Mavs Donuts: Coming Home With 3 Road Wins

Tuesday Morning Donuts, featuring the NBA’s most unstoppable shot (it belongs to the Mavs), the NBA’s top Plus/Minus fivesome crown (it belongs to the Mavs), and a well-deserved day off (it belongs to the Mavs). … oh, and a stunningly snide slight from ESPN directed at Dirk Nowitzki ...

   DONUT 1: Guess which fivesome is the Plus/Minus Kings of the NBA?

   DONUT 2: For the record, yes, The One-Legged Euro Lean-Back is the most unstoppable shot in the NBA. Look at the photo. Or ask the Bucks’ Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. He’s considered the Bucks’ best defender. He did everything right, finishing with a hand high and in Dirk’s face, but ...

    "I tried to deny him the ball, but (Kidd) threw (the inbounds pass) high and (Nowitzki) caught it," Mbah a Moute said. "I was trying to make him drive, but he shot that fadeaway. It was a tough shot. ...’’

    Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is the Bucks’ best defender. He tried to deny the pass but could not because of Dirk’s height. He tried to make Dirk uncomfortable but could not because Dirk had found his pet spot. He tried to contest the shot but could not because of The One-Legged Euro Lean-Back.

    It doesn’t always go in; what does? But The One-Legged Euro Lean-Back is the most unstoppable shot in the NBA. 

   DONUT 3: Not everyone understands this, of course.

   I introduce you to Steve Levy of ESPN's SportsCenter, in charge of describing the highlights of a game in which Dirk put up a 32/11 and made an impossible game-winner. ... describing a person who has won an MVP award ... describing a person who has led his team to nine straight playoff berths and an NBA Finals appearance ... describing a person who has a lifetime playoff average of 25/11, numbers matched only by immortals Petit, Shaq, Elgin and Hakeem.

    DONUT 4: The Tennessee Titans owner stands up in the owner's suite and flips a double-bird for all to see? A senior moment, because Bud Adams is 86?

     Nah.

     Some 16 years ago, the Cowboys played his Oilers in the Tokyo Bowl, a preseason game in Japan. And at the press conference to begin the week, Bud Adams showed up smashed. He sat up on the podium along Japanese dignitaties, sweating profusely, completely unaware that his toupee was slowly sliding off his head.

    Bud Adams, 86, has had “senior-moment’’ behavior for 86 years.

   DONUT 5: Reunion Arena is coming down. And so is Texas Stadium.

   DONUT 6: Ron Artest is going to star in a movie. And “Malice in the Palace’’ is going to co-star. The league should be very proud.

   DONUT 7: Don’t forget, every Saturday at 10 a.m. it’s “Mavs Magazine’’ hosted by Mike Fisher (that’s me!) on the Mavs’ flagship station, 103.3 ESPN Radio!

   DONUT 8: Marc Stein posts at TrueHoop: "There is some hope, according to NBA front-office sources, for a three-way deal that is currently in the exploratory-discussion phase. Sources told ESPN.com that the 76ers and Kings, in considering the feasibility of a Samuel Dalembert-for-Kenny Thomas swap, have discussed expanding that concept with Boston by trying to draw in the Celtics on a potential three-way deal that would land Andres Nocioni with the Celts. Sources further stressed over the past 48 hours that this should be classified as an ongoing conversation as the teams involved decide how much they like what's on the table. But the full deal as it stands, if it eventually gets that far, would send Nocioni to Boston, Kenny Thomas, Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine to Philadelphia and Dalembert and J.R. Giddens to Sacramento."

     Now, here’s what that means to you, Mavs fans: Unless you want Dalembert and his contract, you don’t want any part it this. Indeed … why does Sacramento want Dalembert and his contract?   

    DONUT 9: What did Dallas’ offense do to Milwaukee last night in that 115-113 OT win? Among other things, Dallas shredded the Bucks’ top-ranked defense.

   * Dallas shot 65 percent in the first quarter

    *Then Dallas upped its total to 68 percent at the half

    *Then with 9:22 left in the third, the Mavs were up to 69 percent

    *By the end, Dallas had settled for 51.2-percent shooting.

     And once all the calculators were done? NBA.com’s John Schuhmann notes that the Bucks entered the game as the No. 1 defensive team in the league … but that three hours later they’d dropped to No. 6.

    DONUT 10: The Mavs are taking the day off today. The Spurs are already in town (and having a shootaround this morning). But after a B-2-B, two wins, an overtime experience, a Marion ankle injury, Damp going to the hospital and just the sixth win ever for this frachise in Milwaukee?

    Yes.The Mavs are taking the day off today.

    DONUT 11: Today’s Cowboys column is up at Blogging the Boys. In it I pose some questions about why this “power offense’’ didn’t flex its muscles in Green Bay. Enjoy!

    DONUT 12: I’m going to visit one-on-one at an event tonight with Jason Kidd and after what he did in Milwaukee – just missing a triple-double with 17 assists, 10 boards, nine points, 3-of-4 on 3-pointers but yet no 2-pointers and no free throws – I might just ask the 36-year-old one question:

    How do you do that?

    DONUT 13: Some At the risk of overkill, I’m going to pound this drum again, as I did in my game story: Dirk Nowitzki stating “We deserved to win this game’’ is bold. Now, coach Rick Carlisle sort of said the same thing – but he was polite enough to note that the Bucks played hard enough to deserve it, too.

     And then Dirk topping his remarks by adding: “I’m proud of this team!’’? That’s an important statement … not one he makes annually, not one he makes flippantly.

     The UberMan is proud of this team … and I bet he’s not alone.