Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs - Game 1 Thread

Starting Matchups

Point Guard

• Tony Parker vs. Jason Kidd



I give Tony the edge, but we can ill afford to underestimate J-Kidd. He doesn't get into the paint like he used to, but the guy is shooting lights out from 3-point range this year. That said, Tony is usually unstoppable against the Devin Harris-less Mavs.

Shooting Guard

• Roger Mason vs. J.J Barea



I'd love nothing more than to give Roger the edge here, but Barea just seems to be everywhere at once when he's on the floor. He's the definition of "hustle player". Also, unlike Kidd, he is very effective in the paint. I'm hoping Tony and Roger switch on the defensive end.

Center

• Tim Duncan vs. Erick Dampier



This is not up for debate. Timmeh is better than Dampier in pretty much every facet of the game.

Power Forward

• Matt Bonner vs. Dirk Nowitzki



Once again, not up for debate. Dirk has some ridiculous skills that Matt could never hope to compete with. I just hope he can hold his own on D.

Small Forward

• Michael Finley vs. Josh Howard



Howard is a very talented player. However, he's also an idiot who engages in ridiculous off-court shenanigans. Finley is a consummate professional - not to mention clutch. That's right - relive it again.

Everything else

• Bench - Neither bench is great, and neither is terrible. Terry provides great offense off the bench for Dallas, while Gooden provides slightly less for us. Also, we have Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen. Ime is useless unless his shots are falling.
• Coach - What has Rick Carlisle ever won? Pop wins hands-down.
• Intangibles - Home court isn't very important to us, but the Mavs don't get a lot of big road wins... or any.
• Mojo - That 82nd game should have the guys fired up.
• Winners - Spurs in a squeaker.

Keys To The Game

• The Devastating Duo - Tim and Tony have to take advantage of the advantages they have in their matchups. I especially want to see Tony showing some real effort on D.
• Kidd and Terry - Get a hand in their face every time they shoot.
• Energy + Hustle - We need to have some serious movement away from the ball. Also, I want to see some offensive boards - this is a team we have a height advantage against, we should exploit it.

Some other reading:

Mavs

Mavs Moneyball - SB Nation blog - they seem like nice people, and we haven't had any trolls wander over from there, to my knowledge. Go say hi, but be nice. OK, tell them they're going to lose, but in a polite way.

The Two Man Game - TrueHoop Network blog - not very active, but it looks pretty.

Dallas Morning News Mavs Blog - kind of like MySA, but for them.

Blog Maverick - Mark Cuban's blog. Not often sports-related, but he seems much more intelligent online than he does on TV.

EBSports Forums - NBA forum I've been posting at for a long time - the Mavs forum is one of the most active there.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell - Always recommended reading, from some damn good Spurs bloggers.

Spurs Dynasty - Another Spurs blog. Doesn't have all the crazy widgets and stuff that we do, but still a pretty good read.

MySA Spurs Page - For those of you who like watered-down, "professional" writing about our Spurs, from newspaper writers.

SpursTalk - pretty active forum about the Spurs.(duh)

Stampler's preview in all of its traitorous glory. Let's hope he's wrong.

Other things of possible interest

• Shakespearean Insult Generator - probably a good thing to have around if you head over to Mavs Moneyball. Credit to Lauri for bringing it up in another thread.
• Snakes on a Plane - No, seriously... it happened. So did Man bites Snake.
• Matt Bonner attempts a dunk - OK, so it's not really Matt. But it made me think of Matt.
• Alcohol is the best medicine - good news for our resident drinkers.

Game feeds

Check this game thead at gametime for specific links to good quality feeds. If you arrive late in the game, there game feed links are usually among the first 50 posts of the thread.

ATDHE.net
PPNBA
MyP2P
BitTorrent Davka (A torrent site where you will find most of the latest games in the league. Bookmark.)

Spurs audio feed - if all else fails.

Recap: Stampler might get one done, or Wayne will pop a quick cap in your ATS.