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[jcisco loboe'77]

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=6615940
Splint Issue: Nowitzki's Hand Injury.
By Tim MacMahon.
ESPN Dallas.


MIAMI--"Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki's injured finger on his non-shooting hand isn't as sore as he anticipated, giving him hope that he won't have to wear a splint for the remainder of the NBA Finals.

Nowitzki tore the tendon in his left middle finger when he was called for a foul after stripping the ball from Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh with 3:44 remaining in the Mavericks' Game 1 loss Tuesday night.

The finger was bent at an awkward angle above the top knuckle during the injury, which typically takes six weeks to heal. Nowitzki played the remainder of the game after Mavs athletic trainer Casey Smith straightened the finger and did a quick tape job during a stop in play.

"I have this splint on for now," said Nowitzki, whose tendon is detached in his top knuckle. "I think we're going to play around with some other stuff. Try tape, or try a splint from the back so I can feel the ball and not lose grip of the ball.

"We're going to play around with it today in practice, maybe tomorrow in shootaround. By then, I'll have an idea how it feels and how it is to play with the thing. I'll be OK. I'm really not worried. It's not that sore, so it should be OK."

Nowitzki has already experimented with different bandages. Smith said, "We're going to make it as small as we can," and indeed Nowitzki's wrap at the start of practice was smaller than what he had at a news conference a few minutes before. He was down to a hard splint under the knuckle at the tip of his left middle finger, held on by strips of white tape. The bandage looped around the knuckle and tip, leaving the nail and top exposed.


Nowitzki did acknowledged that he has some concern about how the injury could affect aspects of his game other than jump-shooting, such as ballhandling, finishing in the lane, catching and passing.


"Everybody knows, watching me for 13 years, that I like to go left and finish with my left," said Nowitzki, who is averaging 28.3 points per game in the playoffs. "So I'm going to experiment around with how my ballhandling is going to be. But I'm not really that worried about it."


Nowitzki and shooting coach Holger Geschwindner were planning their own workout later Wednesday to see which moves Nowitzki can and can't make and to come up with ways to compensate, starting with Game 2 on Thursday night.


"Hey, (Rajon) Rondo played with one arm, so (Nowitzki) might be able to play with nine fingers," Geschwindner said, smiling.


The Mavericks aren't concerned about Nowitzki's ability to deal with any pain. He has played through several injuries in his career and has a long track record of remarkably quick returns from sprained ankles.

He once missed only 33 seconds of a playoff game after getting a tooth knocked out by an elbow, returning to close out a win over the San Antonio Spurs.


"He's not going to complain," coach Rick Carlisle said. "At this point, anything short of a compound fracture, you play."


Because Miami knows where he's hurting, and everyone knows how much Nowitzki means to Dallas, it only makes sense that guys are going to swipe at his hands more than ever, knowing that even if they don't snatch the ball, they might rattle the splint.


"Somebody's going to swat down on it, whether they want to or not," Miami's Chris Bosh said. "It's painful. As ballplayers, we all go through it."


Mavs teammate Jason Terry said some shooters actually benefit from hand injuries because "it helps you lock in even more." He echoed the words of all his teammates when he emphasized how certain he was Nowitzki would still carry Dallas' offense.


"I think Dirk can shoot the ball with his eyes closed, with no hands, if he had to, especially in a game of this magnitude," Terry said."



Tim MacMahon covers the Mavericks for ESPNDallas.com.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.miamihera...hen-dallas.html
If big men don’t man up, then Dallas Mavericks’ season will go down.
By Jennifer Floyd Engel.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"Mavericks forward Shawn Marion had been asked about Jason Kidd on Wednesday, his age and his ability, the whole “38-year-old is still balling” phenomenon rehashed for this NBA Finals.

And with this humble little jumping-off point, Marion somehow stumbled into what might actually save the Mavs in Game 2 and beyond. They need to dog it up.

“When I need a dog with me, he’s my guy,” Marion said about Kidd. “He’s going to dog it up on both sides of the floor.”

Full disclosure: This white girl from the suburbs was initially confused by this use of dog. Where I come from in St. Louis, dogging it up was bad — as in “We played like dogs” or “He’s such a dog” or “Those choking dogs.”

The Mavs call this Talking ’Trixian, a blend of parable and slang, expletives and plenty of truth, woven together by the man they call The Matrix in a way that at times requires interpretation.

So a white-girl definition of dog up, please?

“Man up,” Marion said.

Or, as I had this further explained to me by a hipper Mavs type, to dog it up means to get dirty, to get mean, to go to the mattresses, or to do what at times has been referred to as “thugging it up.” All of which sounds like a very good starting point going into Game 2 because what we saw in Game 1 by the Mavs was a lot of dogging it up, white-girl definition.

Talking to you, Tyson Chandler.

I recognize blaming a single player for that disgusting mess that was Game 1 is unfair. Except coming into this series against the Heat, we were all told and sold that the single biggest Mavs advantage was inside. In the paint. On the glass. With Chandler.

He had four rebounds in 34 minutes. Nine points, four boards.

Just for comparison purposes, Juwan Howard, at all 80-plus years, had three in seven.

So what goes through the Mavs’ minds when looking at that Game 1 box score and that rebounding disparity?

Miami 46, Dallas 36.

Including 16-6 on the offensive glass.

“It’s tough to win like that,” said the Mavs other big man, Brendan Haywood, who, by the way, had seven rebounds in 14 minutes.

And while Haywood’s contributions were much appreciated, Chandler absolutely has to be the lead dog on this campaign for meaner, dirtier basketball. He has been that guy all season, preaching and playing defense, doing the dirty work on the glass and leading with his body.

That guy did not show up Tuesday in Miami.

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.miamihera...st-control.html

Dallas Mavericks must control boards to stop Miami Heat’s block party.
By Randy Galloway.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"Only one game into the NBA Finals, and the national ESPN guys — even my all-time basketball man, Mr. Magic Johnson — already have reached gush status over My-am-me.

As SportsCenter kept cycling through the day on Wednesday, there was Magic repeatedly saying, “the Mavericks haven’t seen the kind of defense that Miami plays.”

