Evans ( B- ) -- quieter game than his numbers suggest. Did ok, but I'm actually kind of surprised he got the numbers he did. Was pretty quiet out there for much of the night, and the least effective of our starters. With no bench, still logged a lot of minutes, and was able to make some plays on atheltic swoops to the hoop as the game went along.
Songaila ( A+ ) -- kid had himself a huge career game tonight. Should send Don Nelson part of his paycheck -- Nelson (and then Avery after Don got tossed) kept on screwing around with 3 and 4 guard lineups, and Darius took full advantage by punishing the Mavs around the hoop. At the other end of the floor Rick's decision to go zone for most of the game was well suited to Darius's talents -- he's not always big enough, quick enough, or long enough in man to man D, but what he does well on defense is rotate and hustle, both keys in a zone. Perfect setup for him -- smart enough to take advantage of the Mavs joke 4 guard defenses, and hustled well enough to be effective in the zone along the baseline. Fumbled some balls, made some sloppy plays, but staking out an early claim for the starting spot before Kenny Thomas even catches up with the team.
Miller ( B+ ) -- Really manned up on the glass tonight. Again part of that was the Mavs decision to play small ball all night, so Brad was basically ripping it away from a variety of swingmen and point guards. On offense started off well, but became erratic as the game went along with the Mavs small ball and switching defenses seemed to throw him off. On defense however, started to settle in and get stronger as the game progressed. Was able to actually disrupt a little around the hoop, and was very strong on the defensive glass in the second half. Set a MONSTER pick on Devon Harris in the open court which actually knocked him out of the game.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- sloppy game, but he really tried to bring it tonight. Struggled to find the range from the 3pt line, but hit a couple of big clutch threes down the stretch. Attacked the hoop all night long, and was rarely met by anybody over 6'5". Made a lot of bad passes that turned into turnovers, but I suspose at least he was looking to pass. Most of his scoring was pretty individual -- we scored a lot of points tonight but the offense was kind of broken for much of the night.
Bibby ( A- ) -- for a game at least, it was Bibby's team. Was aggressive and vocal from the very start of the game. But seemed to tire out down the stretch -- got very quiet after dominating the first three quarters. Continues to miss FTs at bad times, but not the story tonight. Amazingly, still managed to stand out on defense even though we were in a zone that should cover up individual weak defenders -- on a couple of occasions just did not even bother to wave or run at guys he should have rotated onto. This was probably an "A" game through three, but like I say, just seemed to run out of gas late and was unable to carry us to victory when we needed him.
Martin ( C ) -- got a long first half stint. Didn't do much. Hit a long three -- looking more comfortable from that range. Also got introduced to Shawn Bradley on an attempted follow of his own missed drive.
Ostertag ( C ) -- disappointing game for Tag. Tonight Rick goes to a defense which looks like its perfectly suited to his particular talents (i.e. being big) and he really wasn't all that effective. Blocked a shot, blocked an entire man once, but also got boarded over by an even bigger man in Bradley and never really shut the middle down.
House ( B- ) -- came in for a couple of short stints and hit jumpers in each. Was the only bencher to get a call in the second half.
Adelman ( A- ) -- We just ran out of gas in this one. Heck of an effort under the circumstances though. And Rick really coached himself a game. Game got wacky, with Rick experimenting almost as much as Don Nelson. Both teams were a real mess -- Mavs looked almost as screwed up as we were -- Mavs played 8 men tonight -- 4 of the 8 play at least a little PG. So you had the Mavs playing super small ball and all sorts of odd lineups. And Rick responded by breaking out something that I wish we'd seen MUCH earlier in the season with a 2-3 zone that had the Mavs baffled there for a long while. Of course, like most zones it opened up all sorts of offensive rebounding opportunities for the Mavs, and they just killed us there again. Rick tried a 4 guard lineup, he tried a mega-Tag/Miller/Songaila lineup -- tried a lot of stuff tonight. Also generally used his timeouts well to try to keep us in it, although once or twice I thought they might be a possession late down the stretch. Gets the minus for shortening his rotation to only 6 in the second half (leaving out Tag and Martin who weren't especially effective). Those guys weren't doing great, but in a game where we tired out late, maybe a few minutes of rest would have helped.
