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Five on Five: Mavs v. Wizards

Five observations on a lackluster loss to the Washington Wizards, after the jump.

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Mavs/Wizards Hangover

Man, do I feel like I was drinking the Kool-Aid!  So much for this great chemistry the Mavericks have and obsessive focus on defense.  It’s only one game and I don’t want to rush too quickly to judge but the Mavericks season opening loss to the Wizards proved this team has some work to do. (more…)

IM Just Saying: Eric Celeste and Zac Crain Chat Up the Western Conference

After the jump, a short conversation between me and Eric Celeste regarding the Western Conference and the Dallas Mavericks’ place in it. It is unedited, to preserve the likely idiocy of our opinions. And also, let’s be honest: because we didn’t do it via Gmail so either one of us would have to work too hard.

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Your 2009-10 Dallas Mavericks Preview

Grab a cup of coffee, and settle in. We’ll be waiting after the jump in a game-worn Nick Van Exel jersey with a big pile of words.

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Mavericks Have New Stats Guru: 82games’ Roland Beech

Hardcore NBA observers have long been familiar with the sports-nerd greatness that is 82Games. Now the man behind the site, Roland Beech, is applying his mastery of arcane stats and numbers on the side of the angels, aka the Dallas Mavericks. The Two Man Game’s Rob Mahoney has a brief Q&A with Beech right … here.

Programming Guide to InsideCorner’s Coverage of the Forthcoming 2009-10 NBA Season

The Dallas Mavericks kick off their season Tuesday night at the AAC against a finally healthy (for now) Gilbert Arenas and his Washington Wizards. Yrs truly will be in attendance in my usual spot in Sec. 319. Here is what you can expect from us in the next few days, as well as the coming weeks and months.

FRIDAY: A two-part Mavs preview. I will be taking a look at the returning members of the roster, while Eric Celeste will cast his eyes (and keyboard) toward the new additions.

MONDAY: A conversational look at the Western Conference (and the Mavs’ place in it) between me and Eric. We hope to have a few voices popping in to share their insights as well. I think it’s safe to say you will get predictions here. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I called the Mavs’ record EXACTLY last year.

TUESDAY: Eric will focus in on the season opener, followed that night (or the next morning) by me with our first Mavs game book. We’re calling it “Five on Five,” and, as the name implies, expect five cogent, potentially mind-blowing observations about the game. (Usually when Eric is writing it.)

For the rest of the season, look for a breakdown at the week ahead every Monday, previews of every game, recaps of the important or notable ones, and the occasional chat, as well as more good basketball talk from TXA 21′s Gina Miller, and a few guests we’re solidifying as I type this. And, of course, the great Bob Sturm will jump into the fray when the mood strikes and show us all up with his big sports brain.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for the stray Mavs/NBA thought: @InsideCorner, @zaccrain, @EricCeleste, @ThatSportsGirl (Gina Miller), and @bobanddan (Bob Sturm).

BASKETBALL!

Major League Baseball’s Playoffs Are Finally Here; Haven’t We Seen This Movie Already?

Baseball’s playoffs have begun. And don’t the teams look familiar? When compared to the other three sports over the past 10 years, MLB has had less movement between the haves and have nots, according to calculation performed by yours truly. While I can’t approach Sports Sturm in detailed dissection of numbers, I offer the following in trying to examine parity in the sports leagues – and how it’s decreasing in baseball.

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Mavs-Magic: Five on Five

We’re in the preseason here, too, and we’re trying out different Mavs bloggers and features to entertain you during the season. Right now Zac and I are trying to figure out what our regular after-game analysis will look like. Until the season starts, it feels like you’ll want no more than five observations/opinions/ramblings from the night before. That might not allow me to get all my notes in (examples: “Dirk going more to the up-and-under move after his baseline spin … McHale’s influence?” or “Bob Sturm and Drew Gooden … separated at birth?), but that’s okay. Let’s call it Five on Five, because I can’t think of anything else right now.

