Mavs 98, Rockets 94: Donuts In Review

It’s Mavs Saturday Morning Donuts, as we review the preseason finale, a 98-94 tune-up in Houston that featured elation (in the form of Shawn Marion), exasperation (in the form of Josh Howard) and ejections (in the form of Dirk Nowitzki and Drew Gooden) …

    DONUT 1: The most important on-court issue: Shawn Marion return. The Matrix sat out three straight preseason games while nursing that sore calf, but he seems ready to roll now. He took himself for a first-half spin, playing 21 minutes, and then pulled himself back into the garage with 14 points, five rebounds and a look forward.

    "It was a little tight, but everything went good," Marion said of his injury.

    And of the exhibition ganes? “We're all glad the preseason is over,’’ Marion added.

    You’ll notice, by the way, that this isn’t the 3-point-launching Marion from his Phoenix days (not that there was anything wrong with that; he was doing what that coach asked him to do). This is the “Easy Baskets’’ Marion that we’ve seen during his preseason appearances: 6-of-7 shooting on dunks, layups, cuts to the basket, drawing free-throw chances.

    This is a very good Shawn Marion.

    DONUT 2: The most important off-court issue: Erick Dampier wasn’t with the team; my understanding is that his personal-reason absence is due to his wife experiencing some complications in her pregnancy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dampier family.

     DONUT 3: The absence of Damp meant more burn for Drew Gooden, who started at center and showed some real fire that he directed at both the Rockets (12 points, 10 rebounds and confrontation with Pops Mensah-Bonsu) and the refs.

     Gooden was ejected with 8:19 to play in the game. Then, oddly, a couple of minutes later, the replacement refs allowed him back into the game.

     Is that a first?

    Oh, and in fairness about that fire: I completely concede that had that been a Rocket shoving a Mav instead of a Mavs shoving a Rocket, we’d all be complaining about how cheap-and-thuggy those Houston guys are.

     DONUT 4: Holger Geschwindner, the German guru who serves as Dirk Nowitzki’s trainer, mentor and friend, is in town for a visit. Maybe The UberMan had an evening appointment with Holger to row a boat or blow a sax or something, because after performing spectacularly throughout  – Dirk had 32 points in 32 minutes – he, too, earned himself a fourth-quarter ejection.

    And this one stuck.

    What happened: The Mavs were up three with 3:49 left when Dirk was whistled for a loose-ball foul. Nowitzki already had five fouls, and had this been the regular refs, maybe a superstar doesn’t foul out of a close game on an innocuous play. But this was the final game for the replacement officials – and for official Lorenzo Brunson, reportedly his first and only NBA game – and Lorenzo made his mark. Nowitzki reacted to the unusual occurtance of fouling out by offering a Beginner’s Course in Lip Reading and was doubled-T’ed up.

     DONUT 5: No Josh Howard here, of course – and not much confidence that he’s ready for Tuesday, either – so the Mavs were forced to play mix-and-match at the 2-guard. In a bit of a weird twist, free-agent signee Quinton Ross – who came to his hometown team before the Marion trade and with the promise that he might get a chance to start at the 2 with Josh at the 3 – now might find himself the starter after all.

    The 6-6 Ross certainly gives the Mavs a different look than if, say, Jason Terry or JJB were inserted into the first unit. And I mean that in a good way. On the other hand, it is also a retro look, reminiscent of seasons in which prime minutes at the 2 were given to Adrian Griffin and Greg Buckner and Antoine Wright, very one-dimensional players.

     DONUT 6: One more thing on J-Ho: It looks like this may be a situation the Mavs will have to get used to.

    Said Carlisle of Howard: "It may be a while before Josh plays.’’

   And I’m still left wondering why rehab on ankle surgery takes seven months …

     DONUT 7: Here's your boxscore. If you take a moment to scan the Houston side, you will begin to understand why the Rockets went through the fourth-quarter skid during which they just could not score: Without McGrady (and Yao, of course), who was supposed to be that team's go-to guy? Is Trevor Ariza being asked to jump from being the Lakers' fifth-best player (or whatever) to being the Rockets' best player? That's quite a leap.

    DONUT 8: The UberMan's shaggy hair is still shaggy. For now. Additionally, his goatee seems to be filling in. He really oughta keep that look. Any woman could tell him that! Maybe he should get a girlfriend and ...

    Oh. Never mind.

    DONUT 9: When the first-team scorers like Dirk and Marion are on the bench, the second group will be challenged to score in ways beyond 20-foot jump-shooting. Someone needs to inform Gooden, Humphries and Singleton of this. This team has enough “shot-hunting’’ with people who are actually good at it without having to endure role-playing “scrappers’’ who suffer from delusions of jump-shoot grandeur.

    DONUT 10: We probably got a pretty good look at where the second group fits in. Jet and JJB are entrenched, of course. And Damp and Drew Gooden are starting centers 1 and 1A. That would seem to leave Kris Humphries and James Singleton battling for the job as the ninth man. (A personal aside about Singleton, and I didn’t get this thought from a coach, it’s just me: I don’t think he’s had a very good, or very impactful, camp. Maybe it’s because Humphries has lapped him in that “make-something-happen’’ role?)

    And remember, that’s for a club without both Howard (who obviously fits into the top group) and Tim Thomas (still rehabbing from recent knee surgery.

    I think Thomas will play a specialist role at best when he returns – and in some cases, he’ll be in competition with Matt Carroll even for that much playing time. And then there is Roddy Beaubois, who I guess will begin the season on the outside of the rotation looking in.

    There is certainly depth and there are certainly a variety of pieces in coach Rick Carlisle’s toolbox.

    “We have a lot of different ways we can go,’’ Carlisle said.

    DONUT 11: They say that on an athlete, “the legs are the first to go.’’ Well, with Jason Kidd, I think we know what will be the last to go: his hands.

    Not that the score is that important, but Kidd again at the steering wheel? That’s important. He poked away an assortment of Houston attempts at staying in the game, and then with 1:01 left, clanged in a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer to essentially seal the win.

   DONUT 12: Kidd's linescore is a thing of efficient, impactful beauty. he made three of his five shots, a good-enough contribution. But he also pulled down seven rebounds, had 10 assists, had three steals and totaled 14 points.

    Go back and look at that boxscore: There is barely a Rocket who was a better scorer, there is barely a Rocket who was a better rebounder, there is barely a Rocket is was a better assist guy, there is barely a Rocket who was a better defensive guy.

    Jason Kidd turned this game into his own personal decathlon ... and he pretty much finished first or second in every event.

   DONUT 13: Finally we move on to the regular season. It’s serious … and you might want to dress the part. … in your DallasBasketball.com T-shirts! At the Oct. 27 opener against the Wizards, you will see folks wearing them. (Especially the “DallasBasketball.com classic’’ and “The UberMan.’’

     Wouldn’t you like to see those same folks see you wearing one?