If we're going to trade, trade for a SG!

[itsgotime]

-= original quote snipped =-



You're delusional. I quit reading after this.

I'm fine with being delusional in your eyes, you don't see what you're watching (that is IF you are actually watching).

[DDansby123]

I see your reasoning DDAn, and I would have argeed with you til we lost game 1 in last years playoffs and got back on track when Diop manned the middle.

To my recollection, I haven't seen Diop adequately defend the pick-and-roll but a handful of times. The rest of the time, he sags off the PG (because he's not quick enough laterally to defend in space), leaving the PG a wide open jumper. If said PG is a poor jumpshooter, it's fine. But if it's Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, or a handful of other elite PGs in the west, they'll get open looks all game long...and knock them down. If that makes Diop capable of defending the pick-and-roll, fine, but I don't think it does. And, for the record, Dirk and Damp have the same problem; it's not just Diop.

Bass, from what I've seen this season (and to those of you doubting whether I watch the games, I've Tivo'd pretty much every Mavs game for 4 years and watched them all with a pretty discerning eye), is the only PF or C we have who can at least put a little pressure on a wing player defensively. The difference between his movement, athleticism, etc., is colossal relative to the others mentioned above.

As I said, though, Damp and Diop do defend the basket better, but they're inconsistent even in that task (I think everyone will admit that much). And at the very least, you guys can also admit that our Cs are weak against the pick-and-roll.

So, to me, it's about matchups. If we're playing a team that goes small, doesn't really attack the basket much, and/or has perimeter-oriented big men, why not put Bass in there instead of Damp or Diop? And I think the biggest reason of all to go to Bass are the times when our offense sputters. Just watching the games, it seems like there's a lot less pressure on the offense when Bass is in there and can make an open jumper playing next to Dirk in the frontcourt.

[your_dallas_mavericks]

And I think the biggest reason of all to go to Bass are the times when our offense sputters.

One you go Bass, you never go back...

Go Bass Go!

[itsgotime]

I disagree with your assessment Dansby. Diop works just fine against the pick and roll. I also like any pick and roll matchup with Devin in the mix. I see Diop many times getting in the face of smaller players when switched off on them. I also see him give them space many times.

The difference is he's 7' tall and can give that space cause he's still gonna have a hand in the way so the shooter has to either take a difficult shot or make a good move to get a bit more clear. Diop moves well for a C and has used his mobility in the playoffs to our benefit. Bass and Dirk in the game as C and PF does not make us a better team. They just don't.

What we need as I've said before is a really good help side defender to make up for Dirk's weakness at keeping drivers out of the lane. It has to come from the 3 spot too because our C's have the task of guarding the opposing team's best big post player so that makes it harder for them to break off and help (Diop could do that in a normal situation, Damp...not so much).

Bass to me could do what we need if he was coached to do it. He'd be Maxiel for us in that role. I'd really like to see that happen.

[itsgotime]

To expand upon my Bass thought. Bass would actually be our 4 because currently most teams already guard Dirk with their 3. On our Defensive side Bass would guard the opposing team's throw in big like Dirk does now and Dirk would guard the opposing team's 3 on the perimeter.

At this point we're not necessarily needing Dirk to do a great job at defending we just need him to corral the player to a predetermined place on the court so Bass can come in and help out leaving the rest of the team to rotate and cover what's left over (If Bass is too far away then it becomes the job of the closest player, however, you try and make sure Bass is guarding a player close to the rim most of the time.).

You want Dirk guarding on the perimeter because SF slashing types would lick their chops thinking of the posterization on Dirk. Then they get stopped by the big bodied Bass midway, or even at the rim (Bass is big enough to put those types on the ground too as a statement). I've watched it work too much for other teams to think this can't work with our current team.