Posted by Rob Mahoney on March 10, 2010 under Commentary | 
Sometimes it’s hard to get coaches, managers, and owners to speak up concerning the current goings-on of the team. Everything is played so close to the chest, and it’s almost like the media and the team stand diametrically opposed at times. Consumers of sports media want to know how things work — what went into making this decision, why this guy and not that guy, etc. — and ask the almighty “Why?” But the members of the team itself are also somewhat reliant on keeping that information internal. After all, you never know who might hear what, and specifics are, in this case at least, a team’s worst enemy.
But I applauded Mark Cuban’s willingness to talk about some of the Mavs’ decisions in the past, if only because it helps those of us on the outside to fill in the gaps. It’s nice to know why this or that was done, even if it’s a year or two later. And then again, sometimes when talking about decisions from the past, guys like Cuban still tip their hand a bit (perhaps intentionally). Read as much into this quote from Cuban as you’d like:
Sometimes [the players] need prompting [to figure out the best play], and the ones who don’t figure it out…I mean it’s true that’s a great point theres a subset of players that don’t figure it out, that cant figure it out, that don’t think. Those are the ones that are so blessed talent-wise that you try to make it work — like we had Gerald Green. [To the Celtics' Mike Zarren] You guys have had Gerald Green.
I just look at him and think ‘Oh my God!’ There are things that he’ll show you that are just ‘Oh my God!’ and then he just doesn’t understand the game of basketball and hopefully he’ll figure it out someday but you just keep giving him those chances. He ran out of chances (so far) this last time.
On its own, I think he’s just talking about the hyper-athletic Gerald Green and players of his ilk. But this topic was a recurring theme for Cuban in many of his panels: a guy that just can’t figure it out, that doesn’t think on the court, that isn’t a smart basketball player. Now, I could be mistaken here, but I seem to remember a lot of similar criticism being lobbed at a guy who played for the Mavs not too long ago. It would be completely unfair of Mark to take explicit pot shots at Josh Howard through media channels, but would I put it past him to perhaps offer a veiled criticism of Josh’s game? Not at all.
I’m not sure if Cuban was looking to send a message or just got stuck on a particular topic at multiple panels. But that doesn’t stop Green’s story from being any less of a condensed caricature of Howard’s career. I wouldn’t dare play team psychologist here, but from where I’m sitting, Howard’s troubles always seemed to be more mental than physical. It’s undeniable that he faced a lot in rehabbing and returning from various injuries, but the game within the game has always been to keep Josh on the same page as everyone else. He was fed shot attempts early in the first quarter, and there’s absolutely no doubt that he was treated differently than other players. That’s what it took to keep him functioning as a member of the team, and so its what the Mavericks did.
They hoped he would figure it out someday but they just kept giving him those chances. Josh just ran out of chances this last time.
Posted by Rob Mahoney on under Commentary |
Before this season began, I had the pleasure of chatting a bit with the Mavericks’ newly-christened stat head, Roland Beech. We haven’t had the opportunity to check in with him since, but Mark Cuban provided us with an update at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Marc Stein asked Cuban about Beech specifically during the keynote basketball panel, entitled “Basketball Analytics,” and here was Cuban’s response:
If we were going to get to the point where we were able to collect more data and integrate the coaching staff more fully into using it, as opposed to just getting daily reports that we could sit down and review with the coaching staff, I wanted to have somebody there…on site that they could talk to at any time. Even during the game.
He talks to the players, don’t get me wrong — Dirk will give [Roland] as much of a hard time about his haircut as he gives anyone else. But that’s the type of thing where you don’t want too many voices. So we work back through the coaches.
Beech is officially a member of the Mavericks’ coaching staff, and he sits near the bench, often alongside Cuban, during the games. But even more important than the capacity in which Beech is working with the team is the note that Cubes touched on at the end, and one that was prevalent throughout the entire conference. Having the right statistics is one thing, and finding the right way to utilize them is something else entirely. You can’t just hammer raw data into a player’s head through their ear, it needs to be broken down. It needs to be analyzed.
