[Chron & Dallas News] NOTE: Please post all Post-Game 2 Articles here

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/basketball/11500878.htm

I like it when other guys has been noticed as well.

 

What's that program or website you use that allows you to access all the newspapers without having to register for each one?
If anyone already has registration for San Antonio Express News and Dallas newspapers, can you put the articles up that have been coming out on the off days, not just game nights?

MUCH appreciated!

 

bugmenot.com

They have a really neat firefox plugin too!

 

Mark Stein ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2005/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2046560

 

Mike Monroe: Nuggets gain inspiration from McGrady's Rockets
Web Posted: 04/27/2005 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News

Nobody got hurt at Spurs' practice Monday, but something nearly as unfortunate happened to them: The Houston Rockets beat the Mavericks a second-straight game at Dallas' American Airlines Center.

Don't think the Denver Nuggets, who take a 1-0 series lead into tonight's Game 2 against the Spurs at the SBC Center, didn't notice.



"Everybody thought Dallas would win Game 2," Denver small forward Carmelo Anthony said. "Shoot, I thought Dallas would win Game 2. But they didn't."

What difference does this make in the first-round series between the Spurs and Nuggets?

"Everybody expects the Spurs to win Game 2," Anthony said. "We know that. Well, Houston proved that sometimes everybody's not right."

Strange as it seems, Denver may have to stem a bit of overconfidence if it is to win Game 2. Nothing on the order of the Boston Celtics needing to gag Ricky "Bring on the Brooms" Davis. But you get the feeling the seventh-seeded Nuggets now believe they ought to win this matchup against the No. 2 seed, 59-victory Spurs.

Blame Tracy McGrady for contributing to such belief. He is the big story of the first round thus far, doing a very good impression of Michael Jordan.

Since Jordan retired, I scrupulously have avoided using the term "Jordanesque" when one of the unfairly anointed "next Jordans" did something spectacular.

I shall make an exception for what McGrady has done to the Mavericks in the first two games of the No. 4-vs.-No. 5 matchup.

His game-winning shot in Game 2 was so reminiscent of Jordan in any number of playoff games that it was eerie.

Understand that Miami center Shaquille O'Neal remains the most dominant player in the playoffs.

If his ankle recovers — and if the Spurs advance — Tim Duncan is the most talented big man in the playoffs.

But without question, McGrady has become the most unstoppable perimeter player in the playoffs.

"I think McGrady is the most talented, skilled player in the NBA today," Nuggets coach George Karl said a couple of weeks ago, before his team was drilled by McGrady and the Rockets. "I think he's better than Kobe (Bryant) and I think he's better than (Kevin) Garnett. What he does with the basketball, with his size, I think he's incredible."

Guess what?

Now McGrady has become a defender, too, doing some outstanding work on Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki in Games 1 and 2 in Dallas.

That makes him even more "Jordanesque."

Most casual basketball fans failed to appreciate that for all of Jordan's superb offensive skills, the fact that he was the best perimeter defender in the game during his final half-dozen seasons in the league is what made him perhaps the greatest player of all time.

"Now, what I love about McGrady is that I knew he could be a good defensive player, but I didn't think he wanted to be a good defensive player," Karl said on Tuesday morning. "When I was (coaching the Bucks) in Milwaukee I've seen him shut down our best players, for a time. Then he'd take a quarter off. But what he is doing to Nowitzki on the (defensive) end is as impressive as what he's doing offensively."

Karl believes the Rockets are a real threat to make the NBA Finals because 7-foot-6 Yao Ming is capable of games like he had on Monday night, when he made 13 of 14 shots, and yet he remains the No. 2 weapon on his team.

"Houston, to me, is as good a basketball team as I've seen," Karl said Tuesday morning. "Now Phoenix, yes, great. Very good. Houston? As good as Phoenix.

"I like in and out. They've got an in game. They've got an out game. And McGrady right now is the single most difficult perimeter player to cover in the game of basketball."

The Nuggets don't have a McGrady, though Andre Miller did a pretty fair impression of him in the first half of Game 1 against the Spurs.

Anthony is Denver's McGrady equivalent, but he is too busy trying to rid himself of Bruce Bowen to dominate the way McGrady does.

That doesn't keep the Nuggets from taking heart from the Rockets' shocking 2-0 lead.

 

This piece of article is from The Daily Texan, the school newspaper of UT Austin. They did three articles on all 3 Texas teams in the playoffs so far. I liked their article on the Rockets, thought I would share it with you guys. Keep in mind it's a student newspaper, so the arthurs are in no way professionals of NBA. Read it for entertainment.

Sports | 4/27/2005
Rockets burst onto playoff scene by taking first two games at Dallas
By Alex Blair

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/new...Taking.First.Two.Games.At.Dallas-941131.shtml

Houston

The Texas Triangle of the Dallas Mavericks, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Houston Rockets has made Texas the most feared road swing in the NBA. With the playoff emergence of the Houston Rockets, the Triangle just got a lot more fearsome.

