after that trade mid-season they became one of the most athletic teams in the league no doubt. i just think they have some consistency/chemistry issues that make them falter every once in a while.
But it works great with Nellie's "Balls to the Walls" style of play. I love watching basketball like that, it's like organized chaos, but not so organized. Give Baron the rock and let the magic happen, basically. Haha. Super athletic team though, dudes are scary. I can't wait to see this team 2-3 years down the road. Shit, I can't wait to see them in game 2! But I don't want to discredit the Mavs, the Mavs are a better team than your other comment is giving them credit for. Old and slow is not what I think of when I watch the Mavs play. Then again, everybody but maybe the Suns and Nuggets look a little "slow" next to a team that plays such a fast-paced style.
Dudes came out hungry like a muthafucka. Mavs didnt show/have the same edge.
This is the best two sentences that could be written about last night's game.
Baron Davis even said it on the postgame "We're just real HONGRY."
Hey, Rock. You remember Nellie and his "free swings"? I bet he sees game 2 as a "free swing" and I bet we win by double digits.
I don't think so. I think Nellie is focused and he is not going home this series.
I had a feeling this was personal for him considering the harsh exit from Dallas. He is working out some demons on your team's collective ass and it is not pretty. Swolen pubismond is right. His ass is burned.
I don't think so. I think Nellie is focused and he is not going home this series.
I had a feeling this was personal for him considering the harsh exit from Dallas. He is working out some demons on your team's collective ass and it is not pretty. Swolen pubismond is right. His ass is burned.
If the Warriors beat the Mavericks, it will be the most unexpected and memorable playoff upset in my lifetime. Last number 1 seed to lose in the first round to a number 8? SEATTLE SUPERSONICS to the DENVER NUGGETS. 1995. Mutombo was a monster on the defensive end. But even that upset was not that great - the Sonics didn't win 67 games.
Dudes came out hungry like a muthafucka. Mavs didnt show/have the same edge.
This is the best two sentences that could be written about last night's game.
Baron Davis even said it on the postgame "We're just real HONGRY."
Hey, Rock. You remember Nellie and his "free swings"? I bet he sees game 2 as a "free swing" and I bet we win by double digits.
I don't think so. I think Nellie is focused and he is not going home this series.
I had a feeling this was personal for him considering the harsh exit from Dallas. He is working out some demons on your team's collective ass and it is not pretty. Swolen pubismond is right. His ass is burned.
I dunno about this harsh exit stuff. He kinda quit on the team and he got paid beaucoups $$$ to show up and be drunk at the arena. Cuban's ass should be chapped.
I ain't like your "working out some demons" comment and it will be brought back up when Warriors conversations return to the "glad to have been there" status like they're supposed to be.
I mean that is my outlandish homer-ass prediction, being a Warriors fan. I know they stand a slim chance.
I would not bet against Don Nelson, especially Don Nelson with an axe to grind and a scroat to shove in Cuban's face. But I don't think they'll win the series.
When's the last time the number 1 seed had a 1-5 record with the 8 seed over the past 2 years and lost game 1 of the first series at home against their former coach who helped shaped their team to become a 1 seed in the first place? It all adds up to being possible for the Warriors, although the majority of people don't believe they can do it. All of the factors involved in this series make it very exciting.
Dudes came out hungry like a muthafucka. Mavs didnt show/have the same edge.
This is the best two sentences that could be written about last night's game.
Baron Davis even said it on the postgame "We're just real HONGRY."
Hey, Rock. You remember Nellie and his "free swings"? I bet he sees game 2 as a "free swing" and I bet we win by double digits.
I don't think so. I think Nellie is focused and he is not going home this series.
I had a feeling this was personal for him considering the harsh exit from Dallas. He is working out some demons on your team's collective ass and it is not pretty. Swolen pubismond is right. His ass is burned.
I dunno about this harsh exit stuff. He kinda quit on the team and he got paid beaucoups $$$ to show up and be drunk at the arena. Cuban's ass should be chapped.
