A Tough Loss in Dallas

Posted by Matt Sanchez on November 04, 2009

There I was sitting, giggling and telling everyone that we were finally going to win on the road on a back-to-back!

Just then, part way through the 4th quarter with the Jazz up 13 Dirk Nowitzki’s statline appears on the screen.  “Wow, Dirk only has 11 points.  He’s not the guy you want to get hot,” I said.

Dirk goes crazy, has 29 points in the quarter alone-single-handidly outscoring the Jazz by 11.  And just like that, the Jazz go from a double digit vitory to a double digit loss that left us all feeling like we were stabbed in the back.

Well, what happened?  Why the collapse?  Why could nobody stop Nowitzki?

I have the answer for you: Coaching.

Nowitzki was given the ball each and every time down the court and he scored on 7-8 field goals and went 14-14 from the charity stripe.

Memo was the man responsible for defending Dirk but could not stop him.  Nowitzki would isolate at the top of the 3-point line and simply drive around Okur like he was Michael Jordan.  Memo was not getting any help and was left on an island to guard the 7-foot shooter by himself.

You can’t blame Memo.  Nobody ever confused him with a defensive player.  I mean, he can play decent D on occasion but the only time I’ve ever seen him lock someone down was in the ‘07 playoffs agsint Yao Ming.

Here’s where coaching comes into play.  Okur could do nothing to stop Germany’s finest from scoring.  Sloan should have made adjustments.  Take Memo out of the game and put AK or Millsap on Dirk.  They could have at least kept him in front of them and not let him waltz wherever he wanted to go.

Sloan sticks to his rotations religiously and it’s hurt the Jazz for years.  He needs to make changes and go with the players that help the team that particular night.

**Sidenote:  I realize I am not a coach of any kind.**

Hypothetical…if Deron was having a horrible night and Ronnie Price went off for 50 points, Price would not even sniff the court down the stretch.  Why? because Sloan believes in rotations.

All this being said, I still think the Jazz can turn it around and get on track to this young season.

2 Comments

Boondock Saint (Zak) on November 05, 2009 said:

Bingo….adjustments need to be made during the course of the game. I still think that is, in part, why we lost against Houston. Deron was sitting the first 5 or so mins of the 4th while the Rockets dug a deep hole for us.

Ben H on November 05, 2009 said:

We definitely struggle when D-Will is on the pine. E. Maynor will be fine, but he needs confidence. He’s had a rough go this far.
I like it that Price has taken him under his wing. I’d love to see Maynor develop into a Price-type player, minus the highlight-reel dunks, and plus the assists.

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