Gametime Decision
Dirk Nowitzki (Photo. Monte Isom)Thirty-four seconds left in the game, Mavericks down by two to San Antonio, and where was their shiny new Hall of Fame point guard? On the bench. Jason Kidd (7 pts, 10 asts, 2 stls) hadn’t fouled out, and he hadn’t played a bad game; Avery Johnson simply went with a lineup of guys who are more familiar with Dallas’ playbook and (minus Dampier) were more likely than Kidd to knock down a jump shot. But then one of those guys, Jason Terry, ended up having his shot blocked by Bruce Bowen on the game-deciding play … Great back-and-forth game, with both teams simply doing what they do down the stretch and trading big-time shots: the Spurs fed Duncan (31 pts, 15 rebs) in the post, setting up kick-outs to Bowen and Mike Finley and drives by Tony Parker; the Mavs ran everything through Dirk (28 pts), who would either drop in a fadeaway or get to the line (17-for-21 FT’s). Duncan broke a tie by hitting a pair of free throws with 34 ticks remaining, after which Avery sat Kidd down and went with Dirk, Josh Howard, Terry, Stackhouse and Damp. Twice in the final seconds they went to Dirk, who missed while being guarded by Parker, then Terry got inside the lane only to get swatted by Bowen. In hindsight, genius move by Pop to not have Bowen guard Dirk, because there’s no way Parker makes that block … And what does that say about Dirk when teams will stick someone on him who’s a foot shorter for such a critical possession? … Earlier in the fourth, Brandon Bass had the best offensive sequence of his life, shaking Duncan from a face-up position and cramming on him, then on his next touch, blowing past Duncan again and getting fouled … Almost every quick guard in the League can get inside the paint off the dribble, but part of the reason why Tony Parker’s field goal percentage is so high is that he rarely loses his cool once he gets amongst the trees. He doesn’t leave his feet prematurely or unnecessarily, and he doesn’t panic if the initial shot isn’t there, preventing forced and wild shots … If you haven’t seen them yet, LeBron’s got another version of the Zoom LeBron V’s out. Check out his “Mr. Basketball” kicks HERE … Is it us or has Kobe seemed a lot more angry with everyone (namely the refs) since the All-Star break? He recently got ejected in Seattle, was all over the refs during the Blazers game, and had his whiny face going early into Lakers/Heat last night. Has the realization that his team can realistically win a championship now kicked things into crucial mode for Kobe and he’s just locked in? Because his antics have been out of control at times, and yet no one has more leeway with the refs … The Lakers routed Miami to win their 10th straight, with Kobe putting up 21 points, 8 dimes and 4 steals, Jordan Farmar scoring 24, and four guys (Gasol, Odom, Turiaf and Walton) pulling down 10-plus rebounds … Play of the night: Kobe threw a long pass over his head downcourt for Walton, who caught it and in one motion dropped a behind-the-back dime to a streaking Odom, who finished it off with a dunk … Devin Harris punctuated his N.J. debut by crowning Andrew Bogut and notching 21 points and 5 dimes in a Nets win. Harris outplayed starter Marcus Williams, who won’t be starting for long … Everyone knew the Clippers were going to eventually get rid of Sam Cassell before Saturday so he could sign with the Celtics and get on their postseason roster, but we didn’t see the Theo Ratliff move coming from Minnesota. If the C’s hadn’t already grabbed P.J. Brown yesterday with their 14th roster spot (Cassell would be #15), what were the chances Ratliff would sign with Boston — meaning Kevin McHale had once again helped his old team? (The Celtics could get Ratliff if they waived Pollard or Scalabrine, but Doc obviously loves Scals and would never get rid of his worst player, and Pollard seems like a good locker-room fit.) If McHale is ever fired in Minnesota, how long will it take for him to get hired as Danny Ainge’s assistant? Five minutes? Ten? Or maybe it serves Boston better to have McHale working for them from his post in Minnesota … So is this one of those unspoken agreements where no team is going to claim Cassell off waivers so he can go to Boston? Because it’d be hilarious if Sam was packing his bags for Beantown and he found out some team like the Bulls had picked him up for a late-season playoff push. In fact, couldn’t the Cavs use Cassell? … And how pissed is Antoine Walker that Ratliff gets to go and he’s still with the Wolves? We looked at ‘Toine’s situation and the growing trend of veterans going contender-hopping … Smack reader Jim had this about ‘Toine: “Of all the commercials made in the history of NBA endorsement deals, do any seem as inappropriate now as the old ‘Employee No. 8′ campaign? Yeah, ‘Toine is the common man.” … We’re out like Ratliff ..
