Drew Gooden now a Maverick

NBA teams understand the unpredictable nature of free agency. You can never know how a player will adjust to a new system, the effect a new player will have on the chemistry of a team or the effect of other intangible elements will have on a team.  Granted, some signings are a little easier to predict than others, but for the most part you cannot be sure the effect a free-agent will have on a team until some point well into the season.

Not one expert–not John Hollinger, not Mark Stein, not Mark Cuban nor Donnie Nelson–can accurately predict the effect the singing of Drew Gooden will have on the upcoming season, neither can I; however, I do have a few observations about the signing.

First, let’s examine the good.

Assuming that the Mavs use Gooden primarily as a 5, the Mavs have instantly improved what has traditionally been the lowest scoring position on their squad. I’ve thrown the numbers out there several times in the past few weeks, but Erick Dampier averages only 7.9 PPG for his career and averaged only 5.7 PPG last season.  Gooden averages exactly 12 PPG for his career.  I will say we should tap the brakes just a little in regards to scoring.  Gooden has played only sparingly at the 5 position throughout his career, so the numbers might not translate exactly to his new position, but he definitely posses the athletic tools necessary to be a much more effective offensive threat than Dampier.

Dampier constantly frustrates the Mavs coaching staff, teammates and fan base with his inability to finish on the offensive end. Gooden has better hands and a better shot, so one would think his scoring average would not drop too drastically moving down to the center position. The Mavs have struggled to score in the paint for several seasons and Gooden should be able to help those numbers. Gooden is also a much better free throw shooter than Dampier, which can come in handy late in the game.

Obviously, this makes Dampier expendable. A lot has been made about trade potential that Dampier’s expiring contract presents. It looked like we were faced with another season of Dampier and Ryan Hollins at the 5, but with Gooden signed, the Mavs can now re-sign Hollins and shop the Dampier contract.

Gooden also brings playoff experience in a more youthful body than Dampier. While Dampier has appeared in more playoff games (52) than Gooden (44), Gooden has started more playoff games (40) and logged more playoff minutes (1,191  minutes) than Dampier (32 games started; 1,150 minutes).  Gooden has averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds per game in the playoffs, while Dampier has averaged 5 points and 6 rebounds per game. Both have appeared in one NBA Finals, yet Gooden is seven years young than Damp. At 27, Gooden would be the baby of the starting line up.

It scares me that none of Gooden’s former teams showed much interest in him. He admitted himself on his Twitter account that he was surprised that neither Cleveland nor San Antonio showed “as much interest as other teams.”  The Cavs have never made it to the NBA Finals without Gooden, yet they didn’t seem to think he was vital enough to bring back to their team. I got to see Gooden first hand in the Mavs/Spurs series and was impressed with his limited play. I don’t know why the Spurs chose not to use him more. Evidently, there was something about him the coaches did not like.

It’s too early to tell whether or not this will end up being a good signing for the Mavs, but I definitely think it has some potential. Maybe not as much potential as Marcin Gortat and it’s definitely not as sexy as getting Shaq, but this could very easily upgrade the Mavs at the 5 position, which could help tremendously down the line.

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Marcin Gortat

Thus far, the most compelling news of this NBA off-season has been the jail sentence of the Denver Nuggets’ J.R. Smith. Out of all the adjectives in the English language,  “underwhelming” best describes the Mavs draft picks–a Euro point guard, a mid-major project and a guard with potential who will spend a year in Greece. At first glance, I was equally unimpressed with the organizations interest in the 6-11 Marcin Gortat.

I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t watch much Orlando Magic basketball, and  Gortat’s 3 ppg and 4 rpg average doesn’t instill a lot of confidence. However, Gortat got those numbers as a back-up, averaging 12.6 minutes per game; Erick Dampier averaged 5/7, as a starter, in 23.0 minutes per game, so if the numbers hold, Gortat wouldn’t be much a drop off–production wise–from Dampier.

