Ladies and Gentleman, it's Erick Dampier Reunion Night!
KneeJerk Recap (TM) Jonthefon v1.04
The Mavs (beat/l
ost to) [the Miami Heat]¹ tonight (thanks to/even though) Dirk was awesome. The (cloud in the silver lining/major culprit) once more was the lack of support from his team-mates, with the exception of Tyson Chandler/Jason Kidd². Especially useless was Jason Terry/Caron Butler/J.J. Barea/Shawn Marion/Brendan Haywood³ and it is THEY’RE ALMOST NOTALLUSELESS.
¹ Inserted Opponent
² Only one of them, mind you
³ Two at the minimum, up to all five of them. Props to Butler for showing up against his former team. Could we orchestrate a 27-team deal on the quick?
Quotes
Coach Carlisle
Good times.
(Hey Coach, anybody tired after the Fourth Game in Five Nights?) "I don't think anybody showed signs of mental or physical fatigue. I know our guys are getting energized from winning and I don’t sense any complacency. I feel like we are in the moment and playing in the present and that is what it is all about."
(On Butler's perfomance) "Butler was huge tonight. Part of it was shot-making, and his defensive energy gave us a physical presence on the defensive end. His offensive energy gave us a physical presence on the long-range jumpshot end, too."
(On the third quarter) "We made a point to get out of the locker room and get loose, show them that we would be warm and we wanted to pick up the pace. We felt that by pushing the ball, it wasn’t necessarily their game. Getting the game going up and down is something that worked for us tonight."
(Could you ask Butler to score every night as efficiently as tonight?) "He is a big-time scorer and a big-time clutch guy. And he has done it three or four times total in his entire career. He never shies away from big shots. He is the kind of player that will always play better when he’s relied upon. It’s great to have guys like that. And then on other nights, when the other guy, i think he is called Marie or something.. is in at his position, he is right behind him. You can’t ask for more than that. So, to answer your question, no."
(On sweeping the Fogafini) "To go through and win all five like this, you have to be extremely energetic, you have to be deep, you have to have good guys and good players. You have to have high energy level and spirit, and we sustained that this week."
Dirk Nowitzki
Bosh: "Like i said in the huddle, this is my town and i am not gettting embarrassed in my tow.......wtf Dirk!?"
(On the old guys coming through) "I think we pushed the pace up a little more, got some stops and just overall I think had a good energy coming out the locker room."
(On Tyson 'MAX' Chandler) "Tyson’s been on an amazing roll - rebounding, finishing, running the floor and just being all over the place. He’s been amazing."
(On Butler and his minutes lately) "He’s been a professional about it and definitely responded today. We needed his shotmaking ability."
(On the win) "It was a great team effort. I obviously didn’t have a lot left in the tank after four in five, but the guys were great."
Tyson Chandler
(On the week) "It’s been a good stretch for us this week. This was a huge week for us. I think this was a team that was coming together. Now everything is starting to come together."
(On Energy) "I try to pick my spots where I feel like the team will really need energy. And tonight I knew it was a huge game. Playing four games in five nights, I knew my team would need my energy. So I wanted to make a point of coming out early in the game, kind of setting the tone and the pace of the game. And I felt like my team would really get behind me."
(You think the Mavs have found their offensive identity?) "I do, I really do. Early on I think we were trying to find out who we were going to be offensively, find out where guys are going to get shots from. I think now we kind of see where we're going to get our shots from, where we're going to go in the fourth quarter and it's made things a lot easier."
Shawn 'Revenge Game, too' Marion
"You got this one from Phoenix, right?"
(On his former team, the Heat) "They’re a talented team. You’ve got three talented players over there, who everybody is talking about the most. At the same time, it was just about what we needed to do to get the win."
Caron 'Wait a minute, I AM talking to the media after home games TONIGHT!' Butler
The everchanging NBA-Rules took a turn to the absurd when the "Tounge-Check after a made Shot"-Rule was introduced.
(What's up with you and Marion?) "We’re tag-teaming. We know that we’ve got to work with each other to be successful, and that’s what we’re doing on both ends of the court. And tonight was a prime example of that."
(On seeing big parts of games from the bench) "When you’re winning, it is what it is. That was my role I had to play – cheer the other guys on.When you have the goal of accomplishing something that no one in this locker room has accomplished – winning a title – we have to sacrifice minutes. But we want to win a title and we feel like we got every component in this locker room to do it. Like coach said and everybody bought into it, it’s all about winning. That’s all that really matters once i got my shots and Stat$."
