San Antonio Spurs 93, Dallas Mavericks 71: Ew

by Boweman55 on Jan 5, 2012 11:02 PM CST in Game Recap

One time when I was around seven to 10 years old, a friend that lived on my street got a brand new aluminum baseball bat. He immediately invited me over and I rushed to his place at the end of the street.

I took some practice swings in his driveway, it was a pretty cool bat. Then it was his turn. He took a rather forceful swing for swinging at nothing at all and my head got in the way and he smacked me clearly on the side of my head, full-swing, with an aluminum baseball bat.

I never fell to the ground, and never cried or welped. My friend was shocked and asked if I was OK. I nodded in silence, walked home to my house very slowly. I knocked on my front door and when my mother answered, I promptly passed out in the doorway. I woke up sleeping on an ice bag and my head felt like it had just been used as a bowling ball.

Onto the (brief) bullets after the jump:

Pathetic. Awful. Putrid. All those described the Mavericks effort level in the opening 12 minutes of this game against the Manu-less Spurs. It would be easier to swallow if the Mavs were traveling for their back-to-back to face a team they haven't seen much and was lacking a key rotational player – perhaps heading to Chicago and not being prepared for Taj Gibson if Carlos Boozer were inured, due to lack of familiarity and game tape. But no, this is the Spurs. And there was Jason Kidd, in the game's first three minutes no less, with weak close out after weak close out against Gary Neal as he repeatedly killed it from beyond the arc. No Mav was above exerting a little more than minimal effort in the opening quarter. Dirk Nowitzki was absolutely dreadful on rotations, Brendan Haywood was ludicrous in his shot selection and overall, Dallas' team defense was disastrous as San Antonio racked up an absurd amount of wide-open looks. True, it was the Mavs sixth game in eight nights, but this was also the Spurs sixth game in nine nights. And if there was one quarter that the Mavs could actually be competitive before the tired legs kicked in, it would have been the first. Awful. Truly awful.
In eight games, the Mavs have been blasted by the Heat, Nuggets, Timberwolves and Spurs. Not sure if you're scoring at home, but the fact that right now the chances of the Mavs getting absolutely trounced is a coin flip is completely distressing – shortened training camp and lack of conditioning be damned.
Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry managed to win the scoring duel against Matt Bonner, 18-17. That's all I can say.
Delonte West was part of the Mavericks horrible starting slump, which is the reason why his 27 minutes and 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting netted him a +/- of a -25 on the night, worst of any Mav. Even though all his points were in garbage time, I still see him being a meaningful late-game player.
It's hard to justify Roddy Beaubois' 21 minutes of 1-for-8 shooting and four points as quality, but Beaubois showed some things. His three blocks flashed his freaky athleticism and he played some credible 1-on-1 defense on Tony Parker. I'm a little confused on where Beaubois' jumper went over the last two seasons (42 percent last year, 33 percent so far this season) but the young guard took quality looks within the offense, he just has to knock down the pull-up elbow jumper off the pick and roll.
I feel really bad for Brandan Wright. The former top-10 pick couldn't make his way in the league due to injuries and horrible situations in Golden State and New Jersey. The kid finally finds a team that is not only a quality organization for building up players, but also a team that was looking to completely retool with seemingly bunches of minutes to be had, especially for an athletic forward such as Wright. After tonight, Wright has played 16 minutes this entire season –11 of which came in the season opener against Miami. I don't really follow how Wright couldn't earn a single minute in those lopsided Denver and Minnesota games in which Dallas clearly needed a spark. And tonight, Wright picked up where he left off in the final preseason game against OKC: finishing around the basket and showing off the great athleticism with six points in five minutes. Brian Cardinal has played more minutes than Wright, and that really, really baffles me. Wright signed a one-year deal here to grab some minutes with a good team and perhaps relaunch his NBA career with someone else next season. It's not even looking like that's going to happen unless Rick Carlisle has a change of heart.
I can't write anymore bullets because I broke half of my fingers with a tack hammer while watching this game. Just assume that anything I didn't cover, I thought completely sucked (Like the Mavericks completely depressing offensive efficiency, turnovers, etc., the works.)

***

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Comments

I love

how our athletic players have no skill and our skilled players have no athleticism.

"I'm a unitard!" - Ralph Wiggum

by stupidsexyflanders on Jan 5, 2012 11:07 PM CST reply actions

the irony...

"The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot."

- Bill Russell

by Marjun Raposon on Jan 5, 2012 11:42 PM CST up reply actions

therootsfan ?

by Roderick P on Jan 5, 2012 11:48 PM CST up reply actions

More like no effort whatsoever.

A normal training camp would have helped.

