[Grades] Grades v. Mavs 2/16/11

Without looking at the boxscore, how many Mavs do you think scored in double figures?

  • 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5

    Votes: 3 6.5%
  • 6

    Votes: 11 23.9%
  • 7

    Votes: 6 13.0%
  • 8

    Votes: 5 10.9%
  • 9

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • all of them

    Votes: 20 43.5%

  • Total voters
    46

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
An interesting thing just occured to me. We just got smashed on back to back nights of course, but I was considering our complete defensive collpase, and the last tiem we saw a series of games like this where we did not even try to defend. Anybody remember when that was? I think I do -- Eastern Confernce road trip right back around the New Year. The last time Reke was out.

To flesh that out statistically, take a look at these eye-popping stats. Tyreke Evans has missed 7 games this year. In those 7 games we are 1-6 and have given up:

116 (Wolves)
118 (Rockets)
118 (Raptors)
136 (Wizards)
119 (Celtics)
126 (Thunder)
116 (Mavericks)
-----
121.3ppg!!!!

I mean, holy crap. That's a startling statistic.

Of course the real question is what i do here for theme. My poor body modifcation theme has been lingering in limbo since the weekend, but normally a blowout = girls...except we just had girls, and I do strive to keep these threads from becoming entirely estrogen-proof. I'll ponder and figure something.

Decided to go with the Bad Body Art theme.


Official Boxscore


Casspi ( C ) -- well finally came up with an efficent statline. But it was kind of efficient nothingness. Being generally outplayed by Peja in the early going, and Peja is practially a parapalegic at this point. Nothing in the first half, but got set up by Taylor early in the third, and it sent him off racing on one of those miniruns of his -- seems to happen a lot, where he'll suddenly get inspired and score almost all of his points in a 4-5 minute span, then be very quiet for the remainder of games. This time he raced out to three straight hits and started scooping up steals as we made our last serious run at actually trying to win this thing. Then he disappeared again and minutes were limited by the long minutes of blowout in this one. Never did throw up any missed shots. Just didn't shoot much at all. Pretty much irrelevant.
oosandbodypiercingtotheextreme-vi.jpg

I'm not sure if this thing was a man or a woman once. Now its just a freak.

Cousins ( D+ ) -- I did not hear why Thompson did not start in this one, unless it was mainly a way to get Cousins back in the starting lineup despite the promise that Dalembert would be starting he final two games before the break? Also makes you wonder a bit with Daly starting here if he could be being showcased for a trade. Anyway, Cousins was back in as a starter, but his time it was us finally trying the Daly/Cousins starting frontcourt rather than with him as a straight center. Was out of rhythm offensively in the early going, and it quickly turned into one of those sloppy sloppy games where he just did not look focused. Took a ton of low percentage shots against strong interior defeders. Had some moments here and there. Made some nice passes, including a nice one from up top to Donte of all people for a +1 in the final minute before half. Used his power to run through Chandler a few times. And eventually wobbled his way to a double double late in the garbagetime. But this wasn't a helping game. 6-19 shotoing and 7TO and there was no stability there, nothing to build around.
bodypierce.jpg

Whatever. How would you like to have this guy/gal ahead of you in the security checkpoint at the airport?

Dalembert ( C ) -- quickly into early foul trouble, and no factor at all before half as he didn't exactly follow up the Phoenix fun with two of his stronger games heading into the break. Was having much more effect in the early third with defense and rebounding, made a few solid passes again, while offensively the Mavs seemed deterimned to foul him everytime rather than let him embarrass them with the Haitian Dream Shake. Missed a pair of those FTs late in the garbagetime but it was long past the point where stats meant little. Finished with the decent statline, but never realy mattered, and never able to control the game.
200611131458-pix1.jpg

Here's the 101 on how to make yourself completely unemployable forever! Adn to guarantee that every police car that drives by you for the rest of your life stops to see if you are carrying any decapitated heads.

