Josh-Ho has to heat up...

[your_dallas_mavericks]

Josh-Ho has to heat up
2:48 PM Mon, Apr 21, 2008
Tim MacMahon
Josh Howard has no interest in discussing how difficult it's become lately for him to put the ball in the hole.

"I'm not worried about my shot," Howard said after his 4-of-16 performance in Game 1. "We're just trying to win games, man.

"I don't give a damn if I'm shooting 5-for-20 or 7-for-7. I just want to win the game."

Well, the Mavs' chances of winning are a heck of a lot better when Josh-Ho's shooting percentage isn't horrible.

Howard got into a great groove when Dirk went down, and but he's been in a nasty funk since aggravating a bruised knee originally suffered during the comeback win in Phoenix. Howard is 15-of-57 (26,3 percent) from the floor in his last four games.

Peja Stojakovic guarding Howard is a major mismatch in the Mavs' favor on paper. That's because Stojakovic shouldn't be able to keep Howard from driving. But Howard missed all eight of his shots in the second half Saturday night.

The Mavs need that mismatch to materialize -- and Josh-Ho's shot to start falling -- to have a shot to win this series.

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[JES12]

It's sad that I am saying this....but our playoff run does not depend on hot hot Howard is; it depends on how hot Terry is.

[your_dallas_mavericks]

Howard doesn't have to be hot, he just has to make good decisions. To do that, he must not be on the "chronic".

[dirkforpres]

Everybody has to heat up, not just J-Ho. I agree with JES12 though, Terry is crucial on how well we do as a team. If he can play like he did in the 06' playoffs, the Mavs should be in pretty good shape.

[Teffer10]

It's sad that I am saying this....but our playoff run does not depend on hot hot Howard is; it depends on how hot Terry is.

We are in deep manure if that is the case.

[JES12]

That's why it is sad. Howard has proven he can't be a #2 guy beyond the 24 min mark, but Terry has...just not recently.

Howard can be slated in for a 4-12 or 6-20 shooting night, while Terry could be 2/11 or 10/12. It's Terry's concistancy that decides our fate assuming Howard and Dirk don't lay a bomb.

[ppp000]

The Terry of 06 is gone. I haven't seen that Terry this season at all. Maybe all the lineup changes have affected him, he used to be our second main offensive producer, now he's a streaky 6th man.

[Teffer10]

That's why it is sad. Howard has proven he can't be a #2 guy beyond the 24 min mark, but Terry has...just not recently.

Howard can be slated in for a 4-12 or 6-20 shooting night, while Terry could be 2/11 or 10/12. It's Terry's concistancy that decides our fate assuming Howard and Dirk don't lay a bomb.

Unfortunately, his inconsistency will decide our fate this season.

[your_dallas_mavericks]

But everyone, if Josh takes it to the rack and makes his free throws, the pressure for Terry to succeed lessens. Terry can be Terry a lot easier and probably more wide open with Josh roaming the lane...

[arkuo]

the mavs recipe for success is...

dirk doing his thing....
j-h driving to the basket all the way to the 4th quarter..
terry has to hit his threes...
stack has to play like the 6th man he is...
and kidd simply cancel out what devin as been doing before and maybe even be better..

to make the long story short, the whole team has to cut its losses on the points made my devin harris since kidd aint scoring high every game...

then dampier and dirk has to cut the slack and do the job left by diop on the defensive end...

those 2 jobs are pretty tall orders in their own right.... and its not something a lot of teams can cover up for.... aside from the fact that we just traded for one of the best PGs in the league who cant work well with the youngest winningest coach in NBA history....

with all those factors going in the game, then that's the time were gonna win a ring...

a lot of things has to be going for the mavs for them to be successful.. and chances are, those factors clicking all together for the whole playoff run is a bit far fetched considering how were doing right now...

[JES12]

The problem with your analysis, arkuo, it that canceling out the points of Devin Harris is just the surface. With Harris, the defender had to lay off him or the opposing coach even game plans to have a 2nd player ghost him if he sprints past the 1st defender. Terry hitting 4 threes is the same amount of points as Harris driving to the lane 6 times, but Terry does not open up the floor and lessen the defense on the other guys.Sometimes the quality of the points is more important than the amount of points.

Kidd can't do that either, but what Kidd does do, that Devin doesn't, is grab more rebounds...and more rebounds = more possesions.

I guess what I am trying to say is that your statment, "the whole team has to cut its losses on the points made my devin harris since kidd aint scoring high every game" is a very null point because we simply can't play the same style or worry about filling his void. What we have to do is play a completely different game and hope someone can learn (or re-learn in Howard's case) how to slash becuase right now, it looks like scoring is too dificult.

[from_ro_to_dirk]

i'd like to see Terry start and Stack off the bench. I just don't think Terry can come of the bench and consistently provide us good games. I think there's a better chance of that if he is a starter.

[your_dallas_mavericks]

^^ If Terry and Stack (and Bass of course) were off the bench, it would mean we would be starting someone like George, Wright or Jones at SG. Depending on matchups, that might not be too bad.

[Deus]

The entire team has lost something. I think its mental more than anything and believe that Cuban will fire Avery unless he can pull the team out of an 0-2 start. Won't happen though. They're done.