Don't make much of last night's win in DALLAS. I attended the game, so the win was merely a cruel trick to suck me deeper in, only to make the sting of defeat worse to bear as we fall deeper and deeper out of the playoff picture.
Anyway, I last went to gam when Kick came DAL in '10 (year when Mavs won, and fist year Amare-Melo were paird). We railed y almost 40 by 2nd quarter...
A few observaitions:
1) Pre-game warm-ups just illustrate the lack of focus for this bunch. I know it’s a small thing, but there’s seems to be too much joking around and too much of simply going through the motions. JR just sort of mopes around and chucks up shots… It appears the tone is set early for the most part, and that’s an environment where goofing around is more important than concentration and taking the game seriously. For a losing bunch with such a low BBall IQ, this just further conditions them as a whole to be mediocre.
EVERYTHING starts with focus and determination. This team is more about perception and appearance than substance.
2) The lack of awareness is appalling. How these guys elevated to the professional ranks while never sharpening their court vision is amazing. The offense is so efficient when we pass the pass and swing it from side to side and make the extra pass… But we seem unwilling, or simply do not care, to employ this tactic consistently. As soon as we let our guard down, and get lazy, we simply settle for the first low % shot available.
3) The switching defense only works when energy and effort is maximized. Last night was an example of how it can work… But it also relies too much on the other team missing shots. At least we had energy to contend those open looks.
4) Shump was sick last night (as with TC)… but our guard play is still atrocious. This team desperately needs a PG. We would improve twofold if we simply had a floor general.
5) Carmelo is still banged up.
6) We did our best to throw the game away… We won b/c DAL failed to take it and… FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON… we closed a game out and made plays.
7) Kenyon Martin was fantastic last night. But he and Melo get no calls by the refs. A call that sends Vince Carter to the line won’t be given to Anthony.
8) I like the athleticism of Shump & Hardaway a lot. We need to build around these two, and this means taking minutes away from JR. I am cool with that. It’s really amazing how many open looks our SG can miss tho. DEFENSES simply charge after Melo with double and triple teams, forcing him to give the rock away.
9) I helped us win b/c I left early in the fourth. It was late. Wife needed to get up early and child getting sleepy. Would have taken me 40 minutes to walk out building, navigate thru parking lot and get to highway. Had I stayed and we lost I would have been pissed, and figured if it got close we would lose anyway. I opted to leave early, listen to second half of fourth in car, enjoy the win and get home when game ended. I made the right choice and helped us win for doing so. You know if I stayed, we lose that game. Give me some credit.
10) Bargs is what he is. But he’s a legit scoring compliment to Melo. Something we didn’t have in the playoffs last year. We won’t be able to rely on it, but it will be there in spurts. If we get a PG to help lead us, we should have some reliable options off the bench this Spring with Beno, Bargs and STAT. Dare I say this trio ten times greater than Novak, Copeland & Camby. I understand the Copeland angle, and he did hit some clutch shots and could score… But I trust in Bargs ability slightly more, and he can at least defend and rebound slightly.
