Potty Mouth

Steve Nash scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half this past Sunday to top the Lakers.  When asked during the live postgame interview on ABC why such a drastic difference in his performance from the first half to the second, Nash had a choice to make.  A) Give the common cliched patter about letting the game come to him, concentrate on the little things and his game would come eventually, worry about getting his teammates involved first, etc.  B) Give the also common star athlete response where the answer in no way reflects the question that was asked, i.e. we just wanted to get out there and show our heart tonight, take it one game at a time, give 110%, and God willing, everything will fall into place.  C) Come clean and publicly blame the massive diarrhea he had just before tip-off.  The correct answer: C!  When the shocked reporter asked, "Seriously," Steve bashfully confirmed that he was on the toilet all the way through warmups.  Then he stated that he probably shouldn't have mentioned that much information on national television and apologized to all the viewers in Hawaii who might have been watching the broadcast during brunch.  I personally like when an athlete allows him or herself to be candid and different during interviews, even if it means the occasional potty mouth might slip out.

3 CHEERS: MAVS 103 vs. MAGIC 98

DIRK'S DIGITS!

Another day, another phenomenal line from Dirk, another triple double near miss.  24 points on 10 of 18 shooting (including back to back clutch 3's in the decisive 4th quarter), 9 boards, 7 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.  Dirk took control of this game in the fourth, along with JET, which I believe is a quality of an MVP if I'm not mistaken.

1. Jason "JET" Terry - Some say it was his best game as a Maverick.  I wouldn't go that far since JET has had his fair share of huge performances in a Mavs uniform.  Still, whenever Orlando thought they might get the best of the best team in the league, JET came up huge.  He shot 11 of 17, including an astonishing 6 of 11 from behind the arc, for 29 points.  He stole the ball twice, both in game altering situations when we needed them.  And he tossed out 15 assists, one off his career-high.  That means JET set up more than half of the Mavs made baskets that he didn't take himself.  For a team whose offensive system doesn't rely on assists as much as it does ball movement until the mismatch arrives, 15 assists for a player is a big accomplishment and further proof that this team can beat you anyway you want them to.

2. Dwight Howard - Got to throw out some love to an emerging contender in my top five favorite players list, which you all know by now means spots 16-20 on my favorite players list once you tally all 15 current Mavs.  I told you all back when I was begging you to vote for all the Mavs for the All-Star game that my recommendation for your East center selection was this kid.  He's only 21, and he's a phenomenal athlete.  He got totally robbed during the All-Star dunk contest, but more importantly, I got robbed out of seeing what else he had in store for that competition.  Here's a clip of some of the dunks he would have done if he had of made it out of the first round (even though he slapped a sticker on the backboard before throwing down a dunk that measured his reach at 12' 6").  This kid can actually kiss the rim before he slams.  Check it out if you can.  Anyway, back to this game, he scored 25 points on 9 of 14 shooting (7 of 11 from the stripe), grabbed 10 boards and blocked 4 shots.

3. Josh Howard - If JET and Dirk were the Magic and Kareem of this game, then Howard was the James "Big Game" Worthy.  Solid contribution almost under the radar, but still wound up with 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting (7 of 9 from the stripe), 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block.  I would like to clarify that I don't compare JET, Dirk and Howard to Magic, Kareem and Worthy as a whole on a daily basis.  This was merely a way of quantifying how Dirk and JET's performance gave reason to overlook a dependable line by Howard.

RANDOM CRAP! 

