Western Conference Finals Thread: Mavs vs. Suns

by **dinocarlo** on Tue May 23, 2006 8:48 pm

After today's pair of Game Sevens, the Suns and Mavericks emerged as the winners. The Suns beat the Clippers while the Mavs dethroned the 2005 NBA Champs and prevented the Spurs' comeback from a 1-3 hole.

They will face each other in the Western Conference Finals. Let's look at the series in detail.

POINT GUARD: Harris vs. Nash

Harris is a great player who outplayed Tony Parker but Nash is the reigning two-time MVP.

advantage-Suns

SHOOTING GUARD: Terry vs. Bell

Jason Terry is an important part of the Mavs offense. Raja Bell can also make some big shots. Bell is also going to defend Terry very well.

advantage-even

SMALL FORWARD: Howard vs. T. Thomas

Tim Thomas is a threat on offense. Josh Howard is a threat on both ends of the court.

advantage-Mavs

POWER FORWARD: Nowitzki vs. Marion

I expect these two to play well against each other on both ends of the court.

advantage-even

CENTER: Dampier vs. Diaw

Dampier is the Mavs' defender against big men. Diaw can complement Nash on offense.

advantage-even

BENCH

Dallas has the deeper bench with Van Horn, Stackhouse, Armstrong, and Diop.

advantage-Mavs

COACHING

The last two COY's compete in this series.

advantage-even

INTANGIBLES

Nash is returning to Dallas so this adds intensity. But the Suns will be hurt by the every other day scheduling of games.

advantage-Mavs

OFFENSE

The Mavs can adjust to both slow and run-and-gun tempos. The Suns can't.

advantage-Mavs

DEFENSE

The Mavs have more defenders than the Suns. The Suns might also struggle defensively because the Mavs are bigger than them with Dirk, Diop, Dampier, among others.

advantage-Mavs

OVERALL RATING

The Mavs have the overall edge because they can play at a slow or fast pace. They also have more defenders than the Suns. This will still be close, though.

advantage-Mavs

by **elwudl** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:02 pm

I'd go with a 4-2 Mavs.
Don't think anyone can handle Dirk in this shape. Even not Marrion with pesky D. Also he gets help from Terry, maybe Harris, Howard, Stack.
The other thing I see is that the Mavs could defend the perimeter well -> Suns' 3 point-weapon could wear off.
Of course you should never forget the Suns speed but IMO they are too small for the Mavs. Also the Spurs would have beaten them.

by **The X** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:03 pm

Mavs in 6....Terry is bigger factor than Raja Bell....Mavs will definitely go small in this series....don't expect to see a lot of Dampier or Diop....instead expect this sort of lineup:
Dirk, Howard/Van Horn, Stackhouse/Howard/Daniels, Harris/Stackhouse/Daniels, Terry/Harris....

by **Jugs** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:14 pm

Excuse me but Marion and Dirk are not even, we all know that Dirk is the second coming of Jesus.

DIRK4PMVP :headbang:

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:14 pm

At the risk of sounding boring...Mavericks in 6. Unoriginal, but my honest opinion.

by **elwudl** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:14 pm

I looked at the game-stats of the regular season games between both teams. Seems simply one key for the Mavs is to limit the Suns' 3pt-shooting.

Nov 1 '05: Mavs @ Suns 111-108 (Suns 33.3% 3pt)
Dec 14 '05: Suns @ Mavs 96-102 (Suns 28.6% 3pt)
Mar 5 '06: Suns @ Mavs 115-107 (Suns 45.5.% 3pt)
Apr 13 '06: Mavs @ Suns 104-117 (Suns 66.7% 3pt)

But sure the Mavs go with a small-lineup? Hm...Dampier of course would be too slow IMO, but Diop has good footwork and looks to me not that slow that he couldn't be a defensive weapon. He has good post-presence and was able to shut down Duncan in OT. Also he is in good bodyshape right now. Not that fat child anymore he was in Cleveland. His blocks and rebounds would be a nice defensive extra for the Mavs.

by **The X** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:30 pm

elwudl, I honestly can't see Avery being able to keep Diop out there for too long, regardless of how agile he might be for a big man....there's no way he can stick with the horses like Diaw & Tim Thomas....if Kurt Thomas &/or Brian Grant were to play in the series, then Diop & Dampier will get some burn....a big if though....

by **elwudl** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:34 pm

No problem, simply was nothing more than my opinion and my thoughts.

We'll see what Avery does. I hope the right! :roll:

by **The X** on Tue May 23, 2006 9:42 pm

elwudl wrote:No problem, simply was nothing more than my opinion and my thoughts.

We'll see what Avery does. I hope the right!

don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to disregard your opinion, I was merely stating my own....if the Mavs had a dominate big like Duncan or Shaq then they would play him regardless & the Suns would have to adjust....either way, as long as Mavs win it doesn't really matter....and if they do, players like Dampier & Diop will be very important against either Detroit or Miami....

by **pistons'er** on Tue May 23, 2006 10:37 pm

Suns' 3-pointers are better
Suns win series 4-3

by **BIG GREEN** on Tue May 23, 2006 10:57 pm

We have two teams that are basically the same. Run and gun fun (shudders to think if nash was still with nowitski). Mavs are more powerful offensively with dirk...and they are better defensively. I'd even venture to say that the suns are the underdogs here...but this is one time i won't be rooting for them. Maverics in 6.

by **dinocarlo** on Thu May 25, 2006 1:58 pm

Whoa, another great game. Suns come from behind and win by 3. Diaw and Nash really played well. As for the Mavs, they had lots of costly turnovers in the final minutes.

by **Unrestrict3D** on Thu May 25, 2006 2:01 pm

I hope Phoenix wins this series but I believe, well actually, Phoenix in seven. Yes, another seven game series this year.

Phoenix vs. Miami will be quite the NBA Finals matchup.

by **Its_asdf** on Thu May 25, 2006 10:17 pm

Arg, they lost.

Devin Harris looked awesome out there he really carried Dallas through a few stretches of the game and filled in nicely for Howard.

by **BIG GREEN** on Thu May 25, 2006 11:08 pm

This is going to be another 7 game series...down to the wire. I'm almost 100% sure the next game will go to the mavs.

by **Sauru** on Fri May 26, 2006 8:00 am

yeah i definetly think the mavs got game 2. i hope it does end up being a 7 game series, been looking forward to these 2 teams playing.

Western Conference Finals Thread: Mavs vs. Suns

Western Conference Finals Thread: Mavs vs. Suns

Who is online