Game 46 January 29, 2011: Mavs Vs. Hawks

[MFT5]

all i know is i have a Josh Smith man crush and he brings Defense and Energy. He's a playoff type of Player. Having a lineup of Tyson, Dirk, Smith, Stevenson/Beaubois, Kidd is about as good as it gets

[peppersquared]

Just an awful 2nd and 3rd quarter effort wise. The Mavs were on cruise control out there, it was frustrating to watch.

Haywood to start the 4th completely turned the game around, came in used his length got some boards MADE SOME FTS, and put the game at a comfortable margin. His numbers prolly won't indicate it, and he prolly wouldnt get the votes but he's clearly my POG.


All in all good win. Atlanta is a good team ( I guess, maybe Eastern conference good really ) that's best player had it going on.

Should be on 5 game win streak heading into a tough east road trip.

[MFT5]

Joe Johnson:
42 minutes
27 points on 24 shots
8 rebounds
6 assists
2 steals

Jason Terry
32 minutes
18 points on 11 shots
5 rebounds
11 assists
1 steal

Even though the box will show Joe Johnson with more points, Jason Terry had the better game.

I have to disagree, while Terry had an efficient game, Johnson was a constant threat to our defense.

Differences:
Johnson...Number 1 option
Terry...2-3 option

[peppersquared]

Terry had 11 assts? wow.

[JES12]

I have to disagree, while Terry had an efficient game, Johnson was a constant threat to our defense.

Differences:
Johnson...Number 1 option
Terry...2-3 option

Joe Johnson should never be a #1 option. That is why Atlanta is not a contender. And JJ was only a constant threat to our defense in the 1st half. He gave up in the 2nd.

[cmavswin]

all i know is i have a Josh Smith man crush and he brings Defense and Energy. He's a playoff type of Player. Having a lineup of Tyson, Dirk, Smith, Stevenson/Beaubois, Kidd is about as good as it gets

The problem with Smith though is he takes too many shots that he just does not make on a consistant basis. Nice player but sometimes his decision making leaves a lot to be desired.

[peppersquared]

Josh Smith needs a PG stat. Man he does some dumb stuff.


Devin, Josh, or Iggy. Blah.

[DDansby123]

Joe Johnson should never be a #1 option. That is why Atlanta is not a contender. And JJ was only a constant threat to our defense in the 1st half. He gave up in the 2nd.

To be fair, the Mavs doubled him or sent a second defender at Johnson a LOT in the second half (edit: watched the second half again, and the Mavs didn't really double him much until the 4th...he had a pretty good third quarter going one-on-one mostly). I was pretty impressed with him and don't see why some argue that he wouldn't help this team.

[2011Champs]

I will miss this one because of stupid charter cable. Charter cable has blacked out all home games on FSSW. I hate watching grainy streams over the internet.

listen to cooperstein and brad davis - 103.3 dallas

I got lucky and the game was actually televised.
Cooperstein and Davis do an awesome broadcast. They are pure greatness. The suite I was in last season was directly behind their broadcast table. The guys are good guys. I was able to get Brad Davis to sign has basketball card I had from back in the day.

[HMFFL]

Joe Johnson should never be a #1 option. That is why Atlanta is not a contender. And JJ was only a constant threat to our defense in the 1st half. He gave up in the 2nd.

Actually, Atlanta's not a true contender because they have a weak bench, the injury issues during the playoffs, having youth that's needed to develop over the years, a 6'8'' center that is a natural power forward, and having a starting point guard like Mike Bibby has also hurt the team. If you watched the Hawks during the playoffs you'd notice how all those things have hurt the team.

Joe Johnson has been far from spectacular during the playoffs, but injuries have been a reason for that, and like Dirk no one on his team takes any pressure off him.

The only true contenders under the tax are San Antonio and Miami. The only true contenders over the cap are the LA Lakers and Boston. It's not like Dallas was a true contender even when Caron Butler was healthy and we have a top 5 payroll.

So, maybe Dallas won't ever be a true contender with someone like Dirk as the #1 option, because that seems to be what a great deal of non-Dallas fans believe.

[peppersquared]

You don't think we were a true contender the way were playing in November and December HMFFL?

They were the best team in the NBA! They were beating EVERYONE.

[DDansby123]

You don't think we were a true contender the way were playing in November and December HMFFL? They were the best team in the NBA! They were beating EVERYONE.