The Houston Rockets are currently playing the best basketball in the Western conference, taking the first two games from a heavily favored Dallas Mavericks team in the playoffs. Houston's brand of playoff ball promises to take them all the way to the Western Conference finals and perhaps their first championship in ten years.

The Rockets have done it on defense. During the season they showed great success in stopping the fast break, the hallmark of this year's NBA. They held the Phoenix Suns to nine lowly points on the run March 11. Monday, the Rockets showed their D can bend without breaking under the furious scoring pace of the Dirk Nowitzki-led Mavericks offense. In addition, the Rockets are the only playoff team to do no worse than a series split against every single Western playoff team.

The Rockets' playoff brilliance shouldn't be surprising. They had won seven straight games going into the playoffs. In March and April the Rockets posted impressive wins against Seattle (three times), Miami, Phoenix (twice), Sacramento, Denver and Dallas.

The question about the Rockets isn't "How have they been able to handle Dallas so easily?" - it's "How did no one see this coming?"

Their critics alleged, going into the playoffs, that the Rockets had won against Dallas without having to face a complete Dallas team. But the same critics seemed to have forgotten the Rockets' win Jan. 12 at the American Airlines Center, a 124-114 victory with Nowitski, Eric Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse all contributing. This is why the Rockets' 2-0 jump on the Mavs shocked the world. No one thought they had it in them to be so dominant against a high-octane offense, which is why the rest of the West is on alert about the Rockets.

The Rockets will beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round not only because they are hot and now have home court advantage, but because the Mavericks simply can't answer the electrifying Tracy McGrady. Who can forget his obscene 13 points in the last 35 seconds Dec. 9 to sink the Spurs? The T-Mac we are seeing now isn't the T-Mac most in the basketball establishment would have you expect - a ball hog, one-sided, lazy. Monday night's performance was nothing short of Jordan-esque. This doesn't even mention his posterization of Shawn Bradley. Before this series T-Mac was known as a good player. Now he will be known as a great one.

And then there is Yao Ming. Yao is the best shooting center in the NBA and proved it by going 13-for-14 Monday night with 33 points. The big man was flat-out unstoppable. He had been plagued by defensive lapses for a large part of the season, but that wasn't apparent Monday, as the Mavericks were helpless to stop his onslaught. Every time the ball touched his hands it was automatic. This is the Yao the NBA has been expecting ever since he arrived from China, all 7-feet, 6-inches of him. We're living in the Year of the Yao. Want to call him soft now?

The Mavericks would normally be hard-pressed to contain the one-two punch of McGrady and Yao, but in the playoffs, the Rockets' two stars are proving that containing them is the last thing you can hope to do. Yao is still climbing the mountain of hype that preceded him, and playoff success is what he needs to reach the summit. McGrady is proving to doubters that he isn't the playoff flake he appeared to be in Orlando.

But the reason to be excited about the Houston Rockets is it all seems so familiar. A flashy, drain the trey, go-to-the-hole-and-dominate player. A big man who will stuff the ball and knock down jumpers. A cast of characters who make open 3-pointers. Those components reflect T-Mac, Yao, Bob Sura and Jon Barry as well as Clutch City circa 1995 with Clyde the Glide, Hakeem, Mario Elie and Otis Thorpe.

After a decade, the Rockets are back, and the rest of the NBA is officially on notice.

 

Pretty professional to me. More so than those so-called "professionals of media experts on NBA.

 

will anyone post the article from the FW Star something about dont mention sweep? I tried to register and it wouldnt let me.

Thanks,

John

 

Here's another from the Chronicle:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3158011

History warns Rockets series is not over
Van Gundy reminds of Houston's 'Clutch City' comeback in 1994

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The locker room was rocking.

The Rockets had not just won Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in their playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks, they had won a sensational game with a thrilling fin- ish.

Then coach Jeff Van Gundy entered the room, bringing a question. Van Gundy asked if anyone knew how the Rockets' "Clutch City" nickname was born.

No player raised his hand.

Van Gundy gave them more than a history lesson. The Rockets received a warning.

The Rockets were told that their 1994 descendants lost the first two games of a playoff series at home, as the Mavericks have, and headed to Phoenix in desperate trouble. The Rockets rallied to win Game 3, won the series and beat the Knicks, with Van Gundy a Knicks assistant, for the NBA championship. And "Clutch City" was born.

"I could tell he had that ready as soon as we won Game 2," Rockets guard Bob Sura said. "That's the first thing out of his mouth. We're all aware of it now.

"The locker room was clearly excited. Guys were pretty fired up. He came in in his typical manner. 'Sit down for a second. Does anybody know where the Clutch City thing came from?' He refreshed our memory pretty quick."

