Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Game 2, second half

I’m starting a new post for the second half of Mavs-Warriors game 2. You can see my first half comments below.

10:53 PM ET: Mavs fans have rarely hoped more earnestly that Barkley is right about something: he just said (at the half) that Dallas will take the series 4–1.

11:14 PM ET: Warriors back up by 2, three possessions into the second half. It might not get any better than this…

11:16 PM ET: One point that will hopefully look up for the second half: Dallas shot 0/8 three-pointers in the first half; it’s unlikely they’ll match that for the rest of the game.

11:19 PM ET: I think Dirk must be weaker than Stephen Jackson; that’s the only possible explanation for why he isn’t posting him up.

11:22 PM ET: Dirk has no idea what to do on offense right now. He looks like I do during a pickup game––setting a pick here, blocking out my man there, but not really having any impact on the game at all, except hopefully to force the other team to guard someone.

11:29 PM ET: Dirk just shot an out-of-rhythm 2-pointer with both feet on the 3-point line. Inexplicable.

11:33 PM ET: Well, there wasn't a flagrant foul by the mid-point of the second quarter, but there was almost a fight at the mid-point of the third quarter.

11:35 PM ET: I don’t know what Devin Harris is thinking to make a tough bounce pass to Diop in the lane. (It got fumbled away.)

11:36 PM ET: At least Dirk hits his free throws. I think he has more points off of technical free throws and junk fouls than he does off of actual offense.

11:43 PM ET: Now the Warriors are jawing at the refs. I like it.

11:49 PM ET: Wow. Baron Davis just whacked both of Jerry Stackhouse’s arms at the elbow on a lay-up, and then complained about the call until he got tossed. He should have watched the game where Duncan got tossed a couple of weeks back.

12:16 PM ET: The crowd just started chanting ‘MVP’ with Dirk shooting free throws. I wonder if that makes him feel better or worse. Actually, I’m betting Dirk is just glad Dallas won, both because he wants the win, and because it’ll take a little bit of heat off him.

12:26 PM ET: And, the Mavericks have ended a 6-game playoff losing streak. Now, if they can just imitate the beginning of the regular season and win 12 in a row again, they’ll be in the finals…

6 comments:

Mr. Parker said...

Great!

No cable or TV but at least I get some running commentary along with my ESPN.com score updates.

Anonymous said...

Well, the Mavericks did improve on their three-point shooting in the 2nd half: they went 1-for-8. This game was a relief, but we still didn't look convincing. One thing thoug, the scoring was pretty spread out for us. I don't feel that just one guy stepped up tonight. This may not be a series where Dirk, Terry or Howard can take over individually.

Can't wait to see what happens Friday in Oakland.

scoots said...

Connor-

Glad to hear it. With the semester winding down and papers coming due, I figured I better get my mavs writing done during the game, so I’m glad it gave you something to check on.

Anonymous said...

I am sure glad that mvp is awarded based on regular season performance...

Dirk had good stat lines in both games, but I seldom saw less meaningful stat line from him.

He fumbled passes, when he did catch the pass, he passed it back. True, he passed back bacause of double team. BUT, he always waited for a double team before he initiated anything.

By the way, why can't AJ just admitted "I made a mistake in game 1" and then moved on?

micah said...

A couple of observations from the game:

1 - I don't know how we got to a 20 point lead. It felt like we were losing most of the game when were actually winning.

2 - Dirk had a decent game statistically, but as someone else mentioned, he definitely looked confused and out of place on the court. It is disappointing to see Terry hit a shot when it felt like we really needed one and comment to my friend "Who else would it be?"

3 - We had way too many 24 second shot clock violations. Quit passing so much and shoot!

4 - Stackhouse should not be allowed to initiate the fast break. He seems so out of control and like he has lost a step to most of the Warriors. In fact, i'm not sure the fast break really is that helpful to us in this series. I would be fine if we just slowed it down unless it is just a one man fast break.

5 - Barkley is really making me feel good right now. That is a weird feeling.

scoots said...

Welcome to the blog, bigcat. I agree, Avery blew it for game one.

It'll be interesting to see if Howard and Terry can burn the Warriors often enough the next couple of games that they have to give Dirk more freedom. He did have a lot of passion on defense on Wednesday, though.

Micah––I still love watching Stackhouse run the break. You never know what's going to happen…