SB Nation User Blog: zkmavz

Power Rankings Roundup

zkmavz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:08:18 -0000

Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan thinks the Mavs are the 10th best team in the NBA.

Does it really matter where people think the Mavs rank in the NBA after two weeks? Probably not. But I have always enjoyed seeing different thoughts from different places on the Mavs. Now, I used to let power rankings anger me when I thought our team was being disrespected. Recently I've done my best to mellow out on the power rankings and let things that truly matter make me angry, like Dwyane Wade.

That being said, I've done my best to compile all of the NBA power rankings that I have come across. I will continue to update this weekly so we can see what the general consensus is of our beloved Mavericks nationally. If you know of one that I am missing, please leave it in the comments. I will make sure and add it to next week's Power Rankings Roundup. A few sites have paired up with other sites (Yahoo/NBA.com, CBSSports/SI.com). Also note that some sites have not been updated yet this week. I put my comments in italics.

Overall, everyone agrees that we are a top ten team in the league right now. I would definitely concur, though I still get sick thinking about that loss at New Orleans. What do you think?

ESPN.com (Marc Stein) - 7^th - Won a game they had no business winning with the Utah comeback. Blew a game they had no business losing with the New Orleans collapse. Final verdict for the Mavs? Still a decent week thanks to Josh Howard's return. - I agree with this 100%.

SI.com - 9^th - Looking for a reason to explain the hot start? How about defense? Last season, Dallas was 18-23 when held below 100 points. With the defensive-minded Shawn Marion and Quinton Ross on board this year, the Mavs are 3-1 when scoring in double digits. "Just by adding those two players, we're already a better defensive team," Dirk Nowitzki told The Dallas Morning News. "We've made a conscious effort to be better defensively. We're doing well defensively, and we're rotating for each other and scrambling and the defense has been fun to watch." - The defense has been great to watch. Hopefully the offense keeps up the momentum from the win over Toronto.

NBA.com - 8^th - Pace: 94.8 (18), Off Eff: 105.5 (13), Def Eff: 97.8 (7)
The Mavs couldn't stop Chris Paul on Wednesday, but Josh Howard returned on Saturday and they had their best offensive game of the season in a win over Toronto. They shot a scorching 63 percent from the field and turned the ball over just nine times.

Ball Don't Lie Twitter Top 10 - 8^th - Howard seems healthy, Kidd isn't THAT slow, Dirk's hair is glorious & Barea has responded well to the L's attempts to get Latino fans #BDL - Dirk's hair IS glorious! All fans of the NBA should follow @jeskeets on Twitter. You can thank me later.

HoopsWorld.com - 5^th - The impressive Mavs get tested by Texas this week with the Rockets visiting on Tuesday - followed by a trek to San Antonio the following night. The four-seed seemed like a best case for Dallas this season but the West may be more open than originally thought. - I like the optimism here. Will Duncan and Tony make it back from their ankle injuries by Wednesday?

InsideHoops.com - 10^th - Josh Howard recently returned. Erick Dampier is playing well. - Amazing commentary by InsideHoops.

SportingNews.com - 8^th - SF Josh Howard made his return to the starting five, and Dallas is starting to look legit. - Josh Howard returned. Did you hear?

USAToday.com - 8^th - Reaping benefits of improved defense. - All comments in this one are one-liners. They are right though.

DimeMag.com - 2^nd - Josh Howard is back, and doesn't look rusty at all. He put up 16 points in just 24 minutes against the Raptors. - They got our record wrong (5-2), but they made up for it by putting a picture of Dirk at top and ranking us 2^nd.

TheHoopsDoctors.com - 8^th - Dirk is playing great and the team is learning on the fly.

The Oregonian - 10^th - Josh Howard says ankle still painful. - Maybe Norkstrull knows something about this guy, being the local Blazers expert. If any of you know of your local newspaper writers that do rankings, please pass them along.

San Antonio Express-News - 7^th - They've got two wins at Staples Center, just like the Lakers. - Had to get the view from SA. You have to be in the top ten or you don't get a comment. Spurs ranked 11^th.

