Mavs Moneyball - Preseason Gameday: Dallas Mavericks vs. Memphis GrizzliesRick Carlisle approved.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50869/mmb-fav.png2014-10-21T07:00:05-05:00http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/rss/stream/67853442014-10-21T07:00:05-05:002014-10-21T07:00:05-05:00Quoteboard: Starting 5 "dangerous" on offense
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<figcaption>Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Putting quotes to the main storylines from the Dallas 108-103 win against Memphis in the final preseason home game.</p> <p><span>Jameer Nelson</span> yelled something across the room, interrupting <span>Tyson Chandler</span> while he was talking to the media -- and then Nelson did it again, just to make sure Chandler knew it was on purpose. "You gonna come over here and grab a mic?" he answered back. Minutes later, Dirk was singing in the shower and you could hear it from the locker room. When he finally came out, he laughed about getting blocked on a 3-pointer then a dunk on the same play.</p>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/">Mavericks</a> locker room was in high spirits Monday night, and who could blame them?</p>
<p>The preseason is quickly drawing to a close -- "before you know it, we will be heading down to San Antonio," <span>Rick Carlisle</span> said -- and the team is starting to take shape, one way or another.</p>
<h4>The starting lineup is getting comfortable</h4>
<p>Rick Carlisle: "So far, things are going the right way."</p>
<p>Tyson Chandler: "When we get the ball movement, we're a dangerous team because all five guys are clicking out there. We're still learning, we're still trying to figure out each other, but it can definitely be explosive offensively."</p>
<p>Nelson: "We've got a lot of offensive weapons and a lot of guys who can be successful in the offense because of their roles. Coach does a great job of just letting us play and do things that we do as individuals, and collectively as well."</p>
<p><span>Dirk Nowitzki</span>: "I think offensively we'll be fine ... we got a lot of guys who can shoot."</p>
<p>Jameer Nelson: "We have a lot of offense so the defense is going to be key for us."</p>
<p>Nowitzki: "We've got to get better defensively. Some of the calls, some of the pick and roll stuff. That's where that crew is going to be challenged each night, defensively and rebounding. I think we can score with the best of them."</p>
<h4>What can <span>Al-Farouq Aminu</span> bring to the team?</h4>
<p>Carlisle: "What do I like? What <i>don't </i>I like? He's rebounding, he's active, the shooting is improving. Defensively, he's one of our better guys. He has a tenacity going after the ball. He's a multi-position player, and he can probably defend four positions. He's an important guy in this equation."</p>
<p>Nowitzki: "He's a great find. Especially, he's signed for the minimum, he's a hell of a find."</p>
<p>Carlisle: "With Aminu, Jefferson, Parsons, Crowder, those guys all play two positions, the three and four. There's a lot of possibilities. I'm still getting to know Aminu's game, so seeing him out there with different people is an important thing."</p>
<p>Nowitzki: "He's a great all around weapon on the defensive end. He brings some of the stuff that [Marion] gave us."</p>
<p>Chandler: "I love it, I love what he brings to the table. He's all over the place defensively. He can guard one through four defensively. It seems like he's always got a knack for the ball."</p>
<p>Aminu: "Sometimes it's not the funnest guarding the four, but I really want to become a great defensive player and it's a part of my game that I really feel I can flourish at and I've just been taking an effort to improve in that area."</p>
<p>Chandler: "He's one of those guys, you're not going to see a lot of what he does on a stat sheet, but he definitely impacts a game while he's out there."</p>
<h4>What still needs to be done?</h4>
<p>Carlisle: "We have a quick week here because it's busy and there is a lot going on and we have a back to back. Then there will be an off day and before you know it, we'll be heading down to San Antonio. We have to make the best of the time. We have veterans out there, so it is an easier process for those guys to get to know one another and we kept things very simple. We have to just keep things moving in the right direction and keep working to bring our conditioning and all of that to where it needs to be."</p>
<h4>Everything else</h4>
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<p><a href="http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2014/10/20/7025657/memphis-head-coach-says-dallas-is-a-top-three-team-in-western">Memphis head coach Dave Joerger said Dallas was a top three team in the West.</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2014/10/20/7025657/memphis-head-coach-says-dallas-is-a-top-three-team-in-western"></a>Dirk, on Jefferson: "Yeah, for 34, I've been really impressed. It's going to be tough to keep him off the floor."</p>
<p>Dirk, on the three guard lineup: "I didn't see that coming, but we've been successful with multiple ball handlers throughout the years. Even when <span>Jason Kidd</span> was here, we had him at the 3 some."</p>
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<p>Dirk, on getting blocked by <span>Vince Carter</span>: "I got blocked today in the corner on the 3, I didn't <span>Tony Allen</span> would actually get there. Then I tried to dunk it, and I got blocked on that, too, so that was a nice little sequence for me. I told [Vince] I thought it was a flagrant 2, the refs must have missed it. No, it was a hell of a play. It was so quick, I didn't even know he was under there, I figured, 'wide open lane, might as well try to get one in.' But that wasn't happening so much."</p>