Only 14 NBA teams have done what the Rockets have done in the series, winning Games 1 and 2 on the road. Of those 14, only two failed to win the series, most recently the Suns, as the Rockets drove to their first championship, turning the Western Conference semifinals around in Phoenix after dropping the first two games at The Summit.

But there is another bit of NBA history that hovers over the series going into tonight's Game 3 at Toyota Center.

No team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series.

"It's huge," Jon Barry said of tonight's game. "It's a stranglehold on the series when you get up 3-0. It's a commanding position."

The Rockets might find their 2-0 position more commanding had they been more satisfied with their play.

In Game 1, the Rockets had a strong if not spectacular offensive performance, but were outstanding — and a bit fortunate — defensively. In Game 2, they were remarkable offensively, but slipped defensively.

"We've never quite gotten it all together," Sura said. "We've had stretches of great offensive performances. We've had some stretches of some unbelievable defense.

"But we've yet to combine everything. When that happens, or if that ever happens, I don't know. But that's what we're striving for."

More than merely failing to put together their best moments, a few days back in Houston have convinced them that in many ways they have actually struggled.

The Rockets have been outrebounded, outshot from the arc, given up more points off turnovers and committed more personal fouls in both games

"It's funny," David Wesley said. "We're up two. Then you start looking at stats, and tendencies and missed shots, defensive percentages, rebounds, fast breaks and those types of things, and you realize, even though we're up two, we haven't really played that good statistically.

"You realize, even though we're in the situation we're in, we can get better. That's what we have to continue to try to do, get better, and attack this Game 3 like we're down 0-2."

Improvement possible
The Rockets know they are not down 2-0.

But while they were convinced they could play better, they could hardly imagine what the Mavericks are thinking with so little to show for how they have played.

"To think we're up two and we can get better, that's encouraging for us," Wesley said. "We know there's other things we can do. Right now, we're not guessing.

"We know what we can do to get better. Maybe they are guessing. They've lost two games when they are winning the stat war. They might be thinking, 'What else can we do? What do we need to do?'

"We know what we need to do. We need to rebound the basketball. We need to get them off the offensive glass. We need to run more. Handle their pressure better."

The Mavericks mostly just need to make one more shot than they did in Game 2.

They likely could also point to Dirk Nowitzki's 32.5 percent shooting percentage or their inability to even slow Tracy McGrady.

But in a series that is in so many ways close, the Mavericks face a game that NBA history says they must win.

"I have to believe they are looking at the last two box scores and thinking, why aren't we up 2-nothing?' " Barry said. "And that's got to be something that's frustrating. They pounded us on the boards. They shot the ball well, not the first game, but shot the ball well (Monday) night — 10-for-15 from the 3-point line. They've done a lot of really, really good things. But yet there's not anything to show for it. I think that's probably frustrating."

No overconfidence
If Game 2 is any indication, the Rockets would seem as immune to overconfidence as they sound.

"I don't think we're that immature," Van Gundy said.

But at the very least, Van Gundy reminded how Dallas is likely to respond, beginning his preparations for Game 3 as soon as Game 2 ended.

"We're going into this game like we're down," guard Mike James said. "We're going into this game focused. We don't want to give Dallas any energy. We understand they're going to come out, and we understand they're going to be very aggressive.

"He wants us to play like we're down 0-2 and have that same feeling Dallas has. "We have to come down with that same intensity. We understand how valuable Game 3 is."

Game 3 is, history says, often decisive. And the Rockets quickly were warned history has a way of repeating.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

Rockets Summary

Home mentality
While bringing a 2-0 series lead back to Houston, the Rockets can hardly consider having the next two games in the series at Toyota Center much of a head start on finishing off Dallas.

The Mavericks' 29-12 road record was second-best in the NBA this season to Phoenix's 31-10 mark. Even with a four-game home winning streak to end the regular season, the Rockets' 26-15 home record was third-worst among playoff teams, better than New Jersey's 24-17 and Philadephia's 25-16.

Home-court advantage in the playoffs also can be diminished when both teams are equally rested and facing the same travel demands.

"The problem for too many players is they (think) ... 'We're going home now,' or, 'We're going to be playing in front of our fans,' like that's going to do it," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. " 'We're going to be playing in front of our fans.' All right, that'll be a big help in playing against ( Dirk) Nowitzki. That mind-set is so immature. The fans can help you if you play well down the stretch of a game, but they're not going to bail you out of 45 minutes of bad basketball."

Staying grounded
As painful as blowing a 3-1 series lead against Detroit in the 2002-03 playoffs was for Tracy McGrady, he said that Orlando experience is coming in handy now with the Rockets holding a two-game lead in a series.

"We haven't done anything yet," McGrady said. "We're only up 2-0. This series is far from over. I've been up 3-1 and gotten my butt kicked. I'm still grounded. My teammates are going to keep me grounded. And I'm going to do the same for them. That's just how it is. You live and learn in this league. I've learned from my mistakes, and it's helped me a lot."

