Dirk Nowitzki’s exclusion was not one of them. His selection was never even debatable. But the Western Conference reserves will be Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, Pau Gasol, Deron Williams, and and Zach Randolph. Great picks all the way down the line, and particular kudos to the coaches for picking this crop over Denver’s Chauncey Billups. Billups is a fine player, but this just isn’t his year. Plus, I think there’s a very legitimate argument to be made for Tyreke Evans over Chauncey, anyway…but we’ll save that for another day.
In the East, the reserves will be Rajon Rondo, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, Gerald Wallace, Al Horford, Paul Pierce, and Derrick Rose. In related news, it really, really sucks to be David Lee right now. He’s doing just about everything humanly possible (ahem, offensively), and still can’t catch a break. Pierce is having an off-year, but his selection was more or less assumed. I just wish we could see Lee and Josh Smith in the game, but no such luck.
“Success is never final; failure is never fatal.”
-Anonymous
If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect that the Mavs were simply fated to lose last night. It was an event eons in the making, and as all the planets aligned and all of the matter in the cosmos was just so. And then, through a nearly infinite number of events all happening in perfect sequence, the Mavs’ weaknesses were brought forth in four dimensions for all the world to see.
But I do know better, if only a little bit, which is why I can tell you this: even though the Mavs failed in multiple basketball dimensions last night, their coincidence was nearing on aberration. It was almost comical how many of their flaws the Mavs chose to expose, and though the final margin was not only delightfully close but decidedly winnable, there likely does not exist a light that illuminates last night’s offensive performance as anything deserving of praise.
There were bright spots, sure. But first let’s dwell on exactly what ails the Mavs. For one, the Maverick offense remains overly dependent on the scoring of Dirk Nowitzki. To his credit, Dirk came through (27 points on 10 of 13 shooting, albeit with six turnovers), despite the lingering pain and discomfort that goes along with ramming your elbow full speed into Carl Landry’s mouth. It was enough to keep Dirk out of the game entirely on Sunday, but Dirk’s jumper looked clean and healthy against the Blazers. The turnovers are certainly unusual, but given the rest of the team’s struggles on offense and the extra attention afforded to Nowitzki as a result, the true wonder is that it wasn’t any worse. Dirk has had to carry the Mavs on plenty of nights during his career, but rarely has a Dallas outfit looked so terribly hollow on offense.
J.J. Barea (22 points, 9-16 FG, five assists, two turnovers) was again indispensable, if only because the rest of the team combined to shot a woeful 23.5% (12-51 FG) from the field. Shawn Marion (0 points, 0-7 FG, six rebounds, two turnovers) had quite possibly his worst offensive game as a Maverick, almost to prove a point: Marion’s offense is a supplementary piece, a table setting to make that steak dinner more enjoyable without lending anything at all to its creation. He’s not going to carry the load, that much we know. He’s really in Dallas for his defense, after all, and his offensive contributions are meant to keep opposing defenses honest and take advantage of easy opportunities. Shawn was able to achieve none of the above, as his runners and layups alike all met rim in the most unfriendly of ways.
And Jason Terry (eight points, 2-13 FG, four assists, one turnover)? His struggles continue to destroy the Maverick offense from within. So much of the offense is predicated on Dirk and Terry exploiting mismatches, be it through the pick and roll or forcing switches through other means. They’re supposed to be the Mavs’ best offensive options, but so far, only Dirk is playing the part. JET is in the middle of an absolutely brutal shooting slump, which leaves him with little on-court purpose aside from playing the part of the decoy. There are other options that can defend, pass, and rebound better than Terry, and frankly, several of them could shoot better than him right now, too. Without his scoring, JET’s role on the team (and as a primary in the rotation) becomes debatable, and though I honestly believe Terry’s struggles to be a freak occurrence rather than a flaw in approach, someone needs to figure out how to curtail this drop-off and fast. It may not be the difference between a win and a loss every night, but it’s not far off.
