Avery, the rest is up to you

[kriD]

Avery, the rest is up to you

Sitting Nowitzki during preseason will help Mavs down the stretch

01:09 AM CDT on Thursday, October 12, 2006
[By Jean-Jacques Taylor / The Dallas Morning News]

Avery Johnson has the right idea. He sat Dirk Nowitzki the other day in the Mavericks' preseason opener.

No need to stop there. Johnson should sit him for the entire preseason. That's right. Nowitzki's line in the box score the next seven games should read DNP – coach's decision.

Now, Dirk isn't going to like it. And that's OK. No self-admitted gym rat wants to sit. In this case, though, the greater good outweighs the 7-foot superstar's desire.

Nowitzki, a perennial All-Star, has established himself as one of the NBA's top five players. Coaches and players throughout the league respect his game, so he has nothing to prove – or gain – by playing even 20 minutes a night in the preseason.

So sit him on the bench, it's OK if he pouts because Avery won't play him. Since Oct. 13, 2004, Nowitzki has played in 219 basketball games. That's a lot of wear and tear on bones and joints.

Sometimes, we forget he's no longer the 19-year-old prodigy from Germany; he's a 28-year-old veteran entering his ninth season. But he's entering his prime because his basketball intellect is now at the same level as his talent.

As he gets older, the focus must shift to Nowitzki's body, because older players tend to get hurt and take longer to recover, no matter the sport. No need to take a chance on injury during the preseason.

Nowitzki's body deserves a rest. Now is the time for him to get it.

"We're going to be very aware of what our players need," Johnson said last week, "to help them get through the regular season."

Nowitzki said his body feels strong, while intimating he needs the preseason to find a rhythm with his new teammates. That is admirable but unnecessary.

He can practice as much as he wants, and Nowitzki can throw in some additional cardio of his choice if he wants to get in better shape. There's just no need for him to play in a game where a sprained ankle or strained hamstring could compromise the Mavs, because Dirk is the only irreplaceable player on the roster.

This is a championship or bust season for the Mavs, who blew a 2-0 series lead against Miami in the NBA Finals. Every minute Nowitzki doesn't play in the preseason is another minute he might be a little more effective in May and June, when the stakes rise and the games become more significant.

The Mavs came so close to winning a championship last year that they chose to make few changes. They've added Anthony Johnson, Greg Buckner, Devean George and Austin Croshere, but Johnson, a point guard, is the only member of that group who figures to get considerable playing time.

The others are role players, so it's not like Nowitzki needs to spend time on the court getting used to them. You could make the argument Nowitzki needs playing time with Johnson in game situations, but whatever they can't get fixed in practice will have to wait until the regular season.

After all, everyone knows the NBA season doesn't really start until after the All-Star break.

This season is about a championship – not a Southwest Division title or a No.1 seed in the Western Conference. Or anything else.

Last season, the Mavs proved they could win important playoff games on the road, at least until the NBA Finals. In the West semifinals, they beat the Spurs in Game 7 in San Antonio, and they rallied from 18 points down in Phoenix to beat the Suns and win the Western Conference finals.

The Western Conference will be better than ever this season, so it would behoove Johnson to slightly reduce Nowitzki's minutes. He's averaged 38 minutes a game in five of the last six seasons, but 35 minutes would be great and 36 would signify progress.

It won't be easy because it will mean sacrificing a few victories that might prevent Mark Cuban from, once again, hanging a division banner from the rafters.

Again, that's OK. This year, more than any other, Johnson must keep the players and Cuban focused only on winning a championship.

Nothing else matters. The preparation starts now. That's why Nowitzki must sit.

[chumdawg]

I know it's terrible, but I'm going to go ahead and say that I didn't read past the byline. Jean-Jacques Taylor is the worst piece of sensationalist journalist crap that the DMN has had to suffer in my lifetime. Mark my words: The day they promoted him to columnist is the day that Sports Day began a downward plunge. It's a sad, sad, time for the local paper.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

All he said was sit Dirk during the preseason. I completely agree.

[Underdog]

I can't argue with the logic of benching Dirk until November 2nd... Plus, the preseason should be about the battle at the far end of the bench - I'd hate to see Carroll, Ebi, Washington, or Barea miss the squad simply because they didn't get enough touches to prove themselves...