February 29th, 2008 at 5:31 am
JOB33 says:
Yeah i could say it, but i won’t.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:36 am
josh says:
boston needs sam.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:36 am
Big Aaron says:
Otis Smith is really earning his money this season. Orlando are in desperate need of a patch-up big for the playoffs, and he lets Ratliff, Magloire, Davis and PJ Brown all go begging. The others I can sort of understand but PJ Brown is the one that hurts me the most. Otis was completely set on PJ coming to Orlando and he bolted to Boston and Smith had no plan B.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:50 am
sans says:
Hey, at least Kobe didn’t get all mad after he slapped DWade in the grill. First time I ever saw him act like he commit a foul. And to my better paid brethren who officiate basketball–T Kobe up, otherwise, he’s gonna believe he can ride you. Shut him up and get your respect. Not that ya’ll don’t know.
Man, that would be great if the Cavs stole up on Sammy two-step.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:52 am
chance says:
questionable decision by avery to say the least… why trade for kidd if you’re not gonna use him at crunch time? if they’re still trying to iron out the kinks, isnt feb the best time to do it instead of the playoffs?
maybe we should start questioning if it wasnt avery who choked the last 2 playoff series of the mavs
February 29th, 2008 at 5:56 am
sans says:
oh, and ‘Toine needs to shut up and buy an ab-lounge, hire Billy Blanks, and grow the fuck up. 83 years old and whining about making 9 mil. 9MIL!? And the Wolves can’t chase free agents for buying out Troy Hudson and Juwon Howard. By the way, aren’t you only allowed ONE buyout in a season? What happened to that?
February 29th, 2008 at 6:11 am
sam says:
yo where have you been? theo ratliff the player has been long gone and replaced with “theo ratliff’s expiring contract”. no way he’s a better pickup than pj brown at this point.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:17 am
rean the man says:
and so they did… http://www.nba.com/clippers/news/cassell_waived_080228.html
i hope memphis picks him up.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:52 am
kobeef says:
From the start it wasn’t clear who was the winner in the Kidd trade and last night certainly didn’t help that.
The Nets (and Harris) looked great killing a Bucks team that has taken out the pistons and cavs recently. THe Mavs? If you are paying a guy $20mil per season he better be someone you can put in the game at crunch time.
Mo Williams killed the bucks again last night with his crunch time “no-look no-pass” antics. Worst off-season signing of the year.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Smitty313 says:
Kobes been on the refs the whole season. If he dosen’t lead the league in techs this year I would be surprised. Sometimes I can understand why he dose it. He gets fouled alot but you can’t call everything Kobe. Chill out collect your MVP and you 4th ring.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Vignesh says:
no love for VC!!!…he had some jaw dropping moves in the game…
February 29th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Ross says:
“If McHale is ever fired in Minnesota, how long will it take for him to get hired as Danny Ainge’s assistant?”
I already thought he was.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Prof. TX says:
I never really bought into it before, but after watching Bowen, Manu, and even TD last night, I’m starting to believe that the Spurs really are a ‘dirty’ team. Even Horry’s hip check on Nash just seemed like a hard foul to me and drew alot of over-reactions, but I kept seeing little cheap shots last night. Manu takes lots of cheap hits at guys, pulling jerseys and tripping people. Bowen is still putting his foot under jump shooters to try to roll an ankle. And TD seems to have mastered that ‘go for a block with my right hand and push them in the back with my left’ maneuver, while all three (Bowen less than the others) look amazed that a ref would even think of calling a foul on them.
I was hoping for a good Texas game last night, but these cheap plays just really diminished the game for me.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:49 am
jz_smoove says:
once again, who the eff is employee no. 8 think he is? absurd. cassell would be an ok fit for the Cavs and i would like to see plans aborted in Beantown (or for anyteam that has plans coming down like this from buyouts). i dont have ill will for Boston but these buyouts have to stop if the players are the ones demanding it, it should be team option. i agree, reality has set in for kobe and he doesnt know how to channel it right now since this is unknown territory for him. thats why the lakers wont win it this year even if they make noise in th playoffs. the cool calm and collected will trounce the Lakers and move to the next round (or win championship) at some point.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Celts Fan says:
come on guys. McHale got the best he could for a guy that he was trading 2 years too late.
he got Big Al (legit franchise center,) gerald green (highly regarded prospect at the time,) ryan gomes (great role player on a good team, not the best fit there,) theo ratliff’s deal ($12M in cap space at the end of the year,) bassy (taking a flyer on a guy w/ some potential,) and 2 1st round picks INCLUDING THEIR’S BACK FOR THIS YEAR WHICH IS A TOP 10 PICK! When trading a franchise player, that’s the exact mix you’re hoping to get back is some great prospects (gerald was obviously mis-evaluated, but he was considered a really good prospect at the time) a lot of cap space, and draft picks.
