ESPN: Rockets to be "killed" by Mavs?

To his credit - he did write a follow-up where he said something like "once again, what does this prove? That I'm an idiot..." He went on about how Yao has become one of his favorite players.

Very few other pundits even ackowledge their initial Yao-bashing.

Bill Simmons is pretty funny - he did write a 12000+ word breakdown of 90210 vs. OC. I have to tip my hat to him for that.

 

Why doesn't it?

Defensive efficiency - No. 9 (100.9 points per 100 possessions)
Defensive FG% - No. 7 (.438 )
Blocks per game - No. 8 (5.62 per game)
Steals per game - No. 4 (8.63 per game)

Under Avery:

Defensive efficiency - 99.8 points per 100 possessions
Defensive FG% - .427
Blocks per game - 5.5 per game
Steals per game - 8.33 per game

Those are damn respectable numbers. Not up to par with Houston, but it doesn't have to be. I'm too lazy to check, but in the last 10 games I don't believe a single team scored 90 on the Mavs. They are not SA, Detroit, or even Houston. They are, however, a superior offensive team...rivaled only by Phoenix. The big difference is that the defense is above average. An excellent offense with an above average defense is pretty formidable.

 

I think everybody on this board knows we are the underdog, so does the team. We were amazing when everybody discounted us this year. JVG is the definition of underdog coach in this league. I like us being the underdog going to the series. Series is different from regular season. Head to head with Dallas, we split. So we will see.

 

I guess I'm a show-me guy. Last time I saw Dallas in the playoffs, they lost in 5 games to the Kings, giving up 119 in the decisive game 5. Until they shut down McGrady and co., I'll continue to believe they're a team that crumbles defensively. I don't think a rookie coach (or Del Harris, hah) is going to make the defensive adjustments that Nellie couldn't make in seasons past.

 

I'm right there with you Drofnarc. I mean, I'm not torn between Dallas and Houston, but I just don't see how we're going to win this series. Dallas is young, they can all score, and they're big inside. The mismatch between Dirk and Spoon/Bowen/Padgett is a lot bigger than the Tmac and Howard mismatch. I mean this only as a statement of how small our 4s are and not Tmac's greatness. Add to this to the fact that Dampier has always had Yao's number, and I just don't see where we're going to eke out an advantage.

 

And most didn't see how we could beat Phoenix in 1995, especially after being down 3-1. And how in the world could Denver beat Seattle in 1994? They had a far superior team all around. What about the Knicks in 1999? What about the Charlotte team that blew out the heavily favored Heat team in the late 1990's? Sorry, but there's too many examples of "average" teams besting "superior" teams in the playoffs. Doesn't mean I don't give the Mavericks credit, but any comment along the lines of "I don't see how we can beat Dallas" is basing their comments purely on starpower and regular season success.

NBA teams are too evenly matched to not see an upset coming. Any team can beat any team. But when they're this closely matched, how can anyone not see a possible victory?

It's all about the intangibles.

 

I think we can all agree that THIS years Maverick's team is a LOT better put together than last years. Last year's team had Antoine Walker as the starting center. Last year's team basically had the philosophy of playground ball. Last year's Mavericks team was the WORST excuse for a "team" Dallas has had in 6 years. I hated to watch that team.

This year's team is a LOT better put together. I mean, they have a center. That in itself makes this team better. Throw in the fact that this year's team has made a noticeable effort to turn up the defensive intensity, and there's really no comparing the two teams.

 

Don't get me wrong, I definitely hope you're right.

Your post though reminds me of the "exception proving the rule" idiom. We can sit down and pretty quickly identify the times there have been upsets in the playoffs, not that us winning would be that huge of an upset. The times favorites have won are too numerous to name.

 

Or the opposing team scored 90+ 6 times out of 10. But don't let the facts get in your way.

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I see you're quoting ppg in the playoffs- please do not tell me you want to talk about individual playoff scoring capabilities. Tracy would be THIRD in playoff ppg (and will be after this series). You shouldn't quote a meager scoring accomplishment like 8th place when the other team has a guy who has dropped 40 in a playoff game 3 times, and twice in the last series he played. Or a guy who has led his team in scoring in his last FIFTEEN playoff games, and 16 of the 18 he's played. Or a guy who scored 20 straight points for his team in a playoff game.

McGrady put up 46 and 43 on the freaking Pistons in the playoffs- you think Josh Howard and having to beat Dirk in the paint is keeping him up at night?

Other than the one year in Toronto where he was Carter's sidekick (though it was Carter who played like a pansy in the playoffs that first year- TMac put up 25-10 in game 1), TMac's #2 scorers in Orlando have been Darrell Armstrong, a 2nd year Mike Miller, and a rookie Drew Gooden and/or Gordon Giricek. I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb saying Yao changes that.

