A WIN!
Dirk Nowitzki said on Tuesday that Dallas is "not good enough to coast". They were last night.
There are some pretty impressive lines in the box score(Dirk: 27 points (7-13), 11 rebounds, 4 ast)(Devin: 22 points (9-10), 6 assists)(Dampier: 8 points, 10 rebounds, 5 off reb), but someone has to score. And against a team like Minnesota plenty of people will score -- easily.
I can't name a single player who I think had a really good game last night.
Dallas was still plenty good enough to beat Minnesota though, and I guess that's all that matters.
I like how Sefko put it.
The Dallas Mavericks played half a game Wednesday night.
They will get credit for a whole win, even if it wasn't a thing of beauty.
And Jerry Stackhouse reminds us it could be worse.
They will get credit for a whole win, even if it wasn't a thing of beauty.
"It is crazy to be frustrated when you're 10-5," Stackhouse said. "We've got high expectations and we forget that we're playing NBA teams."
Stackhouse couldn't be much worse though.--------------------
Jason Terry and Erick Dampier each started for the first time last night. I think Dampier is back in the starting lineup for good, and Terry will probably be there for another week until Jones or George can take his place. Avery obviously doesn't like what he's been getting from Trenton Hassell so far.
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I enjoyed this Jan Hubbard article about Avery Johnson trying to yell less, so the players have to yell more.
"I think he's trying to let us develop more as a team and not be the yelling, screaming coach on the sidelines," Harris said. "Some guys don't feel comfortable speaking up as opposed to him speaking down. So for a guy who is normally speaking up, it's tough, but I think he's doing a good job."
--------------------JJ Barea could start seeing some increased minutes.
"I may have to take a look at little J.J. some," Johnson said when asked about the sluggish transition game. "I have to try to figure out what lineup can work well with him and that can help us defensively when he's in the game."
----------------------Anybody know what's going on with this Sefko article. The headline says "Mavericks could attain minor league affiliate by 2009-10 season", but there is no mention of it in the story.
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Around the NBA: Dwight Howard is a beast.
Houston beat Phoenix.
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This Day in Mavs History
1989 Fired head coach John MacLeod and named Richie Adubato as interim coach. MacLeod was hired 6/4/87. MacLeod finished with a regular season record of 96-79 (.549) and a playoff record of 10-7 (.588) with Dallas. Adubato would be fired 1/13/93. Adubato would finish with a regular season record of 94-170 (.356) and a playoff record of 0-3 (.000) with Dallas.