From The Bucktails To The CO

Up until recently, whenever the question "Why isn't Gerald Green getting playing time?" came up, I'd look at the record and answer, "Because when he was getting playing time we weren't winning games. Next question."

As usual, Mike Fisher is forcing me to re-evaluate.

We had been winning ballgames with G-Money (that's the officially sanctioned locker room name, he nicked it from his little brother) vacuum-sealed. However, way back at the beginning of December I was noticing the trend of playing down to the wire in very winnable games. The encouraging trends -- JJ finally shutting up the doubters, roleplayers like Jimz showing they can step up when called upon to do so -- have been outweighed by the discouraging ones -- Josh Howard's inconsistency, the fact that Kidd cannot be counted on as a scoring threat, Dirk and Jet's shooting slumps, none of the potential 2-starters making a strong case for their candidacy.

What I think is happening, with G-Money's instance being a symptom of a general problem, is that Coach's constant rotation tinkering is starting to backfire. Green's defensive weaknesses and low basketball IQ are well-documented. However, his screw-ups aren't any more or less glaring than those of the other players not named Nowitzki, Terry, or Kidd. It's tempting to rely upon guys like Devean George because they're "defensive minded," because they can be relied upon to do their jobs without hot-dogging, heat checks, impromptu bullshit shot creation, because they're known factors that don't fuck with the master plan. Fine, I get it. With this team that is a recipe for disaster. The veteran roleplayers are simply not that mighty.

Which brings us back to our Mr. Green. To his credit, he's behaving like a professional, putting in the time, saying the right things. Unless he was benched for reasons the Organization hasn't disclosed to the public -- health reasons, he needs an attitude adjustment, he didn't refill the coffee pot, whatever -- it might be time to pull him out of the space bag, fluff him up, and throw him back on the couch.

And what if that really is the problem, Coach's rotation tinkering causing locker room unrest that's manifesting itself in games?

Ah, yes. Well.

(mumbles a quick prayer to God for forgiveness, amen)

That one is on Dirk.

Mike Fisher's metaphor for last season's ongoing meltdown was the movie, "The Caine Mutiny." I haven't seen the movie . . . but I've read the original novel. Here's a user review from Amazon.com:

"I recently read quite a few online reviews, and they reflect a much more contemporary viewpoint -- the original context of the novel is lost in time. One reviewer thought the mood and point of the book were 'Faschistic'; others concluded that the point was 'it's okay to buck the system.' I was reminded of a colleague on the faculty at West Point who was teaching a cadet elective in psychology of abnormal behavior who used a clip of Bogart's performance on the stand at the court-martial as an example of disordered paranoid ideation. Sometimes I wonder what book all these people read!

"This is a novel of war, seen through the eyes of a nonprofessional officer of incisive intelligence, one both inside and outside the Navy system and possessed of ability to look beyond the moment. Many readers (or movie fans) somehow completely miss the story's central issue and the critical turn of plot. Captain Queeg was not crazy; he was overwhelmed by the burdens of command, but would probably have muddled through if his officers had managed to put aside petulant resentment and work to compensate for the captain's flaws. Instead, they put a combat vessel out of action during a critical period in the Pacific campaign."
-Ltc Timothy R. O'Neill

If that is what happened -- if Avery Johnson's eventual crash and burn was because of Dirk's actions as team captain and platoon leader -- then that's a big black mark (yellow stain?) on Dirk. And if it's happening again -- Dirk undermining Coach Carlisle's authority, consciously or unconsciously, deliberately or inadvertently -- somebody please call Mr. Geschwinder and have him kick Dirk's ass.

However, I do not think that's what's happened then, and I don't think it's happening now. Avery Johnson shot himself in the nads just fine; he didn't need help aiming. For the nonce, the players have to trust that Coach knows what he's doing. You don't have to like your boss. To do your best work, you do have to trust and believe in them. Fostering that trust and belief is in the team leader's job description. It's in Dirk's job description.

