Guards: Since Wesley spends most of his time on the perimeter, I would match Terry against Wesley where his size is not a detriment on defense. I would then put Finley on Sura, since Bobby likes to drive the lane and shoot over his defenders. I would only hope that Finley's subpar lateral speed won't get him beat. I like his size advantage against Sura in the paint. Forwards: McGrady will not be stopped, but his touches can be limited. I like Howards ability to deny Tracy the ball. And, when he gets tired, put Stackhouse or Daniels on him. Tracy will get his, but it's alot harder to score when you don't have the ball. Nowitzki will defend against Witherspoon. The biggest challenge will be to keep him off the boards. Otherwise, Houston will not go to the 'Spoon on offense too often, and if they do, then that just means less scoring opportunities for Tracy and Yao. Center: That leaves Dampier against Yao. I actually like Bradley defending Yao better, but I prefer Dampier to start, so for a good share of the minutes, Dampier will have to defend Yao. If Yao is aggressive and gets Dampier into foul trouble, then I don't mind going to Bradley quickly. Otherwise, Damp just needs to match Yao's aggressiveness.
If you guys are going to leave Weatherspoon wide open and decide to double team Yao or McGrady as some teams have done this season, he will hit a few mid range jumpers. Him and Bowen both are actually pretty underrated mid range shooters. As for the Mavs on offense, their best bet would be to go to Dirk, but also give Dampier the ball down low and let him draw fouls on Yao. Shawn Bradley also has done pretty well traditionally against Yao; I'd play him some minutes as well. It will come down to the benches and perimeter defense in this series. The Mavs have a better reputed bench than Houston in Stackhouse, Daniels, Harris, Bradley and Van Horn, but although Houston features scrappy players without a wide array of skills, they can surprise you. Guarding Padgett, James and Barry and Wesley on the perimeter would be key, as Houston would shoot a fair amount of wide open threes off of Yao and McGrady double teams.
I would leave Witherspoon/Bowen open until they can prove that they can hit that shot consistently. In other words, I'd trade their FG% in a pressure situation over the playmaking ability of McGrady or the more consistent shooting of Yao. I agree with you that Dirk should be the number 1 option on offense, or at least make sure he gets a touch. Dampier doesn't need to be a post-up option, but he needs to out-hustle the slower Yao on the offensive boards, and be opportunistic in his scoring. As for the benches, it is true that the Mavs are more talented, but I think the strength of Houston's bench is their ability to do their roles well. They just play within themselves and execute JVG's game plan. I'm especially wary of the match-up between James (veteran of the play-offs) against Harris (rookie). It will be a good series, and I can't wait for it to start.
You could definitely find more people to discuss the series with in the Rockets forum, as you've done already. The Mavs forum, to be frank, doesn't really feature much activity, although some like samoan-maverick come around occasionally. The James/Harris matchup would definitely be good. On one side you have a good scoring veteran who is a good three point shooter and defender, the other side you have an explosive and fast rookie PG. Would Daniels also play some minutes at the one? Harris would also definitely draw fouls on Yao; his moves are so fast I highly doubt Yao would react in time to block any layup/dunk attempts.
There is almost zero activity on this mavs forum. I post on a different forum too which is almost too crowded, but I think too-crowded is better than no activity. However, I like quality of posts here and would like to continue to contribute. I also like the fan-diversity on this board. I even like going into the Rockets forum. As predicted, the James/Harris match-up was key. Game 1 goes to James. Experience over youthful zeal. Basically, Avery had to eventually sit the rook down before he got burned too often. Let's see how he responds in Game 2.
I like the lineup of Yao in the middle, T-Mac at the 4 and 3 smalls in the backcourt in James, Sura and Barry/Wesley. All 3 guys in the backcourt like to hound players on D and T-Mac matches up pretty well with Dirk. It worked pretty well in game 2, though I'd only expect to see this lineup if Bowen gets in foul trouble, or late in the game. I doubt JVG wants to tire out T-Mac by making him chase Dirk around.
The Mavs could really be tough for Houston to handle if they played their cards right. Thankfully for the Rockets, they didn't. I can't help but wonder why Avery won't let whoever Yao is guarding take it to Yao, especially when it's a situation where Dirk is at center so Yao has to guard Howard. If I were Johnson, I would look to get Dampier the ball down low and let him draw fouls on Yao, or let Howard drive past Yao for layups in mismatches. What's questionable is that I haven't even seen Howard get the ball in a position to score when Yao's on him. That should change. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting kingrex:</div><div class="quote_post">There is almost zero activity on this mavs forum. I post on a different forum too which is almost too crowded, but I think too-crowded is better than no activity. However, I like quality of posts here and would like to continue to contribute. I also like the fan-diversity on this board. I even like going into the Rockets forum. </div>Zero activity could be the right word, as your team mod, WhiteMenCanJump, is not even very active. However, with recruiting and the right posters, this forum definitely has the potential to be a great board. Quality here on JBB is definitely among the best of the web, I can guarantee that you'll enjoy posting here even if you can't find a lot of Mavs fans to converse with. I'll definitely try to help by recruiting for some members.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting back-on-track:</div><div class="quote_post">And you better send someone to matchup Juwan Howard, maybe your team healthy consultor</div> Maybe I misunderstood your post, but Juwan Howard is in street clothes. What the heck is a "team healthy consultor"? Otherwise, thanks for the 2 cents worth.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting kingrex:</div><div class="quote_post">Maybe I misunderstood your post, but Juwan Howard is in street clothes. What the heck is a "team healthy consultor"? Otherwise, thanks for the 2 cents worth.</div> Yea? So how do you know what Juwan was wearing under the suits? He could being taking off the suits and sent on the court and any time. Team Healthy Consultor keeps spying on the opponents injury status quo. I'd like to be one if I receive a contract from Rockets or Mavericks You're welcome. That may means a million to Johnson lol
You mean Team Health Consultant. Howard isnt going to play. Its one thing if its the season or another month thats on the line with an injury, but this is his life.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting chineseafro:</div><div class="quote_post">You mean Team Health Consultant.</div> I won't take the blame coz I don't speak english quite often
I can't keep seeing that annoying signature, dream. Please, for all things decent and holy, keep that signature out of your posts from now on. It's just stoking a fire that need not be further stoked. Thanks.
If the Rockets lose this series, then the decision to have McGrady expend energy to defend Dirk may be a contributing factor. I think that the combination of Bowen and Padgett has been surprisingly effective versus Dirk. I'm puzzled why JVG has gone away from that match-up.
