SB Nation - Kris Humphries

Game Recap: Extended Burn from Rockets Downs Dallas 116-108

zdgmans — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:35:36 -0000

by Tony Gutierrez - AP

The 14-11 Rockets blast into the American Airlines Center hoping to steal some of the Mavericks Thunder in the Southwest division. The Mavericks look to push their winning streak to six games and continue rolling along in the West.

Did forces conspire against the Mavericks to keep them down?

Game as a Whole:

This rivalry has gotten a lot more intense in the last couple of season. Could it be that the Rockets could be poised to overtake the Spurs as the rivalry match that every Dallas fan looks forward to with bitter hatred in their hearts? Even with a Maverick loss this was a very entertaining, albeit a bit frustrating, basketball game to watch (both teams clearly came to play).

The Mavericks jumped out to a hot start and looked like they were firing on all cylinders in the first quarter (looked like we were on our way to a severe routing). The Rockets proceeded to push back, and to complicate matters the Mavericks lost Dirk on a layup in traffic that led to a “deep laceration” of the golden elbow.

The Rockets continued their dominance in the 3^rd quarter and this is normally where Maverick fan would begin to cringe a bit thinking that the Dallas 5 game win streak would be coming to a horrible end. That was the Mavericks of old; the new Mavericks have been staking their claim as closers with the 4^th quarter of tonight’s game being a prime example.

The end of the 4^th quarter was a joy to watch for the Mavericks as a whole. Overcoming a ten point lead to tie the game on the back of a strong defensive showing is something that only veteran teams can do consistently, it’s unfortunate it had to end in an overtime collapse.

Let’s look at the quarters...

1st Quarter:

4th time in less than two months that both the Rockets and Mavericks have met.
JJ Barea gets the start again. I think Roddy is officially in the dog house unless Barea royally messes up.
Trying to get Marion going early but he blows the layup. Great idea to get Marion active inside at the start of the game.
10:52, Barea snakes right to the baseline and hits a smooth layup after getting around the help defender.
10:11, Coming off a screen, Barea takes and makes a three-pointer. He is definitely looking for his shot early. Pokes the ball away on the next Rockets possession, which leads to a shot clock violation.
Erick Dampier should really be dominating Chuck Hayes as he gives up six inches in height. Mavericks need to start throwing it inside.
8:31, Mavericks ugly turnover as Erick Dampier tries to thread the needle to Marion under the basket. No way Dampier should ever be making that pass.
7:57, Dirk with the up and under. He doesn't use that as often as he should.
7:26, Barea gives Dampier a pass, which I swear the old Dampier would have fumbled. Super Dampier actually catches the pass and hits a reverse. I don't know what alternate reality I am in but I like it.
6:56, The Mavs are playing stifling defense, causing a second Rockets shot clock violation.
5:56, Barea makes a left-handed circus shot that hits high off the glass. He gets an "and 1" for his troubles. Everyone is looking really aggressive tonight.
5:24, Marion is back in the paint for a two point basket. Barea gets beat by Brookes :(
4:24, Dirk takes it to the rim for a dunk in traffic. He rarely dunks after blowing by his man. A sign of confidence?
Marion seems to have a bit of trouble getting his rebound and putting it back in the basket. You have to applaud the hustle but they don't have a column for that on the stats sheet.
3:26, Gooden comes in and grabs an offensive board. Gets fouled on the put back attempt. He nails both free-throws.
Marion and Gooden are both in the paint gathering offensive rebounds and looking to score. 16 points in the paint this quarter. We keep putting up this many points in the paint and we will grab our sixth win in a row.
Gooden has gotten a ton of offensive rebounds this quarter.
:47, Josh Howard hits a trailing jump shot on the fast break from Kidd.
If we were making all these put backs we would be up be 100 points (hyperbole).

2nd Quarter:

Aggression getting the best of the Mavericks? Offensive foul for Barea, play before that he loses the ball.
10:29, transition three from Josh Howard. Jump shot looks great, think the ankle is fine.
9:28, Dirk drives and gets fouled by Carl Landry. Huge cut on his elbow, doesn't look like it feels too good. Dirk hits 1 out of 2 left handed, because he’s good like that. Goes back to the locker room.
Humphries, time to step up man.
8:09, Josh Howard misses an 18 footer and does his best Shane Battier impression against Shane Battier (draws charge). No, a black hole did not open up.
7:20, Gooden gets called for an offensive play. Refs have decided that they want to call the game extremely tight now.
6:33, Barea shows why you hustle for every ball. Decides to let a ball go out which he could have easily grabbed. Possession went to Houston.
Dirk has to get stitches after the collision.
Houston has scored seven straight to take the lead 37-30. Howard counters back with a 2 point layup. Where did the Mavericks from the 1st quarter go?
Need Dirk back. Kidd steal with 3:48, nothing comes of it.
3:12, Barea takes it into the paint and has to throw up a wild shot. Dampier offensive rebound and draws a foul. 1 of 2 free-throws made.
2:24, Dampier goes back to the line. He should start going strong to the basket and dunking it.
There is no one who is even close to his size on the Rockets. Hits 1 of 2 again.
0 for 5 Jason Terry. Is there a lid on the basket for him?
The Rockets are helping the Mavericks out so much but they are still completely failing to score anything in the last three minutes.
Side note, the "Ketchup and Mustard" uniforms for the Rockets are horrible. Who thought that was a good idea? Unless they wanted to blind the Mavericks with ugly…
:51, Jason Terry is a shooter and hits a timely three. Jason Terry rushes a three in the attempt to go 2 for 1.
:2, Marion dunk off a nice assist from Barea to end the half.

