waya wrote:KnicksGod wrote:The_Philosopher wrote:Why are people acting like we are getting Dikembe Mutombo in his prime?
This guy is an average NBA center.
10 and 9 on a championship team is not average. He's a legit center who does the dirtywork, and in his prime.
He's a top 5 defensive center.
Now it'll be up to our trainers to keep him and STAT healthy
He was 3rd in DPOY voting.
3rd overall, 2nd best C.
He legitamely transformed Dallas's defense.
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/07/tyson ... nded-mavs/
You'd think they'd be crossing fingers in Dallas these days, just hoping this winning streak that sits at nine straight keeps growing and that this whole The-Big-D-Stands-For-Defense campaign continues.
But they really should be crossing their toes, just for symbolism's sake.
Everyone except for Tyson Chandler, of course.
Remember the man with the most controversial toe in league history, the big one on the left foot that led to a rescinded trade between New Orleans and Oklahoma City in February 2009? Thunder general manager Sam Presti identified Chandler as the perfect piece to occupy his team's paint and complement his young stable of stallions, only to decide against it after seeing the big man's physical.
It was a calculated choice made with the advice of Carlan Yates, an Oklahoma-City based doctor who -- as irony would have it -- had performed the surgery to repair Chandler's left big toe after the 2006-07 season and subsequently ruled him a risk. Nineteen months later, the only red flags being waved near Chandler are the ones in front of the rim Dallas is defending in an NBA arena near you.
The 16-4 Mavericks, thanks largely to Chandler's healthy and harrowing presence, have reached stopper status.
They enter Tuesday night's game against Golden State ranked second in opponent's field-goal percentage (43.1) and third in points allowed per game (92.2), rankings that -- if they held up until season's end -- would qualify as all-time highs during this decade of 50-plus win seasons. (See infobox to the right for how it would stack up against the best defensive Dallas squads in that time.) Chandler isn't merely the X-factor, but possibly the X, Y, and Z factor to this most-impressive defensive development.
"I think it's kind of what they've been needing for a while -- a defensive presence, a guy with athletic ability and (who's) able to get in a flow and run with Jason (Kidd) and (Jason) Terry and Dirk (Nowitzki) and the other guys," Chandler said.
Kidd agreed.
"When you look at teams that have won championships, they've always been in the top defensive categories," he said. "(But) when you talked about Dallas in the past, it was always, 'Well it's a good team that will just outscore you.' Now that's changed."
Added coach Rick Carlisle: "The defensive end is the key to our success right now. We've got to stay with it, and we've got to get better."
But Chandler's value as a stopper has hardly stopped there. As was the case with Chris Paul in New Orleans, the 7-footer's fleet-of-foot ways, jumping ability and propensity for finishing strong at the rim have meshed wonderfully with Kidd. The two-way proficiency, as Rob Mahoney pointed out in a New York Times blog post, has him in rarified statistical air thus far.
After the Mavs' moves last February brought the likes of Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood aboard from Washington and certainly helped on the defensive front, Chandler -- who was acquired from Charlotte on July 13 in a deal which also sent Alexis Ajinca to the Mavericks and sent Erick Dampier, Eduardo Najera and Matt Carroll to Charlotte -- is helping alleviate the always-immense pressure on Dirk Nowitzki as well.
"He's a great piece," Kidd said. "In this league, some times pieces are big names and sometimes those names aren't the right fit. He's a great fit for us, with Dirk and Jet (Jason Terry) and Caron, with his energy and the way he plays. But the biggest compliment for him is that he's a great teammate. He cheers everybody on -- on the floor and when he's on the bench. When you have that type of voice, it's big."
Ignore that cliché alert sounding off in the background. When it comes to Chandler, the locker room/personality aspect simply can't be discounted.
All involved are raving about his leadership skills, none more than Mavs owner Mark Cuban. In an e-mail to FanHouse, Cuban -- who was asked whether Chandler was a player he had coveted for quite some time before making the move -- bypassed a chance to credit his own personnel homework and instead credited the chemistry factor, with the hat tip to his trainer.
"Our trainer, Casey Smith, deserves all the credit," Cuban wrote. "He worked with (Chandler) on Team USA (last summer during the FIBA Tournament in which the Americans won the gold medal) and was able to provide us insight into his leadership abilities. ... We had heard some good things about him from the World Championship team and that started the ball rolling (in the trade discussions).
"Where he has been most impactful is in his ability to be vocal and energetic on the court. He talks the talk and walks the walk and guys respect and respond to him."
Chandler himself explained even further.
"(Playing with Team USA) helped a lot, because it helped with my confidence coming back from injuries and just knowing that I could go full practices, full games and still feel great the following day," Chandler said. "Also, just being around so many winners helped me, (learning how to improve) vocally (with his teammates) and understanding how to really lead a team."
Or, as explained by Kidd -- he of the 56-0 record in Team USA play and five gold medals ...
"(Playing with Team USA) builds confidence," he said. "In this league, when you have confidence that you can play with those types of guys in a summer or a couple summers in a row, you get to be a sponge and play with the best and ... take it (back) to your team."
This summer will determine how long this is Chandler's team, as he will earn his $12.75 million this season and then become a free agent. Therein lies the lone rub in this all, the fact that Dallas signed Haywood to a six-year, $55 million deal (sixth year worth $10.5 million not guaranteed) just five days before jumping at the chance to nab Chandler.
Yet when asked what effect the money already invested in the center position would have on the decision of whether to re-sign Chandler, Cuban wrote succinctly: "None." If Chandler keeps having this effect on his new team, that decision -- at least from Dallas' perspective -- won't be a hard one at all.
"(After the trade), I just really wanted to get back in the game and show everybody what I was capable of," Chandler said. "And now, I feel like we have the personnel to beat anybody in this league. It's just a matter of us getting better game by game and getting to that elite leve l ... You can't beat this situation."
DALLAS RE-DISCOVERS DEFENSE
While Dallas has won 50-plus games for 10 consecutive seasons, they have hardly made their mark on the defensive end during this most-successful decade. Aside from the three glory years chronicled below under then-coach Avery Johnson, they ranked in the top 10 in two of the most crucial defensive categories -- points allowed per game and opponent's field-goal percentage -- just once out of a possible 16 chances to do so (2004-05 team was eighth in points allowed per game at 43.8).
After acquiring Tyson Chandler to anchor the paint, the Mavs' defense is at a decade-high currently, ranked second in opponent's field-goal percentage (43.1) and third in points allowed per game (92.2).
The Aberration Years
• 2005-06: Mavericks finish 10th in opponent's field-goal percentage (44.3) and seventh in opponent's points per game (93.1).
Results: 60-22 in the regular season before ultimately losing in six games to Miami in the NBA Finals.
• 2006-07: Mavs finish seventh in opponent's field-goal percentage (44.7) and fourth in opponent's points per game (92.8).
Results: 67-15 in the regular season before being upset in six games by Golden State in the first round.
• 2007-08: Mavs finish fourth in opponent's field-goal percentage (44.3) and sixth in opponent's points per game (95.9).
Results: 51-31 in the regular season before falling in five games to New Orleans (which included Chandler at the time) in the first round.