IF ANYONE ELSE CAN THINK OF A BETTER HAUL MCHALE COULD’VE GOTTEN FOR KG, PLEASE SAY IT, OTHERWISE, SHUT THE HELL UP. (and don’t say Deng and Gordon, cuz those guys wanted a combined $120M for next year and they’ve shown this year they’re not worth that much, plus, what picks? LA probably wouldn’t've traded Bynum, and even if they did, who’s the second prospect? and what draft picks could they give up?)
People conveniently forget the top 10 pick included in that deal (back from the Ricky Davis deal I believe,) how good Big Al is, how good Gomes would be as one of the first bench guys on a good team, and how highly regarded Gerald was AT THE TIME.
I’m all ears if anyone can come up with a better combo of cheap talent, expiring contracts, and draft picks…
February 29th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Kobeef says:
Celts Fan I tend to agree with you.
Lots of people crap on the KG trade but really, rebuilding with young talent and picks was the only option for the team moving forward. So far, the picks and pieces are in place for a successful re-build:
- They have a good young tandem of PG’s with Foye starting and Telfair off the bench.
- Jefferson is all that you can ask for in a PF and Gomes does what you need at SF.
- If they grab Mike Beasley this year to upgrade the SF position the froncourt tandem of Jefferson and Beasley is nasty.
- If they don’t win the lottery DeAndre Jordan or Brook Lopez would be nice pieces to match with Al Jefferson down low.
- Maybe in 2009 they can get Tyreke Evans and start ‘Reke and Foye in the backcourt.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:48 am
isotope says:
Isnt it funny that if the Mavs lose to the Kings tonight and the Rockets beat the Griz; it’d drop the Mavs to 7th in the West? Same position as the Nets in the East.
And y’all acting like Marcus Williams had a bad game. Dude had 11 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and ZERO turnovers. He’s more of a point guard than Devin is. I think the Nets might be better off bringing Harris as that spark plug off the bench.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:55 am
donners says:
jz-smooth, how is this unknown territory for kobe? guy’s got 3 rings.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
DNM says:
Wait…so let me get this straight…if a player gets bought out by a team…he doesn’t decide where he can go?
Any team can just claim him?
February 29th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Austin Burton says:
There’s a period where he’s on waivers. If he clears waivers without being claimed, he can choose his team.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:12 am
boogey banger says:
y’up, i think a team can honor the contract and pay the person whatever is owed from the original amount minus the buyout agreement and they can claim him off waivers. If Boston picks him up it’ll be for the vet minimum of 1.2. I think that makes sense.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:17 am
boogey banger says:
I forgot to comment on the lake/heat game. Miami is just miserable. They looked like the Knicks. No one was running hard. No one got back on D. And everyone blew bunnies. I like D Wade but last night he was just trying to make the highlight reel. When you’re down by 15-20 do you really need corkscrew layups and out of control drives.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Big Aaron says:
I’d laugh so much if someone like Seattle just popped up and claimed Sam. He’s acted despicably in this whole affair. one minute he’s happy to be in LA with the CLips when the going is good, but the second it gets tough, he bitches to anyone who will listen about moving to Boston for a ring.
Terrible attitude from a player I once respected.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:20 am
djKianoosh says:
loved the spurs-mavs game last night.. i’ve learned to enjoy the spurs despite all their complaining. so i dont even pay attention to it anymore. horry at this point is still just not into it. he’ll be fine come playoff time, again. but anyway, it was interesting to see how similar the mavs and spurs play now that avery j. is the coach. I do like how they’re using dirk almost exclusively at the midrange. He catches it at the elbow or near there, and goes to work. he’s really deadly from there out to the three. Duncan is deadly from there down to the box, so it’s a different approach, but they’re both effective. I can them both giving the Lakers some trouble, because they’d both give Pau all he could handle. Maybe TD more so than Dirk.