Clemens likes what he sees
Astros ace righthander Roger Clemens knows the look of a champion, and he really likes what he's seeing these days from his friend Tracy McGrady and the Rockets.

Clemens, a staple at many sporting events around the city, will be in attendance tonight at Toyota Center when the Rockets play the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3.

"I'm going to show them my support," Clemens said. "I believe in them."

Clemens and McGrady met earlier this year at Clemens' home. At that meeting in Clemens' gym, the pitcher shot some hoops with and threw some batting practice to the Rockets' star. Clemens also spent some time talking to McGrady about what it takes to be a leader on a championship team.

According to Clemens, McGrady has definitely shown that special leadership while helping the Rockets win the first two games of the series at Dallas.

"I'm a big fan," Clemens said. "I enjoy the game. And I enjoy it obviously more in the playoffs when you see the guys pick up their game, especially on defense. I talked to him about being a leader. I can see it in (McGrady's) eyes when he spreads that leadership to Yao Ming. That's when they excel."

Transition game
When the Mavericks were cruising down the home stretch of the regular season with a sizzling 16-2 record, nobody made much of the notion that they were a team in transition for Don Nelson's wide-open offensive ideas to rookie head coach Avery Johnson's defensive beliefs. But now that Dallas is trailing 2-0 in the series, it might be something to consider.

"We haven't made any excuses about that," Johnson said. "The fact are the facts, though."

Club owner Mark Cuban, last seen in a TV close-up looking like he was sucking on lemons after Tracy McGrady's game-winning shot Monday, dismissed the notion.

"All of a sudden, after two games, we don't have an identity?" he wrote in an e-mail to the Dallas Morning News. "We will file this one under dumb questions."

Got him covered
Despite the TV replays that show him a full step away when Tracy McGrady launched the difference-maker at the end of Game 2, Keith Van Horn says he had T-Mac covered.

"I really felt like I was up on him," Van Horn said. "He hit a tough shot. We would have liked to have seen that ball miss. But there were a lot of other possessions where we needed to play much better defense."

Home and away
The Mavericks are now hanging their 10-gallon hats on the fact that they posted a 29-12 road record during the regular season, including an 8-2 finish since Avery Johnson was named head coach on March 19. Of course, they were also 8-0 at home under Johnson until the the playoffs started.

"It helps (the road record), we'll take anything," Johnson said. "But we were a pretty good home team the last part of the season and we didn't take anything out of that."

Hitting their shots
During the regular season, the Mavericks held their opponents to 44-percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from behind the 3-point line. But the Mavs are allowing the Rockets to connect at a 51-percent clip in the series and 44.1 percent on treys.

-- JONATHAN FEIGEN, FRAN BLINEBURY and JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ

 

It's pretty much true...



Or at least it LOOKED that way. Can't blame Kerr for saying that, really.

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/...d=2039748&month=apr#April27,200511:32:40AMPDT

CHAD FORD
WEBLOG
4/28/2005

Playoff Magic

It's got to be tough to be an Orlando Magic fan watching the playoffs right about now.
Former Magic star Shaquille O'Neal is dominating for the Heat. Tracy McGrady looks Jordan-esque for the Rockets. Chauncey Billups (who belonged to the Magic for half of the 1999-2000 season) and Ben Wallace are leading the Pistons on a potential second straight title run. Mike Miller is swishing threes for the Grizzlies. Cuttino Mobley is doing just fine in Sacramento. Even an afterthought like Steven Hunter is thriving in Phoenix.

The current Magic management isn't responsible for all of their departures, but one thing seems clear -- the Magic should've have been in the playoffs this season.

A starting lineup of Jameer Nelson, Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill, Drew Gooden and Dwight Howard, with rookie Anderson Varejao, Hedo Turkoglu, Juwan Howard and Tyronn Lue coming off the bench would've been in the playoffs. In other words, they never should've traded T-Mac to Houston.

McGrady's threat to opt out of his contract and leave the Magic this summer likely would've evaporated if the team had begun winning again. Where was he going to go? The Hawks? The Bobcats? The Clippers? The Cavs? Those are the only teams with enough cap room to have made a serious run at T-Mac.

If you believe what McGrady said, that he was sick of losing and wanted a chance to win, why would he have bolted Orlando for any of those places?

Why didn't the Magic fix the culture of losing in Orlando instead of scapegoating one superstar?

We all know that McGrady laid down during the 2003-04 season -- that he was selfish and lost interest. But that had a lot to do with the lack of talent surrounding him. Adding pieces like Hill, Dwight Howard, Nelson, Turkoglu and Varejao to support T-Mac would've given the team a major upgrade in talent. Guys like Gooden and Juwan Howard had trade value. In fact, for those Tony Battie fans out there, the Magic could've made the same Gooden-for-Battie swap without including Varejao in the trade. Weisbrod threw him in, apparently because he didn't want two rookie bigs on his roster. Think he regrets that now?