Mike Zarren, Assistant GM and Team Counsel for the Celtics, hammered that point home perfectly:
I don’t know what it would mean to a player to tell him that “Some guy’s adjusted plus-minus is plus four.” I mean, how does that change what he does on a particular night? It doesn’t mean anything.
The most important thing to remember with advanced stats in basketball is that everything is contextual. That’s where the power lies. It’s the decoder that translates measures of all kinds into something usable, something real. It’s what separates those with an understanding of how to use the data — those who classify statistics as tools and never assume any metric to be omnipotent — from those who do not. The measures provided are simply descriptors of what we’ve seen on the floor. There are assigned values, calculations, and analysis that go along with those measures, but that’s simply another way to make sense of the information available.
But somewhere between that “adjusted plus-minus [of] plus four,” and the players on the court is a process. It involves the aforementioned decoding, it involves lineup analysis, and it involves evaluation of situational effectiveness. And it certainly involves Beech, the man working behind the scenes to ensure that the Mavs don’t miss a beat in the statistical revolution. Dallas is among the first franchises to not only embrace analytical research, but to have a full-time advisor on hand. Take pride, Mavs fans, because while franchises around the league are cavemen that run in fear of fire, your team, and more specifically your owner, realizes the value and application of it.
That level of analysis is the future of professional basketball. As teams accumulate more and more data, the advantages will become even clearer. There’s just so much that a coach can do when they know what Rick Carlisle knows. If basketball really is a game of match-ups, then the Mavs’ brain trust gives them a huge match-up advantage almost every night out; few teams are as progressive as your Dallas Mavericks, and that’s something to hang your hat on.
Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 17, 2010 under The Grapevine |
- This flew around the internet yesterday, and rightfully so. Dan Steinberg did a tremendous job of giving color and context to a team that many others might have found completely unremarkable. Of course it was completely the opposite, and Steinberg’s work has given us almost a fly-on-the-wall (supposing said fly could also provide us a look inside the heads of the most interesting Wizards) view of one of the NBA’s most entertaining locker rooms.
- Mark Cuban is looking into the possibility of playing a regular season (or playoff) game at Cowboy Stadium. Based on my experience at the All-Star game, I definitely think it’s a cool idea. But as far as playing a playoff game there, I do have a question: is playing at Cowboy Stadium, an arena with which your players are hardly familiar, the wisest use of your playoff home court?
- Vince Thomas of NBA.com (via DOH): “It’ll be May, when [Caron] Butler is at the podium, answering questions after slapping up a 25-8-5 night in a playoff win. That’s when fans everywhere will turn to each other, shaking their heads and say, ‘Man … I didn’t know he was this good.’”
- Here’s some video of Flip Saunders, Josh Howard, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton after Wizards’ practice. Singleton talks about not exercising his right to veto the trade, Howard says his ankle is only 75-80% healthy, and Flip likes Josh’s abilities as an open court player.
- Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com: “I believe the new guys’ unfamiliarity of the system is the reason J.J. Barea jumped back into the backup PG role, ahead of Roddy Beaubois. I understand your ire, but think about it: Butler and Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson don’t know the plays, don’t know the calls, don’t know the signals. Is Roddy Beaubois – a rookie who himself is just now getting comfortable with the playbook, not to mention with English – fully equipped to handle the unusual requirements of this quarterbacking situation? Rick Carlisle’s decision was that he was not ready. That’s not a defense of the JJB results. Don’t even ask me to defend the long-term notion of a Jet/JJB backcourt pairing. Again, it’s just an explanation for the thinking on this night. I do want you to consider this, though: You do know, don’t you, that Carlisle WANTS Roddy to win this job, right?”
Tags: Brendan Haywood, Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson, Flip Saunders, J.J. Barea, James Singleton, Josh Howard, Mark Cuban, Quinton Ross, Rick Carlisle, Rodrigue Beaubois
Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 10, 2010 under The Grapevine |
First, a few programming notes:
- First, NBC Sports has launched a brand new NBA blog called ProBasketballTalk, featuring yours truly. It’s an awesome scene, and with Kurt Helin (formerly of Forum Blue & Gold) at the helm and myself, Matt Moore (Hardwood Paroxysm), and John Krolik (Cavs the Blog) all contributing, there’s going to be a ton of content on a daily basis. Check it out.
