Being bad can be good for Mavs

[kriD]

Being bad can be good for Mavs

Johnson says he sees some of the competitive edge they had last year

03:38 AM CST on Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Avery Johnson is always on the lookout for hints that his team has regained that nasty, competitive edge that really good teams develop.

Judging from the 2-1 road trip – and particularly Sunday's 103-96 win at Portland – the Mavericks might be closer to recapturing that grit than their overall 2-4 record would suggest.

It wasn't the play in which Anthony Johnson tipped away the ball from Portland's Dan Dickau. It wasn't the way Jerry Stackhouse hit the floor to dig out the loose ball and flick it back to his teammate for an easy dunk.

It was the explanation Stackhouse gave about the play afterward that had to give the coach a thrill.

"We want to leave it all out there," Stackhouse said. "You don't want to look back and say, we lost a game by one point and I had an opportunity to get down there and get a loose ball and didn't because I felt we could get it done later in the game. That's the mentality that we want to have as a group. And we're getting there."

Whatever it takes. It's what the Mavericks did most of last season, particularly in the playoffs.

They haven't been close to that level of intensity so far. That will come when the stakes rise later in the season. When you've played for the championship, garden-variety games can be tougher to get charged up for.

But that doesn't mean the Mavericks can't work on their mean streak, especially as a team that can't afford to dig its hole any deeper. San Antonio is cruising early in the season and owns a three-game lead on the Mavs.

And speaking of mean streaks, the Chicago Bulls are the next option for the Mavericks to get their first home victory of the season. Under Scott Skiles, the Bulls built a defensive slant last season and augmented it with the marquee free-agent signing of the off-season, former Detroit center and perennial defensive player of the year candidate Ben Wallace.

But for the Mavericks, it's all about them.

"We're starting to understand we have to play our way, our system," Jason Terry said. "We talked about it and harped on it for two years. Going into year three [under Johnson], it's something we have to do consistently on a night-in, night-out basis. It has to be a constant. It can't be a quarter or a half where we slack off. We got to do what we have to do to be successful. That's what got us where we were last year."

Johnson added that he's taking a different approach in practices these days. When you are 2-4, you have a slew of problem areas to address. But Johnson is taking them one at a time.

"We still got a long way to go," he said. "One win [or two] doesn't solve all our problems. We're just trying to take each practice and get better in one area."

The first issue was to improve their spacing. Players were falling all over each other in the first four games.

But that has been less of a problem in the two wins. Then there's ball movement, shot selection, defensive rotations and on and on.

"I think we've gotten better in each game," Stackhouse said. "Even those games we weren't winning, we were getting better."

Briefly: Forward Austin Croshere appears to be the odd man out of the rotation in the early going. He has not played in either of the wins, which coincides with the time Devean George returned to the active roster from a stomach illness. Johnson emphasized, however, that his rotation remains a work in progress ... The Mavericks used Monday as a travel day, but the team convened briefly at American Airlines Center for a film session after arriving in Dallas.

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MAVERICKS NOTES

Proven formula helps Mavericks regain form

By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The messages on Jerry Stackhouse's cellphone came from everywhere. Friends and family had become basketball miracle workers.

Everybody had the cure for what ailed the Mavericks.

"You would have had a story, without question, listening to my voicemail," Stackhouse said. "There's a lot of coaches, prognosticators and analysts on there.

"You have to find a way to sift through it all and find what you can actually use."

The formula for success wasn't hard to find. They've known it for some time.

"Our approach last year worked," coach Avery Johnson said. "What we did last year is a pretty good measuring stick for me and the team. All of us have to grow, and I have to grow.

"There are certain things about the coaching craft that I recognize I have to improve in. Other than that, we don't need to change."

Johnson's team was staring at 1-5 or 0-6 when it opened the three-game road trip after being blown out in the second half by the Los Angeles Clippers. Instead, the Mavs (2-4) left the Pacific Northwest in a much healthier frame of mind.

In victories at Phoenix on Thursday (119-112) and Portland on Sunday (103-96), the Mavs clamped down defensively in the last two minutes of each game to pull away. The Suns were done in by a 7-0 closing run. A one-point lead (86-85) against the Trail Blazers grew to eight with a 9-2 spurt.

"In the last couple minutes games can slip away," said Erick Dampier, a late-game contributor in both wins. "The things we do in practice we try to take to the game."

Of all the calls Stackhouse received, one stood out. And it helped.

"My sister called me and said, 'You guys don't look 'with it'. You don't look hungry out there.' When your sister says you don't look hungry, and she's been watching me play basketball for 12 years, I think she might know," he said.

While many of the messages were meant to comfort Stackhouse, he found himself doing much of the reassuring. He let his people know all would be well.

"You also have to tell yourself that," he added. "We're all confident as athletes. There's a certain amount of confidence that comes with that, but you'd like to see your confidence reaffirmed by getting a win."

It has. Twice.

Aldridge unveiled

Texas ex and Dallas native LaMarcus Aldridge made his pro debut Sunday for Portland, checking in to a sizable ovation with 1:23 left in the first quarter. The 6-foot-11 forward underwent shoulder surgery in September, missing all of training camp and the first six games.

Aldridge didn't disappoint, scoring 10 and pulling down eight boards in 19 minutes. He was on the court in crunch time.

"I thought I was going to struggle, but I did well," he said. "I plan to build on it every game."

Briefly

Jason Terry has four 3-pointers in each of the past two games, both wins. The Mavs were 12-0 when he hit four or more last season.

Erick Dampier has scored at least seven points in five of six games (83 percent) this season. He did so only 32 times in 82 games (39 percent) last season.

[sike]

no mention of the reinstitution of the Pick and Roll as a key to victory....


but we watch the games...we know the truth.