Home cookin': Mavericks scorch Utah, 127-102 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

LRB · 11-02-2003, 01:36 AM

Home cookin': Mavericks scorch Utah, 127-102

All five starters score in double figures for Mavs

11:58 PM CST on Saturday, November 1, 2003

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

The walls of doubt about the Mavericks were falling almost as fast as the shots.

When the offense gets clicking like it did Saturday night, the results still can look pretty gorgeous for the Mavericks, who used their home opener to prove that their new look has the potential to be a lot like their old look, which wasn't bad at all.

All five starters scored in double figures, something that happened only three times all last season, and the Mavericks plastered the Utah Jazz, 127-102, at American Airlines Center to send the sellout crowd home smiling.

When they were done, the Mavericks spent equal time in the postgame chit-chat dreaming about the future while trying to keep some perspective.

"We weren't perfect," Antoine Walker said. "But if we score 127 every night, I don't think there's many teams that are going to keep up with us."

Consider that Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points and was only the fifth-best scorer. Tony Delk unleashed his jump shot, canning 4-of-7 from 3-point range and leading the way with 22 points. All told, seven Mavericks reached double figures, and they shot 51.7 percent.

"Offensively, oh my goodness," owner Mark Cuban said. "It was continuous, relentless pressure we put on everywhere on the court."

Gee, if they were all this easy, it just wouldn't be any fun.

"I suppose that's right," coach Don Nelson said. "But I thought we had a lot of good things happen and played Maverick basketball."

The third quarter was a pure, potent example of what the Mavericks can be. They rolled up 41 points and put away the Jazz, which had hung around like it was primed for an upset.

"The third quarter is what we're capable of doing," Walker said. "Obviously every night won't be like that. But we're capable of those 15-0 runs."

The defense wasn't quite stiff enough to pull any of those off against the Jazz, which is rebuilding in the aftermath of losing Karl Malone to free agency and John Stockton to retirement.

"We're all thankful they're gone," Danny Fortson said. "That pick-and-roll stuff they used to run was impossible to stop."

The Mavericks stopped the Jazz often enough to creep away late in the first half, thanks to a seldom-seen five-point possession that also may have been the pop-top that releases Antawn Jamison's offensive game.

Jamison continued his struggles by missing six shots in the first half. That put him 0-for-12 over the last game and a half.

He finally snapped the skid with a short banker that closed out the first half.

First Steve Nash stuck a couple of free throws after being flagrantly fouled by former Maverick Raja Bell. They kept possession and Jamison converted a three-point play for a 56-44 halftime lead.

In the second half, Jamison hit five of eight shots and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

"We said on the bench that the play at the end of the half might be one that gets him going," Travis Best said.

Speaking of Best, he only came up with the play of the game, and maybe of the entire night in the NBA. The 5-11 guard was trying to finish a fast break when he got raked across the right arm by Bell. But Best whirled around and, with his back to the basket, flipped a left-handed shot over his head that banked through the net. He made the free throw and when Tony Delk made another circus shot a minute later and was fouled, the Mavericks were up 87-68 and the rest of the night was little more than a scrimmage.

Not that it was enough for Nelson. "We have to make sure we don't get too full of ourselves," he said. "One game a year, they fall all night. The rest of the time, it's a streaky thing."

E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com

COUNTING THE MAVS' SHOOTING STARS

Michael Antawn Steve Dirk Antoine
Category Finley Jamison Nash Nowitzki Walker
Points 16 18 12 15 16
2002-03 avg. 19.3 22.2 17.7 25.1 20.1
Shots 11 15 10 8 10
2002-03 shots avg. 17.3 17.9 13.6 18.6 19.9

LRB · 11-02-2003, 01:41 AM

New Mavs join in the feeding frenzy

Delk, Walker lead way as Dallas puts together 41-point third quarter

12:06 AM CST on Sunday, November 2, 2003

By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News

No one in the Mavericks' locker room was promising more 41-point quarters, like they had Saturday night in the third quarter of a 127-102 win over the Utah Jazz.

