ROUND 1 Vlade 18 pts (on 6-10), 16rbs, 3 a, 1 stl, 1blk, 5F in 35 minutes Raef 3 pts (on 1-7), 6rbs, 0 a, 0 stl, 3blk, 5F in 25 minutes No contest, Raef better get ready to play playoff basketball quick or his team is going to have a real hard time.
Did you hit the nail on the head or what? You called it and Reaf got abused when he was not sitting on the bench in foul trouble.
Thanks for the props on the call. I don't know what it is with Raef, some guys just seem to not translate their individual abilities and unique talents into team Ws. Maybe he presses, maybe he isn't dedicated, maybe his brain doesn't function as cripsly when there are 9 guys on the floor, whatever it is, he isn't as effective as he should be. I wonder what it is the Nigs fans who have seen him a lot think.
Raef is a good shotblocker. He tries to alter every shot, but in the process he also picks up fouls. He needs to learn how to play good defense, instead of fouling so much.
From the game description on NBA.com, it sounds like Sac used their inside game to Divac AND Webber when the jumpshooting was shut down and Dallas could not respond likewise.
There were 3 factors that lead to the Kings win. 1. Divac did whatever he wanted to in the paint. If the Mavs want to win the must stop Divac. 2. Forced shots by Dallas. Their game is based on taking quick shots. However there is a difference between quick shots, and rushing shots. They seemed to be rushing all of their shots. They may have got caught up in the media's building up of this series, and came out trying too hard. 3. They just couldn't buy a shot. They actually had a ton of open looks (especially Dirk) they just couldn't seem to find the bottom of the net. Dirk had a ton of shots that just missed as did Nash. Missing all those open looks can be atributed to rust. An entire week off is not always the best thing for a jump shooting team, it seemed to throw off their rythym. I still think the Mavs can win the series in 5 games but they must win tonight. If they don't win tonight it could go seven games, and I'm not so sure that the Mavs can win a game 7 in Arco.
Just a side note. Najera broke his thumb during warm ups before game 1 against the Kings. He still did a very good job defending Webber and is not expected to miss any time.
