Mavs must control emotions

[kriD]

Mavs must control emotions

03:06 AM CDT on Friday, April 20, 2007
By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News

The Mavericks have set aside the next two months to take care of unfinished business.

Their success depends on an ability to live in the moment rather than get caught up in it.

Think back to last season. Sure, the Mavericks won a Game 7 on the road in San Antonio. They banished Phoenix to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

But who can forget point guard Jason Terry losing his cool and punching a player in the groin? Michael Finley won't.

Remember when D.J. Mbenga went into the crowd to protect Avery Johnson's wife, and Jerry Stackhouse sent Shaquille O'Neal sprawling into a row of photographers? How about the day Johnson blasted his team for a vacation mentality and changed hotels or the awkward moment the normally unflappable coach tried to badger a reporter into ripping the officials to make his point?

There was Mark Cuban's ecological assessment of San Antonio's River Walk, his tense exchange with the Spurs' Bruce Bowen and his assertion that Miami's Dwyane Wade received preferential treatment from the officials.

And we haven't even mentioned the Mavericks blowing that 2-0 lead in the Finals.

"The big thing about living in the moment," Terry said, "is not letting your emotions get the best of you when that moment comes."

Composure. The Mavericks have been there, lost that. They can't afford to let it happen again.

It's a point of emphasis as the Mavericks prepare to face Golden State. Johnson has declared no suspensions during this season's playoff run. He doesn't want Terry to punch a player, "in the wrong spot" or Mbenga or any other player on the roster to go into the stands, "to protect the Johnson family."

Johnson wants his team to play with an edge.

What he doesn't want is for them to go over the edge.

"We talk a lot about that," Johnson said. "It's good to live in the moment, stay in the moment but don't get caught up in it either way. You can be up 2-0, you can be down 0-2. Who knows? Stay in the moment, stay in the minute, stay in that quarter and have positive thoughts.

"At the same time, have a healthy sense of fear. When we do that, boy, we're pretty good."

Suspended animation

Terry was the first Maverick to be suspended during last season's playoff run.

There was a scramble for a loose ball in the final seconds of Game 5 of the team's second-round series with San Antonio. Terry, Finley and Manu Ginobili were involved.

The officials called a jump ball between Terry and Ginobili. No foul was called. But replays showed that Terry delivered a punch to Finley in a delicate area. Terry was suspended for Game 6, a 91-86 loss to the Spurs that sent the series back to San Antonio.

"I had never been in that position," Terry said. "Knowing it's in the playoffs, a crucial game in a big series, I'll probably just lay there and let them jump on my head and be carried off on a stretcher before I miss another game."

Mbenga was the next to go. Cassandra Johnson, Avery's wife, became embroiled in a heated dispute with two fans during Game 4 of the conference finals in Phoenix. Guard Darrell Armstrong, who now plays for Indiana, directed Mbenga to go into the stands and make sure everything was OK. The backup center was suspended for six games.

The final suspension belonged to Stackhouse. His hard foul on O'Neal in Game 4 of the Finals drew a flagrant call. He missed Game 5, a 101-100 overtime loss that sent the Heat back to Dallas with a 3-2 series lead.

"If the same situation was to arise again, and I know the repercussions of that, now maybe I'd do something different," Stackhouse said. "Maybe I'd look at it as a layup is just a basket.

"We need everybody, man. We say it all the time. Everyone is in this locker room for a reason."

Standing in front of a locker and calmly discussing the proper response is one thing. Doing it in the heat of the moment, with a game on the line and an elbow in your face, is another.

The Mavericks know this. But the players believe they have learned their lesson.

"You want to think so," Stackhouse said. "You want to think everyone has grown. I would have thought logically, I can't possibly do anything to jeopardize missing a game in the Finals, anything marginal where the league can step in and do something.

"The suspensions we had last year, warranted or not, they were significant to us. Those are things, being a year older, a year wiser, hopefully we can avoid those things."

Miami meltdown

The Mavericks won the first two games of the Finals. They were up by 13 points with 6:34 left in Game 3.

That's when the series turned.

That's when things began to unravel.

"If you would have seen our reaction, it was almost like the series was over," Terry said after the Mavericks lost Game 3 by two points. "I think mentally, that's where we lost our edge."

It wasn't restricted to the players. Johnson chided his players for developing a vacation mentality after the second loss and moved the team from its Miami Beach hotel to Fort Lauderdale. He began to complain about the officiating, something he rarely did during the regular season, and was combative in the news conference after the Game 5 loss.