SBNation - 6th - Third Quarter Collapse: "Quietly having a great season, with a +7.3 differential, third-best in the league." - If Wes had remembered to vote, the Mavs might be 5th.

The below rankings update on Tuesday.

FoxSports.com - 8th - Nice start would be nicer if they'd made a free throw down the stretch in New Orleans. Still, this is a formidable team, especially with Howard back. - Ugh, don't remind me.

NBA.Fanhouse.com - 6th - Dallas has actually looked like one of the top teams this season, but the fact that they gave away a game at the free throw line cannot go unpunished. But the next night Josh Howard returned, and so did the Mavs' solid play: They crushed the Raptors by 28 points. - They have our record at 5-2 already. I hope they are right.

Five Mavs on All-Star Ballot

zkmavz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:11:28 -0000

Link To Story

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Mavericks will have five players on the NBA All-Star ballot.

They'll be the five at Tuesday's news conference and they will be the first voters in the fan balloting that will select the starters for the game Valentine's Day at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and Josh Howard will be on the ballot. Erick Dampier was left off, according to folks with knowledge of the ballot.

Still, the Mavericks have a nice representation. It'll be interesting to find out if more than Nowitzki makes the final Western Conference squad. As always, it'll boil down to wins. The best teams in the first half of the season usually get the most players named.

--Eddie Sefko

Mavs Beat Chris Bosh's Dreads

zkmavz — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:02:24 -0000

More photos » by Glenn James - NBAE/Getty Images

My Horoscope says DUNK

Browse more photos »

It's recap time... and we dominated. We were supposed to dominate right? Phillip predicted he Mavs to roll and we did. I have a bit of news though... someone got really drunk at the birthday party... sorry it wasn't me. It was my wife... I think she's okay... I am more worried about this recap though... let's get into the game (or at least the part i saw).

- Josh Howard is BACK! the good news is that he looked aggressive... the bad news is that he still bricked jumpshots and he did his Jason Terry impression at the free throw line...
- Dirk got 20 points again... I can't believe that loser scored less than 20 vs NO... he sucks
- JJ Barea had 12 assists?!?! He is the worst player in the league one night and the next... he brings it... prettay impressive... He's still short...
- I posted it in the game thread... the Mavs had the 4th highest shooting % in the last 18 years... ummm awesome
- Isn't it stupid that roddy boobwa is badass early on vs NO and then we only see him in garbage time tonight? come on now...
- Baylor won today... SIC 'EM
- Jason Terry needs to stop missing free throws or I will punch him... i will...
- I am glad Quinton Ross isn't hurt.
- Is Erick Dampier a viable option in fantasy... i am still refusing to bite... but ever single game this year he isn't hurting your team... gotta love contract years.
- I saw Shawn Marion miss 2 shots before I left... he finished the game 9-11 from the field... I guess he did well after I left huh? Has he shot a FT this year? I am not looking it up... I'm just wondering...
- I've got nothing left... Please leave your thoughts on the game in the comment section and get ready to beat the Rockets on ~~Monday~~ Tuesday... I am going to link the Mavs-Rockets game cuz SBNation gives me that option... not sure where it leads... GO MAVS!

Rockets vs Mavericks coverage

Hi, My Name is zkmavz and I'm a Mavsaholic

zkmavz — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:25:30 -0000

Hey everyone... Phillip told me I had to do an introductory piece, and since he is the ~~guy who randomly showed up and started telling us what to do~~ boss, I guess i will follow orders...

My name is Zack, though most of you know me as zkmavz... That's me in the picture with the Dirk jersey on... Phillip's #1 enemy, Dirk Diggler, is with me as well.

I am looking forward to contributing to this site in ways other than getting angry in the game threads. I am going to be doing post-game recaps and some other weekly stuff that is a surprise. Yay surprises! The best news of all is that the more I post, the less Phillip will. No... just kidding The best news is really that I plan to regularly have new stuff for people to read and comment on... and if you dont like what I post, please comment and let me know. I will then do more of what you don't like just to annoy you. That's not true either... I don't want to annoy you. I don't really know where I am going with this... I didn't want to post this anyway... Let's move on.