- For those of you looking for more video content, I’ve started up a video feature called “Video Killed the All-Star” over at HP. They probably won’t be Mavs-related, but it’s still a good time.
- I’ll be in Dallas this weekend for some basketball game that’s going on in the area. I’m not exactly sure what all of the hoopla is about, but check back throughout the weekend for coverage and updates.
And on to the real Grapevine:
- I didn’t want to mention this angle in the recap because I don’t think it’s necessarily unique to the Mavs, but yesterday’s game was horrific schedule-wise, even for a back-to-back. According to Tim MacMahon, “only one of the last 22 Nuggets foes that played on the West Coast the previous night have won at the Pepsi Center.” Could help ease the loss in the minds of some, but I don’t really see it as an excuse for the overall effort.
- American Airlines Center may be turned into part professional sports arena, part convenience store.
- Does anyone out there remain unconvinced of Erick Dampier’s impact? Let Dirk persuade you (via Brandon George): “Defenisvely, we have to have a healthy Damp…If you look at all the great defensive teams, you have to have a shot blocker to protect the rim. Damp was so great when he was moving well early in the season. Over the last month with his knee issues, he really hasn’t been a factor in the paint for us. And that’s where it all starts with me. We have some issues with other stuff with keeping guys in front of us, but it all starts with needing a presence at the rim. We’ll definitely need him just to establish some presence defensively in the paint.”
- Even those with a finger on the league’s pulse right now, like Mark Cuban, are having a hard time predicting what movement, if any, will go down before the trade deadline.
- Shawn Marion missed yesterday’s game nursing a sore back and groin. The All-Star break couldn’t have come at a better time.
- Classic.
- via @mavstats: “Including [last night], have 6 losses by 30+ pts since 2000-01 (3 of them in last 2 seasons).”
Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 2, 2010 under The Grapevine |
- Why yes, that is Tim Thomas (playing against the Mavs, oddly enough) wearing two headbands at once. (via Trey Kerby)
- I missed this on yesterday’s Grapevine, but Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge put together a wonderful breakdown of Nicolas Batum’s defense on Dirk Saturday night. In light of Andrei Kirilenko’s performance yesterday, it’s pretty apparent that the best way to guard Dirk is still to find the longest, most athletic three around and glue him to Dirk’s hip.
- It’s tough to pin down exactly what’s wrong with the Mavs, but Mark Cuban already has the problem diagnosed (via Tim MacMahon, Gina Miller): “I think [it's] just time of year where guys get bored…They gotta get re-energized. I think we’ve taken who we are for granted in some respects and that we can turn it on and just beat people.”
- Fourth quarter buckets were hard to come by last night, but you know what wasn’t? Accountability. Neither Dirk nor JET shielded themselves from blame after the loss, and that’s incredibly important.
- Doug Collins doesn’t mince words, and in this case, speaks the truth (via Barry Horn): “I think (the Mavericks) are pretty far behind the Lakers. Dirk (Nowitzki) has had a tremendous year, there’s no doubt about that. I think they really miss an effective Josh Howard. He was such a big part of that team and Jason Terry has really taken on his role. When Josh was playing well, he would get them out of the gate quickly. He got them off to great starts. He is struggling right now coming off the bench. I think from (head coach) Rick Carlisle’s standpoint, he’s been unhappy with the defensive slippage the team has had. I think he feels that they’ve lost some of that competitive toughness that they had earlier when they were winning. We’ll see if they can get that back. I don’t see them as a team that can beat the Lakers as they are constituted right now.”
- Kelly Dwyer on the Mavs’ recurring fourth quarter problem: “This Dirk Nowitzki thing, nearly as nasty as the “Kobe Bryant thing,” is getting serious, for serious, yo. He played nine and a half fourth quarter minutes on Monday night and didn’t attempt a shot, only taking two free throws. Mainly because the Jazz used a smaller, quicker defender (Andrei Kirilenko) to effectively turn Dirk into a slowish small forward. Dirk still got his 28, and it was his 26 through three quarters that had the Mavs in it to begin with, but his inability to sustain with AK hounding him handed this game to a Jazz club that continues to look good…There are few coaches who I’d trust more to work around this nagging Nowitzki issue than Rick Carlisle, but for now the Mavs are in a tough spot.”
