Nelson isn't Concerned - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

MavsFanFinley · 03-25-2002, 01:32 AM

Van Exel's slump doesn't faze Mavs' Nelson

Coach quick to affirm faith in talented but hurting point guard

03/25/2002

By MARC STEIN / The Dallas Morning News

Tuesday's trip to Milwaukee might not be the most triumphant homecoming for Wisconsin native Nick Van Exel, who still hopes to shake out of his tentativeness since being acquired by the Mavericks. Tuesday's trip to Milwaukee might not be the most triumphant homecoming for Nick Van Exel. Not after a week in which the Wisconsin native strained a rib-cage muscle putting on his shirt, then shot 1-for-12 in a two-point loss to San Antonio.

The solace for Van Exel, so far, is that he'll have to string together a few bad weeks before his new coach scraps plans to play two point guards at crunch time.

"I'm not discouraged at all," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "He's never been a percentage shooter, and that's OK. He has the ability to make hard shots and he can make passes nobody else can make.

"I know what Nick can do. I just hope he can do it this year. If he can't do it this, he'll do it next year."

Van Exel played only six minutes in Saturday's cruise past Memphis because of the sore rib cage, with the aim of being ready for the Bucks. The injury, though, is the lesser concern as Dallas (48-21) heads into a four-game trip that also stops in Minnesota, Boston and Washington.

As with fellow newcomer Raef LaFrentz, Van Exel has been admittedly tentative offensively, passing up good looks to theoretically keep more established Mavericks happy. That's despite teammates and coaches urging Van Exel "to get back to being dominant," in Nelson's words.

Nelson is especially intrigued by the contrast in styles between Nash and Van Exel. Both are known as dangerous penetrators, but Van Exel does it at a slower speed to create an alternative set of passing angles.

"More often than not, Nick will be the backup," Nelson said. "But we see them eventually playing together. If we played San Antonio in a series, I would want to play them together a lot."

That's even after Thursday's shooting nightmare against the Spurs. That's even with Van Exel, after 14 games in Dallas, averaging just 9.4 points on 36.4 percent shooting – including 21.4 percent (9-for-42) from 3-point range.

"We couldn't guard Nick in Denver, and lot of other [teams] couldn't," Nelson said. As for Van Exel's reputation for being difficult to coach, Nelson said: "I haven't been around him very long, but he's totally the opposite that I perceived him being."

Murphy3 · 03-25-2002, 04:40 PM

nellie's coaching slump is what concerns me

David · 03-25-2002, 06:18 PM

<< nellie's coaching slump is what concerns me >>

I don't know about that. Aren't the Mavs playing the best that a Mavs team has played, record wise, in the history of the team? They were earlier. True, the Mavs have lost to the Spurs by 3 and the Lakers by 2 this past week. But aren't those two teams among the BEST in the NBA. It used to be that the Mavs were among the worst. Now we gripe when they lose a couple of games to the best. Ah, how times have changed.

ocelot_ark · 03-25-2002, 07:02 PM

Isn't it easy to say how great Nelson has coached, when in fact he has the absolute BEST collection of talent in the NBA? When does our past become the past, and our expectations match the level of our talent?

seelenjaeger · 03-25-2002, 07:10 PM

isnt it far more easy to say how bad he´s coaching when you don´t have much to refer to other than numbers?

i do think nellie plays a very own style of game at the moment - it´s hard to tell if he´s in a slump or not if you have no real example of what happens if he´d do it another way.
take a look at the spurs insight on the mavs ball in another thread ...

Drbio · 03-25-2002, 08:05 PM

When does our past become the past, and our expectations match the level of our talent?

ooooohhhhh.....very nice point. I like this idea. It is time to hold the Mavs not to the standards of the past but much much higher. This team should scare the piss out of the rest of the league and contend for a title this year. Anything less would be a disappointment.

David · 03-25-2002, 08:06 PM

There are lots of factors that go into Nelson's coaching and what he can do with the team. He has two starter types that he is trying to acclimate to the team, on the fly, without benefit of a training camp, all the while trying not to screw up what has gone on so far, record wise.

LaFrentz and NVE are new to their teammates. New to their coaches. NVE has to get used to coming off the bench. Nelson has to see what he can and cannot get away with as far as playing time and rotations go. When they made the trade with Denver, a manual or how-to book was not included. The only way to find things out is to try them.

And all of a sudden Nelson is getting blamed for putting together the best collection of talent in the NBA? I think that's a positive, not a negative. I could be wrong.

MavKikiNYC · 03-25-2002, 08:57 PM

<< When does our past become the past, and our expectations match the level of our talent? >>

Expectations for the Mavs should be based on talent AND experience. Probably chemistry and cohesiveness as well.

<< I like this idea. It is time to hold the Mavs not to the standards of the past but much much higher. This team should scare the piss out of the rest of the league and contend for a title this year. >>

Unrealistic.

<< Anything less would be a disappointment. >>

Prepare to be disappointed. This isn't their year.

Drbio · 03-25-2002, 09:06 PM

Whatever. Nothing like setting the bar ankle high.

DTL · 03-25-2002, 10:14 PM

<< "I know what Nick can do. I just hope he can do it this year. If he can't do it this, he'll do it next year." >>

I like this comment. It show commitment to keeping NVE for a while. Of course, Nellie wouldn't and couldn't have said that he's simply part of the price we had to pay to get LaFrentz anyway (I do wonder though...). Hopefully, NVE reads this the right way and keeps working hard on working himself into this championship-caliber squad intead of looking to get a starting PG job somewhere else next year.

Rod1975 · 03-25-2002, 11:42 PM

<< Van Exel's slump doesn't <u>faze</u> Mavs' Nelson >>

uhm is faze even a word? should'nt Marc have used the word phase?

makes you wonder how difficult it really is to het a high profile journalism job....

Kat · 03-25-2002, 11:46 PM

FYI - faze = daunt. But he still can't write.

MavsFanFinley · 03-25-2002, 11:46 PM

<< uhm is faze even a word? should'nt Marc have used the word phase? >>

LOL, nope, he's using the right word.

Faze is another word for disturbed or concerned.

Phase is another word for cycle or level.

Drbio · 03-25-2002, 11:59 PM

Etymology 101....LOL