[ames7]

Just got back from the game, my first in-person look at the new-look Mavs. Some thoughts...

-The Blazers move the ball a LOT better than I thought they would. I mean, they don't exactly have the most selfless reputation. But they passed well to the open man even though our D really does look much better. There is just a far more noticable effort on that end of the floor this year.
-FTs kept us in it for the most part, shooting today was really ugly. Just love the way Dirk knocks his down.
-Harris had his moments (is good to see he can knock down the open jump shot) but mostly, he looked terrible. Terry doesn't have a very impressive stat line, but the offense just ran better when he was at the point.
-Dirk looked off most of the game. He worked hard for his shot. Ankle looked fine. Good hustle on boards. Ended up w/a nice line anyway.
-Howard was pretty much a stud. But you knew that.
-Very encouraged by what I saw of Damp. It feels so nice to have a real center. Again, not the greatest line, but he had a positive effect on the game.
-NVE got a nice ovation when he came in the first time. Still a lot of warm fuzzy feelings associated w/the playoffs 2 years ago. He was pretty much invisible this game.
-Way, way too many turnovers. What bothered me was what kinds of TOs they were. Very few last touch, goes out of bounds. A lot of wild, out of control passing.

Just an overall ragged, ugly game. No flow. Crappy shooting. Careless passing. But a win, so I don't really care.