Taylor ( A- ) -- hey, a bright point! We had a bright point! Really kind of our lone point in amusement in this one, as Jermaine turned in what had to be his career game. You may, or may not (it was pretty forgettable) remember our first attempt to start Jermaine,back aroudn the New Year the last time Tyreke was out. Lasted one game, he looked terrbile and overmatched, and he has rarely been seen since. But this time he put any memories of that game, or of a struggle just the night before against OKC, to rest almost immediately in this one. Sprinted off to the huge start looking like a young Jordan, making athletic finishes, using his length to poke balls away on defense, and even knocking down threes, which he isn't supposed to be able to do. In fact gunned up 6 of those without hesitation, and hit half of them. Of course used his athleticism out on the break for several spectacular plays. In fact probably had his career game by the end of the first quarter. Made a nice pass to Daly for a layup too, and maybe the most surprising part of this game was not the 3pt shooting, it was that he racked up 5 assists -- see? Living proof that in fact anyone can do what Reke can do. You would expect a guy likw this to fall off after half after playing over his head for a half, and to some degree he did. After 15 first half points there were only 2 second half points. But really the other things he was doing he kept doing to some degree. He was moving the ball well, seemed conscious of trying to avoid urnovers, and notched 4 steals by night's end. Should be noted however on that last point that while he was notching steals and spectacular plays, the number of times when he lost contact wiht his man on defnese resulting in open perimeter shots was not good. Cramped up by the end of this one, I guess from not being used to the activity. Last time we had a young athelte come out, run around, do special stuff, then cramp up, Rick Adelman refused to play Gerald Wallace for months.
Extreme%20Piecing.jpg

When little holes in your face just aren't enough -- supersize them! Also nice job on the crap he had shoved under his skin on his head. More of that coming up probably. So if this is self expression -- what exactly is he expressing, and why would you want to?
 
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Udrih ( B- ) -- you know by all rights should have been sitting here with a good grade for this one. Best he's looked offensively for a long time. Right from the start was setting people up and got a couple of his signature hoops. Hit a three to start the third, and made a spectacular spin and layup +1 as we rapidly closed the gap. And made a game of it. But as the killer Mavs run developed, Beno was a giant cause of it as he just almost entirely quit trying to defend Kidd. He wasn't even close as Kidd bombed three after three (in his long long career this may have been Kidd's career night from behind the stripe, as he hit 6 of 7) and the Mavs must have gone on a 20-4 type run on us in about 5 minutes. You would call Beno a spectator except that he wasn't even close enough to spectate, and just kept on getting completely lost. It was ugly, and we died a spectacular death as the Mavs ran off 71 points on us in the 2nd and 3rd periods. And so Beno goes 16 and 7 on 6-10 shooting and looking as confident on offense as he has in weeks, but I simply cannot given him any more grade than this because his defense was worse than his offense was good and the Mavs fully exploited it.
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At least somebody is happy about this. Give him a few years until he wishes he could ahve his face back.

Bench

Landry ( C ) -- retained his #3 man in the roation positon as Jason plummeted past him into spot duty as the #4, but didn't do much with it. Actually did more on the glass than offensively in the first half -- was working and seemed to be around the hoop, but nothing was coming out of it. After the break there were a few points at the line, but he only showed up in spots. One advantage of everybody and their grandmother getting whatever they wanted for the Mavs was that at least he could say his defense did not stand out as worse than anybody else's.
awesome.jpg

On a different note, this tattoo is pretty "awsome". Doubt the wearer understnads the sniggers though.

