<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post"> I know I'm going to hear it for this.</div>Yes you are. Dirk killed the Mavs yesterday with his defense. He wasn't even trying to play D. He was closing out standing straight up and got burned on numerous occasions. The Mavs as a whole were horrible in team D. They weren't rotating quick enough, leaving guys wide open, and nobody was contesting the Lakers shots. How many layups did they give up to Fisher alone?
However i do think the mavs have a good idea.. Making Shaq guard toine.. Yea shaq will get his, but hes going to get his anyway.. LA wont always shoot over 50% and the mavs wont shoot that bad every game.. should be intresting.. By the way is it just me or does travis best not fit dallas at all?? I like tony delk on that team though
The mavs D looked good last season (or decent I suppose) then they used more of their zone. I noticed they gave up and tried to play a more man on D last night which just didn't suit them given the matchups they had.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting grizzoistight:</div><div class="quote_post">I havent read all of this thread.. But one thing before everyone jumps to conclusions that LA can with without kobe.. Fisher is not gonna score like that every game Dirk nash and finley are never gonna go 0 for 14 again from three.. Bryon Russell will never make that many open shots again, and Devean George has not come back down to reality.. That bein said LA looked great.. They had great transtition play.. and Malone is the absolute perfect fit in the triangle.. Theyll need kobe though to create shots and add some athleticism..</div>Did you watch the 2002 Playoffs?? Did you see the Lakers' 15-1 playoff run when Fisher was on absolute fire?? I guess not... Oh, and if you don't recall, in that 15-1 playoff run that was when we had Kobe defending the point...completely disrupting the opposing teams offense. Kobe has the ability to completely shut down Stevie Nash. Don't underestimate Bryon Russell and Devean George...they're gonna be open when the HOFers are on the floor. All they have to do on offense is sit back, let the game come to them and hit the open shot. These guys have got to be smiling because they have the simplest role on offense...and the ability to execute that role very well. As for Dirk & Finley...law of averages...they'll bounce back. There's no doubt in my mind that these guys, and the rest of the Mavs squad, will have a night when everything just goes into the hoop. I'm expecting the Mavs to break 125 pts one of these days. ...probably not in LA though...
I don't see any reason why Fisher won't continue to shoot well..over the years he has been a full time start with not much rest...He will get ALOT of open shots this season and the legs will be there...As will George.When open Fisher is normally money from three which is what makes his new role so dangerous.Payton can find the open man so well and there will be times when both Fisher and Payton are on the floor at the same time.Shaq will get doubled in the post and at times teams will attract their focus on Malone as well...So overall as long as Fisher,George and even Russell keep working on that outside shot they will have good chances to knock the shots down. As for the Mavs..they play a Warriors team tonight without NVE,Richardson and Murphy...I reckon tonight could be the night they rack up 115 or so points...
The main exciting point of the Lakers this season is options, once the team is all healthy. Imagine running Fish AND George off of the bench. Fox not shooting well? Put George in. George not playing well? Move Kobe to the three and put Fish in at the 2. One of the starters is having a slow game? Put someone else in. The only person they don't have a good rotation for is Shaq, but the point is, they don't need it. If they can limit him to under 35 minutes a game and still dominate...wow. They have so many GOOD rotation possabilities, it is just sick. And, I feel, with the addition of Walton, they've only gotten stronger at the 3, their traditionally deepest position. But, don't underestimate PJ either, he loves his combo guards and that often allows players to play the 2/3. Don't be shocked if Kobe misses a game to see Russel at the 2. Overall, so many options, so many combinations, it will be rare to not see a HOFer on the floor or at least a seasoned vet (Fish, George, Fox)
Ok, I only watched a half of this game and than I went to bed. The first half was, in my opinion, slightly one sided though. It seemed that the Lakers, and really Payton, were doing an excellent job at controlling the tempo of the game. They got Dallas into a big enough hole that they were really having to resort to the 3 point shot, though, they do do it a lot anyways, and, it shows what happens when a jump shooting team is cold. Plus, Dallas was hardly playing defense, that wasn't helpful. Though, Walker and Jamison, I must say, each had stellar games from what I seen in the box score. But, Dirk and the rest, not so stellar. They did things they don't typically do, like, oh, miss free throws and turn it over that much. Lots of turn overs, especially by Nash, there in that first half. I think though, the big thing the Lakers did, as I looked at the box score this morning, I noted Dirk only had 13 boards. He had 11 of those in the first half. That means LA was keeping them off the boards, or at least Dirk. Good job there. Plus, in the first half, the Lakers were getting offensive rebounds galore, getting multiple 2nd chance shots. Payton, like I said, controlled the tempo much of the first half and didn't look 35. Overall, seeing the Lakers have 6 players in double figures was fantastic. Very big surprise also to me. But, it shows that the Lakers are willing to give up shots for better ones. Hopefully, more results like this will follow. This game really showed the Lakers veteran superstars can play well together while the Mavs young superstars are gonna have problems. The chemistry for them wasn't there and that's why they had so many uncharatersitic turnovers. Oh, and one last thing, for the love of god Dallas, take Jamison off your bench. He is far and away the most talented player on that team. He can do it all. Get him off the bench and in the starting line up. It'll be good for them.