Josh Howard (eight points, two rebounds, one assist) was a bit of a non-factor in a game that could’ve used one, and Drew Gooden (five points, 2-7 FG, six rebounds) reminded us all that missing shots within ten feet of the basket is a fine art. The depth that had buoyed Dallas against Cleveland was nowhere to be found, as an entire team’s worth of offense was was made the sole responsibility of a certain seven foot star and a pint-sized role player. There was no balance there, no versatility there, and on a night where nothing is going right, that really, really hurts.
And while you may notice that most of my criticisms dwell on one of the court rather than the other, make note that it’s no coincidence: the Mavs’ defense this year has been terrific, and for perhaps the first time in franchise history, it’s been the offense that has struggled to keep pace. LaMarcus Aldridge (19 points, 9-16 FG, 12 rebounds) was very effective from just about everywhere on the floor, but many of his baskets were simply a case of ‘Good D, Better O.’ That’s the kind of thing you have to live with in the NBA, as the world’s premier scorers are simply waiting for an opportunity to light your team up. If 19 points in 45 minutes from Aldridge is the brunt of that, then give yourselves a round of applause and call it a defensive victory. Brandon Roy may have scored 23, but he only shot 36.8%. And even then, the Mavs needn’t be upset by holding Roy to a mortal scoring output, especially considering the lockdown they did on the rest of Portland’s role players (the rest of the Blazers shot just 36.3% from the field).
But it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to hold the Blazers to 93.4 points per 100 possessions (a full 12 points below their season average), because every Maverick offensive weakness wanted its chance in the spotlight and got its wish:
The Mavs continue to struggle at home, where they can neither close out teams convincingly nor create mid-game separation.
They still rely far too much on the big gun, as Dirk’s expected to not only put the Mavs in a position to win, but make every big shot when everything is on the line.
Option B continues to struggle to score, and in his frustration, JET blew the Mavs’ final attempt to tie the game with eight seconds remaining by forcing up a difficult, contested layup. The Mavs still had timeouts.
The Mavs’ typical contributors could not finish around the rim. Marion’s troubles may have been more pronounced, but Gooden blew plenty of opportunities near the basket against power forwards masquerading as centers. I guess that may not mean much when juxtaposed next to power-forward-masquerading-as-center Drew Gooden, but ideally it would.
The offense was stagnant. With everyone’s confidence wrecked, Dallas devolved into a group of stand-still jump shooters, and while the midrange game may still be the weapon of choice for the Mavs, those shots need to come off open looks created by cuts, picks, and passes.
But if you’ll allow me that single bit of optimism that I never thought I’d have: the Mavs had a chance to win this one. A Dirk Nowitzki jumper went in and out with 38 seconds remaining, and what was perhaps a bit of bad judgment from Jason Terry is all that stood in the way of the defense securing yet another win. Dirk and Barea were essentially the only two parts of the offense that didn’t buckle, and still the Mavs were within a breath of forcing overtime. Who knows where the game goes from there, but it’s nice to know that in spite of all the reasons to be disappointed with the Mavs’ performances this season, their defense always seems to be a positive. It regularly puts them in a position to win games if it doesn’t win them outright. Though I still get headaches from watching the offense, it’s that kind of silver lining that can make a tough loss a bit more digestible.
Closing thoughts:
Mega bummer for the Blazers, who have likely lost Joel Przybilla for the season. Portland is a fun team and a model organization, and it’s just terrible that sometimes, bad things happen to good franchises. After all they’ve been through with Greg Oden, the Blazers certainly don’t deserve it. But here we are, and we’ll have to see where Kevin Pritchard is willing to take this roster to accommodate its need for big men in 2009-2010.
The Cavaliers and the Blazers both seemed content to leave J.J. Barea open at the 3-point line, mostly as a way of combating his speed. It’s a strategic compromise, and my only hope is that J.J. can continue to improve his shooting stroke and capitalize like he did last night (3 of 4 from beyond the arc).
The Mavs scored 14 points in the first quarter and 33 points in the first half. Both were their lowest such totals all season long.