Greene ( B ) -- I suppose if there was a second point of light to this one it would be that Donte came in, and while not exactly tearing the roof up, turned in his third straight strong/solid performance since the Boogie Brawl. DeMarcus may in the end have done the team a favor, not by embarrassing himself and threatening to cause a rift, but by seeming to knock the rust off of Donte. Started a bit shaky as he was in to start the 2nd and immediately was off target with an alley oop pass to Taylor. But recovered and was solid just about the time the rest of the team completely quit playing defense. Made a defensive stop at one end, and raced out the other way for the alley opp from Jeter. Again scooped up a loose ball on defense and raced out on the break before developing Tyreke vision and not seing Taylor running with him -- got fouled instead and only split the difference. Back in in the third and immediately knocked down a long jumper and got to the line the next possessioon. Continued to use his size to finish inside and hey, let's be clear here, he put up 16pts i 23 min and looked very smooth and comfortable doing it. On the other hand he wasn't on the boards at all, and the statline bore a disturbing resmblance to soemthing Kevin would once have put up -- 16pts (4-6FG 8-9FT) 1reb 0ast. Those FTs are notbble too because also since The Brawl, all of asudden Donte can shoot FTs. Bizarre. Anyway, he played better than any King except Taylor. Did not dominate, but third straight game where he has looked good. With our depth, with the trade deadline here, wonder if its too late. Wonder if it can hold. But its a good thing you wish you could have seen all season.
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I really wasn't sure whether to include this one or not for obvious reasons, but its nothing if not bad. I'm thinking this is the result of he and his frat bothers getting drunk one night in Cancun.

Jeter ( C- ) -- came in throwing alley oops and pushing the pace, but not able to stop Barea at all defensively as he lsot the batle of the midgets rather badly. Just not as good as Juan Juan. Things got worse as the ngith wore on, and turnovers began to outnumber asssists.
coolest-modified-face-tattoo-piercing.jpg

Look, its Beelzebub! If Beelzebub were an idiot. that face is one giant infection/rejection waiting to happen.

Thompson ( INC ) -- knocked all the way down in the rotation into nothingness, and that was kind of the game too. I could give some random C-ish type grade, but really for Jason, and for the importance, or lack thereof, of his minutes here, easier to just go INC.

Head ( INC ) -- actually did get to touch the floor again for us, but only for the clsoing seconds of the half. Managed to avoid either chucking up a 1 on 1 bricked three or turning it over in that time, so it was a good 37 seconds by his standards.


in progress...
 
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J. Kidd was 6 of 7 from the 3 pt. line! I checked the box score, the Mavs had EIGHT players in double figures!

I'm glad the All Star break is here, we all need a break:)

KB
 
I couldn't sit through all of this one either. This team without Tyreke is like a ship without a rudder. Sometimes they drift towards respectable play but most of the time they're just getting smashed against the rocks relentlessly. Just look at the Mavs shooting percentages. Disgusting. They couldn't do much better if we weren't even on the floor.
 
Jermaine Taylor deserves some praise though.

My observations/rantings:
1. Pooh Jeter needs to stop saying his job is to bring energy and start saying his job is to friggin stay in front of his man.

2. I really think that other than Cousins our big men have some of the worst hands in the NBA. Jason Thompson in his 3rd season is still unable to catch a rebound cleanly/not fumble a simple pass. Even Carl Landry is beginning to miss his shots under the rim. I mean yeah sometimes they get fouled and all, but that close to the basket they should be able to get an and1 (the fouls weren't that hard).

3. Getting repeatedly dunked on by 50 year old Brendan Haywood is not a good indicator of defense. Take note Demarcus.

4. Donte Greene is not a very good passer. I'm liking his renewed effort and energy but we should try to stay away from him trying to set others up on offense.

5. It would be nice if our guys could get more D boards. It's ridiculous how many rebounds they fumble/lose out of bounds because both go for the ball.

6. When was the last time we played a game and didn't get a delay of game warning? (IIRC we got one in this game too but I may be wrong, but prior to that ...)

7. Demarcus' defense sucks, not because he's not a good defender but because half the time he hangs his head after a missed shot instead of getting back to defend.
 
Demarcus does bail out on a lot defense but the slightest touch on anyone by him is called a foul so you can see why he does it.

That late offensive foul on DMC last night was ridiculous the things they call on him would have put shaq's career in the bin when he was playing with the lakers; he'd have 5 fouls in 3 minutes of play.
 
What exactly is it that were missing when Tyreke is out? I know what he does well but I'm talking to the tune of a 20-30ppg difference. Taylor had a great game for his standards. He dished out assists and scored with better efficiency than Tyreke most likely would have. He had less TO's than Tyreke would have but he didn't rebound quite as well.

