Official NBA 2010-11 Season Thread

[Navy]

What happened to Dallas 4th quarter closing skills they had built during this playoff run? Miami sliced and diced them up.

Not when Dallas missed like 6 Quality shots and like 4 from Barea. He kept driving in, but looked scared to take it all the way in. Then you got Haywood missing FT's and who miss'd a clean dunk, then you got Terry shooting a desperate 3pointer with 1:45 left in the 4th, down by 6. Dallas isn't gonna win like that.

Barea did looked nervous, especially with a Lebron and Haslem there ready to knock him out on any hit. I guess he didn't wanna take that chance, but don't sleep on him.

 

[DerrickRose]

Make or miss league. You can't throw too many excuses out there. Both teams shot horribly; Heat just got better shots closer to the rim.

 

[Lakers]

Yeah, it's easy to talk smack when you hold the fort down on your own court in game 1. For how above average the Heat stars shot and how few touches Dirk got in the 4th quarter, this series is far from over.

Now im not saying im right on this, but dont you think it might just slightly have to do with Dirk not wanting the ball at the end of today's game? It just seems like too often Dirk is passive in situations when they need buckets and pretty much just allowed Jason Terry to chuck up bricks at the end of that game

 

[CaptKirby]

Dirk did his usual thing in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, but it was already too late. It is not like the fourth quarter lost us the game; we were already behind, never got more stops in the fourth, and then the game was over. The Heat splashed down some ridiculous threes, but we even had more free throws...we lost the game to rebounding.

Sore from the whole Kobe less clutch than Dirk reality, eh "Lakers"?

 

[HeroMasaki]

Don't mind me guys, just enjoying the show :)

 

[DerrickRose]

Nowitzki is an interesting case. I'm more amazed that he scored 27 points with the defense Miami played.

What Miami seemed to do (after rewatching) is constantly force him middle and never let him get a catch and shoot. He was ALWAYS driving it. Nowitzki missed a lot of shots this way and also had some turnovers.

Other than that, it just really seemed like Miami was a quicker team today. They were quicker to the ball, they were defending Dallas' sets fairly well (Barea took a lot of jumpshots and missed some forced layups).

Miami's gameplan as far as who to leave open obviously seems to be the center position since Haywood and Chandler aren't always threats to score (especially if you foul them).

So adjustments should Dallas make?

Obviously rebound better. If you get outrebounded by Miami, you will have less transition opportunities. Their zone defense is most likely to cause of this, so they're in a bit of a hole. Zone helps force Miami into perimeter shots, but if you can't rebound the ball, you'll be forced to defend man to man, and Dallas can't always afford that.

You know, I'd look at that Marion match-up more. Can anyone on the Heat defend him in the post? Only guy I know who probably could is LeBron.

By the way, Dallas' defense was just as good. Miami just had a better bench production, Orebs, and actually shot better from three. Whether you want to attribute this to luck or not is up to you, but I wouldn't hope for these same stats four out of seven times. Dallas shouldn't have to depend on 4/5 more threes to beat this team and bench production should be consistent (that was their fucking advantage!).

 

[Ancien Régime]

game 1 tl;dr

if barea, terry and peja make the shots they USUALLY make, then mavs are up 1-0.

And can the Heat play this kind of monster defense on Dirk all series? They defended him better than any team has all season, if not in several seasons...and he still put up close to 30.

Also, I hope the tendon doesn't affect him too much; it's his non-shooting hand though.

anyway, if you are a fan of the NBA, even IF you're a fan of the heat, then you are a dallas mavericks fan. PERIOD.

the NBA cannot be allowed to turn into a league of super-teams in marquee markets. You cannot have a league model of 5 Globetrotters and 25 Generals.

 

[darkie]

Dirk seemed off all night, missing some open jumpers he usually shoots like 110% on. Peja was rushing his shots, if he makes 1 or 2 of his 3s, this is easily a 2 point game with 90 seconds left, meaning Terry wouldn't feel compelled to pull up for a corner 3 with a man in his face.

Terry played terribly in the second half and not much better in the first (though he had 12 points in the first half). He needs to slow down and let the game come to him.

Defensively, the Mavs did a pretty good job (as much as they could) on Wade and LeBron. Marion on Wade is a good matchup for the Mavs as Marion is just as quick as Wade but big enough to bother him. Stevenson was LeBron's main defender when he was in Washington so he's used to covering LeBron.

Miami shot the 3 flukishly well and Dallas missed shots flukishly too often. LeBron is not going 4-5 from 3 again while Peja won't go 0-3 again. If Miami shoots the 3 closer to their average, the margin would be around 2-3 points with 2 minutes left. Dallas wouldn't have gambled on some shots and the score would not have been run up so much. The scoreboard says 8, but it was really about a 4 point game.

