Heart full of hate.
I don't think there any two players on a team I dislike more than Jason Terry and Josh Howard -- Paul and West are close. I also don't like Jason Kidd. Never have. Not even really sure why. All in all, I don't like these guys.
I only hope the Spurs are motivated to bring their best game tonight. Prepare to break out the rally no-shirts.
Breakdown - Point Guard - I like Tony over the geezer but just ever so barely. Did you know that Jason Kidd, who is a terrible shooter, is shooting 40% from 3-pt land on over 4 attempts per game? Tony is too fast for both Kidd and Barea and I expect him to wreak havoc on the Mavs big men.
- Off Guard - Manu in a landslide over Barea. I expect, however, that this will really be Manu vs Kidd. Still, I like Manu. Barea has been scrappy the last five games averaging 14 and 5.5.
- Center - I'm not sure Tim can score on the Mavs bigs. Dampier and Diop are so long and strong that I think they will just shut Tim down. Plus, Damp is a beast on the offensive boards and Diop has such great touch from 15 feet out. Sorry, I'm back. Tim should win this big.
- Power Forward - I can't wait to see what Nowitzki makes of Bonner's circling. Will he chase him? Will be be hypnotized? Dirk is going to score on Matt, that's for sure, but if Matt can pull Dirk away from the basket Matt can abuse Dirk as well.
- Small Forward - With Howard out, I'm guessing he has a toked lung, George is starting. He and Finley are a wash in my book.
- Bench - I give us the slight edge with Mason/Hill vs Terry. The Mavs bench, from what I read, has really sucked this year.
- Coach -Pop if he gives a shit. Maybe he won't coach a crappy game now that Avery is gone. Then again, it is Pop.
- Intangibles -I'm giving the edge to the Mavs. I just have a bad feeling about this game that they hate us more than we hate them and they will be more fired up. That plus home court, equals...
- Winner -...The Mavs in a close one. I think we get behind early get real close late and lose by 5. Dirk scores 14 in the 4th.
Keys To The Game - Shooting - The Mavs hold their opponents to an AMAZING 29.9% from 3-pt. We'll have to shoot better than that to win.
- Softness/Rebounding - We destroyed our last two opponents on the glass so that we are now out rebounding the opposition on the season. We need to break even against the Mavs.
- Hustle Stats - Pay attention to the steals, blocks, and turnovers in this game. Those loose balls will be big.
Some other reading See Mavs Moneyball for your state of the Mavs reading. Recap: The recap is OPEN. Any takers? |
