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MavsFanFinley · 03-29-2004, 11:04 PM

The game preview mentions that Finley will play tomorrow night.

Mavericks come home to questions

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Coming home has never been so tough for the Mavericks.

After nine days on the road, they got back to work at American Airlines Center on Monday and were peppered with questions about the drama that unfolded on the 2-3 road trip.

“The team’s not divided,’’ said coach Don Nelson. “The team just hasn’t played very well. I think they’re trying to do what we want. It’s just not working.’’

Nelson, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and others discussed the fallout of Nowitzki’s comments on Friday that the team was not playing as a unit from top to bottom.

“Self-evaluation is tough,’’ Nelson said. “You guys would have a tough time admitting your mistakes, as would I.

“And for athletes, it’s the hardest thing in the world because they’re always taught they’re the best at everything they do. When a coach comes along and actually tells them they have some flaws, sometimes it’s hard for them. But that’s our job.’’

Nowitzki did not back off his comments that some players were pouting when they were taken out of games.

“I just felt like it needed to be said,’’ he said. “I was disappointed and frustrated at the moment. Probably shouldn’t have said all of it. But that’s the way I felt at the moment. It was the lowest point of the season. I spoke out and now we move on. I don’t think we won as a team or defended as a team, so we have to address that.’’

Nowitzki added that there may have been reprisals from Nelson. The two met about the comments. Neither coach nor player would discuss what was said in the meeting. Said Nelson: “I’d rather keep those things behind closed doors. But if the players choose to talk, then you deal with it.’’

Other players were hoping to put the drama behind them.

“When you’re losing road games we should have won, the competitiveness is going to make you make comments,’’ said Finley. “As far as the pouting, everybody wants to play 48 minutes. When you’re in there, you have to give it your best. And when you’re not, you root for those guys who are. That’s what makes good teams great teams.’’

Antoine Walker said he did not believe that he was the subject of Nowitzki’s ire about some players not buying into Nelson’s systems.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,’’ Walker said. “I don’t worry about anybody’s comments. We’re on the same page. This is a matter of putting the effort on the defensive end. Everybody’s doing too much talking. Let’s just play basketball.

“If we don’t get it together defensively, we’re going to go home early in the playoffs. I got to look at myself in the mirror and everybody has to look in the mirror. We got nine games to improve on that.’’

A better test: After getting their small-ball sea legs against small, outmanned Orlando on Sunday, the Mavericks will see a better and bigger team tonight in Cleveland.

Cleveland has 7-2 Zydrunas Ilgauskas at center and 6-8, 255-pound Carlos Boozer, who is averaging 11.5 rebounds.

“We’ll have to be a little creative with our double-teams and our rotations,’’ Nelson said.

Nelson added that the Mavericks will not be married to small ball -- in which they do not start a center -- for entire games. They will start the small lineup and adjust accordingly if the game is not going well.

Aiming for 50:

Don Nelson said he has 50 wins in his sights, which he feels would give the team some semblance of momentum going into the playoffs, regardless of where they finish in the seeding.

“I’d like to win 50-something games,’’ he said. “That’s why I’m hoping the small lineup works. It’ll give us more of a traditional (small forward), which we need. We had trouble guarding (centers) anyway and we had trouble guarding the (power forwards) because Dirk’s not a great defender. We couldn’t guard the (small forwards) because I always had a bigger guy guarding them.’’

The Mavericks simply had too many defensive holes. Now, they should only have one -- defending big, dominant centers. Of course, that was a problem before small ball made a comeback.

03-29-2004, 11:04 PM	#1
MavsFanFinley Guru Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: California Posts: 16,670	Mavericks come home to questions The game preview mentions that Finley will play tomorrow night. Mavericks come home to questions By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News Coming home has never been so tough for the Mavericks. After nine days on the road, they got back to work at American Airlines Center on Monday and were peppered with questions about the drama that unfolded on the 2-3 road trip. “The team’s not divided,’’ said coach Don Nelson. “The team just hasn’t played very well. I think they’re trying to do what we want. It’s just not working.’’ Nelson, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and others discussed the fallout of Nowitzki’s comments on Friday that the team was not playing as a unit from top to bottom. “Self-evaluation is tough,’’ Nelson said. “You guys would have a tough time admitting your mistakes, as would I. “And for athletes, it’s the hardest thing in the world because they’re always taught they’re the best at everything they do. When a coach comes along and actually tells them they have some flaws, sometimes it’s hard for them. But that’s our job.’’ Nowitzki did not back off his comments that some players were pouting when they were taken out of games. “I just felt like it needed to be said,’’ he said. “I was disappointed and frustrated at the moment. Probably shouldn’t have said all of it. But that’s the way I felt at the moment. It was the lowest point of the season. I spoke out and now we move on. I don’t think we won as a team or defended as a team, so we have to address that.’’ Nowitzki added that there may have been reprisals from Nelson. The two met about the comments. Neither coach nor player would discuss what was said in the meeting. Said Nelson: “I’d rather keep those things behind closed doors. But if the players choose to talk, then you deal with it.’’ Other players were hoping to put the drama behind them. “When you’re losing road games we should have won, the competitiveness is going to make you make comments,’’ said Finley. “As far as the pouting, everybody wants to play 48 minutes. When you’re in there, you have to give it your best. And when you’re not, you root for those guys who are. That’s what makes good teams great teams.’’ Antoine Walker said he did not believe that he was the subject of Nowitzki’s ire about some players not buying into Nelson’s systems. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about,’’ Walker said. “I don’t worry about anybody’s comments. We’re on the same page. This is a matter of putting the effort on the defensive end. Everybody’s doing too much talking. Let’s just play basketball. “If we don’t get it together defensively, we’re going to go home early in the playoffs. I got to look at myself in the mirror and everybody has to look in the mirror. We got nine games to improve on that.’’ A better test: After getting their small-ball sea legs against small, outmanned Orlando on Sunday, the Mavericks will see a better and bigger team tonight in Cleveland. Cleveland has 7-2 Zydrunas Ilgauskas at center and 6-8, 255-pound Carlos Boozer, who is averaging 11.5 rebounds. “We’ll have to be a little creative with our double-teams and our rotations,’’ Nelson said. Nelson added that the Mavericks will not be married to small ball -- in which they do not start a center -- for entire games. They will start the small lineup and adjust accordingly if the game is not going well. Aiming for 50: Don Nelson said he has 50 wins in his sights, which he feels would give the team some semblance of momentum going into the playoffs, regardless of where they finish in the seeding. “I’d like to win 50-something games,’’ he said. “That’s why I’m hoping the small lineup works. It’ll give us more of a traditional (small forward), which we need. We had trouble guarding (centers) anyway and we had trouble guarding the (power forwards) because Dirk’s not a great defender. We couldn’t guard the (small forwards) because I always had a bigger guy guarding them.’’ The Mavericks simply had too many defensive holes. Now, they should only have one -- defending big, dominant centers. Of course, that was a problem before small ball made a comeback. __________________