T-Wolves Game Thread 3/31

"Timberwolf riding on a segway...Timberwolf riding on a segway."

Let's discuss here. I'm gonna be out for the first quarter or so, but I'll hop on soon.

Money woes among former NFL/NBA athletes

Interesting story on SI.com:  http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1153364/index.htm?eref=sisf

I'm not sure how much I believe about some aspects b/c I know that the Triton financial claims he makes are disputed, but the data on athletes is definitely interesting.

Got this from a Statesman article that led me to SI.com:

"In it, writer Pablo S. Torre chronicles the financial disasters of many former professional athletes: unsound investments, wealth-management naivete and general ignorance about matters such as cash flow, risk, debt and fiduciary responsibility. Torre’s conclusions are startling. For instance: By the time they have been retired for two years, 78 percent of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce, he writes. And within five years of retirement, an estimated 60 percent of former NBA players are broke.

"

Check it out and leave thoughts here.

Cavs Game Thread 3/29

Getting a late start on this one. The Mavs had a 15 point on the road, but Lebron and the boys have cut it to 2 at the half.

Nuggets Game Thread 3/27

With a win tonight the Mavs can keep pace with the cluster of teams seeded 2-9 in the West in addition to giving them a nice 3 game win streak. Let's chat about the game HERE

Parity in the Western Conference

Check out the latest standings in the Western Conference. Everyone in spots 2-10 has gone 6-4 over the last 10 except the Rockets who are 7-3. Amazing how this is going down. Gonna be a fun couple of last weeks.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/standings

Thursday Quick Hits

The boys at the Ticket got dominated by the girls team from Lake Highlands yesterday. I didn't get to go to the game, but it sounded great. If I recall correctly, each team shot less than 20% in the first half. Richie Whitt actually rated every player, check it out. At least read the Dan McDowell ratings.

Live 105.3 who? As the Ticket continues to dominate. I love reading the comments on these things, P1s are genius.

Can we talk about the Suns for a bit? Is anyone worried about them and their 6 straight? Do we want them to lose...?

Their next 2 games are @ Portland and Utah, losses there would all but guarantee the Mavs in the playoffs, but wins may be of more help since we are only 1 game behind both PHX and Utah. There's a chance that we move up to 6th by Sunday night (standings), but the visit at Cle on Sunday makes that a virtual impossibility.

After that, PHX's final 8 games include Houston at home, @ Dallas, and @ NoLa, and then 5 lottery hopefuls. 6-2 seems reasonable for a team fighting for their playoff lives.

So the question remains, do we want PHX to win v. Portland & Utah or not? Personally, I think we get slaughtered by the Lakers in the 1st round, but we've got a shot to beat Houston or SA in 7, so I'm hoping for PHX wins and for the Mavs to move up a spot or two.

Warriors Game Thread 3/25/09

The Mavs should be well rested for this one. Let's chat about the game HERE

Should we be worried about Dirk?

Gents - I'm a little concerned about Dirk's free throw shooting as of late...

Going backwards: Indy 3-5, Atl 2-4, LA 8-11, GS 1-1, Port 3-5. That's 22/34 in his last 6 games or 65%. A far cry from his 88.8% season average and his 87.1% career clip. Also note the low attempts/g. He's averaging almost a full FT less (5.67 to 6.5) pg over the last 6, and that contrast would be significantly greater if the LA game were to be removed as an outlier (though you could argue to remove GS as well a small sample size).

So the question is, do we need to be concerned? It could be just a random bad 6 game streak, but on the other hand, a 27% drop in FT% is a grave concern to me. Multiplying that by his 6.5 attempts per game and that's 1.75 points per game, for a team whose avg. point differential is 1.3...

Mavericks at Pacers, March 20

I'm still hurting from last night's suckfest in Atl.

JJT seems to think that the Mavs have become irrelevant, obviously he doesn't read MDS.

I don't think that David Moore even watched the game last night, else we have a very different definition of "Passion."

A few interesting game notes from ESPN.com: Atlanta improved to 35-9 this season when opponents score under 100. ... Dallas dropped to 2-19 on the road when entering the fourth quarter with a deficit. ... Against the Eastern Conference, the Mavs are now 8-5 away from Dallas. ... Nowitzki has scored at least 20 points in 12 straight games, the NBA's longest current streak. ... After visiting Cleveland on Saturday, the Hawks have a four-game homestand against Minnesota, San Antonio, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers.

If we are going to get to 50, we must get a win tonight, no other way of looking at it. And I feel strongly that getting to 50 with this team, a team that once started Ryan Hollins, JJ Barea AND Antoine Right (that was last night), would be a tremendous accomplishment. If we can get Josh into top form (and that's a big if), then we really can contend with any team save the Lakers. I'm not talking championship, but it would be nice to advance.