OK, the national ESPN hype is one thing, but as a visitor staying in a Miami Beach hotel, I can also report, after numerous conversations with varied locals, “this series is over.”

After one game, this city is planning parade routes. The Miami Herald is also reporting the national hate for the Heat is about to become a big love fest. The Biscayne Bay dynasty is now assured. After one game.

Actually, I’m not necessarily disagreeing with any of that — either the ESPN group-hug for the Heat, or the local fandom/media’s early dismissal of the Mavericks.

To deny Game 1 was troubling, and disgusting, for the Mavs would be wrong.

But at the same time, was the Mavs defense actually better in Game 1 than what the Heat showed? That theory grows legs, at least with me, because the Mavericks, of course, have much more to defend in this series.

If Wade doesn’t get you, LeBron will, and Bosh might.

Most amazing stat of Game 1: LeBron and Wade went to the free throw line a combined seven times. Somewhere, Bennett Salvatore was sitting on his sofa at the house, repeatedly blowing his whistle, but this time nobody could hear it.

The Mavs defense was very well-prepared against the Heat/Hated Three. Penetrations were limited. Coverage was great. LeBron threw in a couple of threes late in the third quarter, particularly the deep bomb at the buzzer, and that was a huge momentum boost for the Heat.

Wade made plays. Down the stretch. We’ve seen that before. Say ’06.

But, overall, it was excellent Mavs defense. As good as what the Miami people played.

But here’s the huge worry for Thursday night’s pivotal Game 2:

The Mavs are showing postseason trends of the negative kind, trends that surfaced in the Oklahoma City series, but were swept under the worry level because of winning that matchup in five games.

No. 1, the boards have become a losing battle. As coach Rick Carlisle explained it: “We lost the line of scrimmage.” Excellent description.

Tyson Chandler, who was awful in Game 1, that starts with you.

Brendan Haywood was much better than Chandler on Tuesday night, although it should be said that both played good interior defense.

But for the sixth consecutive game in the postseason, the Mavs were out-rebounded in Game 1, and the 16-6 deficit on the offensive boards was a killer.

Is it the zone defense doing it? Are the Mavs losing bodies to block out because of the zone?

Good answer from Haywood after Game 1: “We’ve been rebounding all season out of the zone.”

But for much of the Oklahoma City series, the Thunder dominated on the offensive boards, yet the Mavs got away with losing that energy-toughness aspect, which is what rebounding is all about.

They will not survive this series if that continues.

Nor will they survive with only taking 67 shots over 48 minutes, which goes back to losing possessions because the Mavs lost the boards.

In 98 games this season, counting the playoffs, the Mavs had had 67 or fewer shot attempts exactly twice. And those two games were in the first two weeks of the regular season back in November.

Sixty-seven attempts, and a conversion rate of 37 percent cannot happen again. Neither can getting whipped on the offensive boards.

In Game 2, the Mavs have to stop the Heat, and stop the ESPN gushing, and stop the local street dancing that is already prevalent.

Reporting from Miami, this is me, waiting on Game 2 answers."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://offthedribble...nsive-struggles
Heat’s Big Shots Disguise Offensive Struggles.
By ROB MAHONEY.

"LeBron James and Dwyane Wade each had Game 1 performances worthy of awe, but Miami’s overall offense in the initial game of the N.B.A. finals was hardly deserving of any kind of blanket praise. The win-loss binary has a way of making winners infallible and losers hopeless, but it seems that perhaps too much stock has been placed in the consistency of Miami’s attack. Having two of the best players in the game does not guarantee offensive efficiency, and though the Heat hold a 1-0 lead in the series, its win did not come without asterisks.

Shooting 38.8 percent from the field – even in victory – represents a fairly clear weakness, and there could be even further concern in the Heat’s reliance on the perimeter touch of James and Wade. The two Miami stars are among the most versatile and potent players in the league, but neither shoots close to the league average from beyond the arc; James and Wade made just 33 and 31 percent of their long-range attempts this season, but those regular-season numbers did not prevent them from shooting a combined 6 of 9 from 3-point range in Game 1."

“… the Heat ran away with the victory, thanks largely to those incredible — and incredibly unlikely — 3-pointers."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.nola.com/...ard_dirk_1.html

NBA Finals notebook: Tyson Chandler expects Dallas Mavericks to improve in Game 2.
By John Reid, The Times Picayune The Times-Picayune.

MIAMI—"Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler said the Mavericks must cut down on defensive breakdowns like they had in Game 1.
“I definitely expect a better Game 2,’’ Chandler said. “I think defensively more than anything we’ve got to pick up the pace. We let them catch the ball in spots on the elbow, and I’ve got to do a better job pushing guys off from their sweet spots and closing out. There are adjustments on both ends to be made.’’

The Mavericks’ most glaring problem was rebounding. Dallas finished with just six offensive rebounds. Chandler, a former Hornet, had four rebounds and scored nine points. Chandler has averaged 9.3 rebounds in the postseason.

HOPING FOR THE BEST: Before the Tuesday night’s game, Heat reserve center Jamaal Magloire asked for an update on the Hornets ownership situation. Magloire was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 2000. He played three seasons with the Hornets after they relocated to New Orleans 2002. He earned his first All-Star selection with the Hornets in 2004. “I hope everything works out there,’’ Magloire said.

STREAK: The Heat will be pushing for their 11th straight home playoff victory in tonight’s Game 2. Heat guard Dwyane Wade said they play with a different rhythm at the American Airlines Center.

“Our fans are like our bench,’’ Wade said. “They get a lot of flak about what they’re not and what they don’t do. But they’re pretty good. We feed off that. Yes, you get into a different rhythm obviously at home than on the road. But we’ve been a pretty good road team all year.’’

