Dallas News

[Sundance]

http://tinyurl.com/zys7w

This Time, Mavs can stop Nash

by Tim Colishaw

Dallas Morning News


[SIZE=-1]Wednesday, May 24, 2006

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Steve Nash is coming back to Dallas to flaunt another league MVP trophy in Mavericks' fans (and Mark Cuban's) faces.
When he leaves this time, don't expect him to be headed for another series as he was a year ago.

Last year, Nash crushed the Mavericks by averaging 30.3 points and 12 assists and led Phoenix to a 4-2 series win to advance before losing to San Antonio. This time the Mavericks already have discarded the champion Spurs and are prepared to avenge last year's playoff defeat to Phoenix.

It won't be easy.

It will be done.

"We don't want to trade baskets with them," Mavs forward Jerry Stackhouse said. "That's not this team's style. We want to play like we did against the Spurs, keep it right around 100 points."

The Mavericks learned the need to do that a year ago. When Phoenix scored 110 or more points against Dallas, the Suns won all four games. When the Mavs held them to 109 or fewer, Dallas won.

They know what to do. Doing it comes next.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers tried to slow the Suns. They did it for stretches, but not when it mattered in seventh games. The temptation to follow Nash into the lane and run away from the Suns' array of 3-point shooters is simply a difficult natural instinct to put aside.

"I know I'm getting paid to figure out how to [slow down Phoenix]," coach Avery Johnson said. "But if someone has a suggestion, I will listen because I haven't seen anyone do it."

But the fact is that these Suns, though in the Western Conference finals for the second straight spring, are not as dangerous as last year's Suns.

In 2005, Amare Stoudemire emerged as a true star in this league. He killed the Mavericks with 28.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

Stoudemire isn't playing in this series, barring some miracle recovery that Phoenix has managed to keep quiet. He missed all but three games this season following knee surgery.

And Nash, though voted MVP once more, isn't the same Nash he was last May. Fatigue is going to play a role in this series. There are no extra off days between games and the Suns have had to battle through 14 games to get here.

A year ago Nash averaged 30.3 points and 12 assists against Dallas. He tore them apart. Coming off three days' rest before Game 7 on Monday night, Nash scored 29 to get his average over 20 for the playoffs.
He has been a reluctant 3-point shooter at times and is hitting 34 percent from long range, well below his norm.

"We have to make it harder for him this year," said Johnson.
The man who can do that, if he can recover just part of his offensive game, is Devin Harris. He played only nine minutes against Phoenix in last year's playoff but should be more of a factor this time.

On the flip side, Dirk Nowitzki is not the same Dirk as last year, which is good news for Dallas. His maturation, if it wasn't evident to everyone before, was on display with his 37-point night in Game 7 against the Spurs. If Nowitzki wants to show people he was a more deserving MVP than his buddy Nash, this is the perfect stage.

Other reasons you have to believe this series favors the Mavericks include the 3 R's:

• Rebounds – Phoenix got crushed by the Lakers on the boards. Then the Suns got crushed by the Clippers on the boards. They are getting outrebounded by nine per game.
The Mavericks have outrebounded the Grizzlies and Spurs by six per game. Johnson has transformed the Mavs into a team that pounds the boards. The Suns have no chance in this department.

• Results – Phoenix took seven games to beat a 45-win Lakers team. The Suns took another seven to beat a 47-win Clippers team. Dallas opened against a 49-win Memphis team and won in four straight. The holes in the Mavericks' game are much harder to exploit than those in the Suns'.

• Revenge – The Mavericks were embarrassed by this team a year ago. At least they should have been. And right after Dallas lost to Phoenix, the Spurs knocked out the Suns in five games, showing what a team with a real commitment to defense and a post-up game on offense could do to Phoenix.
Johnson was only beginning to install those traits in the Mavericks a year ago. They are much closer to being a complete part of this team now.

So is the understanding that beating the Spurs, though a major accomplishment, means nothing more than the Mavericks are halfway home.

Dallas in six.

 

[Sundance]

http://tinyurl.com/n3slb

Nash-Nowitzki split good for both

by David Moore

Dallas Morning News


Wednesday, May 24, 2006


One of them sings the best of David Hasselhoff at the free throw line to relax.

The other gets mentioned in a Nelly Furtado song.

Give Steve Nash the edge. Nothing against Hasselfhoff, who ranks somewhere between William Huang and William Shatner on the pop artist scale, but if Nash had stayed in Dallas, I've got to think he would have steered his friend Dirk Nowitzki in a different musical direction.