Fair enough, but anything that involves litigation is going to leave many asses burned in its wake.
I think the Warriors have a chance to win the series as well. I think they are just a match-up hell for the Mavs.
1) The Mavs have the height and rebounding edge if they play Diop and Dampier more, but with the Warriors going to the basket like they're doing, that could mean those two guys get lots of fouls. Diop only played 16 min and got 5 fouls. Because he's a shot blocker I think he can be taken out of the game going for blocks against Warriors going to the hole. Damp, I don't know why he didn't get more minutes, still hurt or playing lame like he has a bad tendency to do?
2) Dirk. If he turns his back he's going to get doubled and sometimes triple teamed. He's going to have to make his move much MUCH quicker than he's use to and perhaps set up closer to the basket. Still, this is the 3rd time the Warriors have blitzed him like that and he's not done any better.
3) The Mavs will have to start throwing double teams at Davis to get the ball out of his hands or just play off of him and hope that he'll shoot more instead. Despite last night's explosion (on one good eye I might add!) he's a very, VERY streaky outside shooter. When he drives he's at his best. A double will probably invite a quick pass and shot from the Warriors however.
4) The Warriors are hot right now. I think they and the Nuggets finished off the season with the hottest records. I believe the Warriors were 9-1 in their last 10. They have the confidence to play the Mavs and not just be overwhelmed by the situation, having not been there for 13 years.
5) The Warriors did not get strong performances from Jason Richardson and Monta Ellis, so their whole offense wasn't even rolling last night.
6) Dallas ended up shooting something like 35%, but both teams were missing a LOT of shots really close to the basket in that first half. By the 2nd half the pace had slowed down considerably and the Warriors were still able to execute their offense. They got some immediate scores on Dallas after made baskets and free throws as well.
The Mavs are going to have to come up with a lot of new ideas to deal with GS.
I cannot wait. This is the best series in the playoffs!!!
This shit is crazy though. Nellie loves Dirk. Loves 'em. Like a father and a son practically. But he knows his weaknesses, he knows how to break Dirk down. I just wish Nellie wasn't seemingly enjoying the process so much....
As he was walking toward the exit at American Airlines Center, Golden State coach Don Nelson bumped into Dirk Nowitzki.
"Dirkster," Nelson bellowed. "I think we got your attention."
Losing homecourt ADVANTAGE is not something to take lightly.
I think this will affect the raptors heavily...winnnig game one and playing strongly to an exited (because out for so long) toronto crowd= victory having to grind it out and prove shit and win big games in jersey = pressure
Dirk didn't become the MVP by playing as a perimeter center. He plays the 4 alongside true centers. Let's get back to that, coach.
Dude but this is what I've always been saying to you. Not trying to ride hard on your boy but as long as I've been watching him, when the pressure rises or he gets a little banged around dude just plays the perimeter. It's not a new story.
Dirk didn't become the MVP by playing as a perimeter center. He plays the 4 alongside true centers. Let's get back to that, coach.
Dude but this is what I've always been saying to you. Not trying to ride hard on your boy but as long as I've been watching him, when the pressure rises or he gets a little banged around dude just plays the perimeter. It's not a new story.
Dirk didn't become the MVP by playing as a perimeter center. He plays the 4 alongside true centers. Let's get back to that, coach.
Dude but this is what I've always been saying to you. Not trying to ride hard on your boy but as long as I've been watching him, when the pressure rises or he gets a little banged around dude just plays the perimeter. It's not a new story.
That may be true to some extent but it doesn't mean his not a superstar. Maybe it's a reason why YOU don't like him but he's about to win an MVP behind being an amazing offensive performer and a leader. Nope. He's not a bruiser. Is he mentally "soft"? AT times it would seem so. Definitely compared to the mega-aggressive-personalities-lickin-off-shots-in-the-skrip-club-parking-lot-steez of some of these NBA doods. Take a look around though. Andrei Kirilenko apparently cried the other day because of something Sloan said or did to him. These Euro cats are a different breed, both personality-wise and game-wise. There's a grip of 7' perimeter dudes now and teams covet them. And none of them have come close to what Dirk's accomplished.
