Sunday, December 30, 2007

Finding the right mix from downtown

Too much of anything usually isn’t a good thing. While that may serve as a valuable holiday reminder, the purposes of this discussion revolve around life outside the arc.

The 3-point shot has long been a favorite weapon for the Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry have been among the league’s best shooters from that distance. Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse have the green light from downtown. Eddie Jones, in his first season in Dallas, has made more than 1,500 3-pointers in his career.

But letting them fly without regard is akin to drinking a gallon of eggnog at one sitting. It’s typically not pretty.

“There’s a fine line,” coach Avery Johnson said Sunday afternoon after practice. “Even with our good 3-point shooters, I want them to first think about getting to the basket. My whole thing is and our whole system is how do we get points in the paint? Especially being a team that’s not a big-time post-up team, we have to get points at the basket with penetration.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Penetration for this team is NOT due to a lack of energy. The Mavs are one of the deepest benchese in the league and have no reason to be "unenergetic". This team doesn't penetrate because of a combination of laziness, fear, inability and habit. Like Avery said, sometimes it is easier to pull up for a shot rather than attack the hoop. Sometimes I think this team is afraid to enter the paint. Some players don't have the handles to drive in the lane and score. And lastly, before Avery, this team just had the habit of shooting the jump shot. Avery is trying to change things, but not quickly enough.