My first duty will be to start doing quick recaps of each game... and what a perfect night to start. The Raptors are coming to town after beating the Hornets last night, and (Phillip, skip this rest of this paragraph) I wont even get to watch the game live since my wife is dragging me to a birthday party. So please be prepared for a delayed recap with me being about 6 beers deep.

OK, I am done with this introductory post. I look forward to giving you all some good hard Mavericks love this season. Bruce182 what's up? Front page shout out for ya buddy!

GO ~~MAV'S~~ MAVS!

Mavs brand new HD boards had a glitch on opening night...

zkmavz — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:32:38 -0000

Mavs brand new HD boards had a glitch on opening night...

Spurs Have Girl Problems Too

zkmavz — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:20:12 -0000

Former New Jersey Net star Richard Jefferson bailed on his stunning fiancee -- pulling the plug on his posh Manhattan wedding at the 11th hour without even alerting some of the guests, The New York Post has learned.

The cold-footed forward's decision to ditch onetime Net dancer Kesha Ni'Cole Nichols was so last-minute that some of his oblivious friends had already shown up last Saturday at the swank Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle for the $2 million wedding that never happened.

Jefferson — who was traded in June to the San Antonio Spurs — dumped Nichols just before the weekend, according to sources.

She immediately called her family and friends to say the ceremony was off.

But Jefferson waited much longer, his friends told The Post.

"He called about two hours before the wedding. It was nuts," said one Jefferson pal.

He never showed up at the hotel, but "all his boys were there," the friend said. "He gave his best friend the Black Amex (credit card) for the night."

LINK TO STORY

F YOU OTIS "BITCH" SMITH... f you too donnie

zkmavz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:54:32 -0000

An NBA source has told the Orlando Sentinel that the Orlando Magic will match the five-year, $34-million offer sheet extended by the Dallas Mavericks to Marcin Gortat and thus retain him. The team would not be able to trade him until Dec. 15, at the earliest, if that's what the team wants to do.

more words are needed... way to go donnie.. put all your damn eggs in one basket and not bass is gone too... fucking shoot me.. damp and hollins here we go... otis smith is a dead man... f south florida teams

LINK TO STORY

Amare to Houston?

zkmavz — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:36:02 -0000

keep in mind this is a peter vescey story and he's a moron... but if they got amare for old balls tmac... just kill me now

Columnist Peter Vescey's NBA sources indicate the Rockets are "leaning toward" trading Tracy McGrady, Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks to the Suns for Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudemire.
Stoudemire has been disgruntled in Phoenix for a while now, and ESPN's Ric Bucher reported on Thursday that he will indeed be traded. The Suns would acquire two solid young players in Landry and Brooks, while gaining financial flexibility with T-Mac's expiring $22 million contract. So far nothing is official, but stay tuned throughout what promises to be a hectic draft day. Jun. 25 - 12:22 pm et

Link to Story

Shaq Traded To Cle for Crap

zkmavz — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:31:02 -0000

Saw the story on yahoosports.com... another one gets away? phoenix is gonna be good next year huh?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached an agreement in principle to acquire Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal(notes), a league source told Yahoo! Sports late Thursday night.
Cleveland will send Ben Wallace(notes), Sasha Pavlovic(notes), the 46th pick in Thursday’s draft and cash to the Suns for O’Neal.

Link to Story

more words more words more words

Mavs Eye Pick No. 5

zkmavz — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:47:10 -0000

from ESPN insider...

Mavs eye pick No. 5?

The Mavericks are said to be interested in the fifth pick and the prospect of drafting Jordan Hill.

The teams have made nice in the past, most recently in the swap that secured Antawn Jamison in 2004. The Mavericks also were kind enough to relieve the Wizards of Juwan Howard in 2001.

The Mavericks apparently are willing to part with either Jason Terry or Josh Howard to sweeten a potential deal. The Mavericks would be obligated to accept an expiring contract of the Wizards, the one belonging to either the Etan Thomas or Mike James. -- The Washington Time