Random Mavs News & Articles

[dude1394]

Loved the commentary...heh

[AO41]

Really good stuff from Wright

http://basketball.realgm.com/analysi...am-Aspirations

[grndmstr_c]

Funny blurb from the most recent nyloncalculus power rankings:

3. Dallas Mavericks: I have to include a disclaimer: I have actively been trying since the first edition of these rankings to mitigate the Mavericks’ height on the rankings, here; they’re clear outliers in point differential, and for a long time had an easy SoS, and their height on the rankings has allowed me to figure out what adjustments needed to be made. Still, no matter what I do to keep them down (I mean, that’s not the real goal, but it’s an effect), this team is just really good. They keep winning when they need to, and with Rondo on the squad this team is defending like a top 10 defensive outfit right now. Scary stuff.

Full article here:
http://nyloncalculus.com/2015/01/06/...stons-explode/

[Dnowit41]

Feed Monta

http://dimemag.com/2015/01/dirk-nowi...g-crunch-time/

[MFFL]

http://www.netsdaily.com/2015/1/6/75...sergey-karasev

Did Dirk Nowitzki take a shot at Sergey Karasev?

Read the comments - they are FUNNNNNY

[twelli]

Originally Posted by MFFL

http://www.netsdaily.com/2015/1/6/75...sergey-karasev

Did Dirk Nowitzki take a shot at Sergey Karasev?

Read the comments - they are FUNNNNNY

Dirk is not known for cheap shots like that. Need another angle to tell. Probably accidental.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by twelli

Dirk is not known for cheap shots like that. Need another angle to tell. Probably accidental.

The idea is not worth entertaining really.

[dirt_dobber]

Some good quotes in this article...

Can Rick Carlisle's genius keep Rajon Rondo in Dallas?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...uban/21463779/

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

Some good quotes in this article...

Can Rick Carlisle's genius keep Rajon Rondo in Dallas?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...uban/21463779/

Nice, kudos and thanks.

[MFFL]

http://hoopshype.com/columns/david-n...uch-better-now

Good read

[BGMaverick9]

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/maver...vs-free-agents

[BGMaverick9]

Carlisle and Cuban's thoughts on analytics, in light of Barkley's comments.

http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2015/02/...-on-analytics/

[BGMaverick9]

Holger's new pupil: Rajon Rondo
http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2015/02/...n-rondos-shot/

[Bryan_Wilson]

I can't have him in the house all year long, I'd go nuts. If that's the case then Cuban can pay for him an apartment.

When I saw that quote the other day, I couldn't help but imagine Holger critiquing Dirk in everyday life till he went full on fetal position. Like pouring syrup on his waffles with more arch so it spreads more evenly. kekeke

[twelli]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

Holger's new pupil: Rajon Rondo
http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2015/02/...n-rondos-shot/

Holger could have made/could make a fortune teaching guys like Shaq or Dwight the art of free throw shooting, permitting their willingness to listen (don't think Shaq was/would have been willing to listen). Did Holger work with Kidd too?

[endrity]

Not so different than what happened with JET anyway. I remember being incredibly sad in the summer of 2004 thinking that the Mavs had their run and that after losing Nash they would have lost it. This Terry guy seemed like a stat-padder on a bad team kind of guy too.

Dirk did wonders for his career, and so he has for Monta as well.

[BGMaverick9]

With Tim MacMahon, some bloom and doom for the month of January
http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2015/01/...-doom-january/

[howdoesmydirktaste]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

With Tim MacMahon, some bloom and doom for the month of January
http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2015/01/...-doom-january/

Good stuff. While I don't want to face Golden State in the first round, I do want to see what adding Rondo can do to limit their three point shooting when we play them next. I think it will be a good test for us to see what our potential is.

[dirt_dobber]

Dwight Powell is busting the myth that Rick Carlisle hates rookies

http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2015/1/...myth-mavericks

[dude1394]

The kid is sporting a per of 17.6 right now as well. Nice...

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

Dwight Powell is busting the myth that Rick Carlisle hates rookies

http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2015/1/...myth-mavericks

Yes that is a tired old argument that really needs to be put to bed.

