Randy Does Nellie--Part Deux

[MavKikiNYC]

Newsflash: Hell freezes over. Galloway writes two consecutive columns on the Mavericks.

Posted on Sun, Nov. 02, 2003

Strange fits not new to Nelson
By Randy Galloway
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - Frustration does this to a coach.

An hour before Saturday night's tipoff in the Mavericks' home opener, Don Nelson sounded like a guy who was ready to plunge on a lottery ticket.

His numbers:

Two. Five. Seven. Twelve.

In an attempt to jump-start his struggling jump shooters, Nellie had convinced himself that no more than two new Mavs would be among the five on the floor at any time.

But seven of the 12 players on the active roster have arrived since summer, so Nelson was worried if he could make those numbers work.

He didn't. And it didn't matter.

For the first time in the early season, the new blended with the Big 3, and the Mavericks went on one of those familiar offensive binges, crushing a Utah outfit that no longer has those oldies but goodies, Malone and Stockton.

"The game kinda went that way," shrugged Nelson, explaining why three newcomers were on the floor by the second quarter, and four in the third quarter of the 127-102 victory.

Actually, Tony Delk, the veteran guard, kinda went that way.

The "other guy" in the Antoine Walker trade two weeks ago, Delk clanged his first four shots, and it looked like a continuation of his misery (3-of-14 shooting) from the first two games on the road.

But Delk briefly put his cold hand aside, played a terrific floor game in the early go (five rebounds, three steals and two assists in the first half), then caught fire in the third quarter.

His 22 points led a parade of seven players in double figures.

"Didn't I tell you," Nelson said, "that Delk was good."
(Editorial Note: Delk is Nellie's project du jour. Vintage Nellie, seeing himself smarter than the 5 other coaches and GMs who've released Delk, who has played for 5 other teams in 8 years. Nellie reminds me of that Volkswagen commercial from a couple of years ago where the two guys were driving around and saw a sofa on the street that was being thrown away, so they put the sofa on their car roof and take it home only to find once they get it in their apartment that it has an unpleasant odor. Delk, too, shall pass.)

Yeah, maybe he did.

When the jump shots fall, the Mavs are very, very good.

Michael Finley, an iceberg on the road, hit his first three jumpers. Dirk Nowitzki hit four of his first five.

It became a trend. And also caused a postgame caution from Nelson.

"We've got to be careful we don't get too full of ourselves on the jump shots," he said.

That's shocking commentary considering the Mavs are a team that has lived and died with the jumper.

Then again, the roster shakeup from last season is about changing that concept.

"We've got two guys [Walker and Nowitzki] who can go inside, plus [Antoine] Jamison off the bench," Nelson said. "The more we play together we will go inside more. We started doing that tonight, and it was effective."

A 41-point Mavericks third quarter was testimony to the new inside game, plus a case of the Mavs dominating the pace and opening up the court. It was also a commentary on Utah not having much of an inside defensive force beyond the talented Russian, Andrei Kirilenko.

Plus, Nelson smalled-down his starting lineup for the second straight game, starting Delk at a guard alongside Steve Nash, and moving Finley to small forward. That puts the 6-9 Walker at power forward, and the 7-foot non-center, Nowitzki, at, yes, center.

Nelson says it's been a case of "match-up," meaning he could get away with it against the depleted rosters of Golden State and the Jazz (missing Keon Clark on the inside Saturday night).

Meanwhile, the rest of the NBA continues a collective head-scratch over Nelson having a roster to open the season with only one true center: Shawn Bradley.

And it was Nelson who said Friday, "Bradley has been so awful I hate to even put him out there."
(Editorial Note: Ouch.)

This, of course, is typical Nellie. He is the master at making strange pieces fit.

To start a new season, Nelson has the smallest team in the league, yet he wants more of an emphasis on the inside game. And one of the players he's centering that emphasis around is Walker, who took more 3-pointers last season at Boston than any player in the NBA.

Walker, however, continues to respond to Nelson's insistence on him using his post-up talents.

In Boston, that draws a good belly laugh. But for Nellie, it makes perfect sense.

"Walker can do it," he said. "In time, he's going to be very good down there. I already love the way he passes out of the low post."

Walker finished with 16 points, and added six assists.

One statistic of note: The Mavericks totaled 58 points in the paint, 20 more than the Jazz.

"My vision for the team is playing games like this," Nelson said. "But we need consistency in playing this kind of game."

As it turned out, what wasn't needed in the home opener were those Nellie lottery numbers.