Mavs Moneyball

Help XFINITY Decide Who Wins The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job Contest

2012-02-10T15:01:20Z

Dear Everyone. Did NONE of you enter this contest? Disappointing. Ah, well, be that as it may, you can still participate by deciding who wins. Be sure to vote for the finalists. It's quick and easy.

Have you ever watched one of those TV shows where from thousands of hopefuls, one star is born? Well, MavsMoneyball readers, here's your chance to play "starmaker" and help pick the new voice of sports in social media!

XFINITY is looking for the next renowned sports social media star through its Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The winning candidate will serve as the new voice of XFINITY in the sports social media space and go behind-the-scenes at some of the biggest sporting events in 2012, sharing exclusive insights and updates with fans.

From February 9-19, you can review qualified entry videos and vote for the contestant you'd like to see advance to the finals of the XFINITY Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The five entrants with the most votes will advance to the final round of the contest where they will cover one of five premier sporting events the weekend of March 8-11. Fans can head today to Facebook.com/XFINITY and click on the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest tab to vote for your favorite personality (once per day)!

Will you choose the brainiac with the encyclopedia of stats, the former jock who knows the game inside out, or the corporate type who gets the marketing side of the business? You decide. Vote today at Facebook.com/XFINITY!

On Rag-Dolling

2012-02-10T14:56:29Z

Imagine that you’re working at an office—for some of you this will not be very hard. For the first while you work there, your boss stops you in the hall from time to time to say things like, this is what you do, when you run point on a big project.

In meetings sometimes he’ll stop to point at you and say, Kyle, (in this scenario your name is Kyle) this is what you do, when you’re running an important project. People start to know who you are.

It takes a while, but the day finally comes. Your boss comes in and tells you you will be running point on an important project. You do a great job, and everybody is really excited about it. Look at this guy we got, they say. Check out Kyle. Check out Kyle’s guns.

The next day doesn’t go quite as well. Your boss comes in and tells you you’re off the project.

The next day he shows up and says, okay, I need you to spend nearly as much time as you were spending on the project before, but this time you’re going to be playing shooting guard, I mean, doing graphics for it.

You don’t know anything about graphics, but you open up MS Paint, draw some stick figures, and it’s fine. You’re contributing a little, anyway.

The next day, you’re drinkng coffee and the boss comes in, grabs your coffee mug, shatters it against the wall, and shouts "NON! SACRE BLEU!"

You’re off graphics. You wonder why he’s shouting at you in French.

The next day he comes in and tells you to do…something…with the project. He waves his hands in the air vaguely, like a cat fighting a ball of yarn. He leaves you with that.

That’s Rag-Dolling.

I’m not here to criticize Rick Carlisle. The older I get, the more worried I am about the impact of such pundits as my self just taking opinions on how much more qulaified people do jobs. What if, for example, just any jerk could write in the newspaper about this or that important scientific phenomenon?

(What? You say that happens all the time? NOOooooooooo)

Rick Carlisle the best coach the Mavs have ever had, and that’s not because he won a championship. Avery Johnson, by all rights, should have won a championship, and I think he was the worst coach the Mavs have had in recent years (yes, for me, it’s Carlisle, Nelson, Johnson. No, it’s not Avery’s voice. Okay, only like 20% his voice).

No, I’m more interested in getting in the mind of Rick Carlisle.

Why, Rick, does Sean Williams get to come up, be amazing, and get sent back down? Why does Dom Jones get to come up, be terrible, be sent down, but then brought back up, despite having been terrible down there? How come Yi Jianlian goes from nothing to 20 minutes a game for a few games, Brandan Wright makes every shot and can’t get into the game, and then he’s more or less our starting center? What do you SEE, Rick?

All I can say is what I see. And what I saw in last year’s playoffs, the experience that really sealed it for me with Rick, is this:

Rick requires his players to know their role and to play defense as hard as they can. Rick does not require his players to make shots.