[dirt_dobber]

Fiercely private, Mavs' Ellis reveals his passions - the Cowboys, fishing ... and winning
by: Eddie Sefok - Dallas Morning News

Monta Ellis has been a Cowboys fan since he was a little kid.

Growing up in Jackson, Miss., it was either that, or the New Orleans Saints, the two teams that local television showed on a regular basis. And he didn’t like the Saints’ color scheme.

“Blue’s my favorite color,” Ellis, 29, says.

So, it’s no surprise that whenever the Mavericks’ schedule permitted, Ellis would find his way to owner Mark Cuban’s private suite at AT&T Stadium to watch his beloved Cowboys this season.

And then, the play happened.

Every athlete who makes it to the professional level knows what it’s like to get jobbed by the referees.

That doesn’t make the Dez Bryant catch/review/no catch any easier for Ellis to swallow, even a couple of weeks after the fact.

“I was angry, but I’ll take that loss,” he said recently in a lengthy interview session. “It came down to that call. It ain’t the end of the world. We could have gone on longer.

“But that was a bad call. You can’t tell someone that they didn’t catch the ball when they come down with the ball, have possession, take three steps and try to lunge for the touchdown and then say he wasn’t trying to make a football play. But they did way better than people expected.”

Kind of interesting that people are saying the same thing about Ellis these days.

Couldn’t accept losing
Ellis is a legitimate All-Star candidate in his second season with the Mavericks, averaging 20 points to lead the team, along with 4.5 assists.

Yet he is the one Maverick who fans know little about, which is the way Ellis likes it. He’s a private person, but his teammates say he’s fun-loving and has strong character in the locker room.

The Cowboys are one of his passions. Fishing is another, and he’s got some whoppers to tell (more on that in a moment).

Right now, neither of those is as important as what’s going on in his professional life. Ellis, like everybody else on the Mavericks, knows this group has a high ceiling for this season and beyond. There is too much talent for the Mavericks not to be taken seriously when it comes to championship talk.

Lots of ground must be covered between now and the playoffs. And Ellis absolutely has to be one of the cornerstones of anything that happens with this team. It is not open to debate that he has become one of the franchise’s best players and somebody who is being relied upon to carry this team forward.

That’s why he is smiling these days. He’s come a long way on the NBA radar over the last two years. In 2012-13, he was wasting away with Milwaukee. And that was after his time at Golden State — once some of the happiest seasons of his career — ended with both sides unhappy.

“It did a lot for me because it was a new beginning,” Ellis said of his arrival in Dallas as a free agent in the summer of 2013.

“I was coming to a way better team, a way better organization. And I came with a bunch of guys who work hard and want to win, which is the same thing I wanted. It made me enjoy basketball again.”

It was like that in the beginning for Ellis, who was selected by Golden State straight out of Lanier High School in Jackson, Miss., in the second round of the 2005 draft (40th overall).

He loved playing for the Warriors and was embraced by Bay Area fans — and the organization, too. But it didn’t last.

“The old ownership that they had, they didn’t know what direction they wanted to head in,” Ellis said. “I figured my time there was wearing out. So I had to do something.

“When the new ownership came in, they had an idea of what they wanted to do. And so I just was like, ‘I know my time is done here.’

“When you’re in a place where everything stops running through you, then you know that it’s about time to leave. So I was ready and prepared for it.”

The two seasons in Milwaukee weren’t any better, however. And Ellis admits now that he was not the happiest camper during that time.

“If you don’t win, that’s when you go in a dark place,” he said. “I’m a great competitor, and I want to win. That’s who I am. And if I’m not winning, I’m a different type of person. That’s one thing that Golden State couldn’t understand. It was like they were accepting losing. And they wanted me to accept and embrace losing. I couldn’t do that.

“If you’re mad at your best player because he’s tired of losing, then it should be a question about your character and what you’re trying to do.”

That’s what makes the situation with the Mavericks so much better. And it’s clear to everybody around Ellis that he’s benefited from the Mavericks every bit as much as they have from him.

“He stays in his lane,” center Tyson Chandler said. “He’s not caught up with all the hype that sometimes you can run into being an NBA player. He doesn’t get caught up in his success.

“And I think coming to Dallas really helped him understand how to win and what it takes to win. I played against him in the past. He was a scorer, but that was it. Now, he’s understanding how to be a winner, which is a big difference.”

