19-12: FRANCHISE RECORD COMEBACK

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by thurst0509

It's ok. At least you don't have to bear the fact that you were at the game but left at halftime...

It may have been the only game where I actually thought that to myself. It was really ugly.

I honestly didn't think they had enough in 'em to win it from that far back. It took a wonderful coaching job by the idiot mchale to help them along.

I'm still shocked he didn't foul being down 5 points with about 45seconds left. And dirk had been missing free throws like crazy...I think the cotton shoved up his nose was throwing off the finely tuned german machinery.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

That was the effort I wanted to see all season. I hope the Mavericks use this game as an example of the type of fire, hustle and energy they need to continue to play with. I don't think I have seen the AAC as rockin in years.

[monty55555]

What a game! What a win! I am so proud of these players who gave it their all when a lot of people gave up on them.

When they went down 29, I told myself "oh damn. This is going to be difficult.. probably impossible"... But I was hoping against hope and logic that they would turn this thing around and come out with a competitive game.

Everybody played really well in the 2nd half. Dirk didn't settle for jumpers and he was very aggressive driving to the basket and getting the boards. You could see his aggressiveness in the 2nd half. Those tip ins, that 2 handed dunk, the left handed layup off of a great pass from Kidd, he was great!

Jet was amazing. He didn't let his horrible first half deter him from trying and once he found his groove, he was unstoppable. He has been amazing this season. His clutch shooting in the 2nd half was huge. He really benefits from the pick and roll with Dirk and of course, those crazy lead passes from Kidd. Great game from him.

Josh was a pleasant surprise. If he could actually continue to play "smart basketball" then this team would really be very good. Those corner 3s (from Dirk and Kidd) were huge. He didn't force his shots in the 2nd half and was playing with a lot of energy and heart. It was nice to see him play "team ball" and actually have fun while doing it. That smile after that made basket was priceless.

Damp was a beast. He was amazing. He was defending and rebounding like a mad man. His dunk which came from a brilliant pass by Kidd was huge. It seemed to inspire not only him but also the entire team. It was great to see such emotion from the big man. Its great to actually see him "expect the pass from Kidd" on the break. You could see him lift his hands and prepare because he knew he would get the ball for that massive dunk. Great game from him too.

And of course, Jason Kidd. What a fantastic 2nd half. It was one of those games when you could tell yourself "he won't let this team lose"... and you saw it in every facet of his game. He was all over the place. He is such an underrated defender. His team defense is probably one of the best, if not the best, in this team. His timely steals, his great defense, his phenomenal passes, his overall impact and leadership was amazing. It was great to see such a performance from him. He has been good the past games but he didn't really have his "imprint" on the game.. the usual impact you would like to see. Last night, he put his stamp on the game. That was vintage Kidd.

Even Diop (he has been dunking the ball - WOW), Singleton and Wright had good games. It was such a great team effort that it was so fun to watch. You can only smile in awe after seeing your team fight back after such a big deficit.

I think I have watched the 2nd half around 4x since last night. And I'm going to watch it over and over til the next Mavs game.

Go Mavs! What an inspiring win!

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by dude1394

It may have been the only game where I actually thought that to myself. It was really ugly.

I honestly didn't think they had enough in 'em to win it from that far back. It took a wonderful coaching job by the idiot mchale to help them along.
I'm still shocked he didn't foul being down 5 points with about 45seconds left. And dirk had been missing free throws like crazy...I think the cotton shoved up his nose was throwing off the finely tuned german machinery.

Eh, there was absolutely nothing that McHale could have done. IT was gonna happen. Once we got rolling, too many of the guys were hott and swarming all over on D.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Eh, there was absolutely nothing that McHale could have done. IT was gonna happen. Once we got rolling, too many of the guys were hott and swarming all over on D.

Maybe...but to leave 3? timeouts in your pocket? And the last couple of minutes they were trading baskets. I'm still shocked they let us run the entire 24second clock off when they were down 5...They didn't even really press.

My buddy and I were shocked at that...heck even rec leagues know you have to foul there to try and extend the game.