[V2M]

This is a deep Mavs team that has reached the finals proving quite well they could win on the road... hence regular season victories, division titles, HCA, etc., although quite nice to have, don't mean as much as staying strong & healthy for the playoffs!

Dirk being our lone superstar (yes MVP, MIP, MDP, whatever, all clubbed in one!), and given his age and the load he's carried the past year, it's only prudent to give him as much rest as possible. If he doesn't play a single minute in the preseason, I think, that can only help. Let's conserve his energy as much as possible for the playoffs!

[DubOverdose]

I just want to kick San Atones ASS on opening night...that's all

[fluid.forty.one]

I might play him the second to last pre-season game (to get used to the flow of things again), rest him the last one, and let him loose against SA.

[Tokey41]

As long as hes in season form for the opener, I think that would require a game or two in the preseason but if Avery doesnt for whatever reason play him then we should trust him.

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by Tokey41

As long as hes in season form for the opener, I think that would require a game or two in the preseason but if Avery doesnt for whatever reason play him then we should trust him.

Yeah I agree.....I want him to rest his big ass bones and joints and everything but hell...I want to BEAT SA on Nov 2nd!!

[V2M]

I want us to beat SA in May. I could care less who wins this meaningless game in Nov.

[rabbitproof]

Only logical thing to do. Forget ankle sprains - how about a ligament tear?

Dirk may not be Dallas but Dirk is Dallas' championship hope. Whatever makes him tick the best in June, do it. Do it now, do it tomorrow, do it until June and do it often.

And do it until there's a rafter hanging... just do it!

Not sure sitting out is what Nike had in mind but rest the big guy.

[kriD]

Win Or Else!

Doofus Thinking: It's A 'Title Or Bust'

By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com

The last time I dared disagreed with something Jean-Jacques Taylor crayoned into print, he fired back, calling me a worthless, acidic, confrontational, arrogant, bitter old has-been.

Hey, I'm not old!

Anyway, it's been a year, so I thought I'd taken another stab -- not in JJT's back, but in a respectful manner: right up front, where he can see me.

It is the assertion of JJT (now a "star'' columnist at the Dallas Morning News and I guess I am getting aged because I damn sure never thought I'd see anybody with his dubious talents earn that honor in MY lifetime) that the Mavs must order Dirk to sit out the rest of the preseason in order to preserve his health.

Taylor's work here -- which again feels like it's born of an attempt to be controversial while starting up a new job -- insists that Dirk sit out the preseason. All of it.

Shall we debate?

Last fall, the UberMan played in all seven of the Mavs' exhibition games. Not only that, in those games he recorded 21, 28, 26, 28, 29, 32 and a notable 40 minutes in a practice game against Milwaukee. Was that too much? JJT says "he can practice as much as he wants, and Nowitzki can throw in some additional cardio of his choice if he wants to get in better shape. There's just no need for him to play in a game where a sprained ankle or strained hamstring could compromise the Mavs.'' That statement ignores the possibility of spraining or straining something in practice (maybe Dirk should just stay home and eat bonbons for the next two weeks?). And it also ignores how much of a team sport basketball is, how much it requires "syncronicity'' that can only be honed by repetition. And most of all, it ignores what happens on Nov. 2, after Dirk gets up off his couch, which we will note below.

First, assorted brainfarts where The Basketball Mind of Jean-Jacques Taylor really loses it (and loses me):

• He writes, "This is a championship or bust season for the Mavs.'' Let's ignore JJT's unwillingness to use hyphens. It this really a championship-or-bust season? Is there really any such thing? Win or else? Win or Mark Cuban must permanently unplug his laptop and Avery Johnson must knapsack it back to New Orleans and Dirk must tuck his tail in shame and re-enlist in the German Army? Finish second and you might as well slit your throat? A "championship-or-bust season''? Did "failures'' San Antonio and Detroit "bust'' after last spring? Isn't that an especially juvenile notion?

If they don't win the 2006-07 NBA Finals, will Jean-Jacques start attending games with a paper bag over his head?

• He writes, "They've added Anthony Johnson, Greg Buckner, Devean George and Austin Croshere, but Johnson, a point guard, is the only member of that group who figures to get considerable playing time.''

Oops. And JJT actually spent a day at training camp in Denton. Didn't he find out (or read on DB.com and elsewhere) that Johnson and Buckner are legit CONTENDERS FOR A STARTING JOB? And that George has been mentioned in the next breath?

