2011-12 Dallas Mavericks thread.

[juck]

Things are coming together with Dirkistan getting his knee straight. Shawn marion BALLIN!!!

 

[EMMITTnROY]

I really feel like my Thunder is the best team in the West, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to rank the teams 2-10. It's like you could jumble them all together, come out with a different order each time, and have a good argument for their new ranking. A part of me feels like that's a good sign for my team, to be the clear-cut (at this point) favorite, but then it means that every single match-up in the playoffs will be tough. Whatever team comes out of the West is going to have a brutal path to the Finals.

 

[juck]

I dont think there is a clear favorite. Thunder? maybe but Wetsbrook turns it over too much. Theres big questions on every team. Who ever goes into the playoffs healthy and hot will roll

 

[EMMITTnROY]

I dont think there is a clear favorite. Thunder? maybe but Wetsbrook turns it over too much. Theres big questions on every team. Who ever goes into the playoffs healthy and hot will roll

Haha. The Westbrook turns it over too much thing is funny. I hardly think that the Thunder WON'T win the West based on the fact that Westbrook turns it over 3.4 times a game. If that's the Thunder's biggest question mark, they are doing pretty well.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

I really feel like my Thunder is the best team in the West, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to rank the teams 2-10. It's like you could jumble them all together, come out with a different order each time, and have a good argument for their new ranking. A part of me feels like that's a good sign for my team, to be the clear-cut (at this point) favorite, but then it means that every single match-up in the playoffs will be tough. Whatever team comes out of the West is going to have a brutal path to the Finals.

I agree with you the Thunder are clearly the best team in the West. They really don't have any flaws. Only thing I can think of is they don't have a low post scorer, but last year proved the days of needing a low post scorer are over. If we you have great perimeter play like OKC does with Harden, Westbrook, and of course Durant then it doesn't matter if you have a low post scorer. Everyone else though has flaws.

I dont think there is a clear favorite. Thunder? maybe but Wetsbrook turns it over too much. Theres big questions on every team. Who ever goes into the playoffs healthy and hot will roll

The Thunder don't have any big questions. They have arguably the best player in basketball in Durant, an elite point guard in Westbrook, and the best 6th man in the league in Harden. Along with that they have great role players and a great coach as well.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

I agree with you the Thunder are clearly the best team in the West. They really don't have any flaws. Only thing I can think of is they don't have a low post scorer, but last year proved the days of needing a low post scorer are over. If we you have great perimeter play like OKC does with Harden, Westbrook, and of course Durant then it doesn't matter if you have a low post scorer. Everyone else though has flaws.



The Thunder don't have any big questions. They have arguably the best player in basketball in Durant, an elite point guard in Westbrook, and the best 6th man in the league in Harden. Along with that they have great role players and a great coach as well.

Thanks man, that's exactly how I feel. I think that's our biggest strength-- the lack of a weakness. And if we do have one, like you said, it's the lack of a low post scorer. But KD, Russ and Harden score so well that it's not much of an issue.

 

[juck]

Haha. The Westbrook turns it over too much thing is funny. I hardly think that the Thunder WON'T win the West based on the fact that Westbrook turns it over 3.4 times a game. If that's the Thunder's biggest question mark, they are doing pretty well.

Yea they did good last year too. lol. 4-1 Mavs. lol. They may get to the Finals this year in "lockout ball" however they cant beat the cHeat.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Yea they did good last year too. lol. 4-1 Mavs. lol. They may get to the Finals this year in "lockout ball" however they cant beat the cHeat.

That was last season this is a brand new season so last year doesn't mean anything. The main reason OKC lost was because of a lack of experience. Now they have experience and I see no reason why they can't beat Miami. Hell I'm not sure Miami will even make it there. Chicago might very well win the East. Miami struggles with quick point guards and Westbrook is probably the quickest in the league. Durant can go toe to toe with LeBron, and Harden is a huge matchup problem.

 

[juck]

That was last season this is a brand new season so last year doesn't mean anything. The main reason OKC lost was because of a lack of experience. Now they have experience and I see no reason why they can't beat Miami. Hell I'm not sure Miami will even make it there. Chicago might very well win the East. Miami struggles with quick point guards and Westbrook is probably the quickest in the league. Durant can go toe to toe with LeBron, and Harden is a huge matchup problem.

Durant cant defend anyone. Lebron will post him up. End of that.Westbrook is quick but makes crucial mistakers and is a poor streaky shooter. Harden is very good on both sides of the ball. IDK my old Mavs handled them pretty thoroughly. So I cant see them doin much overall. They are young and Lockout ball is good for them. I think ur Fakers would beat them in 7 too.I think the Mavs can beat them again as well. Mavs will get into the playoffs,seeds mean nothing. If everyone is healthy and Odom is playing well which he is starting to play better. Lookout. The old Mavs may be trouble. Remember they are the Champs and actually have better center play now then last year.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Durant cant defend anyone. Lebron will post him up. End of that.Westbrook is quick but makes crucial mistakers and is a poor streaky shooter. Harden is very good on both sides of the ball. IDK my old Mavs handled them pretty thoroughly. So I cant see them doin much overall. They are young and Lockout ball is good for them. I think ur Fakers would beat them in 7 too.I think the Mavs can beat them again as well. Mavs will get into the playoffs,seeds mean nothing. If everyone is healthy and Odom is playing well which he is starting to play better. Lookout. The old Mavs may be trouble. Remember they are the Champs and actually have better center play now then last year.

