DALLAS -- Mavericks forward Shawn Marion will try to play tonight against the Golden State Warriors.
Marion has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle suffered in last week's win at Milwaukee.
"He's taped," coach Rick Carlisle said when asked whether Marion would play against the Warriors. "He's trying it, so we'll see."
With or without Marion, the Mavericks will try to dictate the tempo against a Golden State team that loves to run.
"We certainly want to be aggressive and want to run," Carlisle said. "But we want to run for great shots and not quick shots that put us in a rat-race game with a team that goes real small. That would favor them much more than it favors us."
Marion has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle suffered in last week's win at Milwaukee.
"He's taped," coach Rick Carlisle said when asked whether Marion would play against the Warriors. "He's trying it, so we'll see."
With or without Marion, the Mavericks will try to dictate the tempo against a Golden State team that loves to run.
"We certainly want to be aggressive and want to run," Carlisle said. "But we want to run for great shots and not quick shots that put us in a rat-race game with a team that goes real small. That would favor them much more than it favors us."
Everything is in place for the Frisco D-League team except a nickname.
Owner Donnie Nelson, who doubles as the Dallas Mavericks' president of basketball operations, is throwing a party for fans who want to suggest a nickname. The shingig will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the Dave & Buster's in Stonebriar Mall.
The fan who comes up with the winning name will receive two season tickets and a "NBA All-Star Backstage Pass Experience."
"There’s nothing more important to us than our fans, and THEY will be the ones to name to this franchise," Nelson said in an enthusiastic press release. "Somewhere out there there’s someone with the Willy Wonka golden ticket and we’re going to find them. The next best thing to winning the chocolate factory is courtside seats… plus mom doesn’t have to deal with belly aches or pricey dentists!!"
Frisco head coach Nancy Lieberman, president of basketball operations Spud Webb and general manager Del Harris will join Nelson at the party. There will be silent auctions to benefit the Frisco Miracle League and the Boys and Girls Club.
Owner Donnie Nelson, who doubles as the Dallas Mavericks' president of basketball operations, is throwing a party for fans who want to suggest a nickname. The shingig will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the Dave & Buster's in Stonebriar Mall.
The fan who comes up with the winning name will receive two season tickets and a "NBA All-Star Backstage Pass Experience."
"There’s nothing more important to us than our fans, and THEY will be the ones to name to this franchise," Nelson said in an enthusiastic press release. "Somewhere out there there’s someone with the Willy Wonka golden ticket and we’re going to find them. The next best thing to winning the chocolate factory is courtside seats… plus mom doesn’t have to deal with belly aches or pricey dentists!!"
Frisco head coach Nancy Lieberman, president of basketball operations Spud Webb and general manager Del Harris will join Nelson at the party. There will be silent auctions to benefit the Frisco Miracle League and the Boys and Girls Club.
There were a lot of interesting quotes I couldn't squeeze into my column about Mavericks rookie Roddy Beaubois. Here's a sampling:
Donnie Nelson: “When you have that kind of athletic package, you know you have something pretty special. But that means nothing if you don’t have the software. When we actually had a chance to sit down, actually watch film with him and see how he saw the game, check his vision and his peripheral, all of those things checked off. We felt pretty good about drafting him, especially where we ended up picking him.”
Mark Cuban: “You guys know how high I’ve been on him and he’s showing exactly what we expected of him. As long as he keeps on learning … I just didn’t know if he’d get the opportunity. He’s one of those rare breeds that’s a true, pass-first point guard that’s also a scoring point guard. He’s almost like J. Kidd. He’ll pass to a fault sometimes, but he’s got the skills to go both ways.”
Rick Carlisle: “He’s just got to continue to stay at it, keep battling out there. The more you play, it gets tougher, because teams see more film on you, talk about scouting and that kind of stuff. But he’s a guy we obviously need to play well.”
Jason Kidd: “The sky is the limit for this kid. Roddy has taken in a lot. He’s starting, he feels comfortable and he does have a lot of talent. He’s going to make rookie mistakes, but the big thing is for him to just continue playing hard and keep learning. He’s up for that.”
Dirk Nowitzki: “He’s impressed everybody so far. He’s picked up a lot of the stuff quick. We all knew that he was fast and could score, but in the NBA game, there’s a lot more than just being fast. He’s learned the rotations, the defense, all the calls. I think he’s adjusted real, real well. We’re all impressed by his progress and improvement. He’s still got a long way to go in this league, but I really like his upside.”