There are two things I wish I knew for facts. One is the look on Dirk's face when he answered Sports Illustrated's question about whether or not any of the Mavs had bothered to learn German ("Nothing except geshunteit"). The other is who called the players-only practise the day after Game 4 last year . . . and who showed up for it.

For the record. This is the bullshitting of a fan who doesn't want to believe her team is getting legitimately outplayed. Take your grain of iodized salt and I'll see you at the AAC tomorrow. The Hornets are in town. I'll be waving the colors.
-BJ

Media Day!

The Fish isn't as much of a sunshine pumper as some folks on The Boards make him out to be, and I trust his analysis of what's really going on. On Media Day, all appears well . . . or as well as can be for a team that's been more or less written off (serious, check the power rankings on ESPN).

I'm clinging to the signs of hope. As a fan, what other approach should I take? I've lived without hope or expectation before. This is better.

Things I Like:
- Josh Howard finally acting like a grownup. Thanks in part to the Mavs's PR guys, who made sure the atmosphere stayed cordial, and thanks to J-Ho's sincere apology, I feel much easier in my mind regarding his judgement. A strong preseason and some good regular season games and this entire mess goes back to being yesterday's news. Nobody'd hate another All-Star season, either.

- On the question of how he would handle J-Ho, Coach replied, “I don’t handle people. If I worked in a zoo, helping with the giraffes and the lions and the horses, I’d handle. Here, you work with men.’’ Touche.

- Having a specific plan of action . . . or at least the appearance of one. One of the things I didn't like about last year is the vagueness from some of the leadership, generalities about what was wrong and no real plan on how to fix it -- yes I'm looking at you Mr. Johnson. Say this about Coach Carlisle; for the moment he seems to know what the hell he's doing and he's being concrete about how he's going to do it. After two months of generalities about execution and lack thereof, that's a relief.

- The mental image of Jerry Stackhouse high-fiving Champ. It makes me smile.

Things I'm Not Crazy About
- Mark Cuban badmouthing Avery Johnson. We already know he'd lost the players' allegience. Rehashing it now seems . . . counterproductive. And I don't like the idea that a third of the roster had, either directly or through their representatives, presented Mr. Cuban with get-me-out-of-here ultamaitums. That begs the question of which players, and I don't like where those thoughts go. Further, if the team discord was that bad, how seriously should we take the MBT's (Mavs Brain Trust) assurances that everything's fine now?

- The buzzcut. No, I'm not okay with it, I'm never going to be okay with it. So there. Myah! Grow it back, man! Please!

I can't wait. Seven more days!
-BJ

Quick DFW Say, "Football? Let's Talk Mavericks"

Yes. Let's.

I could seriously learn to love Coach. He appears to have his head on straight. I like the battlefield concept; it's an attitude that seemed to be missing under Avery Johnson.

Training camp starts on the 29th over to SMU. Does this mean they're not going to be holding Fan Jam this year? God for-bloody-bid. Coach is talking about utilizing a more up-tempo game pace and whipping everybody's ass into shape. Two sessions a day, everyone goes home at night.

I'm pondering this a little more deeply than I perhaps ought to -- God knows the guys over on the DB.com Boards are picking Coach apart phrase-by-phrase. I just got done reading a short-attention-span (but fun to read) memoir by Jayson Williams, Loose Balls, and in Williams's opinion coaches don't matter that much. It's the player's responsibility to maintain their bodies, so he says, and training too long and practising too much is counterproductive.

I can see that. One of the news blurbs from the Olympics noted that Shawn Johnson only practises a couple hours a day. She even goes to a public school, which is unheard-of for an international level gymnast.

On the other hand, it could be argued that this is a team that hasn't been on the same page for a while now and needs the extra time. Once more, we have to trust that Coach and his staff know what they're doing.

It makes me wonder though . . . when Dirk said at Coach Carlisle's PC about the NBA being a player's league, not a coach's one . . . was that an indirect dig at Johnson? Because Johnson went pretty much straight from being a player to an assistant, then he was picked by Don Nelson to take over as head coach. The transition was PDQ, less than two years. It makes me wonder; is the root of his troubles as a coach the fact that he was reacting to situations as a player? Like he really wanted to be on the floor and got frustrated because he couldn't?

