Saturday Mavs Donuts: Donnie, Damp And Radio

Donnie and Damp jump on the radio with me this morning. ... Carlisle playing it coy about J-Ho, too? The world's tallest teenager, who wants to go from waterboy to football player. ... here come the Raptors ... and here comes LeBron? It's Saturday Morning Donuts as we get ready for "Mavs Magazine'' at 10 a.m. on 103.3 ESPN Radio!

    DONUT 1: I’m proud to have been chosen by 103.3 ESPN Radio to host “Mavs Magazine,’’ the decade-long weekend show that focuses on the NBA team – and we debut this season’s show today at 10 a.m. with the help of Donnie Nelson and Erick Dampier!

   The show will run from 10-to-11 a.m. every Saturday through the NBA season.

   I’ve gotten a lot of requests regarding phone calls, live streaming and podcasting. I’ll have more answers to all those questions after today. But coming right up … Be listening this and every Saturday morning to 103.3 ESPN Radio!

     DONUT 2: I mentioned yesterday that Rick Carlisle might’ve been being coy about Roddy Beaubois; if the Mavs’ injuries forced French Cuffs into the lineup at New Orleans, why shouldn’t he play again tonight, when the Mavs might just have 10 healthy bodies?

    But Slick Rick was also very close-mouthed about Josh. … maybe too quiet?

    I bet Dallas will look for Josh Howard to test his ankle at this morning’s shootaround and then make some evaluations from there.

    We’ll keep you posted.

     DONUT 3: As respectful as Rick Carlisle was yesterday in practice regarding tonight’s opponent, the visiting Raptors (7:30 tip at the AAC), fact is, Dallas swept Toronto last season, winning 96-86 on the road and 109-98 at home. With Shawn Marion switching allegiances, I expect no less this time around.

    Nothing against Hedo, but …

     DONUT 4: Actually, though, Toronto may be developing into a four-star/semi-star team. Bosh, obviously. Hedo? Sure. Bargnani? Boy, Carlisle certainly talked about him in that way. And he has jumped from, what, a 12-ppg guy to a 20-ppg guy? And Calderon, I guess?

    No wonder they beat the Hornets in N.O. last night …

     DONUT 5: Also in Dallas’ favor tonight, of course: The Raptors are prepping for the butt end of a B-2-B after last night's win in New Orleans. 

    And let me take this dig at N.O.: Haven’t the Hornets – just months removed from being (yet another) “hot, young, up-and-coming team that is someday going to win a title’’ – devolved into a one-man team with supplementary All-Star-caliber help from D-West, occasional help from Okafor, and then nobody else?

    The people they throw out there – good enough to beat Dallas this week, I know – certainly don’t constitute what looks like a contender to me.

     DONUT 6: “FISH on FOOTBALL’’ stuff? Check out 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: 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!

    DONUT 8: The Celtics lose to the Suns and the Nuggets lose to the Heat and both games last night serve as a reminder. As Erick Dampier said in reflection of Dallas’ lost at New Orleans, “It’s a long season.’’

    DONUT 9: I like Steiny Mo’s piece on the top possible Summer of 2010 destinations for LeBron for two reasons. One, I naturally like the fact that he included the Mavs in the top five. Fun! But two, it’s clear that as much as a piece like this simply must be largely speculative, it’s clear he’s done some substantial digging here. Read the Miami portion of the column; Marc isn’t just making up junk there.

    And of course, when Stein writes about the thoughts of Mavs management, he never makes up junk there, either.

    DONUT 10: A smart way to get tickets to see your Mavs?

    We’ve got Mavs tickets, courtesy of MavCowTickets.com … a special that gives DallasBasketball.com readers:

   *A 10-percent discount with the purchase of any Mavs home game made two weeks prior to the game

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    *Oh yeah: A simple way to be given two FREE tickets to a Mavs game

     If you order any non-Mavs tickets, Ryan of MavCowTickets.com will give you two FREE Mavs tickets to a Mavs home game of Ryan’s choice.

    Also worth noting pertaining to Mavs home games, anything that says “emailable tickets’’ or “email tickets’’ will qualify for free shipping (it still makes you include the shipping charge when ordering, but Ryan will take it out) when ordering at least three days before a given Mavs home game. 

  I’ve received dozens of letters from readers who are so pleased with MavCowTickets, and with Ryan’s personal touch (order those tickets and you’ll experience it yourself!) … make sure you mention “dallasbasketball.com’’ in the order notes to qualify for all these great specials! Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed!

    DONUT 11: Sammy Sosa doesn’t look right. Is this a medical condition or a makeup situation? 

   DONUT 12: It’s an epidemic! NBA players are breaking their arms!

   DONUT 13: Meet Brenden Adams. He’s a middle-school kid who wanted to move from being the football team’s waterboy to earning a uniform. Oh, and he's the tallest teenager in the world. (Kleenex Alert!)