CHOKE

Jason Terry and J.J. Barea combine to miss 4 of 5 free throws with a 97-94 lead in the final 15 seconds that would have iced the game. Dallas went on to lose the game in overtime, 114-107.

It's hard to write this post, literally because I'm drunk. This game could not have been thrown anyway any more pathetically. Barea topped it off by taking ill-advised shots in overtime that sealed the deal for this team. Barea was three of 10 from the field for the night.

Chris Paul scored 39 points and David West had 25 to lead the New Orleans Hornets to their second victory of the season (2-3). Paul shot nearly 61 percent from the field (14-23) and made three of four from behind the arc. Paul is shooting 64 percent for the season.

JET did have a quality game aside from bricking two free throws. Terry scored 35 points to lead Dallas, making 12 of his 18 shots.

Erick Dampier played well again,(time to get a fat contract from another team after this season and then revert back to the form of sucking for 2-3 more years) Damp was second on the team in points at 16 while also contributing 14 rebounds and 3 blocks on the night.

Rodrigue Beaubois started for Dallas and scored the team's first 7 points. Roddy B didn't do much after that, ending the game with 9 points.

The good news for the Mavs is that they will certainly be healthier when the Toronto Raptors come to town 7:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 7. Josh Howard is expected to be back in action along with Drew Gooden and Quinton Ross.

Dallas in now 3-2 on the season.

Dazzling Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki went to the basket many times in the 4th quarter and it paid off. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Mavericks Rally From Down 16 Thanks to Nowitzki’s Huge 4^th Quarter

The Dallas Mavericks were dreadful through 3 quarters, Tuesday Nov. 3, in what seemed like a certain loss on the first night of a back-to-back. Mavericks’ leader Dirk Nowitzki had other plans and set the all-time club record for points in a quarter with 29 in the 4th, leading Dallas to a miraculous come-from-behind 95-86 victory over the Utah Jazz. Nowitzki broke the over 25 year old record of 24 points in a quarter, set by Mark Aguirre against Denver, on March 23, 1984.

"It was an ugly game," Nowitzki said. "We couldn't get anything going for three quarters. We were slow. We were looking for a spark offensively and I was able to do that tonight."

After scoring only 52 points through the first three quarters, the Mavericks had 44 in the 4^th as Dallas outscored Utah by 26 points in the quarter. The Mavericks trailed Utah 72-56 with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter. From that point on Dallas went on a 39-14 run to close the game. At one point, late in the 4^th quarter, the Mavericks scored 14 straight unanswered points.

Dirk Nowitzki lit up the box score with 40 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks on the night. Nowitzki drove to the basket time and time again in the 4^th quarter and either got the basket, the foul, or both as he was 12 for 22 from the field and 15 of 16 from the free-throw line for the game.

"It's tough, because we were up by 15 with 8 minutes to go," Utah power forward Carlos Boozer said. “The next thing you know it was free throw, free throw, free throw, free throw."

Jason Kidd was second on the team in scoring with 19 points on six for 11 shooting including five of eight from behind the arc. Kidd also added six assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Shawn Marion and Jason Terry had 10 points each, but shot a combined nine of 28 from the field (32 percent). Erick Dampier showed up yet again with eight points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks in 38 minutes of action.

Deron Williams led the Utah Jazz with 22 points along with five rebounds, and five assists on nine of 19 shooting. Mehmet Okur was second on the team with 14 points and 14 rebounds but shot only four of 15 from the floor.

The Dallas defense played a large role yet again as Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier combined for 11 blocks, 23 rebounds, and two steals. The Mavericks had 12 blocks total for the game, out-rebounded the Jazz 50-37, and held Utah to 41.5 percent shooting. Only one time in Dallas’ first four games has a team scored more than 85 points or shot better than 43 percent, and that was the season opener at home against the Washington Wizards who scored 101 points on 46 percent shooting.

It wasn’t pretty, but these Mavericks keep finding a way to win despite poor shooting (39.5 percent for the game). Suffocating defense, hustle, and clutch scoring have this Dallas team sitting pretty at 3-1. Dallas’ next game is at 8:30 p.m., Nov. 3, in New Orleans against the Hornets.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)

Cowboys Take Care of Business

Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys Dominate Injured-Plagued Seahawks 38-17. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

After a 2-2 start, the Dallas Cowboys are beginning to resemble the team that started the season with such high expectations. Handing an injury-plagued and inferior team like the Seattle Seahawks a loss in dominating fashion for their third consecutive victory can do that for a team.