That wasn't even the point though. The point is he should not be playing the 5 because it's not how he and the team compiled success. He plays the 4. he plays next to bigs and we run a shitload of pick and roll.
Dirk didn't become the MVP by playing as a perimeter center. He plays the 4 alongside true centers. Let's get back to that, coach.
Dude but this is what I've always been saying to you. Not trying to ride hard on your boy but as long as I've been watching him, when the pressure rises or he gets a little banged around dude just plays the perimeter. It's not a new story.
Longtime league leader in softbatchedness.
Please grace us w/ more fucking meaningful commentary you vulture you. Got your Suns colored playoff kicks today did ya? That's cute.
Dirk didn't become the MVP by playing as a perimeter center. He plays the 4 alongside true centers. Let's get back to that, coach.
Dude but this is what I've always been saying to you. Not trying to ride hard on your boy but as long as I've been watching him, when the pressure rises or he gets a little banged around dude just plays the perimeter. It's not a new story.
Longtime league leader in softbatchedness.
Please grace us w/ more fucking meaningful commentary you vulture you. Got your Suns colored playoff kicks today did ya? That's cute.
Damn, dude, you sound ass-hurt.
I can only imagine how shrill you're gonna get when your squad is down three.
That wasn't even the point though. The point is he should not be playing the 5 because it's not how he and the team compiled success. He plays the 4. he plays next to bigs and we run a shitload of pick and roll.
Dirk never had anyone taller than 6'8" guard him last night. A couple times he had Monta Ellis on him who is only 6'3". You think that playing him at 4 will change that and make him play any better????
A friend of mine sent me this article from a blog about Dirk's problems in Game 1. I think it might be from ESPN but I'm not sure.
MVP MIA
April 23, 2007 10:40 AM
First I will build you up. Then I will destroy you. Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images
I know, plus/minus numbers aren't magic. They hide important stuff. But it's worth noting, that out of everyone who suited up in last night's thrilling Dallas vs. Golden State game 1, the player with the worst plus/minus of them all was Dirk Nowitzki.
Yes, the same Nowitzki who is supposed to win this season's MVP award. Look at this gameflow data. DeSagana Diop was the only Maverick with a good plus/minus, and he earned that in part by being the guy who got to come in when Nowitzki sat down.
What's that about? Haven't we seen this before from Nowitzki?
What occurs to me is that this is a real testament to how important speed is in the game of basketball. Think about it. If you're Devin Harris, then just by playing without doing anything too special, once in a while you'll manage to have the ball somewhere without a defender right in your grill. You might even get a layup out of moving and catching the ball. Most NBA players can create at least a little room with speed or the threat of speed, and it's those unmolested shots that turn your hypothetical 1-for-5 stinker of a shooting night into a much more pleasing 4-for-8.
But Dirk Nowitzki is, as his friend Steve Nash recently pointed out, "a plodding Clydesdale." People say nasty things about him, which I hate, because he is by all reports a stellar guy. They want you to think there's something he doesn't understand about basketball, some defect in his microchip, and that is why he has turned in some sub-par playoff performances. But I don't buy that. I just think he's maybe a little extra vulnerable to bad nights -- especially against defenses with lots of time to prepare for him -- because he never gets a single bucket from his speed. Name another go-to perimeter player who is the slowest player on the floor. My point exactly. That leaves him playing chess -- spins, jabs, leaners, and shot fakes, many of which Don Nelson has seen before. Hard to get in the zone when you're solving riddles in your mind.