I expect to see some Corey Brewer in game 2 and less Peja if his stroke is off again. Mavs win game 2.

 

[Lakers]

Dirk did his usual thing in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, but it was already too late. It is not like the fourth quarter lost us the game; we were already behind, never got more stops in the fourth, and then the game was over. The Heat splashed down some ridiculous threes, but we even had more free throws...we lost the game to rebounding.

Sore from the whole Kobe less clutch than Dirk reality, eh "Lakers"?

I'll put it this way, even though I still laugh that this somehow keeps going back to a Kobe/Nowitzki argument like Im the one that starts it. Kobe would never let Jason Terry jack up terrible shots at the end of the game, Kobe probably would've had the ball every possession in those last 2 minutes. Have a good day

 

[darkie]

I'll put it this way, even though I still laugh that this somehow keeps going back to a Kobe/Nowitzki argument like Im the one that starts it. Kobe would never let Jason Terry jack up terrible shots at the end of the game, Kobe probably would've had the ball every possession in those last 2 minutes. Have a good day

You're right. Kobe would have the ball every possession but he would be the one jacking up those same terrible shots.

 

[Stallion]

If you're gonna jack up a terrible shot, better to have your best offensive player taking it rather then your second.

 

[Lakers]

If you're gonna jack up a terrible shot, better to have your best offensive player taking it rather then your second.

^^^ Exactly... As a coach who would you rather have missing key shots down the stretch, your best player or the 6th man off the bench? Dirk disappears too often at the end of games and yesterday was a perfect example, he should be demanding the ball every play down rather than being passive

 

[Kevin Garrett]

Now im not saying im right on this, but dont you think it might just slightly have to do with Dirk not wanting the ball at the end of today's game? It just seems like too often Dirk is passive in situations when they need buckets and pretty much just allowed Jason Terry to chuck up bricks at the end of that game

I could be wrong on this, but I don't think I am. The Heat defense was doing a great job of denying Dirk the ball by fronting him and with double teams. Whenever Dirk got the ball, he seemed to want to drive to the basket. His jump shot was a little off all night. As for Jason Terry, I think he was trying to be the hero by rushing some of those shots. I don't think Dirk would have liked Terry shooting some of them (specifically, the three pointer in crunch time just a couple seconds into the shot clock and the jumper from the right side fading out of bounds).

 

[DerrickRose]

you mean when Haslem switched on Terry? That shot was forced because there was 3/4 seconds left. He had to take it.

 

[Kevin Garrett]

I don't remember what the floor spacing was like on that play, but if there were 4 seconds left on the clock, don't you think Terry could have tried to drive past Haslem? At least there would have been a chance to draw a foul.

 

[DerrickRose]

bballbreakdown
Listen to me on the Nuno and Raheem Show in Houston! http://bit.ly/k30PaQ

 

[Ryan3E]

In other news beside the finals, Shaq is going to announce (or already has announced) his retirement. I have him as the 6th best player ever. 5th all time scoring, 4 titles, and one of the most intriguing personalities ever. Where do you guys put him?

 

[CaptKirby]

Dirk proved plenty about not being passive this playoffs, and put in plenty in the fourth. You are just shit stirring and DID start it.

Ryan, wherever you put him it just has to be behind Jordan/Russell/Wilt/Magic/Duncan/Bird/maybe Kareem? and before Kobe.... It is unfortuante how Shaq never cared about playing regular seasons or getting in shape in time for even April some seasons, or maybe his career could have meant more.

 

[Lakers]

Dirk proved plenty about not being passive this playoffs, and put in plenty in the fourth. You are just shit stirring and DID start it.

Ryan, wherever you put him it just has to be behind Jordan/Russell/Wilt/Magic/Duncan/Bird/maybe Kareem? and before Kobe.... It is unfortuante how Shaq never cared about playing regular seasons or getting in shape in time for even April some seasons, or maybe his career could have meant more.

What lol, Ive never compared the two... Ive openly stated long ago that I thought Dirk wasnt clutch and you're best argument was to compare it to Kobe which completely defers away from the statement I made. The game last night is exactly why I even still think hes not clutch. If you are a star you should be demanding the ball in those last two minutes, especially when the lead was only around 4-6 at that point for Miami.

And yeh, you're right. I admit these playoffs he has been more than clutch, but double team or not you should be ashamed that Dirk let Jason Terry just chuck up 3's to try to get something going at the end of that game

 

[CaptKirby]

Dirk is completely clutch. He can always score in the fourth when he wants and nails all his free throws.

Also you were so ready for a fight I did not have time to edit my post, I should have said every playoffs. Dirk has proved he is one of the all time postseason players period, he always raises his game on average for the playoffs if I recall.

