Game Previews

Game Preview #9 - San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks

By Tim C. Nov 18, 2009, 1:00am CST

Didn't we just do this dance 2 games(but 7 days) ago? Sure - we beat Dallas at home a week ago. We then followed that by losing to Oklahoma City, also at home. Meanwhile, Dallas has played 3 games since we beat them, and won every time. Also, they're going to throw some new wrinkles at us, and this one is in Dallas. Not too difficult to see where I'm going with this...

Mavericks of the Spurpocalypse

And now, a blatant copy of silverandblack_davis' preview from last week.

San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks
Where: American Airlines Center - Dallas, TX
When: November 18, 2009, 8:30 PM Spurs time
Watch: ESPN(Nationwide); FSN SW(San Antonio); KTXA(Dallas)

How They Stack Up


4-1	Home	3-1
0-3	Road	5-2
101.9	Offense	101.2
99.9	Defense	94.6
46.4	FG%	45.3
34.8	3-pt%	37.2
73.1	FT%	80.1
40.1	Rebounds	45.5
12.0	TOs	13.6
4-4	Last 10	8-2
Lost 1	Streak	Won 3
3rd, Southwest	Position	1st, Southwest


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
Argentina	11:30 PM
West Coast	6:30 PM
Philippines	10:30 AM
Central Europe	3:30 AM
Palestine/Egypt	3:30 AM
Least Coast	9:30 PM
Colorado/Arizona	7:30 PM
Perth, AUS	9:30 AM
Tokyo, JP	10:30 AM
Sydney, AUS	12:30 PM

Spurs (3-3)	Matchups	Mavericks (5-2)
Tony Parker Token French guy	Point Guard Tony was pretty ineffective against the Thunder. Against old man Kidd, he'll be looking for his own offense. Another advantage here is that Dallas can't shift somebody else to guard Tony, like they did last year. If they switch Beaubois or Tony onto Parker, Kidd's man will torch him, badly. It's fun to create mismatches at multiple positions, huh? Advantage: Spurs	Jason Kidd Scientific Oddity

Manu Ginobili Sky Watcher	Shooting Guard Now, I realize that Terry is still coming off the bench, even though Howard is injured. But we'll likely see more of him at SG than anyone else. The starter will likely be Roddy Beaubois, but we'll get to him in a minute. The 2 is likely to be a nightmare for us tonight, unless Manu's hamstring isn't bugging him anymore. Expect Cubits to start, as a counter to Beaubois. Advantage: Tied	Jason Terry Paper Airplane

Richard Jefferson Let's See Some RAGE	Small Forward RJ kicked some ass in the game last week against Dallas, and needs to come out and attack the rim agressively again tonight. Marion never looks good against the Spurs. Please be selfish, RJ. Advantage: Spurs	Shawn Marion Shitty Matrix Sequel

Antonio McDyess S.A.M.	Power Forward As much as we all love Dice, no Spur outside of Timmeh could get the ATS white box against Dirk. Hopefully he makes life hell on Dirk again, though. Advantage: Dallas	Dirk Nowitzki 4th Quarter Supernova

Tim Duncan WWTD?	Center Yeah, Duncan will be listed at PF. But let's get real - he's the only big on this team with the all-around game to give us an advantage at C, so he'll be playing like a C. Also, Gooden sucks, and Blair doesn't. Advantage: Spurs	Erick Dampier "2nd Best NBA Center"

George Hill Sir Hotbo... err, Cubits	Bench & Role Players Beaubois didn't even see the floor against us last week, because Carlisle foolishly thought JarJar could duplicate the magic he provided against us last season. Tonight, Roddy Beaubois gets the start again. Beaubois is quick, fairly athletic, and has super long arms(his wingspan is 6'10") - remind you of anyone? If Pop doesn't counter with Cubits, it means Keith Bogans is doing a great job. In other bench news, we have Dejuan Blair and they have... Drew Gooden. Advantage: Spurs	Rodrigue Beaubois French(ish) Cubits

Gregg Popovich Brain Aneurysm	Coach I think Carlisle is going to experiment more tonight. And I think it's going to work. I also think that Pop is still the better coach. Advantage: Spurs	Rick Carlisle Ace Ventura
	images via yahoo.com

