# Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets



## Mavericks_Fan (Apr 19, 2005)

*VS* 































































































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Terry > Anderson
Christie > Sura
Howard < McGrady
Nowitzki > Swift
Dampier < Yao

The only thing Houston's backcourt had over us last playoffs was defense in my opinion. With a full camp and more under Avery that should be drastically lessened, especially with guys like Marquis who have great physical abilities to keep up with just about any guard in the league not to mention Christie who is still one smart cookie on defense.

I think Rocket fans are putting way, way, way too much emphasis on McGrady's defense against Dirk in the playoffs. It still appears to me that Dirk just had an uncharacteristally bad playoffs. Now this is not to take anything away from Tracy who is a great defensive player, but Houston is in for a disappointment if they expect Dirk to average 20 ppg on 35% shooting against them this year. J-Ho will have his work cut out for him if he's guarding McGrady. Best thing he can do is just keep challenging and see how the shots fall. At least he has the speed and quickness to stay with T-Mac if he keeps his head in it. Even if Dirk is off in every game against Houston what's to stop Terry from torching them again?

I'm unconcerned with Swift. I think way too much was made of his signing when it's not exactly like Juwon was a horrid player. If Stromile will actually consistently bring his game to the court then I will happily change my opinion, but until he proves it it isn't there.

If Yao continues to try to draw charges rather than block shots he will be sitting on the bench early with foul problems. Damp definitely has the strength to keep Yao off the block, but whether or not he'll do it without picking up his own cheap fouls remains to be seen.

Benchwise I still see goes easily to the Mavericks. Houston's bench is shallow and old, Dallas bench is young and athletic with offensive firepower in guys like KVH and Stackhouse.


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## tone wone (Jan 30, 2003)

when is the first game between these 2 teams?

...I really like Dallas's team. Even though im a rocket homer i still consider the Mavs the better. I actually had Dallas having the best record in the West before San Antonio got Finley. Which is weird since I dont loosing Finely affects dallas at all.

I agree that some rocket fans may be putting too much into the Swift signing but I believe he will help this team greatly. You can take this with a grain of salt...but JVG compared him to Marcus Camby....high draft picks that didn't work out but went to another team and carved a great niche. I would love if he turned into Camby...minus the injuries

Dallas still has the advantage in the backcourt and overall depth. If Daniels has the season I expect him to that advantage may even be bigger than it already is.

season series....2-2 split
playoffs....7 game series again


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## Mavericks_Fan (Apr 19, 2005)

tone wone said:


> when is the first game between these 2 teams?


November 22 in Dallas. So pretty early in the season.



tone wone said:


> ...I really like Dallas's team. Even though im a rocket homer i still consider the Mavs the better. I actually had Dallas having the best record in the West before San Antonio got Finley. Which is weird since I dont loosing Finely affects dallas at all.


I thought I was the only person who was a fan of all 3 Texas teams. I always have been since I was a teenager. I really want to see Houston do well this year, but just not against Dallas lol. So it's hard for me to be critical because I really like both teams.



tone wone said:


> I agree that some rocket fans may be putting too much into the Swift signing but I believe he will help this team greatly. You can take this with a grain of salt...but JVG compared him to Marcus Camby....high draft picks that didn't work out but went to another team and carved a great niche. I would love if he turned into Camby...minus the injuries


If he did turn into another Camby this would be a huge boost for Rockets. I am still skeptical like you, but time will tell I guess. I like that JVG is is a guy that doesn't seem to have a lot of tolerance for BS so if anyone can get this guy's head on straight it's him.



tone wone said:


> season series....2-2 split
> playoffs....7 game series again


Agreed.


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## The Future7 (Feb 24, 2005)

I look foward to this season series. These are two talented teams. I'm also a fan of both teams and I dont have much to say. Except for Go Mavs!


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## Eduardo (Jan 27, 2005)

Its all about chemistry baby. And no one has chemistry like the Rockets do


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## Pj5 (Sep 15, 2005)

LOL @ Mavericks_Fan. Yeah I like all three teams too, Mavs, Spurs and Rox in that order. 
I do believe the Rox will be a lot more challenging to beat this year with the addition of Swift and Anderson but so will the Mavs with the addition of Christie and Diop. Though Diop still has a lot of questions to answer, his shot blocking ability and size alone allows the Mavs to guard the low post better. With a healthy KVH, offense comes a lot easier as well. Dirk did struggle in previous playoffs but that only makes the series victory a lot sweeter because the Mavs still managed to win despite no KVH and that issue. Christie has been a lock down defender and all nba 2nd defensive team quite a number of times in the past few years so he will improve the Mavs defense through his tutelage and on court presence. Heck, if Finley at age 32 claims that he could learn legal and illegal tricks from Bowen, I don't see why JT, Howard and Daniel's (probably even Stack) could benefit from Christie's teaching. 

Can't wait to see this matchup. Like the Suns, I do hope there will be another playoff rematch.


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## Mavericks_Fan (Apr 19, 2005)

Pj5 said:


> I do believe the Rox will be a lot more challenging to beat this year with the addition of Swift and Anderson but so will the Mavs with the addition of Christie and Diop.


I still think people are making too much of Swift. I've always had a decent respect for Jeff Van Gundy, but I'm not so convinced of how much you can coach a player to not be lazy. Anderson is another over 30 guy on the team and who knows if he can even stay healthy for the season.



Pj5 said:


> With a healthy KVH, offense comes a lot easier as well. Dirk did struggle in previous playoffs but that only makes the series victory a lot sweeter because the Mavs still managed to win despite no KVH and that issue.


Yes, people need to remember that, besides injuries, Dirk played ball well below what you expect him to play in the playoffs and they still couldn't beat us. They took 2 games in our house and still couldn't beat us. What are they going to do this year with Dirk playing his usual self, a hopefully healthy KVH (and everyone else), and another year as a Maverick under Damp's belt to make him more stable in the middle?

