Mavs vs. Hornets GAMEDAY!

[grndmstr_c]

Originally posted by: ShaggyDirk
Ok, Knee Jerkers+ We played New Orleans.. Edited for inappropriate comment We should expect this. We are a Western Conference Finals team!! This is no reason to think we have it made.

What are you talking about? NO has been one of the better teams in the league so far this season. They hung the first loss on the Lakers, and they're good on the boards (which has been a hallmark for teams we've struggled against). This was a great win. It means nothing if we don't follow it up with some more of them, but don't discount how well we played tonight against a quality foe.

[Dirkenstien]

Originally posted by: ShaggyDirk
Ok, Knee Jerkers+ We played New Orleans.. Edited for inappropriate comment We should expect this. We are a Western Conference Finals team!! This is no reason to think we have it made.

I dont believe anyone is claiming we have it made my friend, however this game was very encouraging and there is nothing wrong with being excited about that. Also, this team is a very different team than our WCF team from last year and to see us playing up to the level of last years team provides room to take a deep breath of relief that is very much enlightening to say the least.

[Dirkenstien]

Small ball isnt bad when used occasionally, but I agree if it can arise to the point in which it restricts the potential of this team, then off with it's head! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Simon2]

Originally posted by: Dirkenstien

I dont believe anyone is claiming we have it made my friend, however this game was very encouraging and there is nothing wrong with being excited about that. Also, this team is a very different team than our WCF team from last year and to see us playing up to the level of last years team provides room to take a deep breath of relief that is very much enlightening to say the least.

What I'm really impressed with is the 45-30 rebounding edge. The Hornets always kill us. PJ Brown by himself will do a lot of interior damage. Great job!

[Jamisonite]

The simple fact that they hung a loss on the lake show and we beat them this bad is very incouraging

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: FilthyFinMavs
WOOOOOOOO!!! Now thats a Mav game. Did I not mention that I love Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels? A undrafted rookie and a 29th overall pick? Mannn........

That jam by Daniels after a half court pass by Howard was incredible. I think those two have definite potential to be above average NBA players.

[veruca salt]

Originally posted by: Max Power

That jam by Daniels after a half court pass by Howard was incredible. I think those two have definite potential to be above average NBA players.

I was so impressed with them in the limited minutes I saw them. 1st time I've seen either...
I thought I'd heard that Howard wasn't a shooter...but he looked sweet to me.
And that pass...that dunk! Woooo

I enjoyed that game thoroughly, bit of a stretch from the only other game I've seen....
opening night v the Lakers.

I can't get over how great our passing was!

Did they click? I'm definitely sure I heard them click [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Murphy3]

tonight was an encouraging game..
but, hell, we all expect the Mavs to put alot of points on the board...

many thought the Mavs would be a very good team IF they go big. tonight, the Mavs went big for much of the game (yes, i know that fortson is an undersized center..but he has the ability to at least rebound at an NBA level at the PF/C spot).

Now, tonight ...the Mavs defense looked porous at times. NO got to the rim on a consistent basis and had alot of open looks from the outside...but, the Mavs did a great job of grabbing d-boards and picking up steals....

And, the Mavs also dominated a couple of pretty good interior players.


When they can consistently creat turnovers and get on the break AND hit outside jumpers...well, needless to say, the Mavs will dominate.

[Max Power]

A very enjoyable game to watch. It reminded me of the old wide open days of basketball.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Simon2

What I'm really impressed with is the 45-30 rebounding edge. The Hornets always kill us. PJ Brown by himself will do a lot of interior damage. Great job!

What's more amazing to me is that NO only had 2 more defensive boards than we had offensive boards. 19 to 17. That's freaking amazing considering how awful we were at offensive rebounding last year.

[bogey]

Originally posted by: Max Power
A very enjoyable game to watch. It reminded me of the old wide open days of basketball.

Oh yeah! Remember the old Denver Nuggets Alex English days? Sometimes those games would go to 135-129 or so. It was great to watch.

[u2sarajevo]

Hey guys.... what a game, huh? I only got to see the 1st and part of the 2nd but I thought Finley was freaking on fire in the first.... And the potato did a good job on the glass. I had to end the game listening to the radio which is okay...

Nothing like the home field to get your offense moving.

Even though we dominated them on Offense, it seemed during Offensive transitions Walker was lost or unsure at times (early in the first). That should get better as time progresses, but it seemed he was trying to force things to happen, which you want him to do some of so the tendencies of his teammates can be learned.

