patricia

New Orleans at Dallas (October 11)

The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with Dallas mostly holding small
leads. It was the Antawn Jamison show early as Dallas led 16-13 with 7
minutes left and Jamison had 11 points. Dallas led 28-26 after 1 and
Jamison had 13 points. The game stayed close in the 2nd quarter and was
tied at 39-39 with 5 minutes to go. It was tied again at 52-52 with seconds
remaining when New Orleans got stupid. Tariq Abdul-Wahad got 2 inside and
was fouled with 2 seconds left. New Orleans called timeout and threw the
ball full court and it went out of bounds with no one touching it. So it
was Mavs ball under their own basket. Dallas found an open Jiri Welsch
under the basket and he was fouled. He hit both free throws to give Dallas
a 57-52 lead at the half. Dallas out-rebounded New Orleans 27-18 in the
half including an incredible 12-4 offensive [Dallas had _60_ games last
season (including playoffs) where they had less than 12 offensive rebounds].
New Orleans lost their shooting touch during halftime and Dallas found
theirs as New Orleans shot 2-9 FG and Dallas shot 8-12 FG to go up 78-62
with 4 minutes remaining. A 3-pointer by Darrell Armstrong and 2 free
throws by Sean Rooks closed the quarter. Dallas led 83-75 after 3. Don
Nelson, as usual, went with a non-star lineup to open the 4th and New
Orleans was able to chip away at Dallas' lead (New Orleans had a better
lineup with Armstrong and starter David Wesley out there). It got so ugly
that Nelson relented and re-inserted Jamison (and he stayed out there for
the rest of the game) as the Hornets pulled within 89-93 with 4 minutes
left. Dallas still led by 4 points at 96-92 with 2 minutes left and the
fans started getting restless for chalupas (never mind that the game was
still in doubt). Stacey Augmon hit 2 free throws with 1:12 remaining.
Dallas missed, New Orleans missed, Dallas missed, and Jamison got a layup
with 27 seconds to go. New Orleans missed, but Augmon stole the ball and
Armstrong hit a cold blooded 3-pointer with 17 seconds left and the Hornets
intentionally fouled Travis Best. Best hit both free throws to make it
100-97 with 12 seconds left. New Orleans used their last timeout and
advanced the ball to halfcourt. Instead of going for a 3-pointer, they got
the ball inside to Jamaal Magloire for the easy layup. Best was again sent
to the line with 10 seconds left, but missed both. Armstrong quickly
brought the ball up as Dallas played tight defense and couldn't find any
openings or shots and then passed back to Courtney Alexander as the clock
was running out and Alexander's shot didn't get off before time expired (he
missed it anyways). Dallas won 100-99.


Preseason tends to make we laugh at some of the silly things that occur on
the court, and I had a couple of good ones in this game, capped by the final
play where I realized that New Orleans wasn't going to get a shot off. I
couldn't believe that a vet like Armstrong made such a bonehead play that
resulted in no shot. Despite the final score, it was a pretty sloppy and
ugly game as Dallas had 25 turnovers [and one near turnover that still has
me cringing when a Mav player fumbled the ball away, but it went right to
another Mav] and shot 44.4% FG and New Orleans had 17 turnovers and shot
45.1% FG. The good news for Dallas is the rebounds. The Mavs out-rebounded
New Orleans (one of the better rebounding teams in the league, but it was
preseason) 65-41 including 17-10 offensive. 3 Mavs were in double-digits in
rebounding and another had 8 boards. It's such a shock to see 3 guys in
white jerseys going after a rebounding - especially when it's for an
offensive rebound. [I've been lazy getting this done, so I'm going to give
the lousy excuse of it's just preseason and not go into a player ****ysis
for the game - not giving 100%, kind of reminds me of the Dal-LAC game. ]
Besides the rebounding, two very nice sights that still sticks in my mind
are that _twice_ Raef LaFrentz drove from the outside (baseline) to the
bucket for the basket - not used to seeing that.


Quotes
Don Nelson: "We thought Nowitzki finally started to find his stroke. We
haven't seen it much, but he wasn't shooting it like we are used to. He
started to make a couple 3's and the shot looked real good. I was happy to
see that. He's struggled a little bit with his shot so far this season.
Nash is certainly ready to roll. He looks like he's in mid-season form. I
am not playing him a whole lot in these games, but he's just been terrific."

Nelson: "You can blame some bad combinations on losing the lead. Normally I
wouldn't do that, but it's preseason and we want to put our young players in
these positions and see how they react and then use it as a teaching tool.
Whether we would have won or lost the game, we made some errors down the
stretch and that's the way they learn."