Donnie Nelson: “When you have that kind of athletic package, you know you have something pretty special. But that means nothing if you don’t have the software. When we actually had a chance to sit down, actually watch film with him and see how he saw the game, check his vision and his peripheral, all of those things checked off. We felt pretty good about drafting him, especially where we ended up picking him.”
Mark Cuban: “You guys know how high I’ve been on him and he’s showing exactly what we expected of him. As long as he keeps on learning … I just didn’t know if he’d get the opportunity. He’s one of those rare breeds that’s a true, pass-first point guard that’s also a scoring point guard. He’s almost like J. Kidd. He’ll pass to a fault sometimes, but he’s got the skills to go both ways.”
Rick Carlisle: “He’s just got to continue to stay at it, keep battling out there. The more you play, it gets tougher, because teams see more film on you, talk about scouting and that kind of stuff. But he’s a guy we obviously need to play well.”
Jason Kidd: “The sky is the limit for this kid. Roddy has taken in a lot. He’s starting, he feels comfortable and he does have a lot of talent. He’s going to make rookie mistakes, but the big thing is for him to just continue playing hard and keep learning. He’s up for that.”
Dirk Nowitzki: “He’s impressed everybody so far. He’s picked up a lot of the stuff quick. We all knew that he was fast and could score, but in the NBA game, there’s a lot more than just being fast. He’s learned the rotations, the defense, all the calls. I think he’s adjusted real, real well. We’re all impressed by his progress and improvement. He’s still got a long way to go in this league, but I really like his upside.”
Three wins last week by a total of nine points -- with two of those games going to overtime -- nudged the Mavericks up one spot in ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings.
An OT win in Milwaukee on Dirk Nowitzki's buzzer-beating fallaway jumper, followed by an OT win over San Antonio and a two-point win over Sacramento at home, enabled Dallas to rise from No. 7 to No. 6.
This week's rankings can be found in their entirety by clicking here
Our comment about the Mavs for Week 4:
An OT win in Milwaukee on Dirk Nowitzki's buzzer-beating fallaway jumper, followed by an OT win over San Antonio and a two-point win over Sacramento at home, enabled Dallas to rise from No. 7 to No. 6.
This week's rankings can be found in their entirety by clicking here
Our comment about the Mavs for Week 4:
"The schedule hasn't been the toughest, but the Mavs have also had several injuries early and are just one late free throw in New Orleans away from an 11-2 start, all of that with Nowitzki supplying the only consistency."
Monday means “The Come Up” – our weekly look at the week ahead on the Mavs schedule. Lots of travel for Turkey week. Hopefully Shawn Marion can get back in the mix sometime during this swing. It go a ‘lil summin’ like this…
Tuesday - Warriors, Come Out To Play
Wow, talk about low-hanging fruit. The mood emanating from The Bay Dubs feels downright Post-Apocalyptic. From the outside, it appears that nobody wants to be there. Those on the inside are probably wishing they were afforded the luxury of being a speculating outsider. I imagine the vibe on the bench during a timeout feels something like this.
The Warriors traded Stephen Jackson, their best and most disgruntled player, for Raja Bell – who immediately opted for surgery. He was going to have the surgery anyway, but I’m saying... They’ve been decimated by unhappiness and injuries. Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf have both been on the shelf and Kelenna Azubuike, one of their few great values on a roster loaded with over-priced dudes who all do the same stuff, is likely out for the season.
So far this year has been an unmitigated disaster for The Warriors; which leads me to wonder if anyone uses “unmitigated” without following it with “disaster”. By my calculations Golden State has exactly one quality win – last Friday night’s home victory over Portland. In that game Monta Ellis, the current most vocal malcontent on the roster, played all 48 and dropped 34 to go with eight assists and six steals. He’s fun to watch no matter how unfun his current situation is. I stand by “unfun” as a real word. However, I wouldn’t stand by this team unless you were hoping to get struck by lightning.
Wednesday – Is NASA open on Thanksgiving?
When the Mavericks last played the Rockets two weeks ago they were lifeless for the first 18 minutes and looked like they were going to get run in their own gym by a high energy team playing with no fear. Thirty game minutes later the Mavericks had annihilated the Rockets to the tune of 121-103 in one of the few games this season that they actually got their shots to drop (55%).