Is the bottom line defense? Does Tyreke really anchor this entire teams defense? I just can't quite understand how we are in almost every game with these good teams and the second Tyreke is gone, were back to getting blown out immediately. Even with his low shooting %'s and high turnover rate, he must be doing something right because the proof is in the last two games.
 
What exactly is it that were missing when Tyreke is out? I know what he does well but I'm talking to the tune of a 20-30ppg difference. Taylor had a great game for his standards. He dished out assists and scored with better efficiency than Tyreke most likely would have. He had less TO's than Tyreke would have but he didn't rebound quite as well.

Is the bottom line defense? Does Tyreke really anchor this entire teams defense? I just can't quite understand how we are in almost every game with these good teams and the second Tyreke is gone, were back to getting blown out immediately. Even with his low shooting %'s and high turnover rate, he must be doing something right because the proof is in the last two games.

1. When a player says he cant go before tip off, you can pretty much throw the game plan out.
2. These were the last 2 games before the all star break. It's very common for losing teams to get blown out against playoff teams.
3. We just lost to both teams last week at home. Both teams guards blew us up. We couldnt stop them with Evans.
 
What exactly is it that were missing when Tyreke is out? I know what he does well but I'm talking to the tune of a 20-30ppg difference. Taylor had a great game for his standards. He dished out assists and scored with better efficiency than Tyreke most likely would have. He had less TO's than Tyreke would have but he didn't rebound quite as well.

Is the bottom line defense? Does Tyreke really anchor this entire teams defense? I just can't quite understand how we are in almost every game with these good teams and the second Tyreke is gone, were back to getting blown out immediately. Even with his low shooting %'s and high turnover rate, he must be doing something right because the proof is in the last two games.


1) Reke isn't just a little better than Taylor, he's a TON better than Taylor. There are huge gulfs disguised by stats between superstars and stars, and stars and everybody else. The reason? Defensive attention. Do you know how many points Tyreke would score a game if they guarded him like Taylor? 30 a night, easy. Lebron would go for 40 a night. These guys are much MUCH better than average players, and the only reason their numbers remain even in the remote same continent is because they put their numb ers up against the other team's best defenders, against double teams, against defenses who spend the entire pregame meetings discussing exactly how to stop them. Which is to say it takes 5% of a team's energy to hold Taylor to 17pts. It might take 25% of its energy to hold Evans to the same. Remove him, and the other team has much less to worry about and can just play its own game. Can play free without worrying about how can we stop x.

2) structure and pacing -- HUGE. With Evans we control the pace, and no matter what you may think of it we have a structure in place to do so. Remove him, and we are lost -- a bunch of mediocre talents without a lycnhpin. There's nobody to draw doubles. There's nobody to slow the game down and pound people at our pace. We run around like chickens with our heads cut off looking for random ways to score and are at the mercy of whatever pace the other team wants to run. Its like you abruptly took the triangle away from the Lakers and said ok, just go out and play.

3) tone and confidence -- with Evans we take on a punishing aspect. We are physical. Our game is slam ball. We sense it, the other team senses it. Everybody digs in. Our team has acquired considerable confidence in itself in such settings. Its "our game". Beat you up inside, beat you on the glass. Remove the major weapon in such a setting and all that collapses. There is no inherent confidence there in the random and often middling talents bnehind Evans, and unfortunately the guys who step in as the replacement tonesetters are players who are naturally soft. One day, hopefully one day soon, Cousins has the talent to be a second tonesetter, and a guy we can slow the game down with and pound teams with without Tyreke. But right now he's still a rookie trying to figure it out. He's sloppy, he plays bad defense, he hasn't earned the team's confidence with all the nonsesne, and he has no feel for setting a tone or a pace -- he just goes out and plays.
 
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3. Getting repeatedly dunked on by 50 year old Brendan Haywood is not a good indicator of defense. Take note Demarcus.

Brendan Haywood is 31 - really not even past his prime. Let's give the guy a little credit.
 
