Mavs in March (A DMN article)

[OutletPass]

Mavs' next 30 days: a month of marches

11 road games should provide measuring stick for Dallas' credibility
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

A popular theory in the NBA is that you earn your reputation on the road. Sure, stocking up win after win at home like the Mavericks have done is fun for the fans and pads the won-loss record. But the road is where a good team galvanizes itself, where a championship hopeful welds together camaraderie and where it proves its mettle to others. If that's the case, the time has come for the Mavericks to start galvanizing and welding their mettle.

March is proving month for them. They have positioned themselves nicely in the Western Conference standings after an 18-4 stretch. But after they host Seattle tonight at American Airlines Center – no cheap win given the Sonics' Sunday win in Houston – the Mavericks will find out who they really are in the rest of the month.

There are 16 games, 11 on the road, four back-to-back sets and more frequent-flier miles than they care to count. It starts Wednesday night in Minnesota and will crisscross all four time zones. Two three-game road trips and a marathon five-gamer starting March 21 mean only one thing: It's killing time, one way or the other for the Mavs' still-pulsing hopes of a Midwest Division title.

"We've been playing well, but we've been at home," Michael Finley said Monday. "And this year, the road has been woes for us, so to speak. So it'll be interesting to see what kind of effort we bring on these upcoming road games." The Mavericks haven't liked hauling around an 11-16 road record for the past dozen days at home. They need a win over the Sonics to complete a 5-0 homestand.

But the real tests start Wednesday in Minneapolis. The only place you can do anything about your road record is, of course, on the road. "It's a hard month," coach Don Nelson said. "It'll be one of our toughest months, although the last couple have also been very difficult and we've done well. So, I don't want to be pessimistic, for sure.

"There's no better time to go on the road than when you're playing well. I feel really good about our play of late and look forward to seeing how we do." The Mavericks stand plus-seven in the road victories vs. home losses department. That's the plus-minus system that gives a true indication of where a team stands. Minnesota is plus-13, Sacramento and San Antonio are plus-12 and the Lakers are plus-11, showing the differential between them and the Mavericks.

They can make up a lot of that ground this month, perhaps even all of it if they can keep their hot streak going. "This is the kind of momentum you build that you don't want to die on the first two games of a road trip," said Scott Williams. "And I don't think it will. I don't think one slip on the road is going to derail that. That we lost in Atlanta had very limited effect on this team. We came back and banged out a bunch of victories after that one. I see this team really coming together."

And there's no place to prove that like life on the road. Eye of the beholder: Danny Fortson has a nice perspective on things. He has seen good times in Boston, horrible times in Golden State and now is back on a good team. He remembers getting traded from an improving Celtics team to the deplorable Warriors like this: "I looked at their roster and it didn't look that bad. I figured we'd get a couple of wins. I was right, that's all we got."

Briefly: Josh Howard sat out practice with a strained right groin muscle and is day-to-day. "I plan on playing on the road trip," he said. "I just don't know about [tonight]." ... Steve Nash missed practice with a stomach virus but is expected to play tonight against Seattle ... Scott Williams has had a minor abdominal strain that he said should not keep him from playing.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
A look at the Mavericks' upcoming road schedule for the month of March, with opponent's home record and plus/minus of road victories vs. home losses:
Date Opponent Record +/-
3/3 Minnesota .......... 23-7 ......13
3/5 San Antonio .......20-7...... 12
3/7 Houston ............21-9 ....... 4
3/11 Sacramento.... 26-5 .. ....12
3/13 Phoenix ......... 13-16...... -9
3/14 LA Clippers .... 17-12... ...-4
3/21 New Jersey .... 21-9......... 6
3/22 Philadelphia .. 14-15 ...... -5

-- We'll know after the Sacto game on 3/11.

[Chiwas]

There are 16 games, 11 on the road, four back-to-back sets and more frequent-flier miles than they care to count. It starts Wednesday night in Minnesota and will crisscross all four time zones. Two three-game road trips and a marathon five-gamer starting March 21 mean only one thing: It's killing time, one way or the other for the Mavs' still-pulsing hopes of a Midwest Division title.

Period.

[DubOverdose]

I hope Howard and Nash play against Seattle!

[samoan-maverick]

Originally posted by: DubOverdose
I hope Howard and Nash play against Seattle!

Didnt catch any Portland highlights, WHAT HAPPENED TO STEVIE WONDER[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

[grndmstr_c]

I've been looking over the upcoming schedule, and really, once we make it through the Sac game the month is filled with opportunities to improve our road record. The only remotely scary games are at NJ and at Indiana, but I'm not very impressed with the Nets, and Indiana w/o Artest is certainly winable. If the team can get/stay healthy and the recent upsurge in chemistry is more than a mirage I'd say a two or three loss month is a very reasonable goal.

[samoan-maverick]

Suns, Clippers, Sixers, n' Nets do not scare the mavs at all. Thats why those games scare me.

The Spurs n' Rockets both will be looking for redemption, but we own the Rockets. So the Spurs game should go right down to the wire.

R.I.P GARNETT R.I.P

[Dirkenstien]

Don Nelson said. "It'll be one of our toughest months, although the last couple have also been very difficult and we've done well. So, I don't want to be pessimistic, for sure.

Am I reading this correctly?? Don Nelson does NOT want to be pessimistic? ..I'm impressed.

[CenS]

... Steve Nash missed practice with a stomach virus but is expected to play tonight against Seattle ...

Thats why he is questionable. I hope him and Walker have their wind. This is going to be a high flying afair.

[Chiwas]

Originally posted by: Dirkenstien

Am I reading this correctly?? Don Nelson does NOT want to be pessimistic? ..I'm impressed.

Notice the "for sure". It's like the alcoholic saying that he has not drunk the last couple of hours. But I was impressed too when I read it.