1. Seeing Matt Carroll start last night was a bit of a shock, mainly because I had just finished reading John Hollinger’s take on him as I was perusing his 2010 player predictions: “If Carroll wasn’t the worst player in the league last season, he was certainly on the short list.” And if this was an audition for someone other team looking to add a sharpshooter who can’t defend, can’t rebound, and has no handle, mission accomplished. Although Carroll did get frisky with Matt Barnes at one point. What’s the over-under on Barnes dropping Carroll if it came to blows? Six seconds? Four?

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Charles Barkley on the 2009-10 Dallas Mavericks

Last week, I found myself on the phone with Charles Barkley, talking about the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium, among other things — one of which I was asked to strike from the permanent record about five minutes after we talked about it. (Not by Barkley, of course.) Here is what he had to say, when asked if he thought the Dallas Mavericks’ off-season moves made them a contender for the Western Conference crown.

I don’t think they’re one of the best teams in the West. It’s a two-team race: the Lakers and the Spurs. I mean, I’m not sure they’re better than Utah or Denver, to be honest with you. Let me rephrase that. They’re not better than Utah or Denver.

I took that as a “no.”

After the jump, another brief excerpt, wherein Chuck talks about Dallas and Mavericks fans.

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The Most Interesting Men In The (Dallas Sports) World – At Least For Thie Week, Anyway

10. Jordan Spieth: Big weekend for the rising Jesuit Junior golfer. Won U.S. Junior Amateur Championships on Saturday. Then his parents got a new driver. Spieth turned 16 Sunday.

9. Tommy Hunter: Big Rangers starter beat Josh Beckett on Tuesday. Has pretty much assured himself a spot in the Rangers rotation for the foreseeable future. Not bad for a guy who had a 16.36 mark in three starts last year.

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Talking Sports While Watching Sports: Followill Edition

This morning’s chat is with the great Mark Followill. The voice of the Mavs agreed to join me for 60 minutes of instant messages about the Mavs summer of transition. Hope you enjoy:

sturm1310: This is truly a great pleasure. Since you have been traveling the 7 seas, give me a quick idea of your feelings about life since Denver, Game 5 for our Mavs.

mark.followill: The pleasure is actually mine, Great Sturminator. As far as your Dallas Mavs I thought on draft night they did a fairly nice job of managing assets. Turned one first rounder into three picks. Seems like they might have a nice diamond in the rough in Beaubois and who knows about the other two. Resigning Kidd was a must, I think Marion helps as a good two way player. Losing out on Gortat was a punch to the stomach. At least mine anyhow

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Orlando Keeps Gortat; Mavs’ Fans Panic!

Just when you thought the off-season was rolling…

Just when you were ready to congratulate Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson for their fine work this summer…

And, just when you didn’t feel scared of the rest of the West anymore…

Reality Bites.

So, Orlando matched the offer. They will keep Marcin Gortat and pay him crazy money to sit the bench in Orlando, while paying the luxury tax to boot. Or, did one of the Mavs rivals (Houston?) find a way to stick it to Dallas and get a young, talented center out from right under their noses? We won’t know that answer until December 15th when the Magic are allowed to trade him to any team in the NBA not named the Dallas Mavericks.

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The Mavericks’ Summer Plan Unfolds

It would appear whether we are in love with this idea or not, the Mavs are going to get this Shawn Marion deal done this morning. Mark Cuban was serious about being aggressive this summer and this represents a pretty bold stroke. After a few days of coming to terms with this happening, I think I do like this deal on the surface – because the Mavericks are clearly better today when they were yesterday. If that is the bar that we use to measure this, then this summer is a complete success.

Marcin Gortat (assuming that is as done and dusted as we are led to believe) makes the center position clearly superior to anything we have seen in years. Imagine the premise of Erick Dampier as a back-up center! Now, he makes sense on the roster.

Shawn Marion gives you many things you didn’t get at small forward last year on many levels. He defends well (although I don’t believe quite at 2005/2006 levels), he rebounds very well, he scores, he scores above the rim, and he certainly will be on the receiving end of 100 lob passes from Jason Kidd this season.