[jthig32]

I applaud whoever tagged this thread with "mavs pwn ur face".

Bravo.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Maybe...but to leave 3? timeouts in your pocket? And the last couple of minutes they were trading baskets. I'm still shocked they let us run the entire 24second clock off when they were down 5...They didn't even really press.

My buddy and I were shocked at that...heck even rec leagues know you have to foul there to try and extend the game.

Yeah, they could have used the timeouts for sure. I meant in the overall it just seems like it was meant to be and they resigned to that fact. They were shell-shocked at what the hell was happening. haha.

I was listening to Norm this morning on the ticket and he was saying how he thinks they are running McHale out of Min. by giving him the HC job. You built the team now coach them..Sink or swim kind of thing. I guess he is in a tought spot but thats the business.

[dude1394]

I'm shocked that McHale has had a job for 10 years now. He's stunk it up as GM, Coach, GM again and now coach again.

I cannot understand at all how they could stay with that guy.

If anyone wants to see what the mavs would look like if we traded dirk and "started" over...you saw it last night.

You never trade away a guy like that unless he's going to leave anyway.

[monty55555]

Some great quotes from the Mavs:

JASON KIDD:

I'm exhausted and I just watched this game. I can only imagine what it must have been like to play in it.

Well, fortunately we don't have another one tomorrow. We get to rest and enjoy the new year. I thought it was a team effort. We were down big in the first but guys didn't quit. We kept fighting and we were hoping that with Minnesota being young we could hopefully use our experience to get back into it.



The biggest comeback in Mavs history, where does it rank in your career?
Umm , it's up there. It just shows that there are two halves and we played terrible in that first one. Then we played like the Mavericks in that second half. That's something we can build on going into '09.

When you look at how hard you had to play in that second half, you probably had to play more minutes especially with JJ out. Were you wondering how you were going to hold up?
I told coach I could go the whole second half if he needed me too. They found me a little break, but I wanted to get back in there. Everyone wanted to play and that is something that when you're down you want to see who is on board and everyone was. JET, J-Ho made big shots, Dirk played great, Damp, Gana... We got it from everybody. That's what we need if we are going to be one of the best teams in the league.

Coach watched most of this one from his office. Did that inspire you, fire you guys up at all?
We didn't know if coach just wanted to celebrate 2009 a little early, or if he just didn't want to see that basketball we were playing live and in person. I think for us being a veteran ball club we saw what we had to do. We had to regroup and that's what we did at halftime. Guys came out and played great in the second half.

JASON TERRY:

Largest comeback in Mavs history. You helped spur it with 29. It had to be so much fun out there.
So much fun. All the glory goes to God though, he gave us the strength and the energy. I thought the fans though, the fans propelled us to this victory. We didn't want to let them down going into '09. We could have easily blamed it on a west coast trip, lethargy or whatever, but we found the energy. Coach got ejected so you know that gave us a little spark. We came back out after half and played defense. That was the difference tonight.

Tell us about your mindset coming off the bench.
It's all about doing your job. We talked about that in training camp. Each individual has to do their job within a team concept and do it consistently on a night in and night out basis. That's what has taken my game to another level.

You said it was all about the defense and we were able to see that.
Yeah, we're in the top five in transition points, but you can't get that done unless you get stops on the defensive end. Look at the job Dampier did on Al Jefferson tonight. He said, "We don't need a double team. I can cover him one-on-one." That was tremendous.

Talk about Jason Kidd...
I've got to tell you, this guy has added four or five years onto my career. I don't have to work (laughter). Any time you are out there on the floor you just have to stay alert. If you get out and run the lanes he is going to make your job easy on you.

Talk about the fans. They were down just like you guys, but at the end of the game you were running off the court high fiving them.
Yeah, because we fed off the energy of the crowd. They are a young team, so we knew that if we could just get an 8-0 or 10-0 run they could lose confidence. We let them get confidence early, and they got off to a great start. But give credit to us, we dug deep and it worked out.

You guys had to remind them who you were.
Yeah, big brother showed up big in the second half. I think we just have to continue to work. Defensively is where this team has a large room to improve. If we can continue to do that in '09 the sky is the limit.