I wanted to address your argument darkie, or anyone else's, we did not lose "because shots were not falling"...Miami did not have their perfect game, we played to their pace and lost to the defensive tone they set, regardless of if there was a little luck either way. More confidence and calm play will be required to beat them if we are going to play to their pace.

 

[Lakers]

Dirk is completely clutch. He can always score in the fourth when he wants and nails all his free throws.

Also you were so ready for a fight I did not have time to edit my post, I should have said every playoffs. Dirk has proved he is one of the all time postseason players period, he always raises his game on average for the playoffs if I recall.

I wanted to address your argument darkie, or anyone else's, we did not lose "because shots were not falling"...Miami did not have their perfect game, we played to their pace and lost to the defensive tone they set, regardless of if there was a little luck either way. More confidence and calm play will be required to beat them if we are going to play to their pace.

So then if he can do all that why doesnt he demand the ball all the time when the game is close like that at the end? There's a reason he has no rings, if he wasnt so passive he'd be taking the big shots every time when they need in the 4th... Honestly, if the Mavs dont win this time I honestly cant wait to see what excuse you cook up for why they couldnt get past the Heat again

 

[Phizzlax]

I know you would all like to think that "if this or that happened Dallas would be up 1-0" but it's really not like every single X-factor went the Heat's way. Bosh will have better games this series and the Heat will likely get to the line more than they did in the first game, too. Mike Bibby might stop having the worst post season in the history of the league at some point.

Also, Dirk not shooting well isn't really a fluke IMO, the Heat are structured well to force him off of his game and did a good job pressuring him and running him off of his shots. He hardly had any catch and shoot opportunities and was frequently double-teamed. Haslem has always defended him well and Bosh/Anthony are both well tailored to at least annoy him (especially Bosh, who is longer and faster than most PFs that Dirk sees). This is why he was awkwardly driving through people to the basket instead of taking jump shots, by the way.

I feel like I'm the only person in the universe right now that isn't a Dallas homer.

Edit: Except for Lakers, of course.

 

[DerrickRose]

I'm with you, Phizzlax. Coulda, shoulda, and woulda logic should almost always be avoided because you can go back series beyond this. What if Dallas had homecourt advantage? What if Terry hit that dunk?

Regardless, what happened has happened and it's recorded in the books as 1-0. One thing I hate when it comes to speaking with fans (I'm not pointing fingers but rather people in general) is that they do not credit the other team and just call everything they do luck and everything bad their team does as "well that won't happen again."

Yeah, Dallas shot pedestrian from three, but has anyone here even seen the kind of threes they took and why they were taken instead of seeing every three as equal? Did anybody see the defensive adjustment of the Heat in regards to Dirk? Did anybody see Barea take a bunch of jumpshots?

Sure, the Heat made maybe 3 crazy threes, but they were from LeBron/Wade. They're going to make crazy threes. They make them game to game. Every other three I saw was pretty good.

You know, these things don't just happen and if some people actually watch both teams as opposed to their team, they would see both sides of the ball more objectively instead of just saying "Well, this team got lucky Mario Chalmers doesn't usually make wide open three pointers."

If we're going to go by which jumpshots didn't go in, then maybe taking too many jumpshots is the problem for the Mavs? Then it wouldn't be luck; that'd just be philosophy...

Nobody is entitled to any shot, rebound, or free throw. You earn it like the champions before you.

 

[Mizuno]

Eh I don't get all this "Dirk didn't demand the ball in the last minutes"... I saw Dirk drive and get fouled, Dirk make a jump shot, Terry rushing a 3 (iirc they had about 18 seconds left on the shot clock with 2 minutes to go), Dirk drive and get fouled, Kidd miss open 3, Dirk misses jumper. By the time there was like a minute left the game was out of reach, since Dallas couldn't get stops (or Terry makes a dumb foul). 4 out of 6 possessions where shots by Dirk, so yeah...

Heat played really well in the 4th and played great D, somehow managing to double Dirk and contest threes. Dallas did miss some open shots, and Barea missed some shots he has been making consistently, so I expect things to be much closer next game and a close series all around.

 

[CaptKirby]

DerrickRose the Mavericks actually had bad luck in the first half I felt, and I was ecstatic because they were still up 1 due to TERRIBLE Miami decisionmaking. Miami beat them in the end...luck can exist, but I felt like in the second half the Mavericks lapsed into worse decisions and were worn down.

Like Mizuno said, the Dirk demanding the ball thing is stupid. Dirk is not a "hero shot" player. Hero shot players lose games as much as they win them for doing it, and while maybe on average it nets bigger "situation" wins, Dirk is not about to disrupt a game plan to be more selfish. The only time I am ever really irked is when he is having a great game and keeps deferring to players like Deshawn Stevenson, but other than that I do not think he is doing anything wrong.