MOST SINCE 2004: Tuesday night’s Game 1 generated a 10.7 overnight rating, the highest for an initial game of the Finals since 2004 (Detroit Pistons at Los Angeles Lakers, 11.5 overnight rating), according to Nielsen. The 10.7 overnight rating is up 15 percent compared with Game 1 of the 2006 NBA Finals (9.3 overnight rating), when the same two teams played. Additionally, Tuesday night’s overnight rating is up 3 percent compared with a 10.4 overnight rating for last year’s Game 1 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. In Miami, the top-rated metered market, the game delivered a 31.9 rating, an increase of 28 percent compared with a 24.9 rating locally for Game 1 in 2006. Dallas, ranked second among the metered markets, netted a 29.9 rating, the highest-rated game locally since the 2006 Finals.

MILLER GOOD TO GO: Heat forward Mike Miller wore a protective sleeve over his left shoulder during Tuesday’s game but said he’s fine. He scored six points on 2-of-5 shooting."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
The Difference: Dallas Mavericks 86, Miami Heat 83.
Posted by Rob Mahoney.


Team....Pace..Off.Eff...eFG%..FT/FG ORB% TOR
Dallas..82.0...104.9...42.5..32.9...29.3..13.4
Miami..........101.2...44.0..22.7...34.1..15.9


You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

•Rick Carlisle tweaked his rotation, and the three Mavs involved — J.J. Barea (eight points, 3-9 FG, four assists), DeShawn Stevenson (11 points, 3-7 3FG), and Shawn Marion (16 points, 7-12 FG, four rebounds) — each had their best games of the series as a result. Not only has Carlisle done a great job of balancing a micro-managing style with the release of control (when he lets the Mavs “just play basketball,” or execute their “flow game,”), but he’s pressed the right buttons in every damn series thus far. Starting Barea as a means to eliminate Peja Stojakovic from the rotation while still keeping Brian Cardinal’s minutes down was actually rather inspired, and though Barea hadn’t really played well in the first three games of the Finals, he was able to accomplish some good things in Game 4 — even as he shot just 3-of-9 from the field. If Carlisle was given the option for Barea to get the same looks and same penetration again in Game 5, I think he’d take it in a heartbeat; Barea worked to create quality shots, but makes just weren’t in the cards this time. Stevenson played an effective game, too, so long as we forget about his horrible, bone-headed foul on Chris Bosh. His 11 points and ability to space the floor were invaluable considering Dirk Nowitzki’s limitations, and Stevenson was an active participant in the zone defense that shut Miami down in the fourth quarter. And then we come to Marion, who had his third game in the series with 16 or more points, and accomplished that much in just 26 minutes — by far his lowest minute total for the Finals. Dallas had leaned too heavily on Marion in the first three games of the series, and while 26 minutes will hardly be the norm from here on out, we should expect more reasonable levels of playing time than the 41+ minutes Marion played in Games 2 and 3.
•Dallas continued in their remarkable defense against LeBron James (eight points, 3-11 FG, nine rebounds, seven assists, four turnovers), but what of Dwyane Wade ()? There’s only so much one can do to curtail scorers in isolation, especially those with the handle, speed, and vision that Wade almost unfairly possesses. He can get himself out of trouble so quickly that overt doubling presents serious problems, and yet the Mavs’ man defense can only do so much to contain him. I don’t feel like Marion, Stevenson, and Kidd did a poor job against Wade in Game 4; in many cases they played him well, and Tyson Chandler was there with the help. Wade is just too damn good at what he does, and he torched the Mavs to the tune of 32 points on 20 shots. Wade very nearly deflected some of the ill will aimed at LeBron for his horribly underwhelming performance, but a loss is a loss, and when the Heat are downed it’s often James that’s left to answer for it. I’d be very interested to see how the shift in the narrative had Wade made a single free throw or made a few more buckets, but Dallas winning with clutch execution while Wade shorts a freebie comes with its own narrative power.
•Tyson Chandler (13 points, 16 rebounds, nine offensive boards) was a monster, and while plenty will praise him for his relentlessness, I’ve come to praise him for his restraint. Dallas has only remained competitive in this series because of Chandler, and more specifically, because Chandler has avoided foul trouble. The offensive rebounds and put-backs are fantastic, but they’re products of Chandler being on the floor in the first place, something which should in no way be assumed. Carlisle will play Chandler if he can, but foul trouble placed an artificial limit on Chandler’s minutes all season long, and was expected to play a role in one playoff series or another. It hasn’t. Whether defending LaMarcus Aldridge, Andrew Bynum, or Pau Gasol — or somehow protecting the rim from the likes of Wade and James while guarding Bosh — Chandler has kept his fouls down and stayed in the game. Chandler played 43 minutes of fully charged basketball on Tuesday night, and though his motor deserves unending praise, I’m more impressed than ever with Chandler’s ability to cut down on those tempting cheap fouls that got him in trouble so often."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
The Difference: Miami Heat 88, Dallas Mavericks 86.
Posted by Rob Mahoney.


Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — GameFlow


Team Pace Off. Eff. eFG% FT/FG ORB% TOR
Dallas.83.0 103.6 45.7 31.4 30.8 16.9
Miami.......106.0 48.7 15.4 23.1 12.0