	Other Factors
Intangibles
Since we beat them a week ago, Dallas has won their last 3 games. They will also be motivated by that loss at the AT&T Center last week. Advantage: Mavericks
Mojo
They're going to throw a ton of lineups at us, and they're guaranteed to find at least one outrageous mismatch that will work. The crowd is also going to be like a wind at their backs. Advantage: Mavericks
Winner: Mavericks
This is gonna be ugly. OK, maybe I'm hoping to work the reverse jinx like davis did last week. Prediction: Mavs by double-digits

Keys To The Game

RJ's Mentality - That's right, I'm calling RJ out. He was far too deferential to Tim and Tony against the Thunder. He needs to attack the rim frequently, and with extreme prejudice. After all, that's why we agreed to pay him so much money - to have someone else that can create offense off the dribble. Also, he should have a slightly easier go of it with Howard out. Tim and Tony are going to get theirs anyway, they don't need RJ to feed them constantly.
Adjust to Their Game Plan - I'm really intrigued by the fact that Carlisle didn't even attempt to throw Beaubois at us last game. He's going to be a nightmare for us, especially if Carlisle is smart enough to use him in a lineup with JarJar at the 2. Hill is probably the only one that can guard him with any level of success, so Pop might want to time his substitutions appropriately. Even so, he'll have to find someone to guard JarJar if they're both in the game together.
Quiet the Crowd - The Dallas crowd is going to be pretty raucous... unless the Spurs can get a fast start. After several days off, that might be easier said than done, but if Pop starts Hill at SG, it gives us the best chance of doing just that. And obviously, a couple of thunderous dunks from RJ couldn't hurt either.

Strength of Schedule

The Spurs haven't played since that ugly loss to OKC at home on Saturday. The extended period between games may have let the bad taste from that loss sink in and motivate the team, but more likely it's only served to make them rusty.

For Dallas, they got their first taste of Brandon Jennings on Monday night, when they barely escaped Milwaukee with an overtime win on a SEGABABA. The fact that Jennings and Luke Ridnour(sad, right?) were able to torch them pretty easily says that our PG tandem will probably do well, but the Mavs are going to be motivated and sharp.

With this being a rivalry game, sharpness is going to be a big key tonight.

Last Time They Met

The Mavericks eliminated the Spurs in five games during last year's first round clash, in San Antonio no less. Regular PtR member SinCitySpur had this to say to the winners: "Congratulations Mavericks, your 2009 First Round Champions. Hang that banner with pride."

Some Other Reading

Mavericks

Mavs Moneyball - The Dallas Mavericks SB Nation site. Wes Cox and crew are nice guys and do a good job trakcing Cuban's boys. Go say hi and maybe drop a little friendly banter or two before the game starts. But remember to be nice and classy.
The Two Man Game - Part of the TrueHoop network of blogs that covers the Mavs. From the site banner: "Completely biased and unbalanced coverage of the Dallas Mavericks."
Blog Maverick - Mark Cuban's blog. Curiously, he hasn't posted NBA stuff for the last few entries. I hear he wants to buy the Dodgers or some baseball team? Damn rich freak.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: Am I glad we got these guys on our side. They're always spoiling Spurs fans with excellent articles.
Project Spurs: Lots of content in this great site. Also, you can drop by and join their live chats during games.

The (sort of) Daily Twitter

MoneyMase

Spurs Foundation Grants $75,000 To Local Non-Profit Organizations http://www.nba.com/spurs/co...

George_Hill3

I need a new default pic who got me.....LoL I need something very creative and tight......

manuginobili

After an awful game, we had Sunday off and now get ready for Dallas again. Is gonna be rough. Btw, my hamstring feels good

tp9network

Big disappointment Saturday for the Oklahoma game. But there's no time to be sorry we have to think about Dallas......http://bit.ly/2u2PRN

manuginobili Wow! Great timing w/ @tp9network. We posted at the same time

Da_Finster

Thought of the day: Two wrongs don't make a right, ..... but three rights make a left!! Think about it.... U can laugh, it's good 4 u!

The Magic That Happened

Lots of stuff to read in the comments if you flip through the game threads. Really, it's fun.

Where to Tune In

TV

This game will be televised nationally on ESPN. It will also be aired locally in San Antonio(Fox Sports SW) and Dallas(KTXA)

Online

As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area. This game, however, will be aired on ESPN360 - if your ISP provides access, you'll be able to watch it for free.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email with your PtR username to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance.

Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year if all else fails, so check it out.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).