DeAnna
Just A Face in The Crowd
Burned
All-Access Pass To Suns-at-Mavs
By Mike Fisher - DB.com
SUNS 129, MAVS 127 in 2OTs: It is easy to get bogged down in the new numbers created by this thrill-for-each-and-every-58-minute outcome: The Mavs have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since the early-November 0-4; their 23-game home win streak is dead; and this boxscore is suitable for framing -- but is so plump you'd need two frames.
But the big number now has nothing to do with 70 and the chase of Bulls ghosts; the big number is 2.5, the margin between 52-11 Dallas and hot-in-pursuit Phoenix for the best record in the NBA, and the playoffs' No. 1 seed. I suspect that just as Phoenix has long had its eye on this game (the Suns had been 0-2 against their WCFinals conquerer this year), the Mavs will now keep one eye on April 1, when they go to Phoenix. Oh, and if Dallas has enough eyes, it might also retain an awareness of the chasing Spurs, and the April 15 home meeting with San Antonio.
"The West at the top is just stacked,'' Dirk said. "We still have the best record, but that could change quick. In the NBA, three games is nothing. That’s just one week."
And this was just one night -- which we discuss and dissect in great detail. ...
FREE-THROW FOIBLES: I was visiting with Mavs free-throw coach Gary Boren the other day, and he nods his head toward Austin Croshere and says, "I need to find a way to get Cro to the line more often, huh?''
Not necessary, I told coach Boren. Because while Cro has been near-perfect in his few trips to the line, the rest of the Mavs are right there with him. Dirk at 90 percent, four other guys around 80 percent. ... the one place where Dallas is going to seal the deal is at the line, right?
Wrong. Dirk and Josh eached missed critical free throws in the final ticks of regulation that should've put Dallas up by four, and then J-Ho made a brainlocked error when he fouled Nash in the act of shooting a zazy 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining. Nash made all three, of course, and away we went to OT.
Said Dirk: "We should have put the game away. But we missed some free throws.''
The Mavs were a sickening 3-of-6 from the line in the final 33 seconds. Dallas, first in the league in free-throw shooting at 80.7 percent, shot 23-of-31 (74.2) from the line.
So, coach Boren, I take it back. At practice today, a million free throws for everyone.
THE GO-THROUGH GUY: After years of deferring to Nash and Michael Finley as the team's Mr. Big Shots, The UberMan is finally, clearly the guy. Now, Dallas will still end quarters by running clear-outs for Jerry Stackhouse (and he was magnificent here, with a Mavs-career-best 33 points). And Jason Terry (27 points) and Josh Howard (19 points, nine rebounds) are among the Mavs willing to take the big shot. And if he ever gets healthy, Devean George is likely to establish himself in the same way in a playoff game or two. But this team makes no mistake when it comes to running everything through the right guy. What once was "Deferrential Dirk'' has become "Do-It Dirk.''
But it did take a while Wednesday for him to get there. And it didn't end all that well, either.
Nowitzki didn't score a field goal in the first quarter and appeared very hesitant, a big part of why the Mavs fell behind 32-18 after one quarter which saw Phoenix shoot 67 percent and Dallas 28 percent. As the game wore on, Nowitzki didn't seem to react positively to the bumping and the pushing and the clonking around, as he earned himself a T. On the final shot of the game, Dirk got defender Shawn Marion into the air for a 12-foot look, but maybe a little nudge here, a little rub there, caused him to go flying backwards as the ball clanged out.
Dirk was cold-handed to start, and hot-headed to finish.
The good news: The Mavs now make damn sure the ball goes through Nowitzki.
The bad news, on this night: Nowitzki missed potential game-winning shots at the end of regulation and at the end of the second overtime.
They needed him to score one more time.
SEE-SAWING: The Mavericks trailed by 16 in the first half. They led by 16 early in the fourth quarter. And with a minute to go in regulation, they still led, 108-101. The Suns are The Runs, a team that allows you right back in every game because of their "shoot-in-seven-seconds'' approach. I still say that Phoenix is vulnerable in the playoffs because while the Suns can shoot 60 percent on a given night, they cannot do it EVERY night -- and shooting 60 percent is the foundation of what they do.
