Heard It Through the Grapevine

Posted by Rob Mahoney on May 12, 2009 under Recaps | 7 Comments to Read

• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Now, I’d like to discuss Dirk Nowitzki. Not unlike Carmelo, just about any shot he decides to toss up will have a solid chance of going in. And like a lot of players who can go over either shoulder, on either block, in either direction, in a number of ways, the sheer amount of possibilities and ways for Dirk to score sometimes boggles the mind. His mind, most importantly. It leads him thinking way too much, trying to set up the perfect shot, when sometimes a one-footed fadeaway off of no contact from 17-feet is a 70 percent proposition.”
• Also, I missed this yesterday, but KD named Dirk and Brandon Bass as honorable mentions on his “Top five most improved playoff performances,” and unfortunately ranked Jason Terry second on his list of “Top five NBA playoff fall-offs.”
• Rick Carlisle on Dirk, via Tim MacMahon of the DMN Mavs Blog: “The one fadeaway shot that he hit was a force of sheer will to get that ball in the basket, because it was an incredibly difficult shot…I’ve seen Bird make those shots many time during the prime of his career. The great ones, they somehow find the will to do it and they get it done. You know, he’s one of the great ones.”
• There are some Nuggets who don’t have much to stand on when it comes to discussing “class,” but that doesn’t mean the crowd at the AAC needs to get into the act.  There are some lines that fans aren’t meant to cross, and when family comes into the picture, any insult becomes intensely personal.  For everybody’s sake, let’s stay away from that.  I don’t care who said what or who did what at this point; cut it out.
• Jeremy of Roundball Mining Company: “…the Nuggets have lost their physical edge. Along with the points in the paint Dallas crushed the Nuggets on the boards. I generally do not make a big deal about rebounds unless the Nuggets get or give up an avalanche of second chance points, but the Mavericks completely controlled their defensive glass giving up only six offensive rebounds to Denver while corralling 41 defensive boards.”
• Yes, Erick Dampier suffered, but THIS IS A MYTH.  I REPEAT, THIS IS A MYTH.
• Woodie Paige, The Denver Post: “In a game of plots, conspiracies, subterfuges, gambits, feints and ploys, it came down to a one-on-one, face-to-face, mano-a-mano Star Wars lightsabers duel between Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki edged Anthony. The Mavericks edged the Nuggets. This was Frazier-Ali, Connors-McEnroe, Gibson-Drysdale, Ben-Hur-Messala, Skywalker-Vader, Russell-Chamberlain, Magic-Bird. Staring down, looking up. Point for point, rebound for rebound, big play for big play. Basketball is a team game, but there was an individual clash of the titans Monday night that was epic and classic, a pleasure to watch, an amusement park ride, a test of wills, drives and jumpers. If you don’t like that, collect butterflies.”
• Even if the Mavs fall in Denver, there’s a pretty big difference between losing in four and losing in five.
• Bob Sturm of Inside Corner: “With Dirk playing in the post as a ’5′, then Bass can be a ’4′. It is not exactly Gasol and Odom, but it makes quite a bit of sense against many teams. If Dampier cannot provide any reason for the opposition to guard him, and if he also brings almost no energy plays, then allowing the offense to run through Dirk on the post against guys who cannot guard him make the Mavs impossible to deal with without a double team. And, then, your shooters make them pay. Dirk as a 5 might be the future of this team. So, maybe a true defensive Power Forward is what this team really needs to allow the Mavs to “play small” even though they would have a 7-foot center. It all starts with Dirk being interested in banging around, but he banged for 44 last night and Denver had no clue what to do.”
• In the subplot that I currently could not care less about, Mark Cuban apologizes to Kenyon Martin, his mom, and his family.  A kind gesture, but come on, do we still have to talk about this?
• ESPN’s Marc Stein: “The historic part: Nowitzki and Anthony became just the third twosome ever in a playoff game to each total at least 40 points and 10 rebounds. Jerry West (41 and 10) and Elgin Baylor (45 and 17) did it as Los Angeles Lakers teammates against Detroit in 1962. Michael Jordan (42 and 12) and Charles Barkley (42 and 13) did so for Chicago and Phoenix, respectively, in the 1993 NBA Finals. Then the list ends with Dirk and Melo.”