Songaila ( A+ ) -- kid had himself a huge career game tonight. Should send Don Nelson part of his paycheck -- Nelson (and then Avery after Don got tossed) kept on screwing around with 3 and 4 guard lineups, and Darius took full advantage by punishing the Mavs around the hoop. At the other end of the floor Rick's decision to go zone for most of the game was well suited to Darius's talents -- he's not always big enough, quick enough, or long enough in man to man D, but what he does well on defense is rotate and hustle, both keys in a zone. Perfect setup for him -- smart enough to take advantage of the Mavs joke 4 guard defenses, and hustled well enough to be effective in the zone along the baseline. Fumbled some balls, made some sloppy plays, but staking out an early claim for the starting spot before Kenny Thomas even catches up with the team.
Miller ( B+ ) -- Really manned up on the glass tonight. Again part of that was the Mavs decision to play small ball all night, so Brad was basically ripping it away from a variety of swingmen and point guards. On offense started off well, but became erratic as the game went along with the Mavs small ball and switching defenses seemed to throw him off. On defense however, started to settle in and get stronger as the game progressed. Was able to actually disrupt a little around the hoop, and was very strong on the defensive glass in the second half. Set a MONSTER pick on Devon Harris in the open court which actually knocked him out of the game.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- sloppy game, but he really tried to bring it tonight. Struggled to find the range from the 3pt line, but hit a couple of big clutch threes down the stretch. Attacked the hoop all night long, and was rarely met by anybody over 6'5". Made a lot of bad passes that turned into turnovers, but I suspose at least he was looking to pass. Most of his scoring was pretty individual -- we scored a lot of points tonight but the offense was kind of broken for much of the night.
Bibby ( A- ) -- for a game at least, it was Bibby's team. Was aggressive and vocal from the very start of the game. But seemed to tire out down the stretch -- got very quiet after dominating the first three quarters. Continues to miss FTs at bad times, but not the story tonight. Amazingly, still managed to stand out on defense even though we were in a zone that should cover up individual weak defenders -- on a couple of occasions just did not even bother to wave or run at guys he should have rotated onto. This was probably an "A" game through three, but like I say, just seemed to run out of gas late and was unable to carry us to victory when we needed him.
Martin ( C ) -- got a long first half stint. Didn't do much. Hit a long three -- looking more comfortable from that range. Also got introduced to Shawn Bradley on an attempted follow of his own missed drive.
Ostertag ( C ) -- disappointing game for Tag. Tonight Rick goes to a defense which looks like its perfectly suited to his particular talents (i.e. being big) and he really wasn't all that effective. Blocked a shot, blocked an entire man once, but also got boarded over by an even bigger man in Bradley and never really shut the middle down.
House ( B- ) -- came in for a couple of short stints and hit jumpers in each. Was the only bencher to get a call in the second half.
Adelman ( A- ) -- We just ran out of gas in this one. Heck of an effort under the circumstances though. And Rick really coached himself a game. Game got wacky, with Rick experimenting almost as much as Don Nelson. Both teams were a real mess -- Mavs looked almost as screwed up as we were -- Mavs played 8 men tonight -- 4 of the 8 play at least a little PG. So you had the Mavs playing super small ball and all sorts of odd lineups. And Rick responded by breaking out something that I wish we'd seen MUCH earlier in the season with a 2-3 zone that had the Mavs baffled there for a long while. Of course, like most zones it opened up all sorts of offensive rebounding opportunities for the Mavs, and they just killed us there again. Rick tried a 4 guard lineup, he tried a mega-Tag/Miller/Songaila lineup -- tried a lot of stuff tonight. Also generally used his timeouts well to try to keep us in it, although once or twice I thought they might be a possession late down the stretch. Gets the minus for shortening his rotation to only 6 in the second half (leaving out Tag and Martin who weren't especially effective). Those guys weren't doing great, but in a game where we tired out late, maybe a few minutes of rest would have helped.
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