Against the Mavs, Phoenix shot 56 percent. Close enough for my theory to hold.
THE NEXT PIPPEN(S)?: That's what Sports Illustrated is calling Josh Howard, and others are even suggesting J-Ho should be the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. I'll say that's a stretch (two stretches, really). After all, Devin Harris is Dallas' best perimeter defender. And centers Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop do invaluable defensive work inside. And Greg Buckner and Devean George both end up taking turns against the opponents' best swingman almost as often as Josh does. But what a turnaround for this franchise! Once upon a time, nobody around here played defense. And now, there are at least six guys who deserve attention as being "elite''?
Except against the Suns, nobody stopped much of anybody. It's one thing for the Suns to run you out of the gym; it's another thing for their half-court offense to eat you alive, featuring pick-and-roll after unsolvable pick-and-roll.
THE LEADERSHIP THING: The bosses at ESPN.com assigned a seven-man staff of "experts'' to preview Suns-Mavs and included the floowing question: "Who is the Mavericks leader?'' Now, why the bosses in Bristol would ask that of a panel of seven when no more than two of the seven have ever stepped foot in this year's Dallas locker room I do not know.
So allow me.
A year ago, I wrote that Dallas' leadership structure was unique in that the two locker-room leaders were the coach (Avery Johnson) and the last guy on the bench (veteran Darrell Armstrong). This year, the structure is more standardized: Avery, still, and lots of veteran Jerry Stackhouse, but most of all, Dirk. He sets the tempo with his sense of humor, and he sets the bar high with his work ethic. One of these days, I'm going to ask Dirk to let us take a photo of his abs. (No, not because John Amaechi wants to see them, smart-ass.) Nowitzki doesn't run around with his shirt off much, but I've been there when he does, and, well, his abs look like he should've been cast in "300.''
Everything falls into place behind Dirk and Avery and Stack -- all three of whom have roles at practice on Thursday that are as large as their on-court roles were Wednesday.
HALF-NELSON/HALF-POPPED: Something I thought going in:
Dallas can still score like they did under Nellie; at 100 points per game, the Mavs are equipped to win a shootout. And they still push the ball at most every opportunity, looking for a layup, looking for a matchup advantage. ... But the tempo isn't manic as it was under Nellie (and is in Phoenix now). Dallas is not a brilliant passing team, but its great in the half-court because of its spacing, its unselfishness, and its recognition of Nowitzki as the go-THRU guy. 2. Avery Johnson has installed the Spurs' tempo.
Meanwhile, have you noticed how difficult it is to run AGAINST Dallas? And how the defense overall is elite? With all the scoring, Dallas is still arguably the NBA's third-best defensive club.
The result of what Avery Johnson has done here is a marriage of the philosophies of his two mentors, Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and Pop's old teacher, Don Nelson. It's Half-Nelson and Half-Popped.
What I think now:
Phoenix completely controlled the pace here. When the game turned frantic, Devin and JET both at times played out of control. When the game slowed down and featured a half-court style, Amare was unstoppable as a jump-shooter, as a pick-and-roller and as an inside force. So I give the Suns some credir here, for while the Mavs are multi-faceted -- Half-Nelson and Half-Popped -- the Suns with Amare are at least multi-faceted on one end of the floor.
NASH'S HAIR: I'm reminded now of the DFW columnists who spent five friggin' years writing about Jimmy Johnson's hair. Did the same angle never grow trite? Can we leave it alone with Nash? It's been almost a decade!
I guess no, we cannot leave it alone.
DOWNED DALLASITES: Devin Harris says he plans to skip practice on Thursday and be ready to play Boston on Friday. Devean George did not dress for the game and now the word is that whenever his knee improves, he'll play only on a very limited basis and never on back-to-back nights.
Combine those absenses with Dampier and Howard fouling out, and Dallas' depth was tested. It passed the test -- with even Austin Croshere having to pitch in as a defender on Amare! -- but in fairness to the Suns bench, reputed to be as thin as free soup, there was no edge.
PAPER MIKE: Is it just me, or is it fun to have Suns coach Mike D'Antoni as a nemesis? Though maybe he's not worthy. After all, D-Antoni has never won anything (though he was terrific in the movie "Paper Moon'' and his daughter Tatum did earn an Oscar).
