Let the Knee-Jerking Commence!

[ppp000]

Knee-jerking is allowed in this thread, as well as rational discussion.

I knew the game was over when we couldn't capitalize on the cold shooting and then had a TO fest late in the game.
Another "close but no cigar"
Another Avery "we battled, I'm proud" postgame excuse
Another tough loss to a quality team.

I for one, do not think we are going anywhere this season. Then again, I believed that ever since GS and have continued to believe that as I saw the West get tougher and tougher. Now it's even worse, b/c we look like a dysfunctional mess...even the media making news of Avery-Cuban clash, supposed chemistry problems there, etc etc.

Avery's days may be numbered, but the roster on this team is also an area of concern.
-our crunchtime plays always consist of Dirk playing 1 on 5 with everyone else standing around. Last I checked, Dirk isn't Kobe or MJ. Dirk does above and beyond, but again, our over-reliance on him is the downfall of this team. Our reliance on the EXTREMELY streaky Stackhouse and Terry to produce, our reliance on Josh Howard as a legitimate second option, our reliance on the inexperienced Bass, our reliance on Kidd to score---all these things shows that the team relies on things that have a little chance of coming together consistently to be considered an elite team.

-I don't really want to harp on the Kidd trade, b/c I think a spark was needed. But it's beginning to look like Kidd does not fit Avery's system and vice versa. And simply, we don't have the roster to bring out Kidd's strengths. We have a bunch of unathletic guys who rarely run past the 3 point line or can play without the ball in their hands.

-But again, as I've said many times before, Avery is by far the biggest problem. Trying to fit a slow, methodical half court offense with a PG who's skills are completely diminished by that, relying on old man Stackhouse and guys like Eddie Jones as our SG, inability to draw up plays other than a Dirk iso, a Dirk-Terry pick and pop in crunchtime against good defensive teams, trying to outsmart himself with his questionable rotations and psycho babble, etc etc etc.

[Colombiano972]

PPP, do you by any chance agree with what Chuck said that the we need to turn into a running team?

[JES12]

[ppp000]

eww that's a nasty picture...appropriate though.

And regarding Barkley's comments: I think we should play more uptempo, but we don't have the personnel to be a running team and becoming run and gun strictly would make us a worse version of the old Phx suns. I think our offense needs to have a lot more ball movement and a lot less ISO. We are a decent defensive team, not great. Maybe bordering good. I thought we played good D tonight for example.
But we definitely could use pushing the ball more, but it just looks like:
1. Avery doesn't know how to run an offensive scheme without mothering every play. Player's can't push the ball when they're looking back for the next step by step instructions from him. With Avery calling every play, the movement stops and the offense becomes predictable, defenses lock down. Players need freedom to adjust to the situations, not have to be robotically told what to do from the sidelines. Look at the other teams' coaches, even for coachs of young teams that don't know to close out, the coaches are not calling everything. Also where has Avery's micro-managing gotten us? Nowhere, last I checked.

Also Avery's half court system is predicated on us winning the matchups at most positions, when we only really have an advantage with Dirk against the good teams.

[myconsumerclub]

It's simple fire him and bring in Del

Wright Magliore should get PT over others. There are some problem areas like Stack and Terry at the 2 and Bass at the 1.

It's that simple the bench is losing these games and the starters are winning them but when your bench blows leads then that is on the coach for not managing the rotations better so that bench personnel are not playing too much at the same time like Terry and Lue they are way to small to be on the court at the same time.

Bass is out of position when playing center. Malik Allen is better than him at that and he sucks at it to. Magliore is our only other choice you need size to intimidate other players from forming a layup line. Avery is not to smart if he can't see this. I am beginning to think I could coach this team better than him.

Bring in Del quickly.

[dirkforpres]

Avery needs to get fired.. He is an awful coach. Del Harris would be a pretty cool replacement if he is even interested anymore.

[DDansby123]

Despite my disappointment over the team's performances recently, objectively speaking, all our games against "elite" teams could've gone either way, with most literally down to our last possession. Had we won those games, I wouldn't necessarily think we have an advantage over those teams in the playoffs, just as I don't necessarily think they have an advantage over us based on recent losses (except that we've failed to close out games, and that could be a disadvantage). One possession, one foul called (or not) either way could've won us each of those games. In our case, there's an incredibly fine line between 0-7 and 6-1. I'm just hoping the losses build a sense of urgency with our crew.

Regardless, I'm sticking with what I said going into the season: I'm judging this team solely on what happens in the playoffs, then suggesting offseason moves based on the outcome. That's what the front office should've done last season, but they didn't.

[JES12]

I'm judging this team solely on what happens in the playoffs, then suggesting offseason moves based on the outcome. That's what the front office should've done last season, but they didn't.

Not me! I'm judging based on every game I see. If we address out shortcoming from only the playoffs, we may do something like get Hassell and Bass (shortcoming from the GSW series). Then we beat that one team and fail against the rest. Damn! That's what just happened.

Anyways, I'm not predicting the playoffs, but this offseason needs to have addressed our shortcomings from both: the regular season and the post-season.

[dirkforpres]

Right now we are looking at New Orleans or Los Angeles in the first round (more than likely)... I give the Mavs 5 games against either one of those teams from what ive seen so far since the Kidd trade.

[Realmavsman]

Wow was I wrong. I saw this team beat 5 teams (mediocre Eastern conference team) by 20+ points 5 games in a row. I really thought that this team had finally found something. I was sure that they were going to prove it against the Lakers/Celtics/Spurs this week. Now we have lost the first two and now I don't believe in this team anymore. I know that if they go out and beat the Spurs soundly things will look a little better.

However if the Mavs have the Spurs beat and again lose it in the 4th quarter I am going to declare this team as a complete failure.

I was sure that Jason Kidd would make this team better. Now I am not so sure. Is this team any better with Kidd then they were with Devin Harris? It sure does not look like it. Once again they can not finish a freaking game. If feels like if the Mavs are not up 10 plus points in the last 5 minutes that they are always going to lose. Maybe all it will take is for them to finally get one of these to go their way to gain some confidence but I doubt that will be enough.

At this point I am not sure if I should root for us to make the playoffs and get bounced in the 1st round or root for us to miss the playoffs and at least keep our 1st round lottery pick.

[Teffer10]

Despite my disappointment over the team's performances recently, objectively speaking, all our games against "elite" teams could've gone either way, with most literally down to our last possession. Had we won those games, I wouldn't necessarily think we have an advantage over those teams in the playoffs, just as I don't necessarily think they have an advantage over us based on recent losses (except that we've failed to close out games, and that could be a disadvantage). One possession, one foul called (or not) either way could've won us each of those games. In our case, there's an incredibly fine line between 0-7 and 6-1. I'm just hoping the losses build a sense of urgency with our crew.

Regardless, I'm sticking with what I said going into the season: I'm judging this team solely on what happens in the playoffs, then suggesting offseason moves based on the outcome. That's what the front office should've done last season, but they didn't.

Fair enough...
If the Mavs were 4-3 or 3-4 over those 7 games I might be more inclinded to agree with you. Not closing games well has been a problem and I think it is safe to say that if the Mavs want to get through the first round or 2, they will need to find a way to win close games. They will also most likely have to do that on the road.

Something will have to drastically change over the course of the next few weeks for me to become a believer.

[Teddy KGB]

we suck.

[studcrackers]

I'm sorry i like to keep my knee jerking and rational discussion separate

[DDansby123]

-= original quote snipped =-
Something will have to drastically change over the course of the next few weeks for me to become a believer.

As Stackhouse said, one possession made the difference in most of those 7 games. Is changing one possession in each game drastic?

My point is that the record doesn't matter. I honestly wouldn't be any more comfortable (except standings-wise) if the Mavs had gone 7-0 and won each game by 2 points. It's still a toss-up as to which team wins. In fact, I'd probably be more worried if they'd gone 7-0 than 0-7.

Like I said, I'm waiting for the playoffs, because anything can happen. I didn't expect them to lose GSW and Miami, but they did. I didn't expect them to beat SA, Houston, or Utah (several years ago), but they did. This team is almost always worth a surprise in the playoffs, as they seem to play opposite their expectations. Bring on the low expectations!

[Pointguard01]

Yes, bring on the low expectations, but if those low expectations are met and not succeeded, then there's a serious problem, considering this team came into the season with high expectations.

[DDansby123]

Yes, bring on the low expectations, but if those low expectations are met and not succeeded, then there's a serious problem, considering this team came into the season with high expectations.

I didn't have high expectations for this team from the beginning. There was a serious problem last year when we lost in the first round of the playoffs, but everyone seemed content to call it a "matchup problem" and point to our 67-win regular season as a reason not to rock the boat. Hell, there was a serious problem when we lost in the Finals the year before, as we were a swallowed-whistle away from being second-round drop-outs again. Everybody was drinking the "we're happy with our team" kool-aid.

As an aside, I don't see how you can believe this team had "high expectations" coming into the season. Most everyone, on this board and elsewhere, said something like this: "It really doesn't matter what the Mavs do in the regular season, because they have to prove they can win in the playoffs to be taken seriously." Those aren't high expectations in my book.

Regardless, there's been a serious problem with this organization for 5+ years, and the expectations have been undeservingly raised since our fluke Finals appearance two years ago. It's a shame management bought into it and didn't make the appropriate changes then.

[Pointguard01]

Whethet those expectations are rightfully deserved or not, they should be there. If you get that far with the same team, nothing less than a championship should be the goal. Hell, even if we didnt get there, those expectations should be there probably because this team didnt and still doesnt have anything else to hang their hat on. We accomplish nothing...nothing with this current team by winning a playoff series, or even two. We have enough experience.

[DDansby123]

Whethet those expectations are rightfully deserved or not, they should be there. If you get that far with the same team, nothing less than a championship should be the goal. Hell, even if we didnt get there, those expectations should be there probably because this team didnt and still doesnt have anything else to hang their hat on. We accomplish nothing...nothing with this current team by winning a playoff series, or even two. We have enough experience.

I agree. What I was saying, in a nutshell, was that the Mavs seem to play better when their backs are against the wall, not when they have the opponent in that position. So, looking for a bright spot for this team, that would have to be it.