Donnell Harvey - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

MavKikiNYC · 02-15-2002, 12:29 PM

Tracking the Mavs from NYC, I seem to remember hearing good things about Harvey coming out of camp--that he'd made great improvements playing in the summer league; that he was possibly the most athletic player on the team, certainly the best leaper; that he looked primed to become a Rodman-esque contributor on the boards.

What's happened to him? He's spent as much time on the Inactive List as on the DNP list. Does he have any potential at all? What's the word down in Dallas?

Rod1975 · 02-15-2002, 01:02 PM

Donnell is the perfect example of how there is alot more to basketball than just being able to jump high.

He's still a project right now, maybe eventually he will crack the rotation, if the Mavs keep him that is.

mick · 02-15-2002, 01:13 PM

Nellie was on a local radio show this week and said that Harvey was on crutches nursing a sprain (I think ankle). Said something like he may be out 3-4 weeks more. He has also said he is not worried about losing him, that Mavs have "control" for another couple of years after next. Still pretty high on his future.

Chris · 02-15-2002, 02:03 PM

Donnell is also perfect evidence of Nellie's complete lack of trust in young players who don't shoot from the outside. He hasn't played perfectly, of course, in the very limited opportunities that he has been given, but he has definitely shown an exceptional amount of promise. Nellie, for some reason, would rather play a dried up Johnny Newman than develop a young energy player who could help us well into our future.

Remember, he barely played Najera until injuries compelled him, at which point Najera had to bully his way into the rotation. Nellie is not easy on young players who don't fit his style, and Donnell is, except for his quickness, almost everything Nellie ball is not.

It's a shame Nellie doesn't see that a guy like Donnell can be a great complement to the four other shooters on the floor. Well, maybe next year...

mick · 02-15-2002, 02:57 PM

I think the justification for Newman was Finley's injury. I am not against Newman, but I do agree with you that Harvey should be given playing time to develop. He won't do it in practice alone, just like Najera and Wang didn't start showing improvement until after they started getting game time.

I think Harvey will be the as good as Fortson would be for us, if not better. No question about his rebounding and hustle already. Defense is not that bad, and with a little patience and game time experience, I think he will score inside.

TwoDeep3 · 02-16-2002, 02:53 PM

I read posts like yours Chris and I wonder how it is that you know the things you do.

Certainly Nellie has shown a propensity to favor the vetrean player over the young guy.

Yet by his own words Harvey is in jured.

Further, this team is very deep and getting the minutes to blossom when you have so many players stacked in front of you is a problem on most of the top teams.

Harvey has shown he has leaping ability. But name the game or games where he has shown he can play the level of defense Najera plays.

The team is solidly in first place in the midwest and the team everyone seems to fear, the Spurs are so far in our rearview mirrors its almost laughable.

I don't understand the lament about Nellie and young guys with our record. nor have I seen anything that suggests Harvey is anything more than a very raw player that came out of college far too early.

I see this as wishful thinking in hopes this guy developes. He may, but to think we need to funnel time to this guy in hopes it will be this year seems misplaced to me.

Chris · 02-16-2002, 04:07 PM

TwoDeep, fine I don't know that Harvey isn't hurt. I just don't have a great deal of trust that a young guy like Harvey, who hasn't had any injury problems in his history, has been injured for half the season. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that, if Harvey were on the IR, Nellie would be able to come out with a statement like "No, Donnell isn't hurt, we're just storing him there." The IR is, no matter how it is used, for injured players, and I can imagine a statement like that making Stern angry.

Furthermore, Nellie has shown a history of not trusting young players since arriving here. He's said several things about how he didn't believe that rookies were ready for the NBA these days. And, while this may be true to some extent, it is necessary to play them for them to develop. So, while I am happy that we're at the top of the league, I notice other teams, like the Kings, fitting young players into the system so seamlessly, and consequently improving, that it makes me wish Nellie would do something of the same. If we want to challenge the Lakers, we have to keep getting better.