Did the Mavericks lose their composure in Miami?

"A little bit," forward Josh Howard conceded. "We did get too wound up and did some wrong things, made some wrong decisions.

"But put that in the past and get ready for this playoff run."

It will be interesting to watch how the team keeps its aggression without losing control during these playoffs. If Terry was a betting man, he said he would bet that the Mavericks would stand their ground and be more mature in the heat of the moment.

"We had a long summer to think about a lot of things," Stackhouse said. "Hopefully those disappointments will override any emotions that might arise."

[kriD]

Finish was just the beginning

By JEFF CAPLAN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The Mavericks' final 20 games of the regular season came with three primary goals: Nail down the No. 1 seed sooner than later, get banged-up players healthy and keep healthy players from getting banged up.

Check. Check. And check.

"When we tip it off Sunday," coach Avery Johnson said, "I just want to see all of our guys healthy, mentally and physically."

There was one snag in that perfect scenario, Erick Dampier's strained right shoulder. But, the 6-foot-11 center returned to the lineup in Wednesday's season finale in Seattle and has been given the green light for the playoffs.

Two key contributors, 6-8 swingman Devean George and 6-4 guard Greg Buckner, also got well and played their way back into regular minutes during the final quarter of the season to help the Mavs post a 15-5 record, including road wins over Eastern Conference contenders Detroit and Cleveland.

"It's fun to have everybody healthy," Dirk Nowitzki said. "We've said all season long, I think we can go to a lot of gears, we can go to a big lineup, and we can match up on small lineups."

George, who's worked his way into the starting lineup, and Buckner both battled back from nagging knee injuries. Their health is considered key for a long-term playoff run, especially getting started in the first round against a Golden State team loaded with athletic, jump-shooting guards.

"It's going to be big for them to stay out there and be a factor for us on both ends of the floor, make some shots offensively, get some rebounds, be solid defensively," Nowitzki said.

Honing versatility

The Mavs have prided themselves on being versatile, meaning they can lock horns with half-court, defensive-minded teams such as the Spurs, but also put on the jets and run with free-flowing teams such as the Suns.

Only the Suns did a number on the Mavs twice in the final 20 games. Phoenix stole a double-overtime win at American Airlines Center and clobbered the Mavs in Phoenix, scoring 129 and 126 points.

Golden State, like the Suns, wants to exploit mismatches, shoot quickly, hit lots of 3-pointers and pile on the points. The Warriors scored 117 in a 17-point win over the Mavs on March 12.

The Mavs believe that over the course of a seven-game series, their versatility, depth and discipline can undercut the free-wheeling Warriors.

"You know he's [Warriors coach Don Nelson] going to put you in a bind as a coach," Dirk Nowitzki said. "He's going to play with small lineups, and he's going to go with mismatches. He's a mismatch coach; he's always done that. But we just have to be solid. That's nothing new. It's something we've worked on all season long."

Building up Diop

When the Mavs get solid production from both of their centers, they become a difficult team to attack.

Erick Dampier has, for the most part, had a good season. DeSagana Diop has faced mixed reviews in his second season with the Mavs.

"He's been in my boot camp a little bit this year," Avery Johnson said, "so he hasn't done well during certain segments of the season, but he's tried."

Diop might have hit his stride heading into the playoffs, thanks to an infusion of confidence stemming from increased minutes while Dampier was out with a strained shoulder.

In the last six games of the season, Diop averaged 29.3 minutes, 4.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. Compare those numbers with his season averages of 18.3 minutes, 2.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.

Zeroing in

Avery Johnson liked to talk about his "plan." Sometimes he wouldn't divulge the "plan." Sometimes he'd shed light on the "plan." It was just a known fact that the "plan" was all about getting guys rested for a grueling two-month playoff grind.

Starting with a home game against Portland, Johnson started to systematically rest key players such as Jerry Stackhouse. Then, once the No. 1 seed was locked up April 9, rest, or a "pause" as Johnson would later reclassify it, came to every starter.

With a fully healthy lineup, Johnson's "plan" is now about preparing for the Golden State Warriors.

"We're zeroing in on one team," Johnson said. "It's not like we have to play Sunday and jump on the plane and go play another team. It's one team, it's one coaching staff, it's one city, and that's where our focus is now. And it's good to zero in on one situation."

