Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks in May 2009: the Nuggets' Defense Keeps the Mavericks' Offense in the Barn, Part 3
Editorial Notes: The following was written during the early May 2009 second round, West semifinal round playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks. This content was put on the independent Dallas Mavericks forum during the series. It is presented almost exactly as originally written here, with a very few minor additions here and there.
See the additional editorial notes at the end for more details about late postings and how they are not going to be a problem any longer.
FROM MAY 3, 2009, JUST BEFORE THE EARLY MAY 2009 WEST SEMIFINAL SERIES BETWEEN THE DALLAS MAVERICKS AND THE DENVER NUGGETS
Admit it George Karl, there is nothing good you can do if Nowitzki is dropping more than 25. Or if it's Kobe Bryant. Or if it's any power scorer.
Come to reality. Basketball is not football where you can possibly limit a team to a field goal or two in a game. Nor is basketball baseball, where you can get a shutout with great pitching.
So basketball is actually more complicated than the other popular sports, because for one thing, relying only on defense is not an option. I hate to inform the Nuggets of this.
In basketball you can contain the scoring a player such as Mr. N does, but you can not stop it completely. And Mr. N has 4 other players out there with him, and the possession does not end just because he has been shut down on a particular play.
A basketball possession never ends until you miss a shot and the opponent gets the rebound, until your shot is blocked and the opponent gets the ball, until you get fouled and a ref calls the foul, or until you turn the ball over. Possessions do not end simply because the other team is doing some good, intense man to man defending.
So if you are a quality offense, you can do what you can do if and only if you keep stupid shots and turnovers down. No matter how good a defense is, a good offense maintains a lot of clout in a game if it simply keeps the stupid shots and the turnovers down.
The degree of difficulty to keep stupid shots and turnovers down against a really good defense is kind of high. So I realize this is easier said than done, but the great and experienced scorers, point guards, and coaches can get this accomplished. Therefore, this Dallas-Denver series is where the acquisition of Jason Kidd and/or the coaching change by the Mavericks can finally pay off big time.
This is one of the reasons why it usually takes years and years for even great players to win a Championship. They have to learn how, when playing a ferocious, intimidating defense, to avoid taking too many stupid, or "reach" shots, to keep the turnovers down, and to in general prevent that defense from "getting under the skin".
Chris Paul was learning these lessons in the Nuggets-Hornets series.
FROM MAY 3, 2009, JUST AFTER GAME ONE OF THE EARLY MAY 2009 WEST SEMIFINAL SERIES BETWEEN THE DALLAS MAVERICKS AND THE DENVER NUGGETS
[Game One was won by the Nuggets 109-95.]
Posted by DavidDaMonkey
I think you have to earn the respect from the refs in games like this. We drove to the hole alot early on, but then gave up on it. Even if you aren't getting the calls, I think you have to keep attacking. The refs can't ignore it all day.
Mavs have GOT to figure out a way to defend the paint better. That will kill us and wear us down faster than anything. We were hitting some jumpers tonight, but that wont keep up for 7 games and when that falls, we won't have anything else if we play like this.
This is very true. If the refs are going to let a lot of Denver fouls go uncalled, Dallas has to either keep driving to the hoop until the refs can't take the sheer number of missed Denver foul calls anymore, or else they have to get a lot more physical on defense, which will also eventually motivate the refs to take greater control over the game.
Or the Mavs should do both. Doing both would be the best.
FROM MAY 3, 2009, JUST AFTER GAME ONE OF THE EARLY MAY 2009 WEST SEMIFINAL SERIES BETWEEN THE DALLAS MAVERICKS AND THE DENVER NUGGETS
[Game One was won by the Nuggets 109-95.]
Posted by longsufferingmavsfan
Here are my thoughts: ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE REFFING!!!. Dirk and Co were getting pounded with no calls all game long. Any time the Nuggets Drove they either got the layup, got the call or got both. It was infuriating from my standpoint, the Nuggets overall are better than us, they were at home and they got all the calls as well. How exactly were we supposed to win?
But my main concern is : How the Hell are the Nuggets allowed to get away with sooo much contact?!
Well this may be a reach, but my latest theory is that Denver is a football town, but since the Broncos suck, the Colorado Sports Fathers (whoever they are, remember, this is just my wild theory to try to explain how the Nuggets are getting away with this) decided to remake the Nuggets in the football mode.
