R1 G4: Spurs 92, Mavs 89 (3-1, Spurs)

Well... that went south in a hurry.

After Dirk's brilliant performance in the playoff opener, the Mavs have faltered, fallen and flat out failed on so many levels that it's hard to see the playoffs lasting much longer than a game or two. After blowing an 11-point halftime lead, does this team even have what it takes, does it have the heart, to earn a win at American Airlines Center in Game 5?

The Mavs held the Spurs "Big Three" of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker to a quiet night, but it was George Hill who continued to knock down big threes from the corner as San Antonio put away the Mavs, 92-89, to take a 3-1 series lead. Hill finished 5-of-6 on three-pointers with a game-high 29 points.

One area where the Mavs could beat the Spurs is in a battle of free throws. Dallas did have a better night from the charity stripe (shooting 78% to the Spurs' 64%), but each team managed to make 18 free throws. So if Dallas is actually going to take advantage of this area of overwhelming ability, then the Mavericks would be wise to drive to the basket and get to the line. Still, this doesn't seem to be a team capable of making the tougher drive to the basket. Instead we are left to watch this team try to shoot itself back into a game. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn't. I felt like we were back watching the 2001-2004 Steve-Nash-led Mavericks.

And for the life of me, I can't figure out why Shawn Marion was on the bench late in this one. Oh, it was nice to hear about how he's more effective in a fast-paced game and not as effective in the half court game, but his defense and size could have helped the Mavs battle with the Spurs late in the game. If he was supposed to be the big upgrade this offseason, head coach Rick Carlisle should think about actually using him when it matters.

In the most physical game of the series, the only Maverick who truly seemed up for the dog-fight was Eduardo Najera, who got tossed almost immediately after getting into the game when he took down Ginobili. Was it a clean play? Hell no. But it seemed like if Mavs scorers were going to get banged up on their way to the rim, then Najera was going to make sure the Spurs felt the fire as well.

Dirk continues to be one of the least respected superstars in the NBA, and it's amazing to see the calls he doesn't get. And while Erick Dampier did have a legit gripe about the refs, maybe he should work on catching the ball when it's passed to him so he doesn't finish with more turnovers (2) than points (0). Dampier and Brendan Haywood each seemed ready to clear out of the lane after each jacked up jump shot launched by the Mavs perimeter. And while the Mavs did win the rebound match up, 48-43, in this game, it doesn't mean the bigs were getting the job done. In 12 minutes, DeJuan Blair grabbed 7 rebounds for the Spurs, while Dampier had 5 in 19 minutes and Haywood had 4 in 25. Ugh.

So now the Mavericks drudge back to Dallas facing elimination from here on out. It might be one more game, maybe two. But if the Mavs are going to get back to Dallas again for Game 7 of this series, they would have to take Game 6 in San Antonio. And despite being the best road team in the NBA this year, the Mavs' road success in the playoffs does not match its regular season record. The Mavs went 27-14 on the road this year, but Dallas hasn't had a solid road playoff win since beating the Spurs in Game 7 in the 2006 conference semifinals.

Here's to hoping Dallas can TCB at home, and find the much-needed spark to get back into this series.

R1 G1: Mavs 100, Spurs 94

The NBA Playoffs are underway, and the phrase Home Sweet Home is resonating loud and clear in the Association this year. With home teams going a combined 7-0 through the first seven games of the postseason, the Dallas Mavericks have done themselves a nice favor by playing their way to the Western Conference's No. 2 seed.

Dallas began its 10th straight postseason with a 100-94 win over the rival San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. And while beating the Spurs, the No. 7 seed in the West, may seem somewhat ho-hum after beating them in five games in last year's playoffs, looking at how the Mavs got there makes it all the more impressive.

Roddy inspiring memories of Finley

I remember back to a crazy 1998 night in Reunion Arena when the lowly, pre-Cuban Dallas Mavericks shocked the world and Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, 104-97, in front of the largest crowd in the history of the arena. That night a young guard still in his infancy with the Mavericks, Michael Finley, led the way. His amazing quickness, elite athleticism and dynamic scoring ability resulted in 32 points in the stunning upset.

There was no Steve Nash or Dirk Nowitzki. Before the "Big Three", Finley stood alone as The One, the clear cornerstone of the Dallas franchise. Coupled with the future league MVPs Nash and Nowitzki, he helped lead the Mavs to a decade of success. And while he hasn't been a part of the organization since 2004, the Mavs haven't had a player with the abilities of No. 4 since.

Until last night? It's entirely possible.

Rookie guard Rodrigue Beaubois continued displaying his hot hand, dropping 40 points for Dallas in a runaway win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, 111-90, in Oakland. And while Beaubois isn't a physical carbon-copy of Finley, standing seven inches shorter and weighing more than 50 pounds less, if you squint your eyes watching Beaubois, you'll see more than a hint of Finley.