[MavsFanFinley]

Mavs swap shot sharing for hot hand

By Art Garcia
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - The Mavericks have seemingly found a balance offensively, but that doesn't necessarily equate to balanced scoring.

Quite the opposite. The NBA's hottest team isn't worrying about everyone getting his touches or making sure the scoring load is spread equally among its quintet of offensive stars.

If one guy is feeling it, he's getting the ball. It's that simple. And it's simply working.

"I caught myself doing that early in the season, just trying to be the consummate team player, trying to keep all the new guys happy by getting them opportunities and touches," Mavericks guard Michael Finley said Monday after practice. "At the same time I was taking away from my game and taking away from the team.

"Personally, I took it upon myself to be more aggressive offensively, and [Mavs coach Don Nelson] is calling my number a lot more, and I'm just taking advantage of those situations."

Finley's aggressiveness mirrors the upswing for the Mavs, who have won 18 of their past 22 and league-best five in a row going into tonight's five-game homestand finale against Seattle. Finley has averaged more than 23 points since the turnaround began with a 127-121 overtime win at New York. He's led the Mavs in scoring a team-high 10 times during the 18-4 stretch.

Dirk Nowitzki has led the team nine times in the past 22 games, a trend suggesting the Mavs' offense is funneling through its two traditional point producers. Finley or Nowitzki has been the Mavs' leading scorer the past seven years.

Game-high scoring honors were much more difficult to predict the first 36 games of the season, as six Mavs got in on the act. Nowitzki and Finley combined to lead the team on 21 occasions, 58 percent of the time, during the 20-16 (.556) start. They've led in 86 percent of the games since, and the Mavs have won at an 82 percent clip.

"The game has more flow to us," said Nowitzki, averaging a team-high 21.5 points. "We know what people want to do and where people want to have the ball more. There's more rhythm to it. We're all sharing the ball."

And scoring. The league's second-highest scoring team has taken it up another notch the past 22 games, averaging 107.4 points since Jan. 12. The Mavs were scoring 101.6 points per game through 36 games.

"Everybody is more comfortable being who they are and making the adjustments that they need to make, understanding what makes our team go," Nelson said. "They can kind of see it now."

Part of that is singling out the hot shooter while staying within Nelson's complicated offensive system. The Mavs' sets are sharper as players are getting into position with more ease and confidence.

"It has a lot to do with the team getting comfortable with one another and guys recognizing who has the hot hand or who has the mismatch," said Finley, averaging 19.0 points. "We're not afraid to go to that guy two, three, four times in a row if necessary. If it's working, we're going to keep on going with it."

Players admitted the tendency was there earlier in the season to try to get everyone involved. Though it hardly sounds like a problem, unselfishness wasn't helping.

"We were trying to keep everybody happy, and now we're just trying to do whatever it takes to win each individual game," said Antoine Walker, who has curbed his scoring output but taken on more playmaking duties as point forward. "That's the good thing. To have a successful season that's what you have to do. That's what we're building toward.

"We tried to tell people it was going to take some time, and we've finally gotten to play together for a long stretch of time with almost everybody healthy. We're getting some consistent games together. This is a good time to be hitting our stride."

Instead of striving to get five players 15 points per night, a typical recent output for the Mavs could be found in the box score of last week's 115-91 rout of San Antonio. Finley scored 30 and Nowitzki added 23. Steve Nash, Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker each scored between 15 and 11 points.

"We're getting good balance, and we're playing with a good frame of mind," Nash said. "We're playing the way the game is supposed to be played. We're not over-passing or under-passing."

They're just scoring.

Here is a breakdown of the Mavericks' scoring leaders this season.

GAMES 1-36

Dirk Nowitzk 15
Antawn Jamison 7
Antoine Walker 7
Michael Finley 6
Steve Nash 3
Tony Delk 1

Team scoring average 101.6
Record 20-16

* Total equals 39 because three games featured two players tying as high scorers.

GAMES 37-58

Michael Finley 10
Dirk Nowitzki 9
Antoine Walker 3

Team scoring average 107.4
Record 18-4

[sike]

Originally posted by: Dirkenstien

Am I reading this correctly?? Don Nelson does NOT want to be pessimistic? ..I'm impressed.

I laughed when I heard him say this!

[ddh33]

I wonder if he's reading this board because I've noticed Nellie making a real effort to avoid constantly describing his team as the underdog lately. I think that's a very good sign. This team can beat anyone and should be expected to beat almost everybody. That is a champions mentality.

[sike]

if this team is going to catch a champions mentality, it most likely will not come from Nellie!.....maybe a player like Scottie WIlliams can talk about the glory of his rings enough to spark some serious desire....I really like that guy!

[sbjensen]

if this team is going to catch a champions mentality, it most likely will not come from Nellie!.....maybe a player like Scottie WIlliams can talk about the glory of his rings enough to spark some serious desire....I really like that guy!

Sike, I think he has been close to the PERFECT addition to this team (not quite, but close). He's such the consummate team player, hard-nosed, aggressive, and an incredible cheerleader. If he were perfect, he'd have a little more ups than those 36-year-old legs permit (and I know, I'm 36 :-) ), but close is good enough for me. I hope it's good enough to push us over the edge.

[sike]

great post Steve, I agree totally! He is a player who adds a lot to a team that does not need much.

[Member]

i just heard steve will not suit up, and wont "travel with the team"

[OutletPass]

I heard that he DEFINITELY won't play at Minny...that must be one hell of a case of "stomach flu"...he may be back for Houston and SA.

There is a bit of hope for J Ho playing at Minny, though. That doesn't help us at PG, but I expect that we'll see a lot of Walker, some of Fin, a touch of Dirk and a bit of Marquis (and maybe more of Marquis than we expect).