A lot of things would have been different.

Nash would not have collected consecutive MVP awards, joining Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Michael Jordan as the only guards to do that back-to-back. It's unlikely Nowitzki would have expanded his game to this degree since Nash would have been around to make sure the forward got the ball in his comfort zone.

Both appeared to lose part of what made them special when the Mavericks let Nash walk as a free agent. The opposite has been true.

Nash and Nowitzki aren't better players because they're apart. But they have increased their stature in ways that would not have been possible if they stayed together. They have been forced to assume a greater portion of the responsibility and leadership they once shared in Dallas along with Michael Finley.

The Western Conference finals between the Mavericks and Suns isn't about what Nash and Nowitzki once had on the court. It's about what they have become; stars that fit into the team framework, yet they are capable of standing alone.

"Both have done unbelievable jobs of moving on, or in Dirk's case staying behind, and making it work for their franchises," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.

Nash will tell you he's a better shooter than he was with the Mavericks. He's figured out how to expend less energy on the court and picked up nuances of when and where to get teammates the ball.

Not that he was deficient in that area. A team with Nash as its point guard has led the league in scoring the last five seasons.

"He hasn't changed," Nowitzki said. "Only the athletes around him, and they fit perfectly with his game."

The Suns are the Xbox version of what the Mavericks were under Don Nelson. The love of the 3-point shot is the same, but Phoenix has more athletes and players to slash to the basket than the Mavericks did when Nash was here.

Nash and Nowitzki ran the pick-and-pop.

Nash and Amare Stoudemire run the pick-and-pummel.

Once Stoudemire was injured, Nash adapted and made sure seven players on the Phoenix roster finished the season with career scoring highs.
The bigger adjustment has belonged to Nowitzki. About 80 percent of his offense came off the pick-and-roll with Nash. He estimates that has dropped to 50 percent.

Nowitzki isn't the spot-up shooter he was. He doesn't get as many looks in transition. A game that once revolved around timing and rhythm is now about putting the ball on the floor, working inside-out and isolating the defender.

The ball is in Nowitzki's hands much more than it was when Nash was a teammate. That's why he's spent the last two summers working on his ball-handling.
"
Since he is gone, I am making more plays for my teammates and I have expanded my game," Nowitzki said.

Nash and Nowitzki always add something to their games in the off-season. Neither is ever satisfied. Once they were apart, they just worked on different things.

"Obviously, I wouldn't be a two-time MVP if I had stayed," Nash said before leaving Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon. "Collectively, we both would have improved. We're both highly motivated. We're both competitors. I probably wouldn't have been an MVP candidate, but I think Dirk would have been.

"We maybe wouldn't have had the individual growth that we've had highlighted the way it's been highlighted, but we would have definitely had the same improvement in our game."

Both are trying to go deeper in the playoffs than they've ever gone. The two would have been great if they had stayed together, Nowitzki said, but now they stand in each other's way.

"There was a lot of room for us to be a championship team, especially with Avery as coach and the discipline and accountability he brought in," Nash said.

"At the same time, it's been exciting for us to watch each other try and make it work."

Now, if we can just get Nowitzki to work on his taste in music.

 

[Sundance]

http://tinyurl.com/rlsmk

Mavs must rev it up a notch

by Eddie Sefko

Dallas Morning News


Wednesday, May 24, 2006


The exhale is over.

The Rio Bravo series is done. River rodents were exterminated, replaced by desert rats.

And rest assured they are different animals. The San Antonio Spurs provided a slower, more defensive-minded test. The Phoenix Suns, against whom the Mavericks start the Western Conference finals tonight, know only two speeds: hair-flying and cheek-flapping.

So the Mavericks do the chameleon as best they can as they start their second trip to the conference finals in the last four seasons.

The euphoria of winning the Riverwalk rumble had not completely faded Tuesday. How could it? It was only one of the best series in NBA history by most accounts.

But Jerry Stackhouse summed up the Mavericks' attitude best after an afternoon practice that was heavy on adjusting the team's thought process from down and dirty to fast and frantic.

"It was a sense of relief, but also a sense of urgency, if you can figure that out," Stackhouse said. "We knew that it was good to be done with that, because we were hanging in the balance from having exit interviews with you guys today. A thin line, it is.

"When we win Game 16 [of the playoffs], that's going to be the best win in franchise history, if we're blessed enough to get there."

But there was no way to downplay the Spurs series, which went seven exhausting games. Stackhouse said it was all he heard about, that Mavs fans didn't even seem concerned about the NBA championship.

