2011 Playoffs, Round One -- #3 DAL v #6 POR

A quick, stats-heavy, very thumbnail history of the 2010-2011 season series:

Series tied at 2-2

Splits:
Dallas against Portland: 51.0 FG% -- 34.9 3P% -- 83.6 FT% -- 7.0 ORB -- 37.0 TRB -- 23.3 APG -- 5.0 SPG -- 3.0 BPG -- 96.0 PPG
Portland against Dallas: 47.8 FG% -- 30.5 3P% -- 73.5 FT% -- 11.3 ORB -- 37.3 TRB -- 20.5 APG 7.0 SPG -- 2.2 BPG -- 96.8 PPG
*the home team won both their games
*average margin of victory 4.75 points


Game One -- December 15, 2010, Portland at Dallas
103-98 W

Stats:
Portland: 42-85 FG -- .494 FG% -- 3-14 3P -- .214 3P% -- 11-18 FT -- .611 FT% -- 12 ORB -- 37 TRB -- 26 AST -- 5 STL -- 1 BLK -- 8 TOV -- 17 PF
Dallas: 40-74 FG -- .541 FG% -- 3-16 3P -- .188 3P% -- 20-21 FT -- .952 FT% -- 5 ORB -- 36 TRB -- 20 AST -- 7 STL -- 11 TOV -- 4 BLK -- 16 PF

The game in brief:
After falling behind by 17 in the third, the Trailblazers rallied to tie it 93-all with 2:07 left. The Mavs finished by outscoring the 'Blazers 10-5, thanks mostly to Dirk's shots finally finding their way home after three subpar quarters.

Quotes:
“We had a big lead there again, and just hit a bad stretch again. “We just couldn’t get any stops.” -Dirk Nowitzki

"Dirk made two really tough shots, that’s what he does. We did our best to make the shots tough, but he still made them.” -LaMarcus Aldridge

Video:
http://www.nba.com/video/games/mavericks/2010/12/15/0021000377_por_dal_recap.nba


Game Two -- Jaunary 4, 2011, Portland at Dallas
84-81 W

Stats:
Portland: 33-79 FG -- 41.8 FG% -- 4-16 3P -- 25.0 3P% -- 11-17 FT -- 64.7 FT% -- 14 ORB -- 46 TRB -- 17 AST -- 5 STL -- 3 BLK -- 8 TOV -- 17 PF
Dallas: 33-77 FG -- 42.9 FG% -- 8-22 3P -- 36.4 3P% -- 10-13 FT -- 76.9 FT% -- 12 ORB -- 46 TRB -- 22 AST -- 3 STL -- 13 TOV -- 2 BLK -- 16 PF

The game in brief:
Injuries -- Caron Butler, out for season after surgery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon, Dirk Nowitzki, sprained knee, Brandon Roy, injured knee. Dallas's defense kept Portland at bay and a late scoring surge from Jason Terry put the Mavs over the top. This game was one of only two games -- and the only one over a winning team -- the Mavs won without Dirk.

Quotes:
"The fourth quarter is Jet's show. He's done it over and over. He's so clutch, so much fun to watch. He was huge for us and I was happy for him to get his rhythm back. When he makes shots like that, we're deadly. It was great to see him in the fourth quarter back to his usual self." -Tyson Chandler

"Defensively, we've been a top team in the league all year long and we can't let up now because we're missing two of our main pieces. We have to really, really concentrate on defense now. We shut them down in the half-court defense in the final quarter, so that was big." -Jason Terry

Video:
http://www.nba.com/video/games/mavericks/2011/01/04/0021000509_por_dal_recap.nba


Game 3 -- March 15, 2011, Dallas at Portland
104-101 L

Stats:
Portland: 40-85 FG -- 47.1 FG% -- 6-14 3P -- 42.9 3P% -- 18-23 FT -- 78.3 FT% -- 15 ORB -- 34 TRB -- 19 AST -- 8 STL -- 7 TOV -- 5 BLK -- 15 PF
Dallas: 40-67 FG -- 59.7 FG% -- 9-21 3P -- 42.9 3P% -- 12-13 FT -- 92.3 FT% -- 6 ORB -- 33 TRB -- 30 AST -- 5 STL -- 15 TOV -- 4 BLK -- 17 PF

The game in brief:
Though Dallas shot the ball extremely well, Portland crashed the offensive glass and forced turnovers, resulting in 18 more shots and 10 more free throw attempts. The Trailblazers also got a throwback performance from Brandon Roy, who scored 21. Dirk had a chance to force overtime, but missed the shot.

