PorterIn2004

Yeah, I could see McInnis playing the majority of the minutes. Myself, I'd still be inclined to start Damon who's line, with only one minute more, looked like:
16 points, 6 of 12 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, & 0 turnovers

And, despite my points against starting AD, I'd be ready for him to see some healthy minutes. In fact, I could see going with all three fairly equally in the first half (perhaps having two of them on the floor at the same time matching up against Nash and VanExel) and riding the one or two who seem to be making the biggest impact the rest of the game.

Blazer Ringbearer

Statistically, McInnis and Damon had a similar game, but boy did they look different to me. When Damon first came in, he was doing great, hitting shots, getting everybody going, but his last 10 minutes or so in there destroyed our chances of winning in my opinion.

Dallas focused their entire offense on Damon and scored easily nearly every trip down the floor during the most critical stretch of the game. McInnis is listed as 6" taller, I think it's closer to 8" however. He may not be Scottie Pippen defensively, but Dallas wouldn't have employed that strategy against him, and if they had it would not have been nearly as effective.

I was ready to see Damon redeem himself and he sure tried to, but eventually he was exposed. Expect them to immediately go to the "Damon is short" offense immediately when he comes in the game from now on... especially if they're out of synch.

Start McInnis or Pippen, give AD 20 minutes if he looks good out there, and give Damon 15 or less. In that span, he can run in there, take some shots get a few steals, spark a run, and get out of there before they dominate him.

Cheers

Blazer Ringbearer

Also, I think they should run some plays for DA early so that he can get into the flow offensively. I thought he was doing a good job defensively on Nash and I think it hurt us that he was benched for not putting numbers on the board.

lazlo

I would start McInnis, Wells, Sheed, Randolph and Sabas. We can have triple towers of our own.

Sabas is the only one who can get Bardley in foul trouble fast. And getting rid of him early on is important to have a hole in the middle of the Mvs defense (remember he had 5 blocks).

Wells and Sheed can play outside and inside (I'd rather see Sheed posting up). If Dirk guards Sheed, Wallace should get the ball a lot and try to get Nowitzki into foul trouble. Make the guy work on D, don't let him get into a good offensive mood, destry his tempo. (Did you see what happened to Wally on game 1 against LA as he was chasing Kobe all night long?).

Randolph is a destroyer inside and a tough worker on the offensive glass. He should go to 15-10.

Sabas can go inside or outside, and most important, he can create lots of passing lanes.

McInnis should use his athletism against Nash, and try to penetrate as many times as he could.

My formula is to kill the Mavs inside and get their big guys into foul trouble.

When Bradley is on the court with Sabas, I would play man to man D. When Bradley is out, it would depend. I would have to see how can adjustments be better made depending on who are their big guys on the court, as LaFrentz tends to play outside.

I might be wrong, but that's my view.

PorterIn2004

Good thoughts, lazlo. I like that line-up, though I think I'd still figure out a way to start DA so that he doesn't further second-guess himself. Still, those five you mention being on the floor a lot together seems a good idea. I guess we'll get to see tonight what Cheeks decides to do.