Don't read too much into the the symbolism of the number 3 on this blog. Just because it's called 3 Cheers, or the title of this post is 3 Man Weave, or that me, my wife and my daughter make up 3 in our family, or that I love the 3 point shot more than any other play in basketball, or that I was pleased that George Lucas split up the Star Wars franchise so that there were technically 2 Trilogies, or that I worship a basketball team that plays near the Trinity River. If it's there, it's purely unintentional, it's purely unintentional, it's purely unintentional. I predicted 3 of the 4 Final Four teams, with Texas A&M letting me down. That's what I get for going with Acie Law THE FOURTH! But I did nail the Georgetown upset. Thanks, John Thompson THE THIRD! 3 Mavs were responsible for the way-too-close win against Atlanta. Dirk, Howard and Terry combined for 83 of the total 104 points. I waited until my 3rd (and final) notice from my homeowners association to fix the missing slat in my fence this weekend. See? There's no connection whatsoever.
3 CHEERS: MAVS 109 @ CELTICS 95
DIRK'S DIGITS!
Dirk didn't have to do much in this game but remind the Celtics that we weren't idiots for passing on Paul Pierce to draft Dirk Nowitzki. In a game where the 4th quarter was a scout show for bench warmers, Dirk played 30 minutes and scored 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting.
1. Paul Pierce - Great performance with 30 points. Hang on, what's that? He was only 5 of 18 from the field? 19 of those points came from the foul line? Oh well, 30 points is 30 points, and he outscored his draft-day-connection player (the one that is commonly compared to the Celtics legend, Larry Bird).
2. Jason Terry - JET's been hot on this road trip. 29 points on 11 of 15 shooting (4 of 6 from 3 land) and 6 assists.
3. JJ Barea - He played 7 minutes and only scored 5 points, but he was back in Boston where he starred for 4 years at Northeastern University. It looked like about 100 JJ fans were in attendance to cheer him on, and for a rookie on a stacked roster that rarely plays meaningful minutes, that has to be a cool feeling.
RANDOM CRAP!
- The fourth quarter of this game was about as meaningful as telling someone to keep the change on an item that cost $5.91. Actually that might not be such a good analogy since the Sonic girl that brought us our Kid's Meal the other night just took our cash and walked off as if she assumed she was getting a 9 cent tip. Whether we were going to give it to her or not, by golly, she was keeping it.
- Mavs scored 54 points in the paint, compared to 18 by Boston, yet only went to the foul line 17 times, compared to 40 by Boston. How does that happen?
- Devin Harris keeps winding up with new nicknames. So far we have "Little D" (which 3 Cheers created), "Milkface" (which Dirk told a national television audience he calls him), and now "Little Booger" (which Avery referred to him due to his improving defense or because Devin's stuck to Avery's finger).
- Just as the Mavs are getting Devean "G2000" George and Greg Buckner back from knee injuries and with DJ Mbenga out for the season due to knee surgery, we lose another to a blown out knee. Al Whitley, Mavs equipment manager and close friend of Dirk, tore up his knee while taking on the players in a game of pickup after practice and forgetting that he's the EQUIPMENT MANAGER! As Dirk jokingly said of the play in which the injury occurred, "That spin move was so quick. It was lightning." Whoever will manage the equipment now?
- I need to mention that DeSagana Diop had 11 boards and 5 blocks after Dampier decided to follow up his two straight 3 Cheers appearances by getting into foul trouble and totaling only 3 boards and a block. I would also like to mention that Devin "Milky Booger Face" Harris had 18 points and 6 rebounds, and Josh "I hate having J-Ho as my nickname" Howard had 19 points and 11 rebounds. That was a list of 3 more players. I swear it's not symbolism.
- The Mavs racked up 28 assists on the 44 made baskets they had. With the amount of assists the Mavs usually average with their offensive style, that's the equivalent of dropping a grand in a Salvation Army kettle outside Dillard's. The Mavs also had 8 blocks in this game. With the amount of blocks the Mavs usually average with the inconsistent play of their centers, that's the equivalent of swatting that grand right out of the kettle before it drops in, laughing in Santa's face, and then stealing his bell.
3 CHEERS: MAVS 104 @ HAWKS 97
DIRK'S DIGITS!
Dirk was needed far too much in this game. The Mavs were up huge early on an awful team, but got a little lazy because it was an early start (they always play bad in early starts), they have twice as many wins as Atlanta, and they were up by 20 points at the end of the first 12 minute quarter. After Atlanta stormed back to take the lead, Dirk, JET and Howard kicked it into another gear. Dirk totaled 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting.
