Dirk D’d Up

McDyess Proves Frustrating and Effective

I’d seen that look on his face before.

After Dirk was whistled for an offensive foul while jostling for position with McDyess, he had a look of frustration that reminded me of the Hornets series two years ago, or worse yet, the Golden State series when Dirk was stifled and Dallas fell to the eighth seed. Seeing that look on Dirk’s face made me think that he should have been taken out of the game in order to calm himself and refocus even though there were still 5 minutes left in the third. Instead, Carlisle decided to emphasize his frustrated forward, running a series of ISO plays at the top of the key for him. The next possession they isolated Dirk in the center of the floor and McDyess frustrated him into passing it. A few possessions later a dizzyed and angry Dirk was wildly throwing it out of bounds, and San Antonio was about to tie it up after being down 15.

McDyess has been playing exceptional straight up defense on Dirk this entire series with the possible exception of the first game when Dirk was just simply on fire. McDyess matched up primarily with Dirk in the second game and Dirk laid brick after brick, shooting 9-24. McDyess bodies up Dirk and puts his hand straight up in his face like Bruce Bowen used to do, but at 6-9 he can actually bother Nowitzki’s vision on the shot. He also apparently has the both the quickness and strength to stop Dirk’s drives, because Dirk has rarely driven on him in this series.

Popovich took McDyess out a few minutes later which I thought was surprising since he’d been so effective on Dirk, like taking out a shooter in the middle of a hot streak after one brick. However, I suppose it was due to McDyess getting his fourth foul. Richard Jefferson then matched up on Dirk, and Dirk repeatedly drove on the smaller, quicker player, which eventually resulted in a whack to the face from Jefferson–a “Nose for a Nose” as J.A. Adande tweeted–which drew a flagrant and resulted in more free throws.

However, Dejuan Blair made several great plays in a row, most of them in the hustle department, which opened the lead for the Spurs. I’m still completely baffled that all 30 teams passed on him in the draft. If he wasn’t backing up Tim Duncan, he would be in the rookie of the year discussion. Are his knees that much of a liability that you can’t make a 3 year commitment to him? Don’t they have insurance for that type of thing?

In the fourth quarter Dirk only rested for 30 seconds because Najera pulled Ginobili to the ground in a truly over the top foul. I love Najera, but this was uncalled for and seemed almost a blatant attempt to further hurt him (unless Ginobili was flopping, but it didn’t seem like it). Than Popovich switched to a tactic of double teaming Dirk. The double teaming reminded me of Golden State’s tactic, where they would wait until Dirk is in the middle of his patented spin move before bringing the double. With Timmy covering the German, McDyess pulled this move to perfection and Dirk lost the ball when he spun right into him. However the refs bailed Dirk out, calling a baffling foul on McDyess. I’ve often wondered why teams don’t all guard Dirk in a similar fashion to Don Nelson’s Golden State troops. His game hasn’t really changed since then.

Later in the game Dirk started in deeper position and when the double came, he was able to find a wide open Jason Terry, who hit some clutch 3s and almost brought the Mavs back. This is why Popovich has mostly stuck to single coverage on Dirk this series. McDyess’ fine defensive play has helped the Spurs put the Mavs on the brink of elimination.