Is the bottom line defense? Does Tyreke really anchor this entire teams defense? I just can't quite understand how we are in almost every game with these good teams and the second Tyreke is gone, were back to getting blown out immediately. Even with his low shooting %'s and high turnover rate, he must be doing something right because the proof is in the last two games.

Two things get hurt without Tyreke - 1) he defends very well, very, very well, and 2) he rebounds well and forces turnovers. Without him the last two games nobody picked up the slack. And then their is hus offense, he scores a lot of points despite poor shooting %, poor shot selection, turnovers, etc. We miss him.
 
What exactly is it that were missing when Tyreke is out? I know what he does well but I'm talking to the tune of a 20-30ppg difference. Taylor had a great game for his standards. He dished out assists and scored with better efficiency than Tyreke most likely would have. He had less TO's than Tyreke would have but he didn't rebound quite as well.

Is the bottom line defense? Does Tyreke really anchor this entire teams defense? I just can't quite understand how we are in almost every game with these good teams and the second Tyreke is gone, were back to getting blown out immediately. Even with his low shooting %'s and high turnover rate, he must be doing something right because the proof is in the last two games.

His full sized 6'6 220 frame helps a lot.

Without Tyreke and Cisco, our backcourt would be a defensive liablity every night.
 
Brick brought up a good point about Tyreke controling the pace of the game. I knew he helped our defense, and on offense his presence alone opens things up for everyone else and makes it much easier for them, but I didn't realize how much of an influence on the pace of the game Tyreke has.

At times I've thought Beno has a better understanding of controling the pace of the game, and not playing to other teams strengths. But while Tyreke gets hammered fo rmaking poor decisions, and yes, he does make a number of poor decisions with the ball, I think he has a better overall understanding of the pace of the game, and the ability to control it, then people give him credit for.

He's still has a lot to learn, and he is learning, as I've seen improvement in him setting up teammates. But without him on the floor, we don't appear to have a chance in hell to control the pace, and in all honesty, when the ball is in other players hands instead of Tyrekes, the decision making is considerably worse. It's no accident our fg% drops, while the TO's go through the roof.
 
Brick brought up a good point about Tyreke controling the pace of the game. I knew he helped our defense, and on offense his presence alone opens things up for everyone else and makes it much easier for them, but I didn't realize how much of an influence on the pace of the game Tyreke has.

At times I've thought Beno has a better understanding of controling the pace of the game, and not playing to other teams strengths. But while Tyreke gets hammered fo rmaking poor decisions, and yes, he does make a number of poor decisions with the ball, I think he has a better overall understanding of the pace of the game, and the ability to control it, then people give him credit for.

He's still has a lot to learn, and he is learning, as I've seen improvement in him setting up teammates. But without him on the floor, we don't appear to have a chance in hell to control the pace, and in all honesty, when the ball is in other players hands instead of Tyrekes, the decision making is considerably worse. It's no accident our fg% drops, while the TO's go through the roof.

Reke does play a big role in our offense. Im not surprised if the team looks lost in their first couple games without him.
 
1. When a player says he cant go before tip off, you can pretty much throw the game plan out.
2. These were the last 2 games before the all star break. It's very common for losing teams to get blown out against playoff teams.
3. We just lost to both teams last week at home. Both teams guards blew us up. We couldnt stop them with Evans.

Good points. Tyreke would have held the point totals down some but the last two games were just players taking early vacation befor e the All-Star break. See Lakers for more examples of taking nights off en masse.
 
Good points. Tyreke would have held the point totals down some but the last two games were just players taking early vacation befor e the All-Star break. See Lakers for more examples of taking nights off en masse.


That doesn't explain the season long pattern. Good teams, bad teams. Early season, middle season, just now. Know Reke is going to be out, don't know Reke is going to be out. Results have been consistent.

People work too hard at justifying their prejudices.
 
I feel the body art accurately reflects the way the team played. Or for those who think Tyreke is holding this team back...

"Be careful what you wish for."
 
I feel the body art accurately reflects the way the team played. Or for those who think Tyreke is holding this team back...

"Be careful what you wish for."

Or that we've got big holes in our game? We could use Paul Pierce?
 
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