2006 Western Conference Finals: Mavericks vs. Suns

I'm surprised that a coach's wife would ask other fans to sit down. You'd think she'd have been around the game long enough to know fans should be standing and cheering.

 

The officiating sucked last night...But hell, the Mavs were just too strong in the 4th...

I want the suns to win,but if Dallas is in the finals, I'm cool with it as there will be tons of chicks out watching the games up here and I may have to buy a mavs shirt to increase my odds...

 

Definitely, but Dirk has earned my respect now. He clearly has the guts and mental toughness to consistently take over playoff games. In years past, you could almost count on him clanging jump shots at key times. When a player steps up and has his best production of the season during two consecutive tense playoff series, that's all you can ask for. This the new Dirk. I don't like him at all but he's finally grown up. If this Dirk had shown up in last year's series with the Rockets, it would have been 4-0 or 4-1 Mavs.

 

Who cares, the Heat will beat either of the teams in the Finals.

 

Ya i think so too. people here still believe it was because howard was hurt..if dirk was actually playing like this, howard would have looked like a joke.

we won because: dirk sucked, they were playing van horn
we lost because: they went small, only yao and tmac knew how to make a shot

 

Anyone who would knowingly wear a Dallas jersey, for any reason, including getting some "relations," has no soul - just an empty, black space inside them where their heart used to be.

 

Maybe he can wear the official ClutchCity.net condom, I am sure the Mavs women wouldn't know what to make of it. Would that make it all good?

The Mavs can win a modestly uptempo game, but the ONLY chance Phx has is an uptempo game. It is why if Phx plays Detroit or Miami or had to play SA they would have gotten destroyed. This Phx team just is no where near as talented as the other conference finalists (and some non finalists) but they can beat you if they bait you into their style. This series should not be as close as it is, remember the Spurs handled a much more talented version of this Phx team last year in the finals by keeping the pace down, but the Mavs here and there havn't been focused and disciplined. For Pete's sake these Suns barely escaped losing to the Lakers in 6. I think the Mavs have a 50/50 chance to close it out tomorrow and would be really shocked if they lose this series (I said this after the Suns were up 1-0 in Dallas even though I want the Suns to win), Dallas would have to put forth a remarkable team/coach choke job to lose to the Suns based on their talent/health advantages.

 

but the suns won game 4 in a relatively slow game. and they won it by 20, b/c the mavs offense went so far south that they couldn't keep up with even 106 from the suns. like i said, in game 1, it was very uptempo, and if the mavs don't blow a huge lead in the final minutes, they win an uptempo game. the mavs looked dead in the water in this game, down 77-70, until they started forcing the action a little with their offense and poured in 47 points in the final 15 minutes. as i said, for once phoenix had to keep up, and they actually couldn't. i think the mavs offense on a roll is better than the suns on a roll, assuming the mavs play any sort of D (b/c the suns aren't going to play any). it's almost like they submarine their own O in the hopes that slowing it down will submarine phoenix's even more. but the results say they can win playing fast. granted, the results are actually fairly inconclusive as they're 1-1 in uptempo games w/ a huge blown lead in 1 and 2-1 in slow games w/ a 20 point blowout as the loss. you can't let phoenix fastbreak you to death like the mavs did in game 1, but i don't think you can be so scared to death of it you never take an easy shot early in a possession. waiting and waiting ends up with rushed shots as the clock goes down which helps phoenix's crappy D. assuming you don't just allow a fastbreak (like they haven't since game 1 and didn't in this game) shooting with a little urgency seems to help the mavs. they almost offensive-funked their way to a loss in this game but stepped it up when they needed to.

but not really. the spurs more or less beat the suns at their own game and just sliced through the suns D over and over and hoped their own D would get them the few stops they needed. SA's average game last year was 96-88, for a total of 184 ppg. phoenix's was 110-104, for a total of 214. the average scored in the WCF was 108-104, for a total of 212. it was almost all the way towards phoenix's pace and none towards the spurs. it really just showed how balance the spurs were, that they could beat the ultimate running team with that style and then play the ultimate slow it down, grind it out teams in the pistons and beat them doing that as well.

i agree. on paper this is the mavs series. of course the paper doesn't have tim thomas hitting 6 3's, or a guy like diaw stepping up so much as he has in the playoffs. this suns team is talented if not deep, and has been on a damn good roll and they can all nail 3's, that's hard to beat, even if you are way more talented.

it's kinda like team USA vs international teams in FIBA games. the international guys can all shoot and they've got the kiddie 3 point line so even though team USA is more talented it's hard to beat a team that just always hits 3 and is playing well. that's also why you don't see the entire rosters of these international teams come over here and dominate just like all of these suns role players probably wouldn't be world beaters on other teams, b/c over here they don't get teamed up with 4 other 3 point bombers who can take all the pressure off of them and make it easy. they have to have other skills and athleticism to survive. which is why some of the guys on the suns like a barbosa or thomas or even bell wouldn't play so well elsewhere. but put them all together and even a team like the mavs might not be able to pull it off.

 

Dallas is going to win it's first championship.

 

franics for prez, some nice analysis. I agree you don't want to go totally conservative offensively, you should run on good opps, but IMO you want to be selective and get the general pace down into a half court affair.

Over the last 2 years if the playoff game goes over 200 points Phx is 17W - 7L, if the game is under 200 they are 2W - 8L. That is a pretty strong trend. This doesn't suggest Dallas or the Clips or SA can't beat them in a high scoring game, all of them have done it--almost 30% of the time, but it sure is easier and increases your chances if you play a style that holds scoring down. IMO this Phx team could beat a really good team (SA, Dallas, Det, Mia) maybe 10% of the time in a half court, sub 200 point affair.

 

He's no Ralph Sampson

 

i just realized i'll be in dallas on the weekend of the 16th. the thought of the mavs playing in or winning the championship while i'm there makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth.

 

suns d has aided his offense

 

Well, how about them losing 4-0 or 4-1 to a well rested team lead by Wade and their longtime nemesis and destroyer Shaquille? I expected the Mavs to beat Phx but only win at best 2 more games this season.

 

Has the suns lost a game Reffed by Bevetta?

Rocket River

 

Mavs will win this game. I have a feeling. Hope I'm wrong.

 

It's looking like the Mavs, as much as it pains me to say...

So who has the edge in a Mavs/Heat series?

 

Damn, everything goes in Dallas' way.

1. Dallas much improved defense in the 2nd half.
2. Mike D'Antoni lack of adjustment in offense.
3. As expected, Nowizki get all the f**king call. All those unbelievable And 1 shots and damn.......I can't believe no free throws are called when the 7' white freak has his body landed on Diaw's back as Diaw drives to the hoop...
4. Questionable calls against the Suns. Thomas, Bell, Barbosa and Diaw are all in foul trouble.

 

My worst nightmare is about to become reality.