Far easier to surprise than to repeat a surprise. A better bench? With what? He seemed to have not much of a problem 'pushing' the Spurs past the Mavs last season...
DRob has lateral movement, Bradley tends to have horizontal movement while falling to the floor. ...on offense, that is. Bowen will be the SF. Will Finley continue his great shooting versus a Spurs team that is now free to handcheck, this time with more size out on the perimeter than in the '01 playoffs? The one thing the Mavs had going for them in the playoffs was the posting up of smaller Spur guards. Nash is good, but apparently he couldn't get his head and shoulders above 57 year old Terry Porter in the playoffs. The Spurs have the tandem of Daniels/Porter/Parker and also Smith to run the offense when they like. Um, I hope you meant the 2 and 3... Hardaway will be a nice addition. Manning is nice, but will make up for his lack of physical play with his height. Najera is nice, though still raw. It's not too hard to beat the Mavs bench. The loss of Booth is very significant for Dallas. I wonder why he left, especially since Seattle's offer sheet was only for $1,000 more starting than Dallas. I would think that the Mavs would give him a decent amount of minutes. As for the Spurs' bench... 1 Porter 1 Parker 2/3 SJackson 3/4 Rose 3/4 Ferry 4/5 Bryant 5 Parks So the Mavs have their old broken down point guard in Hardaway and the Spurs have theirs in Porter...though Porter's knee is not bone on bone as far as I've heard. Spurs have Stephen Jackson backing up the 2 and 3, though AD will play some 2 as well. The Mavs add Manning, the Spurs have Ferry (with better range). Rose and Parks give the Spurs better bigmen off the bench than Dallas has. And keep in mind that Duncan has been the Spurs' primary backup center for the last 2 seasons. Dallas has their young prospect in Najera, SA has theirs in Parker.
okay the mavs will not be a 2 seed..no way.. but that doesnt change the fact that dallas itself is a crappy place.. so conclusion mavs=okay dallas=sucks
Ok, lets see ... MAVS PG Nash, soon to be Hardaway, Satterfield, El-Amin SG Finley, Buckner, Griffen SF Dirk, Griffen, Najera PF Howard, Manning, Harvey C Bradley, Ruben Wolkowski, Wang Spurs PG Daniels, Porter SG Smith, Jackson SF Bowen, Rose PF Duncan, Ferry, Charles Smith C D-Rob, Parks As far as the bench the MAVS are clearly better at the PG , SG , and SF . The back up Power Forwards are about even, and the back up Center position is slightly in favor of the Spurs. These two teams could end up with the same record.
What part of Dallas did you go to? Let me know next time you're in town, and I'll let you know all the hot spots to visit, I'd bet you would change you mind.
Mavs will carry 16 players? Don't do that. The Charles Smith that signed is another Charles Smith...not the Charles Smith that finally came off the cap last year. Anyways, a few other adjustments... PG Daniels, Porter, Parker SG Smith, Daniels, Bowen SF Bowen, Jackson, Ferry, Rose PF Duncan, Rose, Ferry, Bryant C D-Rob, Duncan, Parks That is what the rotation will look like...with the second player listed being the primary backup. The 4/5 rotation may change a little bit now that the Spurs have a backup center. IR SG CSmith PF/C MacCaskill SG JJackson or Dial The Mavs are clearly better at the 3 and hold an edge, though lesser than what they have at the 3, at the 2. At point, there is really not much of an edge. What we saw in the '01 playoffs was that the Spurs' edge at the 4 and 5 > 'clear' Mavs' edge at 1-3. And that was with the Spurs starting Porter and Ferry. The Spurs have Duncan as their backup center...the Mavs have 'Ruben Wolkowski'. You are dreaming if you think the Mavs will be able to reach the Spurs' record next season.
yeah sorry to be harsh but i hated it..from the top right down to even 1310 am the ticket.. i lived in valley ranch..i hung out in deep elum..7 ..lizard lounge..i tried.. i lived there for a year..it sucks
The Cat, everything.... in your first post... can be applied... to the spurs... not being able... to beat the lakers. reread your post. it's true. be back.. in a while... with a little spurprise 4 ya... carry on...
Sorry to hear that, I've lived here all my life, and love it. Looks like you were going to the wrong clubs. How long ago were you in Dallas. If you ever come back to Dallas check out Have a Nice Day Cafe, it's more of a club than a cafe but if you go on college night DAMN! there are some beautiful women there. Not to mention the new arena. It really depends on where you go, and who you're with but that can be said about every city.
I agree with Hangover and AJ, Dallas is a crappy place to visit. Also dude, why do you keep capitalizing mavs as if they've won anything important in the last decade?
