Mavs 113, Pistons 88: Your All-Access Pass

Mavs 113, Pistons 88 in a preseason game that included strategic lineups, a threat/promise/observation about Marion and Howard, shooters finding their hot zones, an untimely gentlemen’s club visit … and the anticipation of LeBron and “The Cooties’’.… It’s Your All-Access Pass:

 

 

    DONUT 1: Dee-Fense. Really -- The Mavs have talked a good game defensively. But as they moved to 3-1 in the preseason, against Detroit they also performed like they meant it. Dallas – which had habitually been giving up 107+ points -- was in control all the way in surrendering just 88 points and in allowing the Pistons to near 40-percent shooting.

    "Special teams can (play) both (ends)," Carlisle said. "They can play a flow style offensively, but they still have the wherewithal and the awareness and toughness to get back and play a physical brand of defense and not just get into a shot-trading team. To be a special team, we're going to have to do both."

    Is the difference one of philosophy? Personnel? Attitude?

    Carlisle says his coaching staff has changed little from last year in terms of philosophy. He raves about the personnel upgrade (newcomers Marion and Ross are top-notch defenders). But attitude – or effort, or concentration, or whatever you wish to call it – factors in, too.

    The Mavs keep stats on everything, of course. On that list is “Contested Shots.’’ Guess which Mav leads the team in “Contested Shots’’ at 84 percent?

    Jason Terry, who by reputation is arguably Dallas’ least-credentialed defender.

    That’s attitude.

 

   DONUT 2: Do you even notice the refs? -- Mark Cuban was on the Dan Patrick Show and was asked for his views on the absence of the regular referees:

    “I want to see the traditional -- the old refs -- come back,’’ he said. “They’ve worked their butts off and given a lot of blood, sweat and tears and so have their families to the NBA. So I want to see them come back. ... But I think everybody expected the replacement refs just to crash and burn and they haven’t. The three games that we’ve had, they’ve done a really, really good job. There’s no agenda, there’s no game management, it’s just call the game the best you can and to me that’s refreshing.’’

    I’m sure Mark has statsheets that can demonstrate that those refs have agendas and these refs don’t, and I don’t dispute any of that. But I’ve got a bigger point: If all of last year’s veteran refs retired – all of them, all at the same time – what would the NBA do?

   It would hire these guys. And after some initial adjustments and some initial complaints, we’d all move on.

    I’m not being anti-ref enough to suggest that we do that, that we “move on.’’ I’m simply pointing out that last night, I was at the AAC from 5 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. And I did not hear one person utter the phrase “replacement refs.’’ Nor did I think about the phrase. Not once.

 

    DONUT 3: Quinton Ross’ offense is … -- Well, Quinton Ross’ offense is going to have to come from his defense.

   And he’s got the right mindset for that.

   Ross started the second half at the 2-guard and helped give Dallas the look Carlisle referred to above. Ross got his points (11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, with four assists and two steals) but he did so largely off the strength of being a defensive specialist.

    “We talked about it at halftime, but our defensive intensity wasn’t right in the first half,” Ross said. “We were giving up too many easy buckets. So in the third quarter, we just made a conscious effort defensively.”

    And for Ross, that effort is how he’s going to score 11 in a game, one end feeding the other.

    Said Jason Terry: Don’t be surprised if you see defensive play like that. All of these (new guys like Ross) are long, athletic and can get their hands on balls. And it’s rubbing off.”

 

   DONUT 4: They Coulda Been A Contendah -- Rick Carlisle was a quote machine all night, but this one tops it:

   “If we’re going to be honest, we were very average in the first half. But we played an excellent third quarter. In the third quarter we looked like a team that was a contender.”

 

   DONUT 5: Tim “The Thermometer’’Thomas -- The Cavs come to town on Saturday, and LeBron James and a couple of the fellas are being treated for the Swine Flu.

   Or, “The Cooties,’’ as LeBron calls it.

   They laughed at me back then, like they laugh at all great advanced thinkers. … but who is laughing now?

   LeBron is on the Texas trip, and he should be ready to go against the Mavs. But the league truly is stepping up its efforts to be careful.

   So far, the Mavericks have been lucky in that nobody on the team has been knocked out for any serious time by flu-like symptoms.

   "We've done everything," Carlisle said. "Hey, Swine Flu is everywhere. We have a much higher awareness level and more of a proactive approach to it this year than in past years. If guys wake up at home and have a fever, they're not going to come to practice. It's as simple as that. But knock on wood. You got to do everything you can to stay healthy."

    In fact, on Wednesday, Tim Thomas wasn’t feeling well and was sent home from practice. And present in Thomas’ locker on Thursday night was a sealed oversized Baggie containing a surgical mask, some medicine and, yes, a thermometer.

 

   DONUT 6: P.S.: The good people at DB.com Boards know exactly what I’m talking about here. Fist-bumps, people. Fist-bumps.

 

   DONUT 7: Marion And Howard Might Not Start?! -- Just to clarify this morning’s story: There is no indication that Josh Howard (ankle) and Shawn Marion (calf) are doing anything but rehabbing like crazy to ready themselves for the Oct. 27 regular-season opener. At the same time, I’m saying – and I think coach Rick Carlisle is also saying – that there’s really no good reason the guys shouldn’t be ready.

