Monday Morning Donuts: Mavs Play 'KISS' & 'TEAM'

Monday Morning Mavs Donuts, in which we sing with “The Who,’’ run from the cops and shoot ourselves in the thigh. … oh, and stuff in there a few sidebar issues from the Mavs’ 95-90 win Sunday at Detroit, too. … featuring Drew Gooden benefitting from "K.I.S.S.'' and Shawn Marion stressing "T.E.A.M.'' ...

     DONUT 1: I believe Drew Gooden’s success against the Pistons is a case of "K.I.S.S.''

     Prior to Sunday's game at Detroit, Dallas center Erick Dampier became ill and was taken to the hospital. (Damp didn’t travel with the team to Milwaukee for tonight’s game; he’ll return to meet the team in Dallas as his “symptoms have subsided’’ – though we still don’t know exactly what the illness was.)

    The illness vaulted Gooden into the starting lineup. This was the role Mavs management hoped he’d win … but Damp’s excellence and Gooden’s inconsistency and injury (rib muscle) had kept him in very much a reserve role.

    And even in a role where he was moving toward being the fans’ whipping post.

   “I didn’t know I was starting until they were announcing the lineups,’’ Gooden said after a game in which he scored 11 points and had 11 rebounds, by far his best effort of the year. “I though Erick was still on the floor with us.’’

  With no time to over-think the thing or to goof up the thing, Gooden looked very much in the flow. He was also in his East-style element, playing against old foe Ben Wallace and Detroit – and Gooden didn’t back down from the physical challenge.

     “This was an opportunity, ‘’ Gooden said, “and with all the talent on this team, I knew I needed to take it.”

     DONUT 2: The DB.com Company Picnic is coming up. I’m thinking of entering the Three-Legged Race and rigging it so Plaxico Burress and Vincente Padilla are my opponents.

      DONUT 3: And now, with a home failure against Houston, the Lakers have lost two straight. And three on the year – the same number of losses Dallas has. So I guess LA will have to settle for finishing 79-3?

      Lakers fans aren’t especially comforted by their team’s arrogance, as evidenced by the boos that showered the team last night at Staples Center.

      DONUT 4: I know that after what happened in Green Bay (read all about it at Blogging The Boys), you are down on the Cowboys’ chances of making this year’s Super Bowl. But here’s a lock: Do you know who will perform as the Super Bowl halftime show?

     The Who.

     Which is exactly what every viewer under the age of 40 will be asking himself.

     DONUT 5: 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 6: The Nuggets’ J.R. Smith is changing his name to ‘Earl.’ That way it’ll be harder for law-enforcement officials to locate him.

     DONUT 7: And speaking of criminals: You know it’s bad when Tennessee’s top football recruits can’t even run away from the cops.

   DONUT 8: Sammy Sosa’s skin is getting lighter. Apparently he thinks being associated with the White Sox isn’t enough.

    DONUT 9: Want FISH on the radio? You get 103.3 ESPN Radio’s “Mavs Magazine’’! We’ll do it every Saturday through the NBA season, from 10-to-11 a.m., on the Mavs flagship station, 103.3 ESPN Radio! … it’s the official Mavs radio show, full of Mavs guests – players, media, coaches, you name it!

    Oh, and thanks, too, for the response to my work on the Mavs pregame and postgame shows with hosts Ben & Skin. That’s going to continue to be a regular deal, so. … most game nights and every Saturday, we serve you Fish on 103.3 ESPN Radio!

    DONUT 10: I’m hearing all these Bill Belichick apologists defending his fourth-and-2 go-for-it decision in New England’s 35-34 loss at Indy, and none of the observers who’ve been around for 15 years or so should say one more word in defense of Belichick until they made a phone call.

    A phone call of apology to Barry Switzer.

   DONUT 11: Allen Iverson goes AWOL from the Memphis Grizzlies. And here’s a response from the Memphis Grizzlies fan base: “Join the club.’’

   DONUT 12: Mike Tyson punched a guy at an airport. Gives new meaning to the phrase, “connecting flight.’’

   DONUT 13: Shawn Marion earned a point with me here. And I hope with you, too. The Matrix arrived in town with the reputation of a superstar who pouts when he isn’t treated as a superstar, a rep built while he was something less than the first option on those great Suns teams. I keep waiting for him to show any sign at all that those accusations and that reputation is true.

    So did you notice on Sunday night that as good as Marion was during his …minutes (11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block) … that he only got …minutes? And that he exited the game with 8:55 remaining and never returned?

    I kept thinking that the guy who is clearly this team’s best two-way player might’ve come in handy in a tight game, but … nope.

    Was he hurt? Not that I know of.

    Was he pissed? Not that I know of, given his postgame visit with the media, in which he was everything you hoped he’d be.

     “Sometimes, things don’t go the way you draw them up and you have to grind a game out,” Marion said. “This was going back and forth, but we got some big stops in the fourth quarter and hit some shots.”

    Sounds to me like Shawn Marion is a member of this team. At 7-3, a pretty good team.