"They were just concerned about beating the Spurs," he said. "But we've got a little more of a goal than that."

And the next step happens in a hurry. Less than 48 hours after celebrating at San Antonio's AT&T Center, the Mavericks will take the court at American Airlines Center hoping for a little payback against the Suns, who ended the Mavericks' season last year in the second round of the playoffs.

"It's a pretty quick turnaround," Dirk Nowitzki said. "We enjoyed it last night. But it's a completely new game now. San Antonio was a great defensive team. And they go to [Tim] Duncan almost every time. It was a post-up series. Now you've got to reprogram yourself."

The Mavericks will go from trying to push every possession up the court as fast as the Spurs' bear-hug defense would allow to racing back after baskets as fast as possible. If they beat the Spurs with offense, it will be their defense that slows the Suns to something less than a blur.

The Suns know to expect something different. They beat the Mavs in six games last season, but with Amare Stoudemire out virtually the whole season, they have been a different team. They no longer can overpower teams.

"It'll be a different series," Suns guard Steve Nash said. "We have totally different teams. Last year, with Amare and Joe [Johnson], we had guys who were outstanding talents. This year, we're smarter, a little better defensively. Last year, we did it with more dominant talent. This year, we do it with a little more teamwork."

That is not to be confused with smoke and mirrors. While the Suns lead the NBA in the playoffs with an average of more than 110 points per game, they are susceptible to fatigue. They usually only play seven players, although that rotation could grow if Kurt Thomas returns during the series after missing three months with a broken foot.

Avery Johnson didn't take much time to enjoy the victory over the Spurs. Dissecting the Suns became job one.

"I know I'm getting paid to find out how to do it, but if you have any suggestions, I'm open," he said when asked how to slow down the potent Phoenix offense. "I haven't seen anybody do it."

The Mavericks have the home-court advantage. But it wasn't any benefit to the Spurs in the last series. The Suns won twice at AAC in last year's playoffs and were 1-1 in Dallas this season.


The Mavs will turn the page completely tonight in Game 1. But they were completely within their rights to revisit the seven-game brawl with the Spurs.

Stackhouse said the play of Nowitzki, who averaged 27.1 points and 13.3 rebounds against the Spurs, was typical of the Mavericks' resolve.

"Dirk was wrong," Stackhouse said. "He said he wouldn't be able to get 30 points in that series. But I told him that nobody can stop him when he's rolling.

"We know San Antonio was the champ. But we won that series for the fans, the real fans who stuck with us. We played our hearts out. Now, we also understand what's ahead."

Most likely, another challenging, difficult battle – just against a different breed of animal.

 

[tobiazz]

The Nelly Furtado song referenced by an article above:

“It’s okay, it’s alright
I got something that you gon’ like
Hey is that the truth or are you talking trash
Is your game M.V.P. like Steve Nash”


Pretty lame, but if you were wondering about the reference like I was, there it is.

 

[Nash]

The Nelly Furtado song referenced by an article above:

“It’s okay, it’s alright
I got something that you gon’ like
Hey is that the truth or are you talking trash
Is your game M.V.P. like Steve Nash”

Pretty lame, but if you were wondering about the reference like I was, there it is.

oh crap! I was curious to know what the words were to the song with Nash mentioned in it, till I saw this..
Pathetic lyrics!

I should've known better what to expect from Nelly 'Fart'ado.

 

[jibikao]

Well, last year Nash had to take over the game 'cause the team just wasn't very deep. Nash doesn't need to score 30pt to win games anymore.

I didn't read the whole article but I still believe Diaw is the x-factor.

 

[Sundance]

http://tinyurl.com/hs2ep

Jason Terry's Playoff Diary

by Jason Terry

Star-Telegram


Wednesday, May 24, 2006



It's a big series coming up. I've been thinking about it all summer, and now it's here.

Last year, learning from that series against Phoenix (a second-round playoff loss), we definitely are familiar with them, and we know how to play them. I know we have home-court advantage, which is good for us.

But at the same time we are going to have to defend and get stops, and that's what's going to win it for us because you can't just solely rely on the home court. You have to come out and execute on both ends of the floor.

In Game 1, we really have to come out and play our pace. We don't play at the Suns' pace, and we don't play at San Antonio's pace. We play at the Mavericks' pace. And if we can do that, I like our chances in this series.

Steve Nash is two years removed from being here with the Mavericks, but it's still going to be emotional for some of the fans.

They'll still cheer and root for Steve -- he's the reigning MVP two years straight.

