Mavs/Raptors

[mustang_marc]

Noon game today. Get your asses out of bed!

[Cartman]

Noon game today. Get your asses out of bed!
damn it man I am up, stop shouting

[Juiced4V]

Mavs will win...

[momo stallion]

yay for something to watch!

[momo stallion]

hey wait, football is on at noon today, mavs take a back seat to NFL playoffs!

[evil jose]

hey wait, football is on at noon today, mavs take a back seat to NFL playoffs!

Phuck that. Mav's game is about to start! At least we have one home town winning team! Go Mav's!

[momo stallion]

Phuck that. Mav's game is about to start! At least we have one home town winning team! Go Mav's!


lol, i know, i love me some mavericks too.

tuner 2 on the tivo is on the mavs so i'll switch between. the bears are the only ones i still care about in the nfl, so this game is all i got left this season.

[evil jose]

Mav's off to a slow start and TJ Ford from Toronto is playing pretty good. A little foul trouble early to.

lol, i know, i love me some mavericks too.

tuner 2 on the tivo is on the mavs so i'll switch between. the bears are the only ones i still care about in the nfl, so this game is all i got left this season.

I hear ya. I've always been a home town homey so after the Cowboys went out I probably won't watch any football until the Superbowl. Interesting that the Mav's are playing a Noon game on a Sunday. I didn't think the NBA plays to many Noon games on Sunday.

[mustang_marc]

Mavs apparently didn't get out of bed. They're down 32-22 at the end of 1.

[evil jose]

The Raptors Anthony Parker is burning us at the basket :mad:

[mustang_marc]

Mavs fell down by 15 and then made a sweet run with JET lighting it up from 3 pt land. Mavs got to within 3 and are down 77-71 going to the 4th.

[evil jose]

Mav's are making a come back. They've made quite a few come backs in the 4'th Quarter. Hope they can come back.

Dammit the Mav's just blew a fast break from Devin to Devin (or however they spell it).

Dirk is playing another excellent game with 34 points.

Avery is pissed. Anybody see the timeout where Avery told the bench to stay the fuck back as he only wanted to talk to the guys on the floor? Looks like Avery has put Diop in the dog house. Any idea what that's about?

[mustang_marc]

Can't comment...not watching it live. I'm stuck at work.

But Mavs have closed it to within 2...86-84.

[mustang_marc]

90-87 Toronto with 4:31 to go.

Sucks not getting to watch this. This is only about the 2nd or 3rd game I've missed all year.

[evil jose]

That sucks Marc. I thought you work grave yard?

[evil jose]

Mav's for the lead!

[momo stallion]

dirk is MAD!

[Juiced4V]

DANG....my dish is going out....dam Ice

[mustang_marc]

That sucks Marc. I thought you work grave yard?I've been back on days for a little while now. I work 5a-4p Sun - Wed.

[mustang_marc]

96-93 Toronto with :38 to go. Dirk has 38 pts and 11 reb. Another monster game. Hope we don't come up short.

[mustang_marc]

96-95 Toronto with :34 to go.

[Juiced4V]

another JUMP BALL....

[evil jose]

Holly shit! 11.2 left in the game. Mav's down by 1. Jump ball!

[evil jose]

Another jump ball!

[momo stallion]

holy shit.

[evil jose]

Mav's got the ball back with 6.5 to go. Mav's call there last time out. Shit! :eek:

[momo stallion]

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Juiced4V]

GOOD $HIT!!!!!!!!! :eek:

[momo stallion]

holy shit, that was sweet.

[evil jose]

Howard hit the layup with .9 seconds left to go. Mav's up by 1!

[evil jose]

Raptors throw up an air ball! Mav's win by 1 point!!!!!! Holly shit! Howard the game winner!

[TorchRedStang]

Holy crap! This team is amazing! Wow... Dirk has got that killer instinct and I love how this team wants to win every game in every situation. THE best team in the NBA!

[evil jose]

Awesome ending! Dirk went out towards the 3 point line with the Raptor guarding Howard following him to double team. Terry see's Howard wide open under the basket and feeds him for two points! Dayum!

[Juiced4V]

Mavs know how to close out games!!!!!

[evil jose]

I've been back on days for a little while now. I work 5a-4p Sun - Wed.

That's good to hear man. Grave yard shift sucks!

Mavs know how to close out games!!!!!

You've gotta admit. This is shaping up to be a banner season for the Mav's. I can't remember any season where the Mav's were number 1 in the league for any amount of time. The post season is shaping up to be interesting!

[mustang_marc]

Awesome ending! Dirk went out towards the 3 point line with the Raptor guarding Howard following him to double team. Terry see's Howard wide open under the basket and feeds him for two points! Dayum!Thanks for the description. Guess I'll have to catch the news later. Mavs really know how to play in the clutch. If it weren't for that no-call against the Lakers at the end when Terry was really fouled, the Mavs would have a monster streak going right now.

[evil jose]

Shit. Dirk played 46 minutes, scored 38 points, hit 3-6 3 pointers, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and 11 rebounds. Who can say Dirk isn't MVP worthy?

[Juiced4V]

You've gotta admit. This is shaping up to be a banner season for the Mav's. I can't remember any season where the Mav's were number 1 in the league for any amount of time. The post season is shaping up to be interesting!