Credit where credit is due: The Warriors are fast and strong, and they were in the right places at the right time to annoy Nowitzki all night. Don Nelson knows just how and when to double and triple Dirk Nowitzki. Kiki Vandweghe explains on the Daily Dime:
Dirk likes to take one dribble, go right or left and then spin back. If you watch, there's often a player running at him, trying to steal on the spin. There were a few fouls, but trying to disrupt Dirk like that shows how well Nellie knows these players.
Even when they didn't get the steal, they made Nowitzki worry about keeping possession, and that didn't help his ensuing shot.
But I mean, really, is it that simple? Send a guy on the spin and you turn the leading MVP candidate (who, I might add, can shoot from anywhere, and is about the same height as me on tallish stilts) into a player who makes his team better by sitting on the bench?
Why didn't everyone do that to him all year? What happened to his invincibilty? What happened to Dallas hoping you'd double Nowitzki? Chris Ballard wrote the cover story, about Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, for the Sports Illustrated that is (barely) still on newsstands.
Nowitzki has always been able to shoot. "The one thing that was missing was his passing," says Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson, the former Dallas coach, who starts chanting "M-V-P! M-V-P!" when asked about Nowitzki. It's not that Nowitzki lacked floor vision, his teammates and coaches say, but that he didn't always make the right decision. "His passes are crisp now," says point guard Jason Terry. "Last year they might have got deflected, or he might have spun and thrown up a shot over two people. Now he trusts his teammates more." The result: Now the Mavericks actually want teams to double Nowitzki. "This is the first year," says Harris, "where you could really say he's made his teammates better."
Opponents use various tactics to defend Nowitzki. Golden State has had success by attacking him on the spin -- Nelson believes Nowitzki is vulnerable on the dribble -- and making him go to his right. (Though right-handed, Nowitzki is more dangerous going left.) Other clubs put smaller guys on him, or switch on the pick-and-roll. But Nowitzki has developed a vast and at times strange repertoire to counter those moves. His post game has improved immensely, and he can now shoot hooks with either hand, drive both sides of the lane and, on occasion, throw up invented shots. "He's got this one-legged, like, runner fadeaway," says first-year Maverick Devean George, who guarded Nowitzki when George was a Laker. "He's dribbling away from the basket, so your hands are down, and then he just throws it up there as he's running, off the wrong foot. It's a shot when you don't even think there could be a shot." Says Stoudemire, "You can't anticipate his shots because he does so much awkwardly."
Those passes? Those awkward makes? He does know how to make them. Dallas does know how to win. Now, I guess the challenge is to do so enough of the time that Dallas can win four of the next six against a team that's not going to hand Dallas anything. Will that happen?
Dirk didn't become the MVP by playing as a perimeter center. He plays the 4 alongside true centers. Let's get back to that, coach.
Dude but this is what I've always been saying to you. Not trying to ride hard on your boy but as long as I've been watching him, when the pressure rises or he gets a little banged around dude just plays the perimeter. It's not a new story.
Longtime league leader in softbatchedness.
Please grace us w/ more fucking meaningful commentary you vulture you. Got your Suns colored playoff kicks today did ya? That's cute.
Damn, dude, you sound ass-hurt.
I can only imagine how shrill you're gonna get when your squad is down three.
I still think Dallas is the better team. They just need to turn on their turbo boosters to the max.
Fastest-growing bandwagon in the NBA? You only get one guess.
Of course, you probably only need one.
It's the Golden State Warriors, obviously, after their Game 1 undressing of the 67-win Dallas Mavericks.
How hot are the Warriors now?
My sources in Hollywood tell me reliably that Jessica Alba has requested a ticket for Sunday's Game 4 in Oakland.
Yes: I'm well aware that Alba and Baron Davis are longtime pals. But I'll go out on a limb and say that it's still a rather momentous occasion when an actress of Alba's hotness, er, stature, wants to fly in for a courtside seat.
Alba, by all accounts, only hits Warriors games when they're in L.A. This will apparently be her maiden trip to Oakland . . . after she undoubtedly realized that even Jessica Alba would have a tough time scoring Friday night tickets for Golden State's first home playoff game in 13 years.
