biggest defensive dilemma will be who will defend Dirk. Certainly as a team, you can argue that Houston's defense has been better. Their opponent's FG%, opponent's points per game and opponents turnovers per game are better than the Mavs. However, the Mavs have more blocks per game, more steals per game and they are number one in opponent's 3pt FG%. So, don't sell the Mavs short on defense either. I agree, Dirk is not a good one on one defender, but with Dampier behind him and Howard and company providing some help side defense, then it can be compensated for.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting kingrex:</div><div class="quote_post">Houston's biggest defensive dilemma will be who will defend Dirk. Certainly as a team, you can argue that Houston's defense has been better. Their opponent's FG%, opponent's points per game and opponents turnovers per game are better than the Mavs. However, the Mavs have more blocks per game, more steals per game and they are number one in opponent's 3pt FG%. So, don't sell the Mavs short on defense either. I agree, Dirk is not a good one on one defender, but with Dampier behind him and Howard and company providing some help side defense, then it can be compensated for.</div> Dirk will definitely average upwards of 30 ppg, that's for sure. It would've been better if we'd had Howard, but I guess we would have to make do with Bowen, Weatherspoon and Padgett for most of the games. Placing McGrady on Dirk in a box and one situation could possibly work, so I think that Houston should try that for bits of games. The best thing for Houston to do is to run as many pick and rolls with McGrady and our power forward as possible. Hopefully, it would create a switch and place Nowitzki on McGrady, and then TMac could drive in and draw fouls on either Dampier or Nowitzki. Keeping the two big men out of the game would be crucial for a Rockets victory.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post"> The best thing for Houston to do is to run as many pick and rolls with McGrady and our power forward as possible. Hopefully, it would create a switch and place Nowitzki on McGrady, and then TMac could drive in and draw fouls on either Dampier or Nowitzki. Keeping the two big men out of the game would be crucial for a Rockets victory.</div> That is a good plan, but if you watch how the Mavs defends pick and rolls, they don't often switch defenders. The big man will normally show to prevent the dribbler from driving in the lane, but quickly switches back to his man after the dribbler's defender recovers. In doing that, however, they will be susceptible to a pull-up jumper from McGrady, but I suppose the Mavs will trade a lower percentage pull-up jumper, over a possible and-1 shot in the lane. It will be a great series. I can't wait to see what they do.
I dont know whos d is legit but the mavs have one d fencive advantage. they have guys that can take turns guarding t mac. that would be Fin, Stack, and howard. i dont know who is gonna guard dirk. and that may be the dent in the rocs armor in this series.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting michiganave17:</div><div class="quote_post">I dont know whos d is legit but the mavs have one d fencive advantage. they have guys that can take turns guarding t mac. that would be Fin, Stack, and howard. i dont know who is gonna guard dirk. and that may be the chink in the rocs armor in this series.</div> Don't forget Marquis Daniels, who is actually good friends with McGrady (both guys met while training in Orlando). Houston will put Witherspoon, Padgett & Bowen against Dirk (and maybe even recently activatted Vin Baker).
If I remember correctly, Dirk has usually played very well in the playoffs. My guess is that Spoon won't see many minutes this series at PF, and Bowen will get a lot of minutes. McGrady's back is a concern as well, and he'll have to content with Dallas's best defender in Josh Howard. I can see us winning this series without Yao coming up really big. Dampier has given him fits at times during the season, so he needs to step up his game. I think we'll win a game or two in Dallas, and possibly drop some games at home. It will go 6 or 7 games.
we definetly need every player to step up in this series, since mcgrady will be busy guarded by Dallas defenders, he need to trust his teammates and kick out to some open shots to Wesley and others. ANd mostly,, we need Yao to come up really big in this series, he needs to utilizes his skills agasint Dampier, i think we will win game or two in Dallas , and drop some at home, and eventualy take the series in 6 or 7
cant forget about dallas' 3 point shooting either,,, they are not that bad from the arc, we will have to contest everything and move out and guard man to man which may tire out our team so much because of the fact that dallas has some really young players in their teams.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting kingrex:</div><div class="quote_post">That is a good plan, but if you watch how the Mavs defends pick and rolls, they don't often switch defenders. The big man will normally show to prevent the dribbler from driving in the lane, but quickly switches back to his man after the dribbler's defender recovers. In doing that, however, they will be susceptible to a pull-up jumper from McGrady, but I suppose the Mavs will trade a lower percentage pull-up jumper, over a possible and-1 shot in the lane. It will be a great series. I can't wait to see what they do.</div> By shadowing the guy receiving the pick, wouldn't the big guy be exposing the guy he's guarding for a short while. What I think in that case it would be best for TMac to pass it back to the picksetter immediately, who will probably be Bowen or Padgett. If they could knock down the perimeter jumper, I believe it would force Nowitzki to switch and not cheat off picks. If Padgett and Bowen can't hit their shots, however, I guess the pick and roll won't be effective unless McGrady is able to hit that pull up jumper.
Well, defensively, the Mavs played the same way Dirk did offensively, very tentative and weak. McGrady made every shot open or with a hand in his face. Great game by McGrady. Trip, you and I pretty much predicted the result of the pick and roll. The big men showed, but never completely, so it actually did no good. It wasn't until the 3rd quarter that they actually showed more effectively. However, in that first half, McGrady had the option of the pull-up jumper, or at times a practically open lane to dunk. Just a sad showing by the Mavs defense. Very unlike how they've played defense towards the end of the season. Very disappointing.
The Rockets really limited Dallas's opportunities to go out on the break, and I believe that's why the Rockets prevailed. When the Mavs can get out and run in the open court, they're unstoppable, but they were stopped on Saturday. If I'm the Mavs, I'm basically in a must win situation. If they can attack the rim this game like they did in the third quarter and beyond in Game 1, then I would say it's a toss up as to who wins. If not, Houston will probably take the game and the series.
I think the Mavs thought that they could beat Houston at their own game which of course played right into the Rockets' gameplan. It was a halfcourt game which is the strength of the Rockets team. As a Mavs fan, I hope that the Mavs can exert their will instead of succumbing to Houston's will like they did in Game 1.
I didnt like that article. Houston's defense isnt really overated and we got mike james because of his defense. No one ever really credits them for it though they should. Houston's defense is better, but i dont think that will be as much of a factor this series as it was in game 1. The mavs will probably pick up their tempo from game 1 and force the rockets into more shoot out situations like the 3rd game of the season series.
Yeah, I think our D is better even though the Mavs have been great under Avery. Second game will be tough since everyone expects Dirk to get over the first game hump and post up huge numbers. Hopefully our D will shine through in this series.
Judging by the first 2 games so far, Houston has proven to be the better defensive team when it counted the most. Will the Mavs defense play close to the way they've played in the regular season? There's nor reason to believe they will so far, but as a Mavs fan, I have to believe they will while there are still games to play.
Game 1 was a defensive showcase, game 2 was the exact opposite. The two teams were trading baskets for most of the game. In the end though, the Rockets got the last basket. Dirk didn't shoot well again, and that's another reason why the Rockets won. I think the Mavs played with more urgency this game though, as they stayed in the game all game unlike the first game. It's still anyone's series, although the Rockets have the cushion to drop one game.