Your right Bro....that is the only thing that they did not do good last year I think was closing games....so now they have the whole package..offense-deffense and can come from behind and win games.....I will have my $$ on them this year to get the GOLD....

[mustang_marc]

That's good to hear man. Grave yard shift sucks!


And the crazy thing is that I actually chose that shift. I just took it because of the 4 day work weeks. Fortunately, due to realignment, we had a bid for new shifts about 3 months afterwards and I got back on days. That schedule was originally intended to last 1 year to 15 months.

[mustang_marc]

Shit. Dirk played 46 minutes, scored 38 points, hit 3-6 3 pointers, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and 11 rebounds. Who can say Dirk is isn't MVP worthy?
He's on a mission right now and the Mavs refuse to lose.

Next two games should be some GREAT competition. Houston is up on Tues and they are something like 9-1 in their last 10 games. Then on Thurs night, we get the Lake Show.


Then - follow that up with by going to Miami - who are on a 4gm winning streak now and are due to have Shaq back....and at Orlando and at Chicago.


Barring injuries, I think the Mavs could/should be 42-11 at the break for the All Star game.

[[CS]ls1haha]

Damn that was rediculous..... I couldn't believe Howard got so open for the layup, seemed like Terry couldn't either. He waited forever to pass it to him.. He was like, :eek: .

[evil jose]

Found this in the DMN just a little while ago which might help explain Dirk's drive this season.

Nowitzki's all about the ring

Mavs star shows he'll control ego to pursue the ultimate hardware

11:14 PM CST on Sunday, January 14, 2007

The continued maturation of Dirk Nowitzki has nothing to do with scoring points or grabbing rebounds.

It's about Nowitzki's understanding of the game's nuances and how those subtleties will help Dallas win a championship, because that's all that matters this season.

Little things like letting Josh Howard exert himself offensively and develop into a star without pouting, and setting picks to free Jason Terry for open jumpers. Little things like defending the paint and contesting shots and playing well despite sprained ankles and sinus infections.

Last week, Nowitzki sat out the fourth quarter against Portland because he understands that rest is more important. No doubt that rest helped him average 39.7 points in the other three games, including 38 Sunday in a one-point win over Toronto, as the Mavericks won their fourth straight game.

You can take the Mavs' success – at least 50 wins each of the last six seasons – for granted, if you like. You can even take Mark Cuban's willingness to spend money on players and Avery Johnson's success for granted, if you must.

But don't ever take a player like Nowitzki for granted. Ever.

Not in this era of pampered, pompous superstars with bloated guaranteed contracts and egos to match. The 28-year-old German, who's regularly the last player to leave practice, has reached the point in his nine-year career where winning a championship is his sole goal.

Isn't that really how it should be? Do you think there would be all this talk about whether Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson can co-exist in Denver if it were just about winning? In Denver, like a lot of other NBA cities, the team's best players worry more about shot totals and scoring averages than victories.

That's not the case in Dallas, which is why you should be on your knees every day thanking the basketball gods for blessing you with Nowitzki.

Nowitzki, who averages 24.8 points and 9.4 rebounds, has figured out what's important. The NBA is about rings. Russell, Magic and Jordan made it that way. Nothing else matters.

You disagree? Ask Charles Barkley. Ask Karl Malone. Go ahead, ask them what they would've traded for a championship ring. A scoring title? A rebounding title? Cash? Maybe all of them.

Ask any of the Mavericks what they would've traded not to blow a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals last June. Nowitzki wants a title, so he suppresses his ego. Don't be naive. He has an ego. A big one. Every superstar does. You can't succeed without it. Few stars, though, control their egos.

"Dirk knows what he's capable of doing," Johnson said. "When a guy has high self-esteem and confidence, little things don't bother him."

Now you know why Nowitzki is content letting Howard find his rhythm early in games. Nine times this season, Howard has scored 10 or more points in the first quarter. It helps that Dallas is 32-2 the last two seasons when Howard scores at least 20 points.

On average, Nowitzki takes only one more shot per game than Howard. Kobe Bryant takes seven more shots per game than any other teammate, as does LeBron James. Only seven times in the last 18 games has Nowitzki led the Mavericks in scoring, but he can dominate when necessary. Like the 35 points he scored in Phoenix to stop the Mavericks' 0-4 start and the 36 points he dropped in a recent road win over San Antonio.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/01-07/0115dirk.jpg
AP
Dirk Nowitzki leads the Mavericks in scoring and rebounding, but his focus isn't on statistics.

In the off-season, the Mavericks solidified their bench by acquiring players such as Devean George and Greg Buckner, who give Johnson the ability to match any style and overwhelm opponents with depth. The Mavs have won 16 games by double digits.

More important, Nowitzki is playing only 35 minutes a game. He's averaged 38 minutes a game in five of the last six seasons. While a reduction of three minutes a game doesn't sound like much, multiply it by 82 games, and it's the equivalent of playing five fewer games.

So when he plays 25 minutes and scores only 11 points like he did recently against Portland, Nowitzki is OK with that. He understands the more rest he gets now, the better he should be in the playoffs. Besides, Dallas is 4-0 this season when he scores 14 points or less.

"When you come in the league, you want to prove yourself," Nowitzki said. "But I've been an All-Star a bunch of times, and winning is the only thing that matters."

Spoken like a man who wants a championship ring.

E-mail jjtaylor@dallasnews.com