Instead the Magic are back in the lottery and things are still in commotion. The team is better than last year's squad, but that's not saying much. Doug Christie wants out. Steve Francis is unhappy.

Of course, hindsight is 20-20. At the time of the trade Francis-McGrady trade, Insider and just about everyone else called it one of the most lopsided deals of the decade, in favor of the Rockets. After the Magic started off hot and McGrady and Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy had difficulty meshing, the conventional wisdom reversed course and said Weisbrod knew what he was doing. But with a full season behind us and the two teams and players going in opposite directions, is there anyone out there still believes that Magic got the better end of the deal?

Once again, it looks like Orlando's best players will be getting their world championship rings somewhere else this spring.
posted: April 27, 2005 11:38:32 AM PDT | Feedback

********************************

Don't trade a superstar

If there's one lesson we've learned from the 2004-05 season, isn't it that GMs have to stop caving into the trade demands of superstars?
Watching Shaquille O'Neal dominate in Miami, Tracy McGrady look like Michael Jordan in Houston and Vince Carter put up highlight-reel dunks in New Jersey should be enough to prove the point.

It's probably also going to eventually cost Mitch Kupchak, John Weisbrod and Rob Babcock their jobs.

It's easy to say that those three guys had no choice. Shaq was asking for an exorbitant contract extension and was feuding with Kobe. McGrady had essentially tanked the Magic's 2003-04 season and told management he'd opt out of his contract in 2005. Carter admitted that he had laid down in Toronto.

What's a GM supposed to do?

I asked one of the best in the business on Tuesday and here's what he had to say.

"You never trade someone with talent like that," the GM told Insider. "You change the culture around him. The head coach, the supporting players, the front office, whatever it takes. History shows that when you trade a guy like that away, you'll never come out looking pretty. Those guys [the traded superstars] are motivated to go out and prove that you made a big mistake. The franchise is left without a dominant player. It's always a disaster. Cultures can be changed if a GM knows what he's doing. In all three cases, I think that's what needed to happen before they resorted to a trade. Unless someone is offering me Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan for my superstar, he's not going anywhere."

The Magic could've fielded a playoff team without trading McGrady this season. The Raptors, though, would've had a harder time. In their case, it was hiring the wrong front office and the wrong head coach that did them in. Babcock wiffed in the draft and then brought in a point guard that Carter didn't like, sealing his fate in Toronto.

The Lakers situation is even messier. Had they kept Shaq, Kobe would've probably walked to the Clippers in the summer and the Lakers would've received zero compensation in return. Things would've been just as bad as they are now. The team could've tried to trade Kobe in a sign-and-trade to Miami for Dwyane Wade and Lamar Odom, but who knows whether Kobe or the Heat would've signed off on that?

The bottom line is that I think you'll see the end of teams caving into the demands of star players in the future. Are you listening, Kevin McHale? If Kevin Garnett asks for a trade this summer and you decide to give it to him ... you'd better pack your bags too.

 

More from Dallas:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...avs/stories/042805dnspomavslede.53416ee7.html


Rockets' screen-and-roll picking Mavs apart

02:10 AM CDT on Thursday, April 28, 2005

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

HOUSTON - The evolution of the pick-and-roll play - one of basketball's most basic, and dependable, plays - included a name change.

Sometime between Karl Malone and John Stockton running it into the ground in Utah and Houston's Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady running the Mavericks off the court with it, it became known as the screen-and-roll.

In Houston, it has another name: Gateway to easy baskets and the second round of the playoffs.

A play that has been good to the Mavericks in the past has become their nightmare in what has been a first-round disaster so far. Down 2-0 going into Game 3 tonight at Toyota Center, the Mavericks have yet to prove they can stop the pick-and-roll � specifically the high pick-and-roll that starts with Yao setting the screen near the top of the free throw circle.
Mavericks/NBA

The Mavericks have spent the better part of two losses trying to figure out what McGrady is going to do when he curls off that large barricade.

The play certainly made the difference in Game 2. It was used to free up McGrady for the game-winning shot with 2.2 seconds left. Keith Van Horn was close to McGrady. But not close enough as the Mavericks were a fraction of a second too slow in covering the play. And hasn't that been the case all series.

"Ultimately, we need to play much better defensively to get back into this series," Van Horn said. "Obviously, they're feeling good about how they're running the pick-and-roll with Tracy and Yao."

If the Mavericks don't start figuring out how to push McGrady away from the basket or keep him from finding wide-open teammates off the pick-and-roll, they will have all summer to dissect what went wrong.

The urgency cannot be higher. No NBA team has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. So tonight can be termed a must-win.

Also a must-defend on the Rockets' bread-and-butter play.

"That high screen-and-roll has given us problems for the last two games," Dirk Nowitzki said. "I guess we're off [McGrady] too much."

Off him too much, too aggressive in jumping out on him with an extra defender, too slow to rotate to the weak-side shooters and maybe just too befuddled to recover. It's always something that goes wrong, and never the same thing twice, it seems.