SE7ENTY: ESPN.com's John Hollinger insists that the reason Dallas won't win 70 is because "to win 70 you normally need an average victory margin of +10 or better, and the Mavs don't have that. ...''
Forgetting for a moment my belief that the only real goal now needs to be to win one more game than Phoenix and San Antonio. ... teams that "normally'' win 70-plus have a certain scientifically measurable victory margin? Exactly how large is that scientific survey, John?
WHO NEEDS IT?: Some are saying this is a game Dallas needed to win. In truth, though, the Mavs had won four straight against the Suns and were 2-0 against them this year. So wasn't this a game the Suns needed to win?
MEET THE POINT GUARD: Jason Terry is cold-blooded.
But he's not Steve Nash.
JET is Dallas' assist leader and No. 3 scorer and he's got balls the size of the Twin Cities. He scored 27, and in the first OT, with Dallas down 120-115, he took over, tying it with a hoop in the lane and then a 3 with 4.9 seconds left, put right in defender Nash's grill. But in the late going, he handled the ball haphazardly three times -- and in most cases, the guy who harrassed him was Nash, who tends to be a defensive liability except for one big play here and one huge play there.
With Devin Harris out after receiving a second-quarter chiropractic adjustment from James Jones (Devin drove to the basket, didn't get a call, but did get a neck sprain), the Mavs needed almost perfect PG play from Jason (and for that matter, from JJ Barea, who did his part by getting a whiff and whipping two assists to Jerry Stackhouse on two 3-point makes).
Terry came through with 27 huge points, but committed five maddening turnovers that all seemed to come at the exactly wrong time. Nash's jump-out accomplishment? How about scoring the final 10 points of regulation after Phoenix had been down seven with a minute left?
STOCKPILING CENTERS: It sounds almost silly to praise the Dallas centers after Amare's 41-point night on an insane 16-of-19 shooting. But for the year, Dampier and Diop are combining to average about 10 points, 13 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game -- and they did not disappoint here. Dampier was good for 11 rebounds and eight points, Diop good for seven rebounds and five points. Their effort and mobility was actually a bright spot, an endorsement of the idea that Dallas has an advantage by being able to play "traditional'' in order to win the rebound battle (which the Mavs did, 55-38) and still compete with an opponent's small lineup.
An oddity: Erick's rebounds were ALL of the offensive variety.
MAYBE 0-4 HELPED: By starting 0-4, the Mavs knew how much work there was to be done following the NBA Finals appearance. In that sense, it was kind of a good thing. Since no team goes 82-0, there are going to be losses. There are going to be tough losses. Maybe they steel a team against future losses. ...
"This was tough,'' Avery said, but he seemed to be using the word "tough'' in a lot of sentences when "bad'' would've been more fitting. start grabbed their attention.
This wasn't just tough. This was bad. We'll see if it is galvanizing.
FISHELLANEOUS: Avery said before the game that neither the Suns or Mavs have many tricks the other hasn't seen -- "They know us and we have a pretty good understanding of what they do,'' he said -- but there were some wrinkles. Starting Devin over Buck was one. Dirk being guarded by Raja Bell was another. ... Here's hoping Devin someday grows up to be Leandro Barbosa, who gets 17 not just because of his Devin-like speed but also because he's become a premier long-range shooter. Devin is, um, not a premier long-range shooter. ... Amare earned two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, but Dallas could never take advantage. ... The defensive philosophy is called "Switching the Pick.'' And it looked like a really bad defensive philosophy to me. ... Suddenly, Jay-Z or not, St. Patty's Day or not, I don't like the green uni's. ... Dallas will watch tons of film today, but I recommend just a 14-second movie. When you blow a five-point lead with 14 seconds left in regulation, you have yourself a quickie film review. ... Wanna make this a head-to-head thing? Decided? Nash's line: 32 points, eight rebounds, 16 assists. Nowitzki's line: 30 points and 16 rebounds and six assists. ... My man Lang Whitaker at SLAM with some stream-of-consciousness notes.
THE FINAL WORD: I'll give it to Josh Howard, who was obviously crushed by the loss and his in-regulation errors that contributed to it. Asked to review the game, he almost brightened up for a moment and said, "We'll put it behind us. I'm ready to play Friday.''