Nelson: "I can't say that anybody was outstanding tonight. Guys that I
thought played pretty well didn't have good stats. Other than Dirk and
Steve, I thought everyone else was just mediocre at best. LaFrentz has
been good coming off the bench every night and doing a lot of good things."

Nelson on Howard: "Josh is good, but it's a learning process for him and
he's thinking too much right now. It needs to be natural for him."

Antawn Jamison: "I definitely understand my role with this team. There will
be nights when I won't be the one out there shooting, but that's the way
things are. Tonight I was really feeling the flow of the offense, Steve was
finding me, and it's nice when I get my opportunities. There will be
certain nights where I have to do other things like defend and rebound."

Jamison: "Dirk and Steve were laughing because at half time we had like 24
rebounds and they said normally it takes like a week to get that. That's
what Danny and I bring to the table. Not just defensive rebounding, we like
to attack the glass offensively. We've been with a team that's been the
best rebounding team in the league for a while and our natural reflex is to
crash the boards. When things are not going well offensively you still have
to do other things, like rebound."

Raef LaFrentz: "Well this is just preseason, but typically this is one of
the best rebounding team in the league. If we can judge by tonight, I think
we're vastly improving on the glass simply by the addition of the new
personnel. That also should translate into a better defense."

Josh Howard: "I'm going to keep making mistakes, I'm going to keep trying to
improve and just do what I can do."

Howard: "The veterans get me active in the offense. They are always helping
me out especially when I have questions and they're good about telling me
where to go. Pretty soon I'm going to catch on so they won't have to worry
about it."

Tim Floyd: "We guarded down the stretch. I thought a real positive in that
stretch, not just that stretch, but throughout the game. They had a lot of
turnovers. A lot of those were the result of charging fouls. We had a lot
of guys stepping in front and taking hits all night long."

Floyd: "We had some positives in the game; I think our guys are getting some
confidence in the offense. We've had 27 assists in back-to-back games. We
limited our turnovers a little bit against one of the best transition
offense teams in the league. I thought our guys got back for the most part.
We stayed committed to the minutes played. I would like to have had some
different combinations in there late, but I thought the guys that were in
there late did a very fine job. "

Floyd on the last play: "We really haven't talked about these situations
enough. We were out of timeouts at that point, didn't have a go-to play
that we would have [in the regular season]."

Darrell Armstrong: "We played well; all the guys did. We made runs when we
were down 15, 16, 17 points and kept playing and got back in the game and
had a chance to win it.

Armstrong: "I look forward to the 4th quarter, that's when the game is
decided. You've got to be ready to change the tempo, and that's what I
tried to do."

Armstrong on the last play: "I was supposed to run off the pick-and-roll
with the big guy. I went to the left side with David West and they
switched. Maybe I should have gone ahead and taken it to the basket. I
was trying to get loose, but I couldn't. They stayed tight on me and we
never got a shot up. In that situation there, you have to get shots. You
just got to take a shot at the basket. That's the frustrating thing about
it. Luckily it is preseason because when you play that hard in the 4th and
you get your team back in the game and your guys are playing hard out there,
those are the game you want to win. You don't want to come back and use all
that energy and then lose the game. We kept fighting, but we came up short.
Hopefully that will show these guys that you are never out of a game in the
NBA."


Dallas Mavericks 100, New Orleans Hornets 99 at Dallas (October 11)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 28 29 26 17 - 100 .429 .545 .444 .688
New Orleans 26 26 23 24 - 99 .452 .450 .451 .696

Halftime: Dallas 57-52
3rd Q: Dallas 83-75
Technicals: none
Refs: Gary Benson, Joe Forte, ???
Attendance: 19,511 (sellout)
Did not play due to injury: Michael Finley (sore quad), Eduardo Najera
(sore right shoulder), Shawn Bradley (sore knee), Jamal Mashburn
(sprained right knee), P.J. Brown (sprained left ankle), Bryce Drew
(strained upper back)


Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Antawn Jamison 33 9-15 0-0 2-4 20 5-10 0 2 5 0 0
Dirk Nowitzki 27 6-12 2-3 2-4 16 0-8 1 1 2 0 2
Danny Fortson 31 0-6 0-0 2-2 2 4-12 5 1 4 1 0
Josh Howard 19 5-11 1-1 1-2 12 0-0 0 1 0 0 1
Steve Nash 20 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 0-1 8 3 0 0 0
Jiri Welsch 25 4-11 2-3 5-6 15 3-4 1 6 6 1 0
Raef LaFrentz 31 5-9 0-2 1-1 11 4-10 0 1 5 1 2
Travis Best 24 1-7 0-1 3-6 5 0-3 4 2 4 0 1
Tariq Abdul-Wahad 20 1-4 0-0 5-5 7 1-5 1 3 3 2 1
Marquis Daniels 10 1-1 1-1 1-2 4 0-1 1 5 0 0 1
Totals 48 36-81 6-11 22-32 100 17-54 21 25 29 5 8

