Back in the Saddle Again Links

by Wes Cox on Dec 17, 2007 11:37 AM CST in News

Things are back to normal at work this week, which means I have time to waste!

In the fourth quarter against the Rockets on Saturday, it looked like things might be getting back to normal for the Mavs too. In fact, Dallas has won four of their last five and Jan Hubbard says the Mavs are happier than they have been so far this season.

There have been some ugly moments in all five of those games (no defense vs Utah, can't close out the Knicks, blown out by the Raptors, Dirk scores 7 against the Hornets, and Diop/Dampier combining for just 5 rebounds and 0 blocks in 39 minutes against Houston), but at least Dallas is winning again.

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One BIG bright spot in the last five? Josh Howard.

Howard in the Last Five
MPG	FG PCT	3P PCT	PPG	RPG
39.2	52.9%	52.6%	25.2	7.4

It's led Eddie Sefko to say the Howard is emerging as the teams MVP.

Howard is establishing himself as the Mavericks' most versatile player. That doesn't mean he's replaced Dirk Nowitzki as the team's MVP, although he might be headed in that direction for this season, anyway.

But Howard has arrived as one of those rare NBA players who can knock down a 3-point shot, slash to the rim and scare opponents with his midrange jump shot – a lost art in today's NBA as players either shoot away from the perimeter or go for highlight-reel slams.

Bethlehem Shoals chimed in with similar thoughts in a letter to Howard.

If your play stays at this high a level, teammates will notice. After that, the league will notice. After that, the media will notice. No need to speak out of turn, force your shots, or mess with what on-court chemistry the team has left.

Chances are, you will still come off as the Mavs' most important player. And not in some kind of back-handed, Shawn Marion-like way that only matters to sports writers. Anyone with their television on can see how much you make happen.

Dirk can be the head, you can provide the heart. In the long run, that's the best way to help yourself and the team.

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Sefko's statistical week in review

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Must read article by Mike Fisher where he gets answers to a lot of the questions on the minds of Mavs fans. He asked Del Harris about the defense, asked Avery if Bass could start, asked Cuban if Stackhouse shoots too much etc...

You want to read this.

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Cuban says there are no talks with the Nets about Kidd, and there aren't going to be in the future either.

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This Day in Mavs History

1997 Signed Eric Riley to a 1 year contract.

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Comments

Good Fisher article.

Excellent questions and answers.

What's the over/under on when Del Harris finally returns to the bench?

by DitchThePlaybook on Dec 17, 2007 12:14 PM CST reply actions

i knew

there was a good reason i bought josh's jersey his sophomore year.

people laughed at me and said i should have a bought a dirk jersey...just like everyone else and their grandma.

by bluefish on Dec 17, 2007 2:02 PM CST reply actions

It's good that you're not bitter about it anymore.

Too bad for those of us who are now using those old Roy Tarpley jerseys as washrags can't feel so vindicated.....Anyway, I'd still say the career numbers tip in Dirk's favor.

I'm pretty happy about J-Ho's stepping-up-of-the-game so far this season. I think he's finally becoming the player everyone thought he had the potential to be. I'd like to see an entire seasons-worth of this kind of production before I break out the anointing oil, though.

by DitchThePlaybook on Dec 17, 2007 4:59 PM CST up reply actions

I wonder if

Josh even read/heard about that letter from Shoals..

I guess pro athletes outside of Gilbert don't really spend their time reading sports blogs .. heh

by Turkish41 on Dec 17, 2007 2:13 PM CST reply actions

Moe Ager has a blog!

but it's garbage...

by Wes Cox on Dec 17, 2007 4:36 PM CST up reply actions

this is true

barea has one too, but it's all in spanish.

by bluefish on Dec 18, 2007 1:28 PM CST up reply actions

Hmmm...

Could I possibly convince my wife to translate it for me... Probably not.

by BrodyV on Dec 18, 2007 2:02 PM CST up reply actions

A guy at work

told me about Bareas' and said it was in Puerto Rican.

by Wes Cox on Dec 18, 2007 5:10 PM CST up reply actions

To be fair

My wife has a very hard time translating some of the flyers and street conversations and stuff in our neighborhood because it's all in "El Salvadorian." Imagine if you learned the Queens English at Oxford, and then got dropped in Bumblefuck, Alabama. Or learned it in Podunkville, Georgia, and then got sent to Oxford...

Hell, after I did my German language program at Munich in college, the teaching assistant from Berlin made fun of me for speaking "Bayern."

by BrodyV on Dec 18, 2007 7:08 PM CST up reply actions

sorry

it may very well be.

i'm not well versed in the different dialects. it looked like spanish to me.

by bluefish on Dec 19, 2007 9:00 AM CST reply actions

No no

I'm sure it is. I think that little exchange was simply to demonstrate that one of Wes' cowerkers wasn't too far off the mark, even if completely unintentionally so. (at least, that's what I was trying to put in it :)

by BrodyV on Dec 19, 2007 12:04 PM CST up reply actions