"I feel good about the progress we've made, but we've still got a ways to go," said Dallas Cowboys’ head coach Wade Phillips.

Dallas has won their last three games by an average of over 14 points a game and quarterback Tony Romo has 8 touchdowns and zero interceptions over that span, the longest interception-less streak of his career.

"I'm seeing things. It's as simple as that,” Romo said. “I'm not throwing and hoping."

Romo was 21 for 33 passing on the day with 256 yards and three touchdowns to three different wide-outs. Romo’s first touchdown pass of the game was a 33-yard strike to fourth-year wide-receiver Sam Hurd, his first touchdown since the 2007 season opener, which gave the Cowboys a lead they would not relinquish at 7-3. Romo completed passes to 10 different receivers on the day. One of those receivers was newcomer Miles Austin, starting his third career game. Austin continued his hot streak with 5 receptions for 61 yards along with a touchdown and is becoming Romo’s go-to-guy in the offense with three straight games with at least one touchdown. Miles Austin now has 482 receiving yards in the first three starts of his career, the most in NFL history over a player’s first three starts since the NFL-AFL merger. On the other side of the field, Roy Williams and Romo continued to have miscommunications as Williams caught only 2 passes for 19 yards, despite being targeted seven times for the game. Williams did account for one of Romo’s three touchdown passes, though, a 7-yard grab to give Dallas a 21-10 lead going in to halftime. The Dallas rushing game also accounted for 113 yards on 29 carries, led by Marion Barber’s 53 yards and a touchdown.

The Dallas defense showed up for the second consecutive week with an aggressive performance. After not having a sack in their first two and a half games, Dallas now has 17 sacks in its last 18 quarters played. The Cowboys had 3-sacks for the game and forced two fumbles, recovering both. The special teams also came up big and Patrick Crayton had an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown, his second in as many weeks and second of his career. Crayton did fumble yet another punt in this game, but quickly recovered it. It’s safe to say his job isn’t in jeopardy anymore.

Seattle is now 2-5 on the season while Dallas is 5-2 and tied for the NFC East division lead with the Philadelphia Eagles, who spanked the New York Giants 40-17. The Dallas Cowboys play at the Philadelphia Eagles a week from today, Sunday Nov.8, on NBC at 7:20 p.m. for sole possession of first place in the division.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)

Dallas Falls Short in Opener, 102-91

Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas showed no ill affects after missing the majority of the last two seasons due to injury. Arenas had 29 points to go along with 9 assists in the victory. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The Dallas Mavericks were hoping to start out the 2009-2010 season with a bang but ended up with a fizzle. On the offensive end, the only player to show up was Dirk Nowitzki who had a spectacular game with 34 points and 9 rebounds but only shot 40% from the floor (10-25). Shawn Marion was second in scoring with 16 points and also added 7 rebounds but was mostly a non-factor the majority of the game.

On the defensive end, however, no one showed up and Washington capitalized making over 46% of their shots. Along with Gilbert Arenas' 29, four other Wizards scored double figures including 20 from backup power forward Andray Blatche.

"Our team defense stunk," said Jason Kidd who had four points, six rebounds, and six assists. "We didn't rebound the ball well. Everything we're supposed to do well was a no-show tonight."

The Mavericks body language coming off the court showed they were extremely disappointing with the loss. The Washington Wizards are predicted to be a pretty good team this year, but they are missing their second best player in Antawn Jamison. On the other hand, Dallas is missing arguably their second best player in Josh Howard Not all is lost though, Dallas plays 81 more games after tonight and the Mavericks' are notoriously slow starters.

"It seemed like one moment we had something going, the next moment we couldn't get over the hump," said small forward Shawn Marion after his first career game in Mavericks uniform. "Its just a learning curve."

Dallas plays its next game against the Los Angeles Lakers in LA, Friday Oct 30 at 9:30 p.m.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)

Dallas Mavericks 2009-2010 Preview (Part 2)

How Does Dallas Match-Up Against the Best in the West?

In order to stay ahead of the pack, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers signed Ron Artest. The San Antonio Spurs traded for Richard Jefferson, the Portland Trailblazers signed Andre Miller, and every other team in the West made moves in order to try to get better. Dallas has a large hill to climb in order to get to the top as the West is as tough as ever.

Dallas also re-tooled and now have a pretty salty starting 5 and bench group when healthy.