Sunday, May 27 5:30pm ET Lakers continue history-making quest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG | SHOT CHART | GAME FLOW LOS ANGELES -- There's a tidal wave that just keeps building out West, and it's overwhelming anything in its path. Derek Fisher was 11 of 13 from the field, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range, in a 28-point gem. Next expected victim: The Eastern Conference champion. The Los Angeles Lakers finished off the San Antonio Spurs, the team with the best regular-season record in the NBA, 111-82 Sunday for their 19th victory in a row. "Custer had no idea. That's my statement. Figure it out," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "The roll they're on is ridiculous." Los Angeles' 11-0 playoff start matches the NBA record set by the 1989 Lakers. That team was swept by Detroit in the finals after Magic Johnson and Byron Scott were injured. This team looks like a good bet to not only win its second title in a row, but be the first in NBA history to go through the playoffs undefeated. The Spurs' David Robinson expects the Lakers to go 15-0. "Man, if they play like that, there is no way any of the Eastern teams will beat them," Robinson said. "If they play anything like that, there's no chance for them to get beat." verse: no dave, philly beat them in the 1st game of the finals. they had heart. you and the spurs' had none. you quit, you punk. Los Angeles will have at least six days off to await the outcome of the Milwaukee-Philadelphia series in the East. The Spurs, 58-24 in the regular season, barely put up a fight in a clincher that was even more decisive than the Lakers' 111-72 blowout in Game 3. That one, at least, was close until the middle of the third quarter. This one was history before halftime. "We thought it was going to be a more difficult game," O'Neal said, "but my teammates keep surprising me. It's very impressive. Everybody's doing what they're supposed to do." Derek Fisher, whose return after missing the first 62 games of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot ignited the Lakers' resurgence, scored a career playoff-high 28 points. He made 6 of 7 3-pointers, one short of the team playoff record, and 11 of 13 shots overall. Fisher finished the series 15-for-20 from 3-point range. "I can't say enough about Shaq and Kobe," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "but Derek Fisher obviously was the player of the game." Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who went from squabbling superstars to the NBA's most dynamic duo in a matter of weeks, shredded what was left of the Spurs' will in the first half. "We were getting after them the whole series," Bryant said. "We didn't let down. Even at times when it seemed like we should, we actually turned it up." O'Neal, showing no hint of trouble from his sore left ankle, scored 23 of his 26 points and grabbed nine of his 10 rebounds in the first half. Bryant was the maestro once again. He made his first six shots, finished 10-for-19 from the field for 24 points and had 11 assists. "I can't believe how much better Kobe is, scoring, defensively, giving us open shots," Fisher said. "We all feed off him." One conspicuous play came as Los Angeles built a 26-point lead in the second quarter. O'Neal had the ball on the fast break, threw a no-look pass to Bryant, who threw it back to Shaq for a stuff. "Horry was open too," O'Neal said, "but I gave it to Kobe because I knew I'd get it back." Then he smiled his only smile of the postgame news conference. Tim Duncan and Antonio Daniels scored 15 apiece for San Antonio. David Robinson scored 12 on 5-for-16 shooting. Avery Johnson had 14 points and Terry Porter 10. verse: way to show up in the big game, guys! Los Angeles led by 14 in the first quarter, 26 in the second and was up 64-41 at the break. The Spurs cut it to 17 in the third quarter, but never got any closer. Popovich said the Lakers' play can be compared to the great teams in NBA history. "You've got to think back to when showtime was here before, or the Celtics teams, when they were on rolls," Popovich said. It was an embarrassing end for a team that won 58 regular-season games and was supposed to be part of one of the great playoff series in NBA history, matching the champions of the last two seasons. San Antonio became the first team with the best regular-season record to be swept in the playoffs since Portland did it to the Lakers in the 1977 West finals. Popovich credited the Lakers rather than blame the Spurs. "It's a lot of factors, but the main reason for the result of this series is the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team," Popovich said. "They were awesome. That's the bottom line." Los Angeles never trailed. They shot ahead 11-2 and were up 25-13 after Horace Grant's two free throws with 2:33 left in the first quarter. The rout was on shortly thereafter in a 11-0 outburst that made it 56-30 on Rick Fox's fast-break basket with 5:12 left in the half. O'Neal had a 9-foot jumper and stuff, Bryant a driving layup and San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich a technical foul during the run as the Staples Center crowd chanted "Sweep! Sweep!" O'Neal, who twisted his ankle in Game 3, was 10-for-14 from the field for 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the first half. In the second quarter, he was 6-for-6 as the Lakers shot 61 percent from the field. Bryant made 6 of 8 shots, scored 14 and had seven assists by halftime, while Fisher was 6-for-8, 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, for 14 points. Robinson missed his first six shots and had just two points on 1-for-8 shooting in the first half. Duncan scored 14 in the first half. The Spurs made one of six 3-pointers in the first half. Game notes The Lakers' last loss was April 1, 79-78, at home to New York. ... Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio -- the teams swept by the Lakers -- won 50, 55 and 58 games, respectively, in the regular season. ... The Lakers had 15 assists in their first 17 field goals. ... The Spurs made three of 16 3-pointers to finish 13-for-59 (22 percent) in the series. ... Derek Anderson didn't play in the second half because of cramps in his right shoulder. He was 0-for-9 shooting after returning for the last two games. He separated the shoulder in Game 1 of San Antonio's second-round series against Dallas. ... The shaggy Fox isn't cutting his hair until the Lakers lose.
