Mavs-Spurs: Why Is Damp Starting?

Video View: The Reasons Begin With Dampier's Pick-And-Roll Defense

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   Why is Erick Dampier starting?

   His PER doesn’t much register and his game isn’t pretty and we all await the use of The DUST Chip and his hands often seem to be lacking opposable thumbs.

    But consider the Spurs’ strengths and weaknesses … and consider the things Damp does that have kept him employed in the NBA for 14 years. … and we have ourselves a match worth analyzing via video:

    Now, what do we see?

    *The foundation of San Antonio’s offense is the pick-and-roll.

    *Damp smartly “shows’’ above the pick, creating a temporary double-team of the ball-handler and preventing the ball-handler’s dribble-drive …

    *And then once that’s accomplished, Damp quickly retreats to the rim, where he returns to guard Duncan and to protect the rim.

    *Throughout the process of “retreating,’’ Dampier remains alert as to Spurs ball movement, continuing to cut off potential passing angles.

    *And if Duncan ends up getting the ball, Dampier guards him without the assistance of a double-team, which in theory means the other four Mavs on the floor can stick with their own men.

    It’s not pretty. But it is one of the reasons Dallas so frequently limits San Antonio to no more than 97 points (four out of five times in last year’s playoffs, four out of five times this year).

     Add it up:

2009 Playoffs

Dallas 105, Spurs 97

Spurs 105, Dallas 84

Dallas 88, Spurs 67

Dallas 99, Spurs 90

Dallas 106, Spurs 93

 2009-10 Season (including Game 1)

 Spurs 92, Mavericks 83
 Mavericks 99, Spurs 94
 Mavericks 112, Spurs 103
 Mavericks 96, Spurs 89

 G1: Mavericks 100, Spurs 94 

    That’s a long sampling of defensive success. And Erick Dampier has been in the middle of all of it.

    There is one more aspect of Dampier’s game, at least as it applied to Game 1 … and it extends to Brendan Haywood, too.

    We observed during the second quarter of Game 1 that Mavs backup center Brendan Haywood was being set up nicely on offense on a sort of “clear-out’’ set for him in the paint. Dallas created ways for Big Wood to find himself alone down deep, with no available Spurs backside help … and the next thing you know, Haywood had seven points in five minutes (and didn’t get the foul call the Mavs wanted on a dunk attempt). Haywood was 4-of-5 from the floor for 10 points in the game, and Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair wasn’t much of an answer for him.

    Can Erick Dampier take advantage of the Spurs inside?

    He already did.

    One more chunk of DB.com Boards video (thanks, Bam). This is an assemblage of the Spurs’ fouls against Damp. Part of this, of course, is coach Gregg Popovich’s infamous “Cramp-a-Damp’’ strategy. The blatantly intentional fouls by Roger Mason on Dallas’ 62-percent free-thrower are in this video; there were three of those.

    But once again, take a moment to watch …

    And what do we see here?

    Dampier was indeed sent to the line for six free throws because of Cramp-a-Damp. But he attempted a total of 12 free throws. Why? Because as was the case with Haywood, the Spurs – even with defender Duncan on the floor -- didn’t do a good job of preventing Damp from receiving the ball inside, either.

    In other words, half of the fouls committed against Dampier were Cramp-a-Damp in order to keep Dirk Nowitzki from getting the ball and adding to his 36 points; the other half occurred because Dampier had the ball down low (in part because of guard penetration from Kidd and Terry) and a foul was the only way to prevent the Mavs’ “non-scoring’’ center from scoring.

    That's why Erick Dampier is a pivotal member of the Mavericks when they play the Spurs.