EXCLUSIVE: Dampier Says 'There's A Good Reason For Me To Be Starting' For The Mavs

   You have your opinions.

   Erick Dampier has his proof.

   “I hear the talk, but I’ve been through all of this before,’’ the Mavs center tells DallasBasketball.com in an exclusive interview. “The talk … it’s really not a big deal to me. In (2006-07) they decided I should come off the bench and we started the season winless. … then I became the starter again and we ended the season with the best record in the NBA.

   “I think that means something.’’

    The often taciturn Dampier – off to a fine start as the first-team center for the 2-1 Mavs – has more to say about this. .. and again, has the numbers to support his assertions.

    "People who have played basketball, people who know basketball, they know what I contribute here,'' Damp says. “Some people just want to watch the games to see who scores 40 points. But that’s not all basketball is about. There are a lot of things that go into winning a basketball game, and I help my team do those things. Basketball people know this.’’

    Now, to those numbers – 10 of them:

    1. Dampier is correct, of course, about how Dallas started 2006-07. After advancing to the NBA Finals the previous year, the Mavs thought they could upgrade by making ‘Gana Diop the starter. Diop was the starter in the first three games – and the Mavs opened 0-3.

    2. Damp started Game 4 (Dallas lost that one, too, to the Clippers) but then never looked back.

    3. Damp played in 76 games that season and started in 73. So those first three starts by Diop are the only games Dampier began on the bench.

    4. And, of course, Damp’s memory of what eventually happened is correct: The Mavs finished with a franchise-record and NBA-best 67 wins. Can it be argued that shifting Damp into the starting lineup was a factor in the turnaround?

    5. There is something else that happened that season, though: The Mavs are guilty of a monumental flop, a top-seeded team losing to a playoff bottom-feeder in Golden State. Maybe because coach Avery Johnson tried to play trick-‘em/dick-‘em in that series, or maybe because Avery filled out his lineup card scared, or maybe because Damp was a bit banged up, Erick wasn’t allowed to start in Game 1 of that series. With Devean George (!) in his place, Dallas lost. Damp started Games 2 and 3 (the Mavs split those) and then Avery changed gears again in Games 4, 5 and 6, starting Diop in all of those.

    And we know how those games went down.

    6. So what about the notion that having Damp on the bench is a dangling carrot? Wasn’t that the idea with the acquisition (and re-acquisition) of Diop? Wasn’t that the plan on the first day of this year’s training camp, when Dampier expressed shock upon hearing that Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle were touting Drew Gooden as the team’s new starter?

    We had our talk a few days ago. Still, three games in, Gooden hasn’t been close to Damp’s level in terms of being a contributor.

     7. Damp’s three-game numbers: He’s at 9.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He’s putting in relatively big minutes (27 per) and playing his usual physical style while not yet coming close to foul trouble. He’s doing all those “little things’’ that basketball purists notice … but those “40-point-watching people’’ surely are noticing Dampier doing some “big things,’’ too.

     8. Has the carrot-on-a-stick approach ever really worked with Dampier? Maybe, in terms of him playing at a higher level in a contract year, and with The DUST Chip looming, that is certainly what this season is for Damp.

     But there is no statistical evidence that Dampier’s teams are better when he comes off the bench. To the contrary: In his career, when he starts, his team is 367-338 (52 percent). When he comes off the bench, his team is 75-89 (45.7 percent).

     9. Want more? As a Mav, Dallas is 222-90 (71.1 percent) when he starts, and 40-20 (66.6 percent) when he comes off the bench.

    So while Kris Humphries is earning his stripes as an emergency backup and while there are other gimmicks available and while a healthy Gooden (listed as “doubtful’’ for Tuesday’s home meeting with the Jazz) will certainly contribute at some point, you have your opinions of Erick Dampier … but Erick Dampier has his proof.

    10. “Drew’s a good guy, and a good player,’’ Damp tells me. “He’s learning what we need him to do, and he’s going to be an asset to this team. But I have confidence in what I contribute. There’s a good reason for me to be in there (starting).’’

Thanks to basketball-reference.com and Nick Reed