Mavericks at Hawks March 19, 2009

Are we not talking Mavs...lets get this road win.

Greatest song ever?/Hawks Game thread 3/19

Outliers- Ray reads the same books we do

Great article from JA Adande on Gladwell's book outliers. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=outliers-090318

I've read it and I know Kevin has. If you guys haven't checked it out then you definitely should. It talks about all the things that lead to successful people- Bill Gates, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Ford... they were as much a product of people/events helping them along the way as they were incredibly talented.

I thought this was very interesting from the article:

This all started on Christmas Day, at the Celtics-Lakers game, when I walked into the visitors' locker room at Staples Center and asked Boston's Ray Allen what he'd been reading lately. (In 17 years of covering the NBA, that's the first time I've asked such a question; then again, Allen is the only player I've ever seen reading books before games.) Allen reached into his backpack and lifted up his copy of "Outliers." I promised him I'd read it by the time the Celtics returned to Los Angeles in February.

The next time he came around, I asked him whether he had recognized any of qualities of the Celtics' championship season in the book. Yes, as it turned out. Only for Allen, it's not just the Boston players who are exemplary.

"Everybody in this league is successful," Allen said. "Everybody in this league has made it to this level where they're a flagship in their society and their community where they grew up. People look up to them. They're outliers in their world.

Check out the article and definitely read the book if you haven't yet. I think Scharnell has my copy but when I get it back I can send it around.

The Damp Dilemma

Erick Dampier is maddening. He has the size and strength to be a top center in the NBA. When fired up he's a force for the Mavs on defense, dominating the glass and blocking shots. There are games when he plays with great alacrity and tenacity. Use last night's win against Detroit as an example where he went 5-7 from the field and 6-8 at the line to score 16 points while contributing 16 boards and 3 dimes. However more often that not the self proclaimed "2nd Best Center in the League Behind Shaq" hits his season average of a 5.5 Points and 7 boards a game.

I did some research on how Dampier's individual performance affects the overall team performance. In games where Dampier takes at least 6 shots, the Mavs are 8-3 and the 3 loses came in consecutive games during the Mavs 2-7 start. The sample size is rather small for there to be a true correlation, but I firmly believe the Mavs need Dampier on the court and he cannot be an offensive liability. Without Dampier in the game for long stretches the Mavs have been getting killed on the boards. The last 3 games the Mavs have lost the battle on the boards -10, -9, and -9. The Mavs desperately need his defensive presence.

As was pointed out on the DMN Mavs Blog today, some guys are just a bad matchup. Pau Gasol abused Dampier on Sunday which essentially took him out of the game. If the Mavericks could find a way to get Dampier a few offensive touches in the low post each quarter and put him in a situation where he can post up Gasol and and wear him down they can get away with keeping him on the floor and possibly tire out Gasol a bit on the defensive end. When a guy is essential a non-factor on offense, it helps his defender because they don't need to exert any energy in guarding him.

Dampier appears on the surface as a very "moody" player where his enthusiasm and excitement is a direct result of this involvement in the game. Getting him some touches is not only going to pump him up offensively, but also when he's on defense.

It is true that Dampier has many flaws in his game that can be exploited but the Mavericks only seem to exploit two of his strengths, pure size and brute strength, and they only use it in a defensive capacity. Let's get one thing straight, I am not proposing the Dampier become the focal point of the offense. What I am proposing is integrating him more into the offense, especially when Dirk is resting. The Mavs only need to get him 2-3 touches per quarter in order for him to be effective on the offensive end.

Let's say he get's 3 touches a quarter, which is 12 for the game. I am confident that he can go 45-50% from the field when in the post and get to the line at least a couple of times a game. That is easily 10-11 points per game which is all this team needs from him to stay efficiently in the lineup.

The main flaw of the Mavs is that they have very little inside scoring. They are and will continue to be a jump shooting team as long as Dirk and JET play for them. Getting some inside scoring from a position that to this point has contributed very little offensively can do nothing but benefit this team.

Top 10 Songs That Should Be Banned From All Sporting Events

A wise man once said people love lists, so here is a list. Here are the top 10 songs in my opinion that should be banned from all Sporting Events:

Number 10 - YMCA by the Village People


The Song is Lame. The YMCA dance is Lamer.