(On playing almost 11 minutes straight in the 3rd quarter) "I really wanted to be out there and earned that opportunity, because i need to get paid, fiendingly."
(On the fourth game in five nights) "It's a very crucial part of the schedule and we stepped up in a major way. We kept our poise and stuck with what made us successful and did a great job of closing it out."
(You scored more than 20 Points) "My teammates were just finding me and I wasn’t second-guessing at all. Just rising up or creating and making opportunities for my teammates."
(Wait, that means you were second-guessing - rightfully so, considering your shot selection - in the games before?) "Thanks for reminding me why i don't talk to the media after home games."
Jason Terry
(On the week) "The unbeaten stretch was huge. It built up our confidence, and now we have something to build upon. We’ve created an identity for ourselves in that stretch. We’re a tough-minded team, when it comes to taking jumpshots."
(On the Heat) "Oh, they're good. They're a good team. When you have three superstars like they have they are very difficult to defend and they put us in a difficult situation tonight, but we answered the challenge. The only thing we can worry about is our team and the way that we play. Establishing an identity has been the most important thing in this stretch."
Jason Kidd
(On the week) "This was a big week for us. It's a big four wins, especially on back-to-backs. We've been telling Butler to just catch and shoot and take that first one, and then go into your tricks and the game will be a lot easier for him. Tonight, we went to him and he delivered."
(On the need for speed playing Defense) "When you look back at Dallas' teams, we never were a team that played defense. We always wanted to outscore the opponent. I looked at the stat sheet tonight and saw that we had 87 attempts. That might be a high for the year. We're playing defense, we're getting stops at the right time."
(Another win? Jeeez you're so boring) "It's funny to say this, but we just can't get bored. We always have to try to figure out how to keep getting better. If we can do that this can be a special year."
(On Houston on Monday) "The big thing is not to have a letdown. As a veteran team, we know that this week is over and now we have to start a new week come Monday against Houston."
Coach Spoelstra
"What's that Ref? You want me fired, too? Aye. Mon then."
(Was your team too tired on the second night of a back to back?) "We have enough, we have enough to contribute. It had nothing to do with that; fatigue was not an issue.''
(On the possibility of missing shots) "We missed shots and that affected our defensive energy and that will happen at times regardless of what you do – man, zone, whatever – you may miss shots. But that cannot dictate your energy or your disposition down at the defensive end."
(Not fun, this third quarter of yours) "This shouldn’t be fun out here and it was painful to go through a 3rd quarter like that, and if guys feel that pain, good, I want them to before i have to enjoy time with my family."
(On testy moments) "That's the way it should be. Good. Yeah. I think we all were frustrated in the timeouts, and that's the way it should be. This shouldn't be fun out here, and it was painful to go through a third quarter like that. If guys feel that pain, good. Again, I don't have a problem with that."
(Can you feel the Heat?) "Until we feel that pain and accept it enough to make a change, these will be the results."
Dwyane Wade
(Why a players-only meeting? Do y'all hate Coach Spo so much?) "We felt like we needed it. Sometimes it's a feel. We haven't had a team-only meeting. We're playing like 9-8 and we needed it. This is a new team, a new group of guys. Guys need to understand each other and hear each other talk. We all feel better after the talk we had. "
(So you say your team might have chemistry issues?) "As players, we're accountable. I'll never put anything on the coach, win, lose or draw, because they can give us a game plan. But they're not the ones on the court playing. It's time to take a backseat and let the ownership make quick work of this. It's our will to axe Spoelstra and have Pat coach the team."
(On his feelings about the struggles) "It's tough because I know the potential of this team, the blurred vision I had when this team was put together.
(Your stance on gender change?) "I don't worry about changes. I can't control them."
LeBron James
(Forget about the game, how was the meeting?) "It was a well-needed team meeting where everybody had a chance to get off whatever they had on their chest or in their head about us figuring things out. Right now we are a 9-8 team and we have to own up to that. Does our record speak of the quality of team we can become? I don't think so. But right now we're 9-8 and we're playing like that. But whatever happens, i will get my fair share of contested 20-fters. "
Vids
Nice Jacket, Coach
Game Recap
Locker Talk (via the final Point)
FT Watch:
Dirk was fine, didn't miss a FT.
Tyson Chandler missed 2 FTs. WTF is wrong with you?
Links
Teaser:
HoOpdata
Boxscore (15-22 at the Rim for the Mavs, 7-13 for the Heat. Game Over. Insert Coin to Continue)
Malus: Things you don't want to see. Ever.
Disclaimer: If you couldn't tell by now, all italic sentences are made up thoughts, not actual quotes. Also, Lisa, what's a full blown recap?