06-20-2021, 04:10 PM
(06-20-2021, 04:02 PM)Time Machine Dirk Wrote: Was the move effective in your perception? My impression was that we played good defense due to the twin towers in the middle of a zone defense. However, there is the possibility that the Mavs better play and good defense in game five just came about due to better effort...I don't know...
Yeah, good questions.
Here's how I think, right or wrong:
I think Boban is one of the worst defensive players in the NBA. Frankly, I don't think he should be in the NBA anymore, and wouldn't be if he wasn't such an amazing human being with such a magnetic personality.
I think zone is a great way of changing the pace when your defense is bad, causing the other team to temporarily second guess how to attack you. I don't believe it's a magic way to cure all defensive issues for an extended period. Not even a full game, let alone the last three games of a playoff series. Now, a GOOD defensive team can use zone to the same confusing effect and it becomes even more of a weapon. The example that comes to mind immediately is Miami from the bubble playoffs. THAT zone was CRAZY good.
When it was announced that Boban would be starting, I lost myself to despair, because I viewed it (correctly, I still think) as the Mavs basically saying "well, it's clear we're not as good, so let's get weird with this." I freely admit that the super big zone confused the Clippers a bit in the first quarter of that first game (game 5, I think, but maybe it was game 6). But I STRONGLY disagree with those who believe that had Carlisle played that way MORE over the course of the rest of the series they would have advanced. I believe the utter futility of this tactic down the stretch of game 7 supports this opinion, but it IS only my opinion.