New Orleans Hornets REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
George Lynch 23 3-6 1-2 0-0 7 0-1 0 2 2 0 0
Robert Traylor 16 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-3 0 1 6 0 3
Jamaal Magloire 27 5-6 0-0 3-4 13 1-8 2 2 5 0 2
Baron Davis 30 4-10 2-5 2-4 12 1-2 8 4 2 3 1
David Wesley 29 6-13 0-3 0-0 12 1-1 5 1 1 2 1
Courtney Alexander 18 2-8 1-1 2-4 7 0-2 1 1 4 1 0
Darrell Armstrong 25 7-12 5-8 2-2 21 1-3 5 2 3 2 0
David West 29 4-10 0-1 1-3 9 3-13 4 0 3 1 0
Sean Rooks 21 2-5 0-0 2-2 6 2-6 1 1 4 3 2
Stacey Augmon 18 2-8 0-0 4-4 8 1-1 1 0 4 1 0
Kirk Haston 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 2 0 0
Paul Shirley 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Totals 48 37-82 9-20 16-23 99 10-41 27 17 36 13 9


Dallas at LA Clippers (October 14)

The Clippers came out on fire and scored the first 8 points of the game.
Dallas finally got on the board 2 minutes in and the Mavs pulled within 7-11
with 8:50 left. The Clippers pushed their lead up to 10 points. 4 points
by Elton Brand and 2 free throws by Corey Maggette gave the Clippers a 31-15
lead with 4 minutes remaining. The Clippers took their first 20 point lead
at 41-21 with 1:20 to go. The Clippers led 41-25 after 1. They shot a red
hot 68% FG in the 1st quarter. Only one Mav showed up for Dallas as Antawn
Jamison had 15 points including 6-9 FG. Things did not improve for Dallas
as the Mavs could get no closer than 38-51 with 5:30 left. The Clippers
then scored the next 12 points and led in the 20s the rest of the quarter.
The Clippers led 69-44 at the half. They cooled off a tad in the 2nd
quarter [sarcasm] and shot 65% FG in the half while Dallas shot 47% FG. It
was balanced scoring for the Clippers as no player was in double figures.
The rout continued in the 3rd as Dallas got no closer than 24 points. The
Clippers took their largest lead of the game on a dunk by Quentin Richardson
to make it 102-69 with 1:30 left. Michael Finley hit a long jumper at the
quarter buzzer and the Clippers led 102-73 after 3. The Clippers shooting
finally cooled off in 4th quarter and the Dallas youngsters performed better
than the Dallas vets, excluding Jamison. But even with that, Dallas got no
closer than 18 points in the quarter. Dallas out-scored the Clippers 34-26
in the 4th but it was still a blowout loss. The Clippers won 128-107.


The good news was that it's only preseason and the game wasn't televised so
only a couple of thousand mostly Clipper fans had to watch this debacle.
Allowing the Clippers to score 41 points in the 1st quarter, no matter how
well they were shooting, is pathetic - especially since they were missing 2
rotation players and Dallas started with their likely 5 players (granted
Michael Finley played his 1st preseason game and had a poor outing). It was
a blowout from start to finish, even though Dallas picked up their
performance a little in the 4th quarter. Although Dallas finally shot free
throws well in this game (23-25), turnovers still remains a problem (22).
That should go down once Steve Nash starts playing 30 to 40 minutes instead
of 20. Since I only listened to this game and didn't see it (plus being
lazy), I'm not doing an individual player ****ysis. But it was nice to hear
Jiri Welsch finally have a good offensive game (7-11 FG), but he's still
sloppy with the ball (5 turnovers).


Quotes
Mike Dunleavy: "I thought our guys did a great job defensively and that's
what we've been after. If you play that way night in and night out we have
a good chance of winning a lot of ball games. Our defense got us out in the
open court and we made good decisions and had good ball movement against
their zone."

Dunleavy: "We had a number of guys contribute and do a great job. We had
some really good bench play also and kept the intensity level up which is
what we want."