I'm shooting from the backcourt again, so I'll shut up.

Wishing Manu Ginobli a pain-free, prolonged (like the entire season) recovery from his foot injury, and praying to God somebody fucks Kobe's pinkie up royally . . . and permanently.

Later,
-BJ

Basketball Junkies, Rejoice!

Oh thank God! TXA-21's televising the summer league games. First one's this Friday. We don't have to go cold-turkey until the season officially starts. Besides, I need my Followhill fix. Mark rules. :-)

There's been a lot of positive feedback about Coach Carlisle in the past couple of months, as he, Misters Cuban and Nellie, and the Organization's spin-meisters ladle out the sunshine. Whether that's a reflection of the man himself or the Mavs and fanbase working through post-AJ-hangover is a matter of interpretation.

The summer leaguers are playing for permanent roster spots; the team still needs some serious patching on interior defense. According to the Morning News Coach plans to run them into the ground over the next three weeks. "[W]e shouldn't lose a game," Carlisle said at practise yesterday. Anybody taking bets on that? I'll put ten on the Mavs.

We've also got the Olympics this year. Let not the USA be pwned again, please God?
-BJ

The Boss Speaks, Field Trips, and Other News

From the homefront:

- Mark Cuban spoke on Randy Galloway's radio program earlier today, giving an extended interview. Among the subjects covered, reputation-rehab for Josh Howard, failures in leadership over the past season, failed trade scenarios (among them one where we gave up Dirk and J-Ho for Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the idea of which has Mr. Fish over at DallasBasektball.com crying into his beer), votes of confidence in Coach Carlisle, and the work between him Jerry Jones to get the NBA All-Star game to the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington (which would be mega-awesome with cheese). Podcast here.

- Coach Carlisle's in Orlando at "predraft camp," checking out the stuff. The Mavs have a second-round pick, 51st overall. There's plans to go to Italy, where the European draftees will be gathered -- because of financial issues, that's most likely where the FNGs are coming from this year. Little help from the Basketball Gods would be good there, neh?

- A remark from Mr. Cuban's interview clarifies a lot to me -- "Guys were breaking plays a lot. They didn’t trust the play-calling . . ." No wonder Avery Johnson was damn near throwing a coniption fit over by the bench, and no wonder the folks on the floor had this bad habit of standing around looking confused. He's also saying that Dirk's the one who broke rank there originally. Good in that the Organization's been screaming for him to take up a leadership role for the last five or six years; bad because such behavior could be construed as childish and counter-productive. I'm erring on the side of goodness, mostly in light of Johnson's actions since he was fired (revisionist and egotistical would about cover it). It could also be inferred that the disconnect between the coach and the players tainted Jason Kidd's adaptation to the team, which made all the other chemistry problems worse.

- The NBA has decided to impose fines on players for "flopping" -- exaggerating impact when one is fouled. Sort of like screaming bloody murder when your sister gets a good lick in during a pillowfight. Discouraging melodrama that doesn't come from the game itself is a good thing. Several years of following figure skating has me good and sick of manufactured melodrama.

- And finally, Dirk landed in Germany last week, prepping with the national team. And get this, the inconsiderate bastard got a girlfriend. Wah!
-BJ

My Humble Opinion, May 13

Kidd? I'm going on the side of optimism and saying that he's good for another quality season. I don't think it was reasonable to expect a title three months after that big of a shift in leadership. Yes that's the Pride Salve talking, but what else have I got?

The situation is like the LBJ during rush hour in two ways; it resembles an unholy marriage between a demolition derby and a parking lot, and the victims don't have a choice but to be patient and tough it out. And hope the car doesn't run out of gas.

I'm a Michigander; I think in terms of traffic hassles.

Extending the metaphor. Back home the main north-south highway artery through town is US-131. As it goes over the Grand River, it makes a left-to-right turn in order to cross at a good angle -- the S-curve.



