Dirk Nowitzki Off 1 Foot And 1 vs Lakers 5/4/2011 Video Highlight

Dirk Nowitzki is soft. Never forget this NBA fans. Never forget this despite the innumerable 20+ point playoff performances, the incredible clutch shots he makes, the work he puts into making his incredible one-legged fadeaways.

Yes people, he practices shots like this. As good an NBA player as he is, what is Pau Gasol supposed to do with THAT?

(via nbafufu)

Nowitzki finished with a modest 24 points, but also only needed 16 shots to get that, and also pulled down seven rebounds. And if you watch his nine field goal makes, you can only hope that gravity forces that shot down a few inches short or beyond the rim. Wild shots for everyone else equals normal shots for Dirk.

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Final Score Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Lots of numbers these days. After I did the Statistical Recap of the series against the Portland Trail Blazers Saturday, here are the numbers for the series against the Los Angeles Lakers. A few comments about the procedure first because I changed it slightly compared to the Statistical Roundup of the first round:
The "Starting Lineups" are actually the two most important lineups for both teams. There is still an issue with the sample size of the Mavericks starting unit. They played 207 possessions now. The Lakers starting unit has 1589. Also there is one important lineup for both teams that should be somehow included in the numbers: The 6th-man lineups consisting of Jason Terry for DeShawn Stevenson and Lamar Odom for Andrew Bynum. Both are not bench lineups with my definition because they consist of only one bench player and are also not the starting lineups. So I decided two include them into the "Starting Lineup" comparison.

Here we go:

Overall	DAL	Opp	LAL	Opp	Advantage
Efficiencies	109.85	105.12	111.13	104.34	1.03
Points in the Paint pp100	40.54	46.12	48.80	43.65	5.36
Points off Turnovers pp100	16.73	16.49	16.21	16.62	0.32
Fastbreak Points pp100	15.75	15.20	12.46	14.77	1.43
Field Goals Attempted pp100	86.41	88.77	89.95	88.90	0.46
Field Goals Made pp100	40.91	39.97	41.64	40.47	0.34
Field Goal Percentage	47.35%	45.03%	46.29%	43.80%	0.08%
3-Field Goals Attempted pp100	23.63	19.77	19.69	22.75	3.02
3-Field Goals Made pp100	8.65	6.73	6.96	7.98	1.13
3-Field Goal Percentage	36.58%	34.05%	35.32%	33.41%	0.31%
Free Throws Attempted pp100	24.96	24.51	26.76	23.61	2.03
Free Throws Made pp100	19.38	18.44	20.89	18.19	1.48
Free Throw Percentage	77.64%	75.24%	78.07%	76.33%	0.33%
Effective Field Goal Percentage	52.35%	48.82%	50.16%	47.79%	0.58%
True Shooting Percentage	56.40%	52.80%	54.62%	51.56%	0.27%
Free Throws / Field Goals Attempted	22.43%	20.78%	23.22%	18.60%	1.49%
Defensive Rebounding Percentage	74.89%	75.60%	72.67%	70.62%	1.38%
Offensive Rebounding Percentage	24.40%	25.11%	29.38%	27.33%	1.38%
Steals pp100	7.36	8.22	7.95	7.60	0.49
Turnover Percentage	15.23%	14.80%	14.36%	15.07%	0.49%
Assist Percentage	63.24%	56.06%	57.45%	60.78%	5.26%
Assist/Turnover-Ratio	1.70	1.51	1.67	1.63	0.08
Block Percentage	5.42%	4.72%	6.34%	5.36%	0.14%
Fouls pp100	21.16	22.18	20.99	22.07	0.49

As expected the overall comparison slightly favors the Lakers. They own the edge in rebounding, getting to the line and turnovers while the Mavericks take the overall shooting categories and ball handling in general because of the great advantage in the ball sharing category (Assists). Also L.A. should have a huge advantage in Points-in-the-Paint with their big front line.

Starting Lineup	DAL	Opp	LAL	Opp	Advantage
Efficiencies	120.87	99.79	114.75	102.51	4.42
Field Goals Attempted pp100	83.06	90.03	92.11	92.12	3.48
Field Goals Made pp100	41.22	36.73	44.27	40.86	0.54
Field Goal Percentage	49.67%	40.79%	48.06%	44.35%	2.59%
3-Field Goals Attempted pp100	19.84	22	16.19	20.05	0.85
3-Field Goals Made pp100	8.37	6.97	6.19	6.73	0.97
3-Field Goal Percentage	42.21%	31.00%	38.38%	33.37%	3.10%
Free Throws Attempted pp100	35.02	25.88	25.55	18.36	0.98
Free Throws Made pp100	30.06	19.37	20.03	14.07	2.37
Free Throw Percentage	83.85%	74.31%	78.23%	76.62%	3.96%
Effective Field Goal Percentage	54.70%	44.69%	51.37%	48.01%	3.32%
True Shooting Percentage	61.27%	49.21%	51.42%	51.15%	5.90%
Free Throws / Field Goals Attempted	36.87%	21.63%	21.74%	15.28%	4.39%
Defensive Rebounding Percentage	74.26%	70.75%	73.28%	69.15%	0.31%
Offensive Rebounding Percentage	29.26%	25.74%	30.85%	26.72%	0.31%
Steals pp100	7.29	8.83	8.51	7.31	1.37
Turnover Percentage	16.12%	14.10%	13.64%	15.01%	1.70%
Assist Percentage	64.66%	56.08%	55.80%	62.75%	7.77%
Assist/Turnover-Ratio	1.66	1.46	1.81	1.71	0.05
Block Percentage	5.18%	4.46%	6.47%	5.33%	0.21%
Fouls pp100	21.7	27.74	18.94	24.04	0.47

