10/28 Morning Roundup

Behind the Box Score, where it seems like old times | Kelly Dwyer
It really was a lay-up line — a line toward easy open shots from all areas, really - on both ends. Dallas' problem is that it couldn't make shots. Couldn't nail open, easy shots that usually go in. Lots of hard luck misses as the Mavs clanged 14 of the team's 18 three-point attempts. This could have been a close, high-scoring affair, but Dallas just wasn't up to it. The panache was there. The makes were not

All-Access Pass: Wizards 102, Mavs 91 | Mike Fisher
GOODEN DOESN'T GET IT: In a move reminiscent of what Josh Howard did when Jason Kidd first came to town, Drew Gooden decided he would run the Mavs' fastbreak his way. The Mavs generally have a fastbreak policy: The outlet should go to J-Kidd. Always. On three different occasions, Gooden made a different choice, and two of those were the more difficult choice. There was certainly no reason to sling the ball downcourt to Jet when he had no path to the basket. And on the final play of the first half, when Gooden grabbed a defensive rebound and then decided to leave his feet to make the outlet pass, there was certainly no reason to not simply find Kidd and let him make the last decision. Instead, Gooden wanted to do it all himself.

Same old problem for new-look Dallas Mavericks: Not enough 'D' | Tim Cowlishaw
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said it took his first Mavericks team a long, long time to establish its identity last season. That may not change. "We knew we needed to be a flow team because we had Jason Kidd, but flow teams are not typically good defensively," Carlisle said. "So we had to find a way to become a running team but one that could also get back and make stops defensively."

Mavericks analysis: Preseason injury costs Shawn Marion conditioning | Eddie Sefko
What we did see out of Marion, however, was evidence that the injury-marred preseason hurt him. He missed four games and half of a fifth and sixth because of the calf injury. He said after Tuesday's game, it impacted him. "My legs got a little heavier," he said. "As we go on, I definitely got to get my legs under me."

It's a new season, and Kidd is still bringing the entertaining quotes.
"It was a zero," said Jason Kidd. "We didn't do anything right." Well, almost nothing. Nowitzki had a huge game, but his mostly unhelpful teammates couldn't support him. The Mavericks are supposed to have good depth, shoot the ball well and be good rebounders. They had none of that working for them. "Dirk was going well offensively," Kidd said. "The big thing is we can't rely on him to do that for 82 games or he'll be dead before Christmas."

Five on Five: Mavs v. Wizards | Zac Crain
Jason Terry, on the other hand, looked very much like where we left him in the playoffs against Denver. His 4-15 night (including 1-6 behind the arc) was ugly. Honestly, I can’t remember the four shots he actually hit. In the second half, he killed runs with ill-advised threes, and just generally had a bad floor game.

Mavs/Wizards Hangover | Gina Miller
Not Again. The Mavericks don’t want a repeat performance. They lost to the Rockets in the season opener last year. The loss to the Wizards drops them to 17-13 all-time in season opening games. Dallas started 2-7 and dropped their first four games at home before going 48-25 the rest of last season to finish 50-32. “It was kind of like the deja vu,” Kidd said. “I think I felt like I was playing Houston last year and this is the exact same way we started off.”