Neither did they rule anything out. The focus was on the possibilities. The Mavericks shared the basketball, and everything else was mere details.

They shot 56 percent from the field in the third quarter, knocked down six of 12 3-pointers. Newcomer Tony Delk had three of the 3-pointers, and Antoine Walker added 10 points and four assists in the quarter.

"We're just feeding off each other," Walker said. "Every night will be somebody different. You see Tony Delk. That's the luxury and the great thing we have now."

The Mavericks are capable of creating a mismatch anywhere in the court. On Saturday, it was Delk taking advantage of Utah's decision to guard him with 7-footer Greg Ostertag.

"We have so many guys capable of shooting the ball, that makes a difference," Delk said. "Nobody can key on one guy, and that makes each team a threat."

Owner Mark Cuban is a fervent believer that there's never too much of a good thing when it comes to basketball, one reason the Mavericks acquired Delk, Walker and Jamison.

Any problems, he said, will come from not being able to put each player in the right spot to maximize what they can do.

Just because the Mavericks have five stars and five shooters doesn't mean they have five clones.

"The last time I looked, great players liked to play with great players and be on great teams and do great things," Cuban said. "The question mark is, How do we define roles? Even though they're great players, they do have defined roles."

He said that Jamison, a great rebounder and low post player, is different than Walker, who's different than Dirk Nowitzki ... and you get the idea.

"It's not like there's a lot of duplication," Cuban said.

Last season's Mavericks were perfect examples of players who understood their roles and their limitations.

The players who could score did, and most everybody else tried to fill in the gaps.

"I thought part of the reason we're so successful last year was because we had a lot of guys who were willing to come out and do the dirty work, stuff that didn't show up on stat sheets," said Utah's Raja Bell, one of those workers.

That will have to come. For now, the Mavericks did a good job of filling the stat sheet.

E-mail ccarlton@dallasnews.com

Shaq Attack2 · 11-02-2003, 01:50 AM

Nice. Boston recruits lighting it up, good news for Mavs. Let's see some better defense, now.

LRB · 11-02-2003, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Shaq Attack2
Nice. Boston recruits lighting it up, good news for Mavs. Let's see some better defense, now.

Check out Tony Delk's game SA2. He played a superb defensive game to go with his team leading 22 points.

grndmstr_c · 11-02-2003, 02:00 AM

And, really, there were some stretches there where the team D looked excellent. A very encouraging performance.

ocelot_ark · 11-02-2003, 03:07 AM

Our defense will always give up more points than other teams...that's what happens when you post 127.

FilthyFinMavs · 11-02-2003, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: ocelot_ark
Our defense will always give up more points than other teams...that's what happens when you post 127.

Thats one thing fans and reporters around the league never understand. When you have a run and gun team like the Mavs pushing the ball on every possession it gives the other team more opportunitys to score than they would against a team who plays the half court offense.

Shaq Attack2 · 11-02-2003, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: FilthyFinMavs

Quote:

Originally posted by: ocelot_ark
Our defense will always give up more points than other teams...that's what happens when you post 127.

Thats one thing fans and reporters around the league never understand. When you have a run and gun team like the Mavs pushing the ball on every possession it gives the other team more opportunitys to score than they would against a team who plays the half court offense.

That's really not an explanation if Dallas's opponents are still putting up as many shots as any other team in the league. So knowing that, it comes down to shooting percentage, and in that case the Mavs are "just" middle of the pack or slightly worse.

But no actually, I wasn't referring to the Mavs' defense against the Jazz tonight, which was noticably better than usual.

DrtyFlthyNasty · 11-02-2003, 04:13 AM

Playing D against the Jazz is one thing. Playing D against the Lakers, Spurs, or Sac is another. Layup drills are getting old. I certainly am not jumping up and down because the mavs scorched utah or a depleted warriors team. Yes they run and gun and give up more points because of that, but that still is no excuse for the lack of interior defense. however, that may change in the coming weeks i hope...

