Mavs @ Suns 2-17-11

[Evil Ash]

You guys are hilarious. The reason we lost this game was because of the 5 or 6 minutes at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th when the bench put us in a 10-point hole. We were trading leads until that point, and then once Nash came back in we were down and couldn't make it up.

I won't argue that it wasn't a major factor as the 2nd unit without Nash continues to just stand around and throw up awful shots.

However we were making a comeback with our starters back on the court until we decided to go small. Chandler's putback +1 was a direct result of us going small and at that point we needed a miracle

 

[BC867]

You guys are hilarious.

'Nothing hilarious about losing the game when we were within striking distance near the end, but were out-maneuvered.

As Proteus pointed out . . .

Sigh. If we didn't give up that putback by Chandler, we'd be playing for a tie on our possession.

Nash wasn't on the bench then.

Didn't you find it frustrating watching the Suns get so close, only to blow the opportunity by playing without a Center?

 

[sunsfan88]

Gentry seems always LATE or EARLY with his substitutions this season.

If a guy is playin hot, he takes him out & replaces him with someone else who then shoots awful. Then brings back the guy that was shooting hot before, but now he's also shooting cold. Gentry sticks with the guy until he finally realizes to put someone else in.

Then today went Dallas went small, he went BIG and got burnt. Then when Dallas switched to BIG, he went small and got burnt.

I really dont think Alvin Gentry is head coach material. He gets way too much credit for last season's success. Last year had to do with Amare playing amazing in the 2nd half of the season and J-Rich stepping up his play. I'll give Gentry credit for creating the 2nd unit that played well in the playoffs, but that's it. He'd be a great assistant but nothin more. But we have no one better to replace him with so whatever...

 

[Covert Rain]

There were some odd substitutions and putting Frye at Center was probably made to get more shooters on the floor. However, IMO that backfired when they did that because Frye creates match-up problems against traditional big men. Not when the Suns are small and allow the other team to put smaller guys in and match an athletic guy with Frye.

Also, we had several mismatch scenarios with one of our guys on a small guy. We went to those plays a couple times but then completely abandoned trying to milk that.

Last but not least, I would almost rather see Dowdell out there. Not that I am saying he is a better player but when Dragic is out there the offense completely stalls and guys just watch other guys stand around. At least with Dowdell he was making shots here and there and keeping the defense honest.

 

[Cheesewater]

Last but not least, I would almost rather see Dowdell out there. Not that I am saying he is a better player but when Dragic is out there the offense completely stalls and guys just watch other guys stand around. At least with Dowdell he was making shots here and there and keeping the defense honest.

I wondered about this myself last night and so I watched Dowdell's minutes from the 2/11 Utah game on my DVR against last night's Dragic minutes. The reverse seems to be true. The offense comes to a crashing halt with Dowdell and the Suns take longer in the clock to get off a shot. Dragic runs the offense better in my albeit limited comparison, but also in my recollection.

 

[Bert]

I agree that Gentry was outcoached towards the end. Coaches can have bad games just like players. It was painfully obvious when Dallas went small that Gentry didn't know what to do. He said they weren't executing, which they weren't but there were major mismatches on the floor and then when things started to go south, Gentry pulled all the bigs and went small too. You never wanna see a coach panic like that but the wheels were falling off.

Another lesson learned is that we cant rely on getting iso on Pietrus because even with a mismatch (Terry or Kid) he was beyond ineffective. Bottom line is he left the bench out there way too long and they couldn't manufacture points to save a life.

IDK what's wrong with Dragic, I know he's coming back from injury but where is the guy we saw against Boston last year and again in the playoffs? Dowdell looks faster, more energized and just plain better right now. Maybe Dragic is worn out from playing too much, doesn't he play in Europe during the offseason? We really need the Dragon to come back.

Oh well we're into the All Star break at .500, playoffs are still in reach, I know we're not a title contender but it would still be nice to see us have a good second half of the season and make the playoffs.

 

[Lorenzo]

The Suns have had their best victories by being the big bully that beats finesse teams like Dallas. Going small only plays into their hands. Gortat and Frye need to keep going down low.