That surprised me. Have been talking a lot about the Mavericks starting unit which owned a negative Efficiency Differential throughout the first round. Note that both the starting unit and the 6th-man unit are included here and that these are the combined numbers from the regular season and the playoffs because I wasn't comfortable using the small sample size of the first round.
Overall advantage goes to the Mavericks. They once again take the shooting categories but also own the advantages in all ball handling and free throw categories. Lakers still are projected to have the advantage in rebounding. I originally thought that this should go L.A.'s way. Instead the Mavericks are projected to take a 4.42 advantage in Efficiency Differential. I am really intrigued how that will play out.

Top5 Bench Lineups	DAL	Opp	LAL	Opp	Advantage
Efficiencies	116.44	107.82	108.68	102.80	1.37
Field Goals Attempted pp100	86.77	87.66	89.39	90.84	0.28
Field Goals Made pp100	44.67	40.68	39.85	37.95	1.05
Field Goal Percentage	51.45%	46.41%	44.71%	41.91%	1.12%
3-Field Goals Attempted pp100	20.87	18.82	23.82	23.28	0.76
3-Field Goals Made pp100	8.44	6.66	7.88	8.42	1.16
3-Field Goal Percentage	40.33%	35.48%	33.03%	36.74%	4.27%
Free Throws Attempted pp100	25.05	26.73	26.99	23.64	2.52
Free Throws Made pp100	18.65	19.81	21.10	18.48	1.89
Free Throw Percentage	73.56%	73.70%	78.33%	76.71%	0.88%
Effective Field Goal Percentage	56.31%	46.41%	49.15%	46.58%	3.66%
True Shooting Percentage	59.53%	50.21%	53.74%	50.82%	3.20%
Free Throws / Field Goals Attempted	21.91%	21.91%	23.75%	20.60%	1.58%
Defensive Rebounding Percentage	72.69%	74.61%	72.00%	71.68%	1.13%
Offensive Rebounding Percentage	25.39%	27.31%	28.32%	28.00%	1.13%
Steals pp100	7.10	8.17	7.07	8.60	0.23
Turnover Percentage	14.48%	15.53%	15.22%	15.13%	0.57%
Assist Percentage	60.42%	59.02%	61.18%	61.56%	0.89%
Assist/Turnover-Ratio	1.93	1.56	1.65	1.62	0.17
Block Percentage	5.89%	5.25%	6.18%	5.47%	0.04%
Fouls pp100	22.20	24.16	24.45	21.92	2.25

This was about to be expected. Bench play goes the Mavs way. The big picture doesn't change. Rebounding and creating foul shots is Lakers territory, shooting and ball handling the Mavericks.

Overall I can't really believe this is the blueprint of how the series will play out. I think we'll still struggle with our starting unit and right now Odom should have the advantage in the 6th-man battle. Both Chandler and Terry stated to be highly motivated though and they will have to step up big time. The Lakers bench really doesn't concern me that much. I think it could be an easier series for Barea on the offensive end and you should also closely watch Roddy as the Lakers had trouble with speedy guards all season long. The odds are favoring the Lakers but some some statisticians agree that the Mavs have a shot in the series. BBRef projects a 50:50 series based on their Post-Deadline ratings with the only advantage for the Lakers being home court. So bring it on!

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Dallas Mavericks’ Bench is Texas Sized

If there is one thing I took away from the Mavericks’ Game 1 victory over the Lakers it’s this: Dallas is a much deeper team than Los Angeles.

Anyone could look at the statistics and be able to tell you the Mavericks had a better bench than the Lakers this season. After all, the Mavericks had the fifth highest scoring bench in the league, compared to 27th for the Lakers.

However, I didn’t realize just how dangerous the Mavericks’ depth is going to be for the Lakers until Game 1 on Monday. In fact, the advantage is so glaring, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be the difference in what looks to be a competitive series.

One reason the Lakers have been perceived as a deep team the last couple of seasons is Lamar Odom. For someone who follows the Lakers closely, I have always been hard pressed to consider Odom a bench player.

Maybe it is all of the games he has started in place of Andrew Bynum over the years, or the fact Odom usually finishes the game for the Lakers.

Last night, Odom scored 15 points. The combination of Matt Barnes, Steve Blake and Shannon Brown combined for a measly ten points for Los Angeles. Peja Stojakovic himself had ten for the Mavericks. Corey Brewer even got in on the action, scoring five points in eight minutes.

At the end of the Game 1, the Mavericks’ reserves had outscored the Lakers’ bench 40-25. Keep in mind, this was on the road, where bench players aren’t supposed to play as well.

Despite the gritty comeback the Mavericks staged, and the way the team forced the Lakers into low percentage jump shots in the second half, it was the Mavericks’ depth that stood out to me as a possible difference maker as the series continues.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the Mavericks’ bench certainly lived up to this credo in Game 1.

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