Friday Donuts: Dallas 1 Game Back

   It’s a 7 p.m. start against the Grizzlies in Memphis. Do not take a win for granted. Do not fear the Oop. Dream just a little about the Summer of ’09. Ponder the Grant Hill April Fool’s joke. … and if you are paying attention, you already know this:

   Your Dallas Mavericks are a game – just one game! – out of elevated themselves to the No. 7 slot and away from the Dead Men Walking slot.

   Donuts!

We've gotten a little lob happy, if you've noticed," Carlisle said. "I'm waiting for somebody to throw a lob to Cuban. …’’

   Actually, leave it to the astute analysts at DB.com Boards to come up with a better BBIQ idea:

   DONUT 2: Run those same plays for …

   Dirk Nowitzki.

   Now, they wouldn’t exactly be alley-oops. Nor would they exactly be lobs. But the foundation of the play would be the same. I’ll let DaMavs02 explain:

   I also think they need to get Dirk moving toward the basket more while he's off the ball. If you ever see Howard or Terry trying to drive and creating some space, then getting bottled up and passing it back to Dirk, he's always standing near the three point line and catching the ball flat footed. I think Terry could get him the ball on the move toward the rim, or at least for an open jumper if Dirk was running toward the open area.
   It seems to me like the types of plays that get Hollins and Damp buckets could get Dirk those easy looks as well.

   DONUT 3: We should have none of this “overlooking’’ foolishness and none of this “trap-game’’ foolishness tonight, OK? The last time Dallas played Memphis, on Jan. 4, Dallas was favored by nine but lost by 20, 102-82. 

   I said it at the time and I’ll say it again: THAT is the sort of game that, three months later, haunts a team that has been trying desperately to climb 2.0-games out of eighth in the West.

   DONUT 4: I’ll be honest with you. I gave up on Dallas getting some standings help last night when I was watching Utah-at-Denver and the Jazz got off to a quick 20-10 lead. After all, the Mavs just haven’t caught a break there. (Consider NO, which has won three straight miracle games in the final minute.)

   My bad.

   The Nuggets won, 114-104, so the Mavs are no longer 2.0-games out of first.

   One game. One game back of the seventh-place Jazz.

   DONUT 5: Josh on O.J. Mayo? Wright on O.J. Mayo? And then in the final five minutes, Kidd on O.J. Mayo?

   DONUT 6: Give the 20-54 Grizz some credit for trying to establish that they’re not the worst of the worst. Memphis has won two in a row and three of four. They’ve done it against Sacramento, Golden State and Washington.  … and being better that Sacto, GS and the Wiz is a step in the right direction.

   DONUT 7: Let me just put this Summer of ‘09 bug in everybody’s ear and I’ll leave it alone: What if some on-the-down-side big-time talent is floating around in free agency and can get only MLE-sized money? What if two of those guys are Shawn Marion and Allen Iverson?

They come with baggage, yes. But what if they come that cheap?

Let’s stay tuned on this one.

   DONUT 8: Why did Grant Hill’s name appear in a boxscore alongside the words: ‘DNP/Old Age/Lack of Talent’?

   DONUT 9: Out of the corner of my eye tonight I will be watching Rockets-at-Lakers, in part to see if Kobe and Ron-Ron entangle themselves in more of their homophobic/pseudo-macho banter.

   The only thing that is really serious is the competition,” Artest said. “If anybody thinks they’re going to see any type of dramatic fight, they might as well watch another game or watch another sport because that’s not going to happen. …’’

   Son, you’ve got it all wrong. When you and Kobe get to talking – according to my lip-reading skills – it doesn’t seem to be leading up to a fight.

   “Oh, I’m your bitch now?’’

   “I love you.’’

   “I don’t love you.’’

   It seems to be leading up to a makeout session.

   DONUT 10: It’s an interesting dynamic in Memphis – and a dynamic that I know nothing about, having lived in “pro-sports towns’’ all my life. In Dallas, there isn’t a college program so huge that it can cast a shadow over a pro team. (UT’s national title in football, for instance, was a separate success from anything the Cowboys were doing.) When I was in San Francisco, Cal and Stanford sports were not issues on the same level with 49ers, Giants, A’s, etc. When I was in Denver it was all Broncos. And growing up in Minnesota, Vikings, Twins and Stars lived on a higher plane than Gophers.

   So it is interesting that as I dig around for media info on the Grizzlies, I keep bumping into references to “Coach Cal’’ and the Memphis Tigers. I don’t see that as particularly healthy for the NBA in that city, that somehow everything the local college program does interjects itself into anything the local pro team does.

    Check out the Memphis newspaper’s website this morning.

   Starting at the top of the page, there are 13 (thirteen!) Tigers-related stories.

   Then comes three stories on the Redbirds. (Minor-league baseball.)

   Then, finally, comes the Grizzlies story – and guess what the story is about?

   The lack of fan interest in the Memphis Grizzlies.

   DONUT 11: Memphis, by the way, employs four kids who can score 20 – and who have recently all been pretty much doing just that. PG Mike Conley, in the last two games, is averaging 21.5 points, five rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals. Marc Gasol is averaging 17.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in the last four games. Rudy Gay has scored 20 or more points in five of the last eight games. Mayo is averaging 18 points and 7.3 assists in the last three games.

   DONUT 12: Big fun last night with Choppy & Greggo on ESPN 103.3. Thanks for having me, boys. (Any opportunity for me to cram references to Paula Abdul, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Mick Jagger, Emmitt Smith and Marcel Marceau into one paragraph and I can talk all night!

   I’ll be doing ‘FISH on ESPN’ again Sunday at 1:20 p.m. as part of the “Mavs Insider’’ pregame show before Suns-at-Mavs tipoff. Be there!

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855am  april 3 2009