3rd Quarter:

11:41, Brooks continues the hot start. Can someone please step up and stop this guy?
10:03, Two Barea back-to-back baskets are what is keeping us in the game right now. Dirk will not be returning. Can I dub Barea mini-Dirk?
8:51, only down four, thanks to a Shawn Marion two point shot. The Matrix is having a great game tonight.
8:02, Barea draws the Mavericks within 1. The Mavericks are starting to get back into a groove.
6:18, Practically two minutes without a basket? What the heck is going on here?
4:54, Trevor Ariza starts his highlight reel for tonight. Going on a bit of a scoring tear.
3:44, Drew Gooden two point shot keeping it close. Shawn Marion filling the stat sheet with an assist on the play.
:02, Tim Thomas cuts off a Rockets surge with a three pointer to end the quarter. Not much good happened in this quarter.

4th Quarter:

7:37, Clear path foul on Terry. This is clearly a blown call as you watch the reply JET is step for step with his man. This may be a game changer.
6:53, Kidd gets a tech for fighting? This is just pure comedy, seems that Tim Thomas was the instigator as he comes in and throws the first push.
4:35, the refs are taking over the game. Now Dampier gets a technical foul.
87-95, it’s looking all down hill for the Mavericks. Brooks is currently picking the Mavs apart.
2:43, Kidd taking (and making) a long two. Not the type of shot you want to be taking right now. Low percentage.
1:53, Kidd grabs his 10^th board and gets fouled. We are coming back thanks to the free-throw line.
1:05, Shawn Marion stops a Rockets fast break, starts a Mavericks fast break, and then he is rewarded with a layup. That could go down as a top play of the year.
:19.1, Kidd fouls but Brooks misses his first free-throw. Who do you go to now for the three pointer to tie? Jason Terry is having an off night.
:10.5, Tim Thomas with the clutch three to knot the game at 100 all. It really was a great shot fake.
Shawn Marion deserves the game ball tonight. He has done it all. Time looks like it is going back on the clock. Who would you give the ball to with Dirk out?
Scratch that, refs don’t put any more time back on the clock, :04 left in the quarter. Matrix can’t put it in for the win.

Overtime:

4:08, Jason Kidd with a bank shot. I cannot believe this.
3:53, Josh Howard hurts the team by getting a technical foul after a made basket. Luckily the Rockets miss the free throw.
3:31, Scola tried to flop on Dampier but the refs don’t buy it. Easy score for Dampier, I’ll take it.
3:00, Jason Terry takes an ill-advised three. Bad choice, everything should be going to the paint.
Brooks has been destroying us all night, only fitting he continues to kill us in overtime.
Flagrant foul on Brooks gives us an extra shot plus 2 free throws.
Eric Dampier also gets a technical and is ejected (means the opposing coach gets to choose the free throw shooter). We get Kris Humphries at the line, makes 1 of 2.
Jason Terry, takes another poor three to kill the Mavericks chances.
Rick Carlisle gives the Rockets a nightcap by getting ejected on his second technical.
Mavericks lose 116-108

Some Choice Statistics:

Mavericks longest winning streak is 17 games (06-07). Golden State Warriors ended the streak.
Dirk, on the quest for 20,000, currently sits at 19,784 points scored. Don’t think he will be catching Kareem by the end of his career.
5 plays were reviewed by referees in tonight’s game. That has got to be a record.

Closing Thoughts:

Overtime losses hurt the most.No matter what anyone would like to believe, this games outcome, while tempered by refs, was not absolutely determined by the “zebras”. The Mavericks had their chances in overtime but they, suffered from an uncharacteristic loss of composure, perhaps due to the loss

Game Recap: Suns Set, Mavericks win 102-101

zdgmans — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:32:38 -0000

Mavericks fans got a great surprise today with Josh Howard returning to the line-up (although not in a starting roll). Howard definitely is the X-factor for this Dallas team. Don’t believe it? Check out the last twelve minutes of tonight’s game against Phoenix and you will see that Howard was a part of almost every major play the Mavericks had.

The team is still suffering from some offensive woes but you can chalk those up to Howard trying to shake off the rust and get integrated back into the line-up.

Game as a Whole:

Poor shooting aside, the Mavericks looked in control tonight. They didn’t get flustered when they were down or when Phoenix started to make a run in the 4^th quarter. The team executed the game plan and had an answer each time Phoenix came up with a big play.

What was different? A lot of things that had been going badly for the Mavericks all of a sudden started to go right. Barea actually contributed quality minutes (14 points), Dirk was the scoring monster he always has been (33 points), and Howard came back and played some clutch minutes (20 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes).

The Mavericks played with heart tonight and it seemed like the entire team keyed off of what Josh Howard was doing on the floor. The team, probably frustrated with its last two poor performances, seemed to play with a renewed passion and sense of urgency.

Hustle plays, lose balls, and defensive stops were all being made at crucial points in the game. The ball was definitely bouncing the Mavericks way tonight.

1st Quarter

Marion is off to a 1 of 5 start. He seems to be really out of sync on the offensive end. Taking really bad shots.
Barea is getting the chance to prove that he deserves to start. This is an interesting decision by Rick Carlisle.
Howard comes in for the first time at 5:07 while Dirk takes foul shots.
Howard misses his first shot but then makes up for it on the defensive end by getting a nice block.
The Mavs are still taking too many outside shots. It would be okay if we were making them but we are currently missing everything.
Dirk is fighting inside tonight, 2 offensive rebounds, puts it in, and 1.
Dampier shows off his terrible hands. First, can’t make a catch under the basket, then makes a bad pass.
Howard seems like he has something to prove tonight. He is driving REALLY hard to the basket.
Both teams are currently perfect from the line.