I live to play the devil's advocate.

by AfterSchoolSpecial on Jan 6, 2012 2:24 AM CST up reply actions

onto to the next game.

by go87 on Jan 5, 2012 11:35 PM CST reply actions

Is it just me

or is Brian Cardinal look even more awkward on the court than Dirk? Maybe I’m just used to Dirk playing but sometimes I feel like Cardinal does not handle the ball well. I often see him almost missing the pass. Certainly, Cardinal is not to blame for the loss. I’m sick, however, of our centers going for the lay-up when they can just dunk it.

by Bona Castillo on Jan 6, 2012 12:05 AM CST reply actions

new guy bobby C is the 12th man in our bench. also he contributes on defense.

Dirk just had a off night against the spurs.

by go87 on Jan 6, 2012 12:47 AM CST up reply actions

looks like Kidd's injury isn't that serious back spasms i read

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/7430131/dallas-mavericks-jason-kidd-injures-back-san-antonio-spurs
Dirk said it best
“He’s our floor general out there,” Dirk Nowitzki said. "Even those games we won, he didn’t really have a big scoring night or a game where he’s been on fire, but just his leadership, him running the floor, running the ball out there, it’s very important to us. If he’s out we just have to get it done somehow.

by dimitrious on Jan 6, 2012 12:56 AM CST reply actions

Kidd needs an break. lets see what Roddy can do.

by go87 on Jan 6, 2012 1:19 AM CST up reply actions

Maybe this will turn out good for the Mavs

Mavs need to learn how to run offense without Kidd like how Mavs need to learn to score without Dirk. I feel they sometimes rely on them too much. With this condensed season, Dirk and Kidd should be getting less minutes. However, having a team with new players doesn’t exactly allow that. New players need to be integrated in and their minutes will probably grow as the season progresses. For now, Dirk and Kidd needs to play 34 + minutes for us to win games. They’re really tired and it’s showing.

by Bona Castillo on Jan 6, 2012 2:00 AM CST up reply actions

For anybody that was questioning Kidd's importance to this team, there you go ^

The star of this team is telling you how important Kidd is.

by mike_o on Jan 6, 2012 9:29 AM CST up reply actions

Spurs will always kill us with the spot-up shooters.

Not a good match up for us

by ray allen a mav on Jan 6, 2012 2:05 AM CST reply actions

I for one

was never on the Roddy B gravy train; Just throwing that out there. He’s basically a poor mans Devin Harris(sp?)

I live to play the devil's advocate.

by AfterSchoolSpecial on Jan 6, 2012 2:21 AM CST reply actions

speaking of which, devin harris is awful for the jazz this year.

i gotta go. my damn wiener kids are listening.

by buckets on Jan 6, 2012 9:35 AM CST up reply actions

I woke up...

Saw the scoreline as I was getting to the site…it was some 61-37 (or was it 27??). I decided sleeping was a better option and thank the heavens I did.

But such a performance against the Spurs…gross :(

by lewstherin on Jan 6, 2012 4:07 AM CST reply actions

to tell you the truth LJ

I didn’t understand the Mavs FO this year…While I understand the need to get under the cap, wouldn’t Dallas have been better served NOT signing West, and Carter, and simply letting the young guns have at it?

I liked the Odom trade, as it did plug a hole in the Lineup in the back up SF and PF spots…but other than that, why bring in all these players when you had young players that could provide the same thing, AND be cheaper?

Here’s a theoretical play from 2010: Snap. Tony takes 7 step drop. Tony looks left at Miles, who is doubled, and looks right to where Roy Williams should be…but instead sees Colombo on his back and a Defensive End foaming at the mouth jumping over Marc’s carcass. Tony proceeds to run like hell and look for Witten
-by CotySaxman on Jul 11, 2011 7:50 AM PDT

Now, if somebody doesn’t agree with that, that’s cool. I also don’t agree with the fact that I don’t have $10 million in my bank account. But the fact that I don’t agree with it doesn’t make it any less true.
by One.Cool.Customer on Dec 23, 2010 12:00 AM PST

by I am Ironman!!! on Jan 6, 2012 8:33 AM CST reply actions

Still impressed with Mahinmi

Certainly our defense improved with him out there – his +/- was 0. He just needs a little more production and control and he should be matching Chandler’s stat line and energy (if not his leadership).

Agree about Brandan Wright. Also, wouldn’t this have been the perfect game to try out Sean Williams again? He must be really unimpressive in practice or something, because I don’t get why Carlisle’s had him mostly riding the pine since his breakout game…

When you think back about how bad it was, remember: we won the third and fourth quarters at least. Certainly after halftime, defense was much tighter and getting stops. I kind of wonder if we should have kept Dirk in more of the second half to see if his shooting finally sparked a run.

by lemonbrigade on Jan 6, 2012 9:25 AM CST reply actions

Anyone know if Holger Gerschwinder is in Dallas?

I think he could really help Dirk take some of his rust off. They have a different type of work-out and maybe that is what Dirk needs. He probably needs to do the same things he usually does during the preseason to get his shot going. I heard he’s an official Mavs coach. Any news, guys?

And maybe he can also help Haywood shoot those freethrows. You know, teach him how Dirk does it…maybe it will help

by Bona Castillo on Jan 6, 2012 10:39 AM CST reply actions