Number 9 - C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)by Quad City DJs


If I hear this song at a game I might punch myself in the balls

Number 8 - Gonna Make You Sweat by C+C Music Factory


Despite the fact the C+C Music Factory is the first CD I ever purchased and genius of "It's your world, and I'm just a squirel trying to get a nut to move your butt" I think its time this song is retired for good

Number 7 - Macarena by Los Del Mar


Was this song ever good?

Number 6 - Crank That by Soulja Boy


This was kinda cool a couple of years ago and the dance was kinda cool but I can't take it anymore. On an unrelated note, does anyone else get a boner when they hear steel drums...I think its a Pavlov's Dog affect from all of the Girls Gone Wild commericals

Number 5 - Tubthumping by Chumbawamba


I get beat down...I get beat down again

Number 4 - Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men


I don't care who let the Dogs out and if you ask me again I will take a cheese grater to my ears

Number 3 - Whomp There It Is by Tag Team


At they begining of the song they begin with "Tag Team...back again". Were they somewhere previously before this song?

Number 2 - Apache by The Sugar Hill Gang

Jam Cam - Watch a funny movie here

Don't get me wrong I like the Sugar Hill Hang, but this song must be banned, if only to prevent this from ever happening again

Number 1 - Rock and Roll Part 2 by Gary Glitter


This is the cheesiest, most overused song in all of sports, plus the guy got caught with Kiddie Porn so it's really a no-brainer

Thoughts?

Pistons Game Thread 3/17

Should be a win tonight, with three of the top Pistons' players sitting out tonight's game.

Here's the DMN preview.

An Oldie But A Goodie

I think if bird watching is a sport, then we should also consider leprechaun watching as a candidate.

Lakers Game Thread 3/15

I don't necessarily agree with Moore that 2-2 will be a lost opportunity. I'd be pleased with it, and thrilled with 3-1 on the road trip.

George out for the season...this must mean increased time for JJB (I'm lukewarm on that one), Hollins (good) and Wright (eh).

Let's discuss the game here gents.

Warriors Game Thread 3/13/09

The Mavs are in the Bay Area facing a familar face in old Nellie. Let's chat about the game Here

The Wild Big XII Tournament

This weeks' Big XII tournament has been entertaining to say the least.

Last night Texas Tech rode Mike Singeltary's 43 point clinic to come back from 22 in the second half and beat A&M 88-83.

Now today, the Baylor Bears stun the tournament's #1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks.

Mind you Baylor put up a valiant effort during the regular season but couldn't out last the higher ranked Jayhawks at Ferrell Center on February 20th.

Well it looks like the Bears built on the confidence from that showing with there victory this afternoon.

Update: The Bedlam series turns from grass to the hardwood with Okie Light upsetting #6 Zero U with freethows at the end of the game to win 71-70.

NBA Analytics & MIT Sports Business Conference

The Sports Guy had Daryl Morey (GM of the Rockets) on his podcast last week and they talked about the MIT Sports Analytic Conference.  Kevin, Mark and I went last year and it was great.  Looks like they got even more heavy hitters this year - Simmons, Cuban, several GMs.  Maybe next year we check it out as well.  

You can hear the chat here:  http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index

At the end he asked Morey where he thought the next great niche was and Morey said he thought the basketball analytics was pretty well covered so the next big thing is finding something new to analyze or interpret.  Maybe finding a better way to analyze MMA or decifering how performance in the European leagues will translate to the NBA or something is the next big thing.

Hollinger and the Suns

Missed the game last night as Hope had a birthday dinner.  Saw this on the Daily Dime and thought it might inspire a little discussion.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090312

3

Suns In Position For Playoff Push

By John Hollinger | ESPN.com

Phoenix's loss to Dallas Tuesday night was a killer, cutting the Suns' Playoff Odds nearly in half. On the other hand, some may wonder how the Suns' odds can stand at 28.8 percent despite being five games down for the eighth spot in the West with only 18 left to play. So I'll remind you once again that after Wednesday's game against Cleveland, the Suns' schedule is cake-ola the rest of the way.

Clearly, the Suns would have to win the rematch in Dallas on April 5 -- which could cut the margin to a still-daunting four games. But if they do that, they project to go 11-6 in the other 17 games, while the Mavs' projected record is 8-9. That makes up three of the four games; even a one-game deviation from this projection would put Phoenix in the playoffs, as they'll almost certainly own the conference record tiebreaker.

Phoenix also maintains a sliver of a chance of passing Portland or Denver, though both teams would have to collapse for that to happen. Again, tiebreaks would be key -- the Suns have one game left against each team, and in each case would gain both a game and the tiebreaker edge with a win.

Trailblazers thread 3/11

Let's start tonight's game with the end of the Suns season. Fun read.

I'm not expecting too much tonight, but it would be huge to go 3-1 on this road trip, though I'll take 2-2.

