Game 14, Dallas Mavericks host Indiana Pacers

Theme: Rotersand, "Exterminate Annihilate Destroy"
Game Info: Something I can believe in

Fuck you Pacers. Fuck you until you bleed.

- On the one hand, thank you refs for noticing that the Pacers had gone with hacking as a defensive plan. On the other, that call on Dirk at the half was total bullshit. Troy Murphy leaned in and created the contact. Total bullshit.

- Antoine Wright, who's been buried since the earliest part of the season, lit. It. Up. 24 points, good D, smart play . . . and happy birthday to your son, man.

- It was not a good night for our points. Jason Kidd took a shot in the face and had to step out for a minute, league-mandated infectious disease control time-out. The trainer had to see to a cut on his cheekbone. He's all right though. Later, JJ accidently poked himself in the eye going for a rebound. He was back by the end of the game. Oh, and he's the Lightning Bug. Just so you're aware.

- At the half, I was in despair. The score wasn't all that lopsided, but we were down ten boards and were zip in three-point shots. I'm seeing Coach's point; in order for a motion offense to work we've got to get stops.

- And that's where the centers come in. Dampier took one hell of charge, which I'm given to understand he never does. The Fish was mentioning solar eclipses and Hell freezing over. Which, for the record, is not as big a deal as you might think.

- The despair didn't dissipate in the third. For every lightning bolt we put up, the Pacers thundered back. Only down by seven? It felt like more, believe me.

- To Troy Murphy -- die motherfucker. I watched the video; you took a shot at Dirk's knee. Playing tough does not mean playing dirty. And the jersey pull with under thirty seconds left was just stupid.

- But in the fourth we had one major stroke of luck. Jason Terry put up a three that bounced off the rim, went high . . . and dropped through the hoop.

- The league needs to revise its opinion of Kidd not being a scoring threat. As a rule a lot of his shots aren't reliable . . . unless they're longish range and he doesn't fire off the dribble. Kidd made a couple of huge threes in the last two mintues, and thank you God and St. Jude, we're out of the hole.

- Last Mavericks posession, hot-potato series of passes that cut ten seconds off the clock without having to yo-yo the ball and give the defense time to get set up and do something nuts. Great when it works.

- I give the Pacers credit for this; they never gave it up. The last shot of the game was a cute three-ball that cut the deficit to just three points. I know they still lost the game, but they've got things to be proud of. On the other hand, I think that bit about basketball not being a contact sport got lost in the Pacers' interoffice mail.

In The Wash: It was like the Magic game in reverse; we were getting pwned in more ways than I want to think about, but hung tough, avoided settling for jump shots, and managed to scrape together a win. No settling for jumpers, no overrelying on Dirk when it was clear his shots weren't falling, just getting in and getting it done.

I need to watch this game straight through on the tape for a better look at the defense. I rewound and watched some of the second half and Mark and Coach O were talking about zone versus man-to-man. I didn't see it when I was at the game; I wasn't looking carefully.

With the last few games, it seems clear that Jet's our sixth man. Gerald Green sat the game out with a wrap on his back; I hope he didn't do anything drastic to it. J-Ho's still listed as day-to-day. I'm guessing he's going to be back on the floor for the next game. As to the starter's job, that's still up in air. I'm thinking, and this is only a guess, that Coach is going to give it until after this next roadie to settle on one guy.

Um, yeah. The next game. I want the Lakers ground into the dirt. I want Pau Gasol to wilt like ice cream under a heat lamp. I want Bynum's knees to explode. I want Kobe to cry. I really want Dirk to Frenzy and have to be pulled off the Lakers by the entire starting lineup plus Jack Nicholson, blood and torn flesh and litte yellow scraps everywhere, but that's just me.

Final: 106-103, Mavericks!
-BJ

On An Overcast Day, Four Guys Took Their Act Up On A Roof . . .

One of my favorite Beatles songs . . . and the Mavs gleefully ripped it off for an All-Star Music Video. In the backcourt we've got Jason Kidd and Jet Terry on the ballot, and in the frontcourt we've got J-Ho and Dirk. No center, poor Dampier. Not that he'd get it anyway, with Yao Ming's 1,500,000,000 cheering section. But still.

The Organization hosted a little party at Victory Park and handed out hardcopy ballots. Punch the little holes out. 200 ballots for the first 500 people. And the reward for subverting the democratic process? Oh, nothing much . . . just a chance to get Dirk's autograph.

So Yours Truly swung by the fanshop and shelled out thirty bucks she couldn't afford for an awesome thing. Not a jersey; the damn things don't fit and I wouldn't dishonor the man's colors that way anyway.