The Rockets know that they have a clear advantage when they get the ball in McGrady's hands. That benefit is even greater when the defense is in a scrambling mode.

"Obviously, Tracy is going to get a lot of attention," the Rockets' Jon Barry said. "When he comes off a pick, and Yao rolls, someone has to pick him up. A lot of times, that's my man. [We put] a shooter at the top and the corner, and one guy makes a decision. It's a tough play when you have a guy like Tracy McGrady. If you don't double him, he turns the corner and throws one down on Shawn Bradley's head."

That rings a bell.

And as painful as that throw-down was to watch, it could get uglier if the Mavericks don't get a grip on the defense. Their first step toward getting back in the series is stepping out on the Rockets' primary play.

E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com

 

Another article from today's Morning News:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...dmoore/stories/042805dnspomoore.534182d2.html

Time to fight fire with fire

Mavs must play with fervor to dig out of their big hole

09:38 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 27, 2005

HOUSTON - The Mavericks have only one chance to win this series.

That's to play like they have no chance at all.

It's not much of a stretch. You're more likely to see owner Mark Cuban chat with official Dan Crawford about analog TV, the coming extinction of CDs and the stock market than you are to see the Mavericks overcome their 2-0 deficit against Houston.

The Mavericks shouldn't be tight heading into Game 3 tonight at Toyota Center. They should feel liberated. The team that entered this series as the favorite is now a decided underdog.

The pressure is off. Who cares about picking up a win or two to save face? It's more important to play with the passion the Mavericks displayed over the final 18 games of the regular season once Avery Johnson took over as head coach.

I don't want to see Johnson confront an official after a 12-point loss the way he did in the first game of this series. If Johnson doesn't like the way the game is called, tell the officials during the game when it could have an impact.
Mavericks/NBA

I don't want to see Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry yell at each other for the third consecutive game because they're confused about the defensive rotation. Someone should knock down a Rockets shooter rather than continue to let those shooters knock down uncontested 3-pointers.

"They're going to come out frothing at the mouth," Houston's Bob Sura predicted.

It's about time.

The Rockets have done a wonderful job of taking the ball out of Nowitzki's hands, running an extra defender at him the moment he puts the ball on the court. Houston has conditioned Nowitzki to pass at the first sign of a double-team.

"We've planted the seed that we're coming," the Rockets' Jon Barry said. "He thinks that we are. Sometimes, when nobody comes, you're surprised and you're not ready to shoot the ball. It can get you out of rhythm."

My question: Why does Nowitzki continue to take the bait? He's a scorer, not a passer. He's 7-foot tall. When Ryan Bowen (6-9) is on Nowitzki and Barry (6-5) comes to help, take the shot. Neither one of those players is going to block it.

Jeff Van Gundy tries to downplay the defensive job his team has done. He credits Nowitzki for making the smart play to pass out of the double-team.

That should tell Nowitzki he's doing exactly what the Rockets want.

We've heard all season that Josh Howard is the Mavericks' best defensive player. Why not let him open the game on Houston's Tracy McGrady instead of finish it? If Howard gets into early foul trouble, Johnson can do what he did during the regular season and bring in Marquis Daniels.

Sixth man Jerry Stackhouse gives the Mavericks an edge that Johnson loves. This team is desperate for an edge at the moment. Why doesn't Johnson reciprocate with more minutes?

Michael Finley is averaging 7.5 points and 35.5 minutes in this series. He's a jump shooter. Stackhouse is averaging 11 points and 25 minutes. He attacks the basket.

Johnson isn't going to ignore Finley, but he can reverse the formula. Give Stackhouse more minutes and tell him to target McGrady on defense the way the Rockets are going after Nowitzki. Try to wear McGrady out so he has less to give on the offensive end.

Erick Dampier believes he's the second-best center in the league behind Miami's Shaquille O'Neal. Fine. Don't take yourself out of the game with two fouls in the first three minutes and keep Yao Ming from purchasing real estate so close to the basket.

If the Mavericks recapture what they so quickly lost, they have a chance � a slim one � to join the LA Lakers and the Rockets as the only teams in league history to lose the first two games at home and come back to win a series.

If they don't, the Mavericks have a clearer picture of what they must address this off-season.

E-mail dmoore@dallasnews.com

 

From The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram it's Mr. Randy himself:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/11511371.htm

Posted on Thu, Apr. 28, 2005

Mavs' problems not Avery's fault; it's McGrady, Yao and Co.

By Randy Galloway

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Please, no more Phil Jackson e-mails. Your Zen-spin is off target here.

No matter what happens the next couple of days in Houston, Avery Johnson is the Mavericks' coach. Next season, and, hopefully, for many seasons to come.

Sure, Mark Cuban is crazy. But he's not dumb.