All-Access Pass To Suns-at-Mavs
By Mike Fisher - DB.com
SUNS 129, MAVS 127 in 2OTs: It is easy to get bogged down in the new numbers created by this thrill-for-each-and-every-58-minute outcome: The Mavs have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since the early-November 0-4; their 23-game home win streak is dead; and this boxscore is suitable for framing -- but is so plump you'd need two frames.
But the big number now has nothing to do with 70 and the chase of Bulls ghosts; the big number is 2.5, the margin between 52-11 Dallas and hot-in-pursuit Phoenix for the best record in the NBA, and the playoffs' No. 1 seed. I suspect that just as Phoenix has long had its eye on this game (the Suns had been 0-2 against their WCFinals conquerer this year), the Mavs will now keep one eye on April 1, when they go to Phoenix. Oh, and if Dallas has enough eyes, it might also retain an awareness of the chasing Spurs, and the April 15 home meeting with San Antonio.
"The West at the top is just stacked,'' Dirk said. "We still have the best record, but that could change quick. In the NBA, three games is nothing. That’s just one week."
And this was just one night -- which we discuss and dissect in great detail. ...
FREE-THROW FOIBLES: I was visiting with Mavs free-throw coach Gary Boren the other day, and he nods his head toward Austin Croshere and says, "I need to find a way to get Cro to the line more often, huh?''
Not necessary, I told coach Boren. Because while Cro has been near-perfect in his few trips to the line, the rest of the Mavs are right there with him. Dirk at 90 percent, four other guys around 80 percent. ... the one place where Dallas is going to seal the deal is at the line, right?
Wrong. Dirk and Josh eached missed critical free throws in the final ticks of regulation that should've put Dallas up by four, and then J-Ho made a brainlocked error when he fouled Nash in the act of shooting a zazy 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining. Nash made all three, of course, and away we went to OT.
Said Dirk: "We should have put the game away. But we missed some free throws.''
The Mavs were a sickening 3-of-6 from the line in the final 33 seconds. Dallas, first in the league in free-throw shooting at 80.7 percent, shot 23-of-31 (74.2) from the line.
So, coach Boren, I take it back. At practice today, a million free throws for everyone.
THE GO-THROUGH GUY: After years of deferring to Nash and Michael Finley as the team's Mr. Big Shots, The UberMan is finally, clearly the guy. Now, Dallas will still end quarters by running clear-outs for Jerry Stackhouse (and he was magnificent here, with a Mavs-career-best 33 points). And Jason Terry (27 points) and Josh Howard (19 points, nine rebounds) are among the Mavs willing to take the big shot. And if he ever gets healthy, Devean George is likely to establish himself in the same way in a playoff game or two. But this team makes no mistake when it comes to running everything through the right guy. What once was "Deferrential Dirk'' has become "Do-It Dirk.''
But it did take a while Wednesday for him to get there. And it didn't end all that well, either.
Nowitzki didn't score a field goal in the first quarter and appeared very hesitant, a big part of why the Mavs fell behind 32-18 after one quarter which saw Phoenix shoot 67 percent and Dallas 28 percent. As the game wore on, Nowitzki didn't seem to react positively to the bumping and the pushing and the clonking around, as he earned himself a T. On the final shot of the game, Dirk got defender Shawn Marion into the air for a 12-foot look, but maybe a little nudge here, a little rub there, caused him to go flying backwards as the ball clanged out.
Dirk was cold-handed to start, and hot-headed to finish.
The good news: The Mavs now make damn sure the ball goes through Nowitzki.
The bad news, on this night: Nowitzki missed potential game-winning shots at the end of regulation and at the end of the second overtime.
They needed him to score one more time.
SEE-SAWING: The Mavericks trailed by 16 in the first half. They led by 16 early in the fourth quarter. And with a minute to go in regulation, they still led, 108-101. The Suns are The Runs, a team that allows you right back in every game because of their "shoot-in-seven-seconds'' approach. I still say that Phoenix is vulnerable in the playoffs because while the Suns can shoot 60 percent on a given night, they cannot do it EVERY night -- and shooting 60 percent is the foundation of what they do.
Against the Mavs, Phoenix shot 56 percent. Close enough for my theory to hold.
