When you botch the last play of the game, your probably going to get blamed for the loss. That play is the last one that everyone remembers. Not fair, but thats the way it is. Of course if Cousins hadn't made two silly fouls in the last couple of minutes putting the Mav's on the line for an easy 4 pts, maybe we wouldn't have been in that situation. Or, if Westphal had reinserted both Greene and Thompson back into the lineup when he put Cousins, Beno, and Evans in, maybe we wouldn't have been in that situation.
I lay this loss at the feet of Westphal. Landry was struggling the entire game. It was just a bad matchup for him. He couldn't really guard Dirk because of being undersized, and Dirk could easily guard him. He's not the guy I want on the floor when I need a basket with 9 seconds left in the game. He's too limited in his offense. That should have been Greene sitting there out on the left wing. Not Landry! Or even Casspi, or Jeter. Someone that could put the ball on the floor and pull up for a shot. And thats not Landrys game. So I don't know why in the hell you have him in there for the last few seconds of the game.
How many times have you seen Landry dribble drive and pull up for a shot? You certainly don't want him taking a three pointer from the wing. So then why was he out there? Why did he play the entire 4th quarter, when he was clearly struggling. He just looked unconfortable out there. He's out there for just one reason. To score! That's the only reason you would have him out there instead of Thompson. And if he's not able to score, then Thompson is better in every other phase of the game. Passing, rebounding, defense etc. Those three things would have helped in the 4th quarter.
I was also somewhat confused by starting Cousins again in the third quarter, and after playing a few minutes he gets a knee in the groin and leaves the game. He doesn't really return for significant minutes until the end of the 4th quarter. I will admit that Dalembert was playing fairly well, if you overlooked a couple of mishandled balls. It just appears to me that westphal has a soft spot for veteran players, and wants to get them their minutes regardless of the game. When you have a player that is much better at passing the ball. That you can actually run the offense through. That scored 13 pts and had 7 rebounds in the first half, you get him back on the floor in a reasonable amount of time, regardless of how the other player is playing.
Westphal simply can't resist playing by the seat of his pants. He keeps it up and he's going to lose his pants.