Avery is the man, and that's not going to change, even if Phil Jackson is still unemployed, or if the Mavs are playing golf by Sunday.

Contrary to some local opinion, Johnson has not been outcoached into a zip-2, first-round hole.

Avery has been outplayered by an opponent that wasn't supposed to have as many "players."

And if that doesn't change, starting tonight in Game 3 down in Mosquitoville, then the Mavs will become the victim of a shocking sweep.

Frankly, a sweep is where this series appears headed. Four, and shut the door.

Game 2 was rather disturbing, and the outcome supports a sweep theory.

You can nitpick all you want about one particular play, or one particular Johnson coaching decision (there were several of those that came under question in the final 60-something seconds), but the bottom line is this:

The Mavericks played well.

It was an excellent NBA game.

Yet, on home wood, in a must-win situation, playing well was not good enough.

The Rockets won Game 2, not because they were better on that evening, but because they had more big-time plays from an assortment of players, starting with Mr. McGrady and continuing with Mr. Yao.

Which is exactly what playoff basketball is all about.

Actually, what I still cannot comprehend is exactly why the Mavs did a collective dog-butt act to start Game 1 of the series.

How could this team have been so collectively comatose in that first quarter, and really, the first half, on Saturday?

That was very disturbing.

But once the Rockets got everyone's attention with the Game 1 breeze, the Mavericks' emotional frenzy of Game 2 was matched by Houston's confidence and strong will.

This series will obviously be a quick kill for the Rockets if the same pattern continues on home court tonight and Saturday afternoon.

OK, you've got your opinions on what's gone wrong, and I've got mine.

Plus, the opinions flow locally on what must change for the Mavs to even have a prayer of surviving this series.

For the most part, there's a lot of obvious stuff.

Like, the Mavs not having a real point guard has bitten them in the first two games.

Jason Terry is game, but it's no secret he lacks the basic tools to quarterback a half-court offense.

In four halves of basketball thus far, three of them have been unacceptable by Terry. Only the second half of Game 2 came anywhere close to OK, and even that was spotty.

The solution? Avery should finally get Marquis Daniels into the backcourt mix, and play Terry off the ball more than with the ball. Or stick with Devin Harris longer at the point.

Don Nelson was a Daniels' guy. Johnson has not been since he took over. That needs to change, pronto. More of Daniels, less of Michael Finley. (I know, I know. Finley was my "star of the series" selection. OK, I screwed that up.)

Erick Dampier? Forget the small-ball matchups. As overall docile and foul-prone as Dampier has been, keep him in the game whenever possible. Say, late in the fourth quarter of Game 2, which Avery didn't do.

But in that Game 2, Dirk finally got his head out of his shorts, and for a brief time was overcoming the double team to get the ball to a wide-open Dampier. Or helping create situations that allowed Dampier to get open.

Dirk? He's killing the Mavs, of course, but the one most disappointing area is his passing out of the double team.

Johnson is attempting to defend Tracy McGrady the same way the Rockets are defending Dirk. Those results are drastically different in all departments.

But among the sensational Big Mac numbers, this one jumps out at you:

McGrady has 16 assists, 10 in Game 2, to go along with everything else.

He is beating the double team with both shooting and passing. And he is beating the Mavericks.

In the regular season, Dirk was hailed for his much improved passing game. But the playoffs have been much different. He has six assists in two games, ridiculously low considering the constant double teams.

Then again, his shot isn't falling, and Dirk is falling apart.

There is no prayer for the Mavs if that doesn't change, but there's a glimmer of hope over Nowitzki canning some clutch jumpers down the stretch of Game 2. Even in a loss, it was the first signs of life he's shown in this series.

Point guards and big men. The Big Nellie theory has always been that they will make the difference in the playoffs.

Allow me to also add big-time moments from key players to the mix.

The Rockets have been blessed with all that, thus far. The Mavs have been lacking any of that.

The zip-2 hole is well-deserved on both counts.

For the Mavericks, that must change. Starting immediately.
Randy Galloway's Galloway and Co. can be heard weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM. rgalloway@star-telegram.com

 

Here's another article from today's Star-Telegram:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/basketball/nba/dallas_mavericks/11511348.htm

Posted on Thu, Apr. 28, 2005

Mavericks Notes

Mavericks down, but say they are not out in series

By Art Garcia and Mercedes Mayer

Star-Telegram Staff Writers

HOUSTON - The Mavericks are a wounded bunch. Dropping the first two games at home to the Houston Rockets in a best-of-seven, first-round series will do that to a team.

Whether the Mavs can overcome the doubt that's crept into the locker room is the challenge ahead in this series. The Mavs have faced plenty of challenges this season, but none is bigger than Game 3 tonight at the Toyota Center.

"You can get down to a point where it's mentally affecting you," guard Michael Finley said. "We want to win every ballgame, so from that standpoint, we're down and disappointed, but we still have an opportunity to win this series."