For me, playing against Nash is not personal.

Now, will I face him one-on-one throughout the series? Sure. It's going to be a matchup, but the best team is going to win.

I know it's a quick turnaround (from the series ending Game 7 Monday with San Antonio), but you come out and really just let the emotions flow. The arena is going to be going crazy.

If we come out in Game 1 and really have some success, the sky's the limit.

The fans are not coming down from (the Game 7 win over the Spurs). They're going to be pretty high here for awhile.

All I can tell them is we're not done yet, and the ride is not over.

It's going to be a great series, though. You know how the Suns play. They're free, run-and-gun and wide open, so it's going to be fun from a fan's perspective and from a player's perspective.

We believe, and it starts with Game 1.

a

 

[Sundance]

http://tinyurl.com/hyla5

Tougher Mavs appear ready to reach finals

by Art Garcia

Star-Telegram


Wednesday, May 24, 2006


With a more aggressive style, Dirk Nowitzki has helped turn the Mavericks into favorites in the West.

DALLAS -- Normalcy returned the day after.

Nothing like Steve Nash and the breakneck Phoenix Suns dumping a bucket of ice water on your head.

"It was a sense of relief but, at the same time, a sense of urgency, if you can figure that one out," Jerry Stackhouse mused Tuesday afternoon. "It's good to be done with that one."

The euphoria and emotional bloodletting of outlasting the San Antonio Spurs in seven games is tempered by the sobering reality of what lies ahead for the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.

The series that decides the West representative in the NBA Finals begins tonight with the first of two games at American Airlines Center. The Mavs are in the conference finals for the third time but own the home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series for the first time ever.

That home edge, in addition to dispatching the last year's champs, elevates the Mavs into a position more rare than just being a step removed from the championship round.

The Mavs have to be considered favorites to reach their first NBA Finals since their inception 26 years ago.

"We're built to win it all this year," Jason Terry said. "This is not a three-, four-year process with the team that's put together.

"Going through last year, we thought we had a chance. The difference is this year we believe we have a chance."

The belief turned into proof against the Spurs, a team featuring former two-time MVP Tim Duncan and a cast of championship-tested veterans.

Up next is the current two-time MVP, and though Mavs fans don't have any love lost for Duncan, Nash could inspire the Michael Finley treatment.

"It's definitely time to let him have it, and we're not joking about this one," Stackhouse said. "This is for real."

The Mavs had to run to beat San Antonio. No one runs better than the Suns.

"We want to run at a comfortable tempo for us," said Stackhouse, who averaged 16 points in the previous round. "I don't think running at their pace is what we want to do, although we're not afraid to run."

The Suns are averaging 109.8 points per game in the playoffs (allowing 106.9) in beating both the Los Angeles teams (Lakers and Clippers) in seven games.

The Mavs are scoring 101.8 points and giving up 94.2.

"It's a completely new game," Dirk Nowitzki said. "San Antonio was a great defensive team. They go to Duncan almost every time. It's a post-up series, and, now, you've got to reprogram yourself.

"You've got to get back in transition after a basket; you can't relax. You've got to run back as fast as you can because Stevie's always throwing those long passes and they're pushing it."

Though the Spurs abandoned their big guys and went small in an attempt to spread the Mavs out, the Suns aren't about to change what they do.

"All we have to do is outshoot them four out of seven," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We don't have to do it every night."

While San Antonio has been the Mavs' measuring stick for the past six years, Nowitzki is the only Maverick to experience the two previous series against San Antonio.

In some ways, the matchup against Phoenix is more personal than the Spurs. Nash, on so many levels, is a big reason why.

The Suns eliminated the Mavs in the second round last year (4-2) in a series in which Nash justified his first MVP. He not only outplayed Terry for six games; he made the Mavs' decision to let him walk look like possibly the biggest mistake in team history.

"His team knocked us out last year, so there's a lot in store for us, at stake for this series," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said.

Ten of the 13 players on the Mavs' playoff roster were with the team last season.

They remember the feeling of being sent home for the summer.

"We felt it was a disappointing one last year," said Nowitzki, averaging 28.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game in the playoffs. "I thought we had a great chance last year to beat them. We had everything going in our favor. We stole Game 2 there and came right back and lost Game 3 at home and gave the home-court advantage right back.

"Hopefully, we can turn it around with home-court advantage in our favor this year."

The Mavs and Suns are different teams this season for different reasons. Phoenix overturned most of its roster and overcame what could have been a crippling loss with Amaré Stoudemire being lost to injury.