Should the Cowboys Trade for a New 81!

I know that this may be somewhat shocking but bear with me on a trade scenario involving the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals for Anquan Boldin.‬

Looking at the Dallas roster, it seems that the one position that they have true depth at would be the running back position.

With Edgerin James desired departure from the dessert more than likely to take place this summer, this leaves the Arizona backfield short of a strong veteran runner.

Assuming James leaves, the Cards remaining key running backs will be JJ Arrington and Tim Hightower.

Well which running back would we be able to dangle out there to get enough response for Boldin.

Yep that's right, I'm suggesting we trade Marion Barber.

I love MB3s tenacity and heart, even more I love the physical production he provides our offense.

However, the Felix Jones/Choice combo can provide us with similar balance of power/speed.

Taking a look at the $7-8M per year salary demands that Boldin would likely require, it seems that this deal could be plausible.

MB3 is set to make around $4.8M/year over the next 6 years. We can throw in Bobby Carpenter at $2.5M to solidify the seal.

Carpenter can provide some solid special team play and cheap backup linebacker help for the Cards.

Ok...I'm over selling Carpenter. Hell there are no guaranteed contracts in the league. If they don't like his production on special teams, they can cut him.

Nevertheless, this seems like a win-win for both teams.

Let me reiterate that this trade isn't driven by a lack of respect and admiration for MB3's skill set.

Also taking in account MB3's running style, it may be the smart move to trade him while his value is at its peak.

The trade is essentially born out of an evaluation of where we can make a significant improvement to our offense as a whole.

The addition of a physical receiver such as Anquan Boldin in combination with the Jones/Felix backfield can help significantly upgrade this team.

Ok, now let the backlash begin.

Suns Game Thread 3/10/09

The Mavericks can get a 5 game lead on the Suns with 18 to go with a win tonight. Let's chat about it Here

Mavs TV Controversy

Yesterday's FWST had an interesting article on the state of the Mavericks TV broadcast:

"As viewers know, Cuban sits courtside at nearly every game everywhere. But when on family vacation over the holidays, he focused on the telecast and his men in headsets — play-by-play voice Mark Followill and longtime analyst Bob Ortegel.

Cuban had gripes and, in e-mails to Mavs director of broadcasting Dave Evans, called the telecast "stale" and "unimaginative." He was also critical of Ortegel, who in his 21st season calling Mavs games is adhering to a new edict: "Less is more."

"What it is," Evans said, "it’s a wake-up call, not only to Bob, but to all of us that ratings are down.""

As a fan who watches many local NBA broadcasts (either via NBATV or NBA League Pass)...the Mavs could do a lot worse than Followill and Ortegel. Remember Matt Pinto? That guy was awful with his "Dunking Deutschman" and "Cha Ching the Mavericks Money Ball" shtick. It felt like every night he was trying to work in a "I Love This Game" line just so he could get on an NBA promo.

I like Followill. He doesn't take anything away from the broadcast (which is the best thing a play by play can do). He lets the game come to him and doesn't try to shoehorn in points or shtick.

Big Bob is a Dallas basketball icon. I can remember watching him and Jim Dunham doing games back in the 90's and he always told it like it was, even when the Mavs were horrible.

The broadcast is not the reason the ratings are down. The reason is that the casual Dallas basketball fan has lost interest in the team. Adding Skin is not going to change the ratings one single point.

As a general plea to Mark Cuban, please keep the Followill and Big Bob team together and please get rid of Skin. Things were fine the way they were. Field a better product and the ratings will come back.

T.O. signs with Buffalo

At 35 years old you would think T.O. would take less money to go to a contender for the Super Bowl....Maybe no front runners were interested or thought he was such a cancer in lockeroom his abiltiy on the field was not worth the risk. Either way, if he has any pride he has to be very disappointed to be finishing his career receiving passes from Trent Edwards and JP Losman.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3960653

Another One Bites the Dust

Roy Williams is released.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/030609dnsporoywilliams.62144b2.html

T.O. issues a statement

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/to-issues-a-statement.html

Hornets Game Thread 3/5/09

I got my party shirt on...let's get it on!

Just Give Me a Damn Break!

Keyshawn Johnson called in to ESPN SportsCenter on Wednesday evening to give his take on the release of Terrell Owens.

The highlight of the conversation with “Key”, as he is known on ESPN, revolves around him speaking about how he went through some similar things as TO in his younger days but he matured and learned to handle those type of situations as a man should. “Key” then added that unfortunately TO never learned those lessons.

This is a paraphrase but the spirit is there.

Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t “Key” get deactivated by Tampa Bay in 2003 because of his selfish ways. I mean for pete sake, how bad is it when you get deactivated in the middle of the season!

Oh and “Key” was 31 years old when he was deactivated.

That’s the same age as TO when he was in Philadelphia his last year.

The difference between TO and Key is that TO’s talent has remained at an elite level well into his 30s, which provided TO more latitude. Outside of that there is little difference in how these two handled themselves.

There lies the rub with Keyshawn Johnson.

No one questions Keyshawn Johnson’s fire and desire as a player but let’s not pretend to fool ourselves and believe that he was a fall on the sword teammate.

Anquan Boldin a Cowboy?

Can the Cowboys make it happen? I don't know but it definitely is worth the discussion.

With Arizona needing some help on the defensive side of the ball, could there be an opportunity for an Ellis and Roy Williams package for Anquan?

Probably not but maybe something comparable could work.

More to come as more information comes out on the TO release situation.

TO No More

According to ESPN's Michael Smith, two Cowboy sources have told him that the team has released Terrell Owens.

More to come as details become released.

UPDATE: Foxsports.com is also reporting that Terrell Owens has been released.

Spurs Game Thread 3/4/09

Let's Do this sh*t D-town style

Mav's Last Stand?

22 total games left...Here are the next 7:

Tonight vs. the Spares
Tomorrow @ NOH
Sat vs Washington
3/10 @ Phoenix
3/11 @ Portland
3/13 @ Golden State
3/15 @ Lakers

Will the 2008-2009 season be determined in the next 7 games?

5 of the next 7 are on the road. 5 of the 7 are against playoff teams (plus the Suns who are just behind). I think by the end of these 7 games we'll know whether the Mavs are either:

A.) legitimate playoff team with aspirations to go deep into a playoffs
C.) a bubble team that could make the playoffs but won't go far
FML.) A lottery bound team that needs serious overhaul

I think for "A" the Mavs need to win 5 of 7 (home against Washington, @ GS, plus take 3 of 5 against SA, NOH, POR, PHX, LAL)

If they go 4-3 or 3-4 I think it qualifies them squarely in "C".

2-5 or or worse puts them in "FML"

Tonight and tomorrow may just be the Mav's last stand. Going 0-2 to start this 7 game stand basically says to me that they have given up.

If there has been a regular season game where we find out what this team is made of, this is it. Manhoods has been challenged and backs are against the wall.

There are no excuses.

J-Ho has to play. If he can't go in a game of this magnitude there is no reason for him to be on this roster. Tonight is his audition to stay in Dallas for 2009-2010.

Terry has to be lights out down the stretch

Dirk has to lead.

Kidd has to facilitate.

Time to put up or shut up.

NBA Rules

I'm testing something out so bear with me on this...

Worth the read

Michael Lewis on Shane Battier and NBA stats: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?_r=1

If Russel ever pops on here, I'd like to see if he still thinks that Dirk is heartless:
http://www.5ivemag.com/nba-coaches/the-big-dirk-nowitzki-interview-part-i/

Cuban Fires off a HSO

Check this out:


Suffice to say that Mark Cuban is steamed after witnessing last night's embarrassment up I-35.

"It's only one game, which I keep reminding myself of today," Cuban told reporters today. "But let's just say I wasn't happy with our preparation, execution or effort. Not only did it look like we had no idea what we were doing, but we did it without effort. The effort and energy, on both sides of the ball, by each player will decide their future with the Mavericks.

"If each player can't take the personal initiative to make every game important and play like it, I don't see them being here next season. The ball won't always bounce the way we want it to, but every player can control their level of effort. If it's not important enough to them to lay it out every game the rest of the season, they won't be back. I don't care what their contract is. I would rather turn over the roster 100 percent than subject fans to another game like last night.

"This team has the talent to win in the playoffs. But that's only going to happen if all 15 guys know and execute their assignments and play every possession like it's important."

Will the Mavs Woes Continue?

Well it seems the Thunder might be short of power tonight with Kevin Durant and Jeff Green on the shelf with ankle and back injuries, repectively.

If the Mavs recent propensity for not showing up against shorthanded opponents continues, the boys in blue might be in some trouble tonight.

See Celtics fourth quarter from 02/12/09, or Rockets from 02/20/09, or Spurs from 02/24/09 for recent examples.

The good news is that Dirk's domination of our neighbirs from the north this season will likely continue.

Dirk's averaged nearly 44 points in two games this year vs OKC.

BTW..its 6:30pm and OU still sucks.

OKC Game Thread 3/2/09

Got some new posters on here, let's talk Mavs.

The JET is back on the Runway