Art Garcia has a good article on Erick Dampier's offensive output this season.
One of the reasons is an emphasis in practice on building a rapport between Dampier and point guards Devin Harris, Jason Terry and Anthony Johnson. Developmental assistant Popeye Jones, a former power forward, has worked extensively with Dampier on footwork and hand-eye coordination.
"Damp is finishing better this year inside than he ever has here as a Maverick," Avery Johnson said. "He's becoming a little bit more of a presence down there. He's catching the ball, he's finishing better, he's a threat and guys are looking for him. That's something we didn't have last year."
He still has games where it seems like he drops a dozen passes, but overall he has been better in that regard. His main Improvement has been that he almost never shoots unless he's dunking. That's why he leads the NBA in FG% at almost 70%."Damp is finishing better this year inside than he ever has here as a Maverick," Avery Johnson said. "He's becoming a little bit more of a presence down there. He's catching the ball, he's finishing better, he's a threat and guys are looking for him. That's something we didn't have last year."
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short Raptors preview by Sefko
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Jean-Jacques Taylor pulls himself away from the Cowboys to write about how important he thinks Dampier is.
Dampier also added 12 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, a feat he needed 47 games to achieve last season. Dallas is 3-0 in those games and 10-0 since the start of last season when Dampier has a double-double.
Last season, Dallas won by an average of 21.2 points when Dampier had a double-double. When Dampier plays his best basketball, the Mavs take their game to a championship level.
------------------------Last season, Dallas won by an average of 21.2 points when Dampier had a double-double. When Dampier plays his best basketball, the Mavs take their game to a championship level.
Sefko has a little bit about the Mavs bench players accepting their reduced minutes and reports that the Mavs spent much of their last practice working against a zone defense.
They realize it's extremely likely that they will see it [the zone] again, given that they were forced into 4-of-16 shooting in the quarter. Dirk Nowitzki was particularly hamstrung, squeezing off just eight shots in the game. "They zoned him," Avery Johnson said. "And they kept two guys in his area, and we just didn't execute. And when we got some open looks, they just didn't go down." Johnson actually wasn't as upset about the way his team handled the zone after he got a chance to see the video.