Dirk Nowitzki’s exclusion was not one of them. His selection was never even debatable. But the Western Conference reserves will be Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, Pau Gasol, Deron Williams, and and Zach Randolph. Great picks all the way down the line, and particular kudos to the coaches for picking this crop over Denver’s Chauncey Billups. Billups is a fine player, but this just isn’t his year. Plus, I think there’s a very legitimate argument to be made for Tyreke Evans over Chauncey, anyway…but we’ll save that for another day.
In the East, the reserves will be Rajon Rondo, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, Gerald Wallace, Al Horford, Paul Pierce, and Derrick Rose. In related news, it really, really sucks to be David Lee right now. He’s doing just about everything humanly possible (ahem, offensively), and still can’t catch a break. Pierce is having an off-year, but his selection was more or less assumed. I just wish we could see Lee and Josh Smith in the game, but no such luck.
A handful of ESPN’s experts think either Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire could end up in Dallas next summer. Then again, Orlando and San Antonio are listed as other possible destinations, despite the fact that both teams are neck deep in salary after adding significant salary this summer.
Tim Kawakami of the Silicon Valley Mercury News on his blog, Talking Points: “…no, I don’t see the Mavericks as a serious destination [for Stephen Jackson] quite yet…Monta Ellis in Dallas? That I can see, if Dallas would send some short-term deals and if the Warriors would be happy taking a major talent hit just to dump Monta’s money. For all the energy the Warriors have placed in telling us that Monta is their centerpiece and all the sweat issued to dispute my reports that he’s unhappy… well, I could very much see Don Nelson working hard to trade Ellis. Nelson has Stephen Curry now. The new toy is always more fun than the old, ornery one.”
“You don’t mind the rain if you haven’t seen the sunshine.”
-Unknown
Kidd hit 10,000 assists. Jason Terry returned. The James Singleton tour rages on. Let the good times roll.
For one night, not much went wrong in the world of the Mavericks. Unless you’re J.J. Barea, who ended up -8 in point differential and -2 in teeth on the night.
Chris Bosh posed a lot of problems for the Mavs, but that’s bound to happen. Dampier just isn’t mobile enough to keep up with him, and Brandon Bass/James Singleton lose in height what they make up in speed. The results on that front were fairly predictable: 28 and 10 for Bosh, and early foul trouble for the aforementioned Mavs. To their credit, Bosh shot just a hair under 50% and didn’t really explode. 28 points is great production, but surprisingly manageable given the Mavs’ offensive explosion and the Raptors’ lack thereof.
I’m sure you know by now that basketball is a “game of runs.” To be perfectly frank, I don’t expect the Mavs to come remotely close to locking teams down; the foundation just isn’t there. Instead, the key is to appreciate stretches of successful defense and a team-wide ability to counter offensive runs. Any success the Mavs are going to have in the playoffs is based on their ability to endure and strike back. If they roll with the punches and land some of their own, they’ll be just fine. Otherwise, they just stand there taking hit after hit to the kisser and forget that they control their own destiny in their hands. The Raptors are far from a great team, and their laundry list of problems runs much longer than ours. Still, the Mavs answered virtually every Raptor run with one of their own, and capped off their offensive explosions with some nice D. An ideal turnout against a less than ideal opponent, but we’ll take it.
Of course it doesn’t hurt when the Mavs coaxed the Raptors into 37.4% shooting on jumper after jumper. The defense was active and effective, but the Raps didn’t help their cause last night.
Jason Kidd may have totalled 10,000 career assists, but that milestone came in a game where he actually showed some assertiveness. He did the usual Kidd thing, firing passes all over the court at angles no one else even knew existed, but he also refused to pass up layups and open shots. He finished with 9 points and just 7 shot attempts, but I promise I’m not crazy. One of the most infuriating things to watch is a point guard penetrate all the way to the rim but defer to a jumpshooter. Kidd and Boston’s Rajon Rondo are the league’s primary culprits, and it’s just one of the examples wherein unselfishness can be a detriment. I appreciate the effort and the thought process, Jason, but you’ve beaten your man. Just finish the job, eh?
Great success for Maverick shooting guards. Antoine Wright decided that Jason Terry ain’t got nothin’ on him, and went off for 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the first half alone. Beautiful. His 9ish second half minutes wouldn’t even come close to matching that production, but Wright’s line on the night was still enough to get me smiling. Jason Terry looked surprisingly un-Jason Terry-like in the box score (8 points, 3-9 shooting), but he’s back man. Baby steps. The dude was out there wearing a Power Glove. I’m glad to see #31 back on the floor and that purty jumper, even if it is errant and forced for a few more games. Missed you, JET.
