Preseason Game 8, Dallas Mavericks host Indiana Pacers

Theme: Nine Inch Nails, "Every Day Is Exactly The Same"
Game Info: If you can bear to look.

Before I get onto the game, I have something to share. The second live game I ever went to (back in March against the Celtics), the day was a long exercise in cumulative cluster-fuck. First, work was insanely busy. Even with postponing everything I could I got out of work a half-hour late. Second, I missed my bus, making me even later. Third, I had to wait until halftime to be able to get into the game -- I was still under the delusion that one could get tickets at the door. Finally, the Mavs lost.

Yesterday? The arc was eerily similar. Crazy-busy day, leaving work late, and my Mavs laying an egg. Complete with getting manhandled by a bunch of guys in dark uniforms.

- Defense. Yeah, Coach, you have my enthusiastic permission to kick everyone's ass square over this. I saw clear opportunities (defensive rebounds, mostly) for defensive heroics that were not exploited.

- JJ Barea (if he's six foot I'm a vernicious kenid) found his shot and did okay as a backup. Thank God, but the Mavs need to look seriously for a backup mark 2.

- Am I the only one who thinks Jet needs to mellow out? I saw one foul in the game agains the Bulls that probably could've counted as a flagrant, and another one that looked iffy last night.

- Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. The ball is not a pancake, guys.

- This one's hard to take, because this wasn't a matter of gift-wrapping a victory in order to give extraneous free-agents some playing time. The Mavs were out for this game and got themsevles shredded.

- I was looking at the scoreboard at the half and seeing the Mavs up in most categories -- more rebounds, less turnovers, etc. So, I asked myself, why are we only up by one? Then I looked at the three-pointers made/attempted line. Never mind.

- Stack was out last night with a foot problem (bad) and Devean George was out with an injured hand (less bad).

In The Wash: Well that does it for the preseason. T-minus six days, nine hours, and some-odd minutes before things get rolling for real. And we're going to need the time. The offense seems to be "give Jason Kidd the ball and let nature take her course." The problem with that is it puts a lot of playmaking pressure on the backup points -- JJ and Jet Terry. Plans B need to be hammered out and did I mention this team's got a wee bit of a turnover problem?

For the love of God, make the season start!!! Of the teams played in the preseason, the Kings are the only ones even in the conference!

I got faith. But you guys aren't making it easy.

Final: 114 to 91, Pacers
-BJ

Preseason Game 7, Dallas Mavericks host Chicago Bulls

Theme: Mindless Self Indulgence, "Bullshit"
Game Info: Use the power.

I think. I'm going. To cry.

Simmer down Beej, it's just the preseason.

Full recap later; I have the game taped at home and I'm going to use the opportunity -- now that I'm not in full nervous-breakdown-every-four-seconds fan mode -- to learn to read a play-by-play. (For the record, I was the fat lady up in section three-twenty-something, limping to the escalator singing the last couple lines of Auld Lang Syne.)

In The Wash: I will say this; the rook's got game (hard to argue with thirty fucking points!!!) but against a team that knew what the hell it was doing he wasn't getting shit done.

This was another mercy fuck, boys. Enjoy it, the team let you win because for now it has the luxury of using games for other purposes.

That said, somebody send Coach a memo. My Mavs are nobody's slut.

Final: 109-105, Bulls
-BJ

Preseason Game 6, Dallas Mavericks host Sacramento Kings

Theme: Skinny Puppy, "Pro-Test"
Game Info: Make with the clicky.

Underrate this, you lazy-minded schlubs.

- Slow start again . . . a widening of focus is needed; whenever Dirk misses a shot I panic inside.

- To Reggie Theus, Head Coach of the Sacramento Kings. Simmer down Coach. And remember it isn't kosher for a coach to jump in and play the D his team's failing at.

- I think the Org is starting with the weeding-out process. The team's moving into more regular-season rotation, with the starters playing heavy minutes. (UPDATE: Confirmed. Charles Rhodes has been waived and Keith McLeod's contract's been restructured to "non-guaranteed." Not clear on the implications of that last bit. Will parse it out later.)

- By the way, Gerald Green. 29 points. One truly righteous slam. We got him; you didn't. Eat it, bitches.

- Sooner or later the Bad Guys'll take away those extra three or four seconds Jason Kidd needs to make those long shots, and there goes the triple-double threat.

- Turnovers still a major problem. Sticky fingers, gentlemen.