So at a secret meeting, they decided: "If the real football team sucks, then by God, we'll make the Nuggets a lot more like a football team!" "Nice thinking, Earl!"
Laugh out loud. But there is always some truth in humor, I warn you.
My brother told me years ago that he could not be a basketball fan because he thought the referees took sides, if not on purpose then by accident. I stubbornly didn't agree with him then, but his opinion is worth another look these days.
This Nuggets thing has become like one of those really bad and stupid movies that hardly anyone ever watches.
Tonight's feature: Can a thuggish but well meaning basketball team keep routing teams with a simplistic, but very disruptive style of playing the game? A style which is way out on the far outer fringes of the rules?
I hate bad movies.
FROM MAY 3, 2009, JUST AFTER GAME ONE OF THE EARLY MAY 2009 WEST SEMIFINAL SERIES BETWEEN THE DALLAS MAVERICKS AND THE DENVER NUGGETS
[Game One was won by the Nuggets 109-95.]
Posted by BGMaverick9
I don't really remember cases where refs do a 180 from total blindness to calling it right for a team IN GAME. There were instances where the Mavs weren't even all that aggressive and they were still getting called for chippy fouls.
At what price do you try to force the issue with physical defense on Denver? How do you throw that to your players and still hope the refs don't go overboard? You can try but it's still out of your hands, it's still on the refs.
Your question and explanation is right on point, and this is for the opponent the catch-22 or the horns of the dilemma, or maybe the damned if you do, damned if you don't of this series and of every series that the Nuggets are in this year.
But I keep watching these Nuggets not give a damn about how many fouls they commit, and I keep seeing all their stare downs and sick faces made at the referees after every single foul that is called on them. Every single Nugget, when he is called for a foul, is like: "You are a total loser and wuss for even thinking about calling a foul on me. Just stay out of the way and let me keep running around and being as rough as I damn well please."
I'm not saying the Nuggets don't do a lot of good defending without fouling: they do. But I am saying that the Nuggets are using their athleticism, their speed, their intensity, and even their facial expressions to intimidate the referees a little. And that is all it takes to swing a game sometimes: to scare the referees a little.
So I think the only way the Nuggets can be defeated is to scare the referees a little bit from the other direction.
I keep saying to myself: "No, what the Nuggets are doing is not exactly basketball, this is something a little different here. Yes, the Nuggets have some damned good basketball players, but since when does a franchise have the right to modify the game and expect the referees to go along? Who made the Nuggets' GM Co-Commissioner of the NBA?"
So I want a team to go all out to stop this, even at the risk of a technical and/or flagrant or two or three. I really am that pissed off.
This is what the Nuggets are thinking these days:
(1)They will beat down to submission (which on the court is turnovers and bad shot selection) any team that does not stand up for itself by getting rough and tough in response, up to and including actions that might cause technicals and flagrant fouls and
(2)A team such as Dallas will not have the gumption to do that, for whatever reason, or they won't have the means to do it, because they are like that Quest for the Ring guy, they think basketball should not be made more like football.
I want the Nuggets to be proved wrong as soon as possible; it's much better if the Mavericks can do it than if it has to wait for the Lakers.
Quote:
What are guys told usually or what do you hear:
If you aggressive you'll get rewarded or bailed out with the call. It's not supposed to be a cat and mouse game with the ref, It's not: "well, we are gonna test you, do it x amount times and THEN we'll give it to you."
You are exactly right again; it's not supposed to be a cat and mouse game, but what if in this particular series, against this particular team, it is a cat and mouse game?
Quote:
What you see all the time is a performance like this and coaches and/or players will talk about it in the media and you can usually see a change in the foul dynamics in the next game. If you put the onus on the refs in the game and it didn't work...it seems the next natural step is to do it even more after the game with calling them out. It'll hurt the wallet that way but it doesn't potentially run you the risk of getting ejected.
Yes, this is an excellent alternative thing to do if the Mavericks truly think that the referees will start tossing their players if they up the ante. Marc Cuban is going to have to get his wallet out again, but for an extremely good cause.
========== Editorial Notes ==========
--The above was written in early May, 2009.
--As promised, we are finally posting material written and posted on forums in the spring. Obviously, if you have your own site, you should be posting at least simultaneously on your own site when you for whatever reason post elsewhere. But there has been a bad habit of not doing so, a bad habit that is being beaten down due to new content sharing regulations that have teeth.
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