But that obviously did not hurt us tonight. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[Day1MavsFan]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran


Eddie made some silly mental mistakes, but gave his typical effort. He still doesn't appear to be 100% healthy.

Yeah, you know that has really been bothering me. He still can't elevate, which is affecting his rebounding and finishing. I doubt it will get better as the season goes on either, if ever for that matter. That's too bad, because he can really contribute in all phases.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: bogey

Oh yeah! Remember the old Denver Nuggets Alex English days? Sometimes those games would go to 135-129 or so. It was great to watch.

I was just thinking about the Nuggets vs the Lakers and some of those shootouts. The scores would sometimes hit 300 combined points.

[Dirkenstien]

oh yes it feels good to be back. It was worth going through the painful losses to see a game like tonights. Hopefully we can say the same at the end of the post season [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[ReDIRKulous]

That damn Kevin Frazier still found a way to dis the Mavs even in a great game -- "those Mavs, the team that was supposed to score all those points, FINALLY scored a lot of points...". Jerk! Mavs Hater!

[grndmstr_c]

Greg stood up for us, though.

[ReDIRKulous]

Yeah. I like Greg Anthony a lot. He is a good guy. I think he said the Mavs were his favorite team to watch in some NBA.com poll.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Max Power

I was just thinking about the Nuggets vs the Lakers and some of those shootouts. The scores would sometimes hit 300 combined points.

And in the 2nd half of the game they sometimes even scored more. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Novice#41]

Nash paces Mavs over Hornets

Associated Press

Dallas — The Dallas Mavericks finally got their lineup of all-stars pulling in the same direction.

Steve Nash of Victoria hit all five of his three-point shots and sparked a decisive third-quarter run in the Mavericks' 125-97 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night.

The Mavericks, struggling to assimilate newcomers Antoine Walker, Antawn Jamison, Danny Fortson and Tony Delk into the lineup, had their most complete effort of the season, shooting 58, finishing with 40 assists and holding a 45-30 rebounding edge.

"Coming together with the group we have, we're bound to have some explosions," Nash said. "Hopefully this was a glimpse."

The Hornets cut a 19-point deficit in the second period to 66-60 early in the third. Then Nash hit a three that started a 23-2 burst capped by Jamison's dunk.

Walker had 21 points, Michael Finley 20 and Dirk Nowitzki 18 for the Mavericks. Nash finished with 17 points and 11 assists, and Fortson had nine points and 11 rebounds in Dallas' most-lopsided victory of the season.

"The most important thing was our defence," said Jamison, who had 12 points. "We controlled the boards and got the opportunity to run. This is what we're capable of doing."

Nowitzki said the key was Nash's unselfish play in the first quarter.

"He was controlling the game, getting everybody involved," Nowitzki said. "He was our MVP last season and that hasn't changed. We have so many weapons, we don't have to force shots. When we have 40 assists, that pretty much says it all."

Baron Davis had 25 points, 20 in the first half, for the Hornets.

David Wesley added 18 points for the Hornets, who handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first defeat of the season Friday night.

Dallas, which led all the way for the first time this season, got off to a fast start, shooting 17-for-25 in the first quarter to build a 39-26 edge.

Finley's 13 points and Fortson's seven points and seven rebounds helped Dallas to its highest-scoring first quarter of the season.

The Mavericks had 15 assists on their first 17 baskets, with Nash handing out seven of them in an effort to get his teammates rolling.

"We were moving the ball, sharing the ball, not forcing bad shots," Finley said.

The Hornets were unable to recover from the Mavericks' third-quarter run.

"It was 66-60, Nash hit a three-pointer, and it was like we couldn't come back," said P.J. Brown of the Hornets. "It seems like we were stuck on 60-62 points. It was just a bad, bad quarter ... horrible."

Notes: Don Nelson got his 250th victory with the Mavericks and is the second NBA coach with at least 250 wins with three teams. Former Toronto Raptors head coach Lenny Wilkens is the other. ... Delk missed the game because of a hamstring injury.

[dirno2000]

Hornets News


Hornets can't swim with deep Mavericks

Dallas puts on 'awesome' offensive display to sink lackluster New Orleans


Wednesday November 12, 2003


By Jimmy Smith
Staff writer

DALLAS -- The experts have it all wrong.

The Mavericks have trumped the Lakers' "Fab Four" by at least two, possibly three.

