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Mavericks_Fan · 05-10-2006, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mavsmania41

Steve Who? Okay yea I miss having Nash around but honestly, I think Devin Harris is more of a playoff style point guard. I feel before it is all said and done Harris will have the bling before Nash.

I was thinking the exact same thing last night. Plus Devin works on both ends of the court, and he continues to get better on both ends of the court.

Mavs Maniac · 05-10-2006, 05:41 AM

Good coaching decision by Avery to put him into the starting lineup, but I bet in another shock decision he will yank him out in, say, game 6

Mavericks_Fan · 05-10-2006, 05:45 AM

<table class="mavericksBar" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tbody><tr><td colspan="15" class="playerStatTitle" style="padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;" height="20">Dallas Mavericks </td></tr></tbody></table> <table class="pTitle" style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="1" bordercolor="#d2dbe7" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tbody><tr align="center" bgcolor="#d2dbe7" height="12"><td colspan="3"> </td><td colspan="3" align="center">Field Goals</td><td colspan="3" align="center">Rebounds</td><td colspan="6"> </td></tr> <tr align="center" bgcolor="#d2dbe7" height="12" valign="middle"><td> </td><td>pos</td><td>min</td><td>fgm-a</td><td>3pm-a</td><td>ftm-a</td><td>off</td><td>def</td><td>tot</td><td>ast</td><td>pf</td><td>st</td><td>to</td><td>bs</td><td>pts</td></tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> D.Harris </td> <td>G</td> <td>32:43 </td> <td>7-12</td> <td>0-1</td> <td>6-9</td> <td>0</td> <td>4</td> <td>4</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>20</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> J.Terry </td> <td>G</td> <td>25:37 </td> <td>5-13</td> <td>1-2</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>3</td> <td>3</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>11</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> J.Howard </td> <td>F</td> <td>41:35 </td> <td>7-17</td> <td>2-4</td> <td>11-11</td> <td>4</td> <td>5</td> <td>9</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>27</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> D.Nowitzki </td> <td>F</td> <td>38:05 </td> <td>7-11</td> <td>0-2</td> <td>7-7</td> <td>0</td> <td>9</td> <td>9</td> <td>1</td> <td>4</td> <td>3</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>21</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> D.Diop </td> <td>C</td> <td>20:04 </td> <td>1-2</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>1-2</td> <td>2</td> <td>5</td> <td>7</td> <td>0</td> <td>5</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>3</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> J.Stackhouse </td> <td>
</td> <td>31:17 </td> <td>6-12</td> <td>3-4</td> <td>4-6</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>19</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> M.Daniels </td> <td>
</td> <td>22:51 </td> <td>2-6</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>4-4</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>3</td> <td>3</td> <td>4</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>8</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> E.Dampier </td> <td>
</td> <td>14:39 </td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-2</td> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>5</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> J.Powell </td> <td>
</td> <td>04:40 </td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> A.Griffin </td> <td>
</td> <td>04:29 </td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>2-2</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> D.Armstrong </td> <td>
</td> <td>02:58 </td> <td>1-1</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> D.Mbenga </td> <td>
</td> <td>01:02 </td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="15" height="7">

</td> </tr> <tr class="totalStats" align="center"> <td style="padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" align="right" height="15">Total</td> <td> </td> <td>240</td> <td>36-78</td> <td>6-13</td> <td>35-43</td> <td>10</td> <td>29</td> <td>39</td> <td>12</td> <td>27</td> <td>10</td> <td>6</td> <td>3</td> <td>113</td> </tr> <tr class="totalStats2" align="center"> <td colspan="3" height="15"> </td> <td align="center">46.2%</td> <td align="center">46.2%</td> <td align="center">81.4%</td> <td colspan="4">Team Rebs: 10</td><td colspan="5">Total TO: 6</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="margin-top: 10px;" class="spursBar" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tbody><tr><td colspan="15" class="playerStatTitle" style="padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;" height="20">San Antonio Spurs </td></tr></tbody></table> <table class="pTitle" style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="1" bordercolor="#d2dbe7" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tbody><tr align="center" bgcolor="#d2dbe7" height="12"><td colspan="3"> </td><td colspan="3" align="center">Field Goals</td><td colspan="3" align="center">Rebounds</td><td colspan="6"> </td></tr> <tr align="center;" bgcolor="#d2dbe7" height="12" valign="middle"><td> </td><td>pos</td><td>min</td><td>fgm-a</td><td>3pm-a</td><td>ftm-a</td><td>off</td><td>def</td><td>tot</td><td>ast</td><td>pf</td><td>st</td><td>to</td><td>bs</td><td>pts</td></tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> M.Ginobili </td> <td>G</td> <td>27:48 </td> <td>4-11</td> <td>0-3</td> <td>5-7</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>13</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> T.Parker </td> <td>G</td> <td>31:26 </td> <td>6-14</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>3-6</td> <td>1</td> <td>4</td> <td>5</td> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>4</td> <td>0</td> <td>15</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> T.Duncan </td> <td>F</td> <td>35:05 </td> <td>8-10</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>12-14</td> <td>2</td> <td>7</td> <td>9</td> <td>3</td> <td>4</td> <td>1</td> <td>4</td> <td>4</td> <td>28</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> B.Bowen </td> <td>F</td> <td>36:09 </td> <td>2-4</td> <td>2-3</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>6</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> R.Horry </td> <td>C</td> <td>19:29 </td> <td>1-2</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0</td> <td>3</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> M.Finley </td> <td>
</td> <td>26:41 </td> <td>3-7</td> <td>0-1</td> <td>1-1</td> <td>1</td> <td>3</td> <td>4</td> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>7</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> B.Barry </td> <td>
</td> <td>24:43 </td> <td>4-8</td> <td>2-4</td> <td>2-2</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>5</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>12</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> N.Mohammed </td> <td>
</td> <td>11:59 </td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>1-2</td> <td>2</td> <td>3</td> <td>5</td> <td>0</td> <td>4</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> B.Udrih </td> <td>
</td> <td>11:27 </td> <td>2-8</td> <td>0-1</td> <td>3-4</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>7</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> N.Van Exel </td> <td>
</td> <td>05:07 </td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> F.Oberto </td> <td>
</td> <td>06:23 </td> <td>0-1</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> </tr> <tr class="playerStats" height="17" valign="middle"> <td class="playerName" align="left"> R.Nesterovic </td> <td>
</td> <td>03:43 </td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0-0</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="15" height="7">