- Fox Sports Southwest has video available for the press scrums for Dirk and Rick Carlisle.
Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 1, 2010 under The Grapevine |
If Andre Miller has been haunting your dreams over the last few days, you might just want to skip on down to the second set of bullets.
- Kelly Dwyer took a moment to reflect on Andre Miller’s monster night: “It was quite the show. Jason Kidd, Jose Juan Barea and Jason Terry just could not cut off Miller from penetrating into the lane for a series of stretched-out lay-ups. Absolutely could not stop the guy. Shawn Marion, a fantastic defender even in his advancing years, defended Miller ably but still failed to keep him from tossing in shots. Miller just drove, drove and drove toward those 52…And, for someone who essentially had the ball in his hands in every Portland possession, Miller’s two turnovers in 42 minutes of play might be more impressive than the 52 he gave Kidd, et al. “Might be.” Those 52 points, as a guard who has bounced around, working for a new team that has involved him in trade discussions for the last month and a half, for a player who will turn 34 in two months, against a team that prides itself on its sound defense? This was a bit of a jaw-dropper.”
- In the least surprising bit of news all season, Rick Carlisle was none too impressed with the Mavs’ defense against Portland (via Eddie Sefko): “We’ve gotten very soft defensively as a team…We were a tough-minded team the first quarter of the year, and that’s gone by the wayside...It’s an attitude adjustment that we’re going to have to make to get it back.”
- Andre Miller had averaged 5.0 points on 4 of 25 shooting in his previous three games.
- After the game, Miller was completely unphased by his own feat. Whether that’s measured as complacency or serenity is almost purely based on circumstance. Take it away, Ziller: “Jason Quick of The Oregonian heard from Miller’s teammates just how little the fitty-plus performance changed Dre’s M.O. Martell Webster said Miller walked into the locker room after the finish as if nothing had ever happened. LaMarcus Aldridge said Miller was stoked for the win — which came almost entirely because of Miller — but had no time to celebrate the personal achievement. And this is Miller, basically. When things weren’t going well between Dre and coach Nate McMillan earlier this season, Miller’s quiet confidence was seen as disruptive aloofness, as if the reserved and perturbed Miller upset the team’s once marvelous chemistry. Now? It’s egoless contentment, and no doubt Miller would be fine with 10 FGAs in the next game. Amazing how circumstances change perception.”
- Dave from Blazers Edge qualifies Miller’s night with a bit of perspective: “Had this been Jerryd Bayless people would have been screaming to the highest heavens that he is the next Superstar of the League and Portland should start him now and always and so on and so forth. Miller had 52 points in this game and he’s none of those things (except the starter part), never has been, and never will be. In fact he had 7 and 2 points in the two prior games. Good players can have fantastic games. You ride them and celebrate them but in the end you judge a guy on what he does night in and night out and not what he did in one or two games.”
- There’s reason enough to question the “hot hand” theory, but Shawn Marion is completely subscribed to the idea; by the time the Mavs made the defensive switch to put Marion on Miller, it may have been too late.
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming:
Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 4, 2010 under xOther |
Ten years ago today, one Mark Cuban picked up the Mavericks franchise for the paltry sum of $285 million. Pocket change, I know. Since that day, the course of the team has been altered forever. Whether you love him for his dedication or hate him for his outspokenness and visibility, it’s impossible to deny the positive impact that Cuban has had on the franchise. He’s energized a team, a city, and a fan base with his passion (and his wallet), and has more than a reasonable claim to the title of the “best owner in sports.”
Tim MacMahon put together a full retrospective of the Cuban era, and the trip down memory lane is well worth your time.
Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 31, 2009 under The Grapevine |
- Your Dallas Mavericks are the biggest underachievers of the decade. Not exactly the kind of accolade you’d like, but the facts speak for themselves in this case: A decade of good teams and opportunities have brought back little in terms of hardware.
- On a similar note, John Hollinger named the Mavs the best team of the decade to not win a championship. Yup. Shawn Marion was also dubbed the second most underrated player of the 2000s.
- Kevin Pelton ranked the 2005-2006 Mavs the 16th best team of the decade, as determined primarily by point differential: “Take away the NBA Finals and this is your best runner-up of the decade. Actually, take away the last three games and one quarter of the Finals and this is one of the best teams of the decade. For that matter, take away Bennett Salvatore and … never mind.”
- Go ahead and add a sore hamstring to Josh Howard’s list of lingering injuries.
- I spend a lot of time defending Erick Dampier, but this time, he’s gone and done something (or rather, said something) so completely nonsensical that I wouldn’t even think to touch it. Carl Landry is all kinds of tough.
- Whoops.
- There’s a popular notion that the ‘feeling out’ process between a team and its coach is critical to establishing a functional relationship. That may be true, but Rick Carlisle is firmly opposed to the next step in the process, in which the players become a bit too comfortable.
- Mavs’ second round pick Nick Calathes talked to HoopsTV about playing in Greece, his college experience at Florida, and of particular interest to us, his future with the Mavs: “I talked to coach Carlisle since I’ve been here and I have talked to Mark Cuban. I was going to play in the summer league (Las Vegas), but FIBA made a rule saying that I couldn’t. So I have stayed in close contact with them throughout the year. I think Dallas could be a great fit for me, maybe in the future, but right now I am focused only on Panathinaikos and hopefully we can win the Euroleague championship again this year and we’ll go from there.”
- ‘Where are they Now?’, featuring Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Mo Ager.
- An unexpected weapon in the offense this season: the Jason Kidd-Erick Dampier pick-and-roll. The two biggest surprises in Erick Dampier’s game have been his hands and his quickness going up with the ball, both of which are absolutely critical to the PnR’s success.
- Just in case you forgot, the Mavs don’t shoot threes all that well, and don’t score at the rim. Two-point jump shots are the bread and butter of the Dallas offense, and while that doesn’t translate to elite offensive efficiency (or hasn’t…YET), it is what it is. The Mavs are some of the best in the biz at what they do. It just so happens that what they do isn’t the most efficient way to but a ball through a hoop.
- Matt Carroll is the master of his domain. Unfortunately, that domain begins and ends with the confines of the practice facility.
- The player of the decade isn’t Dirk Nowitzki, and it’s not Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, or Kevin Garnett, either. Tim Duncan is the one true king of the 2000s, and his glory is indisputable. Mavs fans have had the fortune and misfortune to see Duncan go to work on many occasions, and while that’s hardly a good thing for Dallas, it’s a great thing for fans of the game. Hail, hail, Tim Duncan.
- If this year’s All-Stars were determined by advance statistics (adjust plus-minus, and PER, specifically), then…well, Dirk would still be a starter. Some of the other selections may surprise you, though.
- Nope.
Tags: Carl Landry, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Mark Cuban, Maurice Ager, Nick Calathes, Rick Carlisle, Shawn Marion, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady
Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 17, 2009 under The Grapevine |
- As far as shoes go, I liked the look of Kevin Durant’s KD1s, and I’m particularly fond of the inside/outside colorways. But last night, Durant and the Thunder unveiled the truly awful, traffic cone orange “Dreamsicle” KD2s. It’s a definite downgrade, and although the kicks don’t make the man, I can’t help but feel that these shoes don’t do Durant justice.
- Last night’s game didn’t sit well with Royce Young of Daily Thunder: “…I’m not going to lie, I’m a little upset about this one. Not because OKC lacked effort. Because boy howdy, these guys busted it. But when it really mattered, the seasoned, veteran team took over and made the plays. The young, inexperienced group didn’t. In areas the Thunder are normally very good, they weren’t. An uncharacteristic 14-23 from the free throw line. A couple defensive breakdowns late. Poor shooting from their best players. Maybe it was the pressure of the night, the lights of ESPN or something else. But the fact is, Oklahoma City just didn’t perform.”