1. Josh Howard - I think Howard made his first 7 or 8 shots to start the game. He finished with 28 points on 9 of 14 shooting (3 of 3 from 3) and 5 boards.
2. Jason Terry - JET was going against his former team, who he refuses to lose to since he's so glad to be off that team and on this team. JET was sloppy early, totaling 8 turnovers, but he kicked it up by scoring 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting (3 of 5 from 3), 6 assists, and 3 steals.
3. Josh Childress - In case you forgot, or in case you didn't even know to begin with, Childress was the darling of the Pac-10 while playing for Stanford. He was picked 6th in 2004 right behind Booger Milk Harris, in fact. What a stamp he's put on the game, huh? Actually, I think if Childress were anywhere except Atlanta, he might be worth his chalk. He managed 21 points on 6 of 8 shooting (9 of 10 from the line), 5 boards, a steal and a block.
RANDOM CRAP!
- I watched half this game from my bathroom because I had to shower during the first half after racing to at least mow my grass before game time. I watched the second half from my favorite pub, Irish Rover, while meeting with my good friend and writing companion, Abram. The Mavs were killing it while I was in the bathroom, then started tanking while I was driving to the pub and waiting alone. Once Abram showed up for the last 9 minutes or so, the Mavs took the game back and sealed the victory. Thanks, Abram. And thanks, bathroom.
- I told you about Abram's blog, right? It's not for the faint of heart (or the conservative), but they do a podcast every now and again. Well, Abram "El Mariachi", asked me if I would be willing to sit in for a guest spot. I told him that if we changed the name to I Was A Teenage . . . Brandon May Rules, then we have an agreement. Haven't heard back from him yet.
- Abram used to be a teacher's assistant during grad school at University of Arkansas, and he told me that he had the Hawk's Joe Johnson in one of his classes. Abram taught him Freshman Comp, which apparently does not cover the downfalls of taking a lucrative contract to leave the Phoenix Suns to go play for the Atlanta Hawks. I'm sure Abram would have covered that if it had been in the curriculum.
- It was good to see Anthony Johnson again. If you remember, he used to sit on our bench the first half of the year. We traded him for a second round pick. I questioned the move at first. Right now, a second round pick looks like we got a steal, even though there are not lower rounds to the NBA draft than the second round. Anthony Johnson only had 9 points on 4 of 11 shooting, which is almost as many points as he had scored in the previous 4 games combined. Meanwhile Devin "Little Milky McBoogerface" Harris has flourished in the increased playing time and confidence that the team has given him.
- Happy Birthday to Avery Johnson. He turned 42. He was rewarded with his 58th victory of the season and the 134th regular season victory of his young coaching career. Remember that this is only his second full season. In fact, this was the time of year that he took over for Nelson three years ago, only coaching 18 games that season. He is 99 games over .500 in only 169 games. He probably won't win Coach of the Year again this year, but he should.
ASK THE DUDE!
Dude:
Let's say you did a bunch of work and put a bunch of time and precious wit into something that others, I don't know, say friends and family mostly, could enjoy for free, and all you asked in return was a few questions or comments for you to post and have some fun with. And let's say that very few of those hypothetical friends and family that enjoy all your work and wisdom for free actually responded. My question is: would you be totally above the idea of just making up a fake question to fill the space and make a point?
Melancholy in Mavsland
Dear Melancholy:
No.
Dude
The Mavs are at 58 wins with 13 games to go. I'm not going to talk about 70 wins because I still don't think it's possible/matters to the team. What I will talk about is that the Mavs have 2 seasons in their history when they won 60. That's the record. They had another where they won 58. We have 13 games to go, and we are tied for second best all time. Even if they split (which I find hard to predict) we win 64-65 games. But ask any Maverick, and all they care about is winning 16 games starting April 20th. April's a special month for me. My daughter's birthday. My wife's birthday. The anniversary of my first date with my wife. That makes 3 special things. 3? Oooohhhh! I have chills now. Go Mavs!
Perhaps you get no questions because your awesome blog, pretty much, addresses all issues. This is not a bad thing, but it makes for awesomely informed family and friends. Thanks for being awesome, Dude! (Note: the word "awesome" appears 3 times, not by design. It just happened. Scary...)
Posted by: gk eades | March 27, 2007 at 07:21 AM