</td> </tr> <tr class="totalStats" align="center"> <td style="padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" align="right" height="15">Total</td> <td> </td> <td>240</td> <td>30-66</td> <td>4-13</td> <td>27-37</td> <td>6</td> <td>28</td> <td>34</td> <td>11</td> <td>26</td> <td>4</td> <td>14</td> <td>5</td> <td>91</td> </tr> <tr class="totalStats2" align="center"> <td colspan="3" height="15"> </td> <td align="center">45.5%</td> <td align="center">30.8%</td> <td align="center">73.0%</td> <td colspan="4">Team Rebs: 13</td><td colspan="5">Total TO: 14</td></tr></tbody></table>
<dl class="endStatHdr"><dt id="tFoulHdr">Technical Fouls</dt> <dd>DAL 1st Qtr 8:4 Avery Johnson</dd> <dd>DAL 4th Qtr 7:34 Jerry Stackhouse</dd> <dd>SAS 1st Qtr 10:21 Popovich</dd> <dd>SAS 2nd Qtr 7:30 Nick Van Exel</dd> <dd>SAS 2nd Qtr 8:35 Nick Van Exel</dd></dl>
<dl class="endStatHdr"><dt>Scoring</dt> <dd>Lead Changes : 0</dd> <dd>Times Tied : 0</dd></dl>

Mavericks_Fan · 05-10-2006, 05:50 AM

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....17e79d22.html

Calling on Harris is brilliant

01:27 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2006

SAN ANTONIO – One afternoon in the middle of the season, Avery Johnson was talking about the importance of a few of his players. Dirk Nowitzki. Josh Howard. Jerry Stackhouse.

But he spent the most time talking about how excited he was about what Devin Harris, the second-year guard who was still learning the NBA game, could bring: speed. But at the time, he'd trusted Harris to start only a couple of games.

So it was a bit of a shock Tuesday night to see Harris walk onto the court with the rest of the Mavericks' starters to begin Game 2 against the Spurs. It even suggested Johnson was panicking, down one win to none to the defending champions. That hardly seemed to suggest a lineup change.

And didn't we just see Dave Tippett do the same thing with the Stars' lines in Game 2 of what turned out to be a disastrous Stanley Cup playoff series against Colorado?

But this is why Johnson was just bestowed with the coach of the year award in his first full season at the helm. This is why he's put together the most remarkable start for any coach in the history of the NBA.

Johnson's insertion of Harris, who missed much of the last third of the season with an injury, into the starting lineup took advantage of the one area where the Mavericks eked out an edge in what was a remarkably evenly played Game 1: transition baskets.

That was why through much of what was a loss in Game 1 for the Mavericks, Johnson was skipping up and down the sidelines, winding his right arm through the air as if he were a human windmill. He wanted his younger team to impose its faster legs on a more aged and slower Spurs bunch.

The Mavericks managed to do so for most of the first half. Then the Spurs slowed everything down.

That the Spurs couldn't slow the Mavericks on Tuesday, getting outscored 113-91 in the end, was because Harris wouldn't let them.

Harris jump-started the offense and the Spurs never could catch up. It was like watching the proverbial race between the tortoise and the hare, except it was the hare that had the guile, too.