You clearly haven't watched the Thunder this year. Durant has a defensive rating of 99 and a block percentage of 2.3 which are both the highest of his career. He's not an elite defender, but he's much improved and can certainly hold his own against James. LeBron has posted it up more this year, but he still shoots a lot of jumpers and prefers to just barrel his way to the rim rather than post up. Westbrook does take some bad shots at times, but his shot selection has improved a lot compared to previous years. Miami has no answer for him period.

Look I'm not gonna sit there and say OKC is unbeatable and that the Mavs and Lakers have no chance against them, but OKC is clearly the favorite. Dirk has looked TERRIBLE so far this season and if he doesn't return to form Dallas stands no shot. Kobe is having a terrific bounce back season and he's still the best player in basketball IMO (Although you could make a legit case for Durant and LeBron), but Sefolosha has guarded him well in the past. In the 2010 playoff series between the Thunder and Lakers he held Kobe to just 40 percent shooting. In that same series Westbrook went absolutely off on Derek Fisher. It wasn't until they switched Kobe on him that the Lakers were able to slow him down a bit. Now Westbrook is much better than he was in 2010 and Fisher is much worse. Kobe as great as he is it's simply too much to ask of him at his age to try to contain Westbrook.

Then obviously there's Durant. Artest or Metta World Peace did a terrific job on Durant holding him to under 40 percent shooting in that 2010 playoff series however Durant like Westbrook is a much better player than he was then and World Peace has declined significantly on both ends. If he's in the game Durant can just play off him because he can't shoot to save his life.

Now to James Harden. He's having a great season and without question the 6th man of the year right now. He's averaging 20 ppg, 5 rpg, 4 and has a TS% of nearly 70. He's easily the 2nd best shooting guard in the West behind only Kobe Bryant. Miami, Dallas, or the Lakers don't have an answer for them.

If and only if the Lakers acquire Dwight Howard without giving up both Gasol and Bynum then they're the favorite IMO, but until then OKC is the clear cut favorite to win the West.

 

[juck]

Me no scared of OKC. They came out the gate going strong cause they are young. Big Deal. Older players are having a helluva time regrouping after no camp. They will get it going. OKC is like the Cowboys in the NBA.Nobody is scared of them. West is wide open.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Me no scared of OKC. They came out the gate going strong cause they are young. Big Deal. Older players are having a helluva time regrouping after no camp. They will get it going. OKC is like the Cowboys in the NBA.Nobody is scared of them. West is wide open.

If you have to come out and say you're not scared of them it means you're scared of them. They have arguably the best player in basketball in Durant, an elite point guard in Westbrook, the league's best sixth man in Harden, excellent role players, and a great young head coach. You should be scared of them. The West 2-10 is wide open, but OKC is clearly #1 right now.

 

[juck]

If you have to come out and say you're not scared of them it means you're scared of them. They have arguably the best player in basketball in Durant, an elite point guard in Westbrook, the league's best sixth man in Harden, excellent role players, and a great young head coach. You should be scared of them. The West 2-10 is wide open, but OKC is clearly #1 right now.

We shall see come playoff time when anything can happen.And no they dont scare me. They fold like a lawn chair when the pressure mounts.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

We shall see come playoff time when anything can happen.And no they dont scare me. They fold like a lawn chair when the pressure mounts.

That was due to inexperience now they have experience and they won't fold this time.

 

[juck]

What a game. We won without Kidd and Dirk getting the rust off.

 

[YosemiteSam]

What a game. We won without Kidd and Dirk getting the rust off.

I was quite surprised it took this long for someone to post about that game with all the Mavs and Spurs fans here.

I guess nobody really cares about the NBA these days.

I think the NBA is dying and the lockout did nothing but speed up the process.

 

[Cythim]

I was quite surprised it took this long for someone to post about that game with all the Mavs and Spurs fans here.

I guess nobody really cares about the NBA these days.

I think the NBA is dying and the lockout did nothing but speed up the process.

I think the NBA is more exciting this year because of the fast paced dynamic. Fans from the traditional powers might be a little turned off by it as they are losing games they normally wouldn't and have a real threat of not even making the playoffs. It doesn't really matter who wins in the end because the 29 other teams will just say, "lock-out year, it was a dumb season."

 

[The30YardSlant]

The main reason OKC lost was because of a lack of experience.

OKC lost because they simply could not defend the Terry/Kidd/Dirk pick and pop/pick and roll game and Dallas frequently got wide open jumpers as the Thunder scrambled to recover defensively. That combined with Dirk putting on arguably the best five minute show in playoff history to close out game four and you get a swift five game exit.

Dallas won so many close playoff games last year by being crafty and closing games strong, and for all the tread on this team's tires they will be tough to beat because no lead is ever safe against them.

 

[Cythim]

If you have to come out and say you're not scared of them it means you're scared of them. They have arguably the best player in basketball in Durant, an elite point guard in Westbrook, the league's best sixth man in Harden, excellent role players, and a great young head coach. You should be scared of them. The West 2-10 is wide open, but OKC is clearly #1 right now.

This week will tell us what OKC is; they have a tough schedule with @Clippers, @Dallas, vsMemphis, @Spurs, and @Portland.

 

[The30YardSlant]

That was due to inexperience now they have experience and they won't fold this time.

There's no defense for what Dallas did to them in that series. Dirk and friends were on a mission.