Every year just about everyone counts the Mavericks out, so why should this season be any different?


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Mavericks_Fan said:


> I'm unconcerned with Swift. I think way too much was made of his signing when it's not exactly like Juwon was a horrid player. If Stromile will actually consistently bring his game to the court then I will happily change my opinion, but until he proves it it isn't there.


swift is a major upgrade over padgett, weatherspoon, bowen, baker, and the garbage that was the rockets backup pf position. so even if he is nothing more than a backup, he'll be a big improvement.


> If Yao continues to try to draw charges rather than block shots he will be sitting on the bench early with foul problems. Damp definitely has the strength to keep Yao off the block, but whether or not he'll do it without picking up his own cheap fouls remains to be seen.


how many times have you actually seen yao try to draw a charge instead of blocking a shot? it really doesn't happen all that often. i had never seen that even mentioned anywhere ever until one of the analysts brought it up. it really isn't that big of a problem.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Mavericks_Fan said:


> Yes, people need to remember that, besides injuries, Dirk played ball well below what you expect him to play in the playoffs and they still couldn't beat us. They took 2 games in our house and still couldn't beat us. What are they going to do this year with Dirk playing his usual self, a hopefully healthy KVH (and everyone else), and another year as a Maverick under Damp's belt to make him more stable in the middle?


and the rockets have added juwan howard, stromile swift, derek anderson, and luther head to the team that lost to dallas in 7 games. at the same time the mavs are getting back kvh but lost finley for christie. the rockets upgraded in talent, while the mavs lost a little talent. it should still be an interesting matchup and will unfortunately most likely be played in the 1st round.


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## Mavericks_Fan (Apr 19, 2005)

rocketeer said:


> swift is a major upgrade over padgett, weatherspoon, bowen, baker, and the garbage that was the rockets backup pf position. so even if he is nothing more than a backup, he'll be a big improvement.


I'm not saying you didn't have a weakness at PF, but I'm just worried that Swift will be very underwhelming. I mean, people are already talking about how he's going to average over 10 boards and 3 blocks this coming season and he's never shown the willingness to work that hard before. I'll be happy to be wrong about him cause I'd love for Houston to succeed, but if Stromile was going to do anything nearly like those number then why couldn't he get the minutes in Memphis? It's not like he was competing with Tim Duncan. Pao or no Pao, they would find minutes for him if he had shown willingness to work like that.



rocketeer said:


> how many times have you actually seen yao try to draw a charge instead of blocking a shot? it really doesn't happen all that often. i had never seen that even mentioned anywhere ever until one of the analysts brought it up. it really isn't that big of a problem.


He did it last season, although I will admit that wasn't his biggest problem. Foulwise he wouldn't stop setting moving screens. If he'd learn to stay planted on his picks he would've improved his foul situation dramatically.


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## Mavericks_Fan (Apr 19, 2005)

rocketeer said:


> and the rockets have added juwan howard, stromile swift, derek anderson, and luther head to the team that lost to dallas in 7 games. at the same time the mavs are getting back kvh but lost finley for christie. the rockets upgraded in talent, while the mavs lost a little talent. it should still be an interesting matchup and will unfortunately most likely be played in the 1st round.


Well, I really don't see losing Finley as a downgrade in talent. You take a 32 year old guy out of the lineup and you give extra minutes to your young, quick, athletic guys. There's a reason people have been screaming for 2-3 years for Mike to be taken out of the starting lineup or traded. He just was never there in clutch situations when we needed him. I like Mike, but it was time (past time) for him to go.

I think taking his minutes and dividing them up to Christie (defense and veteran floor leadership, and teaching defense to other guards), Josh Howard, and Marquis improve the team.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Mavericks_Fan said:


> Well, I really don't see losing Finley as a downgrade in talent. You take a 32 year old guy out of the lineup and you give extra minutes to your young, quick, athletic guys. There's a reason people have been screaming for 2-3 years for Mike to be taken out of the starting lineup or traded. He just was never there in clutch situations when we needed him. I like Mike, but it was time (past time) for him to go.
> 
> I think taking his minutes and dividing them up to Christie (defense and veteran floor leadership, and teaching defense to other guards), Josh Howard, and Marquis improve the team.


my biggest problem with the mavs losing finley is how are they going to replace the shooting? finley shot over 40% from 3 last year and is a career 37% 3 shooter. compare that to christie's 24%, daniels' 20%, and howard's almost 30% from 3 last season. stackhouse isn't a very good 3 shooter either. the only guard they have that can shoot and stretch the defense is terry and he's supposed to be the pg. i see that being a problem for the mavs especially in the postseason unless they can improve in that area.


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## Mavericks_Fan (Apr 19, 2005)

rocketeer said:


> my biggest problem with the mavs losing finley is how are they going to replace the shooting? finley shot over 40% from 3 last year and is a career 37% 3 shooter. compare that to christie's 24%, daniels' 20%, and howard's almost 30% from 3 last season. stackhouse isn't a very good 3 shooter either. the only guard they have that can shoot and stretch the defense is terry and he's supposed to be the pg. i see that being a problem for the mavs especially in the postseason unless they can improve in that area.


That could be a problem, but that's part of what Christie is there for. He will be used to run the offense in spurts to allow Terry to set up for jumpers on the wings similar to how he did with Bibby in Sacramento. Plus the hope (and again, this is hope...we have nothing to base this on YET) is that Marquis and J-Ho continue to improve their jumpers. I'll grant you that Stackhouse is a finished product and is never going to be a good 3 point threat.

Also, hopefully KVH won't be injured come playoff time this year like he was last year and that gives us another 3 point threat.


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