Full-Court Press

Quick thoughts from the Mavericks' win

A few observations about the 99-83 win over the Clippers at
Staples Center:
 
Brendan Haywood had his most assertive game of the season.
Ditto for Brian Cardinal. Those are two important pieces off the bench.
 
Shawn Marion had the play of the game when he slipped a pass
to Brendan Haywood for a monster jam in the fourth quarter. Those are the kind
of unselfish plays that lead to great team chemistry.
 
Aside from three consecutive turnovers late in the first
quarter, the Mavericks did a better job of taking care of the ball. They had 14
turnovers. Still not great. And as Dirk Nowitzki said: “We’re still
shooting ourselves in the foot with those.’’
 
Speaking of Nowitzki, he missed two more free throws and is
four for his last eight from the stripe after nailing 82 in a row going back
to last season. “I guess I better go see the free-throw
coach,’’ he said.
 
Note to Mark Cuban: The Clippers (and presumably the Lakers,
too) have video boards angled on the underside of the giant scoreboard so that
fans in the courtside seats can see what’s being shown, too. Pretty cool.
 
Jason Kidd threw in a 70-foot shot at the halftime buzzer.
It was nothing but net and put the Mavericks ahead 49-47. Didn’t seem
like enough. Don’t you usually get a car or a bunch of cash when you hit
one from the opposite free-throw line? I guess Kidd’s probably already
got enough cash and cars.
 
That deep roster the Mavericks are supposed to have?
Wasn’t evident against the Clippers in the first half. The Mavs’
bench was outscored 21-8. Former Texas Aggie DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and
four rebounds. The Mavericks equalized things in the second half and basically
got a push out of the reserve production.

Kidd from 70 feet .... GOOD!!!

Jason Kidd got the rebound with about a second and a half
showing on the clock, took a quick dribble and let it fly from just past the
free throw line.
 
About three seconds later, the ball hit nothing but net on
the other end of the court for a 3-pointer that should have been worth about 10
points given the degree of difficulty.
 
Usually, you get a car or something for making a shot from
that far.
 
More importantly, it put the Mavericks up 49-47 at the half.
 

U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi

Clipper Darrell has already gotten a giggle out of LA native
Tyson Chandler.
 
The Mavericks’ center was fouled with 8:02 left in the
first quarter and between shots at the line, the Clips’ loud-mouth fan
yelled one of his favorite chants.
 
“Hey, Tyson. U-G-L-Y, you ain’t got no alibi,
you’re ugly.’’
 
Chandler broke into a big smile.
 
The Mavericks, meanwhile, have started the game smartly, up
14-9 nearing the midpoint of the first quarter.
 
First Mav off the bench, by the way, was rookie Dominique
Jones.
 

Random observations of the first loss of the season

 
A few thoughts from the Mavericks’ 91-90 loss to
Memphis Friday night.
 
**One thing the Grizzlies do as well as any team in the
league is rebound the ball on the offensive end. That’s a good thing
because they don’t shoot it very well. But they had 11 offensive boards
in the first half Friday and that was a key reason they were still in the game.
And they got an offensive board by Marc Gasol with 6.7 left that set up his
free throw that was the difference.
 
**Caron Butler came to life offensively early in the second
half with nine quick points to keep the Mavericks’ lead up at 61-53. He
was a willing and capable sidekick to Dirk Nowitzki on this night. But it
wasn’t enough.
 
**Dirk Nowitzki has turned into a crummy free-throw shooter.
After making 82 in a row going back to last season, he missed two of four late
in the first half. What a bum.
 
**The final plays were a complete disaster in terms of execution.
First Jason Terry had a pass to Dirk Nowitzki gobbled up by Rudy Gay, who lost
it but ate up valuable seconds on the clock. Then Jason Kidd misfired on the
final inbounds pass that was intercepted by O.J. Mayo.
 
**That was the Mavericks’ 20th turnover.
That’s an absolute embarrassment after turnovers were the key issue
addressed in practice Thursday.
 

Make that 82 in a row for Dirk

He’d canned his first two of the game Friday to make it
82 consecutive free throws made.
 
The NBA record: 97 consecutive by Micheal Williams.

Dirk's free throw streak starts anew

Dirk Nowitzki had made 80 consecutive free throws going back
to last season and that run came to an end with 5:27 left in the first half.
 
Nowitzki missed the first of two free throws. He’d
made all six of his tries in the season opener.
 
He made the next one to start a new streak.
 

Former SOC star Arthur starting to get it

 
Former South Oak Cliff standout Darrell Arthur had a
sparkling training camp and the Grizzlies responded by picking up the
fourth-year option on his rookie contract.
 
Arthur had 19 in the opener. He ran into early foul trouble
against the Mavericks, but appears to be primed to come back from a torn
pectoral muscle last season.
 
“He’s been very active and these guys , when
they come back home, they all want to have a game,’’ coach Rick
Carlisle said of Arthur. “You can go right down the list – (Chris)
Bosh, (LaMarcus) Aldridge, Deron Williams, all of them. So he’s going to
be juiced.
 

Marc Gasol a go for Grizzlies

Center Marc Gasol is in the starting lineup, apparently
mobile enough after spraining his left ankle earlier this week in practice.
 

Marc Gasol perhaps will play

It appears Memphis center Marc Gasol is on the active list
and he may play despite having a sprained ankle suffered late in training camp.
 
Gasol was in a protective boot at shootaround, but went out
before the game to test out the ankle.
 
No word from Grizz coach Lionel Hollins about whether Gasol
will start or even play.
 

Ajinca to be free

There was some confusion about what Alexis Ajinca’s
status will be when Monday passes and the Mavericks have not picked up the
fourth-year option on his rookie contract.
 
He officially will be an unrestricted free agent, the same
as Ian Mahinmi was this summer when San Antonio opted not to pick up his rookie
option year.
 
Mark Cuban confirmed that Roddy Beabuois’ third-year
has been guaranteed, which was a no-brainer.