- Defensively, I can't make judgement calls. Offensively, I like our young Mr. Red Bull. I saw no evidence of ball-hoggery or bad judgement. If he tanks with the Mavs it won't be for lack of trying on the organization's part. I see Coach taking him aside a lot in games and the media guys've been impressed by his 'tude. Give it a year or so and he's got the opportunity to make some major noise.

- Depth at the 1 is a problem. Much as the organization likes JJ Barea, he's not a player of the calibur this team needs. Jet's decent at the point but is most useful when he can be the Sixth Man Everydude. The Mavs need a decent player at the point to relieve Kidd for ten to twenty minutes per game if Kidd's going to be useful all up through the Finals. I hate to say it, because JJ strikes me as being a good guy, but he's trade bait.

- At the 2 it looks like we've got something of an embarassment of riches. Williams, so far, not impressed. Antoine Wright, however, looks downright tasty. He's gotta be careful though; fouls are only a good thing if making them gives you an edge over and above the extra scoring opportunity they give the bad guys.

- There were some boo-birds up in my section trying to heckle J-Ho at various points in the game. They shut up shortly after the half.

In The Wash: Oh my God, the regular season can't get started soon enough. The Bulls are in town for another tushie-paddling tomorrow and the Pacers swing by on Thursday. In other NBA news, Deron Williams is down with a twisted ankle, no word yet on how long he'll be non-operational.

Final: 124-109, Mavericks
-BJ

Preseason Game 5, Dallas Mavericks visit Detroit Pistons

Theme: "Feel Like A Number," Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
Game Info: Again with the NBA.com

Well.

Not overreacting, though last night's loss to the Pistons called for another trip to Sonic for something Bad For Me.

- Terry had the night off (and should wear his suits tailored a bit slimmer, he's got the build). And JJ went down in the third with what looks like a rolled ankle and a nice jab to the knee. Word is he'll be operational on Saturday against the Kings, but won't participate in scrimmage tonight. Painful reminder of how much is riding on Jason Kidd . . . and how shallow Dallas is at the point.

- Poor JJ did not have a good road trip. This makes two games where he had to bail because of a hard fall. Get healthy fast, dude.

- Stackhouse . . . can you do that kind of thing on a more consistant basis? Pweeze, pweeze, pretty pweeze? He took a charge hard enough to hurt from here!

- Kind of a slow start, but then defense locked down. The Pistons shot under 30% in the first half. Is it yummy, NBA? Do you like it?

- Free-throw shooting's better, but not at the level it needs to be. And turnovers continue to be a problem.

- Four quick fouls with more than eight minutes to play, I knew right then we were screwed. That shit was not fun to watch.

- Rasheed Wallace is a drama queen . . . in a scary I'll-pull-your-throat-out-with-my-tombstone-grin kind of way.

In The Wash: Given that this is the preseason, I can understand why Coach kept the starters out when it became clear the second-third stringers weren't getting it done. I mean, this game was in the fucking bag, but the Pistons outscored us 36 to 19 in the fourth quarter. How? Simple; the starters came back in, drew some quick fouls, put Dallas over the limit early in the fourth, and pecked us to death.

Bottom line: if the starters had come back, we would've won. Is anyone in Detroit familiar with the concept of a mercy fuck?

Final: 84-81, Pistons
-BJ

Preseason Game 4, Dallas Mavericks visit Indiana Pacers

Theme: Combichrist, "This Sh*t Will Fcuk You Up"
Game information: Nicked from NBA.com.

Overreaction in three, two, one . . .

OH MY GOD, PLEASE SAY THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!

- Anyone else want to ask how bad we need Jason Kidd? Or Dampier and Stackhouse for that matter?

- Let's be real. The Mavs went to the deep bench in the second half the way they've been doing for all the preseason games. If the starters had been available and played, we would've won. Hell if JJ had been available -- he took a hard fall and sat out the fourth quarter -- we might still've won.

- Winning isn't necessarily the object of preseason. Particularly for the Mavs, who have to make significant roster cuts before the deadline on the 27th.

- That said, isn't it always the object of the game, is to win?

- Crunch time execution = fail. Everything went wrong. Defense, weak all game -- it wasn't so much dribble penetration as dribble gang-rape -- broke down. Offensively, the guys started throwing up what looked suspiciously like panic 3s.

- And just as an aside, you know the big guy, right? Tall, skinny, tends to talk through his nose? Why was he wearing a knee wrap and why wasn't he on the bench in the second half?

- Something in the smiley-face column; Gerald Greene looks like he might work out. Probably not going to see heavy minutes over the regular season . . . at least not this year.