The West Final Four as of right now should be Utah, Dallas, SA, LA. Phoenix needs to get in gear with Shaq or one of those four teams will bounce them out. NO is too young. Houston’s done without Yao. Denver/GS are too erratic, but could catch fire.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:51 am
rlf says:
why is kobe mad at the refs since the all star break? it’s simple,he’s not mad, he has a fractured pinkie, and if you are realistic like in the seattle game he was hit for times and were fouls and no call, if the players can get away with that, then kobe is worried, they’ll hurt him more.
it’s as simple as that, his trying to protect himself for the playoffs, not really worried about the players hitting him, but about the refs letting them get away with more hitting than the usual.
on some players other players just breath on them and a call, can some like kobe, duncan, yesterday gasol, get foul multiple times, and it’s there just watch the replay and no call.
maybe kobe gets away with more because they know what they do. as simple as that.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Phileus says:
I don’t think people should criticize Cassell. He’s 38 years old, has about a year left in the tank, and he’s stuck on a team whose biggest star and biggest future prospect were out with injuries all year. He can’t carry this team and shouldn’t be expected to. It’s natural for him to want to join a team like the Celts where the skills he has left can make much bigger impact than in LA.
I think if Brand and Livingston had played this year, you wouldn’t have seen this situation. He’s just moving to a team that has a more appropriate role for him.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
GEE... I taught Spec Ed for 24K a year. And this clown with a suspect dribble isn’t happy with his 10 mill. F him says:
Boston is on it! Congrats on two awesome pick ups in Brown and Cassell.
Theo should be going to Houston and Morey is an idiot if he doesn’t chase after him for real. I don’t know all the red tape, but if they can get him they should.
Still think the Suns are the same if not worst with Shaq.
San An. will see the Lakers in the finals but the sheer “Will” of Kobe will win out.
Detroit and Boston is going to be so good I wish they would go best 5 out of 9 lol.
I so wish Marion could have crammed that on Kobe.
I love it when top stars get dunked on.
Like when Wade got his, I forget who done it. Only thing Wade came back and got the same dude so vicioulsy.
Anyway Devin may have been just what Jersey needs in the long run.
Dallas’ coach should be benched for not having Kidd in there during the final tick.
I still think Cleveland needs a new coach and Barkley would make a fun and interesting coach. You know he would be getting techs out the @#%$ lol.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Celts Fan says:
exactly Phileus, and Donald Sterling still has his Communion money, it’s not like he’s going out there trying to improve the team. Sam’s earned the right to ASK (and the Clips and every team always have the right to say no) with his career. Antoine Walker on the other hand, not so much (and he’s already got a ring. He should just be happy he’s still getting paid and not in jail for the fraud he perpetrated on the team that signed him to that awful deal…)
February 29th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
doc says:
Dallas should’ve kept Harris. Kidd is old, slow, and not ready for no top points. Avery aint take him out for nothing.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
GEE... I taught Spec Ed for 24K a year. And this clown with a suspect dribble isn’t happy with his 10 mill. F him says:
For real why does Dirk look like that skinhead Remi in that movie “Higher Learning” in that picture.
What happen to Cat Mobley? Dude ain’t really been on the #%#$%#$%#%^#@ scene since his Houston days.
Him and franchise were a nice 1,2. I think under a different coach they could have even made more noise.
You all know how it goes with Kobe and the refs, call it Thug Motivation! He uses bad calls (as he sees them), opposing players flopping or fouling hard as motivation to reign or rain. I do agree too that with this new team and with this possibility to get his, he is not having it from nobody! Shooo Phil Jackson better watch his @$@ for Kobe start drawing the plays and making the subs too. Dude is reaaaall focused right now.
February 29th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
K-Dizzle says:
totally agree with Doc in post #29. You payin the dude 20 mil and he on the bench at crunch time? AJ wouldn’t a benched harris, but you can bench kidd cuz he can’t stay in front of TP or Manu and he can’t shoot….point blank
February 29th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
jz_smoove says:
donner: my bad, i shouldve explained further. post- shaq era, as the uncontested ” the Man” in LA, and a realistic
chance for a championship, this IS unchartered territory for kobe. he knows he needs this to cement his legacy not appropriately given to him with his 3 other rings.
February 29th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
NB says:
Dime is always good for taking a shot at Dirk. Good point, though. How could he hit a tough shot with two defenders on him just a minute earlier, but miss two with TP on him? I think having J Kidd there gives him a lot of confidence. Also what the hell was JET thinking trying to drive to the basket when the game is on the line, when Stackhouse was waiting on the three line WIDE OPEN. I think Terry was trying to be the hero.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Stiletto says:
Dirk is one of a kind he makes all his teammates better but if you want a ring you have to hit the big shots