Well, wether you like my city or not has nothing to do with how good the MAVS are. For those of you who think the MAVS will not be good this year, like I said we will see.
SPUR v MAVS GAME 1: SA: 94 DAL: 78 GAME 2: SA: 100 DAL: 86 GAME 3: SA: 104 DAL: 90 GAME 4: SA: 108 DAL: 112 GAME 5: SA: 105 DAL: 87 Spurs win series 4-1 average margin of victory: 15.5 points. SPURS v LAKERS GAME 1: SA: 90 LA: 104 GAME 2: SA: 81 LA: 88 GAME 3: SA: 72 LA: 111 GAME 4: SA: 82 LA: 111 Spurs SWEPT 4-0 average margin of defeat for san antonio: 17.25 now then, The Cat, who was it that was obliterated? and who actually won a game in their series? and which series was "not even close??" and among these three teams, who got better and who got worse? LA: BETTER DAL: BETTER SA: WORSE. there's the answer to your question posed in the opening thread.
My my, lil' Anversen must be pissed. Of course, that was the first well thought out and written take its posted yet...since someone else wrote it. How that relates to "overrating the Mavs", I don't know.
So let's see, the Spurs are going to be worse than the Mavs because they lost to the Lakers in the playoffs? Despite the fact that DA only played a half in that series versus Dallas and Porter and Ferry are being replaced as starters by better players? Brilliant. Gee, Anversen's case against the Spurs is solely on the merits. No hate whatsoever clouding its judgement. Ok, Anversen, I guess I should just agree with you and a few of the other myops here that the Spurs will not make the playoffs next year. Is that it? Because I have yet to see anything in your posts to indicate otherwise.
Who said the Spurs wouldn't make the playoffs? I didn't see anywhere in Shandon Anversen's comments that said the Spurs wouldn't make the playoffs. He was just showing how bad the Spurs got their a$$ kick by the Lakers, and that their blowout to the Lakers was worst that what the Spurs did to the MAVS. As for what I was saying, the Spurs will obviously make the playoffs, and be one of the better teams in the West. Will they be better than the MAVS? I'm not convinced that they will be. I think the huge drop off in talent at the SG position coupled with the lack of offensive ability from Bowen, and signing Parks will hurt the Spurs more than anything they have gained. Just my opinion but I will say it again .... We Will See.
TexasG, great job standing up for the Mavs. And don't have much to say other than what he said but I wanna say one thing. First off, I doubt Whothehellski will be our backup center next year. If he is we are ****ed. I'm pretty sure that we will deal for Eisley/Trent/other players for a backup center. As far as records go, we might be able to beat out the Spurs for the Midwest title. We should be able to cream them with 1-3, it all depends if Bradley, Howrd and who else steps up against Duncan and Robinson. Also we'll have to see how the new rules affect everything. If I had to go with my gut feeling I would have to say the West will go Lakers, Kings, Spurs, Mavs, Blazers, Houston/Minnesota, and Clippers/Suns for the last spot. But after lsat year I will never be surprised with what the Mavs pull out. Who knows they could whip up some Super Chemistry and beat everyone. But then again I am biased.
That wasn't directed at you. 'Huge drop off'? What, is Jaren Jackson starting again? It's Steve Smith. I'll take that 'huge drop off' anytime. Bowen is the 5th offensive option in the starting lineup. The Spurs can handle not getting 12 a night from him. How has signing Parks hurt the Spurs? Last season they had Shawnelle Scott as their backup center on the bench. The Spurs have definitely helped themselves with some size on the bench.
And in the playoffs the Mavs were supposed to take out the Spurs with 1-3, especially when DA was knocked out. If anything, the new rules have made it easier to defend a team like Dallas...plus now the Spurs have added size on the perimeter so that those creaming 2 and 3 can't post up smaller guards.