With arguably the strongest, deepest offensive arsenal in the NBA -- and if Dallas could shoot from the outside and share the ball the way it did in Tuesday night's 125-97 victory over the Hornets in American Airlines Center -- the league could just give them the championship trophy now.

Through the first seven games, the Mavs were having difficulty spreading the wealth around enough to keep a roster full of All-Stars happy.

They found a way against the Hornets.

"They were awesome tonight," Hornets coach Tim Floyd said.

Michael Finley scored 20. Antoine Walker had 21. Dirk Nowitzki had 18. Steve Nash had 17 and 11 assists. Danny Fortson had nine points and 11 rebounds. Antawn Jamison came off the bench to score 12 points. And reserve Travis Best had 12.

With forward Jamal Mashburn in Miami rehabilitating from arthroscopic right knee surgery for the next two months, the Hornets are lucky if they can put two (Baron Davis, 25 on Tuesday, and David Wesley, 18), perhaps three, consistent offensive weapons on the floor.

Do the math.

The Hornets knew they'd be in for a fast-paced game in which transition defense would be important, and the lack of same was something Floyd pointed to afterward.

"They got Finley going early as a result of Nash getting it where he needed to get it," Floyd said. "Nowitzki got it going early and we didn't have an answer for that.

"Nor on the boards. We gave up 17 offensive rebounds again. When we did stop them, they got it off the glass. That's as bad defensive transition as I've ever had a team play. That's where that starts. You give yourself a chance to play by getting back. But give them credit. I think they were tired of where they were at 4-3. They're a 60-win team that broke loose tonight."

New Orleans made one serious push in the first two minutes of the third quarter, cutting a 10-point Dallas advantage to 66-60 with 10:03 to go on a layup by Davis.

But Nash broke back with a 3-pointer on the Mavs' next possession, starting a 23-2 run in which six different Dallas players -- Nash, Walker, Finley, Nowitzki, Fortson and Jamison -- scored.

Dallas outscored New Orleans 29-10 in the final 10:03 of the quarter, going up by 29 points.

"That's the beauty of this team," Fortson said. "Whenever they scored, it seemed like we came right back and answered that with more points."

The first-half pace could best be described as frenetic.

Anyone who got up could have missed a basket or two on either end.

Finley, who was getting caught up in a Mavericks' numbers game through Dallas' first seven outings, scored 13 in the opening period. He came in with a 10.7 scoring average.

Dallas shot 58 percent from the field, had 40 assists resulting in 54 field goals, had 17 offensive rebounds and 64 points in the paint.

"The majority of our problem was just like Saturday night (a 109-106 loss to the Chicago Bulls)," said Hornets forward P.J. Brown. "Our defense just didn't show up. We just could have given a better effort on the defensive end . . . 125 points, you're not going to beat anybody in this league giving up that many points. We gave up 64 in the first half, and that's definitely uncharacteristic of us."

Floyd had all his starters sitting down with about seven minutes remaining, in anticipation of tonight's home game against Utah.

That's a team with far less offensive potential than the Hornets saw Tuesday.

. . . . . . .

[Maringa]

Funniest scene from last night:

Najera after comitting like the third mistake in a row....

Camera pans to Nellie who can be seen saying some choice words towards Najera.

Camera pans to Najera, after the commentators say that Najera will dare look over to Nellie..

You can tell Najera definitely is avoiding Nellie's eye..and you can also tell that he is listening to Nellie's wrath...

Then if you can lip read...Najera says F*** Y**!!!!

Hilarious!!!!!

[Murphy3]

"The majority of our problem was just like Saturday night (a 109-106 loss to the Chicago Bulls)," said Hornets forward P.J. Brown. "Our defense just didn't show up. We just could have given a better effort on the defensive end . . . 125 points, you're not going to beat anybody in this league giving up that many points. We gave up 64 in the first half, and that's definitely uncharacteristic of us."

I guess the 61 you gave up in the second half was a little more in character.

[kingrex]

Originally posted by: kingrex
Mavs will play better, but because of NO's 3 pt shooting (ironically), the Mavs won't keep up this time.

Hornets 103
Mavs 95

Boy was I way off (and happy to be so). This team really surprised me. Not that I didn't think they were capable of that performance, but I didn't expect that explosion this soon. I welcome it and hope that they can match that effort and efficiency against one of the Western power teams.