"You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

•Don’t call it a miraculous comeback. All Dallas did was play, and though they spotted Miami points here and there, it’s not as if they were horrid — even at their worst. The difference between the bumbling Mavs and those blazing the comeback trail was actually fairly thin; hitting the defensive glass and taking care of the ball was all it took for Dallas to give themselves a chance in this game, and so it will be for the remainder of the series. Miami is a great team, but they’re not the only great team in this year’s NBA Finals. Provided that Dallas stays away from their bad habits, we should be heading for at least a few more amazing, highly competitive games with singular displays of greatness and brilliant collective execution. The micro and macro battles between Dallas’ offense and Miami’s defense have been absolutely phenomenal, but the other end of the court deserves its due; the Mavs have played some terrific team defense in their efforts to limit LeBron James, and though Dwyane Wade hasn’t been hindered in the same way (as evidenced by the fact that he had a monster game on Sunday night), slowing the MVP enough to create a balanced series is a significant accomplishment. Dallas — specifically Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, and Dirk Nowitzki (yes, Dirk Nowitzki) — has played some incredible defense to halt Miami’s high pick-and-rolls in the same way that the Heat defense has halted theirs, and though that side of the court doesn’t come with the same loaded result of an elite offense facing off against an elite defense, both teams have created a reasonable facsimile. Maybe Dallas isn’t elite on D and perhaps Miami’s limitations prevent them from being a truly elite offensive team, but both teams have played at such a high level in this series that those designations are meaningless. All we have is the here and the now, and both Dallas and Miami are playing terrific basketball in an incredible series.
•Figuring out why the Mavericks lost this game requires an analysis that exceeds the limitations of a single bullet point, so with the acknowledgment that my task here is somewhat futile, I’ll offer a bite-sized element that nonetheless factored prominently into the outcome of Game 3: Dirk’s defensive rebounding. Nowitzki’s extraordinary shot-making, Wade’s magnificence, and Chris Bosh’s heroics will take center stage, but this game wouldn’t have been what it was if not for Nowitzki making a deliberate, concentrated effort to clean the defensive glass beginning mid-way through the second quarter. The Heat were still able to grab their share of offensive boards, but thanks to Nowitzki’s efforts to secure contested rebounds — and Chandler’s relentless drive to collect offensive boards — the Mavs were able to win the rebounding rate battle. It’s one of the influences on the game that will be undoubtedly overlooked because it doesn’t support the cause of the victor or explain the shortcomings of the loser, but Nowitzki’s rebounding work was one of many reasons why Game 3 was so enjoyable and competitive."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
Regression to the Mean.
Posted by Ian Levy.

"Shame on me.

I left the establishment where I was watching Game 2, just after Dwyane Wade hit a three pointer to put the Heat up by 15 with 7:13 left in the 4th Quarter. I had to follow one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history on the radio as I drove home. Although I didn’t get to see it live, there’s something to be said for great sports moments on the radio. Receiving auditory input only somehow seems to heighten the tension…Yeah, I’m not buying it either. I’m an idiot. If you’re too disgusted to keep reading, I completely understand.

Depending on the media outlet, the Mavericks’ Game 2 victory was either an epic comeback, or an epic collapse. I really do appreciate those who are covering it accurately as both. The Mavericks’ scored the points they needed to close the gap, the Heat couldn’t extend or even protect their lead. The Mavericks raised their game on both sides of the ball, a feat that happily coincided with the Heat easing off the throttle. Most of the attention on the Heat following Game 2 has been focused on their failure to score down the stretch; an offense that had been steaming ahead smoothly, suddenly came off the rails. Here are the results of each offensive possession by the Heat over the last 7:13:

•Dwyane Wade misses 24-foot three point jumper
•Mario Chalmers misses 25-foot three point jumper
•LeBron James misses driving layup
•Chris Bosh misses 21-foot jumper
•LeBron James makes 2 free throws
•LeBron James misses 16-foot jumper
•Chris Bosh out of bounds lost ball turnover
•Udonis Haslem misses 15-foot jumper
•LeBron James misses 26-foot three point jumper
Dwyane Wade offensive rebound
LeBron James misses 25-foot three point jumper
Udonis Haslem offensive rebound
Udonis Haslem bad pass (Jason Terry steals)
•Dwyane Wade misses 24-foot three point jumper
•Mario Chalmers makes 24-foot three point jumper (LeBron James assists)
•Dwyane Wade misses 28-foot three point jumper
Obviously, anyone complaining about the Heat’s shot selection and lack of interior attempts over that stretch has a point. By my count, there were two turnovers, two free throws, a layup attempt, three long two-point attempts, and seven three-point attempts. The last two three-point attempts can probably be excused as one was a wide-open game tying try and the other a heave at the buzzer, but even when taking away those two attempts, the Mavericks’ defense deserves credit and the Heat offense deserves criticism for their respective performances over that spread.

However, while I can’t condone the Heat’s shot selection, I can — in part — understand it. Up to that point, the Heat were shooting 40.4% on three-pointers for the series. Wade and LeBron,who were responsible for five of those six missed three-pointers, had shot spectacularly well from beyond the arc. James had made six of his 10 three-point attempts for the series, and Wade had made four of eight. In case you don’t have a calculator handy, that’s 55.6% shooting on three-pointers from a pair that combined to shoot 32.0% during the regular season.

The Heat should take some heat for their shot selection, but they were missing shots that had been going in for the previous 88 minutes of Finals game time. Part of rooting on Wade and LeBron is living with some ill-advised jumpshots. If you’ll pardon a second pun dropped in this single paragraph: they are the kings of the heat check. They make outlandish shots better than just about anyone, but they’re still rely heavily on outlandish shots and sometimes they don’t go in. Luckily for the Mavericks, Wade and LeBron chose an inopportune time to regress to the mean.

A few other points which seem to have been glossed over in the national discussion:

•I’m giving myself half a pat on the back today. I went out on a limb in my series preview, saying DeShawn Stevenson should play much better and had an opportunity to have a large impact in the series. The large impact hasn’t quite materialized but Stevenson has been very effective, playing tough defense, grabbing 5 rebounds in just over 36 minutes, and knocking down five of eight threes.
•As great as Nowitzki’s scoring bursts were down the stretch, he helped put his team in position to steal a win by killing himself on the glass. In Game 1 the Heat had an Offensive Rebound Rate of 34.8%. In Game 2, Dallas held the Heat to an ORR of 16.7%. Much of that credit goes to Nowitzki, who grabbed 9 defensive rebounds in the second half."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
The Difference: Dallas Mavericks 95, Miami Heat 93
Posted by Rob Mahoney.


Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — GameFlow


Team.....Pace Off. Eff. eFG% FT/FG ORB% TOR
Dallas...88.0 108.0 52.0 22.7 31.4 20.5
Miami.........105.7 53.5 22.2 16.7 13.6


"You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

•It’s hard to fully encapsulate an incredible comeback with a single bullet point — or even two, or seven, for that matter — but these Dallas Mavericks apparently love to see me try. Of all that impresses me about this Mavs team, high on the list is how natural they make feats of extraordinary strength appear. They don’t have the kind of athletic talent that makes highlight reel dunks look easy, but the way they move the ball and find shooters is not normal. Dallas has a truly exemplary offense, and yet you’d never know it as Jason Kidd makes a relatively routine pass to the corner at just the right time, or Tyson Chandler sets a barely legal screen to free up Dirk Nowitzki with enough room to launch an off-balance jumper. Nothing in their equation is ordinary, and yet it’s all instinctive, all reactive, all a product of a team filled with intelligent ball players doing merely what they know to do. Seven minutes is a long time to contend with an offense like that, even for a elite defense. The Heat D is fast and flexible, but nonetheless subject to the mandates of the offense. When Dirk touched the ball, Miami was largely forced to double. When the ball swung this way or that, the Heat were forced to shift to compensate. All of this is a fundamental part of the offense-defense dynamic, but when the freewheeling Mavs dictated everything with their crisp passing and perfect spacing, the Heat can only do so much. That said, they could have gotten one more shot or one more bucket to significantly impact the result of this game. That might make the Mavs’ remarkable comeback win feel serendipitous, but in truth it was simply a process of in-game natural selection. One team adapted over the final few minutes and the other did not, and the power of that sudden evolution was apparently far more potent than a mere 15-point advantage.
•Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and Jason Terry will get credit for making big plays and huge baskets in the fourth quarter, but Shawn Marion (20 points, 8-13 FG, eight rebounds, three offensive boards, three assists) and Tyson Chandler (13 points, 4-6 FG, seven rebounds, four offensive boards) were the MVPs of this game. For most of the night, Nowitzki and Terry shot incredibly poorly from the field; both finished just shy of .500 shooting for the night, but only after their respective sprints down the stretch of the fourth quarter. Dallas was able to remain competitive — even in spite of a breathtaking performance from Dwyane Wade (36 points, 13-20 FG, six assists, five rebounds) — because Marion weaved through the Heat defense straight to the rim time and time again, and because Chandler worked relentlessly to find the ball or have it find him. These two were the true anchors of the Mavs’ offense, and their combined 33 points on 20 shots doesn’t even do justice to their impact…in part because of the stellar accomplishments of both players on the defensive end. Dallas only came back in such spectacular fashion because they played the pick-and-roll with LeBron as the ball-handler so aggressively, and that doesn’t happen without Tyson Chandler — who was pressuring like mad, despite having five fouls at the time and Brendan Haywood unavailable with a strained right hip flexor — shutting down LeBron’s options. It’s not as if they were only successful defensively at the end of the game; Marion played James to a virtual tie in the box score, and though Marion pulled off a highly efficient offensive night, the key was meeting James in the middle ground. 20 points, eight rebounds, and four assists is still excellent production, but it’s the kind you live with (or even laud) when coming from the best basketball player on the planet. Throw in five turnovers and that’s about as good of a defensive performance as one could hope for against James. That wasn’t all Marion’s doing, but he certainly played his role, and played 41 minutes as a result. That playing time says it all; Marion simply could not be pulled on Thursday night."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
Corner Economics.
Posted by Rob Mahoney.


"If the Mavs’ zone was indeed busted in Game 1, it was Mario Chalmers who busted it. Dallas didn’t seem to have all that much respect for Chalmers’ offensive ability; whether by design or oversight, ‘Rio found himself wide open in the corners, a cue which led Chalmers to drain a pair of back-breaking three-pointers in the second quarter. Both makes were significant in terms of the game’s momentum, but more simply, they were incredibly efficient opportunities granted to a formidable opponent that needs no favors.

To make matters worse, Miami’s success with the corner three went beyond Chalmers. LeBron James, too, found plenty of open space by spotting up in the weak side corner, as did Mike Miller. The result of those three players’ efforts was 5-of-10 shooting on corner threes in Game 1 alone, a completely unacceptable mark for a team that typically does a stellar job of limiting opponents in one of the most efficient zones on the floor.

According to NBA.com’s StatsCube, the Blazers made just eight corner threes in six first-round games against the Mavs on 28 percent shooting. The Lakers made two corner threes in four games on 12 percent shooting. In the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder made just four corner threes in five games on 33 percent shooting. Chalmers may have been encouraged to take control of the offense, but I find it exceedingly hard to believe that Rick Carlisle and Dwane Casey would so willingly concede one of the most efficient shots in the game, particularly given the defensive emphasis given to the corners in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

That’s why this post began in the conditional; though Miami was able to work well against the Mavs’ zone in Game 1, I see no reason why that particular defense is ‘busted’ or solved. It was bested for a single night, as the Heat took advantage of some poor defensive execution.

“We were playing zone and we didn’t buckle down,” DeShawn Stevenson said. “Those are some adjustments that have to come. We’ll look at tape and find that out. We can’t give those guys shots like that because the corner three’s the easiest shot in the NBA.”

“Our zone’s been good all year. They got some shots that we didn’t want them to get, but our zone is good.”

The zone still created a strong defensive front that denied penetration, and still forced the Heat to settle for some tough shots. It also allowed for corner threes and offensive rebounds, but not purely because of the system’s limitations. The zone isn’t a magic solution that can be employed irrelevant of execution; as is the case with any man-to-man or hybrid defense, precise execution is key. The Mavs were on-point in some regards, but they got careless on the periphery of their zone and paid the price. The problems didn’t occur because Dallas ran a zone, but because they didn’t execute it properly.

“They’re good at attacking the paint,” Brendan Haywood said, “and when teams attack the paint and the ball rotates, sometimes the corner three is what you get. Tonight we gave it up to LeBron, Mike Miller — Chalmers hit a couple. Those things happen, but I feel they can be corrected.”

Part of the perceptual problem is the weird stigma of the zone defense that still endures to this day. Every defensive system has its weaknesses, but the zone’s areas of vulnerability are treated as a death sentence. Every offensive board allowed is an indictment. Every made three is a supposed instigator for change. Many expect a shift back to man-to-man D at the first sign of trouble, even when the zone is successfully walling off the paint and swarming opponents who make interior catches. Defensive breakdowns are simply part of the game, and though the zone is often seen as gimmicky or somehow inferior, it’s merely subject to the same costs that come with defensive letdowns of any kind."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
The Difference: Miami Heat 92, Dallas Mavericks 84.
Posted by Rob Mahoney.


Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — GameFlow


Team...Pace Off. Eff. eFG% FT/FG ORB% TOR
Dallas..84.0 100.0 44.0 37.3 16.7 13.1
Miami........109.5 45.6 23.8 34.8 11.9


"You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

•To those struggling to find the fine line between the acknowledgment of Miami’s excellence and the hope provided in the Dallas’ missed opportunities, I empathize. Game 1 has to be viewed in terms of all that the Heat accomplished, but I can’t shed the thought of Dirk Nowitzki’s missed layups, J.J. Barea’s botched runners, Jason Terry’s poor decisions. Credit Miami’s D for their impressive contests — and even for the impact of their potential contests, which clearly had Barea shaking in his boots — but the Mavs can play much better…as long as the Heat defense doesn’t improve yet. We knew this would be a competitive series, but I’m not sure anyone quite expected such an odd start. To credit the Mavs’ offensive failures or the Heat’s defensive successes would be a terrible oversimplification, and yet somewhere in that relationship is the dynamic that could decide the series.
•The Dallas zone had its moments, I suppose, but its start to the series was anything but exemplary. Mario Chalmers was able to burn the Mavs with a pair of wide open threes from the corners, but it was the play of Chris Bosh that made things particularly painful for Dallas when in their zone coverage. Bosh finished with five offensive boards in capitalizing on the displacement of the Mavs’ defenders, and his passing from the high post provided a terribly effective counter to the Mavs’ zone look. Rick Carlisle didn’t seem too distressed about the zone’s performance, so I’m curious as to what he saw in Dallas’ Game 1 zone execution that we didn’t; how much zone the Mavs run in Game 2 should provide a more authentic appraisal than anything Carlisle said postgame.
•Udonis Haslem and the Heat’s double teamers did a credible job defending Dirk Nowitzki (27 points, 7-18 FG, eight rebounds) by playing passing lanes and limiting Dirk’s attempts. In terms of challenging, the Heat defenders can only do so much; Haslem and Joel Anthony just don’t have the height or length to really alter Nowitzki’s shot, which leaves their means of defending him a bit more reliant on prevention. Anthony couldn’t quite pull that off, but Haslem — with help from Mike Miller and others — was able to put enough pressure on Nowitzki to make him pass out of doubles and rush through many of his possessions against single coverage. Nowitzki needs to get settled in, but Erik Spoelstra is too good of a coach to maintain a static approach against Dirk; he may see the same basic defensive look in Game 2, but the specifics of its implementations (the timing of the double, etc.) will likely change. Nowitzki was able to adjust and attack, but he may have to start that process all over again in Game 2.
•Shawn Marion and DeShawn Stevenson were able to have some success in man-to-man coverage against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but then the Mavs shifted into zone, the zone failed, and the final product was flawed man-to-man execution that allowed the Heat do do as they willed. James and Wade didn’t have their most aggressive driving games, but they were certainly assertive scorers; the two stars combined to shoot 6-of-9 from three-point range, and several of those attempts came against pretty good defense. The prospect of defending Wade and James is always predicated on concession in some form. Teams often cede long jumpers — both twos and threes — to both James and Wade in the hopes that it lures two of the league’s best creators off the dribble into taking decidedly less efficient shots and stalling their team’s offense in the process. That’s still a semi-effective strategy against Wade (particularly due to his poor shooting from three-point range), but James has somehow become even more unguardable by hitting threes with consistency. Defending against either player is a miserable assignment, defending against both at the same time is just brutal, and defending against both at the same time when they’re hitting 67 percent of their three-point attempts is something I’m not sure the basketball world is — or will ever be — quite ready for.
•Nowitzki tore a tendon in his left hand (or on his middle finger, to be more precise) while trying to strip the ball from Bosh on a drive. Had the tear been in his right hand, we’d be looking at a series ender; Dallas needs Dirk producing at an elite level to compete in this series, and a legitimate injury to his shooting hand would be a painful blow. However, the fact that Dirk injured his left hand isn’t exactly irrelevant, consider how crucial his handle and driving ability are to his overall game. It’s no secret that Nowitzki prefers to drive left, and considering how many driving lanes he had in Game 1, a limitation on his handle and finishing ability strikes me as rather significant.
•Mike Bibby played 14 minutes, which was probably 14 minutes too long. Mario Chalmers wasn’t perfect, but he was far more productive than Bibby, and the Heat’s no-PG lineups even better than those involving Chalmers. I doubt there will be much of a change in Spoelstra’s rotation at this point in the playoffs, so Dallas needs to take advantage of the time that Bibby sees on a nightly basis.
•James actually defended JET to close the game, a matchup that, while stifling and impressively creative, opens up an interesting opportunity. Marion had a fantastic offensive game, but could have been even more involved in the fourth quarter offense by going to work against Miller in the post. Any time that Marion can shed James, he’ll have an offensive advantage on the low block, and while he was able to create from the post a few times throughout the game, I think Marion can be used as an instigator of change. If Marion can be efficient enough in the post against Miller, Spoelstra could be forced to give up on assigning LeBron to chase JET and disrupt the Mavs’ two-man game, which would ultimately open up one effective offense by way of another.
•Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood aren’t deserving of scapegoat status, but they have to be better on the glass. Their job (of anchoring the defense, challenging the shots of stretch bigs like Bosh and Haslem, and still hitting the boards) isn’t ideal, but it’s the task placed in front of them. I don’t see how the Mavs win this series without Chandler and Haywood pulling off something of a minor miracle in that regard. Best of luck to ‘em."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
2011 Finals, 2011 Playoffs.
All The King’s Men - A Preview In Two Parts.
Posted by Ian Levy.


