Afternoon Grapevine 4-10-09

Posted by Rob Mahoney on April 10, 2009 under The Grapevine |

• A hardy welcome to the four new blogs of the TrueHoop Network: Philadunkia (Carey Smith), Salt City Hoops (Spencer Ryan Hall), Orlando Magic Daily (Zach McCann and Woody Wommack), and Ball in Europe (Tobias Seitz and Christophe Ney).
• Tim MacMahon is reporting that Tyson Chandler is likely to be out for both of the upcoming Mavs-Hornets games.  Schwing.  MacMahon writes that it’s good news for Erick Dampier, which is either true because Damp doesn’t have to worry about Chandler throwing down dunks when he’s on the court, or because he can put his feet up and relax if Carlisle decides to go small with Bass and/or Singleton.
• Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com foresees some zone in our very near future: “Dallas will utilize a zone defense, the purpose being to force Chris Paul to do his damage as a perimeter shooter. CP3 will attempt to defy the laws of basketball by single-handedly penetrating into the zone, and once he’s on the run and in the lane will unleash an arsenal of clever teardrop-type shots or, with the shot-blockers drawn to him, will uncork an arsenal of alley-oop passes that are indefensible once he’s inside.”  I’m a huge fan of the zone as a spot defensive strategy.  But as I’ve said, time and time again, it’s important that the Mavs are a fully capable man-to-man defensive outfit if they want to have any kind of success in the playoffs.  The zone is a neat little trick, but neat little tricks don’t stand up to well to days’ worth of planning.
• That Eddie Sefko knows what he’s talkin’ ’bout.  Ya hear?