Up until a few years ago the word 'S-curve' would cause drivers in five counties to shudder in fear and loathing. As it was originally constructed, the turns weren't banked properly. Meaning unless you were clever and lucky, the odds were in favor of skidding out of your lane and into the poor slob next to you. Add in winter weather, badly laid-out interchanges, no shoulder to speak of, and traffic flowing through at ten to fifteen over the posted limits (speed limits are treated as suggested minimums), and well, it did not make for a pleasant commuting experience.

Back in '99, the entire bridge was demolished and rebuilt. Traffic was rerouted through town for the summer. The mess was considerable. But the resulting piece of construction -- with wider turns, safer banking, better entrance and exit ramps, and bigger shoulders -- is a breeze to drive through. Rather than a serious hazard to your mental health and personal safety.

That's where we are right now. The old structure was serviceable, but not up to the demands being placed upon it. So with the trade for Jason Kidd and the dismissal of Coach Johnson, it was ripped out. This off-season is for rebuilding.

The contractors and workers that did the S-curve were fucking heros, doing a damn fine job with the new road. Coach Carlisle's history suggests he can do that with our Mavs; that rebuilding is in fact a specialty of his. Remember that blurb about the fight at the Palace of Auburn Hills a few years ago? The Pacers still made the playoffs that year.

Do the job and do it well, on time and under budget. Amazing how much of life can be reduced to that principle.
-BJ

My Humble Opinion, May 8

My Humble Opinions
First in a series

I'm a newcomer to the table, so don't take my opinions as canon. I'm doing a lot of reading between the lines, a lot of reconstruction with limited facts. It's like the old gag about describing an elephant when all you can see is the trunk. My sources at this point boil down to the blogs on the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram websites. Both of which are maintained by sports blowhards who happen to be better informed than most of that breed.

That said, here we go:

- Out Johnson, in somebody. I find it very easy to chalk the team's inconsistancies over the season to failures in leadership. A lot of standing around looking confused on offense -- not a good look on you, guys. I don't know if all that can be laid at Coach Johnson's feet specifically, but I will say that calling a Come To Jesus meeting and then cancelling practise the day before an elimination game suggests poor judgement. I'd love to know the names of the players who called an impromptu practise anyway, but that's not something I'm likely to find out.

- Less than a fortnight and there's already serious courting of a replacement, Rick Carlisle. It might just be me, but doesn't that seem PDQ? I mean, are major staff turnovers routinely accomplished that fast in the NBA? The conspiracy nut in me catches a scent of premeditation, but once again that's not something I can confirm.

- Josh Howard. Like his frankness, hate his timing. Attention whores can be fun. I'll admit to being less annoyed if he'd performed up to ability. But he didn't then, and he hasn't been all season. Discretion has its place, dude.

- Trade Dirk? Yeah right. Watch about a quarter of your fanbase and *all* your playoff chances go down the drain. Or up in smoke, if you like that better.

- So other than the Big Rig -- who did everything short of walking on water -- who performed this year? Brandon Bass? Hell yes. Jet Terry? Erh, more or less. Dampier? Somebody spank him. Jason Kidd? #$%@!

- Was it reasonable to expect a title three months after that major a change in leadership and personnel? It's a question I'd like answered. Objectively. And is it reasonable to hope that, given the summer hiatus, the team next year might be better than a first-round scratching post? Good question.

- And what about the Olympics? Dirk's participating. Kidd probably is too. Will that affect the team at all, and if so how? Good thing, bad thing . . .

Outcome nonwithstanding, I had a lot of fun following the team these past few months. Bliss of love, thrill of something new. I'm disappointed in the ultimate outcome, but I can't find it in me to get angry. That will change. My expectations for next year . . . little bit higher. My admiration is for the guys who play their guts out and do the best they *can*, no matter what. That didn't happen consistantly this season. And by November enough of the new will wear off to where I won't choose to overlook that.

(And Mr. Cuban et al? Please don't put me in the awkward position of having to choose between my team and my favorite player. Please? Pretty please?)
-BJ