JAMES SINGLETON:
i'm exhausted and I just watched this game. I can only imagine what it must have been like to play in it.
Oh yeah, we couldn't sit down. In the first half we were a little down in the beginning but once we got it going we couldn't stop.

You came and igave some energy minutes, spelled some guys. Everyone did their part tonight.
Oh yeah, it doesn't matter how many minutes we play. Everyone did a great job today -- from the bottom to the top.

What was it like when coach Carlisle got ejected? Did you sense it firing up the team?
Yeah, I mean it lets you know that if Coach is going to step up like that and get ejected then we have to win this game. There is no choice.

What was it like at halftime?
We were down but we weren't out. We already knew.

Talk about the play of Jason Kidd tonight.
Finished the game with sixteen assists. I mean he was everywhere. The passes that he makes, the finishing. That was like one of the best games I've ever been involved in.

What does a comeback like this do for the confidence, and how will you be able to draw on this?
We're on our way up. Beginning of the season we were down, but it's about to get fun. Real fun.

For more: http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2008/12...back-in-mavs-h

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by jthig32

I applaud whoever tagged this thread with "mavs pwn ur face".

Bravo.

[/takes a bow]

[SeriousSummer]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Let's be thankful that we aren't relying on those message board types tonight. I'm sure they are sipping Spanish champagne and laughing at the rest of us. F 'em, is what I like to say.

Champagne is, by definition, French only.

I watched the entire game--a good friend of mine was down three rows from the front and said it was the most amazing experience ever.

[ghazi]

I wish I could rewatch the game, but I don't have TiVO or anything.

I thought there was a few sequences where the refs could've called fouls on us and staggered our momentum, but it didn't happen. We only got called for 7 personal fouls. But considering the refs took a 2006 championship away from us, I've got no guilt over a regular season win ... besides, we deserved to win anyway.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by SeriousSummer

Champagne is, by definition, French only.

Doesn't your statement depend upon the definition in use?

[BGMaverick9]

92bDad, nice story about the events in the AAC last night...nice work!

Originally Posted by cinemablend

Evidence that even though the team was playing fantastically Josh was still totally out of sync...

Here's his line:

23pts, 1 Reb, 3 Assists

That's pathetic. Josh Howard should be able to get more than 1 rebound, especially on a night like tonight.

JET had THREE rebounds. Singleton had 3 rebounds... and nothing else! Josh... 1.

Seriously, we really need to trade this guy. 23 points is nice, loved the way Josh was actively trying to get to the basket to score, but he really doesn't seem to fit at all into what the Mavs are doing anymore with Kidd. Not at all.

I think it's obvious I've been in the group of Trade Josh Howard, me and alby are in a neck-in-neck race on that one I think. Anyways, I think Josh had a pretty nice night in the big scheme of things. This comeback could've been a massive tease if Josh made some bone-head moves in the 2nd half. There is a form of comparison bc he jacked up some ugly junk on a few possessions in the first half.

In the 2nd half pretty much 90-95% of his scoring came in the flow of the offense and I couldn't fault him for the shots he took, a lot of them were fairly uncontested shots. He moved around with some consistency. He also made 2-3 really nice decisions with passing the ball out and it lead to some huge shots, one I remember with a Jet 3-ball right in front of the Mavs bench.

Does 2 games make a new Josh Howard...no. I am pleased though with what he has done in these two games though.

[fluid.forty.one]

who's gonna start the "Kevin McHale doesn't care anymore" thread?

[alexamenos]

thanks to the miracle of tivo I watched the 2nd half (listened last night, but didn't want to resume watching for superstitious reasons)....

my 2 dollars--

dirk is a stud. looks like his nose was probably broken on the foul in the middle of the third;

josh was mostly a spectator during the 20-2 run. he had one nice pass to dirk and hit a three from the corner, but he was just watching most of the comeback;

gana momentarily looked like gana of '06. i have dead relatives that i miss less than gana of '06;

can't give much credit to Ricky C for the Nelly-esque T in the 2nd. if it was intentional (which i'm not sure it was), it was definitely ineffective.

speaking of the 20-2 run, most of it happened without the mavs running any set plays.

mavs repeatedly posted dirk low in the 2nd and hardly scored out of it all. didn't post dirk low at all in the 2nd half.

jet is much more effective when he keeps teams honest with an occasional drive;

bob ortegal is the world's ugliest cheerleader;

remarkable comeback.

that is all.

