From a friend of mine in Dallas, here's their usual rotation: Terry, Fin, J-Ho, Dirk, and Dampier to start. Stack first guy off the bench, usually to replace Fin, though sometimes it is Howard if he has picked up a quick foul or 2. Devin Harris comes in for Terry. Later, Van Horn usually subs in for Dampier, so he and Dirk can play together for a couple of minutes. Then Henderson or Bradley replaces Dirk. Daniels replaces J-Ho or Fin. Dampier, Dirk and Stack are their primary low post threats AJ does not like to double and will likely not double TMac to start. AJ does not like to react to other teams' lineup and prefers to dictate with his own lineup. ==================================== My friend is a pretty serious Mav's fan. If what he says holds true, then I think we have a good shot. This series is going to be about adjustments. Someone pointed out the possible lineup of Yao/Tmac/Barry/James and Sura or Wesley. I think that is going to be a factor b/c Dirk can't guard Tmac or Yao.
Guys like Stack, KVH or Terry dont scare us much. Terry though could be explosive. Dirk is a problem. I bet JVG's working on it.
I reckon JVG won't be sleeping much in the next few days. This is the time of the season that he was born for.
According to Sina's reporter, JVG is restricting his players from talking too much to the Media right now. Come playoff time, JVG knows his thing!
Yeah, the radio shows were a buzz with talk of Mavs in 5 or 6. Being in Dallas, I have watched the Mavs all season and I really believe that this series is not as one sided as these fools up here believe. This is a team that the Rockets can beat because they are a mentally tougher team and one that JVG knows how to beat. Despite their newfound penchant for "defense", the Mavericks are still an average defensive team. It's still quite easy to score on them from the inside and Dampier & Terry are their only real post players. They'll throw Bradley in there to muck things up but he is worse than awful and very foul prone. What Avery has done is to strongly emphasize team defense. While they are still primarily a zone team, he has them playing with much more intensity when they line up in their 2-3 matchup zone. That's the big difference compared to what Nelson had them doing. The Mavs beat you by capitalizing on your mistakes. If you mishandle the ball, take bad shots, don't cover the perimeter shooters, leave Dirk, Finley, Howard & Stackhouse open, then you allow them to get into their offensive comfort zone of fast break & transition scoring. This is a team that likes to score in bunches to build up a lead and thereby force their opponents to play catchup and thereby play into their (Mavs) zone. IMHO, the key to this series will not be the play of our PFs but the play of our guards - they have to protect the ball and make good decisions particularly when passing into the post because Yao will literally be wearing 2-3 Maverick players. That's where the Mavs stand to get most of their TOs - from errant Rockets passes. Also important: If Barry, Sura, Wesley and James can CONSISTENTLY hit their outside shots, then I feel that the advantage in this series will swing in Houston's favor.
I think Terry's a good player. Sometimes I wonder why he doesn't shoot more. But we can easily stop him by containing him and playing defense. I wonder what Mark Cuban is saying..most likely is going to post on his blog. I seriously think JVG and our experience will be vital and can help us to beat them. I really hope so. We have to play our best!!!!! EXCELLENCE i cannot wait seriously. Tmac and Yao must take over. I believe they can. Then our role players have to help! Ryan Bowne, Mike James, Dikembe, Jon Barry, Sura, Spoon, Padgett, Wesley..I love our team lol
Yao seems to step up in big games. This team usually wins the games that we say are "must wins." I am excited to see how they handle the playoffs. tmac and dirk will equal eachother. so will yao and finley. finley has a nack for dissapearing sometimes as well. i think wesley and stackhouse will sway the outcome of the games depending on who is hot. as long as tmac attacks the rim we will do fine. the slogan for this series should be "MAC-ATTACK!"
yeah that was my one good idea for the season. they don't com around too often sao i like to take credit when i can nice post about the mavs rotation. i think that my line-up idea will work to our favor through all of thier line-ups. none of thier bigs will be able to stop tmac from attacking the rim. If they play a zone, then we have 4 shooters to spread the floor. if they chose to double yao then we just swing the ball to the open shooter.
Dallas has more talent than us. That is a fact. Dallas has guys like Howard, Daniels, and Finley who can at least contain TMac, we have no one that can guard Dirk or Van Horn for that matter. In order to beat the Mavs, the Rockets will have to play a perfect series. TMac will have to play like a MVP caliber player. He needs to pull a Michael Jordan type of performance. Yao will need to step up and be a presence. If he dissapears like he did in last year's playoffs, we have no chance. JVG needs to show that he is more experienced in coaching than someone like AJ the choker. It's going to be a tough series. I don't like our chances, but I believe.
Hell if I know! The guy can't guard toilet tissue yet he scores 6 points in a win and everyone just goes gaga. Fools who blasted the trade for him are calling up Mark Cuban on the radio and APOLOGIZING for being critical of his getting Van Horne. He's only supposed to play 10 minutes a game and for this he's the highest paid player on the team? He absolutely sucks defensively especially when he & Dirk are both on the floor together and he's playing the 5. That, to me is the key for the Rockets to surprise these clowns. Their guards MUST recognize the mismatches inside and deliver the ball to Yao when he's guarded one-on-one by a lesser player like "Special K". And Yao MUST convert whenever this happens. I have watched teams score inside the paint on the Mavericks at will all season long in spite of their new "defensive" attitude. The playoffs will be no different IMHO.
Mavs fans aren't going gaga over KVH. They are just impressed with the way he has played. He has averaged 13 and 5 since he has been with the Mavericks off the bench. His defense has been above average even though he has been matched up with centers most of the time. I'll say it again, Dallas isn't going to play KVH at center against Yao very often, if at all. KVH will match up with Mutumbo which favors the Mavericks. A common misconception on these boards is that Dallas plays a lot of zone. They have played man-to-man the majority of the year and really only play zone when Bradley is in the game. However, against Houston, I doubt they will play it because of Houston's many perimeter shooters. As far as Dallas' rotation, it will probably look like this player (min) Terry (35)/Harris (13) Finley (38)/ Stackhouse(10) Howard (35)/ Stackhouse (10)/KVH (3) Dirk (42)/ KVH (6) Dampier (35)/ Bradley(10)/KVH(3) Avery has already said he is going with a nine player rotation and Alan Henderson, Marquis Daniels, and Darrell Armstrong will see very little minutes unless someone is in foul trouble.
I think this is how the rockets can beat Dallas: 1) slow down Dirk 2) Yao and T-Mac with good games 3) Have a good defense 4) Scoring more points Very posible!!
I agree 100%. I feel as though JVG will lead the Rockets past the Mavs. Talent wise I'd say the teams are about equal. However, everyone (media) and their mama's are saying this is the best Mav's team in a long time better than the Nash era. I however, am glad Avery Johnson is coaching and not Don Nelson. Many have said players quit responding to Nelly and players play better under AJ but I don't think AJ (even though he's been there and won a ring as a player) has the coaching experience yet to beat a team of a JVG led Rockets team in the Playoffs.
to stop dirk, we just need some kids to ask him to sign their stuff, keep him occupied for the whole week.