• You have to believe that the triple double will come soon with the way Dirk has consistently raised his numbers in the assist category, but damn if this feat isn't elusive.  I'll be honest.  It's starting to frustrate me.  Not a heavy frustration, like say, being the only guy whose chili-cheese Fritos bag gets stuck in the Vend-o-matic, but more like the mild frustration of how the paper delivery person can day in and day out consistently toss my paper into the exact same spot in front of my house and rather than using that skill to put it on the front walk, he accurately and perpetually drops it in between the two trees in the middle of my lawn so that I have to walk through the wet grass every morning to get my damp paper.  That was "damp" paper, not "damn" paper, although both terms apply.  Actually, now that I've started writing about it and thinking about it, this is far more frustrating than Dirk's little triple-double chase.  This is a travesty.  Dirk's flirtation with the triple-double is merely a bug on my windshield compared to the frustration I feel every morning I go out to get my paper.  Serenity Now!
• To further get into the greatness of Dwight Howard, I will say a few more things.  One, I'm glad he plays on the east coast and we will only have to face him twice a season, unless we meet in the Finals or he changes teams due to free agency or a trade.  Two, he's only 21 and he's this good already.  Compare that to Dirk, who was a raw, 7-foot, 19-year-old when he came in to the league.  10 years later, he's developed into a marvelously well-rounded player who is playing MVP-caliber ball, but he's only at the start of his prime at 29 years of age.  Same goes for Howard.  In only his 3rd year in the league, at such a young age, already averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds a game while shooting 60% from the field, the upside on this kid is incredible to speculate.  So impressive, in fact, that Kevin Garnett has said publicly that he is glad that he will be retired by the time Howard hits his prime so that he doesn't have to go up against him.  Three, anyone who can kiss the rim before they dunk, along with actually being a good basketball player, is already a level above most in this league in my book.
• With all that being said, Dirk has no business guarding Dwight Howard.  In all fairness to Dirk, who has become a better defender this year than he's given credit for, it's not Dirk's fault.  It's just that as our best player, Dirk couldn't go get himself into foul trouble trying to guard Howard.  Our other 3 big men that took a turn at Howard (Dampier, Diop, and Croshere) combined for 10 fouls.  Devin Harris fouled out with 6 fouls in 21 minutes trying to concentrate on Orlando's guards.  It's a shame that Dirk got stuck in that position, because he was at times forced to play matador defense, which never looks good on replays.  Like I said, though, it's not Dirk's fault.  It was just one of those games, and Howard is just one of those players.
• During the game, they ran a clip where they asked Devin Harris what his favorite sports moment was.  Harris copped out and said playing in the Finals.  Of course he loved that moment, it's a level that all players want to reach, but I was hoping for something more in depth.  Something that told me more about Little D.  Maybe a story about the first time he realized how much he loved the game, or a moment that changed him as a person.  Instead, we got a short, mundane answer.  Little D, if you're reading this, email me and give me the real scoop.  I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours.  I'll go first.  It was my senior year of high school, and I had been running cross country all four years.  The previous coach had a loose, unwritten rule that if you stayed in the program all 4 years, even if you never ran varsity, he would letter you when you graduated.  He also said that if you could time faster in your JV race than the slowest member of our varsity squad, he would consider allowing you to run varsity the next week.  Well, he retired after my sophomore year.  The new coach hated me because I was charming, wildly popular within the team, and slightly, mildly anti-establishment.  It might have also been because I purposely peed on a teammate's leg.  That kid had it coming, though.  He told his mom that during the offseason, the coaches would let us go home instead of sticking around for the whole 7th hour.  All we had to do was show up for role, and then we were free to go.  His mommy got mad, called the coach, and for the rest of the semester we had to sit in the stinky locker room and do homework until the bell rang.  You know the expression that some teams use about how sometimes you just have to let the locker room police itself?  Well, there was a new sheriff in town that day.  Anyway, the season was drawing near an end, and even though another school commitment kept me from being in the cross-country class, I still showed up for as many practices as I could make and competed in the races on the weekends.  I asked if he was going to letter me for running all 4 years.  He told me no.  So I asked if would he give me a chance to earn a letter by running varsity.  He said that if I could beat his slowest varsity runner in the next race (3.1 miles), then he would give me that chance.  I ran the best 5K time I have ever officially recorded that day at 18 minutes, 49 seconds.  I didn't just beat his slowest varsity guy; I beat his two slowest.  The moral of the story: he didn't let me run varsity for the rest of the season, and he didn't letter me.  Like I said, he just plain didn't like me.  Since I clearly no longer hold a grudge, I won't mention that coach by name other than to say it rhymes with Tim Eshleman.  You see there, Devin?  Open up a little bit.  This is your happy place.  Don't be afraid.  I know what you're thinking.  I had you at "peed on his leg".

The Mavs have a nice little stretch set up for them this week, only playing one game in the next 7 days.  It will be a nice respite before the grueling stretch they have the following week.  One quick random statistic to further explain the magnitude of what the Mavs are doing this season.  Only one other team in NBA history has won 50 games in a 55 game span like the Mavs have just done, and that would be the 95-96 Chicago Bulls, the team that set the NBA record with 72 wins in a season.  The Mavs won't win 72 games, or even 70 in my personal opinion (not that I'm rooting against them), but considering that a 50 wins in 55 games stretch as only been done one other time by the team that posted the greatest NBA season ever is impressive company.  Factor in that not one single team in the history of Major League Baseball or the National Hockey League has ever matched that feat, and it makes it all the more fantastic.  Furthermore, I would like to thank Mark Cuban for stopping by the blog and posting a couple comments.  I know he's a busy man and has more important things to do, but the gesture was very much appreciated by the Dude.  I vow to never pee on his leg . . . Ever.  And that's as fitting a way as possible to wrap up a post titled Potty Mouth.  Go Mavs!

Comments

[gk eades]

I, too, appreciate Mark Cuban reading your fun and well-written Mavs Musings and posting his comments. (Seems fair, because of your blog, I now read his.) Now he should consider a money-making (for you) relationship between the two of you. I was not even a Mavs fan until I began reading 3 Cheers. Now I can't wait to read the next awesome edition. Way to go, Dude!