There was a pretty strange sequence in the third quarter, as Juwan Howard committed a flagrant foul on J.J. Barea…but Barea sunk the basket. As a result, he was afforded two chances to make one free throw, which effectively gave the Mavs a three-point play and control of the ball.
I really shorted the Blazers their due in this recap, but they deserve plenty of credit. They played some nice D against the Mavs, and came up with just enough to win in spite of losing Przybilla. It’s understandably a big win for Portland given the circumstances, and deservedly so.
The Mavs actually led after three thanks to a 32-point third quarter, but forked over the lead behind a 16-point fourth quarter effort. Yuck.
Dirk wore a giant pad on his elbow to protect his favorite new scar. It didn’t seem to hinder his shot much at all.
For a team with a bright future, things in Portland are certainly dim. Greg Oden’s injury puts a damper on what could have been a successful season, and the point guard situation is far from resolved. They have an All-Star shooting guard and bright, young talent at virtually every position, yet the chemistry and rotation have become unexpected problems. The worst of it is this: regardless of what has worked for other teams in the past, there is no blueprint for team-building. There is no generic solution for the Blazers’ uniquely talented players, and though it sure beats being a lottery team, being rich with talent often presents its own new problems.
The Portland Trailblazers are an interesting case study on multiple levels, but particularly because their fortunes have been all over the place. Brandon Roy is clearly the star of the show, and rightfully so. He’s an incredibly talented offensive player who can produce without stymieing the greater team-wide vision. In fact, with a player of Roy’s particular talents and tendencies, you could go as far as to say that he excels within a team framework. There are certain NBA players who were born to win one-on-one tournaments. And for what it’s worth, Roy probably wouldn’t do too badly. That said, the true beauty of his game comes in how he controls the flow of the offense and manages space. He works the pick-and-roll beautifully, he draws extra defenders and finds the open man, and above all, Roy isn’t just capable of making the pass, but completely willing to. He’s humble. He’s a consummate professional. He’s hungry. And despite everything that has gone right for the Blazers in amassing their stable of young talent, it’s possible that they still haven’t figured out what kind of players are best-suited to flank Roy (and LaMarcus Aldridge, and whoever else is deemed part of the core).
It’s not as simple as taking a franchise model and plugging in Roy. His style is very much his own, and despite the temptation to assume that he would work the same in any number of systems with a precedent of talented shooting guards, that’s not the way it works. Just because the Bulls of the 90s, the Lakers of the early 2000s, and the current incarnation all run some version of the triangle offense, the personnel put their mark on the system. In those cases, you can hold the coach and the system constant, but that doesn’t make Luc Longley and Shaquille O’Neal one in the same. Players will always shape a system to make it unique, and great players typically have a more profound influence than is easily recognizable. As much as Roy is to be part of McMillan’s system, the system and the rotation must adjust to the specificities of Roy’s game.
Read my piece on Brandon Roy and the Blazers in its entirety at Hardwood Paroxysm.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
-Leonardo da Vinci
The Mavs are going to win the NBA title this year.
Okay, not really, but back-to-back road wins over solid Western Conference teams is a welcome contrast to the Mavs’ recent road woes. They walked into the Rose Garden, took everything they wanted on the offensive end, put together a solid defensive performance, and showed tremendous testicular fortitude as they vanquished the Blazers (who the Mavs have beaten all three times this season) and what remained of their inner demons.
Part of me wants to cheapen this win. The voice in my head is telling me “Well pffft, any team can win if they make their jumpshots and play half-decent defense.” This is entirely true, and the Mavs haven’t had much trouble winning when they actually do those two things. Unfortunately, the defense tends to come and go with the shooting. But you know what? This one counts, and it counts big. The Mavs weren’t killing the Blazers’ playoff chances like they did to the Suns the night before, but they also implode when faced with adversity and low expectations. Myself and countless others hoped for a win in Portland, but generally resigned ourselves to the fact that the Mavs might go out and lay an egg. It was the second night of a back-to-back, they played an awfully good Portland team that has been ridiculously good at home lately, and when the Blazers offered some resistance in the second half, the Mavs had every reason to fold. They were on tired legs, and again, no one was scoring outside of Dirk and Terry. But they stood their ground, and as a team the Mavs came up huge. Dirk and and JET took and made all the big shots, but the impact of players like Erick Dampier, Antoine Wright, and whoever invented the zone defense cannot be discounted.
