I think we have a very good shot of beating Dallas when Yao returns for the following reasons 1. Juwan will have free shots all day long from the freethrow line. Juwan and Tracey up top on the pick and roll is going to work all day. Once they rotate to Juwan, Yao will kill them down low. My only concern is Rafer hitting his shots. If he doesn't put Luther in. Dallas is using the center spot to double team Tracy, leaving Deke wide open for 15 double pump moves before the refs call 3 seconds 2. Bonzi and Kirk will allow Tracy to rest and slow down Devan George and Stackhouse who light us up like Christmas Trees. I really like Kirk on Stackhouse with his athletic ability. Kirk is not the brightest light bulb. 3. JVG/Rafer will figure out that Jason Terry never hits a shot going left, check the replays from the game. Push him left into a shot blocker and watch him do something dumb 4. Stop playing Luther and Rafer together, they are getting murdered by Stackhouse and the Devin Harris. Stackhouse posts Luther up at will 5. When Dallas goes small with Nowitzki, go with Juwan, Tracy, Battier, Snyder, and Head. or Bonzi replacing Snyder or Head. See #4 above. 6. Mix up the pick and rolls with Yao/Tracy, Juwan/Tracy, and Rafer/Tracy. That last one puts a point guard on Tracy (John Stockton/Malone).
why we won't beat dallas: Yao will not play like he was playing pre-broken foot. he's lost endurance and quickness. it'll take him a good 2.5 weeks to get it back.
Well, that's irrelevant. Even if I agreed with that point, which I don't, the fourth and final game against Dallas in a few days is way before he'll be back. I think it will take him 2-3 games to get back into the flow. He's just that good. By the time the Rockets meet the Mavbricks in the playoffs, he and the Rockets will be more than ready. Also, how would you know if he's lost endurance and quickness. We're not even to that point yet; him practicing is still weeks away. Don't assume the worst.
Wait a minute...when Dallas goes small, why is Yao not in there? You exploit the defensive matchup. There is no way Nowitzki can guard Yao.
Bingo. That's why the only real key to beating Dallas is getting Yao back. Avery knows better than to try that small-ball nonsense with Yao on the court. Yao will eat Dirk for dinner. They've figured out how to slow us down by denying T-Mac the ball, but they have no answer for Yao. Nobody in this league has an answer for Yao - nobody. He is just simply *the* most dominant player in the league. They can beat us now because we are still primarily a perimeter-oriented team and our best low-post option is Juwan, which plays to their strengths. With Yao, we become a truly inside-out team again and create insurmountable matchup problems for everybody, including Dallas. That's why in my mind Yao's still MVP-worthy and the main ingredient we need to carry us to the NBA finals.
Games with Dallas are always tough. This is the best team, but i think we can fight with them, and win. We just have to play good defense, contest every shoots. All team must play well. Last 2 games with Dallas there was only Tracy. It's normal, that we have to put the ball in his hands. He is having a great time and now he's MVP time. But rest of the team have to making plays. They have to create plays and finish them. We have to knock down the open shoots and drive to the basket, draw the fouls. Last time before the 2nd game with Mavs JVG said that we would try to take to the basket and finish the plays near the rim. But that was not true. When Luther Head was on the floor he just tried the 3-pointers, long jumpers, but there wasn't and drives. He was 1-8. Battier was awful, too - 1-9. We just have to play great basketball like we did with the Spurs.
Putting Yao in against a small lineup creates a Match up problem from the 3 pointline. I don't disagree that Yao will abuse Dirk down low, however, we will get shot out the gym by Dirk from 3. Also, Yao cannot stay with Dirk on drives to the bucket creating more fouls for Yao. Slow of foot.
when you have a "broken leg" and have been sitting out of practice and games for 8 weeks, what do you think happens to your endurance and quickness? that's why i said it'll take him a good 2 weeks to back to All star form.
I think Thursday's game will be alot better for us than Friday. Expect for SNyder to have a better game. Remember he was rusty the first game, but he's getting back into game shape. His penetration skills will be invaluable. Also Deke has to avoid foul trouble moreso than ever aginst Dallas. We jsut can't afford to have Hayes out there against Diop and Dampier. Head needs to to have a big game and hit his shot. I heard Bonzi will be back so that'll be good. Juwan Howard will have to have a solid game and hit open shots when the opportunity presents itself. We'll need Rafer to have a big game, and minimize his mistakes, and take the open jumper and hopefully hit em. Don't ever stop shooting Rafer
there's no way we can beat Dallas...even with Yao..after all..don't they Have the Best Center in the West
I think you are right, but Yao will punish them when we're on offense and could get Dirk into foul trouble as well. If Yao passes out of the double-team the shooter has to be able to hit the 3. I think it's basically a big mismatch on both sides, and the team that hits their shots more will force the other team to adjust their strategy (similar to what happens when we play Phoenix). It seems to be to our advantage to have both teams play big. However, I think if Bonzi is healthy that could actually mean we can hang with Dallas even with both teams playing small since he can guard Stack or George and be a force on offense. Snyder could help here too, but yes as you said, Head has too much trouble guarding those guys. Basically, I like our chances against Dallas with Yao back.
Keys to beating Dallas: -Playing physical ball...Introduce Dirk to Deke's Elbows -Have a 9 man rotatotion, you need fresh legs against dallas and somene who can defend the taller 2's and 3's............umm, Snyder!