 

I know what you mean. LOL. All these Mavs fans are talking about how nobody we have can stop/slowdown(or whatever) Dirk...DUH! And then they throw out the "well, we have howard on Tmac" LOL, WTF?!?! I don't care how great they think howard is, he's NOT going to bother Tmac as much as they hope he is. Tmac has shown that NOBODY in this league can stop him, only a double team which is why he's averaging almost 6 assists a game.

ALso, you got to love all the stats the Mavs fans are throwing out at us, especially the offensive ones...but I still don't see how they're relevent considering they only play against a defense of our caliber for like 8 games during the season (us and SA). That's like us saying, "see we score 120 points a game, our offense rulz!!!" and we only show them our games against Sacramento, Orlando, and...Dallas.

 

its funny how nobody is mentioning yao. I really hope and think he will finally step up his game up a notch this time around. how far this team goes in the playoffs will center around how the big fella in the middle handles himself. IF yao is a dominant force this series will be over quickly.

 

Tracy is not a mismatch

What the????

How can a guy who has led the league in scoring not be considered a mismatch?? A mismatch is when you can't be guarded - to be fair, you do say that Tracy will light up anyone (which is a mismatch )

As for "No-zit-zki' (must be one ProActive) - have a bit of a watch and see just how well he does put the ball on the floor! The guy is an amazing scorer, and can definitely drive.

But I'm confident JVG has well and truly done his homework - I think we'll see Spoon starting on Nowitzki and guarding him pretty close - let the big guy shoot over you from the perimeter, use your big butt to keep him away from the boards, and remember we have a 7'6 thing in the middle if he goes past you (or one of the greatest shot-blockers ever). I do think we'll see Bowen and Padgett face-guarding him on the perimeter, and making him take tough outside shots, giving him the option of going past, and having help cycle in to make a strip on his drive.

I don't think we have any one player who will give Dirk any troubles, but I'm certain Wesley/ James and Sura will be told to keep one eye on the big german and go get that ball anytime he tries to come inside the perimeter.

 

I was wondering about that too. Then I read that Mavs fans think Shawn Bradley is gonna stop Yao in this series, that explains it.

 

Rockets play better with a fire lit under their ass.

 

Exactly. The Rox are going to double dirk a whole lot, there's no way JVG is going to let Spoon or any other guy play him 1v1. Dirk is going to have to be a better passer than 3.1 APG to beat us. That's one thing I can't understand, he has so many guys on his team that are great yet, he can't manage more than a measly 3 per. Is it selfishness or he doesn't pass well? I guess we'll see.

 

A little of calling the kettle black eh?

Anyway, I don't know why people here get so worked up when a sportswriter writes something that is negative towards the Rockets or perceived to be. They are just people doing a job, making a paycheck, and probably don't give a rat's ass at the end of the day whether they are right or not. They are SPORTSWRITERS folks!!!!

They aren't prophets. They are suppose to write things that piss people off and generate controversy and make people react - otherwise no one would read them. Think about it.

Fact is, no one really knows, it's all conjecture. I mean, if any of San Antonio, Phoenix, Miami or Detroit won, no one would really be surprised.

If Houston won, that would be pretty surprising. Shocking even. I mean, the last time a team as low as 5 won an NBA Championship was 10 years ago.

 

Putting things in perspective sucks. Like having to possibly match up to Phoenix, SA, and Detroit/Miami in future rounds. Duncan might look soft, but he won't play soft even when he's hurting.

But that's what makes this team interesting. They played for the spot and won it.

 

You gotta believe! TMAC won't let the Rockets down!!!!!!!

Second round AT LEAST baby!!!

 

Not really sure of what your point is......perhaps you can explain yourself.

 

Dirk is soft and will always be soft. As far as Dallas's defense: Come on man. Do you truly believe that they will suddenly turn into a smothering defensive team? Yeah, they played some good defense at the end of the season. The Rockets have been doing it all year. When the pressure is on, Mavericks will show themsleves for what they are.
As far as their bench: Van Horny and Slack make $24 million off the bench. Are there two bigger underachievers than them two? Oh, and did I mention: They can't defend a lick. They were proclaimed to be the next Bird and Jordan respectively. Cuban can buy players but he can't buy heart.
As far as the superstars are concerned, T-Mac can take over a game like no other player. He's so superior in comparison to Dirk, it's not even funny. Watch for T-mac's defense in this series, too. T-mac makes his team better. So Wesley and James will perform better than Finley and Slack.
Oh, Yeah. Don't forget about the frontcourt domination. Yao and Dikembe are going to have a block party. Rockets in 5, baby. I am willing to make a bet with you.