Perhaps the most exciting prospect Gortat brings is his youth. The Mavs looked old against the Nuggets and looked middle-aged against an ancient Spurs team. They need some youth. I still hope that Ryan Hollins is the future at center for this team, but a Gortat/Hollins combination is younger than a Dampier/Hollins combination and should translate into more energy on the court.

In order for this to be relevant, the Mavs must remain committed to the youth already on the team. This means going out and resigning Brandon Bass and ironically making sure Jason Kidd signs his three year offer. Kidd will be instrumental in shaping the future of this franchise. If we expect any of the young guard prospects on this team to develop, it will require Kidd’s experience and tutelage. Additionally, the Mavs must make sure they turn the expiring contracts of Jerry Stackhouse and Dampier into youthful contributors during the course of this off-season. I know it may be asking for too much, but it would be nice to get a young prospect in exchange for Devean George.

As I step back and look at it, the Gortat signing has potential as the first piece in a much bigger off-season puzzle for the Mavericks.  In order for it to work, the Mavs must make additional, more substantial moves this off-season.

A look at the major sports championships…

I’m beginning to take a look at the decreasing relevancy of the NBA in the wide world of sports. One of the things that has killed the NBA over the past few decades is the lack of parity.

I’m 30 years old, in my life time ONLY 9 different teams have won the NBA title. Here is a breakdown of the number of different champions each sport has had in that 30 year span (1979-2009):

Major League Baseball -  21 (Oddly, Major League Baseball is the only one of the 4 major leagues without a salary cap. However, in terms of number of champions, they have had the most parity over this time period.)

NFL – 14 (Yes, their have been several franchises who have won multiple titles during this 30 year stretch, but nothing like the NBA.)

NHL – 12 (Not as bad as the NBA, but Canadians, Rangers, and Oilers won a lot of hardway in the early part of this stretch)

NBA – 9 (What makes the NBA stat. even more uncompetitive is that 25 of the 30 NBA titles won during my life time have gone to 5 teams: Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Bulls & Pistons. Houston won an additional two.  Miami, Philadelphia and Seattle are the only other teams to win titles in my lifetime.)

I’ll have much more later  on the relevancy of the NBA. For now, chew on these numbers.

Mavs Mental Toughness

As with most Dallas Mavericks fans, the memory of Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals remains fresh in my mind. I remember, vividly, the excitement through the first 2 ½ quarters of basketball in that game, glowing in the very real possibility of a four game sweep and the soon to follow championship parade snaking through downtown Dallas.

From the end of the third quarter of that game, through Game 5 of the San Antonio series on Tuesday, the NBA post-season has been a nightmarish time for me and legions of Mavs fans. First, I watched Dwayne Wade pull off his best imitation of Michael Jordan (with a little help from his friends with whistles) and lead the Miami Heat to four straight victories to claim the 2006 NBA title.

In 2007, I watched all 82 games, as the Mavericks compiled a 67-15 record heading into the playoffs as the #1 seed against the #8 seed Golden State Warriors. In what still may be the biggest upset in professional sports post-season history, the Warriors dominated the round 1 series from the start, dispatching of the Mavs in six games.

Last year, the Mavs still managed to win 50 games, but entered the playoffs with a lot of excess baggage. The New Orleans Hornets had no trouble whatsoever in dominating the series, but the off-the-court issues overshadowed and outweighed the on-the-court disappointments.

During the off season, Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson and the other decision makers in the Mavericks organization decided to stay the course, replacing only the coach and choosing not to make any major moves with the roster. This lack of movement baffled critics, MFFL’s and the media talking heads alike and many felt the Mavs would continue to struggle.

 After a disastrous start to the season, the fears seemed legitimate. Indeed, some felt that the initial assessment of the damage done to the team’s psyche and chemistry was far too conservative. Around the All-Star break, something began to change within this team and despite a few set backs the Mavs began to play like a transformed team, a transformation that has carried into the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

Mavs fans, our little Mavericks are now a mentally tough team.

