Posted by Brian Rubaie on February 20, 2013 under Commentary | 
An NBA All-Star roster without a single Dallas Maverick is a rare sight to behold. For the first time since 1998, Dallas fans had no familiar faces to celebrate. Dirk Nowizki, a Western Conference fixture since 2002, will return to Dallas from his first real “break” over All-Star Weekend in over a decade. He will return not from Houston, the All-Star host but, as reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, Mexico. This joins the Mavericks’ dim playoff chances as an unusual new reality in Dallas.
Not all the unusual events in Dallas, however, have been negative. Lost in the return of Dirk Nowitzki, the revolving roster, the inconsistent play and the trade talk is another unusual occurrence. For the first time in a spell, Dallas has a rookie of value in former junior-college standout turned Marquette University graduate Jae Crowder. There is a persistent worry in Dallas over the the team’s ability to develop young talent — a weakness which fans overlooked because of quality overall team play. In 2013, however, the roles in Dallas have reversed; the team’s general malaise has eclipsed the promise of Crowder’s rookie campaign.
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Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on February 18, 2013 under Commentary |
It’s time for another round of Bloom and Doom. For those that missed the first batch of it in December, here you go. January’s batch can be seen here.
In an effort to keep the discussion going, I sought out ESPNDallas.com’s Tim MacMahon for his opinion on pressing issues for the Dallas Mavericks. You can view MacMahon’s coverage of the Mavericks at ESPNDallas.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @espn_macmahon. Periodically, we are going to touch base and discuss topics with our own unique point of view.
MacMahon likes to call it like he sees it. That perspective can hover on the other end of the spectrum from my optimistic viewpoint on things. You could say it’s a classic case of good cop, bad cop. Our different perspectives should make for an interesting conversation on hot topics revolving around the Mavs. This round of bloom and doom really hits the crux of it all with the team. Everything is right in MacMahon’s wheelhouse, and the second-to-last question might be the hardest one I’ve had to answer.
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Posted by Ian Levy on under Commentary, Roster Moves |
On Friday, at Hickory-High, Ming Wang put together a really interesting piece sharing an interesting new strategy for examining the tradeoff between production and cost for the contracts of NBA players. Here’s the rationale and method in his own words:
A few weeks ago, Kevin Pelton of ESPN looked at the best contracts in the NBA by multiplying a player’s WARP (wins above replacement level) by the average amount that teams pay for each WARP. I’d like to approach this same problem from a different angle: namely, how much value are teams getting out of the salaries they pay their players? Instead of looking at WARP, I’ll focus on win shares, another metric of player value. While Pelton’s methodology assumes that the overall NBA salary market is priced correctly (therefore attaching a value to each WARP a team pays for), my method makes no assumptions about overall pricing accuracy and instead seeks to evaluate relative player salary and performance.
At a basic level, my goal is to quantitatively evaluate the best and worst contracts in the NBA. To do so, I construct a simple metric that I call the “value ratio.” This is defined as: (Player Salary/Median Salary)/(Player Win Share/Median Win Share). In effect, I am comparing the amount over (or under) which a player is being paid vs. the median NBA player with that player’s production over (or under) that of a median player. Comparing salaries and win shares with median values serves as a way of normalizing these metrics and making them more readily comparable to each other. A simple way to think about this metric is the following: if the ratio is less than 1, the player is undervalued; if the ratio is greater than one, the player is overvalued; if the ratio equals one, the player is properly valued. In short, the most valuable players will be those with the smallest value ratios.
To get a more full picture of player production, Wang used a three-year average of a player’s Win Shares. To compensate for the fact that salary is not consistent in every year of a contract he averaged the per year salary commitments of this year and each remaining year on a player’s contract. There are several holes in his method, which he acknowledges at the end of his post, but if you know the context for specific players and specific teams, the stories told by his numbers become much richer.
Several Mavericks showed up in different places in Wang’s results. With a value ratio of 0.131, Elton Brand’s contract provided the 7th greatest value of any player who has played at least 500 minutes this season. At a value ratio of 0.259, Darren Collison’s contract provided the 10th most value of any player who had played at least 1,150 minutes this season. Driven by curiosity, I pulled together his results for all of the Mavericks to see how the team’s current crop of contracts rated in value.
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Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on February 14, 2013 under Commentary |
The trade deadline is always an interesting time for the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban has always said two things when it comes to that time of the year: the team will always be opportunistic and don’t believe what you hear or read when it comes to them. The team is at a crossroads. The chances of making the playoffs are slim and the team has to do what they can to ensure they don’t waste any more time off of Dirk Nowitzki’s career. The deadline on the 21st is one way they can help build for the futre. How do the Mavericks assess things as the trade deadline approaches? Let’s look at the assets and what could be out there.