[LRB]

It's hard to believe that this is the same team that struggled to but up 71 points in 4 quarters against the Raptors yet scored over 60 in each half with seemingly ease.

[mary]

Originally posted by: Max Power
That jam by Daniels after a half court pass by Howard was incredible. I think those two have definite potential to be above average NBA players.

I find those two absolutely endearing - would it have killed Nellie to put them in just a wee bit earlier in the 4th?

Edited because I can.

[Psychedelic Fuzz]

hopefully this team will have many more blowouts, because that's probably the only way the rookies will get any kind of time.

[kingrex]

Originally posted by: Psychedelic Fuzz
hopefully this team will have many more blowouts, because that's probably the only way the rookies will get any kind of time.

I agree. I was grinning from ear to ear and rubbing my hands to together at the prospect of seeing those 2 guys mature. They will be players in this League (unless they pull a Tarpley).

[Psychedelic Fuzz]

It's definitely nice to have those two around, but they will be getting way more bench splinters here than if they were to play pretty much anywhere else.

[Dirkenstien]

"I just wanted to bang around a little bit," Fortson said. "I did that." Fortson on his performance against New Orleans.

Ahh, this is music to my ears

[Dirkenstien]

"I don't know if that's a glimpse of what we can be," Nelson said. "I don't know if we can play that well all the time, but certainly it was a good game for us." -Don Nelson on the New Orleans game.

[sike]

Originally posted by: Dirkenstien
oh yes it feels good to be back. It was worth going through the painful losses to see a game like tonights. Hopefully we can say the same at the end of the post season [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

enstien,
don't think we can say that this team is "back" just yet...and really, what does this team have to come back from...game one with the Lakers?....this is not last years team, we must remain patient for team....then they will far surpass last years team...on paper...but we all know that paper has never won a game for anyone...unless it was paper cut related[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[LRB]

but we all know that paper has never won a game for anyone

Well outside of the BCS.

Still it's way too early to judge this team good or ill.

[ReDIRKulous]

5) Oh yeah, the game.
I was talking with ESPN Radio’s Chuck Cooperstein before tipoff Tuesday, and he swore that he planned to ban all trade-related call-ins to his post-game show. A good move, because those folks, as well as the sky-is-falling Mavs crowd, are the epitome of fake-smarties.
The Mavs dominated the Hornets by play playing ‘Mavericks basketball’-plus. The pace, the explosion, the balance, it was all there. But there was something more, something that is reflected in Dallas’ interior numbers and Dallas’ assist numbers.
Dallas’ rebounding edge: 45-30. Dallas’ points-in-the-paint totals: 64, almost double the Hornets’; Dallas assist total: an astounding 40.
All of which adds up to a Coop-like demand for sanity, for reason, for Mavs fans to quit thinking they’re smarter than Donnie Nelson, who cooked up this whole concept and knows it needs time to rise.
‘Really, we’re pretty happy with where we are, all things considered,’ says the Mavs head chef. ‘Why shake things up now? We’re vulnerable because we’re learning one another. But the last thing we need now is change. What we need is for these guys to get to know one another.’
Smart, Donnie. Not fake-smart. Smart.

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
nellie yank walker because of his shot selection?

I was wondering if anyone on the thread noticed this. Yes I think he did. I'm not sure walker took another 3 all night. If he did it was certainly in the flow. Good call murph.

[sike]

let's hope he gets the picture.....

[Captain Disaster]

Despite the lopsided win, better rebounding, & better perimeter play, the Mavs simply hit their shots in this game unlike what they did in their three losses. On one hand, this is fantastic, on the other, we stilll have a long way to go because we still cannot "win ugly" like we were doing often last year.

Also, Finley is STILL not back to his normal shooting form. 40% from the field is not good enough against the best teams; Dirk should be taking the most shots.

[DrtyFlthyNasty]

New Orleans IMO would be able to compete in the west because of baron davis... anyways, great win because we finally saw the mavs makin shots again!...

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally posted by: ReDIRKulous
Mavs 120 New Orleans 90

NO just lost to the Bulls. Enough said.

Wow reDirk, you were the winner on the score predictions.

[ReDIRKulous]

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

I think I might be psychic or something... either that or just too obsessed with the Mavs lately. Did you see the thread I made the night before thread.

I was just looking at the Mavs schedule and it just jumped out at me. Let's hope the trend continues and the Mavs don't get stagnant at home! Any gamblers here? If I had made that bet in Vegas what would I have won?