Don't suck tips for game 2

With game 2 between Mavs/Spurs tipping off in mere hours later tonight, I've compiled some trends you should watch for during the game to see if the Mavericks have made any adjustments from game 1.

DON'T SUCK TIP #1 - Defending the pick-and-roll
 
To be frank, the Mavericks defense of the pick and roll Sunday night was, for lack of a better word, poopy. No way in getting around it. As frustrating as Erik Dampier can be, there's a reason Rick Carlisle didn't give into my friends' demands as we were watching the game together on Sunday: Damp was defending better than Brendan Haywood. It might be hard to tell with Tim Duncan getting 27 points on 12-20 shooting, but Damp was routinely making life harder for Duncan than Haywood was.


Mainly Haywood was lost in any pick and roll involving Duncan. Which was pretty much every pick and roll. Watch and see if the Mavericks coverage and rotations against defending a Manu and Duncan P-N-R. It'll be a tell-tale sign of the Spurs offensive efficiency. (Spurs shot an even 50% in game 1)

DON'T SUCK TIP #2 - Get something more than resting your starters from the bench

Did the Mavericks bench complsuviely crap themselves on Sunday? Short answer: yes. Long answer: yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

A look at bench players' lines on Sunday:

 Jason Terry: 2-9 FG, 1-4 3PT FG, 5 points and 3 assists.

Brendan Haywood: 4-5 FG, 6 rebounds, 0 blocks, 10 points

JJ Barea/D. Stevenson: 0-2, 0 points.

If the Mavericks receive an equal or lesser (if that's possible) bench performance tonight, they will certainly lose.

DON'T SUCK #3 - Handle whatever tricks 'Pop' throws out there

Gregg Popovich is bound to have something up his sleeve for this game. Whether it's more 'clamp-a-damp' or starting and playing more Tony Parker or throwing 7 defenders at Dirk at a time, he'll do something.

The Mavericks have to be ready. Dirk needs to have the mindset that he's going to get bum rushed and be able to pass out of double teams. Jason Terry needs to be ready to hit more than one three pointer and Caron Butler needs to just do what he did Sunday. Dallas just doesn't need to freak out and be able to read and react to whatever Popovich throws out there.


There you have it, three full proof  tips on how the Mavs can avoid some game 2 suckage. Tip-off at 8:30 Texas time because Texas is awesome and deserves it's own time.

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