Fastest-growing bandwagon in the NBA? You only get one guess.
Of course, you probably only need one.
It's the Golden State Warriors, obviously, after their Game 1 undressing of the 67-win Dallas Mavericks.
How hot are the Warriors now?
My sources in Hollywood tell me reliably that Jessica Alba has requested a ticket for Sunday's Game 4 in Oakland.
Yes: I'm well aware that Alba and Baron Davis are longtime pals. But I'll go out on a limb and say that it's still a rather momentous occasion when an actress of Alba's hotness, er, stature, wants to fly in for a courtside seat.
Alba, by all accounts, only hits Warriors games when they're in L.A. This will apparently be her maiden trip to Oakland . . . after she undoubtedly realized that even Jessica Alba would have a tough time scoring Friday night tickets for Golden State's first home playoff game in 13 years.
Comments
This is the best two sentences that could be written about last night's game.
Baron Davis even said it on the postgame "We're just real HONGRY."
Hey, Rock. You remember Nellie and his "free swings"? I bet he sees game 2 as a "free swing" and I bet we win by double digits.
Say mang, you don't get to drop these when yr team got upset at home too.
Unless yr "Oh Snap" was directed at Timmie an 'em.
But it works great with Nellie's "Balls to the Walls" style of play. I love watching basketball like that, it's like organized chaos, but not so organized. Give Baron the rock and let the magic happen, basically. Haha. Super athletic team though, dudes are scary. I can't wait to see this team 2-3 years down the road. Shit, I can't wait to see them in game 2! But I don't want to discredit the Mavs, the Mavs are a better team than your other comment is giving them credit for. Old and slow is not what I think of when I watch the Mavs play. Then again, everybody but maybe the Suns and Nuggets look a little "slow" next to a team that plays such a fast-paced style.
I don't think so. I think Nellie is focused and he is not going home this series.
I had a feeling this was personal for him considering the harsh exit from Dallas. He is working out some demons on your team's collective ass and it is not pretty. Swolen pubismond is right. His ass is burned.
If the Warriors beat the Mavericks, it will be the most unexpected and memorable playoff upset in my lifetime. Last number 1 seed to lose in the first round to a number 8? SEATTLE SUPERSONICS to the DENVER NUGGETS. 1995. Mutombo was a monster on the defensive end. But even that upset was not that great - the Sonics didn't win 67 games.
Also, I didn't mean to imply that they won't lose the next game - just that I don't think Nellie's going to take "free swings" at this time.
I dunno about this harsh exit stuff. He kinda quit on the team and he got paid beaucoups $$$ to show up and be drunk at the arena. Cuban's ass should be chapped.
I ain't like your "working out some demons" comment and it will be brought back up when Warriors conversations return to the "glad to have been there" status like they're supposed to be.
Chortle away for now. Shit's gettin deaded soon.
I would not bet against Don Nelson, especially Don Nelson with an axe to grind and a scroat to shove in Cuban's face. But I don't think they'll win the series.
My prediction: Mavs in 6.
But I hope I'm wrong.
Fair enough, but anything that involves litigation is going to leave many asses burned in its wake.
WEDNESDAY!!!
1) The Mavs have the height and rebounding edge if they play Diop and Dampier more, but with the Warriors going to the basket like they're doing, that could mean those two guys get lots of fouls. Diop only played 16 min and got 5 fouls. Because he's a shot blocker I think he can be taken out of the game going for blocks against Warriors going to the hole. Damp, I don't know why he didn't get more minutes, still hurt or playing lame like he has a bad tendency to do?
2) Dirk. If he turns his back he's going to get doubled and sometimes triple teamed. He's going to have to make his move much MUCH quicker than he's use to and perhaps set up closer to the basket. Still, this is the 3rd time the Warriors have blitzed him like that and he's not done any better.