In his first full season as coach, Johnson has molded the Mavs to mirror his no-nonsense, tough-minded mentality. He has helped Nowitzki expand his game by reining much of it in.

Nowitzki touches the ball on almost every possession without being trigger-happy. His selectivity and willingness to take the ball to the basket strong resulted in only one 3-pointer and 73 made free throws against San Antonio.

Nash can't help but be impressed by the change in his former pick-and-roll partner.

"It was probably a tough adjustment at first for Dirk playing so freely offensively for so long and then to change to being so disciplined and playing so close to the vest," Nash said. "It's a change, but one that obviously benefited his team and made him a better player."

Nowitzki's game his evolved. So has the image of the team, owner Mark Cuban says.

"The whole Dallas Mavericks brand changed," he said. "Dirk is not soft. They'll never call him 'irk again. They'll never say he can't post up or take the ball to the basket. They'll never say we're soft as a team. They'll never say we can't play defense."

And they always said the Mavs couldn't reach the Finals.

FOUR REASONS THE MAVS WILL TOP THE SUNS

Staff writer Art Garcia gives four reasons the Mavericks are headed to the NBA Finals:

Dirk, Dirk, Dirk
He's not soft, he doesn't just settle for jumpers, he can mix it up inside, and his will to win was there for all to see against the Spurs. If Dirk Nowitzki continues to play the way he has -- and there's no reason to believe he won't -- the Suns can't match up with him.

To be the best, you have to beat the best
The Mavs did, eliminating the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in a captivating seven-game series destined to be remembered as one of the best ever. There's no better preparation for the Finals.

Home sweet home
The Mavs were in the Western Conference Finals twice before, but this is their first time with the home-court edge. Avery Johnson's team is 4-1 at American Airlines Center in this year's playoffs, and the arena will rock like never before.

They owe Nash
The mop-topped Canadian got the best of his former mates last season. Don't think the Mavs, who just beat another close friend, aren't working the revenge angle. Carrying a team on his back, not to mention the stress fracture in it, while playing every other day might finally be too much for Steve Nash, below, to bear.

 

[JCSunsfan]

http://tinyurl.com/zys7w

I love this article. It gives me hope that the Mavs are thinking this way. Here is what it fails to consider.

1. We played last year w/o JJ, and with Q in a hole some place.
2. We did not have Boris, and LB is a much better player than last year.
3. We did not have Raja's tenacity, poise, defense, and shooting.
4. Boris and TT are both better than Hunter was (and he didn't play).
5. We have more, and better shooters than we did last year. We did not have JRJ or House. Diaw and TT can hit the three--anyone remember Hunter doing that.
6. Anything KT gives us is just a bonus.

You could make a case that this team is better equipped to be the Mavs this year (even with Amare's injury) over last, and when we add Amare we will be even better.

BTW. I believe the Clips would have taken the Mavs to 7 games.

Nash's fatigue could play a factor though. I hope LB can take up some slack early.

 

[Chaz]

Anyone else get the feeling Dallas is trying hard to convince themselves that they are better?

Everything is roses when it comes to the Mavs and everything is negative when it comes to the Suns. I guess part of that is natural.

A seven game series will reveal the truth.

 

[Gaddabout]

Well, last year Nash had to take over the game 'cause the team just wasn't very deep. Nash doesn't need to score 30pt to win games anymore.

Nash had to score 30 points last year because because all five Mavs players on the court were doing their best Manute Bol immitations. It was like a U-Boat blockade of the lane, daring Nash to shoot rather driving the lane.

I've got a feeling the Clippers game plan will be used by Dallas this year, because the Mavs now have the personnel to trap and pinch Nash at the top of the key.

As someone else said, Diaw is the real X-factor. The Suns didn't have a big man who could pass like that last year, and I really don't see anyone on the Mavs who can keep up with him defensively. If Diaw is aggressive, the Mavs will have their hands full.

 

[wilycoyote24]

I agree with people in Dallas saying that the Mavs will beat us in this series. However, this thread has reminded me of my hatred for their fans and press. Those following the Lakers are overconfident and self-important, but I think that the fans of the Mavs are on an entirely different level.

In fact, I'm ALMOST wanting the Suns to win more to shut them up and less to see us in the finals.

 

[dirk41]

BTW. I believe the Clips would have taken the Mavs to 7 games.

What are you smoking?????