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https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2014/10/21/7025699/quoteboard-dallas-starting-five-can-score-with-the-best-needs-toTim Cato2014-10-20T22:39:16-05:002014-10-20T22:39:16-05:00Mavs pull away from Grizzlies, 108-103
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<figcaption>Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Mavs finished out their pre-season home schedule with an impressive win over a Western Conference rival.</p> <p>In their last home game before the start of the regular season, the Mavs showed why so many people are optimistic about this team, pulling away from the <a href="https://www.grizzlybearblues.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Grizzlies</a> in fairly convincing fashion. The final score was a little misleading, as Dallas had a 15-20 point lead at the end of the third quarter before their third stringers and D-League players gave a lot of it away in an almost unwatchable display of garbage time basketball.</p>
<p>One person who came away really impressed was Memphis coach Dave Joerger. "[Dallas] is a top three team in the West, that's the facts, they have more talent, they are hard as heck to guard, they have multiple combinations of players that can really score at any time. They stretch you out all over the floor, and the team is one of the best teams in the West."</p>
<p>Even with <span>Dirk Nowitzki</span> and <span>Monta Ellis</span> off to a slow start, the offense had no trouble on Monday, as seven different players ended up in double digits, including all five starters. Memphis has one of the best defenses in the league and even they had trouble with the amount of offensive threats the Mavs could throw on the floor. <span>Tyson Chandler</span> and <span>Jameer Nelson</span> were particularly impressive, taking advantage of all the attention the other starters drew.</p>
<p>Chandler got the defensive assignment against Randolph and his length and defensive activity gave the Grizzlies star PF a lot of problems on that end of the floor. That left Dirk on <span>Marc Gasol</span>, which went about as well as you would expect, with Gasol pouring in 17 points on 6-11 shooting. The good news is that very few NBA teams can kill you from the C and the PF position, so Dirk's defense shouldn't be too much of a liability on most nights.</p>
<p>Maybe the most interesting match-up of the night came after the Mavs first rotation, when Parsons moved down to the PF position and had to man up Z-Bo in the post. Even with the advantage in size, Randolph couldn't really take advantage, although a lot of that had to do with the Grizzlies inability to space the floor. How Parsons does as a small-ball 4 against some of the mammoth PF's in the Western Conference will be something to watch all season.</p>
<p>What Dallas will have to do is take advantage of the match-up on other side of the floor, since a guy like Randolph should have no chance of staying with Parsons on the perimeter. Memphis ended up scrambling defensive assignments, hiding Randolph on other perimeter players, but spreading them out still worked to the Mavs advantage, as their normal defensive rotations with two big men in the paint were thrown out of whack.</p>
<p>Dallas slowly pulled away over the course of the game, as their advantage in offensive firepower was very apparent, particularly with <span>Vince Carter</span> playing only seven minutes. Vince, as you would expect for a 37-year old coming into his 17th season in the league, didn't appear too interested in the proceedings. Memphis is really going to need him this year -- they just do not have a lot of scoring, particularly if Z-Bo is off his game on a particular night.</p>
<p>In all likelihood, the Grizzlies will be one of several teams competing with the Mavs for playoff positioning in what should be an absolutely jumbled playoff picture out West. In that respect, this game had to leave you feeling pretty comfortable about the Mavs' chances -- as long as Tyson Chandler stays healthy, Dallas has the size to match-up with the Memphis front-line and a lot more offense in their starting line-up and their bench.</p>
<p>With the pre-season coming to a close, <span>Rick Carlisle</span> is starting to tighten the rotation, as the Mavs only played 10 guys through the end of the third quarter. The two interesting developments on that front were <span>Gal Mekel</span> getting Ray Felton's minutes as a backup PG and Jae "The Beast" Crowder not getting any burn until garbage time, as <span>Richard Jefferson</span> and <span>Al-Farouq Aminu</span> took the majority of the second-unit wing minutes.</p>
<p>Gal is Gal - he's a smart PG who knows how to get everyone involved, but he still can't shoot and the eyes of every Grizzlies guard would absolutely light up when he guarded them. Even guys like <span>Kalin Lucas</span>, a fourth-string PG with almost no chance of making their roster, had no problem blowing past Gal off the dribble. He was playing <span>Jose Calderon</span> caliber defense, which is something to watch if Felton is out for awhile.</p>
<p>The Beast didn't appear to appreciate the extended stay on the bench, as he came into the game firing, hitting 2 off-the-dribble 3-pointers in a short period of time. That could be a battle all season - Jefferson, who had 2 turn back the clock dunks tonight, appears to have an iron grip on a rotation spot while Carlisle was positively gushing about all the things Aminu can do in the post-game press conference.</p>