2nd Quarter

Dirk has a nice dunk to start off the quarter.
Gooden misses a point blank lay up at around the 9:07 mark. Can’t blow easy points like that.
Jason Terry is arguing a lot about the foul he committed at 7:12. Luckily the refs are being generous tonight.
Nice driving lay up by Barea but then he quickly picks up his second foul while tring to guard Jared Dudley.
5:19 Dirk gets a great reverse under the basket and is fouled. Just the type of action the team needs in the paint.
Mavericks have erased an 8-point lead that the suns had accumulated.
I cannot count how many times I have heard "toes were on the line" and Kidd mentioned in the same sentence.
Terry picks up his third foul with 56 seconds to go in the quarter. This could mean a rocky start to the third.
Marion misses at point blank range to end the quarter. Not the kind of performance you want to put together against your old team.

3rd Quarter

Second half line-up. Gooden is on the floor instead of Dampier. Dampier is not having a good night.
In an interesting move by Rick Carlisle JJ is kept on the floor even though he picked up his third foul early.
Two dunks by Dirk in one game. When the heck does that ever happen?
Kris Humphries gets put in for Drew Gooden. Hasn’t done anything special yet. Make those minutes count.
At 3:51 the Mavericks switch from a small 3-guard line-up to something more traditional with Humphries, Howard, Kidd, Nowitzki, and Terry.
Great to see the classic Josh Howard floater at the 2:25 mark. Welcome back Josh.
Hard foul by Amare on Kris Humprhies trying to go up for the dunk.
Josh Howard is starting to feel it. Hits a nice looking three-pointer and then the Mavericks force the Suns to take a timeout on the other end.
Things start rolling the Mavericks way. Dirk gets and one on a 21 footer. Mavericks currently up seven.

4th Quarter

Howard gets another big three and the Mavericks seem to be feeding off of him.
8:40 mark and Carlisle has to call a timeout due to poor transition defense that leads to a Jared Dudley 3-pointer.
Howard has scored the last 9 points for the Mavericks. That slowed down a Phoenix run that was starting to build.
Dirk has scored 31 points with around 3 minutes to go in the game. This is the Dirk we are used to seeing.
The Mavericks are starting to trade baskets with the suns. Kidd takes a perfect charge on Richardson to stop another Phoenix run.
The quintessential Dirk fade away on the base line puts the Mavericks up by 7 with a 1:39 to go. The Mavs then have an excellent defensive sequence to force a shot clock violation.
Kidd hits a 2 (to make it a two possession game) with 26 seconds left.
Steve Nash has drilled two threes for the Suns (making it a three point game). Mavs decide to play the foul game on his next trip so that Nash cannot take another 3.
Terry saves the game. Intentional miss on a foul shot (to start the clock) after missing his first.
Mavericks get the win 102-101.

Some Choice Statistics

Josh Howard has been out of the line-up since November 11^th (went out in a loss to the Spurs).
The Mavericks went 33-19 with Josh Howard in the line-up and 17-13 without him last season.
Dirk has a two game streak of wearing the headband.
Continuing the Josh Howard theme: Howard is the second player after Shane Battier to attain 1000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 200 steals, 100 blocks, and 100 three-pointer.

Closing Thoughts:

Everyone has already said this but I will say it again. Josh Howard needs to stay healthy for the Mavericks to reach their true potential in the West. I am excited to think what this team will look like in a couple of weeks once Howard is fully back into form. We will still have some growing pains ahead (as we integrate Howard back into the line-up) and the team tries to figure out its defensive identity. It’s a long season and we are all along for the ride.

Game Preview - Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks

Mike Lisboa — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:07:04 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

"Trade me for a Shaqtus, will you?" Former Sun Shawn Marion plots his revenge. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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So, after a creampuff of a schedule so far in terms opposition, the Suns finally get a chance to prove they belong in the discussion of Western Conference powers. Those 2 losses to the Lakers? Totally expected. It's going to be the rare team that gives that Laker squad a run for their money. Anyone who expected the Suns to do more than compete for 2 or 3 quarters in either of those games was probably a little delusional.

But the Mavericks? They're the proverbial "someone our own size." In addition to hoping for similar seeding in the Western Conference play-off picture, the Mavericks have even had some of the same early season challenges/knocks the Suns have:

The Mavericks have played 12 of their first 21 games on the road. The Suns have played 14 of 21 away from Phoenix.
The Mavericks have had an even softer schedule than the Suns. Opponents winning percentage is .457 vs. .487 for Phoenix.
The Mavs have only played 7 times against teams with a record better than .500. The Sun have only played 7 times against teams with a record better than .500.
The Mavericks are 5-2 in those games. The Suns are 3-4 in those games.

And that's where these two teams diverge in terms of early season success. The Mavericks even notched an early win over the Lakers (a 94-80 thumping at Staples Center) who have proved... how shall we say this... challenging to the Suns.

Let's go to the match-ups and see how else these teams stack up.

Guards

At the point, Steve Nash squares off against one-time benchmate Jason Kidd. Both long in the tooth and wizards with the ball in their hands, Nash is a better scorer and Kidd is a better defender. And according to a panel of basketball expert types, Kidd holds a slight edge in "basketball IQ." This is basically a push and should be a fun match-up to watch as the two veterans try to out-wile each other. Off the bench, it's J.J. Barea vs. Goran Dragic. Barea's been logging heavier minutes than Dragic, but serves the same role: holder of serve while the starting maestro catches his breath between virtuoso performances. Hopefully, confident Dragic shows up and can use his size and speed to over-match the smaller Barea. Again, there's no discernable advantage for either team here.

