Moving Pictures: Walking on Sunshine With a Sore Ankle

Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 14, 2009 under Video | 13 Comments to Read

As is the case every season, the Mavs’ success boils down to the health and effectiveness of Josh Howard. Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd are rocks, stabilizing forces of consistent production. But Josh has always had a bit of unpredictability in his game, and it’s that unknown factor that puts the Mavs somewhere between very good and truly great. Dallas was gently nudged to the preferable end of that spectrum in Howard’s return against the Suns, as Josh scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half and provided a cornerstone for victory. In this installment of Moving Pictures, we’ll take a look at Josh Howard’s return performance, and assess what it means for the team going forward.

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  • http://definitelymaybe.blog.de finzent

    Great work, once again! Just now realized how good Josh looked defensively in that game. And his good passing.

    But I think you left out his worst shot of the night; I remember a terrible transition-pull-up-after-dribbling-behind-the-back-jumper that was way off. Now that I think about it, I’m actually grateful you left it out…

    (Provided my memory doesn’t play tricks on my, of course. But I distinctly remember shouting death threats at my computer when I watched it.)

    • http://www.thetwomangame.com Rob Mahoney

      @finzent: You’re right. I had the clip flagged and wanted to use it, but didn’t really have a place for it. It wasn’t awful shot selection necessarily (the dribble move freed him from every defender in the area), even though the end result was miserable. So I spared you, me, and Josh from having to watch that one again.

  • Phil

    Great choice on the music – I enjoyed the last part when it became a little more intense and you had already finished your analysis, ending the video with some uncommented josh-footage. Great work!

  • Vic De Zen

    So encouraged by this video. I missed the game. Great to see Josh playing like a wiser version of his rookie self. This could be huge for the Mavs.

  • Crawford

    Rob,

    I assume many of your readers view this blog at work (I certainly do). Youtube is blocked on 90% of work computers, so I am only able to view this at home. If you use Vimeo like you did for the Dampier installment perhaps the working world could see.

    Love these things…just a suggestion.

    • http://www.thetwomangame.com Rob Mahoney

      Thanks, everybody.

      @Crawford: I’d consider switching over to Vimeo, but they have a one upload per week limit unless you pay for a premium account or whatnot. I’d love to oblige, but I don’t really want to buy the cow.

      @Brian D: Still EitS: “Look Into the Air” off of How Strange, Innocence.

      @Kirk: The reason you don’t hear about the herky jerky offense is because the Mavs are winning. If it were enough of a problem to cause some losses (or even cause the Mavs a shot at a close game), it would be all over the place. Personally, I’ve been giving them the benefit of the doubt without Josh. But if the problems persist, rest assured, you’ll get posts (and probably video) on that very subject.

      @rj: Maybe, but I yam what I yam.

  • Brian D

    Fantastic video, first of all. Excited to have Josh back on the floor again tonight. Who plays the music on this one though, Rob? All the other ones have been EitS, but I don’t recognize this.

    I agree with Crawford on the Vimeo. Though if you really want to see it at work, you can always just hop on a proxy.

  • Kirk Henderson

    These are great.

    When are we going to discuss the herky jerky motion of the Mavs offense? Yes, there are those times (2Q vs NJ, for example) when the Mavs fire on all cylinders and they look like a text book basketball team, but those times are super rare. The rest of the time we are struggling like crazy to get the ball in the hoop.

    I’m not seeing how Howard really helps in the half court game as it was clear last season he has never played with a good point guard before and only knows how to get his own shot off the dribble (think about how many times we’ve seen the awful elbow jumper in transition or late in the shot clock. He never seems to make it.) I’m not blaming Howard, he is who he is at this point in his career.

    Does Coach C. open the game a little and push for quicker shots? Something has to happen though, the rough spots in the Mavs O are far to rough for me.

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  • rjlink

    Dude, your analysis and footage are great, but the vocal styling and music is just way too affected and ridiculous. Can you dial it back about ten notches?

  • rjlink

    Rob, your style is definitely unique and makes you memorable, so if it’s working for you, I’ll roll with it.

  • dirk

    Great video Rob, really enjoyed it.

    On a side note, can you give me the name of the song you used in the video?

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