Mavs Morning Donuts: The Nowitzkiness Of It All

We battle through a Dirk Nowitzki hangover to provide Mavs Morning Donuts that actually touch on other aspects of the sports world beyond the Dirk Nowitzkiness of Dirk Nowitzki on this Dirk Nowitzkiest of days ... but only after mentioning that The UberMan's 40/11/5/5 night makes him just the third NBA player to in the last 20 years to achieve such a line:

    DONUT 1: So, Jerry Sloan, who the hell was supposed to be guarding Dirk Nowitzki?

    I give the stage to the Utah coach:

    "Well there wasn't obviously anything we were able to do with Nowitzki. I'm not sure that maybe we should've tried a couple different things. Mehmet, I think, had one or two fouls when he started guarding him and Boozer had five. And try to keep them out there we put Mehmet on him and I don't think we did a very good job.

   “(Dirk) was sensational. He made every basket and got to the free-throw line, but the most important thing he did was he was able to take the ball to the basket. When were coming down to trying to finish the game we had I think four turnovers in the fourth quarter. And you could feel the momentum kind of shift in that situation because they had the spirit and we turned the ball over a couple times we felt sorry for ourselves. I think it made it tougher for us to try and finish the game. …
   "We might've tried to double (Dirk) or tried something but they still had some pretty good shooters out there on the floor. And they were into a rhythm where I felt like if we go off and leave Terry or even Jason Kidd -- he's out there on the floor, he hasn't shot the ball especially well, but you know him in that situation is going to be able to make a 3-point shot. So you're looking at 3's to have to defend against and you try to keep him off the top of the basket and try to play him. We pushed him to the short-side of the floor one time I think, the rest of the time he went to the long side where he had a lot more to operate and get on top of the basket."

    And there you have it. Props to Sloan for addressing it head-on. But no props to Sloan for attempting to keep Dirk from scoring 40 in the game and 29 in the final quarter by assigning Mehmet Okur to him.

    No props. But an open invitation to do it again next time.

    Because when you add it all up, not sinch Shaq in 2001 and since David Robinson twice before that has an NBA player gone 40/10/5/5.

    Wow.

    DONUT 2: Utah is another one of those teams that the “experts’’ frequently rank above the Mavs. But by my count, the Jazz have now lost six in a row at the AAC. It’s not unlike the love given the Blazers as a West “power’’; Portland cannot be a West power until Portland gets better than the Mavs, which they simply have not done.

    Now New Orleans … struggling as the 1-3 Hornets are … that’s another story. (CP3's start: 29 ppg, 8.5 apg.) And we learn more about that story tonight at 8:30, Mavs at Jazz, second night of a back-to-back, as Dallas hopes that Tuesday’s fourth quarter just keeps going and going. …

     DONUT 3: The Mavs went straight from the AAC to the plane last night, landing in New Orleans early this morning. Wondering how these back-to-backs affect outcomes? Ask the Utah Jazz. They were on the back end of same when they somehow suffered a 27-point negative turnaround in a game you may have heard about.

     DONUT 4: From Henry Abbott: Don't look now (and in this sample size, it literally does not matter) but just for fun ... the plus/minus numbers show the Nuggets are better when Carmelo Anthony sits.

     Not to sound like a hater when it comes to the pocket-calculator set, but this is why no measurement will ever overtake The Eye Test.

     DONUT 5: Who are the league leaders in Twitter?

     DONUT 6: The “FISH on FOOTBALL’’ stuff is up and running at Blogging The Boys. Stats, snark, insight, quote, news, more snark. ... please head on over to Mike Fisher’s new Cowboys home at BtB and enjoy! Show your support for all things FISH and check it out! 

     DONUT 7: Yessir, this would be a very, very good time to order “The UberMan’’ T-shirt.

     Your DallasBasketball.com T-shirt is available! The “DallasBasketball.com classic’’ and “The UberMan’’ and the “Fish for Lunch’’ and “The DUST Chip’’ are yours for the taking! Please visit the DB.com Store today! 

    P.S.: Some very fashionably astute Mavs fans who live in San Antonio have ordered up “the classic’’ DB.com shirt just in time for the Nov. 11 Mavs-at-Spurs meeting. Look for ‘em on the TV!

    DONUT 8: Shawn Marion talks to SI.com the same way he talks to us: Upbeat, non-stop, ball-of-energy stuff.

    DONUT 9: Drew Gooden’s “homophobic slur’’ directed at a Clippers fan? The investigation continues.

    Here is a pretty complete wrap-up of the players involved in this supposed “hate crime.’’

    DONUT 10: David Lord’s note on Tuesday about the possibility of Dallas eventually finding a way to acquire Marcus Camby shouldn’t slip by the smart Mavs fan. File it away for the trade deadline. ... while continuing to contemplate not just the "who'' (Camby) but also the "how.''

    DONUT 11: Sorry, PC Sports Police, but a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader dressing up for Halloween like Lil’ Wayne is not “blackface.’’

   DONUT 12: Here’s all the discussion you’re every going to need on Popeye Jones’ DUI arrest ... and if you are awaiting my comment on it (and according to my emails, you are), here goes:

    This didn’t “happen to’’ Popeye. There are conflicting reports on how the face of the Mavs staffer became bloodied (did he fall or was he pushed after resisting arrest. … and if he resisted arrest, why wasn’t he charged with it?). And of course, a DUI arrest does not establish guilt.

    But if it is true that “other motorists’’ phoned police about Jones’ “erratic driving’’ and with police deciding Jones was intoxicated enough to be arrested – again, that doesn’t mean he will be convicted – “fate’’ or “bad luck’’ didn’t “happened to’’ Popeye Jones.

    I think Popeye is a good man and I believe him to be not only a valued member of the Mavs family but also a valuable member of this community. But if the allegations are true, then as with any of us who make this potentially tragic choice, Popeye Jones “happened to’’ himself.

   DONUT 13: I’m not laughing at my colleagues, here, I’m laughing with them … and heck, with 8:32 remaining in last night’s game, I admit I was thinking the same thing.

   Here’s a DMNews post from that moment, as Dallas was down 74-60:

   Might as well rest up for tomorrow night's game at New Orleans the way the Mavs are playing.

   The media, including yours truly, was thinking of packing it in, going home, and resting up.

   Good thing the Mavs were otherwise occupied at the time and therefore not reading our dopey opinions.