If The Mavericks don’t get the blood flowing from the jump on the second night of a back-to-back the day before a holiday they will get drilled. Houston is above .500 because of energy, effort and heart – not high-profile scorers. They spread the floor and go for broke. Trevor Ariza is going for 18 a night, but he’s shooting a poor percentage at a shade under 39%. If rookie Roddy Beaubois is still in the starting line-up Wednesday night, he’ll no doubt draw the assignment of trying to keep lightning-quick Aaron Brooks out of the paint. Have fun with that, rook.
Friday - First one to 100 wins
The Pacers have one of the League’s truly great players in Danny Granger – unfortunately for him nobody is paying attention and he doesn’t have much support. Mikey Dunleavy has yet to play this year and Troy Murphy is just working his way back. So that means the Pacers’ second leading scorer is defensive-minded free-agent signee Dahntay Jones who at 17 a night is 12 over last year’s average of 5 - also his career scoring average.
The Pacers shoot around the same as their opponents from the field and from the line, have the exact same number of turnovers per game at 16 and average the exact same total of points per game as who they’re playing at 99.8. They are the epitome of middle of the road, playing ordinary basketball with mostly innocuous dudes (for NBA standards at least). I do like Roy Hibbert’s future and I’m also wowed by rookie Psycho Hansbrough’s massive social network of people who couldn't possibly allow a pet dog to go missing.
Uptown Saturday Night: LeBron-style
Great early season test on the road as both teams will be playing the second night of a back-to-back (The Cavs play at Charlotte the night before). Put me in the seemingly dwindling camp of people who thinks this is the best team in the east. I don’t get the “Cleveland will suffer because Shaq bogs down the offense” argument since his half-a-game minutes per night replaces one-man offensive clinic Ben Wallace’s half-a-game minutes per night. They were able to score with Ben on the floor and when it’s all said and done they’ll be able to score with the far superior offensive player on the floor as well.
Cleveland did lack movement in the first few games of the season when they looked out of sorts, but second-year rip-the-rim-off jumping jack J.J. Hickson was inserted into the starting lineup and his ability to finish at the rim has made it more difficult for opposing bigs to lose sight of their man on their way to mugging LeBron. On draft night in 2008 I declared that 19th pick Hickson was going to be the perfect fit for The Cavs and that he’d be the steal of the draft. I also said Russell Westbrook was a reach at No. 4, since he was the second best point on his college team, but let’s not worry about that so much right now.
This Cleveland team will be dominant because they got deeper and bigger and they have the best player in the world not named Kobe. This game is the crown jewel of the week ahead and hopefully Dallas has worked back toward health and regained that elusive shooting touch by the time Saturday rolls around.
Tuesday - Warriors, Come Out To Play
Wow, talk about low-hanging fruit. The mood emanating from The Bay Dubs feels downright Post-Apocalyptic. From the outside, it appears that nobody wants to be there. Those on the inside are probably wishing they were afforded the luxury of being a speculating outsider. I imagine the vibe on the bench during a timeout feels something like this.
The Warriors traded Stephen Jackson, their best and most disgruntled player, for Raja Bell – who immediately opted for surgery. He was going to have the surgery anyway, but I’m saying... They’ve been decimated by unhappiness and injuries. Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf have both been on the shelf and Kelenna Azubuike, one of their few great values on a roster loaded with over-priced dudes who all do the same stuff, is likely out for the season.
So far this year has been an unmitigated disaster for The Warriors; which leads me to wonder if anyone uses “unmitigated” without following it with “disaster”. By my calculations Golden State has exactly one quality win – last Friday night’s home victory over Portland. In that game Monta Ellis, the current most vocal malcontent on the roster, played all 48 and dropped 34 to go with eight assists and six steals. He’s fun to watch no matter how unfun his current situation is. I stand by “unfun” as a real word. However, I wouldn’t stand by this team unless you were hoping to get struck by lightning.
Wednesday – Is NASA open on Thanksgiving?
When the Mavericks last played the Rockets two weeks ago they were lifeless for the first 18 minutes and looked like they were going to get run in their own gym by a high energy team playing with no fear. Thirty game minutes later the Mavericks had annihilated the Rockets to the tune of 121-103 in one of the few games this season that they actually got their shots to drop (55%).