<p>Either way, if the battle for the 9th and 10th spots in the rotation is the biggest issue for the Mavs coming out of the pre-season, things are looking pretty good. Memphis, in comparison, is still trying to figure out the right balance of offense and defense in their wing rotations as well as who backs up Randolph. You can only tell so much from a pre-season game, obviously, but you have to feel good about how Dallas is playing right now.</p>
<p>The Mavs have two pre-season games left, a game in Shreveport against the <a href="https://www.thebirdwrites.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Pelicans</a> on Thursday and a road date against the <a href="https://www.orlandopinstripedpost.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Magic</a> on Friday. With the start of the season looming, you can expect Carlisle will rest his veterans and try to figure out the battle for the final few spots on the roster in those two games.</p>
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https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2014/10/20/7025495/mavs-vs-grizzlies-final-score-dallas-wins-108-103tjarks2014-10-20T19:12:09-05:002014-10-20T19:12:09-05:00Carter's back, hits same corner game winning 3
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<figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>He still got it.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p>Vince, that's the wrong shade of blue... <a href="http://t.co/RQRpo75Tv7">pic.twitter.com/RQRpo75Tv7</a></p>
— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cato/status/524318716649943041">October 20, 2014</a>
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Maybe he just put on the wrong jersey before the game? Anyway...</p>
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<p>Vince missed four or five straight 20 footers from the baseline, so I told him to step behind the line. "I know! I already made that shot."</p>
— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cato/status/524319584476622848">October 20, 2014</a>
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<p>Hey, that looks familiar... <a href="https://t.co/DANq2NNZsu">https://t.co/DANq2NNZsu</a></p>
— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cato/status/524320447400128514">October 20, 2014</a>
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<p><a href="http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2014/4/28/5659168/vince-carters-game-winning-3-pointer-inside-moment">YEAH, IT DOES.</a></p>
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https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2014/10/20/7024299/vince-carter-dallas-mavericks-spurs-game-winning-three-cornerTim Cato2014-10-20T12:00:03-05:002014-10-20T12:00:03-05:00Previewing Memphis at Dallas
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<figcaption>Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Another pre-season game! Feel the excitement. </p> <p>The division rival <a href="https://www.grizzlybearblues.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Grizzlies</a> head to Dallas for yet another pre-season match up. The game starts at 7:30 CT and should be on Fox Sports Southwest</p>
<h4>Why should we watch another pre-season game?</h4>
<p>Well... uhhh... basketball! Dirk! Monta! The Mavs dancers!</p>
<p>The best reason I have is the return of the fantastic Mark Followill to the booth. He's been on other assignments for the first part of pre-season and Chuck Cooperstein has done a heck of a job holding the fort. But I miss Mark; he's one of the best play-by-play guys in all of sports. At some point he's going to get snatched up by a national media group, so we should appreciate him while we can.</p>
<p>Other than that, you should watch to get an early look at the Memphis Grizzlies. They always play Dallas very tough and should compete with the Mavs for playoff positioning.</p>
<h4>What should we look for? These games don't really matter, you know.</h4>
<p>I've been keeping an eye out for Dirk's new shot mechanics. Initially, I was terrified...I mean, if it isn't broke, why fix it? But thus far, it looks the same, just faster. A more lethal Dirk is a more fun Dirk. The starters should get at least a quarter and a half together, so continuing to watch how they blend and figure out one another's strengths and weaknesses should be fun.</p>
<p>We've talked at length about how the back end of the bench is still up for grabs, so watching who gets minutes and who doesn't starts to matter as we get closer to the regular season.</p>
<h4>You haven't talked about <span>Vince Carter</span> yet. Why not?</h4>
<p>Because I'm not willing to discuss it yet. I haven't fully processed through the grief of losing Vince. There's a lot to be said here and I'm really not the person to say it. I suspect once we get to a regular season matchup and the game actually matters, we might have more to say as a group. For now, just know that Carter is a member of the Grizzlies and they are paying him a LOT of money for his age.</p>
<h4>What do the <a href="https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Mavericks</a> need to do to call this game a success?</h4>
<p>We've already been over the fact that winning and losing don't really matter when as many as 20 different people may see game action. So for the starters, I'd like to see them hang 30-35 points on the stout Memphis defense in the first quarter. For the bench, I'd really like to see <span>Greg Smith</span> look good against a rough and tumble front line. I'd also like to see <span>Gal Mekel</span> keep playing at a reasonable level. Anything past that from other guys is just gravy.</p>
https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2014/10/20/7018027/preview-Memphis-Grizzlies-Dallas-MavericksKirk Henderson