• He writes, "After all, everyone knows the NBA season doesn't really start until after the All-Star break.'' If you are any sort of a basketball fan, you are rankled by this trite chunk of hooey. For Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and anyone else trying to own the West, this is a quest to win 55-to-60 games. JJT, you can't win 60 games in the second half alone.

The NBA season does not begin at the All-Star Break. In fact, if you don't register enough W's in the first half, your NBA season might END by the break.

• He writes, "This season is about a championship – not a Southwest Division title or a No.1 seed in the Western Conference. Or anything else.''

Cripes. Again with the "or-bust'' thing. So tell me: If Dallas falls short of a title (or it Phoenix does, or if San Antonio does), what exactly occurs? Does the franchise experience spontaneous combustion?

Furthermore, the regular season (and a No. 1 seed) has taken on added importance, whcih the new seeding system, which is likely to match up the runners-up of the three-way Dallas-San Antonio-Phoenix race in Round 2. Finish first, you oppose one Western power. Finish below there, you oppose two. Huge advantage to the "anything else'' of being No. 1. Huge.

• He writes, "The Western Conference will be better than ever this season, so it would behoove Johnson to slightly reduce Nowitzki's minutes. He's averaged 38 minutes a game in five of the last six seasons, but 35 minutes would be great and 36 would signify progress.''

More triteness, with some nitpickiness tossed in. The excellence of the West has long been a foregone conclusion. Will it be "better than ever,'' meaning better than last year, when the Spurs won 63 and Dallas won 60 and, as is often the case, nine teams were over .500? Will it be "better than'' 2004-05, when Phoenix, San Antonio and Dallas all won 58-plus? Will it be "better than'' 2003-04, when six teams won 50? Will it be "better than'' 1986-87, when Dallas won 55 -- and finished 10 games behind the Lakers?

How do we know? Oh, and if the West is "better than ever,'' maybe Dirk will have to play more minutes.

And speaking of minutes: I find tiresome the arguments of reduced burn for "overworked'' stars. JJT votes for "35 minutes'' per game and insists that's different than "36'' minutes per game? Hey, maybe he should play 35:30 seconds per game, and only be half as overworked?!

The truth is, being No. 1 is critical. And doing what it takes to achieve that is critical. Pre-planning minutes rarely works; if Dirk needs to play 48 on a given night to secure a win, then 48 is the exact right number. If, in a blowout win, he only clocks 30, is that too few?

The first step to being No. 1 is winning the aforementioned Nov. 2 game. It's against the Spurs, the team that annually edges Dallas in the West, by a game or two. Does Jean-Jacques really suggest that the Dallas Mavericks take the floor in their season opener, with all the ramifications that game holds, without Dirk Nowitzki having participated in real game action with his teammates? Really?

• He writes, "It will mean sacrificing a few victories that might prevent Mark Cuban from, once again, hanging a division banner from the rafters.''

For the record, DB.com strongly disagrees with the policy of "sacrificing a few victories.'' Understanding how the playoffs work, DB.com strongly endorses the policy of winning the division. And DB.com also strongly urges JJT to eye more intensely that roof the next time he visits American Airlines Center, where he will learn that Mark Cuban has yet to hang any division banners from the rafters.

• He writes, "This year, more than any other, Johnson must keep the players and Cuban focused only on winning a championship. ... Nothing else matters.''

Hoo boy. Where to start? That this year is "more (important) than any other''? That Cuban's "focus'' is under the control of his coach? (Whaaaat?)

Listen: This team is built for the long haul AND at the same time it must act with urgency to win now. They need to be healthy (Dirk sat out both Tuesday and Thursday, so JJT is so far a happy columnist) AND at the same time be ready to roll. But it is not "championship-or-bust,'' because they won't "bust''; the Mavs will tip it off again in 2007-08, and again in 2008-09. ... However, this team is invited to play like it's now or never. I vote yes on that. But if it doesn't succeed in winning it all, JJT -- if "nothing else matters'' -- exactly what apocalyptic occurence will we endure?

North Korea will bomb the Mavs? A Yankee pitcher will fly a plane into Reunion Tower? Jean-Jacques Taylor will write another insight-free Mav column?

[chumdawg]

Way to take him to the woodshed, Fish! JJT is a miserable sportswriter.

[MavsX]

yeah. JJT sucks