A Few Thoughts on Our Team (Complete with Numbers!)

A thought or two on some of the players who have seen minutes in this series

Dirk has been phenomenal, which is nothing new, but the past two games he has averaged 16 points while raising his cumulative turnovers from three to nine. From the numbers, it would seem that something San Antonio is doing is affecting him. The numbers also suggest that he was more active on the defensive end with two steals, and two blocks after not registering a block or a steal in his previous game while averaging almost a steal and a block per game during the series.

Shawn Marion’s field goal percentage is down significantly during the playoffs from 51% during the regular season to 41% during this series, and his minutes reflect his downward shooting, as he has averaged almost 7 minutes per game less than the regular season. His decrease in playing time confuses me if only because he seemed to have such a long leash during the season.

Which brings me to JJ. Turns out, he is averaging minutes that are in line with what he had during the regular season, but he is being more haphazard with the ball in this series than in the regular season. His TOV% (turnovers per 100 plays) is up 5, and compared to Kidd, he’s holding on to the ball too much which is evident through their usage percentages, 21 to 12 for Barea, and Kidd, respectively. Of course, after bashing the guy, I feel the need to point out that he is shooting better than he has during the regular season, but just barely. (49% eFG in the regular season, 50% in the playoffs)

Jason Kidd played 36 minutes per game in the regular season, and 40 so far in the playoffs, not an absurd difference, but it does seem high for a player of his age. A result of this may be a decline in his 3-point percentage. He averaged 42.5% in the regular season, and 33% so far in the playoffs. He is working his ass off at both ends, and it is evident during the games, but he needs a minutes reduction at some point.

My opinion that Jason Terry has not been very noticeable in this series is exaggerated, partly due to his absence in Game 1. Since his breakout Game 2, he has averaged 14 points on 41 percent shooting. His shooting is poor, which is nothing too out of the ordinary, but 60 percent free throw shooting in those same three games is abnormal for him.

Brendan Haywood is better than Erick Dampier in every way except rebounding. It isn’t a noticeable difference, but their offensive capabilities is big enough to give Haywood the starting job over Dampier for the rest of the year. Dampier hasn’t made a field goal. Not one on four games. He is both a black hole, and completely ineffective when he has the ball for more then 3 seconds. Enough already.

And then there is Caron Butler. With my own two eyes, I have watched the best and worst of him within three games. You know what I’m talking about, the guy gets less than 15 minutes one game where he totals more turnovers (3) than points (2), and 2 games later, he shoots 50 percent on the way to 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals. He’s still shooting too many threes. 6 for 18 is no good. He has to be aggressive or at least three players will be standing around the perimeter for most of the game.

Not enough data to talk about Prisoner 3, Deshawn Booth, or Smiley McGee. Go Mavs, bring it back to Dallas.

(Thanks to http://www.basketball-reference.com for the numbers.)

Matt Carroll's NBA.com picture. Apparently no one was informed of his changing teams.