04/18/24
May 26, 2011
Mavericks Reach NBA Finals: Another fourth quarter comeback put the Dallas Mavericks over the Oklahoma Thunder 100-96 and into their second NBA Finals in franchise history. Shawn Marion had 26 points and eight rebounds to make his first finals. Dirk Nowitzki scored 26.
posted by rcade to basketball at 12:22 AM - 15 comments
I am amazed at how well the Mav players seem to know their individual roles and are willing to play those roles to better the team
Quite a contrast against OKC - Thunder have most of the pieces, they just need to figure out how they fit.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:02 AM on May 26, 2011
The Thunder are doing the slow, gradual, painful climb that the Pistons did in the latter 1980's, getting a bit closer every year and becoming battle hardened along the way.
They may be ready to weather an epic Conference Finals Game 7 next year.
posted by beaverboard at 10:32 AM on May 26, 2011
Quite a contrast against OKC - Thunder have most of the pieces, they just need to figure out how they fit.
They fit fine. If you chop off the last 5 minutes of these games I'm not sure what more you could ask of this Thunder team.
Usually I kind of hate the Mavs but I find myself rooting for this team. Dirk playing like this is just too much to resist.
posted by tron7 at 10:45 AM on May 26, 2011
I'm not sure what more you could ask of this Thunder team
Identify where you need the ball in key possessions. Have your coach and point guard focused on creating the correct situations for the key players. Bad decisions and poor shots at key times are their downfall.
Westbrook taking 28 shots as a point guard isn't the recipie for success especially when Durant doesn't see the ball for an entire quarter or more. 28 shots and 5 assists ... not even Kobe in his prime would win a game with those numbers, and I'll go out on a limb and say Kobe is a slightly better shooter than Westbrook. Admire the guy's energy and effort, I just think he needs time to learn the game to be more effective.
posted by cixelsyd at 12:42 PM on May 26, 2011
Are you talking about the the last 5 minutes of the games, because I explicitly excluded that as it's pretty obvious they had problems there.
Westbrook is fine, he had a bad series. He could improve his shot and his passing but he's 22, he's got time. Westbrook is as important (well, slightly less) to this team as Durant is.
Westbrook taking 28 shots as a point guard isn't the recipie for success
Westbrook shoots less and has a higher assist rate then the MVP but gets three times the criticism.
28 shots and 5 assists ... not even Kobe in his prime would win a game with those numbers
Kobe avergaes 20 shots a game and just under 5 assists so I'm sure he's won plenty of games where he shoots 28 w/ 5 assists. Kobe is the better jump shooter but Kobe's shooting percentage is only slightly better than Westbrook's (though the gap widens when you go to effective fg% but then you should probably go to free throw rate as well and Westbrook handily wins that battle)
posted by tron7 at 01:27 PM on May 26, 2011
Too bad about the thunder. Really heart breaking. They should consider moving from Oklahoma City.
It's the only hope they have.
posted by THX-1138 at 02:59 PM on May 26, 2011
Westbrook shoots less and has a higher assist rate then the MVP but gets three times the criticism.
IMO, that's only because Westbrook plays with the NBA's 2-time scoring champ and D-Rose doesn't so Rose has to shoot more than Westbrook.
posted by BornIcon at 03:55 PM on May 26, 2011
Rose is the best option on his team.
If Westbrook played with Carlos Boozer and Noah as his best offensive options I would have no negative comments about his shot to assist ratio. But he plays with one of the top 5 best offensive players in the game and hasn't learned his role or how to use that player effectively.
posted by cixelsyd at 04:55 PM on May 26, 2011
Too much Thunder (and especially Westbrook) criticism, and not enough Mav praise. ;-)
posted by graymatters at 06:45 PM on May 26, 2011
Here you go, graymatters:
I'm as stoked as any Mavs fan for the Finals, but as someone that had a ticket to game 7 of the '06 Finals, I'm trying my hardest to reign in my emotions
posted by Ufez Jones at 08:17 PM on May 26, 2011
I'd love to see Dallas win it all, if only to see the "just swallowed a very sour lemon" expression on David Stern's face as he hands the trophy to Mark Cuban.
posted by Howard_T at 09:35 PM on May 26, 2011
That... that GIF is amazing. Why does that exist?!
posted by tron7 at 11:04 PM on May 26, 2011
I am amazed at how well the Mav players seem to know their individual roles and are willing to play those roles to better the team.