At shooting guard, the Mavs roll out French rookie Rodrigue Beaubois against Jason Richardson. Beaubois is fast as all get out and can leap tall guards in a single bound. Look for the Mavs to get him going early with their now-trademark alley-oop play they run for the little guy. Whatever. The real story at the 2 for the Mavs is Jason Terry, who notoriously lights it up against the Suns. J-Rich will have his hands full preventing Terry from getting his and better remember to pack his offense if he hopes to out-gun Terry. The Suns may miss Leandro Barbosa's scoring punch here.

Forwards

Well, well, well... if it isn't our old friend Shawn Marion. I expect to see a motivated Matrix against Grant Hill tonight. Off the bench, Jared Dudley versus Quinton Ross is fairly even match-up of hustle guys who trade on their defense.

At power forward, we have both teams big guns, men who, when playing at the tops of their games are virtually unguardable. Dirk Nowitzki is a one man wrecking crew from all over the court and while Amare Stoudmire doesn't have Dirk's range or ability to create off the dribble, he's a handful from 20 feet inwards. Slight edge to the Mavericks here. Off the bench, the Mavericks have Kris Humphries and former Sun Tim Thomas. Is tonight the night we finally see Lou Amundson back in the line-up? The Suns could probably use some of his energy on the road after a tough loss to the Lakers.

Center

True story: when Erick Dampier and Steve Nash were free agents a few years back, I wanted the Suns to throw gobs of money at Dampier after his career year at Golden State and nearly tore my hair out when they offered Nash his massive contract. Let's just say that was not my best basketball moment. That said, despite his tendency to mail it in from time to time, Dampier can do his damage down low. If he gets physical, Channing Frye could be in for another long game. While more athletically gifted, Robin Lopez needs to stay in control of himself and not pick up cheap fouls against Dampier or veteran back-up Drew Gooden. This is an opportunity for him to show his stuff against some veteran competition and a very manageable match-up if he can keep his wits about him.

Predictions

On paper, this is a good quality match-up for both teams and an opportunity to shed early season "soft" labels. As usual, the teams square up well against one another on a position by position basis. For the Mavs defensively, I expect we'll see a lot of Dampier and Gooden staying home down low with Amare while Dirk floats to the perimeter against Channing Frye.

Also, I expect the Mavs will continue the trend of switching longer defenders out on to Nash to disrupt his passing game. Nash will have to figure out how to shake his former partner-in-oop Shawn Marion to keep the Suns offense from stagnating.

It's at this time where I have to point out the one big discrepancy between the two teams. While the Suns hold the offensive edge, scoring 112.1 points per 100 possessions (1st in the NBA) versus 106.2 for the Mavericks (12th), Dallas is a much, much better defensive team, allowing only 99.9 points per 100 (5th) versus a whopping 107.6 (24th) for the Suns.

While the Suns can win this game if they can return to the terrifyingly efficient offensive game that tormented opposing teams earlier in the year, I see them struggling against the Mavs relatively strong defense and slow pace. The Suns haven't been able to push the tempo against quality opposition (Celtics game notwithstanding) and Steve Nash has yet to adjust his game to overcome bigger opposing defenders. Until the Suns improve their sieve-like porous matador thus far weak defense, they are reliant on an increasingly tenuous jump-shooting offense to pull them through.

It pains me to do it, but while the Suns should be much more competitive in this game than previous ones against quality teams, I see the Mavs pulling away on the strength of big games by Nowitzki and Terry and their superior defense. 107-96, Mavericks.

That said, it should be a fun game, and after a couple days of rest the Suns will be looking to prove me all kinds of wrong, so getcha popcorn ready! Head over to Mavs Moneyball to check out the view from the other side of the bleachers.

Game Day Links

Suns vs Mavericks coverage
Mavs Moneyball
HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Jorge Sierra » Most Valuable Tweeters
the former Bobcat is the clear Twitter MVP. His trade to a relevant team like Phoenix and his impressive activity with the social media website have made him a recognizable face for NBA fans – which wasn’t the case one year ago while still in Charlotte. Dudley reports news (calls himself JMZ), gives away tickets and interacts with fans, journalists, owners and fellow NBA players.
azcentral.com - members
They still might get there. But with the Lakers taking root in Los Angeles so far this season, the Suns playing a league-high 14 road games and "Phoenix at L.A. Lakers" coming up twice a night after a home game that was just a check-in from an East Trip, it's hard to make take any lasting impressions away other than that the Lakers are better.
Lakers rout Suns in LA again
"They bottle up everything you try to do," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "They switch, and they knock off. We could never really get anything going. We're not so much a fast-break team but a rhythm team and they just take you out of your rhythm."
Lakers 108, Phoenix 88: Second verse, same as the first | Lakers Blog | Los Angeles Times
I think we can all agree that if asked to create NBA kryptonite for this year's Suns squad, it would look a lot like the Lakers. Length, mobility, dominating post play, and so on. Generally speaking I like to avoid grand proclamations so early in the season, but I'm comfortable declaring that there is absolutely no earthly way Phoenix would beat a healthy Lakers team in a playoff series. None. Something under zero, really. But the Suns are 15-4 vs. the rest of the league. That's worth something, and Sunday night the Lakers beat them by 20. That's worth something, too.

