Most of the Mavs are streaky shooters. Double team Dirk, make him pass the ball out and let them beat you from the perimeter. Jason Terry, Finley, Van Horn and Stackhouse can all shoot you in or out of games. Double on Dirk at all times. There will be 2 keys to the series: Our outside shooting and Yao's ability to stay out of foul trouble (especially in Dallas). If we miss our perimter shots, we need Yao in the game to provide inside scoring.
He is a tough cover but you have to try, he is the head of the Dallas beast, cut off the head and the body will die. I would attack Dirk, use multiple looks, traps, double teams and attack him relentlessly. Use Bowan, Padgett, Spoon and T-Mac to cover him for about 12 minutes apiece and try to wear the guy out. Pull on the guys shorts when the refs aren't looking, flop if Dirk runs into you, run the guy ragged when he plays defense.
The only way to guard Dirk is to injure him. Where is our Danny Fortson? Since the Rockets are a professional basketball team and don't play dirty, we will have zero chance of containing Mr. Nowitzki.
MY Opinion: Don't worry about Dirk. Let Dirk have his. Contain everyone else. Don't let Finley kill us with open looks. Don't let Dampier get easy put backs. Don't let KVH have open J's..... I like Ryan Bowen to just follow Dirk around though.....no idea why Let them try to stop our team offense. Open J's. Yao in the post. Or T-Mac one on one. Pick your poision Big D.
Good post Jeff. Double Dirk on the perimeter and in the post and then make Howard or Dampier beat you with outside jumpers. I think T-mac can be successful guarding him for 8-10 mins a game but not too much longer. We dont want T-mac to be tired when the 4th quarter rolls around. On the other end of the floor hopefully Padgett is able to hit his shots and make Dirk stay on his man and not double T-mac or Yao.
Sic Bowen on Nowitzki for the perimeter. Make sure he gives him the drive rather than the shot. In the meantime, the other guys crowd his driving lane to get some charges. Watchout for his pullup. If he posts up with any success against Bowen, start doubling his postups, otherwise don't.
I strongly doubt Yao will guard Dirk more than a couple of times in the whole game. Even if Dirk's at the 5 with KVH at the 4, Yao should guard KVH. Of course, if Dallas does this, Yao will absolutely punish Dirk inside by posting him up. Dampier and Bradley might be able to handle Yao on occasions, but Dirk can't guard Yao at all. As for guarding Dirk, it's all about team defense. If the Rockets can successfully rotate quickly on defense after Dirk pass out of the double team(which will happen constantly), we will be successful.
First you front him, and put a man behind him. Then when he does get ball, the guy behind ges low and uses the forearm to push him a few more inches away from the basket. This gets him out of his "sweet spot". Not much different from stopping Shaq. If he is moving with the ball, the defender cuts under the pick and roll, and picks him up in the lane. Force him to make the pass. On the offensive you, you pick and roll him till he pukes. You make him move around outside of the paint by keeping your 4 on the move. You keep him running all night. By the end of the game he won't be able to shoot a 2 footer..... Of course, the best strategy would be to let him get his, and force the rest of the Mav to beat you. Without Nash, I don't think they can do that anymore.....
I think Yao can guard dirk in the post , its just that centers run down into the paint when the get on defense while dirk runs the the 3point line. He'll just bomb away on yao. Dirk might be able to draw fouls on yao when he faces him up, but i've seen yao handle himself well when others try to take him off the dribble.
One thing for sure I think both teams will come out and be who they are and see how the first quarter plays. You know the heavyweight fight thing. I don't expect TMac or Dirk to try to do too much from the start. Play within the system. I think if Dirk starts to go crazy then you will see what JVG really has in mind as far as dealing with him. I think if the game stays within 5-7 points until halftime the Rockets will just play their game and trust themselves to win in the end. I think JVG will do something good to grab the game if it is close with 4-5 minutes to go.
I agree. Yao plays really good post defense, actually. Just ask Eddy Curry or Amare. Its when he has to help out on someone else's man and swat a shot thats sometimes not there but he's been improving on that lately.
lateral quickness. If you run into him, it's over. If you move around him, 9 out of 10 times he will be called foul.
I doubt Yao can guard KVH. Keith Van Horn can play both small forward and power forward. He can shoot three and he can drive. If this is the case, Rockets have to take zone defense. I am not sure whether Yao can punish Dirk as much as Dirk can punish Yao on the perimeter. It all depends who recieve most of the foul calls.
Michael Jordan defense. Let Dirk get his but not easily. Play man defense on him and don't let the other players get involved. That type of defense will change their offensive rhythm and during the late fourth quarter, put Tmac on him and shut the man down. Close game, we win in the end.
There are some really good suggestions here... I totally agree that the way to stop Dirk cold is Mutombo... Put the german in a mask....
