Eddie Sefko has an article on the rising Devean George.
"I decided I needed to put in extra, extra time," George said. "So Sam [Vincent, an assistant coach] and I would get together before shootarounds and after practices to go over plays, just to drill it into my head and really get comfortable."
"The work they [George and Vincent] have been doing has been paying off," Johnson said. "We brought George in because he was a champion and a professional. Not just a guy who's been on championship teams, but a championship attitude. This is a tremendous example he's setting for everybody."
Coming into the season I expected that Devean George might become the odd man out of the rotation behind Howard and Stackhouse, but that's because I wasn't smart enough to see that the 6'8" George would become the backup PF.--------------------
Art Garcia reports that the Mavs will now start using the old leathers balls in practice again. Their first game after the switch is at home against Seattle on January 2nd.
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And Devin Harris, yes the actual Devin Harris, has a short article in today's Star-Telegram. It jumps from the new players fitting in, to the NBa finals, and then to the Iverson trade.
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Injury Update: Dirk Nowizki is not 100%
"He came out of the game OK and made it about halfway through practice," Avery Johnson said Saturday.
Nowitzki felt some stiffness Friday and soreness Saturday afternoon. He does have two more full days to rest -- Johnson didn't schedule a practice for today or Christmas -- before the Mavs face Charlotte on Tuesday at American Airlines Center.
---------------------Nowitzki felt some stiffness Friday and soreness Saturday afternoon. He does have two more full days to rest -- Johnson didn't schedule a practice for today or Christmas -- before the Mavs face Charlotte on Tuesday at American Airlines Center.
Down in the D-League: Pops led the team in rebounding with eight, and he also contributed seven points on 3-6 shooting.
Maurice Ager played 33 minutes scoring 12 while going 4/15 from the field. He attempted three from long-range, making none. He also grabbed six rebound and had two assists.
Random note: The Colorado 14ers whom the Flyers lost to last night have players named Rick Rickert and Pooh Jeter.
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Around the NBA: Things got really bad for the Rockets last night. On their way towards losing to the Clippers Yao Ming fractured his right tibial plateau, a bone right below the knee. It's not expected that he will need surgery but he's still expected to miss at least six weeks. Houston is officially out of the Southwest division title chase.
And the Atlantic conference has become even worse! Nenad Krstic fell to the ground without contact during the Nets game on Friday and on Saturday the team announced he had torn his ACL. He's out for the season. Krstic is a player I really like and that's a huge blow to the Nets who really have no post presence anymore. The Nets were the only team in their division who I thought had a chance of finishing over .500 -- I think that chance might have gone down with Nenad.