What do I mean? I noticed it first when watching JJ Barea in the playoffs. JJ started out the playoffs with five straight games of making no more than 2 shots. He finished the Portland series 12 for 37. Did his minutes change? No. And he, along with Jet and Peja, eventually sent the Lakers home with 22 points in the fourth game. Justified.

He then started out the NBA Finals with three straight games of sub-30% shooting, going 5 for 23. Did his minutes change? No. Well, sort of. He was made a starter.

The Mavs, as we all know, won the next three games and took the title. JJ scored 17 and 15 in the last two games, and the Heat obviously couldn’t handle him.

Another coach would either have played Barea like a guy who can score 17 points in an NBA Finals game, or had him shot behind the arena for shooting 5 for 23 for three games in the NBA Finals.

What did Rick see.

Rick saw Barea doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing, that’s what. The only times in the playoffs Barea took more than 10 shots were in game 1 against the Thunder, when he went 8-12 for 21, games 5 and 6 against the Heat where he went 6-11 for 17, and 7-12 for 15, and game 4 against the Lakers when he went 9-14 for 22.

In other words, when he missed, he wasn’t chucking which surprises me because I remember Barea as a 4 foot tall whirlwhind of missed three-point attempts. And when he was out there, he was running the point well. He averaged 5.5 assists a game against the Lakers, and around the same in the last three games against the Heat.

Exactly what he was supposed to be doing. And if an NBA-level talent does what he’s supposed to be doing, the result is success. You won't always make the shot. But if it's the right shot, that's okay.

The converse can be seen in the case of Peja Stojakovic. You’ll recal that Peja, who was so brilliant throughout the playoffs, and who shoots a basketball better than anyone alive, played exactly 26 minutes in the Finals, and that’s with 15 in the first game.

Was Peja going to hit threes in the Finals, if he played? Of course he was.They don’t make the three-point line any farther away, in the championships. Coach Norman Dale proved that in his 1986 science experiment. But just as much as Rick doesn’t care if you miss shots, he doesn’t care if you make shots.

In Peja’s case, there was nothing of disobedience in his inabiity to provide what was needed. He was too old and stiff, and the Heat were too young and athletic. It was sad, but it was also the right move.

Bottom line:

Roddy Beaubois, as well as Lamar Odom, have not had enjoyable seasons. They have had, in one sense, opposite problems. One is a bundle of young talent who can’t stop getting into trouble with the coach, the other is a veteran used to being treated with more respect than this. In reality, though, the reason they are getting "rag-dolled", a term famously coined by Shawn Marion in his classic 2009 essay "Rag-Dolling: The Developing Modern and Jesus, Will You Just Tell Me What to Expect", has much more to do with non-compliance than non-performance, though there has been some of that, too.

We’ll see. I’m willing to entertain the idea that Rick’s approach, great coach that he is, actually is not going to work on everybody. JJ Barea was a machine that you wound up and he’d drive to the basket and shoot three-pointers. Peja did only one of those but, like, a lot better. Roddy, and again Lamar too, can both do anything, and much like a young Jonathan Safran Foer, often rely on the potential threat of dazzling stunts to get relatively simple hoops.

We’ve already watched as Lamar Odom’s role with the Mavericks has shrunk from "he’ll play four positions for us," to "we sure hope he learns how to play one position for us. Any position, really. I’m not ruling out mascot." At this point, Roddy has good days when he shoots the three well and bad days the rest of the time. What Roddy doesn’t understand, what he needs to understand, is that if he takes a dumb shot, even if he makes it, he’ll be in Rick’s doghouse. Much more so than if he takes the right shot and misses.

I’m not willing to blame anyone for all this. No player wants to play poorly, although some, like Baron Davis, don’t have to work at it to play well. I don’t get the sense that either Lamar or Roddy is that guy. And Rick’s system works brilliantly with guys like Dirk, Kidd, Marion and Terry who predicate their games on knowing where to be when. It may not be a match, but there’s still time.

We’ll see.

