Round 1: Dallas Mavericks vs Golden State Warriors

I'm no expert basketball analyst by a long shot. But to me it looked like the key to the Warriors' win was simply putting bodies on the Mavs. They played a very physical game (without being dirty) and rattled the Dallas players. This was most apparent with Dirk, but you could see the effect on other players as well.

I think we would have a lot trouble with GS as well for this reason, but I think we're a better match for the Warriors than Dallas, b/c we do a better job of defending the paint and preventing all that penetration.

 

i've been struggling with this question. would you rather have the mavs lose in the first round to an 8th seed, or beat them in the 2nd round? for me, i almost would rather see them lose in the 1st round, because there isnt much we can do in the 2nd round that would wipe out the ignominity of the worst game 7 loss in history short of returning the favor with a 50 point thrashing. however, a sweep by the 8th seed of the 1st seed in round 1 just might do it for me.

 

They didn't win anything. The same mental weakness that they showed in the finals was seen again last night.

And if we're simply going to use precedence to defend everything, the Warriors have now won 7 out of 8 against the Mavs... why should things be any different for the next 3-5 games?

 

I think I agree with the sportsguy.

Dallas doesn't have another gear. They play the regular season in 5th gear and the same thing for the playoffs. I think Nelson has Avery's number and it's a joy to see.


Fronting Dirk, doubling him, and making him the playmaker, something he is not comfortable doing. This is a tough matchup for them.

 

Baron Davis is going D-Wade on them.

Mavericks will come out strong in Game 2...Avery is a very good coach, and he makes very good adjustments. Hopefully Nellie has some more tricks up his sleave.

 

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Rafer Alston does nothing to warrant a "I'm not going to root for my team" response, nor does JVG, who may have just put in the best coaching job in the NBA this year.

When Allan Houston was on ESPN radio last week, they asked him about JVG and he said, among other things, "You will never play for a coach who prepares you as well as JVG... he always challenged me and Spree to play each other one-on-one, to maximize our abilities, but not in a demanding way...I love the man.." Heck, even the announcers Gottlieb and the other guy said, "What is it about JVG- I mean, we hear from every single player that's played for him how much they respected and liked him as a coach.."

That's not biased, either- that came straight from the announcers who mentioned it matter-of-factly and who have nothing to gain by mentioning this. OK, many coaches might rub people the wrong way a bit (Parcells? LaRussa? Sloan? Piniella? Bowman?), but to say you're not going to root for a team based on a good coach and a decent PG is an absolute, complete joke. Why don't you just admit that you only support teams that are winning? I can't fathom you supporting the Mavs from the 90s, nor for that matter the Rockets between 1982 and 1985 or from last year.

What happens when the Mavs go through their decline in 5-6 years from now? Moving to Phoenix? How about Oakland? Classic.

 

thats why I said "maybe when"

but thats besides the point I was making.. which is you're nothing but a bandwagon fan..

 

I went to the Mavs game yesterday. The crowd was real loud in the beginning but I loved the way Golden State took them out of the game. The Mavs are SOFT. Devin Harris penetrated well and that was pretty much about it. It was so much fun to hear Dirk being booed at the end,LOL.
They are by no means unbeatable. Baron Davis was great and S.Jackson gave a big hearted effort.Andris Biedrins looked very impressive and confident in his few minutes. He ran the floor effortly and rebounded well. He sure would look good in a Houston Rockets uniform. I was the only one who kept on cheering for the Warriors because I can't stand those arrogant Mavs and their fans.
Golden State may or may not win the series but it was nice to see them win the 1st game. I hope our guys will take care of business against the Jazz although it will be very tough IMO and beat up whoever we may come up against in the 2nd round.

 

Mavs suck, but what else is new...

I'm glad they lost, but I though they woud turn it on in the 2nd half...Mark Cuban looking like a fat spoiled brat was priceless...

Go Warriors!!!

 

The shots of Cuban were priceless, but my dream playoff scenario was us beating the Mavs in the 2nd round. But when I think about it, losing in the 1st round would be even worse for them.

 

This would be almost exactly like Seattle losing to Denver in 94 and 95. Seattle was probably the best team in the west, they just ran into the worst matchup they could out of the lower seeded teams.

 

I'm still waiting for him to post on his blog. That is guarenteed to be entertaining.

 

they just lost to them in 94, right??? who did seattle lose to in 95???

i was thinking about that 94 series...at the time, that was the most shocking playoff series loss i had ever seen. still is, frankly. but this would top that. i mean, we had a team winning 67 games and a team which ESPN was pumping as perhaps one of the greatest of all time. watching a team like that go down in the 1st round would be amazing.

and sweeter because they're from dallas.

 

I think it was phoenix.

 

It was the Lakers with Nick Van Exel and the gang.

 

I definitely don't want to see a Dallas team. If they win the series it'll just boost their confidence and add to that an experienced team in the playoffs that made it to the finals last year. We'll have the same matchup problems we would have with GS with the penetrating guards of terry and howard and harris but at least We'll have a huge advantage over GS with Yao against the likes of GS's interior compared to Dampier, Diop, Willis. GS has less big bodies to bang up against Yao if I remember correctly.

I think we'll have an easier time imposing our will on GS than Dallas.

 

Really!?!?! Cedric Ceballos must've gone ape crap in that one, If I recall.

 

Divac played a huge role... and Seattle was playing in Tacoma while they were renovating the now Key Arena.

Funny that they're now looking to move out of Seattle because they're not getting a completely new place.

 

This would be much worse than losing to the Eastern Conf. Champions in the NBA Finals. This is the first round, eighth seed. And after a virtually invinsible regular season. If they lose this series, I expect a complete meltdown, and I think you and I and many others believe that it could happen. This next game is pivotal. If the Mavs lose the first two at home, they are going to get closed out in SanFran. And if that happens, the Rockets are going to the Western Finals.