I have got to get a digital camera. Attendance was sparse, but hell we were having fun. I love the ManiAACs; they're fun and at watching parties and so on they've always been approachable and very kind. In order to use my awesome thing properly I need a length of half-inch PVC pipe and some pull-ties, which of course I totally didn't think to get on Saturday when I was out and about. One of the ManiAACs suggested I just carry it draped over my shoulders a la the Brazil Nut way back when (long story). Win! Thank you!

I didn't realize this, but there's a balcony over the doors that lead out to AT&T Plaza, probably accessible from the Platinum level. There were some folks horsing around on some guitars and a drum kit that had been set up there -- PSA, don't sing Pink Floyd's "Run" when you can't hold the high note and don't know the lyrics, and if you don't know the lyrics, rent The Wall and put on the subtitling. Simple, neh?

So the four potential All-Stars came out post-practise and the video got done. I'm not sure who tore it up on the drums before things got rolling, but they weren't bad. You'll see my awesome thing in the back row. I'm behind it. They left out the best part though, Ringo in the back deadpanning, "Thank you very much, hope we passed the audition." Which would've been perfect, actually.

Lined up and went through the metal detector. Took a picture on behalf of the guy in front of me -- I hope it turns out, my hands were shaking. Then it was my turn.

Um, yeah. Very tall. Built like a reed. Big smile. Very courteous to everyone, even though he had to be tired. Signed the awesome thing. Shook my hand. Hands not as big as I expected, not pawlike at all. Harper's hands. Hid under my hat. Ran before I could embarass myself. You see Shaq, you know the Earth shifts in its orbit when he jumps; Dirk you have to stand beside before you get that he's a foot taller than everybody. And dude please, for the love of whatever you hold holy, grow the hair back.

So that's the first signature on the Awesome Thing. Over the course of the season, I'm planning on getting it signed by everybody I can. It's got room. I'll post pictures when I get a camera.

It's a flag, by the way. Full-size, not one of those dorky little car window things. You'll see it on TV sometime. You know, Phoenix is coming to town on December 4, which is also a Thursday . . . hmm . . . free Mavs game plus (via dogtag) cover-charge-free night at The Church? Potential win-win. Gothalicious with cheese. Can't get the image of Steve Nash in Goth gear out of my head. Blame Jake. (He'd make a good Goth, though . . . so would Dirk for that matter.)
-BJ

In Other News . . .

This falls under the heading of Totally Out The Ass speculation.

Seems like damn near everybody in the NBA is priming their checkbooks and gearing up for the biggest auction since Cash In The Attic debuted. Okay, bad example.

Of all the players in the NBA today, the man who arguably has the best claim to Greatest Of The Post-Jordan Era is Lebron James. According to basketball-reference.com, he averaged 29.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 2 blocks, and 0.8 steals per game last year. And he's only 24 (!), still a young man by NBA standards.

And he's gone on record -- several times -- saying he doesn't want to stay in Cleveland. Which has certain teams not-so-quietly clearing out cap space. James's contract is up in 2010.

Now there's no indication that the slightest thought of Bron-Bron in a Mavs uni hasn't even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing the Organizational mind. But they'd be remiss to not at least run the scenario through . . . especially when Bron-Bron and Jason Kidd have had several instances of public flirting while he was playing for the Nets. That would require keeping Kidd around another couple of years though, and that would eat up too much ready cash. Espeically with both the Nets and the Knicks being quite . . . indiscrete about their lust for Bron-Bron's services.

Argh! As a fan, I'd love having Lebron's ability on my team. Rooting for him might prove to be a bit problematic. My allegience is with the Mavs, of course, but cheering for them's easy because I like and admire most of the players. I don't know how I feel about a player with no demonstrated loyalty to his current organization. The jury in my head is split; some of the panel remind me that this is a business and James has the right to seek a situation more personally and professionally beneficial, and some cross their arms and stubbornly insist that loyalty means something, goddammit.

In a perfect world we'd find a way to get LeBron and still keep Dirk and Kidd. OhmyGod, the insides faint. But that's not possible.
-BJ

Game 13, Dallas Mavericks host Memphis Grizzlies

Theme: Metallica, "Hit The Lights"
Game Info: Slappa da fish

Wasn't pretty . . . but I'll take it.

- Veteren versus youth. Young teams get bored, frustrated, start doing stupid things. Hence the Grizz coach looking like he was going to blow a gasket for most of the duration and hence the disproportionate number of free-throws. It helped that our guys made them, too.

- Marc Gasol looks like he might one day be worth a damn. Please, for your own sake, be classy in all that you do.

- The rook's shut-downable, and thank God.

- I'll admit to panic at halftime. Only up by three with a known history of last-minute production jams -- eeek! To the guy with the kid in the seat next to me, I'm really very sorry for cussing.