For years, the knock against Dirk Nowitzki has been that he does not perform under pressure. Whether it was missing key free throws in Game 6 of the 2006 Finals or allowing his emotions to overcome him when dealing with double and triple teams, critics certainly have a lot of evidence to point to in their argument. Throughout the last two months of the season and in the San Antonio series, we began to see a different Dirk.

The blueprint that Don Nelson drew up for beating the Mavs in 2007 was shutting down Dirk.  “Take Dirk out of the game and the Mavericks can’t score” was the philosophy the Warriors used and the Hornets copied.  Sure enough, the Spurs continued to focus their defensive attention on Dirk, but this time, Dirk showed true discipline and decided to handle the situation differently, passing the ball to other teammates, which opened up the offense, getting some of the key role players involved in the scoring.

In the past, many teams tried to exploit the emotional side of Dirk. They recognized that if you stifled him physically, he could become emotionally frustrated, lose focus on the game and commit costly errors (i.e. missed free throws, turn overs, technical fouls, etc.). Again, over the course of the final two months of the regular season and during the San Antonio series, we began to see a new Dirk emerge, a Dirk more in control of his emotions and more focused on the mental aspect of the game.

In the past, the confidence of the Mavericks seemed to hinge on the performance of Dirk. They heard the chatter that without Dirk they were nothing and seemed to believe it. Perhaps no one player epitomized this more than Eric Dampier.  In spite of his size and strength, Dampier has always been a bit of a timid player, unsure of himself, even when Dirk was hot.

This started to change over the last part of the regular season as well and we saw flashes of a changed Dampier in Games 1 & 2 of the San Antonio series, but it was Dampier’s comments after Game 2 regarding Tony Parker and the energy he brought into Game 3, refusing to let the media criticism and scrutiny of the NBA Gestapo get to him.

Dampier did not put up gaudy statistics in the San Antonio series and he made a couple of bone headed mistakes during the series, but the Mavericks don’t need a double-double out of Dampier to be successful. They simply need Dampier to play his role. If you look at Dampier’s performance over the last two months of the regular season and his performance during the San Antonio series, you will see that he is playing with his most confidence and his best basketball since joining the Mavericks, possibly in his NBA career.

In the past, critics railed that the Mavericks lacked “poise,” a vague, intangible element that I place under the “mental toughness” umbrella.  For the sake of this post, “poise” simply refers to the ability to remain steady throughout the course of a game or series, refusing to succumb to the ups and downs that will surely come. 

The 2006 Mavericks squad lacked “poise” and when they blew a 13-point lead in Game 3 of the Finals there was no recovering.  The 2007 Mavericks squad lacked “poise” (and confidence) heading into the Golden State series and they never put up a fight. The 2008 Mavericks squad lack a lot of things, including “poise.”

What’s different in 2009? Jason Kidd!

Yes, Kidd was part of the 2008 that lacked “poise,” but, as discussed earlier, there were other issues at play with the 2008 team (even then, it was his “poise” that led a furious comeback in Game 5 of the New Orleans series). Throughout this season and throughout the San Antonio series, Jason Kidd has been the steady, guiding hand—dare I say the leader—of this team. 

Without a doubt, the biggest mental liability on this team over the past few seasons has been Josh Howard. Where do we begin? In last year’s playoffs, Josh Howard decided to declare over the air waves that he was a proud pot smoker. He followed this up by shooting around 26% during the New Orleans series and decided to throw a birthday party for himself on the same night the Mavericks suffered a huge defeat at home to the Hornets.

Contrast that with the San Antonio series where J-Ho was consistent from start to finish in all games. Whereas the last few seasons, J-Ho appeared to be just stepping on the court to draw a paycheck, during the San Antonio series you could actually see passion and emotion in his face. His previous lack of performance in the second half was due to a lack of focus. The energy with which J-Ho is playing with this season, helps to keep that focus throughout the game. (This focus can be seen off the court as well. Just compare his interview from the past two seasons to his interview this season.)