So much of what the Mavs were able to accomplish in this game hinged on their play in the first and third quarters, which have been the most troublesome all season. They started things off well, and though they were down one at the end of the first, it was evident that this was the Mavs’ game. The Blazers made their runs and had their chances, but it was a Maverick world and they were just temporarily leasing in it. The third quarter, in which the Mavs typically implode on their way to a double-digit loss, instead had the Mavs standing their ground against a Blazer resurgence. The storm was weathered, the Mavs bounced back, and the day was won. Huzzah!
Dirk, you got it goin’ on.
The Blazers don’t have anyone that matches up well with Dirk. LaMarcus Aldridge would seem to be a good choice in theory, but somewhere between ‘good, tall defender with reasonably quick feet’ and ‘actually keeping Dirk from doing whatever he wants’, Aldridge falters. To be honest, I’m not even sure I can put a finger on it. Even the plays where Aldridge does a commendable job at making Dirk’s life difficult, Nowitzki just launches an awkward, off-balance jumper (for Dirk, is there any other kind?) over LaMarcus’ outstretched arms. Dirk didn’t quite match his production in Phoenix, but was every bit as brilliant with 29 points (13-24 FG), 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and just 2 turnovers. But take a look at that picture up top, and it tells you all you need to know: any time Dirk does his awesome reverse-popped-jersey-tug thing, something’s going very, very right. Up 2 with just a minute to play, Dirk hit a tough jumper with Aldridge in his face. Travis Outlaw made a layup down the middle of the broken zone, and Dirk iced the game with a foot-on-the-three-point-line jumper off the dish from Jason Terry.
Just for fun, take a look at Dirk’s shot chart from games against Portland this season (via NBA.com):
Yeah. I know.
Jason Terry (24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers) was nearly as fantastic, and was in full effect. The Chris Paul-Tyson Chandler pick-and-roll may be terrifying in its own regard, but on nights like these I would hate to be an opposing fan watching Dirk and Terry go to work.
No recap of this game would be complete without mention of the zone. According to the Blazers’ broadcast team, Brandon Roy was “chugging Pepto” on the bench during several breaks in the action, and it showed. Without Roy’s usual assertiveness and penetration, the Blazers looked like a much more athletic, taller version of my intramural basketball team. Nate McMillan is a great coach, but he did not have the Blazers ready to face the zone. The Mavs went to it consistently in the second and fourth, and Portland just couldn’t get good looks.
Today, I was planning on writing a piece about the growing marginalization of Erick Dampier. Brandon Bass and James Singleton seemed on the up-and-up, and Ryan Hollins’ outburst against the Suns only made things worse for Damp. Then Dampier reminded me why we keep him around with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and a block, most of which was much more emphatic than I could put into type. The Blazers were focused on stopping the Mavs’ shooters and repeatedly forgot about Dampier in the middle. Four offensive rebounds and a handful of dunks later, I’m well aware of what Dampier can offer.
Jason Kidd, in typical Kidd fashion, finished with 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and just 7 points. That’s nice production, but his night wasn’t anything to write home about. A good night from Kidd, a decent job on Brandon Roy during the man-to-man stretches, and a near disaster averted when Antoine Wright corrected a Kidd mistake when Travis Outlaw managed to poke away Kidd’s dribble in crunch time.
As Dampier’s play increased, James Singleton and Ryan Hollins faded to the background; neither logged a single second of action. Not that Brandon Bass (10 points, 4 rebounds) helped. Carlisle went shallow with the rotation, only playing Terry, Bass, and Devean George off the bench. Devean George once again proved that he’s still Devean George, and that he’s always willing to foul players attacking the basket — but only when it’s too late and they actually make their attempts.
