TAKE DAT WIT YOU 9/8

[embellisher]

Mavs actually had more important things to worry about last year...like making the playoffs.  It was not a given after the team struggled initially with all the Covid tests and such.

Maybe if they have a bigger buffer this year they can let KP work through inefficient stretches of basketball to see if he can get better.

I agree with this take. With all of the games missed due to covid, we didn't really have time to work on anything. We were trying to make the playoffs. 

I'm hoping that things will be a little more normal this year, and that we will be good enough to allow KP to work on his shortcomings during games. And also good enough to let Luka and KP work on their chemistry.

[michaeltex]

Oh, ok. You and Clutch were talking about two different things. You're right, of course, Dirk had to learn how to deal with double teams running at him. And the Golden State series shined a light on that. And it didn't take him long to learn from that series! I remember a few folks turning on Dirk after that, which was crazy.

BUT, what Clutch is saying happened too. Dirk had to figure out how to handle small defenders getting up into him. I'd have to research to remember when that was a focus, but I'm 99% that it was. I remember the discussions, and that he progressed fairly quickly to be able to punish that tactic.

Maybe I'm wrong, but this was the point where the one-legged fadaway was born, or at least became a signature move for Dirk. After the GSW series in 2007, undersized defenders never seemed to bother Dirk as much unless they were cheap shotting him.

[fifteenth]

Maybe I'm wrong, but this was the point where the one-legged fadaway was born, or at least became a signature move for Dirk. After the GSW series in 2007, undersized defenders never seemed to bother Dirk as much unless they were cheap shotting him.

Nothing to talk about, right? So I'll be nitpicky. I don't think the one legged fade was born out of learning to deal with smaller defenders getting up under him. It was developed as he got older and was looking for another tool since he wasn't driving as much. 

My memory, with no quotes to support it, is that conquoring problems with smaller defenders happened, like dealing with double teams, in the Avery era. Both became necessary at that time because he started posting up more under Avery. Pre-Avery, Dirk was in constant motion and didn't post up nearly as much, so he didn't run into the defenders underneath him and double teams much. Of course, going off of memory on things that happened 15 years ago, so there's that. 

"Holger actually didn't like the shot at the beginning. It was kind of something I made up myself. Holger's big thing on shots is balance, and he didn't like the balance. But I started using it more and more. I was getting older, the driving and driving was getting less and less. It was a way to get a good shot up and get a good look. Less work and a better payoff.

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/maveri...r-decades/

[michaeltex]

Nothing to talk about, right? So I'll be nitpicky. I don't think the one legged fade was born out of learning to deal with smaller defenders getting up under him. It was developed as he got older and was looking for another tool since he wasn't driving as much. 

My memory, with no quotes to support it, is that conquoring problems with smaller defenders happened, like dealing with double teams, in the Avery era. Both became necessary at that time because he started posting up more under Avery. Pre-Avery, Dirk was in constant motion and didn't post up nearly as much, so he didn't run into the defenders underneath him and double teams much. Of course, going off of memory on things that happened 15 years ago, so there's that. 




https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/maveri...r-decades/

So I got the timing right, just different motivation that I perceived. I remember Avery coming in and saying he wanted to get Dirk posting up more, so I guess the 1LSB was a reaction to having to shoot over a defender instead of getting open through movement. (KP, are you paying attention?)

Dirk's move was so automatic and everyone has that image of him punishing a defender with a move everyone knew he was going to do. That's a mark of greatness like Duncan's bank shot or Kareem's Skyhook.

A little off topic, but I don't know why every 7'+ guy isn't practicing that hook shot until it's automatic. Not as dramatic as a dunk, but it still takes the heart out of a defense to know it's coming and not being able to do much about it.