Friday Mavs Donuts. Because Donuts Aren't Just For Breakfast Anymore

As Dallas Contemplates Trades, Is One In The Hand Worth Two In The Bosh?

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

    DONUT 1: It’s Stein’s headline – “Mavs Looking Hard At Trade Options’’  -- and it’s a continuation of a running theme we’ve addressed in this space a skillion times. Here’s the breakdown, in three simple steps:

    *Is one in the hand worth two in the Bosh? (Or LeBron or Wade or whomever?)

    *Do the Mavs refrain from swinging for an extra-base hit now in anticipation of hitting a grand slam in the summer?

    *How many more Gerald Wallaces and Stephen Jacksons can Dallas afford to say “no thanks’’ on now because of the $25 mil score (DUST plus J-Ho) they can dangle later?

    Simple enough for you?

    DONUT 2:.From Hedo. “Ball.’’ The video.

    DONUT 3: Frequent DB.com contributor Mike Bacsik has been sucked into a semi-controversy of sorts, due to a suggestion from a Washington Nationals teammate that maybe Mike grooved pitches to Barry Bonds so Bacsik could be forever linked to a famous home run and reap all the fame and riches that come with it.

    Bacsik is handling this with his customary good humor, but let me testify on his behalf on two fronts:

    *Bacsik is a “ball guy.’’ A baseball lifer. Dad was a big-league pitcher, too. I know them both. They’re both salt-of-the-earth types. This accusation doesn’t fit.

    *”Fame and riches’’? Bacsik has parlayed his involvement in a record home run with a job producing Norm Hitzges’ radio show. … doing it because he loves it. … and being paid the crummy going rate those of us in radio are all too aware of.

    Again, the accusation doesn’t fit.

    DONUT 4: It’s FISH and the MAVS on ESPN! But a programming note: We’ve got “Mavs Magazine’’ this weekend on Sunday … 10 to 11:15 a.m. … on 103.3 ESPN Radio!

    DONUT 5: I would caution us to not beat up JJB too badly for his lack of Dirk-centric execution last night in Phoenix. Can we agree that Barea was just doing his job? And that his job is to dribble-drive, to get to the rim, to accelerate pace? He did all those things. That’s his job. That’s his nature. If we don’t like it, we should be upset that he was put in the position – as down-the-stretch point guard – to fail.

    DONUT 6: To the victors go the spoils. So let’s go to … Jared Dudley?

   "It's a different challenge," the Suns’ scrub said of trying to guard Nowitzki. "He's someone that, his spots are so crucial where he catches it at. … And all I did was try to beat him to his spots, push him out, and then just stay down and try to put my hands up."

    Jared Dudley, ladies and gentlemen.

    Jared Dudley.

   DONUT 7: Everything is OK with Josh. No, it’s better than OK! It’s Super-OK!!

   Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: Mark Cuban has a theory about Josh Howard's play this season. It doesn't have anything to do with whether Howard is starting or coming off the bench. It has to do with attitude. It is Cuban's opinion that changes that Howard has gone through off the court have had an impact on his play.

   “Josh has worked so hard to be a good teammate and fit in that it's taken a little of the edge off of him,' Cuban said Thursday. 'We've asked him to kind of change who he is a little bit, be -- for lack of a better word -- invisible. People were talking about him off the court. And he's done everything perfectly. He's been the ultimate professional and that sometimes takes an edge off of what happens on the court.’’

   See? Super-Duper OK!

   DONUT 8: By virtue of Dallas’ loss to the Suns, Rick Carlisle will be beaten out by Denver’s George Karl as the coach of the West team in the All-Star Game.  

   DONUT 9: Paul Shirley follows up his hatin’ on Haiti with an apology … with a clarification … with a shorter version of the same offensive take on why he won’t give a cent to struggling humans who cannot help themselves.

    My view, in short: There are myriad reasons why Haiti is a hellhole. Crime. Corruption. Racism. Slavery. Earthquakes. In the long view, all of those things are obviously worthy of examination. But in the short view, if a child has a wound, and you have the capacity to bandage the wound, you bandage the wound.

    I don’t mind if you don’t want to offer your money to Haiti. But while you don’t offer your money, can you also keep to yourself your venom?

   DONUT 10: You can follow me on Twitter. At twitter.com/fishsports ... My chamber is loaded.

   DONUT 11: Simmons says my Vikings now join the Cubs as the most tortured teams in sports. And no, the Mavericks aren’t even close to being high on this list.

    DONUT 12: Amare sits out the whole final quarter of the Mavs-Suns game (after getting one total rebound in the first three quarters. Coach Alvin Gentry says, “There’s nothing at all in that,’’ meaning “don’t read anything into it.’’ Meanwhile, Stoudemire is rolling with it, too.

    "It's all good," Stoudemire said. "I brought out the pom poms for the last, for the fourth quarter. They did a great job out there on the court, so I just had to cheer them on."
     I don’t know whether to applaud Amare for this bout of unselfishness or to break it to him that this might’ve been the night when the NBA officially declared him Not Worth $20 Mil A Year.

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333pm jan 28 2010