Barea started again in place of Josh Howard, and had his moments. Unfortunately, most of what he did well on the court was countered by his overaggressiveness. It comes with the territory with J.J., and he wouldn’t be where he is now if he wasn’t aggressive. Still, a little more control now and again couldn’t hurt, and he’d be much more useful in his role if he took off his blinders once in awhile.
Closing Thoughts:
The Mavs had just one turnover, and shot 51.% from the field in the first half. Wicked awesome.
Joel Przybilla had just about my favorite play in all of basketball: he went up for a block attempt on Jason Terry (I think), and instead of swatting the shot, just grabbed it out of the air. Terry’s runner may have already been tipped, but still.
J.J. Barea injured what appeared to be his left elbow, Devean George left the game with a knee injury, and the Blazers Nicolas Batum left the game with a shoulder strain.
The Blazers had won 12 consecutive home games before last night.
GOLD STAR OF THE NIGHT: The Gold Star of the Night goes to Jason Terry. As usual, Dirk probably deserves it, but in the name of spreading the love around, I’m throwing this one JET’s way. Terry had an excellent offensive night and was the ideal counterpart for Dirk. Bonus points for not forcing the issue on what would be the Mavs’ last field goal of the game, a good shot fake as the clock dwindled that opened up Dirk for a great look. Jason Terry, I raise my glass to you.
The Portland Trailblazers visit the Dallas Mavericks
7:30 CST
How many jump shots does a jump shooting team have to jump shoot to define a jump shooting team as a jump shooting team?
It’s a valid question. And one that everyone should be asking themselves about the Blazers. Take a hard look up and down that roster. There’s a boatload of talent and promise galore, but you might also notice one small caveat: there isn’t a lot in the way of interior scoring. Greg Oden has his nights, and by “his nights” I mean the ones where he looks less like an animatronic T-Rex. Joel Przybilla is probably the best backup center in the game, but his offensive game is generally limited to putbacks and bunnies. But where a lot of public knowledge steers into the wrong is with LaMarcus Aldridge. In theory, a long, strong, 6′11” beast would be a killer pivot man. Don’t call him ’soft,’ but Aldridge’s game is definitely of the face-up variety. He lingers in midrange, excelling in the supposed ‘lost art’ of the game (how that was ever considered a legitimate criticism of the league is beyond me). Dirk is 2nd in the league in 2-point jumpshot attempts percentage (it’s exactly what it sounds like: what percentage of a player’s attempts are 2-point jumpers) at 71%. LaMarcus Aldridge isn’t far behind, at #11 with 64%. Travis Outlaw and Brandon Roy, Portland’s other top shooters in terms of attempts, don’t share Aldridge’s lust for le jumpehr, but that doesn’t mean they are devoid of jumpshooting passion in their own rights.
So what separates the 2nd best offensive outfit in the league from the 9th? You’ve got a jumpshooting power forwards, offensively animatronic centers, and small forwards that have fallen in love with their shot…what exactly is missing from the equation that places the Mavs on one side and the Blazers on the other? The obvious difference lies at the guard positions. Jason Kidd gets the upper hand against Steve Blake, Sergio Rodriguez, and Jerryd Bayless, but Brandon Roy absolutely puts the Mavs 2 guard rotation to shame. Jason Kidd does things to help his team, but Brandon Roy is the team. If you want the basic element that limits the Mavs to this day and will eventually thrust the Blazers into championship contention, it’s scoring in the post. Interior scoring isn’t some mythical fourth quarter beast that a contender make, though. Rather, it’s the horse that you mount to get you through the rough stretches. Lucky for Portland, they have the third best post-up guard in the game. Kobe. Wade. Roy. That’s it. Meanwhile, the Mavs are twiddling their thumbs with Antoine Wright. It could be worse, but it’s not exactly the same.
Does Dirk’s way work? I think it can. Doesn’t hurt that he’s a unique beast. Is Roy’s way easier, even if it means lacking a true scoring big man? We’ll see.
Oh, and in the name of shameless self-promotion: I answered a few questions for the crew at Bust a Bucket for today’s game. Take a looksie if you dare.
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