SBG doesn't seem to be around, so I'll fill in for him tonight. I assume this also means I'll spend most of the game log talking to myself. The Wolves come into this game off of a dominating performance by our young boys in New Orleans. Dallas is 9-5 on the season, but is currently riding a 3-game losing streak.
The most interesting match up in this game is going to be the one between Big Al and Nowitzki. Despite the fact that they both play the power forward position, these two big men have very contrasting styles. Big Al relies on his quickness in the low post and can command double teams while Nowitzki relies on his shooting touch to draw opposing big men out of the paint and create open space in the lane.
There was a lot of talk about Nowitzki being an MVP candidate last season, but I don't think he was ever a serious contender. He's a great player for sure, but an MVP type player he is not. Let's compare what the two have done so far this season:
| Dude | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirk | 21.4 | 8.6 | 4.1 | 1.1 | .477 |
| Big Al | 19.8 | 11.0 | 1.3 | 1.1 | .520 |
Big Al has arguably been better than Dirk so far this season on the offensive end and both he and Dirk are mediocre defenders. As Big Al matures, I would expect him to get better at passing out of the post and we would expect to see his assist numbers go up quite a bit.
The line for the games is Dallas -14 with the total set at 197. I think the huge Dallas line is just a case of people not wanting to bet the Wolves at a more reasonable line, so I'll put my 110 SBG bucks on the Wolves.
Thanks for filling in -- I forgot about the game tonight until I heard about it on the way home. I'm going to do the same Wolves + 14.
It's good to see you not betting on our opponents to cover huge spreads anymore.
Sweet, looks like I get tonight's game in HD. This will be the first FSNN game I've gotten in HD since Directv added it.
There was a lot of talk about Nowitzki being an MVP candidate last season, but I don't think he was ever a serious contender.
Except for the part where he got the most votes and won the award...
Yeah, oops. I forgot that he actually won. He certainly didn't deserve it. There were probably 5-10 players who deserved it more than him. KG, Nash, and LBJ all come to mind...
You're kidding about KG, right? Last year?
In the NBA, it's pretty much a given that you're not going to get any votes unless you're on a playoff team (it's even worse than in baseball). Statistically, KG had higher averages in rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals than Dirk and only trailed him by 2 ppg. I'm not saying that KG deserved the MVP last season, but he was certainly better than Dirk.
Nice pass by Marko.
Really sloppy play by the Wolves in the first half. Hopefully they can figure out how to clean it up and make a game out of this somehow.
Looks like I picked the wrong game to stop
sniffing gluepicking against the Wolves.And the Wolves could use a young Roger Murdoch.
Over, Ouver.
You may have spoken too soon. Wolves finish the quarter on a big run and now are only down by 6. They could actually win this game! We'll see if they can flip the script and Dallas can be the team who plays terribly down the stretch.
Yep. Pretty good fight in the Wolves tonight.
That's 3 layups in a row that Brewer has missed. Guh.