Heard It Through the Grapevine 2-5-09

Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 5, 2009 under The Grapevine |

• The second quarter appeared to be the Mavs’ defining moment in last night’s game, and the Blazers fans felt our fury.  From Dave of Blazers Edge: “But before we get to that, let’s talk about the second quarter.  You could have stuck a little orange sticker on it, marked it 5-cents, put it out on your lawn, and every old geezer and amateur collector in town would have passed it by with an upturned nose.  I firmly believe that people who take their pets out to the back roads and dump them are some of the biggest jerks on the planet.  But if that second quarter were in my house we’d be loading up the pickup as we speak.  Actually that would probably be too cruel to the wilderness.  You could tie that thing in a sack and throw it in the river and the river would throw it right back.  The Blazers were to defense what Hudson Hawk was to Bruce Willis movies.  The offense was more isolated than the chem geek at the Winter Formal.  The Blazers hit 7 total shots, Travis Outlaw’s six-foot pull-up was the closest to the rim by far, and the only assists were on a pair of three-pointers.  We didn’t draw any foul shots either.  Meanwhile the Mavericks feasted on 30-points’ worth of Blazer largesse.  We dug a 14 point hole in the period from which we never escaped.”
• I don’t think Rick Carlisle gets nearly enough credit for what he does with the Mavs.  Taking over a team like this may seem like a pretty simple situation, but I’m sure Detroit’s Michael Curry or Phoenix’s Terry Porter might disagree with you.  Rick has approached his post with hard work and humility, and personally I think he’s done an excellent job tweaking the Mavs’ gameplan and roster given what this team is capable (and, conversely, incapable) of.  Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com has a fine piece up this morning about Carlisle’s ability to put his ego aside and just get things done: “An ego-driven coach would’ve forced his offensive and defensive philosophies down the throat of his underlings. Instead, from the very start, Carlisle told me and anyone else who would listen that his Mavs would build on ‘the defensive plan that Avery had already established.’ And offensively? Would an ego-driven coach hand over the bulk of play-calling duties to a player? Nellie didn’t do that. Avery didn’t do that. Slick Rick did it … and he did it without an announcement of his generosity and without billboarding how ‘he’d brought these players along so they are ready.’’”
• Barry Horn of The Dallas Morning News blog poses an interesting question: if all this “OMG MICHAEL PHELPS WITH A BONG” business was instead Josh Howard with a bong, how much uproar would there be?  20/20?  Outside the Lines?  His own made-for-TV movie?  Phelps may be America’s golden boy, but he has had prior indiscretions.  Just something to think about, and no, I’m not going to touch that elephant in the room.
• Jake of Mavs Moneyball breaks down what the Mavs’ recent surge means, and I think all of us are probably inclined to hope for the best.  We’ve seen some real improvement in a lot of areas in the last few games, and that refreshing contrast is enough to get anyone’s imagination working.  But is it enough (whatever that means)?  Will it last?  What happens next?  All legitimate questions.
• Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News doesn’t sound so optimistic.  The defense worries him, and perhaps rightfully so: “The Blazers shot 48 percent for the game. Through three quarters, it was at 52 percent. The Mavericks have been on an offensive roll lately, but even the most skilled shooting and the most fluid play on that end won’t last. When the shots weren’t falling so frequently in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks’ defense wasn’t good enough to save them. The only thing that did was that they had a nice buffer.”
• Jason Kidd is now fourth place on the All-Time assists list, above Oscar Robertson.  Assuming Magic tops the list with Stockton at second, where does Kidd fall on the list of the best points of all-time?
• Stay alert, Mavs fans; trade season may be upon us.  Apparently the trade wins aren’t exactly blowing up a gale at the moment, but as we eek closer and closer to the trade deadline, something big could happen.  From Tim MacMahon of The Dallas Morning News blog, Mark Cuban doesn’t seem too preoccupied with the Mavs’ recent success to consider a big deal if the right one comes along: “‘I’m always looking for bargains, because it’s more expensive to lose than it is to win,’ Cuban said. ‘That’s the way I’ve always looked at it. That doesn’t mean I want to do something over the edge, but if I think it’s an over-the-top move, I’ll definitely do it.’”
• Jan Hubbard of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram sees some swag in the Mavs: “The confidence the Mavericks project on the court is profoundly new. They should have had their fourth consecutive double-digit victory Wednesday night, but they still had enough composure to get the victory. Their body language is far different on the court now than it was two weeks ago. They actually have a bit of swagger about them, and that is also new.”

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