Dallas Won't Have Marion But Will Be Playing For First Place

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

Old friend Paul Westphal is coming to town as the coach of the Kings (Sacto at Dallas, 7:30 tonight at the AAC) … but Shawn Marion won’t be dressed up to greet him. A couple of quick pregame notes in this Mavs Afternoon Drive:

By DallasBasketball.com staff

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   “For myself, I don’t get too wrapped up in (advanced stats) because a lot of them still put a lot of weight on scoring,’’ Mavs leader Jason Kidd tells DallasBasketball.com. “And me, I put more weight on winning.’’

    But for the purpose of this project (here's Part 1 of this attempt to put into application the Plus/Minus numbers that favor rookie Roddy Beaubois over J.J. Barea) I view Kidd as an ideal partner in basketball science. Nobody knows the position better than he does. Nobody knows the relative skills of Roddy and JJB better than he does. And in my 16 years of dealing with Kidd, he’s never been much of a b.s.’er with me. …

    “I think,’’ says Kidd when I introduce him to the subject, “what we’re going to find is that eventually, the coaches … are going to have a decision to make.’’

    With that, into the laboratory we march, Jason Kidd and yours truly. …

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

By Misty Mav -- DB.com

I’m Misty Mav. He’s Dirk Nowitzki. We call him “The UberMan,’’ and Fish has designed a special T-shirt to note the Player of the Week. ... maybe the Player of the Month (?) ... and darn-sure an early-season MVP, leader! "The UberMan'' is among the choices at the DB.com Store …

Dirk Gives You Poetic Numbers, Other Mavs Give You Hand-To-Hand Combat

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   Once again on Wednesday, the Mavs – with a 99-94 victory over visiting San Antonio now winners of two straight OT outings, four straight overall, and at 9-3 owners of the second best record in the West – survived a sporting war of attrition. Really, once you get beyond the star of the game’s numerical poetry (Dirk Nowitzki wears the 41 jersey and wore out the Spurs with the 41 points), what you are getting from this year’s Mavs under coach Rick Carlisle is basketball’s version of hand-to-hand combat. 

   A sporting war of attrition? Yes, and the Mavs were not only the last men standing … they were also the guys diving on the floor, the guys flying into the front row, the guys attacking the legendary Tim Duncan … and the guys celebrating their survival.

   Your All-Access Pass to an eventful night at the AAC … Donuts-style!

Beyond Dirk's Gorgeous Night, Let's Count The Statistical Hidden Gems

By David Lord -- DB.com

  Usually, when someone undergoes a “makeover,’’ the idea is to make them prettier. This year’s Dallas Mavericks have been made over into an “ugly’’ team … and the results are gorgeous.

By DallasBasketball.com staff

The Mavericks were missing three starters and the Spurs’ stars fell by the wayside, too. … so it took overtime and Dirk Nowitzki’s season-high 41 points to handle San Antonio, 99-94, on Wednesday at the AAC. Wake up to DallasBasketball.com’s complete coverage – from “Your All-Access Pass’’ to “Mavs Morning Donuts’’ … coming up in a bit. …

Howard Is Out, Dampier Is Out, Marion Is Iffy As Rivals Come To Town

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   One of these days, these two Texas rivals with Dallas roots (the Spurs were the Chaparrals before being a basketball team from Dallas was cool) will actually oppose one another with rosters left intact and bandages left in the box.

   But that’s not the case at the AAC tonight for the 8:30 p.m. start (ESPN, you shall owe me an hour of sleep). It’s Spurs-at-Mavs preview time. Let’s limp through the key factors:

Free Stuff, Buy-One/Get-One Entrees, Mavs-at-Nets -- Let's Party!

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   It's the biggest DB.com Mavs Get-Together ever!

   Once again, Mavs fans from all over north Texas will assemble, this time on Wednesday, Dec. 2, with the tipoff at 6:30, as we watch the Mavs-at-New Jersey battle (and watch Devin Harris display slack-jawed amazement at the speed of Roddy Beaubois). We'll do it courtesy of our hosts at Hacienda at Henderson (a great new DB.com partner -- click on that ad to the right -- and one of DFW's coolest hangouts with wonderful food, delightful drink and a couple of big-screen TV beauties) …

    DB.com is paying for your second entree ... I'm giving away T-shirts ... I'm giving away Mavs game tickets ... it's a sort of DB.com Holiday party and here are all the details of why you've GOT to be there. ...

