Down 29? No problem.

If only there was another team in Dallas that could come back from a large deficit to win the game. Hmm.

The game against Minnesota showed me 3 things:

• Dallas can be a better defensive team, but it’s going to take a lot work.
• Minnesota has some talented players that they can build on.
• Kevin McHale is the worst thing to happen to the NBA since short-shorts ensuring their young talented players are wasted.

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Billups Brings what Kidd Lacks

Jason Kidd had that familiar, faraway look, the one that screams, what the heck am I doing here?

Maybe it was about being decisively outperformed by Chauncey Billups, his old Eastern Conference nemesis, in a convincing 98-88 victory by the surging Denver Nuggets over Kidd’s Mavericks on Monday night at American Airlines Center.

Maybe it was his desultory role in the Dallas offense — a pass here, a pick there, before drifting outside for spot-up shots he couldn’t make (0 for 5 from the field) or wouldn’t take while Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and, yes, J. J. Barea formed the creative core of a Mavericks offense held to 34.9 percent shooting by the new, defensively improved Nuggets.

Read the rest of this article at the NY Times.

I Could Be the Mavericks General Manager

Have you ever had those moments where you think to yourself, I could be a General Manager of a pro-sports team and be good at it?  Or at least do a better job than the current management? Last spring, while accompanying Daniel Dessinger of Dallasprosports.com to the hospital to visit a mutual friend battling cancer, was one such time for me. The focus of our discussion was our beloved Dallas Mavericks.

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Winning Streak!!!

Dallas (4-7) 96 at Houston (7-4) 86

Yes, 3 wins in a row is a winning streak. Although the first two may have seemed like gimmes against the Knicks and Bobcats, Dallas traveled to Houston and beat the best team defense on their own court. Sure the Rockets were without Yao Ming and have an ailing Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady (of course) but a win is a win. And a streak is a streak. And like Kevin Costner said in Bull Durham ‘You don’t f*** with a winning streak.’

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Mavs Win Two in a Row

Dallas (3-7) 100 at Charlotte (3-6) 83

The Mavericks won their second game in a row by overwhelming advantage of talent emphasised by the Bobcats being without Jason Richardson (day-to-day with an ankle injury). Charlotte, without an inside presense, was dominated inside losing the rebounding battle 50 to 34. Erick Dampier played less than 20 mins still pulled down 11 rebounds and had 3 blocks, while Josh Howard put up 21 pts in wonderful play within 17 feet. In a game that Dallas never trailed they were able to manage the tempo well except for one blemish - 17 turnovers.  Luckily Charlotte couldn’t advantage and the Mavs coasted to a win.

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What to Expect from the Mavericks This Season

This is a difficult time in the life of a Dallas Mavericks fan. After two sorely disappointing years in a row, Dallas made little to no changes this offseason to prepare for one of the strongest conferences in NBA history.

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Josh Howard’s Anti-Patriotic Statement

Here’s a recap of the video recording Josh Howard’s latest stupid statement. Let’s get past it, trade Josh for someone more productive, and move on.

Mavs Need Dirk and Kirk

Jason Kidd is old. The trade was a bad move. The Mavs shouldn’t have given up Diop and Harris. But that’s over. Time to deal with today. And today, the Bulls have the #1 pick. If they are smart, they’ll pick the point guard Rose. But if they do, they’ll have two college stars at point. Hinrich is obviously not the man of the future for Chicago. But he would fit nicely in Dallas.

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Mavs Could Have Had Kobe and Gasol

Mark Cuban admitted to Randy Galloway two days ago that prior to the 2007-2008 season, the Mavericks could have traded Dirk for Kobe straight up. And yet Cuban and Nelson didn’t want him. Do what? They didn’t want Kobe? The most driven player in the entire league? The self-starter?

On top of that, Dallas could have traded Josh Howard for Pau Gasol. That was an option briefly discussed, but the Mavericks sat on it and Gasol was gone to L.A. Nice going, guys.

Imagine it. Devin Harris at point. Kobe Bryant at shooting guard. Brandon Bass at the small forward. Pau Gasol at power forward. Erick Dampier at center. Jason Terry, Tyronn Lue, and DeSagana Diop coming off the bench. Sounds pretty good to me.

Devin Harris slashing to the hoop, dishing out to Kobe. Kobe fakes outside, lobs it in to Gasol. Bass and Dampier down low for the rebound. Where’s the downside here? True, Devin isn’t the ultimate point guard, but Kobe would have either straightened him up or pushed him out. Same with Damp. I can picture Kobe giving Damp the verbal tongue lashing he’s always deserved. In response, we’d see an extra five points and 4 rebounds per game from Damp.

Kobe won’t settle for laziness. He gets the best from his teammates or he makes them leave. Call it a strength or call it a weakness. Dallas needs someone with real passion for the game. Kobe would have been the spark Dallas hasn’t seen since Finley carried the team before Dirk.

Ah, what would have been. So much for that. Instead, we have a Round One playoff elimination, Jason Kidd, pot smoking Josh Howard, and no backup center or driving force behind this team.

Add Kobe and Gasol to the list of historic tragic misses that have come to be expected from your Dallas Mavericks.

Avery is History: Galloway is a Genius

According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Avery Johnson is history. Randy Galloway called it before Game 5. Now the Mavs are in the hunt for a new head coach, and the entire team is in need a serious changes. Mavs fans have been living in a dream world if they think the aging bench of the Mavs will ever help them reach the Finals again.

Reality check time. Firing Avery was probably a rash move on the part of Mark Cuban. But if Avery was really as hard to get along with as Randy Galloway would have us believe, then this was perfect timing.

The next question, then is: who’s safe on the team and who’s on the chopping block? I’m guessing the majority of the team is on the block, each waiting his turn to get the axe.

Who knew that Randy Galloway knew anything about basketball? After all, he doesn’t know jack about blogs. He thinks the only true professional is the newspaper writer (i.e. the old guys getting put out of business by successful bloggers). But that’s another story. On this, we give him credit. Bask in it, old man.

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