Dallas can play a lot of different ways. too bad caron butler is out. they can play small...big...finesse...and good defense in partcular in the 4th quarter. I think they played poor defense for most of the game against the suns until the 4th. the difference for this dallas team this year has been the addition of tyson chandler. and the injuries of dirk and butler. if they were healthy they would be leading the west alongside the spurs. good to see dirk finally getting his legs back. his rebound numbers will go up as always in the playoffs....but having chandler really takes a lot of pressure off of him.

If dallas can get close to 100% they will be tough to contain. they have tons of depth. With dirk in the lineup they have a great record against the other elite teams in the league. we'll see what they do with butler. he says he will be back come playoff time.

 

[Lorenzo]

Amare is still a poor rebounder for his size and athletic ability

Nowitzki is a tall toothpick, perimeter player. He's not expected to rebound

they both should rebound. they are 7 feet power forwards. they aren't your typical 7 foot player though. they are both perimeter orientated. dirk has a better post up game because he is a better shooter and can take anyone in the league one on one from anywhere on the court. obviously and amare is more athletic above the rim and is probably the toughest pick and roll big to defend. You can knock them for certain things, but both guys are special players offensively. Just look at dallas' record with dirk and without him...especially against the elite teams that are playoff bound.

 

[Mainstreet]

Dallas can play a lot of different ways. too bad caron butler is out. they can play small...big...finesse...and good defense in partcular in the 4th quarter. I think they played poor defense for most of the game against the suns until the 4th. the difference for this dallas team this year has been the addition of tyson chandler. and the injuries of dirk and butler. if they were healthy they would be leading the west alongside the spurs. good to see dirk finally getting his legs back. his rebound numbers will go up as always in the playoffs....but having chandler really takes a lot of pressure off of him.

If dallas can get close to 100% they will be tough to contain. they have tons of depth. With dirk in the lineup they have a great record against the other elite teams in the league. we'll see what they do with butler. he says he will be back come playoff time.

Dallas is very deep and talented... enough to wear other teams down. They are my sleeper team in the playoffs.

 

[Lorenzo]

Dallas is very deep and talented... enough to wear other teams down. They are my sleeper team in the playoffs.

Yeah they are very deep and talented. Outside of tyson chandler they didn't make any offseason moves...so there wern't high expectations coming out of dallas like miami, boston, LA, etc.

but this is a different team than last year in many ways. last year in the playoffs it looked like no one really knew their role. one game dampier would be benched, the next game marion or butler would miss a half of play, beaubois didn't have an exact role, etc(and these were guys that were playing a lot of mins in the reg season last year). The addition of chandler really helps this team. i didn't think much of it at first. but chandler, very much unlike dampier, can play everday against any type of lineup in the league. he is big and athletic. haywood comes off the bench. from there it seems like all of the pieces of the puzzle are coming together after playing together over time. something that was not the case last year when they had 4 or 5 guys getting heavy mins that didn't really know one another very well because of a blockbuster trade midseason. outside of chicago, the mavs have defeated and have an impressive record against the elite teams. butler hurts, but the peja addition was the real trade that the mavericks wanted all along. to get someone for NOTHING. which is what they got with him. he just stands outside and gets open threes. and he makes them. so he fits in well. losing butler hurts, but not as bad as I thought it would. they are deep and butler will back for the playoffs. even if he comes off the bench for a few mins a game he gives them a huge emotional lift mentally. he is probably the most confident player in that lockeroom. when you look at their record, they have been very impressive in spite of major injuries to key players. beaubois missed the whole first half, but is averaging 10pts a game already coming back in 3 games. Dirk missed 11 games and the mavs lost 7 or 8 of those. During that same strech butler was out and chandler missed a few games. When completely healthy, even without butler, the mavericks will hard for any team to beat 4 times out of 7. just ask the heat and celtics how that went for them this year. lakers too. spurs have beat us 2 out of 3, but 2 were without dirk. the first meeting dirk was healthy and they defeated the spurs in SA. another thing not looking good for the spurs in the playoffs if we are to meet is beaubois. he really torched the spurs in that final game of the playoffs. I think he will see a lot of time against parker and it will be tough for the spurs to handle that.