The Mavericks have grown mentally tough. How this happened is not so much as important as how to keep it.  Denver is one of those teams that only folks from Denver can like , a cast of miscreants and social deviants who will stop at nothing to try and expose the Mavericks as physically and mentally soft—hard fouls, taunting, showboating—all attempts to draw the Mavs offsides.

Which Mavericks’ team will we see in the Denver series—the Mavs teams of ’06, ’07 & ’08 or the Mavs team of the San Antonio series?

Why do Mavs continue to get no respect?

Over the course of the past decade, the Dallas Mavericks have posted some pretty impressive stats: 9 consecutive 50 win seasons, 9 consecutive playoff appearances, 2 trips to the Western Confernce finals, 2 NBA 6-Man of the Year award winners, one Coach of the Year, one MVP and one trip to the NBA Finals. Led by an outspoken owner, perhaps no mascot fits its team better than the Mavericks.

In spite of all of this success, the NBA stills looks upon the Dallas Mavericks as some freak sideshow, not worthy to share the same stage with the Lakers, Celtics, Spurs or even with pretenders like the Nuggets, Cavs, Hornets, and Rockets. Only the Spurs can match the Mavericks consistency over this time period, yet all of the aforementioned teams and even some non-playoff teams (Suns) get more love than my beloved Mavs. Why?

Sure, we’ve had our share of hiccups. Our 67 win season ended with one of the biggest upsets in professional sports history and no one in Dallas will soon forget the two game lead we blew in the 2006 Finals, but that’s no reason to turn your back on a franchise. The Houston Rockets have, since the late 90′s, consistently choked down the stretch and in the post season. However, the NBA talking heads shower the Rockets with praise every chance they get.

The Nuggests, Lakers, Celtics, Cavs and Hornets have all been lottery teams with losing records this decade–the Mavs have not. Yet still no love for the mighty Mavs.

More than any other league, the NBA is a fraternal organization comprised of players inside and outside the circle. Kobe, LeBron, Tim Duncan, etc. compose the inner core and these mix and mingle with the greats from the past. The Mavs roster, over the past decade, has consisted of outcasts from this fraternal organization. Those inside the circle keep with their own kind and praise those who they know best.  The Mavericks roster is filled with maverick individuals. The establishment reject this attitude and attempts to demonize this organization any attempt they get.

2009 NBA Playoffs: Mavs/Spurs Game 3: Part 1

 I had a great time at the game last night. Mavs looked great, offensively and defensively. We were able to hold Tony Parker in check, Timmy Duncan ended up with 4 points and Eric Dampier backed up his words with muscle on the court. Without a doubt, it’s the best game that Dampier has had in a Mavericks’ uniform. 

Going forward, I hope we can carry this momentum in tomorrow’s Game 4. Also, I would like to see Jason Terry get more involved. 

Prior to the game, Dirk Nowitizki was honored as the Western Conference Play of the Month for April 2009. 

 

Unfortunately, the television cameras were positioned opposite the suite and, as such, the presentation of the award was made towards the opposite side of the arena.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2009 NBA Playoffs: Mavs/Spurs Game 3: Part 2

Eric Dampier and Tim Duncan get set for the tip. From this point on, everything went our way.

 

2009 NBA Playoffs: Mavs/Spurs Game 3: Part 3

From the opening tip, a host of Mavericks, including Jason Kidd, applied defensive pressure to Parker. He never adjusted and looked out of sorts the entire evening. Rumor has it that Kidd begged Coach Rick Carlisle for this defensive assignment.

 

 

2009 NBA Playoffs: Mavs/Spurs Game 3: Part 4

On the opposite end of the floor, Kidd ran the point and led an early offensive explosion.

2009 NBA Playoffs: Mavs/Spurs Game 3: Part 5

At this point, the Spurs had to think that things would eventually get better for them, but they never did. This would be the closest the Spurs would be the remainder of the evening.