Take A Firm Grip

On your heart, that is. Because if you care about anything, it's a given that your heart will be broken several times in your life.

I was expecting that, last night. I mean, first in the division and second in the conference and the opposition is a team specifically designed to shatter hearts; the reality check was in the mail. Sixty percent of the starting lineup is out for the count -- as a side note, I'm really worried about Dampier, if all it was was food poisoning or stomach flu, he'd be back in uniform by now.

I expected to have my heart torn out and ground into powder.

And it was torn out . . . but my guys picked it up, dusted it off, and gave it back.

:-D
-BJ

Hotsie Babba!

And now it's time for the news.

To the shock of nobody, Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies have parted ways. They've had a conversation and have agreed to terminate Iverson's contract. Buh-bye, Mr. Nobody Asked Anyway. Your memory is missed. Your presence will not be.

Stephen Jackson, Captain Jax, whose major claim to fame is being there when the Mavericks crash-landed in '07, has been traded to the Charlotte Bobcats for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. Pity. I think Don Nelson as he is today -- making bad tactical decisions, unwilling to part from any organization on good terms (see Milwaukee and Dallas), alienating his players and his front office -- and Stephen Jackson -- a ball-hogging attention whore who's due $35 million in salary to be paid over the next four years (his agent must be able to sell black sausage to vegans) -- richly deserve one another.

It'd be even better if the angle Ball Don't Lie's guys have is true; that Charlotte is a way station for Jackson to beef up his stats and his ultimate destination by the deadline is Cleveland. I mean, Lebron, Shaq, and Capt. Jax on the same team? Aren't there laws? Conventions?

If there's a fanbase I do not envy in this NBA, it's the New Orleans Hornets folk. Their franchise went from the Dawn Of The New NBA to a team that might or might not even make the postseason, period. Their erstwhile Coach Of The Year's been pinked, with the GM taking over in the interum. There's a communication breakdown between Chris Paul -- you know, the poster child for tomorrow's NBA, possibly the finest point guard walking the Earth, the prime cause number one people come to see the Hornets play -- and Hornets management; the coaching change apparently came as a real blow to the boy. I'm not too fond of Paul because I think he's coming to a crisis of ego and I'd hoped he'd be a good enough man to avoid that, but he deserves a front office that appreciates what they have in him.

Now that Paul's out for at least a few weeks with a sprained ankle, the Hornets organization might learn. Then again, they probably won't.

In happier news, Dirk's got the Western Conference Player of the Week. The Eastern Conference Player of the Week is a young fella name of Brandon Jennings. Who, by the way, dropped 55 points in a game against the Warriors last week. And, by another way, plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. And guess who the Mavs are playing tonight.
-BJ

Start of Week 4: The Fuck?

Naturally it's too early to make definitive judgement calls. I mean, this shit's just too weird:

In the East; it's not Cleveland, it's not Boston, it's not even Miami. Oh no. Number one in the Eastern Conference as of close of business 11/15/09 is . . . the Atlanta Hawks. 8-2 and have won their last four.

Huh?

In the West, it's even crazier. The Phoenix Suns, pegged by just about everybody to quietly slide out of contention this year, lead the conference at 9-2. And wherefore art the regal Lakers? In a three-way tie for third, sharing a 7-3 record with Dallas and Denver. For that matter, where's San Antonio? Not even in the picture (!) as their 4-4 puts them in ninth, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (!!!).

No situation is static and those numbers will change as things settle down. The Spurs in particular will improve as the season goes on; they always do. What's going to happen in LA is up in air. I don't know if that Organization's got what it takes to make the three-ring circus atmosphere work to their advantage. They've done it before, true . . . but they didn't have Crazy Pills Artest to cope with then.

As to the Mavericks, I think our standing is going to drop quite a bit by midseason. Josh Howard's ankle's paining him and the Organization's taken him out indefinetely. My guess (and that's all that it is) is we'll see him again at the All-Star Break. Why? Because by then most of the back-to-back games will be out of the way. I counted 21 total, and 15 of those are before the break.
-BJ

The Ultimate Question Is A Joke, Guys

When it comes to fresh grist for the rumor mill, this one's a doozy. Allen "The Answer" Iverson has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the Memphis Grizzles. He's returned to his home in Atlanta to attend to a family situation (details unspecified).