Simon2 · 11-02-2003, 10:18 AM

I think the Mavs will average more points in blowouts. Last year, when there was a blowout, Nellie would put in AJ and the game would turn into a half court offense game and the points would slow down. I remember them scoring about 10-14 points in a quarter during a blowout. The game was so far out of reach, they would just milk the clock. This year, the closing lineup will probably be: Daniels, Howard, Jamison,Najera and Fortson. This team will continue running and continue scoring. Especially Daniels and Howard. I think 127 points on the board or more will be the norm during blowouts. The bench will come in a play hard and try to keep on scoring.

dude1394 · 11-02-2003, 12:39 PM

I agree with you on the bench increasing leads. My buddie and I were talking about this last night at the arena. The second squad is much,much more offensively minded than last year. Younger, hungrier. Also nve didn't really care a lot in blow-outs, just sort of went through the motions. Jhoward, MDaniels, Najera, Jamison, Forson/Bradley are much more entertaining and especially younger/more atheletic than last years:

NVE, AGriffin, WWilliams,Raef,Raja

LRB · 11-02-2003, 01:05 PM

Not only is our garbage time squad more offensively talented, but I like our garbage guys better defensively and rebounding wise over last year's squad as well.

Murphy3 · 11-02-2003, 01:12 PM

you have to think that as the season goes along, the garbage minutes will go to a combination of Delk, Howard, Daniels, Best, Najera and Fortson...that is, unless one of the other top 6 players or so are coming off of an injury and/or need to get into some type of rhythm...bradley may be a part of the garbage group from time to time

sike · 11-02-2003, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Murphy3
you have to think that as the season goes along, the garbage minutes will go to a combination of Delk, Howard, Daniels, Best, Najera and Fortson...that is, unless one of the other top 6 players or so are coming off of an injury and/or need to get into some type of rhythm...bradley may be a part of the garbage group from time to time

I'm not so sure with the way he played last night that Delk is not playing himself into a much more significant role in Nellie's eyes..so he may be looking at more than just garbage minutes

Murphy3 · 11-02-2003, 02:03 PM

sike..there will be alot of players that get garbage minutes that do play significant roles on the team.. remember, there's only 12 guys on the active roster... 5 starters and jamison makes virtually 6 starters.

perhaps delk is the starter at times..perhaps it's bradley once he's completely healthy....

regardless, good players will get garbage time.....that doesn't mean that they're just garbage time players

sike · 11-02-2003, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Murphy3
sike..there will be alot of players that get garbage minutes that do play significant roles on the team.. remember, there's only 12 guys on the active roster... 5 starters and jamison makes virtually 6 starters.

perhaps delk is the starter at times..perhaps it's bradley once he's completely healthy....

regardless, good players will get garbage time.....that doesn't mean that they're just garbage time players

that is certainly true, but we all know how Nellie gets stuck on a guy from time to time....and I have the sneeky feeling that Delk may be "his guy" this season...and for good reason, he produces when given the chance...he may very well find himself #7 on the list of "six starters"...after Jamison, the second guy off the bench...could be, can't tell yet...but he certainly will get garbage time...

Murphy3 · 11-02-2003, 02:17 PM

delk will be up and down....some games he will perform like he did last night and other nights he will struggle from the field. He's a career 40.6% shooter.

Remember that Josh Howard is competing for some of the same minutes as delk... howard has been very impressive as well.

Not only is Howard competing for some of the same minutes, but Jamison & Bradley will have an impact on the minutes as well.... if Nellie decides to go big more often with bradley when he returns to health, delk and howard could lose out on some minutes seeing as how fin and Nash already have two starting spots wrapped up.

Simon2 · 11-02-2003, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Murphy3
that is, unless one of the other top 6 players or so are coming off of an injury and/or need to get into some type of rhythm...

The Mavs are so good that their premier players sometimes use game garbage time to get into rhythm. I love it!