Dirk Nowitzki Has Been Selected As NBA All-Star Reserve

2012-02-10T00:32:40Z

The Mavericks big German will make his 11th straight All-Star game this season. Despite averaging career lows since his rookie season (FG%, 3FG%, Points), the Coaches around the association voted Dirk in to represent the 2010-2011 World Champs within the main event.

Although Dirk Nowitzki has made 11 appearances, he was never named an All-Star starter throughout his career.

Last week, Rob Mahoney said Dirk's slow start should cost him the All-Star berth and Dirk agreed, but Marc Stein mentioned on the Ben & Skin show that Dirk would have no choice. Players like him have always received the benefit of the doubt and have been voted in because of their reputation. He also mentioned the NBA Champs shouldn't be left out of the All-Star Game.

Turns out that Marc Stein was right. It can be questioned if Dirk is too thrilled about the nomination, because he could have used that weekend off and surely wanted to send a message to coaches not to select him with his statement.

Anyway: Congrats and don't play too much!

As Mark Followill noted, it's the 7th time in NBA history that the defending Champ has had one All-Star representative.

The complete roster can be found here.

Follow @j0Shi_f

The Mavericks are Making the Most of Vince Carter's Skills

2012-02-09T22:48:43Z

No off-season move was given a more apathetic glare from Dallas fans than the Mavericks acquiring of Vince Carter. The former All-Star and somewhat poster boy for not making most of his physical gifts, Carter arrived in Dallas with a collective sigh and a shrug of the shoulders. The Mavericks two-guard problems have been well documented and Carter, on the surface, appeared to be nothing more than a flashy stopgap providing more headaches than productive minutes.

Even with that reputation, Zach Lowe wrote before the season on how Carter could potentially surprise some fans if placed on a good team:

But there are plenty of teams with something at stake, and a few of those teams could use a player with Good Vince Carter's skill set. Carter can shoot, for one. He's an above-average three-point shooter for his career (37.4 percent), and his accuracy should shoot up near 40 percent as he takes cleaner spot-up attempts.

Paired with a threatening big man, Carter can work as a serviceable secondary pick-and-roll ball-handler. In 22 games with the Magic last season, Carter ranked as the league’s most efficient pick-and-roll handler, considering only such plays he finished with a shot, drawn foul or turnover, according to Synergy Sports. His efficiency on pick-and-rolls fell off a bit on Phoenix, where he didn’t have Dwight Howard rolling down the lane to draw everyone’s attention, but he still ranked well above-average. Carter is a clever passer when he feels like sharing, and on a good team, with good big men, you could do a lot worse than having him work a pick-and-roll as an emergency option when the shot clock is running down.

Sound familiar? Carter has been marvelous so far this season, posting a career-high effective field-goal percentage of 54.1 percent. Most of that has to do with Carter's also career-high 45 percent three-point shooting but he's still living up and to his efficiency in the pick and roll. Right now, pick and roll plays with Carter as the ball handler score 45.1 percent of the time according to Synergy Sports, and should only increase as pick and roll partner Dirk Nowitzki continues to round into his All-Star form.

The reason Carter seemed to fade in Orlando and Phoenix last year was mainly usage. Carter's combination of size, handles, shooting and passing abilities makes him a perfect fit for the post – except Orlando regulated him to pick and rolls and spot up attempts for the most part. Last year in Orlando, Carter only posted up 8.9 percent of his plays that ended in a shot, drawn foul or turnover. What's even more mind-boggling is those plays scored 62.1 percent of the time. Carter was absolutely deadly in his limited opportunities in the post, yet Orlando deemed him not productive enough to win a championship and shipped him away. With the abundance of three-point shooters Orlando had, it's amazing to think of how much productive offense the Magic wasted away with Carter hanging out watching Dwight Howard or just running pick and rolls.

Rick Carlisle and the Mavericks clearly had it in their plans all along for Carter to work in the post and he fits in wonderfully. Dallas has plenty of isolation sets, so it's easy to assume Carter didn't have to take too much time to get a grasp of the offense as he slide right into isolation sets in the post that normally were occupied with Dirk or Shawn Marion. The Mavericks have bumped up Carter's post time to 16.6 percent of his plays ending in a shot, foul or turnover. And Carter is still delivering, with those plays scoring an even 50 percent of the time, a fantastic number for a higher usage in the post compared to Orlando last season.