If The Mavericks don’t get the blood flowing from the jump on the second night of a back-to-back the day before a holiday they will get drilled. Houston is above .500 because of energy, effort and heart – not high-profile scorers. They spread the floor and go for broke. Trevor Ariza is going for 18 a night, but he’s shooting a poor percentage at a shade under 39%. If rookie Roddy Beaubois is still in the starting line-up Wednesday night, he’ll no doubt draw the assignment of trying to keep lightning-quick Aaron Brooks out of the paint. Have fun with that, rook.
Friday - First one to 100 wins
The Pacers have one of the League’s truly great players in Danny Granger – unfortunately for him nobody is paying attention and he doesn’t have much support. Mikey Dunleavy has yet to play this year and Troy Murphy is just working his way back. So that means the Pacers’ second leading scorer is defensive-minded free-agent signee Dahntay Jones who at 17 a night is 12 over last year’s average of 5 - also his career scoring average.
The Pacers shoot around the same as their opponents from the field and from the line, have the exact same number of turnovers per game at 16 and average the exact same total of points per game as who they’re playing at 99.8. They are the epitome of middle of the road, playing ordinary basketball with mostly innocuous dudes (for NBA standards at least). I do like Roy Hibbert’s future and I’m also wowed by rookie Psycho Hansbrough’s massive social network of people who couldn't possibly allow a pet dog to go missing.
Uptown Saturday Night: LeBron-style
Great early season test on the road as both teams will be playing the second night of a back-to-back (The Cavs play at Charlotte the night before). Put me in the seemingly dwindling camp of people who thinks this is the best team in the east. I don’t get the “Cleveland will suffer because Shaq bogs down the offense” argument since his half-a-game minutes per night replaces one-man offensive clinic Ben Wallace’s half-a-game minutes per night. They were able to score with Ben on the floor and when it’s all said and done they’ll be able to score with the far superior offensive player on the floor as well.
Cleveland did lack movement in the first few games of the season when they looked out of sorts, but second-year rip-the-rim-off jumping jack J.J. Hickson was inserted into the starting lineup and his ability to finish at the rim has made it more difficult for opposing bigs to lose sight of their man on their way to mugging LeBron. On draft night in 2008 I declared that 19th pick Hickson was going to be the perfect fit for The Cavs and that he’d be the steal of the draft. I also said Russell Westbrook was a reach at No. 4, since he was the second best point on his college team, but let’s not worry about that so much right now.
This Cleveland team will be dominant because they got deeper and bigger and they have the best player in the world not named Kobe. This game is the crown jewel of the week ahead and hopefully Dallas has worked back toward health and regained that elusive shooting touch by the time Saturday rolls around.
Humphries has proven he can help Mavs
November, 21, 2009
Nov 21
1:09
PM CT
DALLAS -- There might not be many minutes for Kris Humphries if the Dallas Mavericks’ big men all finally get healthy at the same time.
But Humphries is making it hard to take him out of the rotation.
The 6-9, 235-pound Humphries, widely considered a throw-in with Shawn Marion in this summer’s four-team deal, has established himself as a solid reserve role player in his first dozen appearances with the Mavs. The six-year veteran, who is still only 24 years old, is averaging career highs in points (6.6), rebounds (4.6) and minutes (15.2).
“I’ve got to prove myself,” Humphries said after his 15-point, five-rebound outing in Friday night’s win over the Sacramento Kings. “I don’t think anyone expected me to come into this team and contribute. For me, from day one, I’ve had to prove that I can contribute to a winning team.”
He has definitely done that during the Mavs’ current five-game winning streak, which came on the heels of Humphries’ only DNP-coach’s decision this season. Humphries has averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds during the streak, with the Mavs outscoring the opponent during Humphries’ minutes in all but one of those games.
But Humphries is making it hard to take him out of the rotation.
The 6-9, 235-pound Humphries, widely considered a throw-in with Shawn Marion in this summer’s four-team deal, has established himself as a solid reserve role player in his first dozen appearances with the Mavs. The six-year veteran, who is still only 24 years old, is averaging career highs in points (6.6), rebounds (4.6) and minutes (15.2).
“I’ve got to prove myself,” Humphries said after his 15-point, five-rebound outing in Friday night’s win over the Sacramento Kings. “I don’t think anyone expected me to come into this team and contribute. For me, from day one, I’ve had to prove that I can contribute to a winning team.”