I think they could've won the championship in December, but I've seen enough of this team over the years to believe firmly that their regular season performance doesn't mean much in the playoffs. That's partially due to some weak-minded core players on the team and the fact that we're jumpshooters who sometimes forget to play good defense.

I think David Moore said it best a few years ago: in times of stress (like the playoffs), players and teams will revert to what they're comfortable with and what they know best. In our case, that'll certainly be shooting jumpshots offensively. If they fall, like they did in December, we're great! If they don't, we freakin' suck. Defensively, we have a lot of guys who must focus on their defense. Deshawn Stevenson loves to play defense. Dirk and JET don't sometimes. If they don't in the playoffs, we'll suck. If they do, like they did in December, we'll be great! You just never know what you're going to get from this team.

[HMFFL]

You don't think we were a true contender the way were playing in November and December HMFFL?

They were the best team in the NBA! They were beating EVERYONE.

Not at all. Caron Butler was on a good streak, so was the entire team, but I still don't think the structure of the team is built to win a championship. The 5 and 4 are the only two positions I feel confident in.

I have my doubts that we would beat San Antonio or the LA Lakers to get to the finals. If we made it to the finals, I think Boston would walk all over us, Orlando would give us fits, and Miami doesn't concern me as much because of the lack of pure shooters they have. Miami getting the calls and getting to the line is what concerns me the most about them.

[peppersquared]

I disagree. Especially with Orlando, that Mav team handled Orlando routinely.

They beat the Spurs in San Antonio by 13, obviously that would be a tough series that could go either way. It always is. Well not really, 2 years ago was an ass kicking.

The Lakers are different, they're their own animal. I don't think they win the title this year but you'd still have to give them fav in the west. That Mav team didn't play the Lakers, but they've played the easiest sched in the NBA (which they're about to make up for it)

Boston woulda been a great series. The Mavs beat them at home with Boston on a 2nd night of a back2back. Dirk would be the best player in the series. KG can't guard him. I think its a tough matchup for boston. Would love to see it obviously.


All the double digit winning streaks they stopped. Best road team in the NBA. To say they werent contenders IMO is ridiculous. It's all pointless now granted, its not the same team., I know. I'm just talking about the November and December Mavs. Best Mav team ever, and I don't think its really close.

[HMFFL]

I disagree. Especially with Orlando, that Mav team handled Orlando routinely.

We beat Orlando 105-99. Orlando won the battle inside, but we had a higher FG & 3-point %, and we made 5 more free throws. Orlando out rebounded us and created more turnovers. Yes, we won, but it was a back 2 back for Orlando, and it was only the second game the new additions to Orlando's team had played together. They also never managed to practice together until the day after they faced us.

We should beat anyone if we are shooting over 50%. Against Boston we shot 50.0%, Boston shot 41.8%. Against the Spurs we shot 52.7% and pulled away during the 4th, the Spurs shot 44.9%. Against Orlando we shot 50.0%, Orlando shot 44.2%.

It's not like we shot 50% during most of our games, so we came to play against those teams, but those three teams have legitimate reasons why they loss. Not shooting the ball is one of them, Orlando I mentioned above, and Boston had a poor game plan. Caron Butler was only a factor in the Orlando Magic.

Before Orlando made their big trade, I had them a notch below Boston, and the LA Lakers. On the General Board I felt a trade was needed for them to compete with the top tier teams. I also had us with them as a contender, but not a true contender, and felt Boston/LA/SAS would beat us. I never really thought about how we would compare with Orlando until the other day, but even if Caron Butler was healthy, I would give the edge to Orlando in a playoff series. I think more highly of Orlando's inside and outside game.

[peppersquared]

Actually what I meant to type was THAT Orlando team, which is a different team now, I flipped the 2 teams in my sentence structure.


It was a SSS no doubt, but it was sure fun to watch thou.


Excited to see LA and the Spurs on Thurs. Its to the point were the Spurs winning is the better option, but thats just not in me to pull for the spurs. We need an around the NBA thread.

[HMFFL]

Actually what I meant to type was THAT Orlando team, which is a different team now, I flipped the 2 teams in my sentence structure.


It was a SSS no doubt, but it was sure fun to watch thou.


Excited to see LA and the Spurs on Thurs. Its to the point were the Spurs winning is the better option, but thats just not in me to pull for the spurs. We need an around the NBA thread.

You would think it would be a topic that would be active, but that's not the case, and in the past I ended up being the one posting in it (mainly news/articles).