3) The Mavs will have to start throwing double teams at Davis to get the ball out of his hands or just play off of him and hope that he'll shoot more instead. Despite last night's explosion (on one good eye I might add!) he's a very, VERY streaky outside shooter. When he drives he's at his best. A double will probably invite a quick pass and shot from the Warriors however.
4) The Warriors are hot right now. I think they and the Nuggets finished off the season with the hottest records. I believe the Warriors were 9-1 in their last 10. They have the confidence to play the Mavs and not just be overwhelmed by the situation, having not been there for 13 years.
5) The Warriors did not get strong performances from Jason Richardson and Monta Ellis, so their whole offense wasn't even rolling last night.
6) Dallas ended up shooting something like 35%, but both teams were missing a LOT of shots really close to the basket in that first half. By the 2nd half the pace had slowed down considerably and the Warriors were still able to execute their offense. They got some immediate scores on Dallas after made baskets and free throws as well.
The Mavs are going to have to come up with a lot of new ideas to deal with GS.
I cannot wait. This is the best series in the playoffs!!!
Yes, motown, I realize the Mavs' bigs are gonna be foul bonanzas against the athletic Warriors, but they can still get 30+ minutes combined.
Dirk didn't become the MVP by playing as a perimeter center. He plays the 4 alongside true centers. Let's get back to that, coach.
As he was walking toward the exit at American Airlines Center, Golden State coach Don Nelson bumped into Dirk Nowitzki.
"Dirkster," Nelson bellowed. "I think we got your attention."
[/b]
I think this will affect the raptors heavily...winnnig game one and playing strongly to an exited (because out for so long) toronto crowd= victory
having to grind it out and prove shit and win big games in jersey = pressure
Dude but this is what I've always been saying to you. Not trying to ride hard on your boy
Longtime league leader in softbatchedness.
That may be true to some extent but it doesn't mean his not a superstar. Maybe it's a reason why YOU don't like him but he's about to win an MVP behind being an amazing offensive performer and a leader. Nope. He's not a bruiser. Is he mentally "soft"? AT times it would seem so. Definitely compared to the mega-aggressive-personalities-lickin-off-shots-in-the-skrip-club-parking-lot-steez of some of these NBA doods. Take a look around though. Andrei Kirilenko apparently cried the other day because of something Sloan said or did to him. These Euro cats are a different breed, both personality-wise and game-wise. There's a grip of 7' perimeter dudes now and teams covet them. And none of them have come close to what Dirk's accomplished.
That wasn't even the point though. The point is he should not be playing the 5 because it's not how he and the team compiled success. He plays the 4. he plays next to bigs and we run a shitload of pick and roll.
Please grace us w/ more fucking meaningful commentary you vulture you. Got your Suns colored playoff kicks today did ya? That's cute.
Damn, dude, you sound ass-hurt.
I can only imagine how shrill you're gonna get when your squad is down three.
Dirk never had anyone taller than 6'8" guard him last night. A couple times he had Monta Ellis on him who is only 6'3". You think that playing him at 4 will change that and make him play any better????
A friend of mine sent me this article from a blog about Dirk's problems in Game 1. I think it might be from ESPN but I'm not sure.
MVP MIA
April 23, 2007 10:40 AM
First I will build you up. Then I will destroy you.
Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images
I know, plus/minus numbers aren't magic. They hide important stuff. But it's worth noting, that out of everyone who suited up in last night's thrilling Dallas vs. Golden State game 1, the player with the worst plus/minus of them all was Dirk Nowitzki.
Yes, the same Nowitzki who is supposed to win this season's MVP award. Look at this gameflow data. DeSagana Diop was the only Maverick with a good plus/minus, and he earned that in part by being the guy who got to come in when Nowitzki sat down.
What's that about? Haven't we seen this before from Nowitzki?
What occurs to me is that this is a real testament to how important speed is in the game of basketball. Think about it. If you're Devin Harris, then just by playing without doing anything too special, once in a while you'll manage to have the ball somewhere without a defender right in your grill. You might even get a layup out of moving and catching the ball. Most NBA players can create at least a little room with speed or the threat of speed, and it's those unmolested shots that turn your hypothetical 1-for-5 stinker of a shooting night into a much more pleasing 4-for-8.