[SeriousSummer]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Doesn't your statement depend upon the definition in use?

It's a controlled appellation recognized by the WTO, among other organization. If a winemaker calls something "champagne", and it isn't made in the proper region of France, then the winemaker is subject to legal action.

Just in case you were thinking of starting a "champagne" making operation over in Forney or Irving.

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by SeriousSummer

It's a controlled appellation recognized by the WTO, among other organization. If a winemaker calls something "champagne", and it isn't made in the proper region of France, then the winemaker is subject to legal action.

Gay or not gay?

[dude1394]

After watching the calisle deal I would be surprised if it was intentional, it just seemed too quick and too easy. He looked livid and I think the last few games of dirk getting beaten up and then suspended got under his skin.

I could be wrong...but even after being tossed he still wanted a piece of the guy.

[Rick41]

mavs pwn ur face

[SeriousSummer]

Originally Posted by alexamenos

Gay or not gay?

Sorry. Forgot for a moment I was in Texas. How about this?

I reckon that thar Spainish Champainie sure do go good with a chaw. Right, boys?

[Robillion]

Originally Posted by SeriousSummer

Sorry. Forgot for a moment I was in Texas. How about this?

I reckon that thar Spainish Champainie sure do go good with a chaw. Right, boys?

bahahaaaa... I usually do not like anything SeriousSummer has to say , but that was pretty good. Mainly because I instantly could hear the accent in my mind while reading it. .... he is still gay though

[Mavdog]

from the daily dime.....
--------------------------------------------------
By Marc Stein | ESPN.com

DALLAS -- Revenge?

That might be stretching it.

Hard to see how any one regular-season game, no matter how unfathomably sweet it played out for Dwane Casey, can make up for getting fired.

However ...

You can safely presume that Tuesday's wild scenes at American Airlines Center -- who could have imagined a scenario in which Kevin McHale would be coaching against Casey when the season started? -- were sweeter for the winning coach than he chose to say.

"Fate works in weird ways," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said on Casey's behalf.

With Casey stepping in for the ejected Carlisle, Dallas allowed a 16-point deficit to the Minnesota Timberwolves to balloon to a 29-point deficit before uncorking the biggest comeback in franchise history, eventually sending the Mavs to a crazy 107-100 triumph ... and putting the worst single-game collapse in Wolves history on McHale's résumé next to all of his other missteps.

Among the many McHale moves that get second-guessed is the decision to fire Casey halfway through Kevin Garnett's final season in 'Sota with the Wolves sitting at 20-20. It doesn't help McHale that Randy Wittman went 38-105 as Casey's replacement before McHale was asked to move downstairs by owner Glen Taylor and surrender his front-office supremacy on Dec. 8. Neither Wittman's tenure as coach nor the Wolves' stunning capitulation Tuesday night from a seemingly invincible position will be easily forgotten.

The Mavs actually don't have a firm succession plan to implement for nights that Carlisle gets ejected. Not with two recent former head coaches -- Casey and Terry Stotts -- working as Carlisle's top two assistants. Next time figures to be Stotts' turn, but Casey was always going to get this opportunity, on the occasion of Carlisle's first-ever Mavs ejection, given the team Dallas was hosting and who was working the sideline at the other end of the floor.

The problem? It didn't look like much of a bargain with the sleepy hosts already down 46-30 in the second quarter when Carlisle got tossed, having earned two quick techs for complaining about a few early hits absorbed by Dirk Nowitzki that didn't draw a whistle. The Mavs' deficit under Casey reached 22 points by halftime and was up to a whopping 70-41 within 94 seconds of the third quarter.