This one is a must read. A true basketball poet lays the Suns bare

Hardwood Paroxysm » Blog Archive » What a Feeling, To Be Mortal
Maybe the hustle and the bustle of the Suns doesn’t quite fit your living style, but who could possibly claim that the exaggerated in-game highs and lows of the Suns — the 20-point lead built and swallowed by a 5-25 run, the 3-point barrages followed by defensive letdowns — aren’t basketball’s most fitting equivalent of life on the outside? It’s not about the 9-5 grind, and it’s not necessarily about winning all the time; the Suns’ existence is predicated on winning more than you lose, embracing who you are, playing by your own rules, learning to live through the ups and downs, and remembering that the line between work and play doesn’t have to be crystal clear. They work hard, they score points, and they play basketball like it’s a game worth playing. They may not have the talent of the Lakers or the convention of the Spurs, but this is a team of hard workers and ball players with a plan.
Suns hope to warm up in Dallas
Suns fans must yearn for those 14-3 NBA darlings they had a week ago - probably as much as the Suns now yearn to rediscover their offense. That Suns team had three four-game winning streaks, an unflappable road mentality and shot 50.7 percent from the field.
azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish - PaulCoro - A fair fight for the Suns
The Suns get some help with that tonight with Louis Amundson returning from his flu bout. His stomach still hurts but he going to play tonight and probably get to guard Nowitzki. Welcome back. His key is energy so we will see how much of it he has after a couple days in bed.

Game Recap: Mavs Ineffective in 98-82 Loss to the Grizzlies

zdgmans — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:25:49 -0000

More photos » by Nikki Boertman - AP

19 days ago: Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd, left, works against Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 4, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)

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Well, this is definitely not the post I imagined myself writing when I was asked to do the Game Recaps here at Mavs Moneyball. I will save the introductions for happier times (anyway you didn't come here to read about who I am, you came to find out what the heck happened with the Mavericks) but for the time being I will be following up every Mavericks game with a succinct recap. If you have a suggestion or want to see something I am not covering, let me know and I will make sure to grab it in the next recap.

Now, without further delay (still trying to figure out what happened in Memphis)...

Game as a Whole:

From the opening tip to the last shot of the fourth quarter, it didn't quite feel like the Mavericks showed up to play. Sure, Dirk had a really poor shooting night (7 of 22 for 16 points) but a good team should be able to overcome their star player having an off night every once in a while. Unfortunately, everybody on the team seemed content to follow Dirk's lead by chucking up contested shots and generally looking out of sync on the offensive end.

Give Rick Carlisle credit here as he tried a bunch of different things, giving Rodrigue Beaubois some extended burn this game (second most minutes he has played besides the Bucks), keeping his starters on the floor for major minutes, but in the end it felt like the Mavericks were doomed to lose this game as soon as the Grizzlies started having a career night from the 3 point line. For as much as was said about the Mavericks focusing on defense during training camp, it definitely seems like they are a long way off from having anything resembling a championship calibre defense.

By the Quarters:

1st Quarter:

Both teams come out like they don't know how to play defense. Shots are being thrown up on both sides with abandon and it feels like the game is going to be played at a pretty up-tempo pace.
O.J. Mayo starts out on fire. Definitely thought Jason Kidd should have been on Mike Conley and Rodrigue Beaubois should have been guarding Mayo.
It's a shoot out as both teams are over 50% from the floor.

2nd Quarter:

JJ Barea comes in and immediately gets a turnover (not what Jason Kidd wants to see when going to the bench).
Kris Humphries gets a full extension block on Sam Young who gathers the missed shot only to have it be denied by... the rim. When all else fails, the rim is a great help defender.
The last portion of the quarter sees Jason Terry trying to force the issue by taking the ball to the rim before seeing him settle into taking corner 3's.

3rd Quarter:

Beaubois proves to Memphis that he is a rookie by rushing two 3 point shots on consecutive possessions. The Mavericks should have been taking it to the rim.
Frustration sets in as all of the Mavericks start rushing shots. The offense looks disorganized and you can see that the guys are really having to work hard for even a glimpse at the basket.
Jason Terry makes a timely three close to the end of the quarter to make the game feel like it's close (notice I said "feel").

4th Quarter:

Grizzlies can't score in the first three minutes but the Mavericks don't take advantage. JJ Barrea ends up with another really bad turnover while trying to thread the needle to Drew Gooden under the basket.
Terry to this point has had the only consistent game. He finished with 18 points.
At 2:39 the game is over for the Mavericks as Rick Carlisle pulls all of his starters (except Beaubois) off the floor.

Closing Thoughts:

This is one I am sure that every Mavericks fan would have easily circled as a win on the schedule but no matter how bad a team is (hey the New Jersey Nets got their first win tonight!) you still have to show up and put the effort in to get the win. As Dirk goes, so do the Mavs; without Dirk putting up his usual numbers the team looked completely lost. Let's hope that we don't see another performance like this out of the Mavericks for a long time to come.

Some Choice Statistics:

Looking at the +/-, almost every Maverick was in the negative on the floor while almost all of the Grizzlies had positive nights.
Dirk Nowitzki has his streak of 14 straight games with 20 points or more snapped.
Hasheem Thabeet a 30% Free Throw shooter is fouled on his first shot attempt and makes both free throws (this is when you know you are having a bad game).
Dallas has the 4th best scoring bench in the country.
The Grizzlies shoot 52.9% from three even though they are not known as a three point shooting team (thanks in large part to O.J. Mayo's ridiculous night from behind the arc).
Mavericks shoot 0 foul shots in the second half.

