Was going to make a post about it but didnt really feel like there was a thread this would fall neatly into, so am making a new thread for this discussion. Basically want to discuss anticipated adjustments for game 2 on the mavs side and what you'd do for the Rockets to counterbalance that. For the mavs, I think you're going to see a shorter leash for Rondo in Game 2 and much more of Barea. Barea was a much better PG when on the floor, a stronger defender, and offensively really presents a difficult matchup for Prigioni/Terry. The mavs absolutely need a guy who can shoot the 3, and my sense is that Parsons will also get pulled early if his shot isnt falling or he's getting beat often on D. I wouldnt be surprised to see Villanueva get more action in game 2, and I'm also predicting that we'll see the Mavs go with a big lineup more, paring Stoudemire with Chandler to counterbalance Smith/Capela/Jones/Howard's activity near the basket and uncontested lob-dunks. You'd have to expect Ellis to play more aggressive next game and shoot a better FG%, and for Nowitzki's FG% to come down but likely shoot more next game. I'm also going to guess that they will force the issue to the basket and try to get to the line and get DH and others in foul trouble again. Lastly, I think you'll see the Mavs employ hack-a-DH/Smith/Capela more forcefully. I loved McHale's roster management in Game 1 and was pleasantly surprised to see him place trust in Capela and Brewer off the bench. Next game I think you have to prepare and plan for the hack-a-bad FT shooter strategy, and out of the three players that cant shoot FT's all that well, Dwight is actually the best and I feel the most comfortable with him making the Mavs pay for the strategy. If he can hit a consecutive set of FT's early, it should cause the Mavs to back off. We're going to have to shore up on the TO's, and I think the team has to continue to get out on the break and force the Mavs to play to the Rockets tempo. Even when we gave up fast break points to the mavs last game, I wasnt too worried about it because the tempo was one that suited us better than them and on balance, its a format of play that will give us a victory, which it did. Although I like Prigioni, he has got to give me more off the bench, especially when they are giving him wide open looks. Part of me wonders if McHale will give Nick Johnson a shot against Barea, though I doubt it. Defensively I think our best matchup on Nowitzki is Ariza, and in general I would work to keep the ball out of Ellis' hands. Seems like when he's not involved in the offense he doesnt force the issue and is comfortable going quarters without a shot attempt. Much rather see the Mavs try to run their offense through Chandler/Stoudemire than Ellis. Lastly, I think you have to emphasize the defensive rebounding, especially to Capela who gave up many 2nd chance rebounds to Chandler. I liked McHale's moving Capela off Stoudemire and matching Smith against Stoudemire which I think is a better matchup and keeping Capela on either Chandler or Aminu.
Carlisle will start hack a thon early, this game. I feel we'll see less zone, cause we destroyed it last night. Or maybe a tighter zone, Monta killed their zone. Offensively, do much of the same. There's a lot of pockets in their D, and it's important to make Dirk & Monta work on D. When they play Aminu and Rondo at the same time, I'd be happy to see a little zone defense. It'll get them flustered.
I have said this before in the Game 1 thread, McHale needs to give Johnson minutes. He slowed down Wall, McHale needs to have a pep talk with him. Slowing down Barea and Monta is very important. This can prevent scoring opportunities for Dirk.
Good points. My abbreviated points: -Continue destroying Dirk on the pick and roll. Capella looked great as usual on this. -Capella gave up on getting the rebound a few times. Not sure if it was fatigue. -Allow almost every Mav to take the outside shot (not Dirk or Barea) -I think we did a good job on Rondo but our bigs got lazy when he entered the paint -I saw a couple of successful Parsons pump fakes--don't do it. Let him shoot. -Harden needs to take a few midrange shots. He hit a couple of threes but I would like more variety. -Jones can't defend Dirk. I'd prefer Smith or even Harden to guard him. If they went to Dirk more consistently it could have been much closer.
Let Parsons do everything. He was atrocious. The Mavs made their huge second quarter run without Parsons on the floor.
