Well, I doubt there are a bunch of ecstatic Maverick fans after this one. The Mavericks did secure a win, but it was once again a close win versus a weaker team, where a comfortable double digit lead slipped away. The defense, the Maverick's cornerstone this season, was just mediocre. For a team whose offense is going to struggle at times when jump shots go down, that will not do the trick. That's why this game went down to the wire, rather than being an easy win by a superior team.
Props to the Blazers, who did play very well. How can you not feel awful for Brandon Roy. He was my ideal shooting guard, who could just about do it all, and now he's barely a starter in this league. How many minutes would he play a game for the Mavericks right now? Wesley Matthew's 17 may seem high, but he's been solid all season.
Well, go ahead and discuss. I'll edit and post a few thoughts after the break here in a minute, but the main recap will come from Bryan, as always, here in a little while.
The most frustrating thing about this game, to me, had to be the offense. They look like they could be elite. Not great, but one of the best in the league, and this is without Beaubois back. They shot 54% from the floor with five players in double figures. However, they constantly shoot themselves in the foot by jacking up three pointers (19% this game) or committing bad turnovers. Its not the turnovers themselves, because 11 in all is not an awful total. However, often the turnovers they do commit are careless passes or dribbling, where a turnover never should have occurred.
The zone caused some problems, but there is no excuse for Dirk to turn into a catch and shoot guy for over half the game. I don't mind him taking three pointers, just that him on the perimeter ever time means that he's not getting post up shots or elbow jumpers. Dirk's mid range is about as high percentage as you can get, as his ridiculous field goal percentage can attest. Going away from it hurts our offense...a lot.