Mavs feeling upbeat instead of just beat - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

kriD · 11-11-2006, 03:25 AM

Mavs feeling upbeat instead of just beat

08:24 PM CST on Friday, November 10, 2006
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

PORTLAND, Ore. – The mental health of the Mavericks is on an uptick now that they have their first win of the season.

So Friday was a day of rest. Many players hit the golf course in Phoenix before flying to Portland. Everybody relaxed and realized they hadn't completely forgotten how to win a basketball game.

The Mavericks know 1-4 isn't supposed to feel this good.

But Avery Johnson expected early-season problems for his team. Too many preseason speed bumps prohibited any real bonding or chemistry. And the injury to Josh Howard hasn't helped.

Still, in their 119-112 victory over Phoenix that didn't end until early Friday morning, the Mavericks finally got a glimpse of what they hope will become their look on a daily basis.

Anthony Johnson stepped in with a box-score-filling effort (eight points, six rebounds, five assists), and Devean George did all the little things on the court that Avery Johnson loves to see from his players.

"Now I just hope we can be the Mavericks and we don't have to keep talking about the old guys and the new guys," the coach said. "We're still a long ways off. But we wanted to get better in one area, and we did that."

Johnson didn't divulge that area, but you can be certain it had something to do with spacing on offense, which had been awful during the four losses.

At the defensive end, the Mavericks had trouble stopping the Suns, but they aren't the first team to have difficulty in that department.

"Defense wasn't very good because you're playing against a terrific offensive team," Avery Johnson said. "But it was really good when we needed it to be good at the end of the fourth quarter."

In scoring the last seven points of the game after Phoenix tied the score, the Mavericks held the Suns without a point on their final four possessions.

It was no coincidence that Johnson and George were on the floor during that time.

"Devean George, forget the 0-for-4 [shooting]," Avery Johnson said. "Devean George was good tonight. We probably don't win the game without Devean George.

"And Anthony Johnson was as emotional as I've seen him all year. Our new guys mixed in with the old. And the old was pretty good."

Getting 88 points from Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse made for a nice balance between the new and the old.

Persistence pays off: Avery Johnson liked the way the Mavericks gutted out the win against Phoenix, which took a lead in the fourth quarter, forcing the Mavs to execute with the chips on the table.

The other AJ, Anthony Johnson, thought it was the first time the Mavericks played with focus and energy at crunch time.

"I think in the last couple of games, we lost some of them due to the fact that the other team made plays and we kind of wilted," the point guard said. "We stayed pretty focused and our body language stayed pretty strong, and it corresponded with our play."

Picking up the slack: The absence of Josh Howard, who is still more than a week from returning from a sprained left ankle, has meant more offensive duties for Jerry Stackhouse, as well as Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry.

"We know we have to do that right now," Stackhouse said. "It has to be that way with Josh out. That's what we get paid to do. Maybe I have to do a little more. I'm enjoying it, and I think I'm getting better at it."

jayC · 11-11-2006, 10:31 AM

Zach pRandolph is havin g a great season. Dampier hopefully can slow him down. I am a little dissapointed in Croshere. Supposedly tougher than Van Horn haven't seen it yet. The best thing aboutThursday night was we finally had more freethrows than three point attempts.

dude1394 · 11-11-2006, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayC

Zach pRandolph is havin g a great season. Dampier hopefully can slow him down. I am a little dissapointed in Croshere. Supposedly tougher than Van Horn haven't seen it yet. The best thing aboutThursday night was we finally had more freethrows than three point attempts.

I'm dissappointed in Croshere but not because he isn't tougher than keith, he is. He's just an order of magnitude worse offensive player and he jacks up way too many shots.

Possibly he's in a shooting slump but he's got a pretty quick trigger right now.

DevinHarriswillstart · 11-11-2006, 11:47 AM

I like his comment about George. I completely agree George is a nice glue guy and you can tell about his impact on the court without the stats.

Triple T's · 11-11-2006, 01:09 PM

Croshere will pay dividends...just needs to find his nitche in this team.

dude1394 · 11-11-2006, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triple T's

Croshere will pay dividends...just needs to find his nitche in this team.

Man he's got a niche..He just needs to play better. He's in a terrible shooting slump. Right now he's at 30% FG and an abysmal 25% 3pters.
And he's just shooting them too quickly imo. I know he's open but he's had half the minutes of Anthony but jacked up the same amount of 3s.

Of course everyone is pretty abysmal at 3pt shooting right now except for Dirk/Jason/Anthony/Devin. The rest of the crew is in the 20% range.

syrian fan · 11-11-2006, 04:29 PM

hi guys i'm a new member from syria-i like the mavs very much
dirk is my fav player he's the mvp -by the way the mavs has a very big love here everyone loves dirk he's cute prof and very peacful
greetings

Triple T's · 11-12-2006, 11:08 AM

bu i like that about him. Hes not afraid to pu tit up there. too many times last year KVH had been very tenative at the wrong times.

dude1394 · 11-12-2006, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triple T's

bu i like that about him. Hes not afraid to pu tit up there. too many times last year KVH had been very tenative at the wrong times.

True but until he can make more than 25%, he'd better quit jacking it up or he won't see the court at all.

G-Man · 11-12-2006, 01:09 PM

Cro needs to learn what KVH never did. Just because he's open doesnt mean he has to shoot. Teams will leave him open because they'd rather see him shoot than Dirk or Jet or Josh. If there's 18 seconds left on the shot clock, its time to pass, baby. Cro should never again miss 3 consecutive shots because he HAS NO BUSINESS TAKING 3 in a ROW, UNLESS HE MADE THE 1st 2.