The Sunday Roundup

Wes Cox — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:45:27 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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Mavs need the 3 for their long-range plans | Eddie Sefko - DMN
The Mavericks are winning games, which is masking any problems that might be hiding under the surface. But 3-point shooting has to be a weapon for them. If they don't perk up from their .349 percentage thus far, it's going to put a strain on other parts of their offense.

Dallas Mavericks' Humphries wearing his Sunday best | Eddie Sefko - DMN
"He's done a much better job the last seven or eight games engaging himself immediately when he comes into the game and playing with full physical force," Carlisle said. "That means sprinting the floor and putting his body on people and pursuing the ball. The first four or five games, there were times when he was a little slow to get cranked up into games, and he's done a really good job of correcting that."

Humphries has proven he can help Mavs | Tim MacMahon - ESPNDallas
"I’ve got to prove myself," Humphries said after his 15-point, five-rebound outing in Friday night’s win over the Sacramento Kings. "I don’t think anyone expected me to come into this team and contribute. For me, from day one, I’ve had to prove that I can contribute to a winning team." He has definitely done that during the Mavs’ current five-game winning streak... Humphries has averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds during the streak

Donuts: Carlisle Dresses Mavs In Sunday | DB.com
His name is Roddy Beaubois and he is a rookie and he barely speaks English and the Mavs really did at one time plan for him to maybe go down to the D-League and get a cup o' coffee and some actual playing time ... because he wasn't going to be good enough just yet to ean any playing time in the bigs, right? Wrong. And here's part of the logic, too: Which place is Roddy going to learn more about being an NBA point guard: a) Playing every weekend against the Albuquerque Yuck Monkeys or b) practicing every day at the AAC against Jason Kidd?

So Far, Dirk is the MVP | Bethlehem Shoals - Sporting News
No one doubted that Dirk was one of the league's best, or that the Mavs could potentially be a factor in the West. But he's elevated them from intriguing to legit and asserted that a player who can make his presence felt league-wide, not just a perennial all-star.

Injury Update | Eddie Sefko - DMN
"Just a couple more days and I should be good," Marion said. "It still hurts more in the shoe. I feel fine barefoot." Carlisle said Erick Dampier's future should become clearer soon. "I think we'll know sometime next week where things are at," he said. "I know there's still some testing being done."

Mavericks Vs Kings: Game 13 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:56:47 -0000

Kings vs Mavericks coverage

Sactown Royalty

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: Jason is obviously one of the best PG to ever play the game, but when you think of J Kidd one most certainly thinks of his passing abilities first and foremost. This season however he has made his mark on this team with his defense. The Mavs defense is a full 8.6 points better with Kidd on the floor, and in the West that is no easy task. Tonight should be one of the easier match ups for Kidd on both ends of the floor. Look for a possible triple/double from J Kidd tonight.

vs.

Beno Udrih: Udrih is being asked to carry more of the scoring load for the Kings with K Mart being side lined. Beno is more of a jump shooter than penetrator; he comes in averaging 13 ppg, shooting 51% from the field and 43% from 3. He has good ball skills as he carries a 2:1 assists to turnover ratio; he has shown the ability to get to the basket, but his shot gets blocked at a 17% clip, without K Mart this percentage probably increases.

Edge: Mavericks

Shooting Guard

Rodrigue Beaubois: Continues to help get the Mavs off to a quick start in the 1^st and 3^rd quarters, and the feel of the team just seems to be more energized with him on the floor. His speed and quickness will be great assets for him tonight going against a much bigger defender. This may be the game that Beaubois gets increased time on the floor. Look for the Mavs to work the Kidd/Beaubois/Nowitzki 3 man game a lot tonight.

vs.

Tyreke Evans: The Kings #1 draft pick from Memphis has got his NBA career off to a good start. Evans comes in averaging 17.1ppg. The Kings will run a lot of screens and backside picks to get him the ball while moving to the basket. Evans is a good finisher and with his length (6'6") at the 2 spot, could cause the Mavs defense problems. While Evans does not shoot the 3 ball well (26%) he has a decent 15-18 ft. jumper, but it is his finishing ability that Kings are in love with.

Edge: Even

Forward

Quinton Ross: Defense, Defense, Defense. I mean what else is there to say about The Q? Do not be surprised however if Kris Humphries does not get the nod due to the extreme height disadvantage the Mavs will be in.

vs.

Donte Greene: It appears as though the Kings coaching staff is becoming more, and more confident in Donte. Against Chicago on Tuesday Donte played his most minutes of the year and oh by the way led the team in scoring too. Donte will do most of his work inside the paint and his height could cause the Mavs problems.

Edge: Mavericks

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: "He's not clutch", "He is too soft", "He is not a Leader" and those people that said these things are IDIOTS.

vs.

~~Does Not Matter~~ Jason Thompson: Another in a long list of former #1 draft picks on this Sacramento squad with a solid future in the NBA, just not tonight.

Edge: Mavericks

Center

Drew Gooden: Has been on an impressive run the last few games, averaging 17ppg and 10 rpg over his last 3 starts.

vs.

Spencer Hawes: You guessed it, another former #1 pick that makes the Kings a perfect 5 for 5 on former #1's starting tonight. Spencer may be the epitome of average, all it takes is one look at his +/- stat (+0.1) and that will tell you just about all you need to know about him, but an average center in the NBA can have a long career and make lots of money.

Edge: Mavericks

Injuries/Suspensions

Sacramento Kings

OUT - Kevin Martin (broken wrist)

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Josh Howard (ankle)

Questionable - Shawn Marion (ankle)

Prediction: The Mavericks have been known to play to the level of their competition, and the Kings have been known to either win or get run off the floor. This game could go either way, but either way it goes the Mavs will walk away victorious.