I.
As a Finals matchup between the Mavericks and the Heat appeared possible, then probable, then certain, the story of a chance at redemption rose to the surface. The Heat’s victory over the Mavericks in 2006 has been The Elephant in The American Airlines Center the past five seasons, and a Finals rematch against the Heat would seem to give the Mavericks a chance to atone for previous shortcomings. If this redemption becomes reality, it will mostly be at the organizational level; only four players from that 2006 series — Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem — will be returning for their original teams. The legacy of each has continued to build on the foundation of the 2006 Finals, and will be, in large part, determined by what happens in this year’s Finals. However, the later chapters of several other NBA stories will be written in this series, stories that have little or nothing to do with the initial Finals matchup between the Mavericks and Heat.

Caron Butler is unlikely to play in this series after recovering from a gruesome knee injury. Tat injury seemed cruel at the time, but as the season has unfolded, that cruelty has taken on an entirely new meaning; Butler served as a crucial contributor in each of the Mavs’ regular season wins against the Heat, and yet a single bad fall has robbed him of the ability to participate in this series. Butler’s defensive presence will be particularly missed against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the wing, and his absence puts a lot of pressure on DeShawn Stevenson, Shawn Marion, and Jason Kidd to hold their defensive ground.

In addition, Butler has a personal history with Wade and the Heat. He was drafted by the Heat in 2002, and spent two seasons with the team. His second season was Wade’s rookie year and saw the team win 42 games and a playoff series against the New Orleans Hornets. Committed to Wade as the team’s centerpiece, the Heat saw Caron Butler as an inadequate complimentary piece. He was traded the following summer in the deal that brought Shaquille O’Neal — and ultimately, the 2006 title — to Miami. For someone who didn’t participate in the 2006 Finals, his fate is still greatly intertwined in those events.

Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson came to Dallas by way of the Washington Wizards, and while neither player has any particular history with the Heat, both have had their share of conflict with Miami’s shiniest new toy, LeBron James. In both 2007 and 2008, the Wizards were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by LeBron and the Cavaliers. Both series were heavy on trash talk and technicals, and featured some heated one-on-one matchups between LeBron and Stevenson. I have to believe that each relishes the opportunity to go through LeBron in their pursuit of this title, even as they publicly say otherwise.

Dallas also has a veritable who’s-who of “Close, but no cigar,” guys. There are 34 active players who have played at least 80 playoff games. 14 of those 34 have never won a championship. 4 of those 14 play for the Dallas Mavericks. In addition to Nowitzki, we find Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Peja Stojakovic on that list. It’s worth noting that in LeBron, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike Bibby, the Heat have three players on that list as well.

Kidd is finishing his 17th season in the NBA. Among his other remarkable achievements, Kidd has played in 136 playoff games. 10 of those 136 games were played in the NBA Finals, over two separate trips with the Nets. The results are a disappointing 2-8 record. Marion has played 86 playoff games but never participated in an NBA Finals. He lost twice in the Western Conference Finals with the Suns. Stojakovic has played in 91 playoff games. That includes a crushing loss in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavericks are a stunning collection of the league’s disenfranchised and overlooked. This series offers many chances for redemption, not just for missed opportunities in the 2006 Finals. A victory over the Heat could provide closure for heartbreaking trades and soul-crushing playoff exits, for years of dominance by the Lakers and Spurs, for odiferous officiating, and for a body slam and a three-pointer from Robert Horry. The ghosts of this playoff series won’t just be wearing the uniforms of the Mavericks and Heat.

II.

Five different Mavericks’ lineups have played at least 30 minutes together in the playoffs. Of those, the most effective has been the Kidd-Terry-Marion-Nowitzki-Chandler combination. In just under 100 minutes, this group has posted an Offensive Rating of 122.51 and a Defensive Rating of 89.56, for an absurd Net Rating of +32.95. They’ve outscored their playoff opponents by 71 points in 96 minutes, meaning they’ve added a point to the Mavericks lead, on average, every 81 seconds.

This has been one of the Mavericks’ strongest and most consistent units all season. Unfortunately, it’s one that may be difficult to keep on the floor for extended periods of time against the Heat. To use this lineup against any Heat unit with both LeBron and Wad means that either Terry or Kidd will likely have to guard Wade. Obviously, this is a less than ideal defensive matchup. Using their zone is an option, but committing to using it consistently with this lineup will make them very predictable. To deal with these matchup problem, the Mavericks may need to rely a little more heavily on a lineup that has been generally ineffective in the playoffs this far: their starters.

Dallas’ starting lineup (Kidd-Stevenson-Marion-Nowitkzi-Chandler) has played the most minutes of any of their five man units in the playoffs. It’s also the only unit they’ve used for more than 25 minutes which has a negative Net Rating. Kidd, Marion, Nowitzki, and Chandler have all played well in other units, and most of the struggles with the starting lineup can be traced to Stevenson. Make no mistake, Stevenson has been bad in these playoffs. He’s shooting 27.1%, and his PER his fallen all the way to 2.2 (with 15.0 being indicative of league average production). Still, I think he the chance to be an impact player in this matchup against the Heat.

When we look at the lineups used by the Mavericks in their two regular season matchups with the Heat, we see they struggled mightily with Terry and Wade on the floor together. The Mavericks had an Offensive Rating of 108.24 and a Defensive Rating of 124.71 in the 44 minutes they were both in at shooting guard. However, in the 29 minutes Stevenson was matched up with Wade at shooting guard the Mavericks posted an Offensive Rating of 126.16 and a Defensive Rating of 71.93. As this was early in the season, and both teams are in a much different place then they were the last time they met, those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.

But Stevenson does have some things working in his favor. Unless Rick Carlisle is interested in finding minutes for Corey Brewer, Stevenson is the one Maverick with the size and mobility to challenge Wade. His offense is mostly of the one-dimensional spot-up shooting variety, and that single dimension has mostly abandoned him in the playoffs. Still he’s a much better shooter then what he has shown the past few weeks. At some point you would expect his percentages to rebound, moving closer to his averages. As I mentioned above, Stevenson has a history with LeBron, and by association, the Miami Heat. He’s always been a player who thrived on an emotional challenge, and perhaps that connection with James provides just such a challenge. There is a path cleared for him to step up and make a difference in these Finals. It will be up to him to walk it."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com
I Bite My Thumb at Thee.
Posted by Rob Mahoney.