But Dirk Nowitzki is, as his friend Steve Nash recently pointed out, "a plodding Clydesdale." People say nasty things about him, which I hate, because he is by all reports a stellar guy. They want you to think there's something he doesn't understand about basketball, some defect in his microchip, and that is why he has turned in some sub-par playoff performances. But I don't buy that. I just think he's maybe a little extra vulnerable to bad nights -- especially against defenses with lots of time to prepare for him -- because he never gets a single bucket from his speed. Name another go-to perimeter player who is the slowest player on the floor. My point exactly. That leaves him playing chess -- spins, jabs, leaners, and shot fakes, many of which Don Nelson has seen before. Hard to get in the zone when you're solving riddles in your mind.
Credit where credit is due: The Warriors are fast and strong, and they were in the right places at the right time to annoy Nowitzki all night. Don Nelson knows just how and when to double and triple Dirk Nowitzki. Kiki Vandweghe explains on the Daily Dime:
Dirk likes to take one dribble, go right or left and then spin back. If you watch, there's often a player running at him, trying to steal on the spin. There were a few fouls, but trying to disrupt Dirk like that shows how well Nellie knows these players.
Even when they didn't get the steal, they made Nowitzki worry about keeping possession, and that didn't help his ensuing shot.
But I mean, really, is it that simple? Send a guy on the spin and you turn the leading MVP candidate (who, I might add, can shoot from anywhere, and is about the same height as me on tallish stilts) into a player who makes his team better by sitting on the bench?
Why didn't everyone do that to him all year? What happened to his invincibilty? What happened to Dallas hoping you'd double Nowitzki? Chris Ballard wrote the cover story, about Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, for the Sports Illustrated that is (barely) still on newsstands.
Nowitzki has always been able to shoot. "The one thing that was missing was his passing," says Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson, the former Dallas coach, who starts chanting "M-V-P! M-V-P!" when asked about Nowitzki. It's not that Nowitzki lacked floor vision, his teammates and coaches say, but that he didn't always make the right decision. "His passes are crisp now," says point guard Jason Terry. "Last year they might have got deflected, or he might have spun and thrown up a shot over two people. Now he trusts his teammates more." The result: Now the Mavericks actually want teams to double Nowitzki. "This is the first year," says Harris, "where you could really say he's made his teammates better."
Opponents use various tactics to defend Nowitzki. Golden State has had success by attacking him on the spin -- Nelson believes Nowitzki is vulnerable on the dribble -- and making him go to his right. (Though right-handed, Nowitzki is more dangerous going left.) Other clubs put smaller guys on him, or switch on the pick-and-roll. But Nowitzki has developed a vast and at times strange repertoire to counter those moves. His post game has improved immensely, and he can now shoot hooks with either hand, drive both sides of the lane and, on occasion, throw up invented shots. "He's got this one-legged, like, runner fadeaway," says first-year Maverick Devean George, who guarded Nowitzki when George was a Laker. "He's dribbling away from the basket, so your hands are down, and then he just throws it up there as he's running, off the wrong foot. It's a shot when you don't even think there could be a shot." Says Stoudemire, "You can't anticipate his shots because he does so much awkwardly."
Those passes? Those awkward makes? He does know how to make them. Dallas does know how to win. Now, I guess the challenge is to do so enough of the time that Dallas can win four of the next six against a team that's not going to hand Dallas anything. Will that happen?
I still think Dallas is the better team. They just need to turn on their turbo boosters to the max.
Yes.
Don't get too cocky dude. You're already writing off Dirk Nowitzki. This series is young yet.
of course this happens after i move out east
The more basketball, the better for me. As Dick Vitale has said on numerous occassions, "Overtime? Let's stay here all night baby!!!"
That's been the slogan for TNT for a couple years now.