What's great about putting Carter in the post is it allows Dirk to be a spot-up shooter, which only helps him as he slowly gets back into shape. Dirk isn't being thrown back into the fray from his time off expecting to isolate and drive every single time – now he can get his offense playing off of Carter, freeing him up to attack the basket later on.

What's so odd is that a would be title-contending team like Orlando couldn't adjust to Carter's skills, despite floundering success in the playoffs since the 2009 run. Here's a tell-tale quote from Carter from ESPNDallas writer Tim MacMahon:

Carter has taken pride in his post-up game since his college days at North Carolina, where, he points out, he actually played a little power forward and regularly practiced against the Tar Heels' big men. If anything, it's been an underutilized facet of his game in the NBA.

Until now. It's become a valuable piece of the Mavs' offensive puzzle, something we could see much more often as the season progresses.

"I've always felt comfortable down there," said Carter, who is averaging 11 points on .462 shooting for the Mavericks. "I've always felt like I could use it to my advantage. I'm just glad they're allowing me to do it."

Carter definitely isn't completely guilt-free from some of the negatives that has been hurled his way throughout his career. But some of the stereotypes of his game haven't been completely accurate. Carter is still a very, very productive player. It just took some smart and alert coaching to guide him through the twilight of his career.

Erick Dampier signs 10-day contract with Atlanta Hawks

2012-02-09T17:09:11Z

Erick Dampier signs 10-day contract with Atlanta Hawks

Looks like our old pal E-Damp.com will get to log in again. (Yes, E-Damp.com was the nickname I gave him in high school and whenever he made a good play, I yelled "E-DAMP.COM IS LOGGING IN, BABY. Yes, I know I'm not getting married, leave me alone.)

Dallas Mavericks @ Denver Nuggets Post Game 26 Quotes "Yo Adrian! - Pass!"

2012-02-09T12:22:27Z

What the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets said 
after Game Twentysix of the Perfect Season.

Quotes

Mavericks

Coach Rick Carlisle

(On Nowitzki's Game) "An All-Star performance, didn’t you think? He’s getting back into a groove offensively and he’s looking like his old self in terms of moving around the court. So, it’s a lot of positives."

(On his real All-Star prospects) "It's a tough year to vote. There are a lot of guys to consider. There are a lot of people that think he doesn't have a chance. I don't necessarily feel that that's the case. But we'll see. Either way, we'll make it a positive."

(On the 2nd Half) "One of the big challenges tonight was to sustain our first-half effort and we did that. Second half was terrific and a lot of guys contributed."

(On Carter) "Vince caused a problem for them the entire game, and a lot of our offense was generated from his post-ups with either him scoring or him kicking out to other guys. So, he was a key part of the game."

(On the Game) "This game was about our approach, our attitude and it was a big-time scramble game against the team that moves the ball better than any team in the league."

(On Wright) "He's one of those guys that he plays residual off the other guy. We don't run plays for him, but he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and he got the ball in the basket two or three critical times."

(On Terry) "He's got a hip flexor problem right now and he did not finish the game because of it. So he's got to get some treatment Thursday and we'll try to get him ready for Friday and Saturday. It's something that's been bothering him the last couple days and we'll monitor it. But I'm not going to overreact to what his home-road splits are. He's been a great road player his whole career.''

Dirk Nowitzki

(On the Win) "This is a much-needed win. Some of the stuff we worked on Monday and Tuesday we were actually able to bring that to the game. So, that stuff is good to know. I thought we did a nice job of scrambling and really fighting for each other."

(On the Mavs) "We worked hard the last three games in our preparation, trying to keep them out of the lane, trying not to let them get into transition. I liked some of the stuff that we did. We rebounded the ball well. We outrebounded them 46-38 on the road, and that is definitely a plus when we do that. If we do that we always have a good chance to win."

