Situation: You're on a team that's up by one point with 7 seconds on the clock. No timeouts availabe for either team - the opponent has just taken his last one, and they're about to inbound the ball. Which team is it that you most would dread facing?
Understand - this is a question about team philosophy, execution, your ability to know what's coming and to deal with it, and even the competency of the opponent's coaching.
It's easy to say, "I'd dread facing the Lakers." Not me. I *KNOW* who's getting the ball and taking that shot. I don't know necessarily where or how, but in such a case, I'd forgo defending the inbounder and add an additional defender on Kobe. Jackson's a good coach (supposedly), but he's not particularly creative in this instance. Granted, this is the situation Kobe lives for, and performs well in. I might get burned by a Derek Fisher shot, but do I *REALLY* *BELIEVE* that Kobe's going to give the ball up in this situation? No.
Ditto with the Spurs. The ball is going to Ginobili. Ginobili might get it to Duncan, but the ball's going to be in Ginobili's hands.
Miami doesn't scare me. As long as Spoelstra's there, that ball will most likely be in Wade's hands. And while it's a potent offensive team, there are a lot of folks I don't have to worry about too much on that team.
Orlando doesn't scare me. Van Gundy isn't an offensive genius, and the best player on the team - Howard - isn't likely to be the guy they go to. I'd have been a bit more scared if they still had Carter.
Utah scares me a little. Execution is their name, and Sloan is famous for getting the Jazz good looks - from lots of different people - after timeouts. And with the ball in the hands of Williams, he may take it himself, or he may set someone else up (that someone else likely being Okur) - or possibly a Millsap dunk at the rim. But I'm going to focus on denying Williams, and I'll risk that Sloan set it up for him to make the decision.
Denver scares me a bit. Karl is creative, and the ball will probably be in the hands of Billups or Anthony; in Billups case, the danger is in him going to Anthony, and in Anthony's case, the danger is in him being a gifted scorer. But how much would I be worried if the ball ended up in the hands of J.R. Smith? For all you know, he might be stupid enough to shoot at the wrong basket.
Boston scares me a bit, but only really because of Ray Allen's quickness in getting off a shot. But I'm not all that sold on Doc Rivers or Paul Pierce, and I'm not worried about Rondo hitting a shot to beat me, and again, I don't know that the team's best player - Garnett - is going to be the one taking the shot.
So what team really terrifies me? *DALLAS*. Carlisle is a creative offensive coach, and he's got a ton of weapons to use - not the least one of which is Jason Kidd, who's one of the best at picking out which of his targets has the best shot. You're going to face a line-up of Nowtizki, Marion, Butler (were he available), Kidd, Terry, Barea, and Beaubois - some combination of them. If you guess wrong...or get crossed up on a screen....
And that's what really intrigues me about Dallas. If the game is close, I don't want them to have the ball at the end of the game. And that's why I think they're going to be a force to deal with.
