Huston was averaging 16.5 more free throw attempts per game at home – and garnered 33 more foul calls in those two victories. In Utah, last night, their free throw advantage shrunk to 8 and they only accumulated one extra foul call. Home cooking?
I hate to pound a point – but if Houston gets out of this series the lack of a third scorer is going to postpone postseason dreams. In the east, they might slip it through– but going through Dallas in the second round, and Suns or Spurs in the conference finals with no third option? Unrealistic. On the bright side – third scorers aren’t that hard to come by in the off season.
Dirk is being underrated in the GS series. I know, you think I’m crazy! He’s averaging 16 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals and 2 assists. He’s only hitting 33% of his shots – but his all around numbers aren’t as bad as people are making them (folks sounding like female drama. OMG! HE IS SO MIA!). Is it superstar level? No – but Avery Johnson is not designing his game plan around Dirk being a superstar. He’s more than willing to let Nellie remove Dirk from the chess board, and then beat him to death with Terry, Howard and Co.
The problem with Dirk is the absence of a half #### point guard who can make an entry pass. He’s 7-0 being fronted by a 6-9 defender and Terry can’t get the ball into him? Jason Terry is a solid scorer (a two guard that got shrunk in the wash) – but point guard? I think not. Problem with Dallas is they are training Harris to be the same kind of point guard. Arg!
There is no excuse for the Heat. Mourning/ONeal are a great two headed center. D-wade, even hurt, is better than 85% of the guards in the game. Haslim is one of the best big glue guys in the game. Kapono is deadly from the arc. But from there the roster turns into the Grizzlies East. Payton, Walker, Williams – what other GM would try and build a contender and put them in the roster? Last year was great, but the next 3 years in Miami? Ugly, Ugly, Ugly. ONeal is a decent center these days – but 20 million decent? It’s a damn, damn shame.
Can you see the L that has D-Wade, Lebron, and Kobe all struggling on mediocre rosters? It's a damn, damn shame!
On the flip side of that series – the Bulls are going to be kicking #### for awhile. I hope they don’t tinker with their roster too much trying to do something splashy in the off season. Their perimeter guys will learn to take the ball to the hoop more. They have the potential to turn into the Mavericks of the East, only with a better, more physical defense. I really love their roster. Could they use a post scorer? Sure. But so could the Mavs, the Suns, and everyone else. It won’t be long before folks are making moves to keep up with them.
I have a man crush on Don Nelson. He plays dumb so much people believe it. He built Dallas into a track meet team before it was cool – and Nash left and took his play book to the Suns. Now everyone says the L is imitating the Suns – BS! – the L is imitating Nellie ball. Run, gun, don’t foul, give up quick shots, murder with mismatches, use PG penetration instead of post-ups. Not to say the Suns haven’t added wrinkles (more cuts to the basket by athletic big men) but really, the change that is sweeping across the L has Nellie fingerprints all over it. Factor in that Nash and Dirk are custom built and tutored Nelson creations (who else would have encouraged Nash to be that reckless and for Dirk to sit on the three point line?) and you begin to see exactly what Nelson has accomplished. He’s not Phil Jackson – but I’ll take him over pretentious, stick up his ####, Larry Brown everyday of the week.
Thanks Rev - but aren't you the least bit curious to see if Nelson is as unconventional in bed? J/K. Sorta. haha
But seriously, I'd love to have a beer and smoke with the guy and hear about how he swidled Dirk from Milwaukee for Tractor Trailor.
Poor Milwaukee! They could have had a German MVP guzzling their lager and snarfing on their sausages . . . hmm, maybe I need to rephrase that . . .
Great post and I agree with a lot except I'm not bought on the Bulls yet. True they don't have and might not need a post scorer, but are Ben Gordon and Luol Deng legit go to guys? They seem like streaky players. Perimeter defense also scares me with them.
And when you mentioned teams that could use a post scorer, Amare isn't one in PHX?
Steeler - Hi! I don't know with golden state. Baron Davis is great, but inconsistent. Tonight, I'll be watching to see if they stop doubling Dirk - it worked in game one, but in game two Dallas just brought the ball to dirk's side of the floor, got the double, and the rotated to the weak side and killed GS. There is a reason why Howard was 8-13, and Terry and Harris skipped down the lane.
I think Avery is smarter than people are giving him credit for. He went small ball and forced Nellie to play his hand. The rest of the series Nelson will be adjusting to him. Kudos Avery!
Verbal - great points about the bulls lack o####o to guy. However, go to guys seem to develop with confidence - and Deng and Gordon both seem to be building confidence. Mix Kirk in there, and I can see them developing into a veteran team where anyone can take a clutch shot. If I was the Bulls, I'd play this season out and see how I was looking at the trade deadline next year. If I could get KG for Deng and not much else, I'd do it. But I wouldn't be hasty.
On Amare - He definitely scores in the paint, but it mostly seems off the pick and roll and dive cuts. If I was playing the Suns, and could get Amare to play with his back to the basket, I'd be happy as hell about it. He doesn't have a turn around, an up and under, or even a hook unless he's within 5 feet. He has, however, developed this 15 jump shot that makes him impossible to defend. If he got some post moves - LIGHTS OUT!
Last edited by Expressive on April 27th at 1:28 PM.
Tell you about my dreams, about losing myself, and finding me through the busted seems, everything is a moment of wonder, despite the fact, I'm genetically engineered for blunders, I believe in love, I believe in life, but none the less, reality bites, so what do you do, where do you go, where your hearts a flower, that refuses to unfold, in a world of seeds, that refuse to break their shells, and then wonder why, this life is hell, I just want to let this flow freestyle, no thinking, but typing all the while, no dj on the page, no club, no crowd, but I'm still getting paid, in faith, in the ability to make words relate, if I preach when I speak, then I'll be an apostle of hip hop gospel, weaving words into love, setting fire to hate, a genuine gnostic, had a dream, and got it