- Bench production mostly came from our Jet. Again. As usual. Seriously, outside of Dallas he doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves. How many other big time ballplayers truly do not care what role they get shoved into? He'll start, he'll come off the bench, he'll run the point, he'll play the two, he runs, he jumps . . .

- Devean George's sat out up until now with a bone chip and ligament damage in one hand. His only two points came from the line, one rebound, one steal. In fifteen minutes. No, Mr. Nelson, you're still not off the hook about that.

- Fuck-Yeah moment of the night. Grizz miss, Damp rebounds, flips it to Kidd, Kidd no-look flips it to Singleton, Singleton gets the and-one.

- Two-headed center Damp and Diop, combining for 5 points, 11 rebounds, two assists.

- Oh, and just as an aside, Dirk with 25 points (on 50% shooting) and 10 boards. Just our .50 cal, taking care of business.

In The Wash: In the fourth Coach did something that had my eyebrows up. He had Jason Kidd running the point, but he also had JJ on the floor at the two. I'm not really sure what he was driving at there, unless for some reason he didn't want to sub anyone else back in.

I hope Coach isn't outsmarting himself with regards to the rotation. The mind tricks and carrot-and-stick routine could very easily blow up in his face, and then where are we?

But what the hell. Just our lads, getting it done. As we were leaving the arena, the usher handed us our Taco Bueno vouchers and said, "It's taco time. Finally."

Finally.

Final: 91-76, Mavericks!
-BJ

Game 12, Dallas Mavericks visit Houston Rockets

Theme: Mindless Self Indulgence, "Revenge"
Game Info: Gothalicious with cheese

Luis Scola looks like he wears a wig. Totally irrelevent. But he does.

For last night's outing T-Mac was on the floor, but Ming The Merciless his ownself was out -- apparently the foot he broke last year started acting up. For our part, J-Ho rolled an ankle at the Bobcats game and it wasn't solid enough to play on. He's going to see the doctor today.

For now, our boys are home. And boy, isn't it a relief to come down off that ledge.

- The Jet's flying high! Second quarter, he was on fire, hit his first seven shots. For the game he was 13-21, including a couple of threes. Fucking sweet, dude!

- Shawne Williams wasn't any such of a much scoring wise. What he did do, as Coach Ortegel pointed out, was shut down T-Mac. McGrady came in in the fourth quarter, trying to bring some hardcore hero shit. And thanks to our newest FNG, he got nowhere.

- I wouldn't say Crazy Pills was successfully contained, but his effectiveness was more limited than perhaps the Rockets might've liked.

- The third quarter was like a bad dream. The Rockets didn't get shit done, but neither did the Mavs. I'm not sure where the offensive breakdown occured, on either side.

- It looked like the Rockets were going to rally, with three back-to-back-to-back threes. Give our guys credit, they had no intention of packing it in. Willams missed a three, Bass got the rebound and laid it in. Sweet.

- This is one I think I'm going to have framed; Dirk getting set for a shot, Scola knocked it away, Dirk stepped back to get it back. From that point he shot and hit. From behind the three-point line. So, Sr. Scola, not only did you fail to prevent Nowitzki from scoring, if you hadn't contested that shot it would've only been two points. Myah-nah!

- Memo to Bad Guys. Hacking Dirk's a decent strategy, when the refs have decided not to pay attention. When the refs start noticing, you should back off. Dirk's too good from the line.

- Memo to Dirk. When the guy trying to fuck your shit up's more than four inches shorter the fade-away works. Know it, own it, use it.

- JJ's getting aggressive, which I like. The blown layups? Not so much. He's doing what he's supposed to be doing, at least for now.

- Near the end. Dirk's got the rock, doesn't have a shot, jumps, instead of shooting whips it over to Jet, who catches and cans a three. Fucking beautiful.

In The Wash: Um, what was that about being an old team? Seriously, it's good that Coach's mission statement is about bringing up the younger guys. Dirk and Kidd are still playing 35 minutes plus per game, and that's about five minutes too many. The averages are coming down though, and should continue to do so throughout the season. The Mavs have said they don't need another backup point; I say bullhonkey, JJ's decent but not that good. Please God say they're not serious when they say they like Stephen Mayberry, pleasepleaseplease.

I'll take what I can get as far as wins. Fish pointed out there's a nice long homestand coming up the first part of December, which should help the standings somewhat. The lads have today free -- think they've earned a day off, Coach? -- and Friday the Grizzlies are in town. Oh joy, I'm going to have to listen to my mother make cute Jeremiah Johnson cracks all night. Robert Redford movie. Video proof that it is possible for Redford to turn in a bad performance.

Final: 96-86, Mavericks!
-BJ