Stating the obvious more than anything, I suppose, but we've watched the Mavs go from free-wheeling scorers with an identity to semi-self-hating semi-defensive mindsets.
Do the Mavs have an identity? I'm not sure. They have some players, like Dirk and Josh Howard, that look like they'd be more comfortable on the Suns. They have some players, like Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse, that look liked they'd be more comfortable in the one-on-one battles of the Eastern Conference. And they have some players, like Dampier, that look like they'd rather be fishing this time of year.
Yes, GS is a nightmare matchup for Dallas and Nellie knows the Mavs all too well. But it's still the Mavs fault for obsessing over how they match up with the Spurs. This team is built to beat the Spurs, but ironically they have difficult with smaller, quicker teams now. They play better defense, but it isn't iron clad. The roster still looks like it was put together by pulling names out of a hat. It's remarkably easy to knock the Mavs out of offensive continuity because they don't really have any. They don't work very hard to get each other easy looks ... there's no real offensive system outside of what they do to feature Dirk.
Old saying: You're only as good as your weakest link, and in the Mavs case it's center. All the things people said here about Dampier being a bad fit for the Suns and why D'Antoni wouldn't play him are biting the Mavs in the ass. Dallas has no real scoring output at the 5, which means teams don't waste their team guarding him. It also means little foul trouble for the opposing 5.
I think in the NBA, your identity can never stray too far from your best player. For the Mavs, its Dirk, and it's becoming clear to me they're asking him to be something he's not, which is an all-around power forward who carries his team through the playoffs. That's not what he is. He's not a shot blocker. He's not a guy who's going to grab 20 rebounds. He scores and he facilitates offense. Everything else he does is a sacrifice and a task, and he should be commended when he actually succeeds. If the Mavs really want to be like the Spurs or Pistons, they probably should've gone one step further and traded Dirk.
Anyway, it just seems to me if Nellie has exposed anything, it's the Mavs lack of identity. Avery must feel like he has too many holes to plug and not enough fingers. He doesn't have many things he can count on against the Warriors based on his own personal style of Xs and Os. And if the Warriors actually finish the Mavs off, the Mavs won't even have a good clue how to fix their roster problems ... which direction do you go?
Do the Mavs have an identity? I'm not sure. They have some players, like Dirk and Josh Howard, that look like they'd be more comfortable on the Suns. They have some players, like Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse, that look liked they'd be more comfortable in the one-on-one battles of the Eastern Conference. And they have some players, like Dampier, that look like they'd rather be fishing this time of year.
Yes, GS is a nightmare matchup for Dallas and Nellie knows the Mavs all too well. But it's still the Mavs fault for obsessing over how they match up with the Spurs. This team is built to beat the Spurs, but ironically they have difficult with smaller, quicker teams now. They play better defense, but it isn't iron clad. The roster still looks like it was put together by pulling names out of a hat. It's remarkably easy to knock the Mavs out of offensive continuity because they don't really have any. They don't work very hard to get each other easy looks ... there's no real offensive system outside of what they do to feature Dirk.
Old saying: You're only as good as your weakest link, and in the Mavs case it's center. All the things people said here about Dampier being a bad fit for the Suns and why D'Antoni wouldn't play him are biting the Mavs in the ass. Dallas has no real scoring output at the 5, which means teams don't waste their team guarding him. It also means little foul trouble for the opposing 5.
I think in the NBA, your identity can never stray too far from your best player. For the Mavs, its Dirk, and it's becoming clear to me they're asking him to be something he's not, which is an all-around power forward who carries his team through the playoffs. That's not what he is. He's not a shot blocker. He's not a guy who's going to grab 20 rebounds. He scores and he facilitates offense. Everything else he does is a sacrifice and a task, and he should be commended when he actually succeeds. If the Mavs really want to be like the Spurs or Pistons, they probably should've gone one step further and traded Dirk.
Anyway, it just seems to me if Nellie has exposed anything, it's the Mavs lack of identity. Avery must feel like he has too many holes to plug and not enough fingers. He doesn't have many things he can count on against the Warriors based on his own personal style of Xs and Os. And if the Warriors actually finish the Mavs off, the Mavs won't even have a good clue how to fix their roster problems ... which direction do you go?
