Inside the Mavs

[Max Power]

Armstrong solidifies weak point
02:52 AM CST on Friday, December 10, 2004

A good way to analyze any NBA team is to ask which position is its worst. It’s the old “weakest link’’ theory.

For the Mavericks, that question was easily answered until last week. Point guard had been a troubling spot. They have a center who is better than most he matches up against. They have one of the best power forwards in the game, they have four competent players at big guard and small forward and they have two quality scorers off the bench.

Point guard? That was a rookie feeling his way through the league and taking some hard knocks.

That changed with the trade for Darrell Armstrong. With the wily veteran coming on board, the Mavericks now have a functional, NBA-hardened leader at the point. It was no coincidence that he was starting in his third game as a Maverick and that Harris had his first DNP-CD.

Harris still has a great future. But when you have a playoff team -- and there is no doubt the Mavericks do -- you do whatever you can to give yourself a chance to win big now. With Armstrong, point guard may still be the Mavericks’ softest position. But it’s no longer the glaring weak link.

- Eddie Sefko

MAVERICKS Q&A
Q: We’ve gotten pretty spoiled the last few years with good free throw shooters. How many games do you think the decrease in accuracy at the line will cost the Mavericks this season?

Dave Tamillow, Richmond, Va.

SEFKO: It’s already cost them one, the first meeting against Minnesota. And it likely will be an occasional problem throughout the season. What the Mavericks have to hope is that other aspects of the game at which they are better -- defense and offensive rebounding, for instance -- are enough to offset the foul foul shooting. The Mavericks will win games in different fashions this season. Winning them at the foul line won’t happen often. The Mavericks aren’t terrible at the line. But they won’t lead the league anymore, either.

•••

Q: Why does the NBA allow so many back-to-back games that involve horrible travel logistics? That puts a bad product on the floor.

Mark P., Plano, Texas

SEFKO: Location, location, location. Not of the games, but of the NBA office. It’s in New York, where you can get to five NBA arenas with less than a one-hour plane ride. Teams in the East can play consecutive nights against Boston and Washington and still get plenty of rest.

Try doing that when you play in Houston one night and Salt Lake City the next. Or in Dallas, then Minneapolis, as the Mavericks did earlier this week. Even with chartered planes, three-hour flights turn into five-hour ordeals when you include bus rides to the hotel and loading and unloading of luggage and equipment. The worst instance this year was in Orlando, where the Mavericks got into their hotel rooms at 4 a.m. after playing in Dallas.

The NBA has a rule that teams cannot cross more than one time zone on back-to-back games. In the West, that can still be a 1,200-mile flight.

•••

Q: It seems that refs no longer call fouls on offensive players when they clearly initiate contact. Is it just me or what’s the deal?

Richard Stirsman

SEFKO: It’s just you. Oh, OK, maybe it’s not completely you. The league is trying to amp up scoring this season, and if getting drivers to the free throw line helps it happen, so be it. Mark Cuban is of the opinion that this is entertaining basketball. Others think it bogs things down. There’s a fine line between calling every little foul in the paint and not having offensive players hacked to pieces on the way to the basket. One rule to remember is that if a defender is inside the semi-circle in the paint, he’s almost always going to get called for the foul. He must establish position outside that arc to have any chance of drawing a foul. The offensive players have the advantage, unless they clearly lower their shoulder or use a free arm to clear out a defender and create space. The bottom line is that I’d get used to seeing more free throws this season if I were you.

•••

Q: Am I the only one who saw anything odd about the head coach taking a regular-season game off to give the job to an assistant, like it was a tryout? Would a starting player do that for a backup?

Selwyn Crawford

SEFKO: This is not a federal offense. Avery Johnson is going to be the next Mavericks coach, unless Phil Jackson wants to pop into the organization. It makes sense to get Johnson as much hands-on experience as possible.

There was nothing wrong with allowing an assistant to run the show. It happened again Tuesday night in Minnesota when Nelson got ejected barely a minute into the game. When asked if that was planned, Nelson said “maybe.’’

Without any time to think about it, Johnson looked much more comfortable on the bench and he was quick to bark out instructions. He’s not going to be Red Auerbach right off the bat. But if Nelson is willing to allow Johnson to grow into the job, it’s worth doing it this way.

•••

Q: What has Mark Cuban said about Avery Johnson as heir apparent to Don Nelson?

Lance Price

SEFKO: The owner can’t say what direction he’s going to take a year and a half from now. That’s how much longer Nelson is under contract. Cuban thinks Johnson is going to be terrific. But he’s doing the right thing by saying nothing about the future.

•••

Q: The Mavericks are no better than they were last year. What’s Cuban going to do next, trade the entire starting five, except the German?

Jose Lopez

SEFKO: It’s hard to tell, but are you bitter about something?

The Mavericks had the same record after 20 games this season as they had last season. But to say they are no better is inaccurate. They have all five positions manned adequately and, in some cases, more than adequately. They have some punch off the bench.

They already have won at Minnesota and at Miami, two quality road wins that came without Michael Finley available. This suggests they have the fortitude to play well in hostile environs, something they didn’t have last season. These things all point to them being better come playoff time, even if they don’t amass more than the 52 wins they had last season.

•••

Q: What is that tattoo on Jerry Stackhouse’s right biceps? It looks like a golfer in his backswing

Jon Alexis

SEFKO: You’re right, it does. But it actually it’s a silhouette of a basketball player cradling the ball on a drive to the basket.

And stop it already with those one-liners about it actually being a silhouette of a player pulling up for a contested fadeaway jumper at the free throw line and going 1-for-8 in the process.

•••

Q: Does Dirk Nowitzki have a legitimate chance to be MVP this season?

Horst Schilderoth, Wiesbaden, Germany

SEFKO: Oh, quit being a homer. There are two big reasons why Nowitzki will have a hard time being the MVP this year: Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Garnett’s numbers are better across the board, and Duncan’s are better in the most important category of all: victories.

Still, your question has validity. If Nowitzki leads the league in scoring, or comes close to doing so, and the Mavericks make a legitimate run at the Spurs in the division, he’ll garner some votes. It’s not out of the question, but if Seattle keeps rolling, Ray Allen will get support from many. In the East, Dwyane Wade will get support from Shaq, if not others.

Nowitzki’s in the hunt at this point, but it’s a long way until the votes get counted.

•••

Q: I heard an NBA “expert’’ say that you can tell who the best teams are and who will be in the playoffs after 20 games. Do you think this is so and is there any data to back it up?

Robbert, New York

SEFKO: To get this newsletter out on time, we won’t go back through the years, only to last season, when the Mavericks started 13-7, the same as they did this season. At that point, they were in the middle of the playoff pack. And that’s exactly where they finished, getting the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

This is not a foolproof method. Seattle was playoff caliber for the first month of the 2003-04 season and tumbled radically. This year, the Sonics look to have a bit more staying power. At this point, you can identify playoff contenders, but it’s still too early to pencil in the top eight.

[bloodyhell]

sefko's a queer. nothing left to be said.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: bloodyhell
sefko's a queer. nothing left to be said.

Thank you for your solid basketball point.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: bloodyhell
sefko's a queer. nothing left to be said.

Damn what did Sefko do to you to have your panty's in a bunch?