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Mavs On the Right Track?
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By Tovash Hatcher
The Dallas Mavericks are now 2-4. After a seemingly blistering 3-game road trip the Dallas Mavericks have finally returned by familiar territory called the AAC. Dallas picked up two wins on that 3-game road trip and did it in an impressive fashion. After falling to the red-hot LA Clippers the Mavericks' coaching staff was left scratching their heads.
Who is that Cuttino Mobley cat and what did he do with Dirk Nowitzki? Mobley, who is not known for his defense expertise with the Clips, did a fine job against Dirk. Basically he locked up the German and didn't allow Dirk to get loose at all. Scoring just 19 points on 7-20 shooting, Nowitzki and the Mavs were smothered by the Clippers and their defense.
Back-to-back games are brutal to NBA players because they require traveling and little sleep. The average Joe however, loves to play everyday because there is just nothing to do. To these players back-to-backs hurt but for some reason, the Mavs used their first set of back-to-back games to get a win...on the road...and for the first time this season. The victim: The Phoenix Suns. The win was televised on national TV and had a playoff-type feel to it. The Mavs took the die-hard Phoenix team to the wire before stopping the Suns on key possessions. Dirk Nowitzki followed up that bad performance against the Clippers and responded with a 35-point performance. He shot 11-19 from the field and a perfect 12-12 at the free-throw line. They knocked off the struggling Suns by the score of 119-112.
This will be a long NBA season and keeping pace will be the name of the game in the Western Conference.
The final road game came against the Portland Trailblazers where Dallas pretty much had control over that game. Dallas came out connecting on all cylinders against Portland. And what would the Mavs do without Dirk Nowitzki? The 2-4 record has to be frustrating for Maverick fans because their superstar is doing what he needs to be doing and that's taking control of the game. But is Dirk wearing himself out? I like to think that Nowitzki is getting his body ready for the long season, but will someone else step up?
The problem is injury and chemistry. Besides Nowitzki, Dallas needs another 2 scorers that can put the ball in the hole. They normally look to Josh Howard and Jason Terry to help in the points category. Josh Howard has been sidelined for approximately 2 weeks due to a bummed ankle and Jason Terry has been shooting the ball a little better lately. Howard is said to be back around the 20th, but can that set him back a little longer? Howard recently signed a contract extension worth over $40 million for 4 years with the Mavericks.
Jason Terry has caught fire in the last couple of games for Dallas. Scoring 30 and 24 points in the Mavs' two wins, Terry has been taking the focus off Nowitzki. Teams will start to pay more attention to a hot shooting Terry compared to a very passive Terry. If you can recall, in last year's Finals Terry carried the Mavericks in the early part of the Finals and then took a back seat later on. The Mavericks cannot afford to have an inconsistent Jason Terry during the course of the NBA season.
And for those who think that the Mavericks are the defensive team that Avery Johnson hoped to have, guess again. The Mavericks need to get their act together on the defensive end if they want to a least sniff the playoffs. They are 13th in the West in giving up points. They are allowing 103.7 points per game in 6 games. That's where the 2-4 record is coming from. Its not how many points Dirk can score, or how many 3's the team can hit, its how many points the other teams are scoring on Avery Johnson's squad.
The Mavericks are home tonight against a solid defensive group in the Chicago Bulls. The Mavs are yet to record a victory at home and look to beat up on the Bulls to get their first win in their backyard. The Mavericks will need to look to run past the Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace and the rest of the Bulls. Chicago's guard play raises many critics' eyes around the league. Chris Duhon, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, and Ben Gordon are 4 players that head Coach Scott Skiles loves to coach. They are a disciplined bunch that can guard the ball well and score in bunches. The Mavs will have their hands full against Chicago at home at the AAC. Will Dallas withstand the Bulls to get their third straight win? We'll talk about that and look down the road at the Memphis Grizz on November 20.
I'm Tovash Hatcher
7:11 PM
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