Obviously Dirk is the franchise player, the greatest Maverick ever, and more important to any other player in terms of the success of this franchise for the next five years, at least. But it certainly can't hurt to have someone like Roddy B emerging from the depths of the bench as a surprise Tonto to Dirk's Lone Ranger act.

Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Caron Butler and Shawn Marrion are now all key cogs in this machine, but since the club said goodbye to Marquise Daniels, traded away Devin Harris for Kidd during the 2007-08 season, and sent Josh Howard to Washington earlier this season, it's been fair to wonder about the youth of this franchise.

Roddy the rookie is the youth movement for this franchise. And while head coach Rick Carlisle now has to figure out where to find more minutes for the youngster, who is more deserving with each performance, it's nice to see someone other than J.J. Barea who isn't already carrying an NBA AARP card.

Here's the current Mavericks 2009-10 roster by age:

Team Roster
NO.	NAME	POS	AGE	HT	WT	COLLEGE	2009 - 2010 SALARY
3	Rodrigue Beaubois	G	22	6-0	170		$1,075,440
11	Jose Juan Barea	PG	25	6-0	175	Northeastern	$1,657,500
92	DeShawn Stevenson	SG	28	6-5	218		$3,883,929
13	Matt Carroll	SG	29	6-6	212	Notre Dame	$4,700,000
4	Caron Butler	SF	30	6-7	228	Connecticut	$9,780,970
33	Brendan Haywood	C	30	7-0	263	North Carolina	$6,000,000
0	Shawn Marion	SF	31	6-7	228	UNLV	$6,635,068
41	Dirk Nowitzki	PF	31	7-0	245		$19,795,714
31	Jason Terry	SG	32	6-2	180	Arizona	$9,075,000
14	Eduardo Najera	PF	33	6-8	235	Oklahoma	$3,000,000
7	Tim Thomas	PF	33	6-10	240	Villanova	$825,497
25	Erick Dampier	C	34	6-11	265	Mississippi State	$12,115,500
2	Jason Kidd	PG	37	6-4	210	California	$8,100,000

Dirk's Weekend

The NBA's All-Star Game takes place at the Dallas Cowboys palace later this evening. Yet in a North Texas region so devout about its football, this weekend will most likely end up being a celebration of the region's greater NBA player.

Dirk Nowitzki is the defacto host of the All-Star game, the lone Mavericks representative on the Western Conference roster (before Jason Kidd replaced an injured Kobe Bryant). And it's been giving Mavs Maniacs and Dallasites and opportunity to reflect on his journey from Germany to the elites of the NBA.

Even Kobe Bryant thinks Dirk will be the MVP tonight.

It's Dirk's party. Let the fun begin.

Cuban right to be upset; trust me

With Mark Cuban coming out against the NFL scheduling the Dallas Cowboys playoff game on Saturday night, I have to side with the Mavericks owner. The Mavs are hosting the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, and while the Cowboys/Eagles playoff game may very well be the "biggest" of the first-round playoff games (and NBC's night games are usually the "biggest" games of the week, supplanting the once higher-profile Monday Night Football games of ABC fame), Cuban is right to be upset.

As a native to Dallas and someone who has attended countless Cowboys and Mavericks games in my lifetime, I wouldn't even consider going to the Mavericks game on Saturday night if I was given free tickets. I realize the Mavs are having a great year so far, and Utah is a tough opponent. No doubt this could be a playoff preview. However the Cowboys are in the playoffs now. And Cuban is sadly not far off the mark in calling the Mavs and the NBA pissants compared the Cowboys and NFL in the region.

If I had to choose one to win a championship, it's the Cowboys without hesitation.

And I love the Mavs. I don't want the Dirk years to end. I remember the suffering of 11-71 and 13-69 seasons in the early 90s, however the Dave Campo era Cowboys were even worse to deal with. At least when the Mavs were terrible, the Cowboys were winning Super Bowls.

If you had reservations at Chili's but were invited to dinner at Del Frisco's steakhouse, you're blowing off Chili's. Sure, an Old Timer Burger is great, but one piece of meat is clearly a cut above the other. And come Saturday night, I'll check my phone for the Mavericks score. At halftime, I might even change the channel to see how it's going. But don't think for a second that priority #1 is anything but the Cowboys quest to advance in the playoffs for the first time since two years before Dirk was drafted.

J-Ho got crazy game: Dal 102, Phx 101

Josh Howard returned to the court last night as the Mavs edged the Suns, 102-101, and Howard netted 18 of his 20 points in the second half. For the Mavs, the win brought them even with Phoenix at 15-7, the third-best record in the Western Conference. The Mavs have a two-game lead over Houston in the Division. But while that's all well and good to be playing well enough, it's more important to have the team's should be true #2 guy back.