"Rob: Well, the only forecasters who are hideously wrong are those who expect a lopsided series in either direction. Something has to give when elite offense and elite defense collide, but the matchup dynamics of this series speak to a hard-fought six-or-seven-gamer. I’m waffling in my prediction of the verdict at the moment — the only outcome that seems as likely as the Heat winning in seven is the Mavs winning seven, or six, or losing in six, or what have you — which is really only indicative of the slightest of margins that separates the performance of these two fantastic teams.

Dallas will have a lot to contend with; their problems go beyond LeBron and Wade diving into the paint, as the offensive complications Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, and Mike Miller provide could end up deciding the series. Miami has a lot of focused firepower in their best five-man lineup, and the aforementioned defensive prowess to boot.

But the Mavs didn’t come this far by way of luck or some trickery. Dirk Nowitzki is, as you may have heard, that good. Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, and Jason Kidd provide the framework for an incredibly versatile and prolific offense. I’m still not convinced that the Mavs will win the series, but I fail to see why they can’t. Dirk is as unguardable as any player in the Finals, and provided that Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood can manage some way to negotiate their responsibilities as both on-ball defenders against stretch bigs like Bosh and Haslem and as perfectly vertical monoliths protecting the rim from the James/Wade barrage, I’m not seeing what makes the Heat anything resembling an overwhelming favorite."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.thetwomangame.com

Scene Stealing.
Posted by Rob Mahoney.

"Over at The New York Times’ Off the Dribble blog, I took a closer look at three “minor” matchups that could make a significant difference in shaping the Finals. Take a peek:

J.J. Barea vs. Joel Anthony/Udonis Haslem/Chris Bosh

Miami has amazing elasticity in defending the high screen-and-roll; bigs like Anthony, Haslem, and Bosh are so mobile and so active that they’re able to hedge and recover quickly, so much so that according to Synergy Sports Technology, the Heat held the Bulls to a crippling 0.27 points per possession on pick-and-rolls in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and have held opponents to just .70 points per possession on pick-and-rolls in the playoffs overall. Derrick Rose was thwarted in his attempts to use his pet screens at the top of the key, and the Heat defense limited the league’s most valuable player to an inefficient and ineffective offensive series thanks to their mobility up front.

Those bigs are likely to be assets in the Finals as well, as J.J. Barea -– the Mavericks’ lightning quick backup point guard -– has diced every defense he’s seen in these playoffs by milking high screen-and-roll action for all it’s worth.

Yet before we immediately assume that the Heat will handcuff Barea, consider this: Dirk Nowitzki is Barea’s most common pick-and-roll partner, and he’s a deadlier threat in space than any of the screening bigs Miami has contended with so far. Recovering quickly may not be enough; the combination of Barea’s quickness (and cleverness) and Nowitzki’s ability to score from anywhere on the floor could still open up all kinds of opportunities, and it’s up to the vaunted Heat defense to close off those options."

[jcisco loboe'77]

Gameday Matchup

..................Miami..Dallas
W-L...............58-24.57-25
Avg Points........102.1-100.2
Avg Points Allowed.94.6--96.0
Home Record........30-11 29-12
Road Record........28-13 28-13
Current Streak.......W4....W4
Last 10.............7-3....7-3

Injury Report
Miami
No significant injuries
Dallas
Dirk Nowitzki--PF-Jun 7: Day-to-Day.
Brendan Haywood-C-Jun 7: Day-to-Day.

Depth Chart
.......Miami (PPG).....Dallas (PPG)
PG-M. Bibby---3.7..J. Kidd------9.1
SG-D. Wade---25.0..D. Stevenson-4.3
SF-L. James--24.2..S. Marion---12.1
PF-C. Bosh---18.5..D. Nowitzki-28.0
C--J. Anthony-2.9..T. Chandler--7.8


Team Stat Leaders
..................Miami............Dallas
Points...D. Wade---25.0..D. Nowitzki-28.0
Rebounds.L. James---8.5..T. Chandler--9.4
Assists..L. James---5.6..J. Kidd------7.3
Steals...L. James---1.8..J. Kidd------1.9
Blocks...J. Anthony-2.0..S. Marion----1.0

[jcisco loboe'77]

2011 NBA Finals: Champion Mavericks
Title Time: Mavericks' celebration
Game 1: Heat 92, Mavericks 84
Game 2: Mavericks 95, Heat 93
Game 3: Heat 88, Mavericks 86
Game 4: Mavericks 86, Heat 83
Game 5: Mavericks 112, Heat 103
Game 6: Mavericks 105, Heat 95

[jcisco loboe'77]

MIA-29-18-20-21=88
DAL-22-20-22-22=86

-GAME STATS-
..........MIA----------DAL
p Wade-----29 Nowitzki--34
rb Wade----11 2 players-11
a James-----9 Kidd------10
s 2 players-2 3 players--1
b Anthony---2 2 players--3

[jcisco loboe'77]

MIA-21-26-22-14=83
DAL-21-24-20-21=86


.........MIA..........DAL
p Wade----32 Nowitzki-21
rb James---9 Chandler-16
a James----7 Barea-----4
s Chalmers-3 2 players-3
b Wade-----2 2 players-1

[jcisco loboe'77]

FINAL
MIA-31-26-22-24=103
DAL-30-30-24-28=112



--GAME STATS--
............MIA...........DAL
p Wade-------23 Nowitzki--29
rb 2 players-10 Chandler----7
a James------10 2 players--6
s Wade--------2 Kidd-------3
b 4 players---1 Chandler----2

[jcisco loboe'77]

Dallas wins series 4-2


FINAL
DAL-32-21-28-24=105
MIA-27-24-21-23==95


--GAME STATS--
...........DAL.........MIA
p Terry-----27 James---21
rb Nowitzki-11 Haslem---9
a Kidd-------8 Chalmers-7
s 4 players--2 Chalmers--3
b Kidd-------1 Wade-----2