Mavericks: 104

Kings: 97

Mavs Bounce Back: Beat Lakers 94-80

Wes Cox — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:31:56 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

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Dampier played good defense on Bynum all night - significantly better than Gooden.
I love how Matt Caroll rocks the headband while he's on the bench.
Shawn Marion played much better defense on Kobe Bryant than Quentin Ross.
Kris Humphries was very active all night, and he got rewarded with 20 minutes -- something he only did twice last season.
Rick Carlisle didn't go to the three guard lineup until the fourth quarter. Obviously they went to a zone at that point, and it worked pretty well. Dallas was +5 during that 8 minute stretch that effectively closed out the game.
The Lakers made 13 FG's in the second half.
Shawn Marion was a team worst -17 in game one, and team best +37 in game two.
Shannon Brown's dunk early in the fourth was sick. I was pretty surprised he didn't get a T for hanging on the rim, but I'm not going to complain since Dallas got the majority of the calls throughout the game.
James Singleton saw the court and made hist first shot of the season -- an open three (he was 13 of 40 from outside the arc last season)
I say this every time Dallas plays the Lakers at the Staples center, but I still love their stage lighting and would love to see it at the AAC.
After a win like that, they might have to wear those new blue unis more often. I thought they looked pretty good too.

Postgame Quotes Jason Terry

We owed our fans a better performance tonight, and we know they were all watching at home. The Lakers, we have huge confidence playing against them. Last year we let three games slip away that we thought we had an opportunity to win. Tonight our confidence was up, but everyone contributed. You look at what Humphries did off the bench, Shawn Marion. Those guys are just now getting acclimated to what we are doing, and we are learning how to utilize them offensively.

Postgame Quotes Shawn Marion

Not a lot of guys were talking about you before the season. Does this sort of victory put you on the map so to speak?

We're already on the map. Just because people didn't talk about us doesn't mean we're not on the map. Trust me, we're there. When you go look at the map you see Dallas right there.

Postgame Quotes Dirk Nowitzki

It was great. We haven't won in this building in what feels like forever. We played well, especially after losing the season opener at home which we took pretty hard. We played well together. We played well defensively. We competed. We kept them under 40% shooting.

AP Recap & Highlights | Box Score | GameFlow

The Sunday Links

Wes Cox — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:35:11 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

Do not mess with the 'King of the Whale Killers'.

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I can't believe the season starts in two days...

SI.com previewed the Mavs player-by-player.
"Tim Thomas will give them 10 good games a year."

Jason Kidd is rested and ready for another season.
“I feel great, he said. “I felt great last season, too, even after the Olympics. But this was the first summer I’ve really gotten some rest. It was something new to me and my body, but I invited it and welcomed it and did get that rest this summer. Until I can’t be competitive, or help, I’m going to continue (playing). I love the competition. I still feel I can help a team win. It might not be by scoring 20 points a night. It might not be by having 15 assists a night, but just my will and my smarts and my experience can help us get some victories down the road.”

Sefko has a good mult-part season preview.
The Mavericks have no excuses for not being one of the best rebounding teams in the league this season. They have four of the top 15 rebounders in the league among active players.

7. Jason Kidd Mavericks 7,408
8. Shawn Marion Mavericks 7,384
9. Dirk Nowitzki Mavericks 7,182
15. Erick Dampier Mavericks 6,403

Kidd and Dirk don't mess around.
Kidd’s fortitude was on display in, of all places, Pittsburgh last week. When Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki found out they weren’t playing in the preseason game against Cleveland, they went to the arena three hours early to get in a rigorous workout. Shooting and wind sprints ensued for more than 90 minutes. And people wonder why they are a pair of first-ballot Hall of Famers.

NOLA.com has their predictions, and puts Dallas just ahead of the Hornets at 51-31.

Eddie Sefko predicts 52-30 and goes all out by guessing the Mavs record month by month.

The final preseason game against Houston gavea good indication of the initial rotation.
Though nothing is in stone regarding the rotation, it seems likely Quinton Ross will start until Josh Howard returns, and Jason Terry, J.J. Barea, James Singleton and Kris Humphries will be the primary producers off the bench. "Obviously, you saw a good chunk of it tonight," coach Rick Carlisle said of the rotation.

Josh Howard is out for the season opener... and longer. Rick Carlisle says "it may be a while before Josh plays."

Marc Stein has a good write-up on the surprise of the preseason for the Mavs - Kris Humphries.
As one veteran scout said recently after watching Humphries beat up on second-unit (and sometimes third-unit) opposition: "He's always been good for shock and awe in short stretches, but when he is depended on to produce he has always left teams wanting." The Mavs remain hopeful anyway.

John Hollinger points out that Humphries per minutes stats in Toronto were pretty good.

Stats per 36 minutes
Season	Tm	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2008-09	TOR	29	0	265	5.2	12.2	.422	5.2	6.5	.792	3.3	6.2	9.5	1.4	1.1	0.8	1.1	4.2	15.5

The life of a Rockets fan.
Dirk Nowitzki has played 236 out of a possible 246 games the last three seasons. Yao Ming has played 180 out of 246.... Consider that with Yao on the shelf and Tracy McGrady out (again) for an undetermined amount of time, the Rockets go from playoff-dangerous to lottery-bound. As hard as Rick Adelman has his players play, they just aren’t as good. Not even close.