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Tags: Bernard James, Brandan Wright, Brandon Jennings, Dallas Mavericks, Darren Collison, Dirk Nowitzki, Dominique Jones, Drew Gooden, Dwight Howard, Elton Brand, Josh Smith, Mark Cuban, O.J Mayo, Rick Carlisle, Roddy Beauboius, Shawn Marion, Vince Carter
Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on under Interviews |
It turned out to be a historic night as the Dallas Mavericks recorded a 123-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Vince Carter made a season-high six 3-pointers against the Kings on Wednesday (he shot 6-of-9 from long range). His previous high triple total this season was five on two occasions. Carter’s fourth trey of the game at the 1:08 mark of the third quarter was the 1,600th 3-pointer of his career. He became the 11th player in NBA history with at least 1,600 career triples. His fifth trey at the 27.9-second mark of the third was his 100th three of the season.
With his sixth triple at the 2.9-second mark of the third quarter, he passed Larry Bird (21,791) for 29th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. The 3-point basket gave him 21,794 points for his career. Carter went 3-for-3 from deep to the end the third quarter and scored Dallas’ final nine points of the period. Carter scored 26 points against Sacramento and now has 21,796 career points. Gary Payton ranks 28th all-time with 21,813 career points.
Carter went 6-of-9 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points in 23 minutes. It was his sixth 20-point effort of the season (4-2 record). It was also his third game with 25-plus points and his ninth game with four-plus 3-pointers this season. Carter exploded in the third quarter as he scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting (5-of-9 from long range) in only 6:33 of action.
Some notes before the quotes:
- With an offensive rebound at the 10:51 mark of the second quarter, Dirk Nowitzki passed Mark Aguirre (1,259) for second place on the Mavericks’ all-time offensive rebounding list. James Donaldson is Dallas’ all-time leader with 1,296 offensive boards.
- The Mavericks recorded their 18th consecutive win against the Kings in Dallas. It’s the Mavericks’ longest ever home winning streak against one opponent.
- Darren Collison record 12 points and seven assists in 18 first-half minutes. His first assist of the second half (eighth of the game) was the 1,400th assist of his career. Collison finished with 18 points, four rebounds and nine assists in 29 minutes.
Here is the quoteboard for Dallas’ victory over Sacramento.
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Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on February 12, 2013 under Interviews |
The beards are going to be extremely itchy as the Dallas Mavericks suffered a heartbreaking 105-101 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The loss put a wet blanket on the run the Mavericks were on as they had won three of their previous four games and three home games in a row. Josh Smith tallied a game-high 26 points to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes for Atlanta in the win.
Dirk Nowitzki scored a team-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds, two steals and one block in 36 minutes. It his fourth game with 20-plus points this season, and his second-highest scoring game of the year (26 at Portland Jan. 29). One of Nowitzki’s team-high seven boards came on the offensive end. He is now tied with Mark Aguirre (1,259) for second place on the Mavericks’ all-time offensive rebounding list. James Donaldson is Dallas’ all-time leader with 1,296 offensive boards.
The game saw Atlanta start on a 10-0 run and lead the entire first half. The Mavericks continued to scratch and claw their way back into the game and even took their first lead of the game with just over 11 minutes to go in the game. With a chance to take the lead and less than a minute to go, O.J. Mayo raced down the floor in transition. As he was about to make his final approach to the rim, Devin Harris swatted the ball out of Mayo’s hands and caused a turnover. The Mavericks were still within 3 with less than 30 seconds to go and Mayo’s pass to a rolling Vince Carter went astray.
The Mavericks’ playoff chances took a major hit with the crippling loss to the Hawks. It also showed the late-game execution continues to haunt Dallas. According to TV play-by-play voice of the Mavericks Mark Followill, the loss to the Hawks dropped the Mavericks to 8-13 in games where the margin is within 3 points in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
Here are some notes before the quotes:
- Dirk went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc against Atlanta. His third trey of the game at the 6.4-second mark of the fourth quarter was the 1,300th triple of his career. He became the 29th player in NBA history with at least 1,300 triples (he’s shot 1,300-of-3,423, .380, from deep for his career).
- Brandan Wright 5-of-6 from the field and contributed 11 points off the bench. It was his 13th double-digit scoring game of the season.
- The Hawks outshot the Mavericks 50 percent (22-of-44) to 45.7 percent (21-of-46) from the field in the first half. Atlanta outscored Dallas 14-2 in transition and 28-18 in the paint in the first half. But the Mavericks outshot the Hawks 41.7 percent (5-of-12) to 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from beyond the arc before intermission and trailed by only one (49-48) at the break.
Here’s the quoteboard for Dallas’ loss to Atlanta.
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Posted by Kirk Henderson on under Recaps |
Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — Game Flow
You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.
- After hitting a three at the 7:43 mark of the third quarter, Dirk Nowitzki played 8 minutes and 49 seconds without attempting a shot (he did attempt two free throws). This does not include the time he spent on the bench as his next shot came at the 7:33 mark in the fourth quarter. The lack of a Dirk-centric offense is really concerning. The argument has been made that Dirk’s still working himself back into form, but it’s hard for him to do so when he doesn’t get shot opportunities. Dirk took 14 shots and attempted six free throws. O.J. Mayo 20 attempted shots and no free throws. Who is (or should be) the number one option in this offense?
- The lackluster contributions from Shawn Marion (10 points, 3 of 10 shooting) really took a toll on Dallas’ offensive flow. The Mavericks rely on his easy buckets which come on the break or through ball movement, and Marion’s well-timed cuts are a valuable action in both contexts. Yet against the Hawks, Marion had trouble getting much of anything to fall, missing dunks, put-back attempts, and post-ups as he struggled to contribute.
- Maverick fans got a taste of the crest of the Josh Smith experience. 26 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, on 66% from the field and 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. He’s an impressive player, no doubt, but I also question the Maverick strategy of defending him. First, Dallas opted to have Dirk cover him defensively, which is bizarre considering Dirk’s lack of lateral quickness. Second, the Mavericks didn’t even try to challenge his outside shots. I understand giving him space, but he is a paid professional basketball player, and these guys can hit open shots given the opportunity. Even a late challenge might have affected his jumper a bit, and in the process earned the Mavs a more significant buffer.
- The O.J. Mayo experience is hard to quantify. He takes and makes tough shots, as he did in the first half, shooting 6 of 9 from the field and getting some friendly bounces on the rim. Then he follows that up with an atrocious second half, shooting 3 from 11, including six misses on long two point shots. His late game turnovers also effectively cost Dallas the game. The first, a fast break turnover when he did not have a numerical advantage is a somewhat understandable, if frustrating (he should have known a player was behind him). The second, where he passed it off of a defender’s back is inexcusable. The quality of Mayo’s offensive decision making is often a key factor in a game’s final outcome.
Kirk is a member of the Two Man Game family. Follow him on Twitter @KirkSeriousFace for ranting about Dallas basketball, TV, movies, video games, and his dog.
Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on February 11, 2013 under Commentary, Recaps |
The Rundown is back. Every Monday, The Rundown will chronicle the week that was for the Mavericks, as well as let you know what is coming up for the boys in blue, with a unique spin. Simply put, it is your Monday catch-up on all things with the Dallas Mavericks.
With the All-Star break rapidly approaching, the Mavericks have started their do-or-die homestand. Dallas is at 22-28 with 32 games to go. The approach will be to take things one game at a time, but the mindset should be to look at the remainder of the games in four-game chunks and win three of four the rest of the way out with each chunk. That will get them to 46-36. With how the rest of the bottom half of the West is trending, that should be enough to sneak in and take the 8th seed. It’s possible that they can do it, but we’ll have to see how things play out. With that in mind, it was another up and down week for the Mavericks. It was full of milestones, hammers being dropped and facial hair. Let’s take a look at the week for that was for Dallas.
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Posted by Connor Huchton on February 10, 2013 under Recaps |
Box Score — Play-By-Play — Shot Chart – Game Flow
You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.
- There has never been a player quite like Shawn Marion (11-16 FG, 2-3 3PT, 26 points, 11 rebounds), and it is unlikely that there will ever be another Shawn Marion in any future of ours.
- He is basketball’s quiet genius performer, a gifted hardwood artist with the ability to paint a floor canvas with the contrasts of subtlety and bluntness, each swirling in needless but potent conjunction.
- He glides towards the basket, he hoists an awkward three-point jumper, he defends your best player, and he does so with a consistency that is all to rare within this worldly toil.
- A wise man once said, “There is no truth – only Shawn Marion’s jumper and all that comes with it.”
- His game represents quite possibly everything (but no single something) that there is to be known about basketball and what the sport can achieve.
- All that is to say, I enjoyed the way Shawn Marion played tonight.
- And the rest of the Mavericks followed his glorious lead admirably.
- The Mavericks have lost very few games this season when O.J. Mayo (19 points, 6-13 FG, nine assists, two turnovers) has passed well, and that trend continued quite easily against a Warriors’ team that seemed unable to keep up with a vibrant Dallas squad.
- A similar belief could be stated regarding Darren Collison (18 points, 5-9 FG, 3-4 3PT eight assists, two turnovers), though perhaps to a lesser extent, as his ball movement has been a grade more consistent than that of Mayo.
- Both players helped the Mavericks capitalize on a plethora of open three-pointers throughout the game, most of which the Warriors didn’t, or couldn’t, close out on with any great urgency.
- I’m willing to bet that any performance involving 17 assists and four turnovers from the Mayo-Collison combination will lead to a Mavericks’ win.
- Have I mentioned how quietly great at basketball Shawn Marion is?
- The prestigious “Best Plus-Minus In A Blowout” award goes to elder post defense statesman Elton Brand (5-9 FG, 11 points, 11 rebounds) who earned a nice +32 in a cool 29 minutes, while determinedly controlling the lane as only he can.
- If you would have told me pre-game that Steph Curry (8-23 FG, 1-3 3PT, 18 points, four assists, five turnovers) would take 23 field goals with only three of them being three pointers, I probably would have said something like: “No.”
- Politely, of course.
- That lack of attempts falls in part to the Mavericks, who did a solid job of committing to the perimeter and limiting Curry and the rest of the Warriors to a 6-16 three-point mark.
- The Warriors played without the aid of Jarrett Jack and Andrew Bogut, each of whom is an important piece to the team’s exciting puzzle.
- Bogut has scarcely played for the Warriors this season, so that holds somewhat lesser bearing.
- But it’s safe to say that Golden State missed Jack’s steady presence on a night like tonight.
- That is to say, a night in which no other Warrior player could do much of anything on the offensive side of the ball.
- An NBA schedule sure is rigorous.
- This is a pretty fun picture, and a solid example of the Dirk Yell.
- Part of the reason Vince Carter has suddenly become more valuable this season is his surprising improvement on the defensive end (the Mavericks are consistently better on defense when Carter is on the floor), and while the sample size is inherently small, this is visual proof.
- It’s very difficult to play 13 minutes without a field goal attempt in NBA play, but Andris Biedrins (eight rebounds) managed such a feat tonight. I don’t think such a choice is necessarily problematic, but it’s interesting.
- In conclusion, I’m confident that Shawn Marion made this jumper.
Posted by Bryan Gutierrez on under Interviews |
The Dallas Mavericks hit the ground running and recorded a convincing 116-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Dallas took advantage of the fact that Golden State came in on the second night of a back-to-back and the fourth game in five nights. The Mavericks used an 11-0 run from the 5:32 mark of the first quarter through the 3:49 mark of the period to take a 20-10 lead. The Mavericks then led for the remainder of the contest. Darren Collison didn’t miss a shot in the first quarter. He went 4-for-4 from the field, 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 3-for-3 from the line in the opening quarter. Collison led all players with 13 points in the first quarter. Collison finished with 18 points to go along with four rebounds and eight assists in 33 minutes.
Elton Brand posted his sixth double-double of the season (402nd career) with 11 points, a game-high-tying 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in 29 minutes off the bench against Golden State. It was his 10th double-digit rebounding effort of the season. Dallas improved to 7-3 when he pulls down 10-plus boards in a game.
The man of the night was Shawn Marion. The Matrix recorded his 12th double-double of the season (fourth in his last five games) with a season-high 26 points to go along with a game-high-tying 11 rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes against the Warriors. His previous high scoring game was 23 points, which he recorded at Oklahoma City on Feb. 4. Marion scored 20-plus points for the second time in his last three games (fourth time this season). It was his second 20-point, 10-rebound game of the year (195th career). He had 20 points and 10 boards at Orlando on Jan. 20. Prior to the game at Orlando, Marion hadn’t recorded a 20-point, 10-rebound game since Apr. 6, 2011 vs. Denver (21 points and 10 rebounds). Marion is averaging 18.8 points and 10.0 rebounds over his last five games.
Some notes before the quotes:
- With the first of two free throws at the 11:06 mark of the fourth quarter, Dirk Nowitzki passed Wilt Chamberlain (6,057) for 15th place on the NBA’s all-time free throws made list. It was the 6,058th free throw of Nowitzki’s career. He has shot 6,059-of-6,910 (.877) from the stripe for his career.
- Dallas topped 30 points in every quarter except for the second period (23 points).
- Dallas held Golden State to 36 points in the opening half (Dallas led 62-36 at the half), which marked a Mavericks’ opponent low for points in the first half this season (previous low: 39 in first half vs. Memphis Jan. 12).
- Dallas outscored Golden State 17-0 on the fast break in the first half and 29-8 in transition for the game.
Here is the quoteboard for the Dallas victory over Golden State.
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