Full-Court Press

Tim Legler adds his two cents

The ESPN analyst had this to say about Jason Kidd and the Mavs:

Right before the trade deadline, the Mavs brought in Jason Kidd to keep up with the top teams in the West. They do have a winning record (9-7) since that trade. However, a closer look at the numbers shows every win they have has come against sub-.500 teams and every loss has come to teams with records above .500. At the time of the trade, I was in favor of the move. I still believe the Mavs are a better team with Kidd than with Devin Harris. Unfortunately one thing has become very clear; Kidd is no longer a threat to score. He has lost that quick burst to blow past defenders. He looks like he has lost the confidence to make an open jumper.

There in lies Dallas' problem. Other teams have recognized this and have begun to shade Kidd's defender towards either Dirk Nowitzki or Josh Howard. This creates some cramping and doesn't allow the offense to flow as freely as it did under Harris. The key for the Mavs to break out of this is simple. Kidd is not going to become a jump-shooter overnight. That means Howard and especially Jason Terry need to start stepping up their play.

Pregame with Avery Johnson

The Mavs' head coach had a quite a bit to say:

What would it take to be a good afternoon?
Well, we'd like to play some defense similar to what we played last
game. I thought our defense was pretty good. Any time you hold one of
the better teams in the league to 34% shooting, and outrebound them
and 22% from the three-point line, you're supposed to have a shot at
winning the game. You know, our last nine possessions of that game,
we turned it over three times, we missed three layups, we missed a
free-throw or two. We just can't have that in the last two to four
minutes of the game.

Young point guards ...

... hide your eyes!

Jason Kidd and Celtics PG Rajon Rondo are throwing up some nasty bricks. Kidd is 1-of-6 for 2 points with three minutes left in the third; Rondo is 0-for-7.
Ouch!

-- Garza

One writer's perspective

Here's an excerpt from Mark Heisler's NBA column in the LA Times, in which he analyzed the West contenders. I usually like Heisler's stuff, but I'm not sure how true the Mavs stuff is. Here ya go:

Phoenix -- Here’s the early verdict on the O’Neal trade:
Disaster.
It’s not their 3-6 record because there’s time to work things out, but the fact that, as Steve Nash said, "We’ve changed everything we’re doing."
The question was how O’Neal and Nash would run the Suns’ bread-and-butter pick-and-roll.
They don’t run it much at all, with Shaq mostly in the low post, a 180-degree change from their spread offense.
In other words, they’re not the Suns anymore. They just went from a system no one could guard, which they were geniuses at running, to some generic team.

Avery talks on Galloway's show

Mavs coach Avery Johnson was a guest on Randy Galloway's radio show Friday. Here's a sampling of what Avery had to say:

On Thursday;s loss to the Rockets: Well, we're disappointed. We didn't have that emotional energy like I thought we were gonna have. ... That was one of our worst performances of the year.

On the increased heat he is taking: I always try to keep myself in the forefront of things if the games aren't going well. I've never been one to run and and hide. ... But we need to get something from the players ... more energy, leadership, fire ... we are still waiting to get it on a consistent basis. 

Lakers hangover?

The Mavs lacked energy early, with the most passion shown being Dirk Nowitzki's brutal flagrant foul on Andrei Kirilenko that knocked him out of the game. The Mavs are a few steps slow on defense, struggling to keep pace on the boards and failing to keep the Jazz out of the paint.

The biggest positive is that Josh Howard is showing signs of life, hitting 6-of-7 shots for 17 points with seven minutes left in the third.

The one thing that jumps out -- and, yes, it's just one game -- is the disparity between Utah's Deron Williams and Dallas' Jason Kidd. There's no way to put a positive spin on things. Williams (11 points, 16 assists) is many levels above Kidd (three points, seven assists).  Defense, passing, shooting, running an offense --it's really no contest in favor of Williams.

--  garza, mavs lite

Dirk is dy-no-mite down the stretch, but ...

After a nightmarish shooting display in the first three quarters, Dirk matched Kobe bucket for bucket in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime. He scored 12 points in the last 5:50 of the fourth and had eight points in overtime.

He got all of his points on those familiar high-post isos that ended with either jumpers, dribble drives or trips to the free throw line.

Now, not to question how spectacular Dirk was or how sound Avery Johnson's simple strategy is when the big German delivers, but the question has to be asked: Why do you need Jason Kidd when the crunch-time offense is just dribbling to the 3-point line, pitch the ball in to Dirk and stand around and watch?

Again, the strategy paid off for the most part -- well, except for the game's outcome, of course -- but ball movement, motion and any real offense come to an end when the game is on the line. It just seems like a waste of having a guard like Kidd.

-- garza

after one quarter ...

The Mavs are down 29-23. The keys for the second quarter will be for them to:
(1) get Dirk involved because LA has no one to guard him.
(2) tighten up their perimeter defense.
(3) limit turnovers -- they had six in the first quarter.
(4) and adjust without Jason Kidd, who is saddled with two fouls.

-- garza, mavs lite

Lakers talk Kidd

From this morning's LA Times:

LA coach Phil Jackson: "I like what [the Mavs are] doing. It looks like they're trying to run a little bit more. He's still feeling out how to involve his teammates. It's an effective move for them because they've got a decision maker at the end of the game."

LA forward Lamr Odom: "They've added a Hall of Fame player to their team, so you know they're going to be better. We just have to take the ball out of his hands as much as possible and make him work defensively as well."

-- garza

Triple-double alert

With about four and a half minutes left, Jason Kidd is two assists away from his 100th career triple-double -- and the first of his second tour with the Mavs. Kidd has his scoring shoes on tonight with 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go with 10 rebounds.

-- garza, mavs lite