What can be said about James Singleton (12 points, 16 friggin’ rebounds…8 of which were offensive) that hasn’t already been said about the Incredible Hulk? Singleton may not have a few bad movies and a completely overrated late 70s television series that has the benefit of the vintage lens to his name, but if you’re a Maverick opponent, you’re not going to like him when he’s angry. Lucky for Mavs fans, he plays like he’s angry all the time. Singleton is rebounding like a maniac, active as hell, and trying to tear down the rim with dunks on fast breaks and dead balls alike. While I lament the fact that he’s three inches short of being our ideal center, I applaud his energy, skill, and intensity.
Lost in Singleton’s meteoric rise up the Maverick depth chart has been Brandon Bass. He’s getting fewer and fewer minutes at center, but Sunday night was an excellent reminder that the man can still ball. He’s still a tad turnover-happy, but his finishing ability is pretty superb, and when he doesn’t finish on his first attempt he’s almost always in position to give it a second go. Stay within yourself, young squire, and I will love you forever.
Can you believe I’ve gotten this far without even a mention of Dirk Nowitzki or Josh Howard? Dirk only had 24 points (8-19 FG), 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Yawn. His typical brilliance was trumped only by his usual subtlty, ‘invisibly’ anchoring the Mavs’ attack. (On another note: why is the word invisible always used as a pejorative when it comes to basketball? There’s something wonderful about blunt domination, but I can see the advantages of killing an opponent without them knowing they’re being killed.) Howard continues to boggle the mind. His 16 points tells you he did fine on the offensive end, which is true. But 0 steals and 0 blocks? Just another example of the deception of the box score. The team continues to excel whenever Howard hits the floor, and his somewhat empty statline is balanced by a +15 for the game. Well done, chaps.
As someone who has watched Dirk’s entire career, I feel obligated to comment on Andrea Bargnani. Dirk was the hopeful projection when Toronto drafted Bargs with the 1st overall pick, and it’s kind of silly. It’s not that Bargnani isn’t talented, or that he doesn’t have some of Dirk’s skills. Their approaches to the game are just fundamentally different. Dirk’s ungodly efficiency is a product of a natural high ground, a high release, and a sweet shooting stroke. What he lacks in athleticism and mobility he makes up for in footwork and precision. Bargnani doesn’t share Dirk’s dominant shooting touch, as much as he loves to shoot. But he does show a willingness and an ability to drive and finish, which is something in it’s own right. He’s 23 and has all the time in the world, but for those still hoping to see Dirk 2.0, keep this in mind: Nowitzki is the exception, not the rule. There has never been a player that combined Dirk’s size and shooting touch, and it may not be so soon before we see another. Bargnani still has work to do (rebounding might be a point of emphasis), and I think he’ll turn out to be a swell player. He’s only 23 after all. But don’t be all that surprised to see plenty more 18-points-on-18-shots games.
Things are looking good for the Mavs lately. That means we’re primed for a loss, right?
GOLD STAR OF THE NIGHT: The Gold Star of the Night goes to James Singleton. I’ve denied him his proper due for far too long, and he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse with a sick 8 offensive rebounds and 8 defensive rebounds. Encore!
Everybody loves rankings. Everybody hates rankings. It’s just the way of the world. Still, I am now finding myself falling into the trap of getting baited into a response.
So I’m going to just say a few things, keep this brief, and hopefully avoid sounding like some deranged homer:
Bill Simmons’ yearly “Trade Value” column emerged today, with Dirk at #13. I’m actually 100% okay with that, considering that both age and salary matter. Though I’ve gotta warn you, Sports Guy: Josh Howard pot jokes aren’t exactly topical anymore.
Former NBAer Eddie Johnson blogs for HoopsHype, and decided to rank the top 25 players in the league (via DMN Mavs Blog). Dirk pops in at 12. 12 isn’t so bad, but I’m not yet convinced that our man should be anywhere out of the top ten just yet, especially considering who Johnson has ranked just above Nowitzki: Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, and Tony Parker. Hard to argue with LeBron, Kobe, and the like, although an argument could be made for Dirk over Yao Ming. Still, I think Yao’s placement has merit. Pierce, Bosh, and Parker? Notsomuch.
In summary: OMG U IDIOTS DIRK IS THE BEST PLAYER EVER AND COULD BEAT UP KOBE AND LEBRON IS A CHOKER AND WADE IS SUCH A FLOPPER THE REFS AND STERN TOTALLY RIGGED THAT SERIES I WOULDNT TRADE DIRK FOR ANY OF THESE LOSERS
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Only slightly related: The Mavs are going head-to-head with the Spurs in Ball Don’t Lie’s 2-on-2 tournament. Fight the powers that be!
