RSS
Home
Mavericks lose to Hornets, host Toronto Saturday
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
On November 4th, the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Charlotte Hornets, thanks to four missed free throws and Peja Stojakovic’s first made jumper since 2004 (I mean, in the game. Oops.).
And really, not the worst thing in the world. Dirk had an understandable off night, after scoring an unbelievable 29 points in the fourth quarter the night before, and becoming one of three players (Shaq, David Robinson), to ever go for a 40-10-5-5. He ultimately fouled out with 12 points. No one else besides Terry and, of all people, Dampier, scored more than 10 and the Hornets still needed every one of those missed free throws on a night when Paul went for 39-7-5-2. You want the win. But not so bad.
The question is, what do we know about these 3-2 Mavericks, after the first 5?
The most obvious thing, and the most hopeful, is that these Mavs are nowhere near a finished project. The euphoria of (resounding) victory over the Lakers and Dirk’s 29 point 4th only partially obscure the fact that the Mavs’ offense has yet to have a really good night. They failed to have an answer to the Wizards’ attack, which is not the finest in the world although peppier than one might expect, and Dirk’s 4th was, after all, necessitated by coming into the 4th 15 points down to the Jazz—any time you get 44 team points in a quarter and still don’t break 100 it’s cause for concern.
Terry has found his shot exactly once, Marion has shown what he can do exactly once, Beaubois showed he certainly can score 9 points in 14 minutes, with just one assist and Rick Carlisle showed him that’s not what the coach had in mind. Josh Howard is still out, and when he gets back there will certainly be an integration process. Most Mavs fans, myself included, are likely to start looking for cyanide pills if the plan for Howard is still to let him take over the first and third, and disappear besides, with Dirk, Terry, Marion, and others sitting around and watching.
In general, however, the mood among the usually excitable Mavs’ fan base, has not been one of grave concern. There are several potential reasons for this.
First of all, besides Boston, who has to be the Title favorite for their dominant performances so far this year, most of the title favorites are not particularly impressing. Lakers are 4-1, and will get Gasol back, but if anyone is surprised by how well the Lakers are doing there are things they never thought about. Orlando’s had some good ones. The Spurs are 2-2, the Cavs are 3-3, neither against particularly impressive opponents. The Hornets and Jazz look poised to fall out of the middle of the pack. Portland’s 2-3.
More likely, however, is the growing sentiment that, for the first time in years and years and years, the best is yet to come. In recent Mavericks memory, struggles early meant struggles late. You knew what you had and it was doing the best it could.
Not so, this year.
The game against the Lakers, no doubt due in part to simply a bad game for the defending champions showed what these Mavericks are capable of. They’ve kept three of the five teams they’ve played (Lakers, Clippers, Jazz) under 90. They’ve won the last 20 times they’ve kept the other team under ninety. They now have more firepower than they’ve had five or six years. These are good things.
The Raptors, an improved team looking to break into the middle of the pack, and with impressive wins over the Cavs and Pistons, should be a good test for these Mavericks. The Mavericks will need their shooting back when they face the Spurs next week.