Several issues have to be resolved for that to happen. Forward Dirk Nowitzki needs to get on track and punish Houston's defense when it uses a small lineup. The breakdowns defensively, especially against Tracy McGrady, need to be corrected, too. Rookie playoff coach Avery Johnson hasn't dictated matchups as consistently as Houston's Jeff Van Gundy. The Mavs need to play with a sense of urgency and looseness -- if possible.

"If you believe," point guard Jason Terry said, "you can get it done."

One saving grace -- at least according to the Mavs -- is that they're on the road. The Mavs' 29-12 record away from home was second only to Phoenix's during the regular season. The Mavs also beat Houston 102-78 at the Toyota Center in December.

"We've been a good road team all season, and we have to have this third game," Nowitzki said. "If we get this third game, I think we're in good shape. If we don't, we're really in trouble."

Fourteen teams have overcome a 2-0 deficit to win a series in NBA history, including the Mavs in 2001.

Overcoming the gap mentally is another story.

"Our guys are professionals," owner Mark Cuban said. "I have complete faith in our players and staff. We have been down 2-0 before. And I know the entire team watched the Red Sox overcome the Yankees at the beginning of the [NBA] season."

Defensive catchup

The Mavs posted a sign in their locker room earlier this season, quoting then-assistant coach Avery Johnson. It read: "Contested shots will wound us. Uncontested shots and layups will kill us."

Then, the message was something to put the offense-first Mavs into a defensive mind-set. Now, it's something they've been harping on the past five days.

The Mavs turned around their offensive woes from Game 1 (35.3 percent from the field) to Game 2 (50 percent), but now their defense needs to catch up.

The Rockets are shooting 51 percent in the two games combined. Nearly 38 percent (29 of 77) of the Rockets' made shots in the series, though, have been layups or dunks.

"Basic fundamental help defense, contain the ball and contest shots," Jason Terry said. "They had a lot of uncontested shots, and that's why they're shooting a high percentage right now."

Briefly

- The Mavs have outrebounded the Rockets in both games. Dallas was 33-3 in the regular season when it had the edge in rebounding.

- The Mavs have lost at least two straight for only the second time since mid-January.

- Dallas is 0-8 since the start of the 2001 playoffs when their opponents shoot 50 percent or better, which the Rockets did in Game 2.

 

Finally, here's Dwain Price from the FWST:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/basketball/nba/dallas_mavericks/11511333.htm

Posted on Thu, Apr. 28, 2005

Rockets Notes

Rockets make joke about Bowen slowing Nowitzki

By Dwain Price

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

HOUSTON - Ahead 2-0 in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series, the Rockets are having some fun at the Mavericks' expense. Well, in this case, it was at the expense of Dirk Nowitzki.

After Wednesday's practice, Rockets guard Jon Barry borrowed a microphone from a television reporter for an impromptu interview with teammate Ryan Bowen.

"This is Jon Barry for Fox 26," Barry said. "I'm here with Ryan Bowen, The Germanator ..."

That drew laughter from the reporters crowded around Bowen and Barry.

A surprise starter in Game 1, Bowen has been given a lot of credit for holding Nowitzki to an average of 23.5 points per game on 32.5 percent shooting (13-of-40) and 4.5 rebounds per game in the first two games.

Rockets bonding

On Friday, when they arrived in Dallas to prepare for two games at American Airlines Center, the Rockets went out to eat dinner together. That was their way of bonding, and showing that they associate with each other on and off the court.

That bonding has spilled onto the court. Now in his eighth season, forward Tracy McGrady said he often finds himself yelling at 14-year veteran Dikembe Mutombo about mistakes Mutombo makes on the court without any backlash, and vice versa.

"We criticize each other, but we take it," McGrady said. "I've been on some teams where you come out of games, and you want to sit by somebody that you're real close with. You don't want to sit by somebody that you think is bad, or that you think, 'Why is he on this team?' "

McGrady said that bond is why the Rockets won 51 games during the regular season and are two victories away from reaching the Western Conference semifinals.

"The relationship with the players from 1 through 15 -- everybody gets along well," McGrady said. "Nobody cares about how many shots I go out and take [or] if I'm being selfish. We have great chemistry."

Briefly

* Coach Jeff Van Gundy says the Rockets are receiving too much credit for winning the first two games, and the Mavs are getting too much credit for losing them. He added that it's "ridiculous" for anyone to think he's out-coaching the Mavs' Avery Johnson. "You don't coach against another guy," Van Gundy said. "Anybody who doesn't think that guy is coaching his team exceedingly well throughout the time he's been there, I don't agree with it."

* As he thought about his performances (averaging 31 points, 6.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 2.5 steals) in the first two games, Tracy McGrady reminded the media what he said before he left Houston last weekend. "I told y'all before we left to go to Dallas that it was going to be a show," McGrady said. "Y'all thought I was kidding. I've got a lot of time to vacation, so I'm going all out and leaving it all out on the court."