We’ve talked about this so many times before, but these last few games really could be a turning point for the Mavericks’ season. For realz this time. The timing couldn’t be better; you want to start playing good basketball right around the All-Star break, giving the team plenty of time to run with it, figure things out, and gel. Of course the converse could also be true, and this could just be a three-game dream before the team falls flat on its face again. Jason Terry sums up the situation nicely, via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News: ” ‘You can do something and respond and go out there and play your butt off, or you can sit back on the bench and complain,’ Terry said. ‘If you’re going to sit on the bench and complain, we’re going to leave you right on the bench. ‘We’re halfway through the season. There ain’t no turning back and thinking about what could have been. We have to play well and we have to play well now.’ “
This article seems to suggest that Darrell Armstrong’s hiring was almost a direct result of the Celtics blowout. Huh. I always figured that D.A. joining up to coach the Mavs was inevitable, and didn’t really think twice about it at the time; since his days as a Maverick the rhetoric and anecdotes always talked about his leadership and informal coaching role. It’s hard to isolate one thing that’s cause the Mavs to win three in a row, but Armstrong’s presence shouldn’t be ignored. He knows most of this team and he knows their tendencies. He’s a great motivator, and, at the least, he’s given the team a breath of fresh air.
This is old news by now, but after yesterday’s round table on All-Star Weekend reform, I thought it merited a follow-up: TNT will host a HORSE competition as a supplement to the weekend’s festivities. Choose your competitors wisely, TNT. If this thing blows up, we’ll never see it again.
For perhaps the first time in this middle-aged season, the Mavericks have some legitimate hope. It’s a lot to say after a three game stretch, but I’m feeling it. They’ve had plenty of bittersweet wins and so many in-game implosions. For three games, the Mavs haven’t just been good, they’ve been dominant. The shots are falling, everybody’s cutting to the basket, and defense is more than just a word on the whiteboard. I’m cranking up the overreactionizer, and I’m putting it out there: things have changed. And now, a slightly related quote from Jan Hubbard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “But writing them off at any time during the first 47 games of the season makes no sense — not with 35 games still left. And look at what’s happened — Andrew Bynum out 8-12 weeks in Los Angeles with a knee injury and Chris Paul day-to-day with a groin injury. The opportunity is there for the Mavericks, and so are the challenges. They have back-to-back games against playoff-level teams beginning tonight in Dallas against the Blazers and then in Utah on Thursday. Right now, you could argue that the Mavericks are playing their best basketball of the year. Then again, if we’re being consistent, it’s only a small part of a long season. There is much more to prove.”
Don’t look now, but Dave Berri and the Wages of Wins crew have Jason Kidd ranked at 5th in the league in Wins Produced. The next Maverick on the list is Erick Dampier, at 38, and Dirk, at 44.
A few days old, but worth a read — Stephen A. Smith defends the rumors of Chris Bosh’s discontent on his blog. Chris Bosh has denied Stephen A.’s report, but I’m not sure he had another option. No way to know for sure exactly what was said or wasn’t said behind closed doors, and it could be a long time before the truth comes to light. So everybody, let’s put down our torches and pitchforks.
New York Knicks GM Donnie Walsh would like to take this time to remind you that nabbing a big 2010 free agent isn’t exactly a walk in the park, even for the best market in the country. From Howard Beck of The New York Times: ” “Their own teams still have the advantages,” [Walsh] said. “It’s not an easy deal two years from now to just say, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s go get one of these guys.’ ” “
Everyone’s favorite outspoken, overstated, two-decibels-too-loud analyst, Stephen A. Smith, is reporting that Toronto’s Chris Bosh wants out, and cites the Mavs as being interested in dealing for him. My response: duh. Chris Bosh is really, really good. If his status with the Raptors is indeed dubious, I have no doubt that the Mavs are interested. But realistically, what do the Mavs have that Toronto would want? Josh Howard? Jason Terry? Dirk? I’m not sure anything short of ze German would get it done, and that seems like a pretty steep price.
I don’t know what I’m thinking; this is a post about a rumor, not a post about crushing dreams. So plug it into the trade machine: Dampier and Devean George for Chris Bosh! Seems fair, right?
UPDATE: Bosh responds to the “rumor” with a “Hahahahahaha NO.” Not really, but basically. Here’s the quote, from the Toronto Star (via FanHouse): ” “No. No. No, I haven’t told him that,” Bosh said today after practice. And just to add another layer of denial, he was asked whether his agent could have made the statement. “No,” he said.”
Stephen A. Smith, FTL.
DOUBLE UPDATE: What does that mean exactly? …Who knows? It’s a rumor, for gossakes, if you want closure, wait until a trade goes down, or doesn’t, and wait until the summer of 2010 passes.
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