Heard It Through the Grapevine

Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 3, 2009 under The Grapevine |

• No formal recap of last night’s game; I had a final today, and that video was about all I could muster. But it was essentially a one quarter affair. 49 points in one quarter will go a long way, and in this case the Mavs used it as an excuse to turn in a substandard defensive effort. There were stretches where the zone completely befuddled the Nets, but the man defense repeatedly allowed New Jersey’s lesser players free looks at jumpers, runners, and layups. You don’t want to rail too much on a team that just took down a desperate opponent in convincing fashion, but the Mavs’ D is once again a work in progress.
• Also, you could tell Rick Carlisle had no intention of letting last night become a true contest. From the opening tip, the Mavs were pushing the ball at every opportunity, and attacking the Nets’ D with ball movement (albeit with some early turnover troubles) and aggressive offensive moves. The defense couldn’t keep up in the first, but everything came together in the second, when a slight defensive turn allowed the Mavs to run out to a big lead.
• A gigantic panel (plucking names from all over the basketball map) named Dirk Nowitzki the 8th best player in the NBA today. Jason Kidd is the only other Maverick in the top 50, and he’s #23. Some of the names at the bottom of the list (Elton Brand, Michael Redd) make me raise an eyebrow, but I’m not here to pick nits.
• Erick Dampier finally revealed what kept hims sidelined for eight games: a random numbness in his arm. Glad to hear (for Damp’s sake, and the Mavs’ sake) that it’s not serious.
• Jason Kidd is playing some brilliant basketball.
• Mark Cuban tries to talk Nets fans off the ledge (via Dave D’Alessandro): “The guys on the court don’t like being embarrassed,” he said. “There’s going to be a time for every team where you’re not going to win – that’s just the nature of the beast. You have to go through that rebuilding process, and it’s never comfortable. Some teams do it better than others, other teams avoid it longer than others. But it’s brutal…The Mavericks spent a whole decade trying to rebuild, and now it’s forgotten.”
• Skeets is sold on the Mavs.
• Not Mavs news, but certainly Dallas news: LeBron James is backing off his claim that he’ll be competing in this year’s dunk contest. It’s still 50-50, but it’s hardly the guarantee he offered last year.
• Just in case you’re not done soaking up the Nets’ misery. You sadist, you.