Quote:
“In that situation you’ve love to get a completely unmolested shot, but it’s difficult. I thought Dirk did a good job of creating a look and we just didn’t get it down." -Coach Rick Carlisle

“Man, this is a tough one. You shoot 60 percent on the road and lose, that’s tough. Turnovers killed us down the stretch . . . We doubled them in turnovers and that really hurt us. Really, it was offensive rebounds in the first half and turnovers down the stretch.” -Dirk Nowitzki

Video:
http://www.nba.com/video/games/blazers/2011/03/15/0021001002_dal_por_recap.nba


Game 4 -- April 3, 2011, Dallas at Portland
104-96 L

Stats:
Portland: 39-73 FG -- 53.4 FG% -- 5-15 3P -- 33.3 3P% -- 21-25 FT -- 84.0 FT% -- 4 ORB -- 32 TRB -- 20 AST -- 10 STL -- 11 TOV -- 0 BLK -- 20 PF
Dallas: 34-70 FG -- 48.6% FG% -- 9-24 3P -- 37.5 3P% -- 19-26 FT -- 73.1 FT% -- 5 ORB -- 33 TRB -- 21 AST -- 5 STL -- 13 TOV -- 2 BLK -- 21 PF

The game in brief:
The final game of the Last Epic Road Trip -- three straight back-to-backs, six games in nine nights. Playing even worse than one might expect given that, Dallas got steamrollered. Portland led by 21 points at one point -- the 29-19 fourth quarter was all garbage time.

Quotes:
“No excuses, we’re not gonna make excuses. Our first half was poor, we knew that, we battled back in the second half, but they were better tonight.” -Coach Rick Carlisle

“You go through ups and downs in a season. Obviously, it’s a little late in the season to go through a down. That’s a little disappointing. But it could be worse. It could be in the playoffs." -Dirk Nowitzki

Video:
http://www.nba.com/video/games/blazers/2011/04/03/0021001148_dal_por_recap.nba

---

I could've wished for an easier first-rounder, if I'm honest. The Mavs do well just on shooting, but Portland crashes the hell out of the glass and tends to make brick walls for the good guys to run into. One can throw out the second and fourth games of the series, because of injuries -- see how fair I'm being? Portland was the only winning team we beat while Dirk was out with a bad knee -- and the resulting stat pool shows the teams are on a very even keel.

Quite honestly, I don't know what's gonna happen here. I think the result is a coin-toss at best, and I'm trying very hard not to think about what's coming if Dallas gets past the first round. Beaubois has not become the game-changer we had all counted on and, well, I'm sorry, but the basketball gods just played dirty when they took out Caron. For the record, he's not coming back. Not for this series and probably not until a new season starts (God knows when that'll be). None of those things are an issue of fault, really. Nobody chose to have Rodrigue break his foot twice or to have Caron pop a kneecap. But the net effect is Rodrigue is a year behind where we'd all thought he'd be and Caron . . . you don't not miss 16 and 4 and defensive ornereyness. With Coach's reliance on known qualities -- Fish calls it the Devean George effect, in that coaches prefer predictability in their roleplayers -- I don't think Corey Brewer's earned enough of his trust to crack the rotation, and DeShawn regression to the mean has been devestating. The Jasons have had a bad habit of disappearing in the playoffs and JJ's too easy to stop.

From Dirk, nothing is to be feared. At this point, the only things that might break his focus is a death in the family, God forbid, or a broken leg. Tyson is our king card -- the chance we have in this series is in how well Tyson can keep LaMarcus Aldridge bottled up, and if whatever's wrong with Jason Kidd's passing was just due to fatigue and a solid week off's fixed it.

Operating on the assumption that homecourt advantage will matter in this series, I think Dallas simply out-skills Portland. Mavericks in seven.
-BJ

Bizzaro World

Anybody who thought San Antonio would be kicking the almighty shit out of everybody raise your hands.

Liars. Put them down again.

The Mavericks are in second place in the conference, 35-15, seven games behind the Spurs and half a game on top of the Lakers. Insert inevitable pooh-pooh'ing of part-time fans who only pay attention to Dallas when required by contract to do so. (If I were of a cynical nature -- and I am -- I'd ask some of these nice men how much money they lost over the Golden State Faceplant in 2007.) Basketbawful -- whose opinion I respect and trust, really -- was caught sniping a few weeks ago about how Dallas was due for a reality check because we had a bunch of games at home early in the season.

Hey, reality check:

- Dallas has been good at home, but not dominant. Personally, I think it's because Humble Billy Hayes isn't in the house anymore. Maybe Stuttering Craig could come in for few games, see how that works . . .
- If looked at in terms of win-loss record, Dallas had the hardest schedule of any team in the league in the first half of the season. Including road wins in San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Miami (after the Heat pulled their thumbs out their butts), Orlando, and Utah.
- We've lost Caron Butler to a patella rupture (out for the season) and haven't gotten Beaubois back yet (broken bone in his foot).
- For nine whole games, we got a free preview of the post-Dirk era; Nowitzki went down with a sprained knee and took another half a dozen games to get back to his normal state of Ubermanliness. Want a case for MVP? Point to those games.