- Those of us who watch Dirk Nowitzki on a nightly basis are fully cognizant of his excellence. And for national columnists, it’s easy to overlook the footwork, the pump fakes, and the jumpers in favor of the more obvious talents of a LeBron James or a Dwyane Wade. All the more reason to appreciate Kelly Dwyer, who makes note of Nowitzki’s play almost nightly in his ‘Behind the Box Score.’ His words on Dirk’s performance last night were short and sweet, but to me ring with a sincerity and appreciation that’s not as easy to find among basketball scribes as one might think: “In the end, I think my favorite part of this game was listening to Hubie Brown slowly fall in love with James Harden. Either that, or the way you keep falling in love with Dirk Nowitzki’s game. Ten years later. Night after night. So glad this guy is still around, playing at a level like this.”
- Skeets and Tas loved the Mavs-Thunder game last night, even if Tas isn’t too fond of Dirk’s headband.
- As of yesterday, Kevin Durant was shooting just 30 of 80 (37.5%) in six games against the Mavs. As of this morning, he’s shooting 34 of 98 (34.6%). That, my friends, is a bonafide trend.
- Over their next fifteen games, the Mavs play the Lakers (twice), the Celtics, the Cavs, the Nuggets, the Jazz, the Spurs, the Blazers, the Rockets (twice), the Thunder, the Kings, the Grizzlies, the Pistons, and the Raptors. The total W-L of those teams (weighted appropriately for opponents that appear multiple times) is 225-150, or a .600 win percentage. That means that for the next fifteen games, the Mavs will play an average opponent of the Utah Jazz.
- In an “impromptu dunk contest” at practice today, Kris Humphries showed off some between-the-legs dunks, while assistant coach Darrell Armstrong tried his hand at the high-flying game…by doing a between-the-legs layup. It’s a sad reminder of Armstrong’s actual dunk contest appearance, which featured one of the worst dunks (or non-dunks) in contest history.
- According to Mark Cuban, there are four factors which have been instrumental in the Mavs’ success over the last decade: a dedicated fan base, Donnie Nelson, Dirk Nowitzki, and keeping a consistent core.
- Henry Abbott goes to work debunking the myth that Kobe Bryant is the best clutch player in the NBA, and goes to the numbers to reveal some clutch Mavs: “Every which way people slice and dice crunch time numbers — field goal percentage, plus/minus, you name it — Bryant is not the NBA’s best in crunch time. A glance at last year’s crunch time numbers on 82games.com makes clear Bryant shoots more than anyone else in the NBA in crunch time, but is he more skilled at making those shots? That’s what we’re trying to judge, right? In crunch time field goal percentage, last season Bryant finished 92nd in the League, right behind Michael Beasley. Others ahead of him include Kevin Garnett, both Gasols, Zach Randolph, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Terry, Jameer Nelson, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, Eric Gordon, Brandon Roy, Andre Iguodala, Jason Kidd, Ben Gordon, and Chris Bosh. You can remember Bryant hitting all those clutch baskets, stat geeks say. But you’re forgetting all the misses. (And if you are learning about Bryant from highlights, then you’re not even seeing most misses.)” Emphasis mine.
Posted by Rob Mahoney on December 13, 2009 under Recaps |
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images.
Box Score — Play-By-Play — Shot Chart — GameFlow
| Team | Pace | Off. Eff. | eFG% | FT/FG | ORB% | TOr |
| Charlotte | 86.0 | 102.1 | 46.3 | 27.2 | 30.2 | 18.9 |
| Dallas | | 103.2 | 41.4 | 22.6 | 39.2 | 13.7 |
“If you can’t excel with talent, triumph with effort.”
-Dave Weinbaum
Those of you conscious of the outside world may have noticed that, with a few exceptions, I don’t post game recaps on the weekends. That’s (kind of) about to change. I’ll now be posting an easily digestible recap in bullet-form, which serves two purposes: it provides more game-related content for contests that matter, and allows you and me both to get some Mavs in and get on with our weekend. Let’s go to work.