THE NEXT PIPPEN(S)?: That's what Sports Illustrated is calling Josh Howard, and others are even suggesting J-Ho should be the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. I'll say that's a stretch (two stretches, really). After all, Devin Harris is Dallas' best perimeter defender. And centers Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop do invaluable defensive work inside. And Greg Buckner and Devean George both end up taking turns against the opponents' best swingman almost as often as Josh does. But what a turnaround for this franchise! Once upon a time, nobody around here played defense. And now, there are at least six guys who deserve attention as being "elite''?
Except against the Suns, nobody stopped much of anybody. It's one thing for the Suns to run you out of the gym; it's another thing for their half-court offense to eat you alive, featuring pick-and-roll after unsolvable pick-and-roll.
THE LEADERSHIP THING: The bosses at ESPN.com assigned a seven-man staff of "experts'' to preview Suns-Mavs and included the floowing question: "Who is the Mavericks leader?'' Now, why the bosses in Bristol would ask that of a panel of seven when no more than two of the seven have ever stepped foot in this year's Dallas locker room I do not know.
So allow me.
A year ago, I wrote that Dallas' leadership structure was unique in that the two locker-room leaders were the coach (Avery Johnson) and the last guy on the bench (veteran Darrell Armstrong). This year, the structure is more standardized: Avery, still, and lots of veteran Jerry Stackhouse, but most of all, Dirk. He sets the tempo with his sense of humor, and he sets the bar high with his work ethic. One of these days, I'm going to ask Dirk to let us take a photo of his abs. (No, not because John Amaechi wants to see them, smart-ass.) Nowitzki doesn't run around with his shirt off much, but I've been there when he does, and, well, his abs look like he should've been cast in "300.''
Everything falls into place behind Dirk and Avery and Stack -- all three of whom have roles at practice on Thursday that are as large as their on-court roles were Wednesday.
HALF-NELSON/HALF-POPPED: Something I thought going in:
Dallas can still score like they did under Nellie; at 100 points per game, the Mavs are equipped to win a shootout. And they still push the ball at most every opportunity, looking for a layup, looking for a matchup advantage. ... But the tempo isn't manic as it was under Nellie (and is in Phoenix now). Dallas is not a brilliant passing team, but its great in the half-court because of its spacing, its unselfishness, and its recognition of Nowitzki as the go-THRU guy. 2. Avery Johnson has installed the Spurs' tempo.
Meanwhile, have you noticed how difficult it is to run AGAINST Dallas? And how the defense overall is elite? With all the scoring, Dallas is still arguably the NBA's third-best defensive club.
The result of what Avery Johnson has done here is a marriage of the philosophies of his two mentors, Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and Pop's old teacher, Don Nelson. It's Half-Nelson and Half-Popped.
What I think now:
Phoenix completely controlled the pace here. When the game turned frantic, Devin and JET both at times played out of control. When the game slowed down and featured a half-court style, Amare was unstoppable as a jump-shooter, as a pick-and-roller and as an inside force. So I give the Suns some credir here, for while the Mavs are multi-faceted -- Half-Nelson and Half-Popped -- the Suns with Amare are at least multi-faceted on one end of the floor.
NASH'S HAIR: I'm reminded now of the DFW columnists who spent five friggin' years writing about Jimmy Johnson's hair. Did the same angle never grow trite? Can we leave it alone with Nash? It's been almost a decade!
I guess no, we cannot leave it alone.
DOWNED DALLASITES: Devin Harris says he plans to skip practice on Thursday and be ready to play Boston on Friday. Devean George did not dress for the game and now the word is that whenever his knee improves, he'll play only on a very limited basis and never on back-to-back nights.
Combine those absenses with Dampier and Howard fouling out, and Dallas' depth was tested. It passed the test -- with even Austin Croshere having to pitch in as a defender on Amare! -- but in fairness to the Suns bench, reputed to be as thin as free soup, there was no edge.
PAPER MIKE: Is it just me, or is it fun to have Suns coach Mike D'Antoni as a nemesis? Though maybe he's not worthy. After all, D-Antoni has never won anything (though he was terrific in the movie "Paper Moon'' and his daughter Tatum did earn an Oscar).