When I say Prigs hit the jumper at the elbow .. . It felt like his first shot that wasn't a three or a layup . I wondered how consistant could he be on that shot. His confidence in his three is not strong . . . . nor is my confidence in him making them. He also needs to not be throwing 7 footers around the court like dishrags. . . COME ONE PRIGS . . STOP BEING THE FRICKING HULK AGAINST POOR DIRK WIDOW!!! I think Smith needs to settle down and play within the team frame work . . or sit his ass down. He was good on Defense and even offense . . . I don't mind some of the shots and drives but he needs to finish them I think I'd rather 20 minutes of MONSTER dwight like yesterday than 35 minutes of timid I am backing away from everything so i don't foul out Dwight So keep it up big man No More lapses and lulls Rocket River
Less iso-Josh plays. No doubt he can make a pass but I rather see Prigioni running the offense for the 2nd unit than just dribbling up the court and passing it to Smith. Howard should be a bit more careful - hopefully he can stay aggressive but pay attention not to get called for moving screens, offensive fouls etc. Hopefully we'll see another game from him without those goal tending and 3 seconds violations he often gets called for. Double teaming Dirk seems to work and causes him to make bad plays. I think it's worth a shot to try a long, defense-fast break oriented lineup with Harden at the point and Brewer at the 2.
on their def switches, Rox need to not hurry and pick up the switch on Rondo. You play him too tight and he'll pass it to the mismatch from the switch. Play a bit off Rondo so he'd be itching to keep the ball and shoot it. We want him to want to shoot.
Need to play Nick Johnson on Barea. For the love of Jesus, keep the pick and rolls going. Mavs can't stop that. Harden gotta hit those open shots... he had a couple freebe's (?)
My only adjustments: * Stop switching the pick and rolls when it involves Terry or Prigioni getting stuck on a big man. * Take the ball out of Josh Smith's hands, he can have his occasional drives but him initiating the offense for a few minutes is just ridiculous. * Let Ariza get more touches * Play more pick and roll with Josh / Harden with Dwight * Get Dwight in after the first hack-a-Smith / Capela.
The free throw disparity was 45-17. You can bet your ass that Cuban has complained and so the only way Harden can respond is to make his shots. I trust Dwight to be careful about calls. We are extremely fortunate they missed shots, because you can be sure as hell they'll be pissed/motivated for Game 2. They got a lot of wide open looks and just missed. I'm praying that Smith shows up offensively. He tried to do so much and made terrible decisions. Extremely nervous about Game 2.
we probably won't get the shooting performances behind the arc from terry, ariza, and brewer. so harden will need to knock down a lot of shots to win this game. would have been nice to go to dmo in the post. tjones and jsmoove will have to work the offensive glass for more easy buckets.
1) Howard needs to stay out of foul trouble. When he's on the floor, the Mavs cannot compete with the Rockets. It wasn't even close in the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters. 2) Take care of the basketball. The turnovers didn't kill the Rockets last night since they forced Dallas to cough it up almost as much. But they cannot be so careless with the ball in Game 2(stop with all the contested alley-oops) and expect to get away with it again. 3) Secure the defensive boards. Some of this will be remedied by Dwight being on the floor, but there were far too many instances of Dallas missing the initial shot and getting 2nd and 3rd opportunities. They're not a good rebounding team, so this can't happen again. Those are the most important adjustments. I don't expect Terry and Brewer to shoot as well, but I also expect Harden and Smith to not shoot as poorly as well as Dwight avoiding those ticky tack fouls. If the Rockets play smart and execute, I don't think this Mavs team has enough to keep up with them.
Rockets adjustments: Attack Parsons more. Have the man he's defending run those sort of huge screen cuts (I don't know the exact plays, here's a ghetto diagram of one I remember) that Golden State uses. This forces Parsons to run and cut more, and frees his man up for easy rack attacks too. Warriors got about a million layups in the half court set against the Pelicans. Maybe (more realistically) within the confines of our current offense you could just pick and roll with his man to get Parsons on the low block vs TJones or JSmoove. Parsons knee is clearly not right, and we need to abuse him on our offensive end to keep him hobbled on his own offense. Keep JSmoove within what he's good at. I love JSmoove, but he can't take 14 shots. And for damn sure he can't go 5-14. Attack the basket, post up, and take open threes. Don't force the game. Don't make bad turnovers trying to make incredible passes. TJones needs to pass the ball out if he's up against 2 post defenders. Jut reset the offense instead of trying to score on both Tyson Chandler and some other dude. The refs may well call fewer fouls for us next game, to balance out the box scores (even though the Mavs went to a hack-a strategy late). Don't let bad calls fluster the Rockets. Even when there were BS calls last game, the Rockets said something about it, but then just played great. Keep that up. Finally, free throw practice and sessions with a sports psychologist for every big man we have. Not even joking.