His other passion
The fish were biting at the little lake near Batesville, Miss., between Jackson and Memphis, Tenn., during the summer before Ellis’ senior season at Lanier.

The father of one of his teammates had a cabin on the lake. It was one of Ellis’ best fishing trips ever.

“We were down there three days, and we caught 183 fish in three days,” he said, remembering it like it was yesterday. “We caught 90-some crappie, 80-some bluegills and one catfish. I didn’t even take the catfish off the hook.”

Catfish are like Superman’s Kryptonite for Ellis, although he confesses he’ll eat them when he gets the chance.

“But I only like the small ones,” he said. “Once they get big, they start tasting like the bottom of the lake.

“I don’t like to catch them. I’ll cut the line. One time, I caught a 20-pound catfish on a cane pole, and when I caught him, it was daylight and when I got him in, it was nighttime. I had to wrestle with him for 35 or 40 minutes because of the little pole I had.”

Though he grew up urbanized in Jackson, Ellis remains country at heart. He still likes to fish when he can. It relaxes him.

Other than spending time with his son and daughter, it would be how he would spend a perfect off day away from basketball.

“He’s a great dude. He’s country,” Chandler said. “Even though he was born in Jackson? That’s not country? We call it country. He’s a country boy with a great heart.

“And he’s one of the best athletes in our game.”

That’s what Ellis takes great pride in. He has an enormous heart on the court, as well as in his private life. And he takes a beating on the court. He is fearless going to the basket. And he hits the floor often during a game.

He gets frustrated, like any player, when he feels the pounding he takes does not get the proper respect from referees.

But he controls himself better than most players.

“Monta is a leader and one of the premier competitors in the NBA,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s aggressive, tough and defiantly persistent the way he keeps coming at the opponent. Without question one of the best players I’ve ever worked with.”

And one of the best to come through Dallas, even if he remains a bit mysterious.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dal...nd-winning.ece

[twelli]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

So, it’s no surprise that whenever the Mavericks’ schedule permitted, Ellis would find his way to owner Mark Cuban’s private suite at AT&T Stadium to watch his beloved Cowboys this season.

I would so love to play for Cuban.

[zen_rn]

https://footballrecruiting.rivals.co...asp?CID=244694

Dunno if this counts as a random Mavs article, but today I learned that Monta vs'd Rondo and Jsmooth at a high school basketball tourney--Smith won MVP but shared it with Monta as a sign of respect.

[dirt_dobber]

Sefko: Mavericks thankful for Tyson Chandler's health as injury bug wreaks havoc on West
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dal...oc-on-west.ece

Past the midpoint of the NBA season, the powerful Oklahoma City Thunder hover around .500, still paying the price for a couple of injury-riddled months.

Portland attempts to survive torn thumb ligaments in LaMarcus Aldridge’s non-shooting hand.

San Antonio’s Tony Parker doesn’t look right.

At various locales across the Western Conference, injuries are having a major impact on the standings.

The Mavericks know they dodged a bullet Sunday at New Orleans when center Tyson Chandler’s knee injury turned out to be not serious, even though he had to be helped to the locker room.

It was a bone bruise. Chandler said Monday he was feeling a little better. It was a reminder of how fragile things can be in the NBA.

Injuries make a difference.

“It’s not something you want to deal with,” Chandler said. “I’m just thankful it’s not anything major. It’s something I can play with and pain that I can tolerate.”

Rajon Rondo knows how much injuries can change things. He saw Oklahoma City’s legitimate shot at a championship two years ago ruined when Russell Westbrook went down in the playoffs with a knee injury

“That’s all part of winning the title,” Rondo said. “It’s a little bit of luck. You have to stay healthy. If key guys go down — all it takes is one freak accident or one injury — it can mess up the entire season.”

And it’s not just the possibility of missing the playoffs, which is a concern for the Thunder.

It’s also that they have virtually no chance now of having a home-court advantage in the playoffs, which will make any postseason tougher.

Memphis, which visits American Airlines Center Tuesday night, has been relatively healthy this season and is reaping the benefits.

Last season, the Grizzlies lost Marc Gasol for a long stretch and were fighting just to make the playoffs.