In The Wash: Free-throw shooting. Yes, let's have a talk about that, gentlemen. We can agree on this, right? There isn't a magic bullet or shortcut to decent free-throw stats. It's very simple; take 500 a day. Every day. After awhile muscle memory takes over.

Last night's FT percentage; 64%. Not good. Unacceptable, actually. It's called the charity stripe for a reason; those points should be a given. Not to mention . . . Indiana had seven more turnovers and twelve less fast-break points, and you still lost? Gu-uuuys . . .

I hope Coach got the data he needs, and that the gloves come off tonight. These're the Pistons, gentlemen.
-BJ

Preseason Game 2: Dallas Mavericks visit Chicago Bulls

Theme: Ren and Stimpy, "Happy Happy Joy Joy"
Game Information: Courtesy of NBA.com

One of the reasons I hate the circumstances that prevent me from having modern television resources is not being able to watch road games. But that oft-forgotten, no-cost gem of broadcast media saves my ass -- radio. One problem; because of something in my apartment building -- can roaches cause signal interference? It would explain not being able to get Channel 5 -- the radio doesn't come in clearly.

So the Mavs are on the road up the west side of my favorite Great Lake, and I'm on the road up to Keller's for a supper of ooey-delicious hamburger and the car radio tuned to ESPN 103.3 FM. I missed most of the first quarter. Naturally, that's when the "OH MY GOD!!!" stuff happened. Oh well. I did catch Brandon Bass's dunk. I think Coop broke a vocal cord on that one.

- The starters didn't play very much at all after the first quarter. Unit 1 -- Dirk, Kidd, J-Ho, Wright, and Dampier -- opened it up and brought it to 36-22 Mavs. Unit 2 -- Jet Terry, Bass, JJ, Devean George, and 'Gana Diop -- played most of the second and the score at the half stood at 62-44.

- After the half, it was pretty much garbage time for the Mavs. The deep, deep benchers were playing serious minutes. Which is good. At least three of these guys will not make the team come regular season and they need every second of playing time they can get.

- Gerald Greene's justifying some of the hope placed in him by us fans; 18 points. That's reassuring. Some of The Boards are taking bets on when Jerry Stackhouse will start missing games because of injury.

- Speaking of, Stack missed the game due to family obligations. He'll be back tonight.

- JJ Barea scored ten? And he hit a three? And he had tasty assists? Can he do that against a good team? Please God?

- In the last minutes, the game must've looked pretty ugly. I didn't count, but there must've been at least five fouls called in the last minute of play time.

- I'll give the Bulls this; they tried to rally. They really tried. The Bulls actually outscored the Mavs by ten in the second half. But the last quarter the Mavs fought with one hand tied behind them. Five minutes from the starters and the Bulls would've been blown halfway to the moon.

- Everybody got play time last night, and of those sixteen, fifteen scored points. Yummy.

In The Wash: Last night marked the NBA debut of this year's #1 draft pick, Derrick Rose. 10 points in 27 minutes and he had problems getting his feet under him. As the Morning News points out, though, point guards tend to have long learning curves. Give it a couple years, no major injuries and no emotional meltdowns; we're going to be seeing his name a lot. For their sake, the Bulls would be wise to bend over all directions to make his maturing process as complete as possible.

Coach must be blissed about this; in the game against the Wizards the Mavs turned the ball over 24 times. Against the Bulls, 14. And 12 of those came in the second half. In other words, from players who are not likely to play much during the regular season. Happy happy joy joy.

Final: 110-102, Mavs
-BJ

PS: Dirk as a personal favor to me could you put your tongue away? It makes you look silly. And it makes me have bad thoughts.

Preseason Game 1, Dallas Mavericks host Washington Wizards

Theme Song: Mortal Kombat OST, "A Taste of Things To Come"
Game Info: From NBA.com

That was fun!

- Oh that's why the organization ponied up their immortal souls to get Jason Kidd. The triple-double threat lives.

- Kidd and Dirk only played for, maybe, twenty minutes. Good stuff to be had from them, but not needed. Why drag out the .50 cal when the M16's getting it done? Honest to God, official garbage time came with four and a half minutes left in the fourth; you probably could've declared it after halftime.

- Hihi! This is the first time I've seen Desagana Diop on the floor, and I think I like him. Splitting time between Dampier and Diop at the 5 makes sense to me, especially if he keeps playing good defense.

- I wasn't focused on the bench so I might've missed it, but it's something of a relief to not see Coach damn near drop dead of a heart attack eight or nine times. His huddles look like Story Time; "Come in close boys and girls, come on."

