Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry needs to stop talking and start producing - NBA Special
If you have followed the NBA Finals 2011, there is one fact that could not have escaped your attention - Dirk Nowitzki is having to do it all for the Dallas Mavericks. In a team renowned for its offence, Nowitzki regularly provides the x-factor that makes them so dangerous. The German has taken his game to an even higher level in the post season, but the NBA Finals so far have seen his support cast fall short.
In the two games that the Mavericks have lost in this series, Dirk Nowitzki scored the game high points, but his teammates didn’t do themselves justice. In the game that Dallas won, Nowitzki took over right at the death after the rest of the team gave him a solid platform to do so.
A reasonable conclusion from considering the above facts is that Dirk’s colleague’s need to step it up. And at the front of that queue is Jason Terry. With Caron Butler out injured, Terry is by far the Mavs most potent offensive weapon after Dirk himself. However apart from game 2, Terry has struggled to deliver.
That hasn’t stopped him from making statement after statement about how he and the Mavs are going to win, how he is going to upstage LeBron and what not. Terry even claimed that he was the man to go to with the game on the line and Dirk came after him,
“I’m for myself — always — first. Then I go with Dirk — that’s my guy.”
A look at the highlights of game 3 reveal that Terry was set up for a three in the Mavs late rally. The shot could have turned the tide completely in Dallas’ favour but Terry missed it. He later had a chance for a jumper, but he missed that as well. In the two games that the Mavericks have lost, Terry is 0-of-7 in the final quarters. For all his talk, Terry has failed to deliver when the Mavs have needed him the most.
A big part of that equation has been LeBron James. James guarded Terry in the fourth quarter of game-3 and didn’t give the point guard any breathing space. Terry’s response? Well he couldn’t respond on the court, so he decided to give it a go off it.
“I’m welcoming the challenge. Again, we’ll see if he can do it for seven games. Can he do it again in Game 4? You never know. A lot of guys wear down.”
Jason Terry’s superb performance against the Los Angeles Lakers, when he made NBA playoffs history with nine 3-point shots in a single game, seems to be still on the player’s mind. It has visibly boosted his confidence and Terry has probably been the most vocal player on either team.
Among other things, he also boldly declared that he would be the one relieving the burden on Dirk Nowitzki,
“He needs some help. I’ll be there to lend him a hand the rest of the way.”
For all the sound bites Terry has produced, he hasn’t backed them up on the floor and his constant reminders of how he is going to do it all are starting to become annoying. Still, Dirk needs help and if anyone on that team can help Dirk out, it is Jason Terry.
The “Jet” now needs to start doing his talking on the court.
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