SE7ENTY: ESPN.com's John Hollinger insists that the reason Dallas won't win 70 is because "to win 70 you normally need an average victory margin of +10 or better, and the Mavs don't have that. ...''
Forgetting for a moment my belief that the only real goal now needs to be to win one more game than Phoenix and San Antonio. ... teams that "normally'' win 70-plus have a certain scientifically measurable victory margin? Exactly how large is that scientific survey, John?
WHO NEEDS IT?: Some are saying this is a game Dallas needed to win. In truth, though, the Mavs had won four straight against the Suns and were 2-0 against them this year. So wasn't this a game the Suns needed to win?
MEET THE POINT GUARD: Jason Terry is cold-blooded.
But he's not Steve Nash.
JET is Dallas' assist leader and No. 3 scorer and he's got balls the size of the Twin Cities. He scored 27, and in the first OT, with Dallas down 120-115, he took over, tying it with a hoop in the lane and then a 3 with 4.9 seconds left, put right in defender Nash's grill. But in the late going, he handled the ball haphazardly three times -- and in most cases, the guy who harrassed him was Nash, who tends to be a defensive liability except for one big play here and one huge play there.
With Devin Harris out after receiving a second-quarter chiropractic adjustment from James Jones (Devin drove to the basket, didn't get a call, but did get a neck sprain), the Mavs needed almost perfect PG play from Jason (and for that matter, from JJ Barea, who did his part by getting a whiff and whipping two assists to Jerry Stackhouse on two 3-point makes).
Terry came through with 27 huge points, but committed five maddening turnovers that all seemed to come at the exactly wrong time. Nash's jump-out accomplishment? How about scoring the final 10 points of regulation after Phoenix had been down seven with a minute left?
STOCKPILING CENTERS: It sounds almost silly to praise the Dallas centers after Amare's 41-point night on an insane 16-of-19 shooting. But for the year, Dampier and Diop are combining to average about 10 points, 13 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game -- and they did not disappoint here. Dampier was good for 11 rebounds and eight points, Diop good for seven rebounds and five points. Their effort and mobility was actually a bright spot, an endorsement of the idea that Dallas has an advantage by being able to play "traditional'' in order to win the rebound battle (which the Mavs did, 55-38) and still compete with an opponent's small lineup.
An oddity: Erick's rebounds were ALL of the offensive variety.
MAYBE 0-4 HELPED: By starting 0-4, the Mavs knew how much work there was to be done following the NBA Finals appearance. In that sense, it was kind of a good thing. Since no team goes 82-0, there are going to be losses. There are going to be tough losses. Maybe they steel a team against future losses. ...
"This was tough,'' Avery said, but he seemed to be using the word "tough'' in a lot of sentences when "bad'' would've been more fitting. start grabbed their attention.
This wasn't just tough. This was bad. We'll see if it is galvanizing.
FISHELLANEOUS: Avery said before the game that neither the Suns or Mavs have many tricks the other hasn't seen -- "They know us and we have a pretty good understanding of what they do,'' he said -- but there were some wrinkles. Starting Devin over Buck was one. Dirk being guarded by Raja Bell was another. ... Here's hoping Devin someday grows up to be Leandro Barbosa, who gets 17 not just because of his Devin-like speed but also because he's become a premier long-range shooter. Devin is, um, not a premier long-range shooter. ... Amare earned two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, but Dallas could never take advantage. ... The defensive philosophy is called "Switching the Pick.'' And it looked like a really bad defensive philosophy to me. ... Suddenly, Jay-Z or not, St. Patty's Day or not, I don't like the green uni's. ... Dallas will watch tons of film today, but I recommend just a 14-second movie. When you blow a five-point lead with 14 seconds left in regulation, you have yourself a quickie film review. ... Wanna make this a head-to-head thing? Decided? Nash's line: 32 points, eight rebounds, 16 assists. Nowitzki's line: 30 points and 16 rebounds and six assists. ... My man Lang Whitaker at SLAM with some stream-of-consciousness notes.
THE FINAL WORD: I'll give it to Josh Howard, who was obviously crushed by the loss and his in-regulation errors that contributed to it. Asked to review the game, he almost brightened up for a moment and said, "We'll put it behind us. I'm ready to play Friday.''