P.S. Donnell, in the one game he played more than 20 minutes this season, got 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. In the games he has played over ten minutes, he has averaged, in 13.2 mpg, 4.2 rpg, .5 steals, .5 to, .5 blocks, 3.1 points on 56% shooting. And I don't know if you followed him in the summer league, but he tore things up. Frankly, although he may be raw, I don't know how you can <u>not</u> see his potential.

Chris · 02-16-2002, 04:14 PM

Oh, by the way, about the unavailable minutes on the Mavs? Yes, we are a relatively deep team, however, Nellie loves to overplay his stars. I'm sure you know about Michael Finley's Iron-man streak, but while he coached the Warriors, Spree led the league in minutes a couple of times. So maybe, we could start with the 13.9 minutes per game Johnny Newman has averaged in his 27 games here (it seems the a very deep team would need to sign an unpursued free agent in mid-season), subtract say 3 from Finley's time at small forward, and the same from Dirk. We'd have 15 minutes per game easy to play Donnell. It would motivate him, it would provide a deal of consistent play that is beneficial to young players, and it would provide us with a quick defensive and rebounding presence.

TwoDeep3 · 02-16-2002, 05:40 PM

Anecdotal stats, while interesting, do not mean they will play out that way for the rest of the season. If we were to take3 the stats of the Portland game, Steve Nash would be riding the bench.

Had Harvey stayed in school he would still not be in the NBA.

Why is it this team needs to rush out and develope a player such as Harvey. I'm not saying we should ignore the guy, but this is starting to be a conspiracy theory.

Maybe Don Nelson was the second gunman on the grassy knoll.

My observation is this is really about the great rebounder that will come and save the season rather than the developement of anyone. BUt I don't believe a raw Harvey is that player.

Harvey will have his day. I'm just suspect that today is it.

Chris · 02-18-2002, 01:57 PM

Anecdotal Stats?

I have no idea what that would mean. Stats are objective. Just because I chose the games where Donnell had played significant minutes doesn't make the numbers irrelevant. If you project Donnell's current stats, at 9.0 minutes, out to the 13.2 average I used "anecdotally", you get 3.81 rpg, .4 assists, .3 steals, .4 blocks, .65 TO, and 3 points on 54% shooting.

The stats are almost identical. He would be a solid defensive and rebounding presence on this team, who would even be able to get up and down in transition like nellie desires. We have been ignoring Harvey, after we touted him all summer about how he was going to get a bigger role. He may make mistakes, and he may not shoot free throws as well as Nelson wants, but he would be a good 9th or 10th man who we could easily provide minutes in games against lesser opponents. Instead, we put him on the IR so we have more minutes for the old, slow, fossils that Nellie prefers. Ugh.

mick · 02-18-2002, 02:26 PM

On Norm Hitzges show this morning he reiterated that Mavs are very high on Harvey. He also said he really is injured and not just being stashed on IR.

Norm made the point we are going to need Harvey this year in playoffs, and he hoped he healed in time to make a contribution.

MavKikiNYC · 02-18-2002, 06:57 PM

Thanks for the info, Mick. I'm basically out of Norm's broadcast range.

Did he elaborate on how he thinks Harvey will be used? Or which teams he's anticipating that Harvey will match up well with?

mick · 02-18-2002, 08:46 PM

MavKiKi,
He said, which we all know, that Harvey is th emost athletic guy we have on the team, and he is a rebounding machine.

He feels we need him to play against the more athletic teams like Clipps, Minn, etc.

He said he actually fears the Clipps in the next couple of years if they can keep there group together. Of course, with the owner, Sterling, you never know.

MavKikiNYC · 02-18-2002, 09:01 PM

Hell, I fear the Clips now after the other night.

Mavs are not matching up well with them at all, so yeah, it would be interesting to see how he could contribute against them.

I'm looking too at possible first- and second-round opponents. Portland, Utah, Seattle, and Lakers.

Good to hear they've not just written him off yet. But would also like to seem him get some exposure around the league to enhance his value as a tradeable asset....just in case.