The value of Josh

Josh Howard momentarily stopped more than a few hearts around town when he sprained his ankle twice in the span of five games.

The lanky, 6-foot-7 Howard became an All-Star this season because of his incredibly valuable versatility. He's the team's second-leading scorer, third-leading rebounder, and he's just as much a threat to drive to the rim as he is to stick a 3-pointer.

Without his unique abilities, the Mavs suffer. When he left early in the first quarter against Denver, the Nuggets won 75-71.

"You can talk about all of the guys who we think are valuable to our team," Avery Johnson said, "but [against Denver] Josh's value really showed. When you've got star players like [Carmelo] Anthony and LeBron [James] and those guys, you've got somebody [in Howard] that can take the ball and a guy that really makes those guys play defense."

[DavidDaMonkey]

I personally like to see the Mavs getting that worked up. It shows that they are really passionate about whats going and about the team. Besides, Johnson changing up the hotels was not a crazy move, and Stack's foul was just a hack-a-Shaq gone slightly wrong. Then there was Mbenga (tacooo) going into the stands. I think that was about honor, and they played it well by DA having Mbenga taking care of it since he wasn't as vital to the series.

[nowhereman]

Originally Posted by DavidDaMonkey

I think that was about honor, and they played it well by DA having Mbenga taking care of it since he wasn't as vital to the series.

might have something to do with the fact that he's a 7 foot black belt

[DavidDaMonkey]

Originally Posted by nowhereman

might have something to do with the fact that he's a 7 foot black belt

tomatoes tomahtoes

[kriD]

The Little General issues an order: no suspensions

By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The message from Avery Johnson doesn't allow for any gray area. No room to retaliate. No room to provoke. Certainly no Joey Crawford exception for hotheaded referees.

It's about as cut and dried as any team rule can be.

"We don't want a suspension this year," Johnson said. "I'm serious. We don't want any suspensions in the playoffs. There's a heavy price to be paid for a suspension. We don't want that this year."

The price isn't one any of the Mavericks can afford to pay, regardless of their tax bracket. Suspensions can be viewed as part of the Mavs' undoing in the NBA Finals and almost derailed their playoff run in the Western Conference semifinals against San Antonio.

Jason Terry was the first of three Mavs to be punished during the 2006 postseason when he punched former backcourt partner Michael Finley during a scrum late in the Game 5 loss.

The incident wasn't penalized at the time, but video of Terry hitting Finley with a closed fist below the belt led to a Game 6 banishment. The Mavs lost what would have been the series clincher at home 91-86 without their second-leading scorer and were forced to return to San Antonio for Game 7.

"Everybody talked about how we were a game away from not being in the Finals," Jerry Stackhouse said. "That's crazy. If JT doesn't get suspended, maybe we win in six. We feel that we should have won it in five."

The Mavs did advance, but problems followed for Stackhouse and reserve center DJ Mbenga in the next two rounds.

Mbenga ran afoul in Phoenix during Game 4 of the West finals after going into the stands to aid Johnson's wife, Cassandra, who was in a shouting match with Suns fans. NBA rules strictly prohibit players from going into the stands, and though Mbenga was inactive for that game and in street clothes, he was hit with a six-game sentence.

Although losing the third-string center might appear minor, not having the physically imposing Mbenga (7-0, 220) for the first four games of the Finals didn't go unnoticed by Johnson. If nothing more, he represented six fouls that could've been used against Shaquille O'Neal in a pinch.

Speaking of O'Neal and fouls, Stackhouse's takedown of Miami's behemoth center in the third quarter of the Heat's Game 5 blowout win cost the sixth man the following contest. Without the primary rotation intact in a 2-2 series, the short-handed Mavs came up short 101-100 in overtime as Miami finished off its home sweep and moved within a victory of the title going back to Texas.

The lessons of 2006 resonate a season later.

"Don't put you or your teammates in a position that's going to jeopardize anything we have going on," Terry said. "Me, personally, from my experience last year in the second round, regardless of what happens out there on the court, you have to be in control of your emotions. One play, either way, can determine the outcome."

In all, the three suspended Mavs lost eight games last year. As far as Johnson is concerned, that's eight too many.

"Jason Terry cannot [punch] people in the wrong spot," Johnson said. "Stackhouse can't [tackle Shaq], and Mbenga can't go and protect the Johnson family. We don't want that this year."