Obviously I hope any family issues are resolved quickly and I hope he and his kinfolk are all okay. The vicious streak comes out whilst speculating on Iverson's future as a player in the NBA. He's signed a one-year deal for considerably less than what a former MVP should be worth, he's played 13 years, last season he was a ruinous nonfactor -- whoever on the Pistons' end signed off on the Billups-for-Iverson deal should be drug out into the street and shot -- and the general consensus is there's been, well, a failure to communicate between Iverson and Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins. Iverson still thinks of himself as a starter, Coach disagreed, Iverson got pouty, Coach got testy. Fail on both ends, gentlemen. (There's something to be said for Coach Carlisle's poker face; unrest stays behind closed doors where it belongs.)

He's given the Grizzlies no reason to miss him while he's gone and no reason to welcome him back if and when he returns. Congratulations, Mr. Iverson, you've just FUBAR'ed your NBA career. After this season, nobody's going to want to touch you. There are no suitors waiting for your agent's call, nobody's going to take you on as a mentor to an up-and-coming young team, there are no veteran squads that view you as a missing piece, there is no market so starved for attention and revenue that they'll take you for the ticket sales. You've systematically screwed up each of those scenarios over the past few years. You, sir, are just not worth it.
-BJ

I Love It When Life Hands Me Animaniacs Riffs

All right, game last night against Toronto. More detailed analysis later, after I've had a chance to watch the vid. What's going through my mind right now is a 30 second blurb shown on one of my favorite cartoon shows as a kid.

(smooth Narrator Voice) It's time for another Good Idea, Bad Idea.

Good Idea
Double-teaming Dirk Nowitzki.

Bad Idea
Double-teaming JJ Barea.
-BJ

PS: Welcome back, Josh! We missed you.

Game 5, Dallas Mavericks visit New Orleans Hornets

Theme: Concrete Blonde, "Bloodletting"
Game Info: Baby, I'm the walking dead.

I really didn't need to see that.

One of those missed free throws at the end -- just one -- would've done it.

Instead, we come down to earth with a resounding crash. Dirk followed last night's I Am A Scoring God performance--

Well. I'm too shocked to be mad. Gimme a couple hours. Suffice it to say, even when his shot's not dropping -- and God knows it wasn't tonight -- you want him on the floor at crunch time. Instead, he was politely invited to leave the floor with two and a half minutes left in regulation.

If there's anybody who should be owed an apology for effort wasted, it's Dampier. My hand to God, he did everything short of walking on water to help the Mavericks win. Second double-double of the season, all of the Mavs' second chance points.

There's pride salve to be had in all of this, of course. Second night of a back-to-back, Chris Paul's a hard player to bottle up, et cetera et cetera et cetera. If it helps get the collective shit together, use what's needed. But that's all it is, is salve. We blew it.

Borrowing from Kay; by such achingly small things are lives made.

One free throw.

Final: 114-107, Hornets
-BJ

PS: Chris Paul's an asshole. It hasn't come totally to the fore yet, but it will. Seriously, he's a veteran player in a man's league. Why is he taking his complaints to all the refs like a kid trying to get a Yes out of Daddy when he got a No out of Mommy?

Still Enjoying The Moment . . .

The Organization put a recording of ESPN's radio broadcast of last night's fourth quarter on the website. Chuck Cooperstein and Brad Davis have the call.

Savoring the moment . . . aaaaaand . . . moment's over.

The team flew straight from the game to New Orleans last night. According to Followill they got to the hotel about 4 AM EST. I can only imagine what the wakeup calls must be like. "Okay, so what do I do if the seven foot maniac doesn't respond to a light tapping on the door?!?"
-BJ

Game 4, Dallas Mavericks host Utah Jazz

Theme: Noisuf-X, "Hit Me Hard"
Game Info: Hit me hard, hit me fast.

Let me paraphrase an actual exchange between me and Rick the A-Man (he's the fella that tallies up Kidd's assists in back of Section 113):

Me: (groaning after Dirk misses a shot)
Rick: Yeah.
Me: The boy's starting to worry me.