(On Health) "I feel good, just more confident in everything, the movement, the shot and all-around game. I was fighting an uphill battle most of the season, for the first third of the season, but I feel good now. I have confidence in the leg strength again, I can make moves, I can spin and I can do all the stuff I need to do to get my shot off. Before that wasn’t really the case, so I feel good and we’ve got to try to translate that into wins and get our leader, J-Kidd, back hopefully Friday or Saturday."

Jason Kidd

(On when he'll return) "We’ll see how I go tomorrow in practice. Then, if I feel good, we’ll give it a shot Friday. If not, there’s no timetable right now. We just want to make sure I’m 100 percent before I come back."

(On his Calf) "I’ve been running, I’ve been cutting, I’ve been shooting. Everything is responding in a positive way. We’re going in the right direction."

Jason Terry

(On his hip flexor issue) "The coach blacks out when he thinks somebody's injured. But no, I'm good. Just a little tight. It'll be all right.''

(On tough Games ahead) "This next stretch of games until the All-Star break could be our defining moment in our season. You always look at a season and kind of map out what's going to be the moment, so to speak. And for us I believe it's now until the All-Star game."

Vince Carter

(On 17 and 8) "To have the opportunity to post up and make plays, and I feel like I can score down there but I can also make plays for other guys that way just like I can in pick-and-rolls."

(On 30 Assists as a Team) "It’s definitely rewarding. We were able to get on track, played better basketball, team ball, and the ball was moving. We had a lot of assists tonight. We stayed the course, and that’s the biggest thing,"

(On the Game) "We just came out and hit them first and we stuck with a few things that worked to get us going, and that helped us all night."

(On not totally sleepwalking the 2nd Half) "We talked about it, but we knew what needed to be done. It was just us putting our will on the game early in the third quarter.''

Nuggets

Coach George Karl

(On 4 straight) "I'm exasperated from losing. The weight of losing is definitely in our locker room. We have another shot to break that Thursday and get the bubble off our back, get the monster, the gorilla off our back. We just have to continue to stay positive from the standpoint of getting better."

(On losing at home) "The power of the home court, we’ve got to figure that out. We’ve got to get that going. When you’re fragile a little bit, you have to fight and believe for confidence in the game. The beginning of the game, our aggressiveness was very ordinary. This building, we need it to be intimidating. We haven’t intimidated in the first quarter very much."

(On the Mavs) "If you make a defensive mistake, they have a way of punishing you. I'm not saying we had a bad defensive game, but three or four times we're scrambling and we leave Dirk Nowitzki wide open. I don't understand that, but when you're frustrated and playing in a bad stretch those things happen. I just think it's the process of the season. We're banged up."

(On Lawson) "And in the beginning of the second half, with Lawson's two turnovers, I think the guys wanted to put the energy in the game to try to win it, but instead of being 11 down we were 15-16 down. Right now, Ty's explosiveness is still pretty darn good, but it's not like it was earlier in the season. And maybe playing in Lithuania during the lockout, he might be thinking he's in the 50th or 60th game in the season rather than the 26th. Ty needs to be on his A game."

Rudy Fernandez

(On only 17 fastbreak points) "We play better when we push the ball, when we run, but we didn't see a lot of fastbreaks today and in our last four games. In the second half, we're down by eight, and on our faces, it was like we were down by 20. We have to fight for 48 minutes."

(On Injuries) "But it's no excuse. We have a lot of young talent and a lot of players with experience. We have a long bench and at this moment with the injuries, we have to find a way to play better and more aggressively."

Ty Lawson

(On losing 4 straight) "We’re all positive guys. Four games, it happens. For us, it hasn’t happened in a couple of years, but it happens. We’re going to regroup."

Vids

Game Recap

Postgame

Coach Karl (Link)

Coach Carlisle (Link)

Links

MMB | Tobocap Past Adrian and Denver

Now that the buzz about Lamar Odom has sort of faded, it’s worth noting that there’s nothing wrong with solid, but not spectacular contributions. Lamar notably avoided the three ball tonight (probably a good move) and has consistently rebounded and passed relatively well, of late. Carter, the Mavs less-heralded FA pickup rebounded himself from a tough night last night to toss in 17 on 12 shots, grabbed 5 boards and dished 8 assists, as well as stealing 2 and blocking 1. Why we all thought that a guy who scored more than Lamar Odom every year of his life except for last year, when Lamar had a pretty fluke-y year, would turn out much worse, we may never remember.

Denverstiffs Hey George!

Effort and energy can go a long way in the NBA. Teams do not come to play every night, so the team that does has a huge advantage. The Nuggets look like they're playing game 78 of 82 and have no shot of making the playoffs. The Nuggets are going through the motions and the Mavs are making them pay ... a little bit.

The Mavs grabbed 11 of 41 rebounds in the Nuggets zone ... that's 26% of the available second chance opportunities. Going with small ball makes my head hurt.

Roundball Mining Company Rapid

Zoned out: The Mavs often played 3 players wide near the basket with 2 defenders roaming the perimeter outside. They conceded threes to Nuggets shooters and dared them to make shots. It was so effective the Nuggets offense often had trouble even finding an open look. The worst part is Denver hesitated to shoot against the zone and often dribbled around aimlessly or bulldozed their way into double and triple teams. The Nuggets were great against Miami’s zone earlier this year and now this team hardly bares any resemblance. This crisis of confidence on the offensive end has to end. The team lacks mental toughness needed to fight through this right now.

2MG's Difference

The Mavs played active defense on Wednesday night, but that shouldn’t be mistaken with good defense. Denver’s ball movement understandably puts a strain on any opponent, but Dallas’ defenders were over-rotating like crazy, content to make sure that if they were beaten on a particular possession, it wasn’t due to a lack of defensive activity. That’s an admirable aim, I suppose, though not as admirable as a defensive approach that simultaneously brings both energy and restraint. That happy medium is where the Mavs have lived for a good portion of the season thus far, and where they should aim to be come playoff time. It’s also where they weren’t in this particular game, but alas, these things happen.

Rick Carlisle has been accused, at various points in his coaching tenure, of unfairly keeping young players glued to the bench. That hasn’t at all been the case this season; Rodrigue Beaubois (13 points, 5-7 FG, two assists) has been given ample room to live, breathe, and play, and Carlisle’s patience has largely been rewarded in Beaubois’ play. The last few games seemed to act as evidence to the contrary, but with a few days to refocus, Beaubois resumed his role as an efficient all-around scorer with 13 points on just seven shots. Brandan Wright’s (10 points, 5-8 FG, four rebounds) situation is a bit different, but again, Carlisle’s patience is vital to Wright’s opportunities. Dallas’ two-man center rotation now has become a bit of a crowd; to Carlisle’s credit, he’s caught a hyper-athletic shot blocker and finisher in a bottle.

Hoopdata Boxscore

Dirk Nowitzki made 7 of 9 long 2s, improved to career-best 53% from that Range. Shawn Marion made 2 of 3 Threes, shoots now 39.4% from Deep for the Season, also career-high.

Stats

FT-Watch

Brendan bricked none of nil from the line. So far he is sporting a stagnant brickrate of 50%. Celebration for our ~~third~~ best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]

On the other Hand, Jason Terry missed (the only) one of our total 9 FTAs.

Rest

Outrebounded? Nope, 46-38 = Win, usually

44 FG, 30 Assists for the Mavs. This is how you do it!

Dirk Nowitzki passed Adrian Dantley on the Alltime Scoring List. He now has 23,179 Points.

Bonus

Disclaimer: If you couldn't tell by now, all italic sentences are made up thoughts, not actual quotes.

Recap: Dallas Mavericks defeat Denver Nuggets 105-95 at Pepsi Center, Dirk passes Adrian Dantley for 21st on all-time scoring list

2012-02-09T04:54:21Z

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, 105-95. Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers with 25, on 11-20 of shooting, and moved past Adrian Dantley for 21^st on the all-time scoring list. One-time Mav (sort of ) Rudy Fernandez led the Nugs with 17.