Don Nelson: "They got away from us early. We gave our kids lots of playing
time. The Clippers deserved to win. They are a very athletic team. It
was a good learning experience for us. I thought our rookies did a good
job. I want to get the team into a good groove."

Nelson: "We've played pretty well at times in the preseason. But I was
very disappointed in the Clipper game when we fell behind so far with our
starters on the court. There's going to come a time when we want to play
well."

Dirk Nowitzki: "I think they were fired up at the beginning and we just
didn't respond to the challenge. We need to find a rhythm in our game.
I'm still learning to play with my new teammates. Some nights are better
than others."

Steve Nash: "We had a bad night, but how you rebound from those games is
important. That's the challenge for everyone, to stay motivated, inspired
and optimistic, and get as much as you can out of training camp. All the
teams go through that, even in the regular season. The best teams are the
ones that are able to stay focused and motivate themselves."


Los Angeles Clippers 128, Dallas Mavericks 107 at Los Angeles (October 14)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
LA Clippers 41 28 33 26 - 128 .617 .500 .585 .875
Dallas 25 19 29 34 - 107 .571 .308 .526 .920

Halftime: LA Clippers 69-44
3rd Q: LA Clippers 102-73
Technicals: LA Clippers defensive 3 seconds 1:07 1st
Refs: Ron Garretson, Derek Richardson, Mark Ayotte
Attendance: 9,823 (cap 18,964)
Did not play due to injury: Tremaine Fowlkes (sprained right knee), Chris
Kaman (lower left leg strain), Marko Jaric (visa matters), Predrag
Drobnjak (visa matters), Travis Best (sore left knee), Eduardo Najera
(right shoulder sprain)


Los Angeles Clippers REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Corey Maggette 24 5-9 1-3 5-6 16 0-3 1 2 0 0 0
Elton Brand 24 7-8 0-0 6-6 20 1-4 7 0 1 2 0
Chris Wilcox 19 5-8 0-0 0-0 10 1-4 1 1 5 1 0
Quentin Richardson 26 7-11 1-2 1-1 16 0-4 3 5 1 1 1
Keyon Dooling 28 4-9 4-7 0-0 12 0-0 6 2 2 1 2
Wang Zhizhi 20 4-6 0-0 0-0 8 3-4 4 1 2 0 0
Quinton Ross 23 4-6 2-2 2-2 12 2-3 3 0 2 1 1
Melvin Ely 24 2-6 0-1 3-4 7 2-4 1 2 2 0 1
Bobby Simmons 28 5-9 0-1 4-5 14 1-2 0 1 5 4 0
Marcus Hatten 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0
Eddie House 19 5-10 3-6 0-0 13 0-3 6 2 3 3 0
Totals 48 48-82 11-22 21-24 128 10-31 32 19 24 13 5

Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Antawn Jamison 20 8-14 1-1 2-3 19 0-1 1 1 2 0 0
Dirk Nowitzki 28 3-9 0-3 2-2 8 1-3 5 2 3 1 0
Danny Fortson 12 1-1 0-0 1-2 3 2-5 0 0 4 0 0
Michael Finley 23 2-5 1-2 2-2 7 0-2 2 1 1 0 0
Steve Nash 20 4-8 0-2 2-2 10 3-4 6 2 1 1 0
Raef LaFrentz 20 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 0 2 4 0 0
Josh Howard 25 5-9 0-0 1-1 11 1-2 0 1 3 2 0
Jon Stefansson 16 1-2 0-0 4-4 6 0-1 5 4 0 0 0
Jiri Welsch 33 7-11 2-3 3-3 19 0-1 2 5 2 0 0
Shawn Bradley 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 2 0 0
Tariq Abdul-Wahad 15 3-5 0-2 0-0 6 0-4 2 0 2 1 0
Marquis Daniels 16 4-8 0-0 4-4 12 1-1 1 3 0 1 1
Josh Powell 6 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 1-1 3 0 1 0 0
Totals 48 40-76 4-13 23-25 107 10-29 27 22 25 6 1

BTW, if anyone is interested or really bored, I have my trip report up from
my 2 weeks in Germany, Austria, Switzerland at
http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/alps.html


patricia


--
Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com
For NBA stuff: http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/index.html
For Mavs stuff: http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/mavs.html

mr black \(please remove spamblock from address if replying by email\)

Hey Pat, could you please consider posting your genral nba news to this ng
also, i have trouble connecting to rec.sport.basketball.pro at times
thanks
MrB.

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nigel reed

Please consider removing 433 lines of quoted text for just a 3 line
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Thanks,
Nigel

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