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Talking Sports While Watching Sports: Skin Edition

Last night, I decided it would be big fun to chat up the Dallas Mavericks summer of 2009 with my friend and sports colleague, Skin. It is a complete and total coincidence that Skin was in the news yesterday and even though I did ask him all about the career changes that are underway in his world, that was not something I wanted to share with the class. Those of you who do care which station or what time many of us talk into a microphone have Barry Horn and Richie Whitt to follow, but Skin has some things on the horizon that sound pretty cool.

Anyway, on the Mavericks landscape, he is generally as dialed in as anyone, and I wanted to pick his Mavs brain and see what I found as we exchanged Mavs IM’s for 60 minutes last night while watching Kevin Millwood blow up in Anaheim:

Sturm1310: ok- let’s get this party going- 60 minutes of Mavs talk in your face.
Sturm1310: So, tell me, how is this Mavs summer feeling to you?

skinnyfresh25: I think it’s off to a good start. Actually saw J Kidd and his three kiddos at the Mac store today off of Knox and he was in a great mood. Says cuban isn’t done yet. That was obviously the first domino. How are the P1s reacting to Gortat?

Sturm1310: I think most people see a big man who is: A) Big, B) White, and C) Foreign and the masses get worried. But, I like it. I think he is at that perfect age for a breakout and I also like that Morey and Popovich wanted him. And, Orlando hates to see him go, too. I am bullish on this. Very much so. You?

skinnyfresh25: I’m pretty pumped about it too. It’s not like I’ve seen the dude play a ton, but I feel like he’s a dude that goes hard which is the number one knock against Big Damp. He also has nice hands which is the second biggest knock on Big Damp. And the money is right. I don’t think he’s a post scoring threat, but he’s not an offensive liability either because he can catch and finish so slip picks and on the ball screens become weapons with him. Mavs need his size and motor. And as you said, the age is right. but this off-season hinges on trades…

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The Mavericks’ Drafting Slump

On Friday, I leave for a week, so before I go on vacation, I think I better touch on a few draft-related topics regarding the Stars and the Mavericks. Today, a look at the recent work of Donnie Nelson and the Mavericks in the last 5 years of the NBA Draft.

I picked 5 years for a few reasons. I wanted the sample size to be large enough to get a good idea of how Donnie has done, while at the same time getting past the year the Mavericks found Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels in 2003. We get it. That was a great accomplishment to find those two gems, but Howard will be 30 this season, so it is time we ask whether or not this team is replenishing the youth supplies often enough in the draft.

Donnie Nelson has done a fine job overall in my estimation, and will forever be lauded as a guy who found 2 MVP’s when nobody else could (a 3rd-string PG in Phoenix, and another that was selected behind Raef Lafrentz and Robert Traylor). Name any GM that has found 2 MVPs – and “finding” does not mean winning the lottery and taking the guy everyone would have taken (Duncan, O’Neal, James) – and you will find a GM that will never need a job. Nobody questions Donnie’s overall performance, but I believe below you will see why I question the quality of the last 5 drafts.

Also, to position this correctly, we need to remember that the Mavericks during this 5-year stretch have not been trying to rebuild, but rather they have been trying to win a title. Sometimes, that has resulted in some “win now” decisions that have given up many draft picks. Dampier cost 2 #1′s, Kidd cost 2 #1′s. Trading 4 1st rounders is obviously going to cost you lots of young talent – but you do what you have to do to try to win a ring. I accept much of that logic. But, are they doing enough with the later picks they still had? I recall in at least 2 of these drafts that the Mavs front office told us that they had no room on their roster for their picks due to cap situations. Regardless, with a real shortage of young talent, most of us would conclude that the Mavericks are in the situation they are in right now (with their top 5 players all over 29 years old) partly because they have not done a great job in decision making in the last 5 years. Anyone can point at the Devin Harris trade, but let’s try to dig a bit deeper.

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