   As always, we’re dealing here with (as Carlisle likes to note) “Mother Nature.’’ At the same time, Marion has indicated that he is sitting out this week as a precaution. And owner Mark Cuban recently said that Josh was “80 percent’’ and could play if Dallas was about to participate in a game of importance.

   So while it’s worrisome to think of Marion and Howard not being ready, it just shouldn’t happen.

   And while it’s almost fun to think of Marion and Howard coming off Dallas’ bench – Marion, Howard, Gooden, Terry, JJB, Roddy, Q, Kris … that’s quite a bench! – it just shouldn’t happen.

 

    DONUT 8: The Pistons Are … Um. … ‘Gentlemen’ --I thought it was sort of weird to see half the Pistons on the court at about 5:15 … and the other half come strolling off the bus at just after 6 p.m. But heck, it’s just a preseason game.

    I thought it was sort of notable that Detroit so obviously ran out of gas in this game, Dallas opening the third quarter with a 15-3 run to go up 18, and then maintaining the advantage to enter the fourth quarter ahead 92-73. … and all of that coming after the Pistons led early 20-11.

    So I think it’s worth mentioning that the city of Dallas – considered by NBA players to be a glamour stop in the league – lured some of the Pistons into its nightlife on the eve of the game.

    Yeah, a good chunk of the Detroit fellas did the gentlemen’s-club thing into the wee hours. Nobody got hurt, it’s all legal, it’s just sex, and nobody woke up the next day with a tiger in his hotel room.

     But a good time was had by all. And then, 17 hours later, a bad time was had by all.

 

   DONUT 9: Three straight wins -- This was Dallas’ third straight win of the exhibition season, not especially notable until to scan the boxscore and note how successfully Carlisle has achieved his goal of mixing and matching with preseason lineups.

   “Really it’s about playing your best with who you have available,” Carlisle said after the game.

   The humility is appreciated, but really, it’s about more than that: It’s about using combinations that work as opposed to grab-bagging. It’s about quickly acknowledging what isn’t working (James Singleton started but played just 12 minutes) and finding something that is. It’s about getting 15 guys to buy in, and it seems like they have.

 

   DONUT 10: Execution? I’m in favor of it -- The Mavs did a fine job of executing at the end of quarters here (a long-time DB.com pet peeve) and the Pistons took notice.

    Said Detroit coach John Kuester. "The problem we have to understand is finishing quarters. The first quarter we are in a pretty good rhythm and them they go on a 10-2 run. Second quarter, 9-2 run, and that is where we have to continue to focus on executing and making sure that they don't have as many spurts in a game as they did. We addressed that before. They are a really good basketball team …’’

   We’ve always said that “really good basketball teams’’ know how to succeed out of timeouts, know how to perpetuate runs, know how to close out quarters. Dallas did all that here.

 

   DONUT 11: Heat Stroke -- Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki have found their stroke.

   Drew Gooden and Kris Humphries did their scoring in a different way.

   Add it all up and it was a barrage of offensive weaponry on display.

   Terry finished 8-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-5 from the arc, for 21 points. Ten of those came in the third quarter, when the Mavs turned this into a laugher. Dirk scored 15. Gooden scored 16. And the effort guy, Humphries, did it again with 14 points and nine rebounds.

 

   DONUT 12: Roddy Beaubois as a starter -- I’ll have more on the rookie coming up later, but for the moment, in a camp of ups and downs, let’s celebrate an “up.’’

   “He was our leading scorer when he went out of the game in the first quarter,” Carlisle said. “He’s got tools, and he’s got skills that will help our team.”

    One quarter in, and French Cuffs is starting, leading the Mavs in scoring, and showing that promise …

    It didn’t last long. Roddy scored five points total … one fewer than the number of fouls he totaled. So there were downs.

    But he’s got tools and he’s got skills.

 

   DONUT 13: Fishellaneous -- Major offensive weapon on Thursday: Pick-and-rolls, screens, forced mismatches. Some of was by design, some just the result of BBIQ, but Dallas might be developing a knack for it. … Dallas is introducing the “MavsU” program, designed to offer college students an opportunity to attend Mavs games at a discounted rate. For more information call 214-747-MAVS or visit Mavs.com. … I know Nathan Jawai missed his dunk. But I’m going to hate giving up on a 6-10, 280-pound kid who seems to have his head screwed on right … If Dallas doesn’t keep Jake Voskuhl, he probably quickly gets work elsewhere. Phoenix? … The new HD screens at the AAC are, in their own way, every bit as incredible as Jerry’s TV over at Cowboys Stadium. They help bring the upper-level seats in on the action. Very cool. But there are still kinks to be worked out in all the new electronics at the AAC. In the third quarter the shot clock shut down and the scoreboard stopped updating info.The talk in the Mavs’ pregame locker room included two subjects: “What’s wrong with the Cowboys offense?’’ and “Who is the best Dallas-area native playing in the NBA?’’ Consensus answers: “T.O. in Buffalo’’ and “Chris Bosh closing in on Larry Johnson.’’   

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959am oct 16 2009

 

                                                     

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