For the last few years, it's supposed to have been Dirk and Josh, but it's easy to make the case that it's really been about Dirk and Jet, Dirk and Kidd. Howard struggled most of last season with his ankle injury and missed 13 games this season before returning to action last night. The confusing part is not that Howard was able to instantly contribute on both ends of the court, but the fact that offensively he was more potent in the second half than the first half.

Big Bounce-Back: Mavs 130, Rockets 99

It seemed like something the same old Mavericks would do, blowing a fourth quarter lead to an opponent after dominating the game for 41 minutes. After the ugly late-game collapse against a shorthanded Golden State Warriors team two nights ago, the Mavs (11-4) responded in a way that certainly did not represent that same old mentality.

The Mavs thrashed Houston, 130-99, in the I-45 series in a game that may not have been that close. Dallas found itself in a similar situation as the night before against the Warriors, leading late in the game. The difference: they kept on pushing their lead even after getting up 91-77 over the Rockets heading into the 4th quarter.

It's not the first time this season where the Mavs recorded a solid road win over a quality opponent after a bad beat at home. And that simply hasn't been a trait of the Mavericks in recent years. Maybe it was those light blue jerseys. Whatever it is, it's working to help this team respond when it needs to.

The last few years, it hasn't been uncommon for this team to relax with a lead and thus allowing their opponents back into a game. It hurt against Golden State on Tuesday, especially considering they used just six players, including three that played all 48 minutes. But on Wednesday, Dallas gained back some composure - not to mention the return of Shawn Marion - and at one point ran off 26 straight points. Any time an NBA team goes on a 26-0 run, it's not just great offense, but the Mavs defense was creating stops at the other end of the court.

Houston mustered just four fast break points compared to the Mavs 20, and Dallas dominated from the floor, shooting a .655 clip on Wednesday. The Mavs got a tremendous boost from not only Jason Terry, who threw in a game-high 27 points on 10-of-11 shooting off the bench, but there was a Tim Thomas sighting as well, as the power forward came off the bench for 23 points.

One of the most meaningful accomplishments of the game came on a Jason Kidd assist to move into second all-time in career assists. Kidd's seven helpers brought his career total to 10,334 (he's still a helluva long way from John Stockton's 15,806).

Kidd's handprints were apparent even after he sat down for the fourth quarter. With about 2:30 left in the game, J.J. Barea collected the ball at the defensive end of the court, began dribbling up court, and then raised the ball high above his "6-0" frame, and slung a length-of-the-court bounce pass to Rodrigue Beaubois for an easy layup. That's a Jason Kidd pass if I've ever seen one, and it was executed perfectly by Barea.

Keep looking for those plays, plays that guys on this team wouldn't have made in years past. I realize it's a late-game assist in a blowout win, but it represents an increase of talent across the board.

Getting back Marion was great after a three-game absence. When Josh Howard and Erick Dampier return, this team will emerge as a true threat in the Western Conference.

New Mental Makeup: Mavs 94, Lakers 80

The Dallas Mavericks opened the season with a toe-stubbing loss at home against the Washington Wizards. And while it looked like it would be an easy 0-2 hole to fall into with the World Champion Lakers up next, the Mavs came out as gangbusters and rocked LA at Staples Center for a 94-80 win on Friday.

The Mavs don't beat the Lakers. They especially don't beat the Lakers at the Staples Center. Heck, Dallas even has occasional struggles with the lowly Clippers in LA.

But last night the new-look Mavs - literally, they debuted some sleek new blue jerseys - were firing on all cylinders against a Lakers team that couldn't find its shot until it was too late. The Mavs out-rebounded LA 46-40 with Dirk and Damp each notching 10 boards. But the most impressive line of the night came from the newest Maverick Shawn Marion, who dropped 18 points and six rebounds with a steal and an assist. Marion, along with other newcomers Quinton Ross and Drew Gooden, bring a new mentality to a team that has lacked fight in past seasons.

And while Dallas is without the injured Josh Howard to begin the year, perhaps his absence is best to give these new players a chance to alter the mental makeup of the Mavs. Howard is one of the Mavs who hasn't been as dialed in or focused as he needs to be for Dallas to be successful in past seasons. J-Ho has yet to become the Robin to Nowitzki's Batman.

Now with the addition of talented role players, Howard will be forced to step up his game upon his return. Until that time, Dallas can gel with new players who represent a tougher mindset, something this franchise has lacked in past seasons as evidenced by collapses in the 2006 Finals against Miami and 2007 opening round series against Golden State.

The win against the Lakers is only one win. It only counts for one in the win column, but it's a W that the Mavs don't usually pick up, especially not in LA.