Homerism aside, I think it's got to be now. Worst-case scenario; the league shuts down completely next year. No 2011-2012 season. For 2012-2013, Dirk's 34 and in God knows what shape (there've been noises about him spending the year in the Euroleagues if the lockout goes the full tour). Jason Kidd's done, Jason Terry's probably done, Christ knows what shape the franchise'll be in financially.

So where does that leave us today?

Be clear here -- if there were a chance to get Carmelo, go for it. There isn't. What else is there? Not a lot. Oy vey.
-BJ

Structural Damage

I'll get to the first third or so of the season for the Mavericks in a day or so -- hey, I'm juggling obsession with a full-time job that doesn't allow me an Internet connection. Today I want to share some deep thoughts.

Brandon Roy, the alpha of the Portland Trailblazers, has decided to ignore minutes restrictions designed to limit pain and damage to an injured knee. What happened was last year during the playoffs he suffered a bone bruise and a meniscus tear. Instead of calling it quits he came back after eight days and played out the Blazers postseason. If I'm understanding what I'm hearing correctly, the damage never healed right and now Roy suffers chronic pain.

I read a column that calls Roy's decision to keep playing even though his knee's not right "heroic." Heroic my ass. It's cut a hole in his strength. Without confidence in his body, he's a shadow of himself. If his knee never heals -- and if he keeps playing it might not -- it'll only get worse.

And that's not the most insidious part. Chronic pain changes you. Poison builds up in your spirit, and sooner or later you start spreading it around. You can't help it, but that doesn't help the other people in the situation. Brandon Roy, who a few years ago was hailed as one of the league's finest keystone guys, is at that point. He's saying even when he's good the team's not consistant enough to win games, talking shit about his backcourt partner Andre Miller, muttering things about spacing and being a go-to guy . . .

Metaphor time. There's a guy and he smokes. He's been doing it for years. He coughs a lot, but doesn't everybody this time of year/hasn't the flu been making the rounds/didn't the environmental guys just get done dusting out the air vents? And then one day, he starts coughing, and he tastes blood.

The Blazers are that guy and Brandon Roy is the ciagrettes. Malignancies are slowly growing in the corners of the locker room. The Blazers offense relies on him to play in ways he no longer can and there aren't enough wins to make the pain bearable. He's not being heroic, he's in denial.

I'm all about overcoming physical limitations. Shit, that's one of the many things I adore about Nowitzki. But I'm also in favor of long-term rewards. Playing through pain is fine, but not if you're jeopardizing yourself long-term. By trying to play through the pain, Brandon Roy is making a bad choice. The Blazers are not going to advance in the postseason with him playing as a hesitant, crippled crab version of himself, and sooner or later his body will pay him back with an injury he can't play through.

Mr. Roy, Coach McMillan, Trailblazers organization . . . please. Accept reality. Brandon Roy cannot be your guy this year. Deactivate him, deliver him into the hands of the best physical therapists you can find, and if you're praying folk, pray.
-BJ

A Glance Behind The Curtain

Hey guys. Better late than never -- here's what went down when I got to go backstage at the Van Andel Arena.

A Glance Behind The Curtain, or My Night at the Meijer Basketball Classic
-BJ

Babbling Incoherently

I really don't know why, other than Mark Cuban is the greatest owner in professional sports and the Mavericks organization rules and my mommy can beat the shit out of your mommy--

Ahem. Beginning at the beginning. I'll try and make it brief.

Last year the Mavs played the Pistons in the preseason, but the game itself was held at the Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan (it's on the other side of the state from Detroit). I was bummed when I found out about it, because my mother and I went to visit the kinfolk that same week and if we'd known we might've been able to go.

When the preseason schedule was released some weeks ago, I saw that on October 13th my Mavs would be making another field trip to West Michigan. Ba duh bing! plans are made to stay with The Aunt'n'Uncle, my younger sister gets some time off, and for the first time I get to inflict my obsession on my nearest and dearest.

Good deal, neh? But my mother had an even eviler plan. She asked around, got some advice, and wrote an e-mail to Mr. Cuban. Basically, she explained the vacation, the family, the blog, the ongoing sacrifice of dignity. And The Man gave the order and now there's a pass gonna be waiting for me at Will Call at the Van Andel!

I'm terrified. I'm excited. I'm terrified. I'm delighted. I'm terrified. My brain's throwing together a piece I can pitch to DB.com, or to mavs.com, or just post here for my two or three loyal readers. I don't know! Eeeek! Press pass! Does that mean hanging around . . . people? I'm horrible at that! I'll screw it up! I'll blurt out awkward non sequitors about body proportions! I'll hallucinate overhearing a fat joke from a bad source! My contacts'll explode! My pants will catch fire! The arena will cave in! An early ice storm will trap everybody in town for a week! We'll all be buried in lake-effect snow and have to kill and eat Ben Wallace! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

(breath)

Sorry.
-BJ