He has definitely done that during the Mavs’ current five-game winning streak, which came on the heels of Humphries’ only DNP-coach’s decision this season. Humphries has averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds during the streak, with the Mavs outscoring the opponent during Humphries’ minutes in all but one of those games.
DALLAS -- The Mavs aren’t nearly as deep as anticipated with three starters sidelined due to various ailments. But they’re still a heck of a lot deeper than the Sacramento Kings.
Dallas’ starter struggled offensively in Friday night’s 104-102 win over the Kings, a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicates. The Mavs’ reserves picked up the slack and then some.
Bench points: Mavs 52, Kings 14.
The Mavs expect reigning Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry to light it up on a regular basis. His 20 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter, were far from a surprise.
But it’s certainly a bonus to get 15 points from Kris Humphries, who hit double digits for the first time in a Mavs uniform and finished two shy of his career high. Tim Thomas chipped in with 11 in his second game since returning from pre-training camp knee surgery.
The Mavs’ climb into a share of the top spot in the Western Conference was truly a team effort.
Dallas’ starter struggled offensively in Friday night’s 104-102 win over the Kings, a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicates. The Mavs’ reserves picked up the slack and then some.
Bench points: Mavs 52, Kings 14.
The Mavs expect reigning Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry to light it up on a regular basis. His 20 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter, were far from a surprise.
But it’s certainly a bonus to get 15 points from Kris Humphries, who hit double digits for the first time in a Mavs uniform and finished two shy of his career high. Tim Thomas chipped in with 11 in his second game since returning from pre-training camp knee surgery.
The Mavs’ climb into a share of the top spot in the Western Conference was truly a team effort.
DALLAS -- The Mavs just can't make winning easy.
They'll be tied for the Western Conference lead if they win this one, but they'll have to fight for it in the fourth quarter against the scrappy Sacramento Kings.
The Kings trimmed the Mavs' lead to 68-65 in the third. Rookie Tyreke Evans is especially giving the Mavs trouble. Triple-double watch is on: 16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds.
Mavs' shooting, on the other hand, is off. They've got the lead despite being sub-40 percent.
They'll be tied for the Western Conference lead if they win this one, but they'll have to fight for it in the fourth quarter against the scrappy Sacramento Kings.
The Kings trimmed the Mavs' lead to 68-65 in the third. Rookie Tyreke Evans is especially giving the Mavs trouble. Triple-double watch is on: 16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds.
Mavs' shooting, on the other hand, is off. They've got the lead despite being sub-40 percent.
DALLAS -- The Mavs' offensive spark came from some unusual suspects.
Reserve forwards Kris Humphries and Tim Thomas carried the scoring load in the second quarter, allowing the Mavs to take a 47-42 halftime lead over the Kings.
Humphries, who hadn't scored in double figures as a Mav, already has 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Thomas, who is playing his second game coming off knee surgery, cranked up nine shots in the half, making four and scoring eight points.
Reserve forwards Kris Humphries and Tim Thomas carried the scoring load in the second quarter, allowing the Mavs to take a 47-42 halftime lead over the Kings.
Humphries, who hadn't scored in double figures as a Mav, already has 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Thomas, who is playing his second game coming off knee surgery, cranked up nine shots in the half, making four and scoring eight points.
DALLAS -- It's amazing that the Mavs aren't trailing by more than two points, considering the way they clanked away in the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings.
The Mavs shot a butt-ugly 32 percent from the floor. Drew Gooden did the most damage, making only one of eight shot attempts despite operating from point-blank range on the vast majority of those shots.
Dirk Nowitzki had a wide-open look at a 3 at the buzzer, but he bricked it off the side of the rim.
The Mavs aren't exactly putting on a defensive clinic, either. The Kings hit 12 of 22 attempts from the floor, with all but one of their buckets coming in the paint.
Kings 24, Mavs 22.
The Mavs shot a butt-ugly 32 percent from the floor. Drew Gooden did the most damage, making only one of eight shot attempts despite operating from point-blank range on the vast majority of those shots.
Dirk Nowitzki had a wide-open look at a 3 at the buzzer, but he bricked it off the side of the rim.
The Mavs aren't exactly putting on a defensive clinic, either. The Kings hit 12 of 22 attempts from the floor, with all but one of their buckets coming in the paint.
Kings 24, Mavs 22.