At the end of the third we were down by sixteen. Offensive breakdown, nobody could hit anything. I think Dirk's total by then was eleven. There goes the Longest Active +20 Streak In The NBA (if you discount the postseason, where his PPG dipped a bit during the San Antonio series). "This is what going mad feels like," I said.

Then the fourth quarter happened. It started with an and-one, and . . .

Really, Matt Moore over at Hardwood P says it best -- the boy went Nova.

I was there. I saw the whole thing.

He had eleven going in. He had 40 coming out. The 29 points scored in the interim -- most of those coming in the final seven minutes -- are a Dallas Mavericks record for points in a quarter. Seriously, this is his stat line just for that quarter:

29 points, 7-8 shooting, 14-14 free throws, 5 rebounds, 2 assists (one of those was to Kidd for his fifth wide-open three), 1 block, 1 steal, zero turnovers.

Re that exchange . . . bad me. Bad, bad me.

Final: 96-85, Mavericks
-BJ

Games 3 and 4, Dallas Mavericks visit Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers

Theme: God Module, "The Source"
Game Info: Lakers here, Clippers here.

I did not hold a whole lotta hope for this roadie. First of all, the Lakers -- defending champions, damn near unbeatable at home. True, they didn't have Gasol; the Mavericks are still doing without Josh Howard (and will continue to do so for at least another few weeks) and Tim Thomas. Then, the Clippers -- they were 0-6 when the Mavericks visited them for the first time last year . . . Dallas handed them their first victory for the season.

So, after some scrambling to get the A/V setup squared away, I started taping on Friday night. I expected that, couple hours later, I'd just have a game I needed to tape over -- I love my guys, but I'm not so self-abusive that I want to watch losses more than once. The worst case scenario had the Mavs crawling back to Dallas in the wee hours of All Saint's Day, with a 0-3 record and glowing tushies from two Staples Center paddlings.

Not even being up at the half helped -- we were up at the half all three losses last year. The Lakers were getting a shit-ton of offensive boards, I kept waiting for Kobe to start hitting shots, the Mavs weren't shooting it terribly well, the officiating was a mite ragged (to be fair, it was in our favor at least twice).

It wasn't until the last three minutes, when the Mavs had stayed in front for two full quarters and Coach Jackson was purging the bench, that I started to taste the hope. Reaction shots from the Laker bench -- Jackson looked like he was changing a diaper. Bryant scored 20 points on 6-19, and turned it over three times. Artest demonstrated, beautifully, why taking him on was a gamble; 1-4 from the floor, missed his free throws, five fouls plus a T, four turnovers.

Given that it was past midnight when the game went final, I had to do it quietly . . . but I was ecstatic. Still am, actually.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Clippers. Their first-round pick is out until Thanksgiving or so with a broken kneecap and they're winless as yet. But, I learned the hard way last year never to take certain things for granted. So I accepted being late to The Church's Halloween party and stayed put in front of the TV.

Chris Kaman . . . if things wind up not working out with Drew Gooden, can we leverage his contract into getting Kaman to Dallas? He looked great on Saturday night -- tough, creative, a leader. He tried, I give him that. And the Clips were denied by our own Dampier. Wait, what? Damp was good for a double-double; 6-10 from the floor for 12 points, ten boards, three blocks and an assist. Chalk it up to Contract Year Phenomenon if you wish, but I'll take it.

All in all, an ugly game. Second night of a back-to-back for the Mavericks, fourth game in five nights for the Clippers; everybody looked a mite ragged. The Clippers staged a rally late in the third and stretching to the fourth to tie the game and keep it close. They had an opportunity, they did. Some strategic errors (why did Baron Davis only play 24 minutes?) and some good basketball from the Mavs (ten stops in a row!) killed it.

I'm very encouraged. It isn't just that we won the games; we won on the road, in a back-to-back, when we weren't shooting well and are still missing a starter. Everybody's starting to get with it defensively, meaning it's not a death sentence if Dirk and Terry aren't hitting lights out.

Final: 94-80, Mavericks!
Final: 93-84, Mavericks
-BJ