Harris was but a blur. For the Spurs' quick-as-lightning All-Star guard Tony Parker, he must have felt as if he were playing against himself.

"It was brilliant," Adrian Griffin said of his coach's decision to start Harris in his place. "I said from day one that this coaching staff is great at making adjustments, and that's what the playoffs are all about. It's not about egos. I want to win.

"And we know what Devin can do. We were just waiting until he got back to 100 percent. He just puts so much pressure on the defense. He's not just fast, he's really fast."

Harris can't shoot, yet. But it doesn't matter much, when he can go around and by other players as if they were mere telephone poles.

Most of his 20 points came on drives to the basket. Some were from the right side. Others were from the left, where he put the ball up with his right.

More remarkable: Harris didn't have a turnover.

Del Harris said no one on the staff raised an eyebrow when Johnson said Devin Harris would start.

"We had some pretty good statistical evidence from Mark [Cuban's] people to back up the decision," Del Harris said.

"We felt like we at least needed a 95-point game to win. They're difficult to beat in an 80-point game. We can push the ball better with Devin because he gives us two guards who can really get out and run."

Harris out-Parkered Parker. This is but another reason Johnson was tagged with the nickname "Little General." He is fearless. He isn't afraid to stick his sword into the air and yell, "Charge!"

"It takes a lot of courage," Cuban said, "for Coach Johnson to say, 'You know what? We're going to put a second-year player in there.' "

But just about everything Johnson's decided to do this season has worked out like a charm.

He turned Erick Dampier into a very serviceable player by bringing him off the bench to play mostly against second-tier centers. He improved his team's defense and made the offense more efficient by employing Griffin with the starting five for most of the season when Griffin was healthy.

Now he's gone back to making the most of Jason Terry's talents, as a scoring guard, by taking the point guard responsibilities from him and handing them to Harris and bringing Griffin off the bench. And clearly he surprised his old mentor, Gregg Popovich, in doing so.

Maybe we should re-nickname Johnson the Little Genius, instead.

E-mail kblackistone@dallasnews.com

Mavericks_Fan · 05-10-2006, 06:09 AM

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5593252

Mavs get even in unexpected blowout

Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
 Posted: 5 hours ago

The Mavericks' 113-91 rout of the Spurs in Game 2 was a bizarre contest on several levels. From the start, Dallas played high-octane offense like the get-up-and-go Phoenix Suns, while San Antonio cooperated by imitating the Suns' donut-defense.

Let's take a closer look at what Dallas and SA did and didn't do.

Dallas

Give Avery Johnson and his staff all the credit for jump-starting the tempo of the entire game by inserting Devin Harris in the opening line-up. Teamed at the wing-positions with Josh Howard, it was now-you-see-them-and-now-you-don't as these two young jet-setters ran free from end-to-end. Driving and finishing, penetrating and pitching, pulling and popping — and putting more pressure on the Spurs' interior defense than Tim Duncan and Robert Horry could deal with. Harris wound up with 20 points, and Howard with 27.

Then, when the game occasionally slowed down, there was Jerry Stackhouse (19 points) dropping jumpers from here, there, and everywhere. Jason Terry (11 points) got a late start, but also dashed his way into the paint with relative ease. DeSagana Diop and Erick Dampier added to the Spurs' woes by banging every body in their vicinity who happened to be wearing a white uniform.

Even Dirk Nowitzki had an unusual game. His point-total of 21 is misleading, since three of these were due to his being the Mavs' designated technical free-throw shooter, and six more came in garbage time. In reality, the savage defense of Bruce Bowen kept Nowitzki in check while the game was still up for grabs. And that's exactly what Bowen did — grab Nowitzki and not let him turn and face the hoop.

On two occasions, Nowtizki lost Bowen when he cut and popped with the aid of double-down-screens — and D-No buried both open shots. Otherwise, Bowen mostly hounded him into making bad passes (1 assist and 3 turnovers), and wielded the Elbow of Experience to cause Nowitzki to stumble several times.

Nowitzki's failure to dominate — by the fourth quarter he was used mainly as a screener — didn't hurt the Mavs in Game 2. But as the series progresses, he'll need more weak-side screens to find a degree of consistency against Bowen.

The Mavs' defense was just as quick-footed as its offense, but much more physical. Even though Duncan tallied a game-high 28 points, he only managed ten shots as the Mavs roughed him up and even threw him down once or twice. True, Duncan was 12-14 from the stripe, but the stop-action created by the Mavs' frequent fouls kept the Spurs from establishing any kind of rhythm on offense. The usually sure-handed TD also had more turnovers than assists (4 to 3), and was frustrated throughout on defense as dribble-penetrators kept turning up in his face.

The unexpected adjustment by Johnson ratcheted up the Mavs' aggressiveness and completely surprised the reigning champs. A measure of the effectiveness of the Mavs' up-tempo pace was the fact that they committed a total of only six turnovers! A very un-Phoenix-like number.

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