"We needed a win. We just needed to feel how it feels to a get a win."
-Avery Johnson
Exactly. Now that the Mavs have won I think some of the mental issues apparent in the first four games with diminish. And the schedule should help as well.-Avery Johnson
- At Portland
- Home against Chicago
- Two games in a row vs Memphis
- At Charlotte
- Home vs Washington
The Mavs should win the next six games. Of course they shouldn't ahve started 0-4 either. But there is no denying the Mavs next six are far easier than the first five. Now they need to take advantage; they need to have a winning record by the 24th when they face San Antonio and hopefully get Howard back.
Onto the links...
Art Garcia recaps the game.
The Mavericks found success in the last place they truly tasted it - on the home floor of the Phoenix Suns. Back in June, the Mavs clinched their first trip to the NBA Finals at US Airways Center with a victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
On Thursday, they won their first game of the season. The magnitude of the victories don't compare, but no one can convince Avery Johnson that the 119-112 shootout wasn't huge in its own right.
--------------------On Thursday, they won their first game of the season. The magnitude of the victories don't compare, but no one can convince Avery Johnson that the 119-112 shootout wasn't huge in its own right.
Funny story from the game last night at the bottom of this Garcia article.
The clumsy unveiling of the Mavs' Western Conference banner earlier this week became Jumbotron fodder at US Airways Center. The curtain covering the latest addition to the American Airlines Center rafters initially went up only halfway, and, according to the video skit, the culprit was the Suns' Gorilla mascot. The gag didn't appear to go over well with Mark Cuban.
--------------------Tim Cowlishaw live blogged the game last night. Then he recapped his own blog for an article today.
--------------------
The Mavs have launched a pretty good photo gallery on their site.
--------------------
The most interesting Mavs note in the papers today comes from Indiana. (via truehoop.com)
Their off-season trades with the Pacers cast doubt. They had a good thing going, but brought in two players, Anthony Johnson and Austin Croshere, who don't fit their style of play. They also gave up on their best intangible, Darrell Armstrong. What do Mavericks fans think when they check Pacers boxscores and see Armstrong playing better than Johnson, and both Marquis Daniels and Rawle Marshall playing better than Croshere? And that doesn't include the other Mavs-to-Pacers transfer, Josh Powell, who excelled in the pre-season."
The only thing I agree with in that is that D.A. was our best intangible. But let's be real about the rest. Armstrong may have been good for the Pacers in the first week of the season, but Anthony Johnson is the better player and it isn't close. Croshere is a very similar player to KVH and theoretically should fit right in to our system. And Marquis, Rawle, and Powell weren't going to get minutes in Dallas. I'm not saying the Mavs won or lost those trades, but they definitely didn't cause the Mavs to start 0-4.