- Mark Cuban couldn’t have picked a more perfect game for “Seats for Soldiers” night. It’s probably the greatest of the Maverick traditions, and there really couldn’t be a worthier cause.
- Tonight, Dirk was Dirk when it counted. His 14 of 34 shooting is actually better than it seemed, as most of those 20 misses came off of very make-able shots. Some by Dirk’s standards (fading jumpers, but with ample space), and others by anyone’s (layups, wide open shots). But regardless of all the shots to draw rim, Dirk looked untouchable in the clutch.
- The Mavs looked like a team that needs the scoring of Josh Howard. Having the last laugh doesn’t equate to offensive proficiency, and with the Mavs completely unable to convert in the second half, Josh’s shot creation would have been an incredible boost.
- Dirk’s big shots will get all the highlight love, but Erick Dampier and Shawn Marion are the true unsung heroes. Not only were they everywhere on defense, but Marion and Damp chipped in seven offensive rebound each. When the Mavs are shooting 39.8% from the field (and 41.4% eFG), that means everything. Combined, Damp and Marion totaled 29 points (12 of 17 from the field), 33 rebounds, three steals, five blocks, and just three turnovers. Yowza.
- J.J. Barea showed his full range. For a quarter, he was brilliant; all of his passes were finding their targets and each of his attempts was finding the net. But once he started blowing possessions (a certain non-shot at the end of the second quarter comes to mind) and botching his defensive duties on the pick-and-roll, he becomes an instant liability. See, here’s the thing: Dirk, JET, Kidd, Josh, Damp, and Marion can all afford to make mistakes. They just bring so much to the team in other respects, and J.J.’s contributions are of the less essential variety. I can understand both sides of the Beaubois-Barea argument, J.J.’s lows are much more emphatic than his highs, but he still chipped in 10 points (4-9 FG, including two 3s) and five assists to just two turnovers. For now, the Mavs will just have to accept both sides of Barea’s spectrum.
- There are few offensive possessions I hate more than those that end with a Drew Gooden jumpshot.
- Basketball games can always be boiled down to details, and two stick out. First, Larry Brown’s decision not to call timeout on the final possession of regulation. Dirk had just hit the game-tying bucket, and rather than take a minute to regroup one of the league’s most ineffective offenses. Instead, Gerald Wallace, who otherwise had played a spectacular game, ended up wasting away the closing moments of the fourth quarter. Anyone think LB might want that possession back? And second, Tyson Chandler made the regrettable decision to foul Jason Terry on an inbounds play in overtime. It put JET on the line for a freebie in a game decided by one point, and while it was hardly the only possession that could have decided the final result, it’s easy to point the finger at a play like that.
- Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton were terrific. Not only in slashing to the basket, which you’d expect, but in the mid and long range game as well. And that’s not even mentioning their work on the defensive end, which was top-notch.
- Even though the offense wasn’t very good, the Mavs’ ball movement was sublime. The ball was getting into the right hands, but just couldn’t find its way through the basket.
- Another fine showing from the Mavs’ zone defense. I can’t even begin to understand what that means considering just how bad the Bobcats’ offense can be on its own, but it seemed to slow down Stephen Jackson (28 points on 25 shots) enough to make a difference. Rick Carlisle threw a handful of defensive looks at Jax, and though Jason Kidd played some superb man defense late in the game, the zone look was plenty effective.
- Take a look at the minutes column for the Mavs, and tell me Rick Carlisle doesn’t find comfort in his starters. Kidd, Dampier, Nowitzki, and Marion all logged 40+ minutes, while Drew Gooden, Tim Thomas, and Quinton Ross played a combined 27 minutes.
- Marc Stein: “Most devastated locker room I’ve seen this season: Charlotte. Bobs crushed by this 98-97 OT loss in Dallas. G-Wallace and Jack especially”
Tags: Dirk Nowitzki, Drew Gooden, Erick Dampier, Gerald Wallace, J.J. Barea, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Larry Brown, Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle, Rodrigue Beaubois, Shawn Marion, Stephen Jackson, Tyson Chandler
