Some questions. A few answers.

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

I'm not figuring out why RickyD is not fitting in on offense. Is he not 
getting enough shots, not getting the ball where he wants or just needs more time 
to fit in? I think he is thinking too hard about not looking selfish and is 
looking to defer and pass too much. Maybe this comes in time or maybe Obie tells 
him that we got him to score and he needs to think less about passing and more 
about taking it hard to the hole....

Banks is really coming on with his defense, decision making and shooting. Who 
thinks he will be the game finisher by the end of the year?....

Anyone notice that Jiri never passes it to Banks at the beginning of the 
break even when Banks calls for it?....

I thought Baker had a little more lift on that first dunk than I had seen in 
awhile, although nothing like he had at the beginning of the season. It is 
amazing what frequent alcohol will do to the body. However, Vin didn't seem to 
even try to rebound......

The Cs are putting up big numbers on offense and they have good shooters and 
offensive weapons. The problem is that the three of the four guys who can 
create their own offense don't finish the game in Banks, RickyD and Baker. 
Therefore, if PP can't break through the two guys who are sagging on him, the only 
other offensive options you got are the three point launching attack of Walta, 
James and Jiri or a possible pass to the cutting Blount who doesn't catch or 
finish well. Not good. Jiri can create offense  with his dribble in the open 
court but he just doesn't have the quickness to beat the average guy off the 
dribble.....

The biggest problem for the Cs right now is defense and rebounding. The 
culprit has been Dick Harter's defense. Has its time come and gone? I heard Nellie 
on the radio yesterday and he said the reason why the Mavs defense is so poor 
is that they have five guys who can't play a lick of defense. He said they 
were one of the better teams on defense last year with their zone but many teams 
this year are running a zone and they are all now familiar with it. (I have 
also heard that the Mavs have 36 called offensive plays versus 4 defensive 
plays. I wonder how many offensive plays the Cs have or better, how many they had 
last year?) Nellis also defended the Twan trade by saying the Raef was hurt and 
would have been out for the year anyways. 

But I digress. Power forward seems to be the problem area for defense and 
rebounding. Playing Mihm and Blount together does improve the rebounding. But 
neither guy brings any offense or defense. Mihm is the better rebounder and 
finisher. But Blount moves better on his feet and plays the Harter defense better. 
So really, both guys are centers. Then you got Walta and Hunter who are 
probably more like small forwards, although I would like to see what Hunter can do. 
Vin's contribution on the offensive end outweighed his defensive and 
rebounding deficiencies earlier in the year. In fact, his earlier condition made him a 
factor on the offensive board. Can we get back to that or can we depend on 
him? I don't think so. So we're stuck right now. We need a young power forward 
like Ray said. If Raef is the long term starter at that position, it is too bad 
we don't have the young guy gaining the experience right now when he is out. 
But I don't think Danny makes the trade for him right now. Who would you give 
up? Everyone is part of the long term plan. 

Long term core
Center - Mihm, Perkins and Blount is the holdover until Perkins is ready
Power Forward - Raef 
Small Forward - PP
Shooting Guard - RickyD, Jiri
Point Guard - Banks 

On the other hand, they show the Cs being interested in Theo Ratliff. A Mihm 
and Mills would get it done from a salary perspective and probably would be 
plenty from a talent perspective. Theo was an allstar but is often injured. He 
probably plays the Harter defense better but so what? His contract is out after 
next year. I just don't see anything getting done because I just don't see it 
helping us that much unless Danny thinks that Mihm will get too big of a 
contract as a restricted free agent. If that is true, the possibility greatly 
increases. But you got to think that the Mavericks are offering big stuff to get 
Theo....

DJessen33

DJessen33