- JJ Barea . . . Fish characterizes him as the Mavs's pet rock, and I'm sorry but I didn't see much to refute the claim. Which makes Kidd's long-term endurance a worry again. Preseason, the eighty-two, plus post-season, and we need hardcore hero shit from him on a regular basis.

- I'm not a huge fan of the player parody vids, but making fun of Mark Cuban's a giggle. Diop's Welcome Back video was cute too.

- Antoine Wright. If he turns into a serious rotation player, the Kidd trade looks like much less of an overpayment.

- Ladies and gentlemen, Brandon Bass!

- The fanbase will forgive Josh Howard for behaving like an idiot this summer if this performance is an omen for the season. Though to be fair there were a few plays that probably reflect less on J-Ho's excellence and more on the Wizard's total breakdown on both ends of the floor. Serious, J-Ho got two or three fast-break layups in a row from some snatch-it-and-pass-it steals. Hey Wizards, wanna try for another one or do we see a pattern developing here?

- I love watching Jet Terry play. Lands neatly on his toes while catching a feed from Dirk, turns around, two points. Tasty.

In The Wash:
One thing the Mavs haven't lacked for me is The Potential. We can be really fucking awesome . . . which last year led to a few months of tantilizing glimpses of greatness bracketed by games in which the rest of the conference sharpened their claws on us. Lots of standing around looking confused. I saw that here too . . . but this time I have the hope of answers forthcoming. The preseason's for hammering out the rotation and game plans in real-game situations. In one sense, this game solves nothing. The Wizards didn't provide enough of a challenge. In another, the fans who've been hanging onto the wait-and-see perspective have gotten some returns -- a dominating win. And some good-looking basketball.

Bandwagon Bumper Sticker: Get in. Sit down. Hang on. Start yelling.

Final: 108-82, Mavs
-BJ

Nine More Hours

After a summer full of full-time committment (and pay, thank God) for part-time work, prayers that The Boards would be interesting without being bitchy (riiiiiiight), lots of lol cats (because monorail cats are funny), and too much time looking for good pictures of the big guy (damn pajama uniforms), the off-season is nearly over. We're sitting in the theater, suffering through easy listening and mediocre R'n'B, watching the ads and movie quiz cards flip across the screen (and they've already gone through the set eight times), and finally, there's a click, the screen goes dark, the lights go down, and the talking starts to quiet.

It's been a long few months. And it's going to be an even longer few months as I watch my Mavs become what they're going to be in 08-09. Will the new coach be as advertised, able to balance running offense with brick-wall D? Will Jason Kidd have one more season of greatness before riding into a future rich with alimony suits? Will Josh Howard finally crystalize under pressure, instead of just cracking? Will Stack's body hold out? Will the Four-String Motherfucker give us all the gifts the Hornets were too stupid to take? Will our young guns grow into heros in their own rights? Will Our Dirk become, once more, a player who kills so cleanly you're in Hell five minutes before you realize you're dead?

And will it be enough?

We'll see. Binoculars, train ticket, victory cigarette -- I'm ready!
-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

Can We Make Scrimmage Shirts Vs. Skins? Please?

Squee!

The Morning News, absent anything new to print about the Mavs (I'm avoiding Mr. Cuban's blog, because I don't have anything to add to the arguement and reading it will just annoy me), is rehashing the point we all grasped way back in May; everything depends on how the players mesh under the new coach. Nothing we haven't read or intuited.

At the end, under Mavericks Key Dates:

Sept. 30 -- Training camp opens with two practises.

Oct. 4 -- Two-a-days end.

Oct. 7 -- Preseason opens vs. Washington at AAC (7:30 p.m.)

Oct. 17 -- Fan Jam at AAC (5:30 p.m.)

Oct. 27 -- Rosters set for opening day (5 p.m.)

Oct. 30 -- Regular season begins vs. Houston at AAC (7 p.m.)

Italics mine. Fan Jam!

Ticket for the first preseason game is bought and paid for and will be waiting for me at the AAC. I can't wait.
-BJ

Preseason, or Before The Withdrawl Causes Permanent Damage

We hope.

10-7, 7:30 PM CST, versus the Washington Wizards
10-9, 7:30 PM CST, at Chicago
10-10, 7:30 PM CST, at Milwaukee
10-15, 6:00 PM CST, at Indiana
10-16, 6:30 PM CST, at Detroit
10-18, 8:00 PM CST, versus the Sacramento Kings
10-21, 7:30 PM CST, versus the Chicago Bulls
10-23, 7:30 PM CST, versus the Indiana Pacers

Tickets for the preseason games go on sale on September 8. I'm going to as many as I can get away with.
-BJ