Dallas projected starting 5 this season and player analysis:

Point Guard: Jason Kidd

Savvy veteran that has great vision and passing ability. Has become quality 3-point shooter as teams pretty much refuse to cover him. Now has the horses to run with Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, and Dirk Nowitzki along with Dallas' deep bench. Lacking defensively against the top point guards in the league, but who doesn't?

Shooting Guard: Josh Howard

Ankle and wrist injuries will keep him sidelined to start the season. Quality player but "shot hunts" sometimes and holds the ball too long. Needs to become more like Shawn Marion and accept role as defensive specialist and slasher. Good defensive player, but not great.

Small Forward: Shawn Marion

Has been exceptional in the preseason, doing everything Dallas has asked of him. Will cover other team's top scorer night-in night-out. Extremely awkward shot but still goes in most of the time, has not shot a lot in the preseason.

Power Forward: Dirk Nowitzki

Top power forward in basketball, in my opinion. Extremely careful with the ball as his low turnover totals have shown throughout his career even though he has the ball in his hands very often. Not a stalwart defensively, but he tries which makes him at least an average defender. Becoming a better passer, but that area of his game still needs work. Will score less this season because of the addition of Marion.

Center: Drew Gooden

Erick Dampier will also start at center some of the time, but Gooden will take the majority of starts. Gooden is much more athletic than Dampier, and is much more comfortable at the offensive end. Sometimes gives great effort at the defensive end, but other times lackadaisical. Will be major upgrade over Damp.

The Bench:

6th Man: Jason Terry

Terry has become Mr. Mav, so to speak. Incredible fan favorite and dominated the 4th quarter last year. Good 3-point shooter, great driving to the basket but does not do that much. Average to poor ball handler which makes him not great as a backup-point guard. Poor defender. Best 6th man in the league, would start on almost every other team in the NBA.

Backup Point Guard: J.J. Barea

Really a very small shooting guard. Clutch shooter, one of only Mavs last year that went to the basket consistently. Despite size can get to the basket regular and has innate ability to finish despite much taller defenders. Tries at the defensive end, and athletic enough to stay in front of some players. Will not get nearly as much playing time when Josh Howard comes back.

Backup Center: Erick Dampier

Damp has caught a-lot of flak from Mavs fans since he signed with Dallas, but he has played near or at his career averages since he has been here. Contract year but I wouldn't expect him to average a double-double as he did the last go round. Good low-post defender because of his strength but not quick enough to guard face-up centers. Terrible hands, no offensive game to speak of. Overall a quality backup and part-time starter.

Specialists/ Energy Guys: Quinton Ross, Nick Humphries, James Singleton, Matt Carroll, Tim Thomas, Rodrigue Beaubois

I assume Ross will start in J-Ho's absence and he his a long-athletic defender, but not much of an offensive game. Much tougher than he looks.

Humphries will be a energy-defensive guy who plays as a change-up or when the other big guys get in foul trouble. Finisher at the basket, and hard-nosed defender.

Beaubois has a lot of talent but too many guys who play his position in front of him. May play more later in the season.

Carroll is a 3-point specialist that doesn't really have a spot in the rotation once Tim Thomas gets back from injury. Has played better this preseason than his dreadful first year as a Mav.

Tim Thomas will play occasionally when he gets back from injury. 3-point specialist and "fake tough" guy. Likes to blow little kisses.

Singleton played a good amount last year and is a good energy player, but Dallas got more talented in the off-season so he is now a the end of the bench.


The first two weeks of the season are going to be difficult for the Mavs. Between opening night (Oct 27) and Nov 11, Dallas plays home games against Washington and Utah and roadies in Los Angeles, in New Orleans and in San Antonio. This 8-game stretch includes three sets of back-to-back games and will be a big part in determining how Dallas will do this season. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that Dallas is still uncertain when Josh Howard will play this season. It is a possibility that J-Ho could miss all eight of these games.

Even without Josh Howard, I feel the Mavericks will play well during this stretch and come out of it with a winning record. Overall this season, I believe that Dallas' record will be in the top 3 or 4 in the Western Conference all season long. Dallas will win at least 55 games this year if not push 60 like they have in years past. This is a prediction based on a healthy line-up, Howard included.

After a strong regular season I think Dallas can also make some serious noise in the playoffs. A possible Western Conference Finals meeting with the Lakers is not out of the question with the firepower this Mavericks team possesses.