Antoine Walker fail.
Walker earned over $110 million dollars ove the course of his 12-year NBA career. Now he is being pursued by multiple credit agencies seeking to collect over $4 million dollars in debt.

Tip-In, Toronto Raptors' Post-Game Report: Making the Pieces Fit

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:01:46 -0000

More photos » by Jessica Hill - AP

In his Raptors' debut, Hedo had a tough time staying with Pierce, and unlike the Celtics, the Raptors are going to need some time to get on the same page at both ends of the court.

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The Raptors dropped a 106 to 90 decision to the Celtics last night in pre-season action. But as Franchise discusses this morning, it's going to take some time for Toronto's upgrade in talent to all get on the same page...

One of my constant rants last year concerning this Toronto Raptors' basketball club, was that for all the talk Bryan Colangelo had done in the off-season about "his best Raptors club on paper," the talent just wasn't there. I wanted to scream at times when I saw a line-up of Roko Ukic, Joey Graham, Jason Kapono and Kris Humphries out there with the likes of Bosh or Bargs, and it was obvious as early as pre-season to me that we were dealing with at best a .500 club.

What about this year then? Through five pre-season games the Raptors find themselves with a 2 and 3 record, the third loss coming last night at the hands of the Boston Celtics. Are there early signs of another disappointing regular season?

The short answer to that question is that it's too early to tell.

It's pre-season, and a team with 12 new faces is still trying to figure things out at both ends of the court. Contrast this to the Celtics, who have the exact same core as the past two seasons and it showed last night as the game went along.

And of course, Toronto is still getting some healthy bodies in and out of the line-up for the first time.

Hedo made his debut last night and looked pretty much as I expected he would; some nice dishes (he led the team in assists along with Jack), some terrible shot selection, and some "I'm still trying to get into shape" attempts at guarding his man.

But Antoine Wright, a player who prior to the start of the season was expected to play a major role on D for this team has yet to play, and various others, from Chris Bosh to Jose Calderon, still look to be finding their groove.

Bosh had his best performance of the pre-season with 21 points on eight of 13 shooting but was hampered by foul trouble. However he does look stronger and more powerful, especially on offense, yet as lithe and slippery as he's always been. His jab step and pull-up from the left block is virtually unguardable and once he gets accustomed to his new peers, fans could be in for a real treat.

And I guess that's the long answer to the question I previously posed; the signs I've seen so far this pre-season indicate that there's simply too much talent on this roster for the team not to be successful.

The real challenge is going to be for Jay Triano and his coaching staff to maximize this influx of talent, and make it work as a cohesive unit, and last night's game was a perfect example of this. While Bosh was dominant on offense, he was a bit too dominant and other starters like Andrea Bargnani and Hedo Turkoglu weren't getting enough touches. It's going to take some time for these three to get acclimatized but once they do, they represent extremely tough match-ups for opponents.

And players like Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson, who were anticipated to spend time at the end of the bench, have really played well, while others like DeMar DeRozan and Marco Belinelli, who were suposed to take on a bigger role with the club, have been a bit underwhelming.

I'd even throw the point guard situation in the mix as point on Triano's "to figure out asap" list.

Calderon to me still doesn't look like he's got that bounce in his step back from two seasons ago at either end of the court and frankly, Jarrett Jack has been playing like the starter and Jose the back-up. With Jack's ability to bull-doze his way to the rim and create shots with the clock winding down, I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who found himself wondering if we'd see Jack closing out games at some point this season, or at least on the court with Jose in the game's final minutes.

The Celtics commentators last night mentioned that Toronto was probably Boston's biggest competition for the Atlantic Division crown but from what I've seen so far, the Dinos have a long way to go before that statement rings true. Hopefully tonight's game against the Rockets, which we'll be previewing later today, will be another step in the right direction.

Again, the talent is there, but I expect a good month or so of growing pains before we really start to see evidence of how good this club could be.

FRANCHISE

Grizzlies Lose to Mavericks: 107-114

djturtleface — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:34:45 -0000

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

Hollins was the object of attention tonight, mixing up his lineups to some success. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

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Boy I'm glad I didn't watch this game. Things started off strange with Hollins splitting and combining the starters and subs into two brand new lineups. That meant that Mike Conley, OJ Mayo, DeMarre Carroll, Darrell Arthur, and Hasheem Thabeet started the game.

Why did Hollins do it? I suspect he wanted to see how Thabeet, Carroll, and Arthur would play against starting competition, since these guys have looked solid all summer. Results over jump.

***UPDATE***

The result was both beautiful and awful. The first team excelled, with each (besides OJ Mayo who closed the game with Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph) player having a plus minus of between +10 and +15. DeMarre Carroll really impressed, getting points in the flow, dropping dimes, rarely turning the ball over, and grabbing 4 steals. Thabeet was no slouch either -- he defended the rim aggressively and clearly made this unit stronger defensively.

But Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph led a second lineup that was absolutely abysmal. Rudy, Z-Bo, Sam Young, and Marc Gasol combined for 10 turnovers and a collectively abysmal plus minus, punctuated by Rudy Gay's whopping -24 with 4 TO's, 8 points on 11 shots, and piss poor defense on Kris Humphries.

In other news Mike Conley continued to have a solid preseason, despite a bunch of turnovers, and OJ Mayo notched a double-double with assists despite shooting 0-5 from three point range. Darrell Arthur returned from injury to blow up for 17 points and 6 boards in 26 minutes, though he did battled foul trouble.

I don't know how to feel about this Grizzlies bunch. As a young team they are due to be inconsistent, but I didn't expect this much frustration, particularly from young guns Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo.