Charlotte Bobcats vs. Dallas Mavericks preview -- Game 50

by David A. Arnott on Feb 5, 2011 11:00 AM EST

The Big Picture: I love that the Dallas Mavericks have resurrected zone defense as a viable base defensive set in the NBA. The Celtics used a weird floating zone, but it what I saw was more veering toward "man with lots of switching" than a match-up zone the defensive three-second rule requires in the NBA.

Check out this primer on the Dallas zone (via Mavs Moneyball) for an idea of what we'll see the Mavs do for long stretches tonight.

The Bobcats cannot attempt to do the same things they always do if they want to be successful against this defense. For 7/8 of the game, they can do their thing, but against that zone, it's imperative that they not settle for long jumpers. They may end up with more three attempts during those times, but that's fine; they can't start their drives, abort, and pull up for 19-footers.

Musical Interlude: Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins -- "It's Like That"

Key to Victory: Dirk Nowitzki's lasting legacy will be that he -- more than Kevin Garnett or anyone since a young Arvydas Sabonis, really -- was a small forward in a center's body, and he used that skill set to torch defenses for over a decade. But what shouldn't be forgotten is that the dude isn't terrible on defense, as a big. With two seven-footers defending the paint, Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler, the Cats would do well to go right at them early and often. making a concentrated effort to get either of them in foul trouble. Brendan Haywood ain't exactly chopped liver, but he's not the defensive wizard Chandler is, and he's nowhere near the dynamite total package Nowitzki is, so getting either of them out of the game ought to be a priority.

Detail That May Interest .08% of You: Dirk's mentor, Holger Geschwindner, is a really interesting dude.

Tweet Comment 5 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I'll be at the game

I don’t think there is a big man in the NBA who moves off the ball like Dirk does. He hardly gets enough credit for that. But pay attention tonight… particularly the (few) plays where he doesn’t touch the ball. He’ll either be drawing a big out of the paint or drawing a big INTO the paint to set up a three for a teammate. And their offense is so flexible that even if they’re running a set play, everything gets cancelled if the big DOESN’T chase Dirk. I like the Boris matchup though, tonight. I think Boris can nonchalantly follow Dirk all over the place and won’t be a total mismatch in the paint like Tyrus or Wallace would be.

Our biggest problem will be DJ Augustin not being able to gaurd Dallas’ points. Kidd is simply too big for DJ to gaurd and Barea can score when he wants or needs to. We’ll need to run a lot of screens to free DJ up and get him open looks over Kidd.

Gerald Wallace will really need to be the focal point tonight, though. At any given time he could have Brian Cardinal, Shawn Marion or even DeShawn Stevenson on him when the Mavs go small and put Stevenson and Terry in at the same time. All three of those are a mismatch in Gerald’s advantage (my how Marion has fallen). Stephen Jackson has a size advantage over any player the Mavs will play at the 2 position, so we should also take advantage of that. I could see Silas going with the small ball again, using Boris at center and Gerald at PF to clear out the lane for Jax to post his smaller covers up.

When we’re not playing small ball and the Mavs aren’t in zone, I’m anxious to see “new” Kwame vs Tyson! Kwame really has to go right at Chandler, even if it means eating a few blocks, to get him into foul trouble. We can force the Mavs to play Dirk at Center and then we’ll have the advantage over the four other positions.

by adamcawa on Feb 5, 2011 11:24 AM EST reply actions

DJ can be succesful

in that he’s quicker than Jason Kidd and can probably find a mismatch in the Mavs zone coverage. But he’ll have to pick his spots and play smart.

by adamcawa on Feb 5, 2011 11:25 AM EST up reply actions

Fan Assist

The Bobcats need more passionate fans in the first 5 to 10 rows. These people need to light into the other team and refs. For some reason the refs and other team don’t take note when I go into an uncontrollable tirade from the third row of the upper deck. Bobcats need to create a RoF section near the court.

by Ft.Mill Bobcat on Feb 5, 2011 12:10 PM EST reply actions