This year, they are rolling with a 31-12 record before Monday’s home game against Orlando and are the No. 2 team in the West behind Golden State.

The Warriors, not coincidentally, have amassed the NBA’s best record despite David Lee and Andrew Bogut missing significant time. But their guard trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala and their depth have carried them.

How important is the home-court advantage in the West?

“Everybody’s going to want Game 7 on their home court,” coach Rick Carlisle said.

That remains an important goal for the Mavericks, although after losing the last two games to slip to 30-15, their focus has to be more short term than big picture at this point.

“If we lock in and play the type of basketball I know we’re capable of, all those things will fall in place — home court, great record throughout the regular season and kind of roll into the playoffs with that momentum,” Chandler said. “If you don’t, then you put yourself in a position where you got to play a tough team on the road and the odds start stacking against you. But for me, it’s more important the type of basketball we’re playing.”

Staying power needed: The Mavericks’ best win of the season, last week in Memphis, came because they showed great persistence and never let their effort lapse.

The rematch at AAC will require nothing less, especially after the way the Mavericks lost the last two games to New Orleans and Chicago.

“We’ve been getting hit badly late in the shot clock,” Carlisle said. “We gave up over 50 points to Chicago in the last eight seconds of the shot clock and we gave up over 40 points to New Orleans in the last eight seconds of the shot clock.

“We’d get some good defensive possessions started, but we have to be able to sustain and we haven’t been doing it. [At Memphis], we fought every possession, every second, throughout the shot clock.”

[MavsFTR]

Interesting tidbid about players who are carrying their teams.

https://imgur.com/a/ub2qI

[dirt_dobber]

Originally Posted by MavsFTR

Interesting tidbid about players who are carrying their teams.

https://imgur.com/a/ub2qI

great find.
Interesting chart for Tyson.

[Five-ofan]

Tyson is incredibly important to dallas, but I'm not sure there is a more useless stat than defensive win shares. It has absolutely no value whatsoever.

[BGMaverick9]

http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2015/02/...n-rondo-trade/

[MFFL]

RONDO!

http://hoopshabit.com/2015/02/03/dal...paign=TeamNews

[mavsfan1000]

Originally Posted by MFFL

RONDO!

http://hoopshabit.com/2015/02/03/dal...paign=TeamNews

Good article. Tells it like it is.

[Kante]

Originally Posted by mavsfan1000

Good article. Tells it like it is.

So, an article with just text bashing him is better than the article posted by BG which was backed up by Stats and told a different story?

[tsar]

Originally Posted by Kante

So, an article with just text bashing him is better than the article posted by BG which was backed up by Stats and told a different story?

mavsfan1000 hates Rondo with every inch of his being. So any article that bashes Rondo fits with his world view

The article by BG is excellent btw!

[mavsfan1000]

Originally Posted by Kante

So, an article with just text bashing him is better than the article posted by BG which was backed up by Stats and told a different story?

Stats don't tell the whole story. It's the eyeball test that makes it very hard to support Rondo. Teams aren't even guarding him. They are guarding the rim or another player close to Rondo. It will take a lot for defenders to start respecting Rondo's shooting ability.

[Underdog]

What a difference a year makes

[Cerberus]

Couple of good reads:

Tyson Chandler on Elite Bigs

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/elite-bigs-101/

Non-Mav related; Raptors Patrick Patterson on how it feels to be traded

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/nba...ick-patterson/

[tsar]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Couple of good reads:

Tyson Chandler on Elite Bigs

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/elite-bigs-101/

Non-Mav related; Raptors Patrick Patterson on how it feels to be traded

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/nba...ick-patterson/

Good stuff!

Just caught up on these articles. Man, everyone should read the analysis of Elite Bigs by Tyson - I'm so glad we got this dude back: he's very cerebral on how he approaches the game.

This Mavs team has a lot of smart players and I think that goes a little under appreciated.

[twelli]

Originally Posted by tsar

I'm so glad we got this dude back: he's very cerebral on how he approaches the game.

I love Tyson, how in the world did we let him go to New York?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by twelli

I love Tyson, how in the world did we let him go to New York?

[DavidDaMonkey]

Originally Posted by Underdog

And with this post, UD has officially brought the 2011 offseason debate to an end.