"We had the game in hand," McHale said. "We came out in the third quarter and made a few hoops and I thought, 'OK, we're going to continue to go.'"

He wasn't alone. There wasn't a shred of evidence to suggest that the Mavs, looking so lethargic, could dig out of the hole. But then they suddenly turned up their defensive pressure, finally got a couple 3s to go down and found some overdue emotion after Minnesota's Craig Smith swung hard with his left arm on a Nowitzki drive and caught the former MVP in the face, knocking Nowitzki to the floor and giving him a bloody nose. The building was buzzing after the flagrant foul as the Mavs kept slicing into the lead ... with McHale helping the Mavs out by settling for only one timeout and declining to make any substitutions for nearly six minutes, until the 29-point cushion was down to nine.

With Jason Terry scoring 24 of his 29 points in the second half and Jason Kidd causing copious havoc at both ends to finish with 14 points, 16 assists, seven rebounds and four steals, Dallas had the deficit down to 86-80 with 10:03 to go, by which point you could see that this was going to end badly for the Wolves.

"Probably should have burned a couple more timeouts," McHale conceded, saying that he gambled on the belief that his young team could push back Dallas' rally if it kept pushing the pace.

Instead?

The Mavs wound up treating a sellout of 20,624 to a resurrection which eclipsed the erasing of a 25-point deficit against Denver in 1994, thanks to a full group of five playing well: Terry and Kidd were flanked by Josh Howard (23 points), Erick Dampier (12 rebounds) and Nowitzki (24 points, 13 boards and gauze inserted to plug up his nose, in his first game back from a one-game suspension). The Wolves, meanwhile, simply wilted. They were unable to score in the fourth quarter, unless Al Jefferson (21 points) got the ball, and convinced McHale that they ultimately got tired after an OT win Monday night over Memphis.

"Once this place erupted, it felt like '05-06 all over again," Terry claimed, referring to the Mavs' run to the NBA Finals.

You have to believe that Casey enjoyed his own internal eruption of glee, but he masked it well.

And while Casey and McHale waved simultaneously to each other as both were walking off the floor -- customary post-game procedure for coaches -- that was the extent of their interaction.

"Didn't think about that at all," McHale insisted when asked about their history.

Tracked down later in the Mavs' locker room, Casey said: "I'm happy, sure. But I'm really happier for our guys to be able to come all the way back and get a win like this."

A couple of those players, mind you, did quietly confess that Casey thanked them heartily for the rally.

"I'm happy for Case," Carlisle said. "These things happen in weird ways [when] you meet with a former team."

Not as powerful as revenge or vengeance, but weird was a fitting word for this night, too.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by dude1394

I'm shocked that McHale has had a job for 10 years now. He's stunk it up as GM, Coach, GM again and now coach again.

I cannot understand at all how they could stay with that guy.

If anyone wants to see what the mavs would look like if we traded dirk and "started" over...you saw it last night.

You never trade away a guy like that unless he's going to leave anyway.

I know and isn't it sweet revenge to beat the guy who fired you when your record with the Wolves was 20-20?

Way to go Casey...

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by SeriousSummer

It's a controlled appellation recognized by the WTO, among other organization. If a winemaker calls something "champagne", and it isn't made in the proper region of France, then the winemaker is subject to legal action.

Just in case you were thinking of starting a "champagne" making operation over in Forney or Irving.

So, it depends upon the definition in use. I've found some that seemingly don't require that the overrated alcoholic beverage be from France. Obviously, the definitions that I have found are probably not coming from the most respected champagne authorities....

But, I don't want to argue about definitions. You've provided me with more information on the subject that I could ever care to know... And in all honesty, it's just a pleasure to see you sharing your knowledge on the site again. Your observations are indeed posted far too infrequently.

[dude1394]

sOME ONE (orIGiNAL pOSTer) NEEDs to get off their rear ENd and Do A Wrap uip gdt!

[thurst0509]

Originally Posted by dude1394

sOME ONE (orIGiNAL pOSTer) NEEDs to get off their rear ENd and Do A Wrap uip gdt!

LOL!

Looks like the dude had a very happy new year