Bucks Star Says Roddy 'Is The Future.' But What About Now?

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

In this first of a two-part series, we analyze the +/- stats on the two young Mavs guards. Coming up Friday: Part 2: Jason Kidd Helps DB.com Crunch The +/- Numbers on Barea Vs. Beaubois.

    I’ve got expert testimony from Brandon Jennings and I’ve got statistical evidence from the last two Mavs games and … I’ve got to see a little less of J.J. Barea.

   “I think,’’ said prized Bucks rookie guard Jennings of prized Mavs rookie guard Roddy Beaubois, “he is the future for that team.’’

   The 75-Member Staff has cobbled together a statistical analysis of Barea’s performance as Dallas “third guard’’ (behind Jason Kidd and Jason Terry) vs. Beaubois’ performance in what is essentially the same role. The results are, I believe, as newsworthy as Jennings’ high praise.

   Let’s have a look:

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   Jason Kidd made a commitment.

   The Mavs star had just returned home from a grueling (but successful) road trip. He’d gotten little sleep and apparently didn’t quite get around to shaving. But he’d made a charity-related commitment to “Furniture 4 Kids ROCKS ON!’’ and to the Dallas Mavericks Foundation.

   So there he was Tuesday night, shaking hands, kissing babies, raising money and talking Mavs with DallasBasketball.com.

   “That road trip was a gut check,’’ Kidd told me. “It was a character test, those last three games.

“And we passed the test.’’

   We’ll start there – with some one-on-one time with Jason Kidd – as we bring you Wednesday Morning Mavs Donuts:

All-Pro Says Dallas 'Living In The Moment' And He 'Wants To Be A Weapon'

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

If it was completely up to Jason Witten, football would be played in a vacuum. There would be no stories on how players wear their hats, or on which teammate is dating which starlet, or whether the locker room is a more mentally and emotionally stable place after the banishment to Buffalo of a certain troubling component of that locker room. The Cowboys All-Pro tight end discusses all this and much more exclusively in Fish's latest column at Blogging The Boys. ... go get it!

By Misty Mav -- DB.com

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

Newcomers Beaubois, Gooden Help Slow Jennings And Hot Bucks

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

  The two above-the-marquee names for Monday’s Mavs-at-Bucks meeting – a situation in which Dallas came in with a 5-22 record and therefore rarely milks a win out of The Dairy State – were, of course, the NBA’s two Conference Players of the Week.

  In this corner: Western Conference POW Dirk Nowitzki, his early season hopped up by that 40-point game against Utah on Nov. 3 in which Dirk dominated the fourth quarter with 29 points.

  In that corner: Eastern Conference POW Brandon Jennings, who made his bid to lock up the Rookie of the Year Award on Saturday night when he beat Golden State with a 55-point effort that featured his domination of the third quarter when he scored (you guessed it) 29 points.

    The determinant in Dallas’ 115-113 OT victory? On Jennings’ game-winning try, he made a crazy decision. But on Dirk’s game-winning try, he made a crazy make.

    “It was a little lucky that it dropped it,’’ said Dirk of his final-possession One-Legged Euro Lean-Back from 19 feet, which bounced on the iron and then caromed high off the backboard before finally going down. “It hit the rim and hit all over the place. It seemed like it was in the air forever … but we deserved this win.’’

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

For the 11^th time in his career, Mavs superstar Dirk Nowitzki has been named Western Conference Player of the Week. Congratulations to The UberMan. ...

Mavs And Other Contenders Didn't Want To Take On Bloated Contract

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

The Mavs were always on Stephen Jackson’s wish list. But Capt. Jack – not so much due to his chronic disgruntlement but more due to his bloated contract – was never really on Dallas’ wish list. So the Warriors have gone elsewhere for a partner and according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Jackson is moving East.

Now Easing Into A Starting Job, Dallas Rookie Might Be Ace In The Hole

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   Here’s a life philosophy as it relates to Mavs rookie Roddy Beaubois: Never bet against a guy who shows up at a social gathering with his own deck of cards.

   “These?’’ Roddy said to me the other night at the Frisco D-League franchise party. “Oh, I do tricks.’’

   (Look closely at the photo at left. That really is a deck of cards he'd just pulled out of his pocket.)

    After watching the French-speaking, Guadaloupe-born, fast-as-a-photon kid start his third game of the season in Detroit and perform the same tantalizing magic as he had in two previous turns with Dallas’ first team …

   Yes. Roddy Beaubois can “do tricks.’’

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com