No, the Mavs would not have gone 7 games against the Clippers. (Remember... the Mavs actually PLAY defense.)
Funny thought though.
And the Mavs CERTAINLY wouldn't have gone 7 games with the Lakers.
The Suns are 3rd worst in points allowed, worst in offensive rebounds, worst team getting to the free throw line. Name one team that won a championship with these kind of sorry stats.

 

[Stout]

What are you smoking?????

No, the Mavs would not have gone 7 games against the Clippers. (Remember... the Mavs actually PLAY defense.)
Funny thought though.
And the Mavs CERTAINLY wouldn't have gone 7 games with the Lakers.
The Suns are 3rd worst in points allowed, worst in offensive rebounds, worst team getting to the free throw line. Name one team that won a championship with these kind of sorry stats.

I hope your team is this overconfident. The Lakers have them down and out...no, wait, the Clippers have them down and out...no wait, the Mavs will do it!

How about you actually win the series (any series against us, for that matter) before talking trash.

 

[myrondizzo]

What are you smoking?????

No, the Mavs would not have gone 7 games against the Clippers. (Remember... the Mavs actually PLAY defense.)
Funny thought though.
And the Mavs CERTAINLY wouldn't have gone 7 games with the Lakers.
The Suns are 3rd worst in points allowed, worst in offensive rebounds, worst team getting to the free throw line. Name one team that won a championship with these kind of sorry stats.

points allowed is a way overrated stat. with a running team like the suns there are more possesions which lead to higher point totals even at a lower shooting %. the suns play good D at the end of games when they need a stop. you obviously havent watched many suns games or you would see that when the game is close and we need a stop we often find a way to get that stop and score on the other end.

 

[Cheesebeef]

What are you smoking?????
(Remember... the Mavs actually PLAY defense.)
Funny thought though.

your right - that is a funny thought - the Mavs playing DEFENSE - it's actually HILARIOUS.

We beat you without JJ last year, now we'll beat you without his REPLACEMENT AND AMARE.

You thought last year was painful? You don't even know what pain is yet.

 

[Nash]

CHECK THIS OUT:

Nash and Dirk jamming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcaVVcKI2E8&search=Mavs

 

[elindholm]

That must have been some good ****.

 

[Ollie]

Hilarious vid, they look totally drunk (hell, Nowitzki even wears a Bradley's reversed shirt). Maybe it was an early rehearsal of the Dirk Nowitzki Trans-Continental Express

http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2006-03-30/music/music_full.html

 

[Ciani]

points allowed is a way overrated stat. with a running team like the suns there are more possesions which lead to higher point totals even at a lower shooting %. the suns play good D at the end of games when they need a stop. you obviously havent watched many suns games or you would see that when the game is close and we need a stop we often find a way to get that stop and score on the other end.

I think he knows it very well now

 

[DeAnna]

He also teams with buddy Nash on one song, "Screw the Pick and Roll, Gimme Rock 'n' Roll."

 

[jibikao]

CHECK THIS OUT:

Nash and Dirk jamming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcaVVcKI2E8&search=Mavs

It's painfully funny....

 

[JWF]

points allowed is a way overrated stat. with a running team like the suns there are more possesions which lead to higher point totals even at a lower shooting %. the suns play good D at the end of games when they need a stop. you obviously havent watched many suns games or you would see that when the game is close and we need a stop we often find a way to get that stop and score on the other end.

Totally agree. When you look at PPG differential and FG%, both teams are nearly identical. The only advantage i see with Dallas right now is their offensive rebounding. We have to keep crashing the boards in this series, like we did on wed. night, and keep the rebounding diff. close enough so we have alot of posessions, as we'll almost always be able to shoot better than the other team.

I think the next 3 games are simply crucial. If we want a realistic shot, we have to go atleast 2-1. Dallas simply has to much bench at this point to keep trading wins. At the very least we can make Dallas work hard to tie the thing up, and after their hard fought series with SA, theyll eventually wear down to our level.

 

[KloD]

What are you smoking?????

No, the Mavs would not have gone 7 games against the Clippers. (Remember... the Mavs actually PLAY defense.) Funny thought though.

What a defensive show they put on Wednesday! OWNED!

And the Mavs CERTAINLY wouldn't have gone 7 games with the Lakers.
The Suns are 3rd worst in points allowed, worst in offensive rebounds, worst team getting to the free throw line. Name one team that won a championship with these kind of sorry stats.

All those sorry stats and your team still choked. Hmmmm...how does that feel?

 

[justAndy]

calling dirk41, calling dirk41...
No worries - if the Mavs win tonight, he and other Texas Trolls will be back.