The Mavs rode an impressive first half, as usual, into a second half where they did, again, not as much as you’d hope. After scoring over 30 each of the first two quarters, they had 23 in the 3^rd and 18 in the 4^th, a trend that has become all too common. This time, however, thanks to some (thankfully) expected shooting from Dirk Nowitzki, and some timely contributions from Vince Carter, the lead never really shrunk into dangerous territory.

Likewise, the Mavs defense wasn’t necessarily better than it has been, but the Nuggets, small as they are, weren’t quite the force on the boards the Mavs have gotten used to, and couldn’t take advantage of some open shots. And so the Mavs not only survived, but thrived.

Bullets:

1) Jason Terry’s see-saw act this season has not been amazingly fun. Not only do we all love the Jet for sentimental reasons, but for basketball reasons and at times this season he’s been the Mavs’ only bright spot. He played brilliantly against the Thunder, but didn’t get much help, but has had three bad games in a row. Before that, he single-handedly won that Spurs game. In a way, the Mavs season has been kept alive by surprising Jet and Matrix games while Dirk recovers, but at this point consistency would be much better. Here’s hoping the Jet gets right, soon.

2) The Mavs, fresh off the heels of some defensive regression, would seem to have a center controversy, if controversy is the right word. Haywood has played over 20 minutes only once in the last five games (28 against the Pacers), and has broken double digit points or rebounds only once in that span (10 points against the Cavs). Mahimni went from 23 minute against OKC to 16 against the Pacers and 11 against the Nuggets. His rebounding, especially, has not been impressive. Brandan Wright got 25 minutes against OKC, 29 against the Cavs, 16 against the Nuggets.He’s looked like the most polished scorer of the group, but his rebounding (1 in 25 minutes against OKC) needs work, and I’m not sure about his defense. Possibly, rather than looking for the answer at center, Rick's looking for AN answer and doesn't plan to settle down. More on this as it develops.

3) Dirk’s back! He whiffed on some he’d never have missed last year, especially from three, and he’s not going inside with much enthusiasm or frequency, but his third straight game of 24+ points, 50% + shooting should begin to allay lingering concerns about him. He also seemed much more in sync with the rest of the offense today, as the PGs repeatedly looked for him, when he was in, and he delivered.

4) Now that the buzz about Lamar Odom has sort of faded, it’s worth noting that there’s nothing wrong with solid, but not spectacular contributions. Lamar notably avoided the three ball tonight (probably a good move) and has consistently rebounded and passed relatively well, of late. Carter, the Mavs less-heralded FA pickup rebounded himself from a tough night last night to toss in 17 on 12 shots, grabbed 5 boards and dished 8 assists, as well as stealing 2 and blocking 1. Why we all thought that a guy who scored more than Lamar Odom every year of his life except for last year, when Lamar had a pretty fluke-y year, would turn out much worse, we may never remember.

5) Roddy-Watch: Some ups, some downs. Rick did not seem comfortable trusting Roddy with point, but he did play him twenty minutes and Roddy responded by making 5-7, 2-3 from three, for 13, and ended a +6. 13 from Roddy sounds like about what to expect this year, if he gets consistent.

6) Mavs win! Our long national nightmare is over!

GAME THREAD: Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets

2012-02-09T01:50:21Z

WHO: The Denver Nuggets host the Dallas Mavericks

WHAT: First game back after a nice little break.

WHERE: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

WHEN: 8:00pm CT

HOW: FSSW | League Pass

THE STORY: The first time these two teams met, the Nuggets put the Mavericks in their place. Since then Dallas has found some defensive consistency and Denver has fallen off a bit. Tonight they face each other after both falling on a three-game losing skid. Dallas will still be without Jason Kidd, and Denver will be missing their centerpiece, Danilo Gallinari, as well as Timofey Mozgov. Should be a decent game, since it's must-win for both teams. Stop by Denver Stiffs for Nuggets coverage.

Don't lose this one!