Comments on: Mavs-Hornets Game 4

By: selke99

selke99 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:27:50 +0000

Will, you hit it right on the head. When JJB was not getting the job done at starting PG when Harris was injured, Avery put JET at starting PG. Doesn’t make sense AT ALL to put JJB in a playoff series that you are losing when he hasn’t seen quality (not garbage) time in OVER A MONTH. I’ve always stated that the Kidd trade masked our true need, a reliable backup PG. If we could have picked up Lue earlier to back up Harris, we would have been in better shape.

Drew, you mentioned that JJB scored at the end. That was all during garbage time when the game was out of reach with the scrubs. The facts were when he came in, Mavs up by 7. When he leaves only 1:37 later, NO on 7-0 run WITH BACKUPS!! Speaks for itself.

By: Spurred1

Spurred1 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:06:35 +0000

FreeDirk,
You’ve mentioned a couple of times that Josh Howard looks like he’s tanking. But why would he do that? Nothing good will come of it.

By: FreeDirk

FreeDirk — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:46:59 +0000

Exactly. People are acting like he all of a sudden started smoking pot in the latter half of this season, and that’s why he’s shooting poorly. Ridiculous. People get so fired up with their emotions, they don’t stop to think about their conclusions before voicing them.

I love Josh, but I gotta be honest: I wanted to think that he was in a slump, and maybe that’s still true, but it looks an awful lot like he’s tanking games out there. I REALLY hope I’m wrong about that.

It was NOT the insertion of JJ Barea and Stackhouse that lost this game for us, y’all. Correlation does not equal causation. What lost us this game was the fact that we didn’t have anyone but Dirk, JET, and (to a lesser degree) Bass who could provide any scoring for us. Period. The greatest coach in the NBA couldn’t have done anything with that roster last night. You guys expect nothing short of magic, and it just ain’t gonna happen.

By: drew

drew — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:08:36 +0000

Right on and who cares. The dope isn’t making him play worst, he’s making himself play worse. They do have random tests throughout the season. And I’m willing to bet half of the NBA smokes or does some type of drug during the off season, Howard was just dumb enough to bring it to the public. So it’s just dumb for people to make such claims when they probably don’t know 90% of what’s going on with the organization.

NBA is a business, most businesses keep their business to themselves and release a small amount to the public.

By: b

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:01:12 +0000

Enough of the Josh Howard/marijuana comments already! He only ANNOUNCED that he smokes grass last week, he didn’t just start smoking it. He likely has since he was a teenager. He certainly isn’t playing well, but it’s ridiculous to blame it on his off-season habits.

By: drew

drew — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:13:17 +0000

Will,

You have to also understand that only two players were really scoring when we have that lead. With a lead early in the game is when you rest some players, the starters. Building huge leads does nothing, it only wears out the starters and we’ve all seen the Mavs blow some of the biggest leads because they left the starters in when they should have been resting so they can last for the remainder of the game.

Stack and Howard are in a slump and it’s the worst timing but the only way to get out of a slump is to keep shooting. But I do agree Stack shouldn’t be playing as often or long if he’s still not 100% physically, but his head is out of the game as well.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:31:00 +0000

I understand we don’t know the internal dynamic of the team. I do understand that, for the most part, we went with a 7-man rotation in Game 3. I do understand that we had built a 9-point lead using the same 7 players to start this game. At that point, in comes Stack, and more ridiculously Barea, and the lead and momentum were lost for good. When Devin Harris got injured and we played Barea at the point, the coaches, owner, etc. all determined that Barea was not able to contribute. Then, they inserted him into a hotly contested playoff game. That is unacceptable. He hadn’t played since March 10th, and that was garbage time against the Knicks. This was a panic move, at a time when everything was moving our direction. If he did that to start Game 3 or something, it would have made more sense as a spark. To do it after winning Game 3 and then taking control of Game 4 is just dumb.

By: FreeDirk

FreeDirk — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:33:09 +0000

drew,

My dad and all his friends were coaches, so I grew up around it. You’re absolutely right. There is no way that anyone who isn’t in the locker rooms, in the huddles, etc., can really know what’s going on within the complex workings of a basketball team.

By: drew

drew — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:24:47 +0000

As for JJ showing up, I was even like WTF but then again, perhaps it’s Avery setting an example for the guys who should be out there. Never know what’s really going on as a coach and player. I grew up with an uncle that was a coach, who won state championships. It is very complex to coach a basketball team on any level. Knowing some of the decisions they make might make one in utter awe but usually at least from my uncle, there’s always some logical reason behind it.

By: drew

drew — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:03:12 +0000

Renee,

No, I don’t agree. When your team stops attacking the basket and only shoots 35%, you lose the game. After the half, Avery even mentioned they needed to continue to attack the basket, seems they didn’t follow through as a team. They win or score when they attack, not miss shots outside the perimeter.