It seems that there are 6 player sponsored seat sections this year:
Strick's Land
Pack's Posse
Michael's Fin-atics
Martinville
Mock's Block (Samaki Walker)
B.T.L. (Behind the Line) All Stars (Dennis Scott)
The Mavs also have a large sign in Reunion counting A.C. Green's
consecutive game streak. It said "A.C. Green 899" in Tuesday night's
game.
Erick Strickland was out practicing hard before the game. On his
shooting, he was landing full on both feet and also ran the cutting drill.
He hopes to be ready to play some minutes in Saturday's game.
Vancouver at Dallas (November 4)
Erick Strickland (sprained right ankle) did not play.
The game got off to a rough start as some guy associated with the guy who
sang the national anthem took the mike and started saying how great the
Mavs are and that they were going to go 97-0. He then started taunting
the Grizzlies saying how the Mavs had already beaten Vancouver once and
they were going to get beat again. I sat there saying, great, now he's
pumping up the Grizzlies. [The Mavs president apologized to Vancouver's
president.]
The Grizzlies took the pre-game talk to heart and ran up a 26-14 lead.
Vancouver led 30-18 after 1. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had half of Vancouver's
points. The only good news for the Mavs from the first quarter was that
Shawn Bradley had 5 blocks in the quarter.
Vancouver kept their lead through the first half of the 2nd quarter.
With Vancouver up by 14 with 5:18 left, Dennis Scott got _hot_ and
started hitting crazy shots. Anything he put up was going in the basket.
He scored 14 points in the quarter. The Mavs went on a 10-3 run to end
the half. Vancouver led 54-50 at the half. Vancouver shot 22-46 FG and
9-14 FT and Dallas shot 24-51 FG and 1-4 FT. The rebounds were about
even. Abdur-Rahim had 20 points and 4 rebounds and Otis Thorpe had 11
points and 7 rebounds. Michael Finley had 13 points and 4 rebounds and
Scott had 16 points and 4 rebounds.
The game stayed close through the 3rd. The Mavs were running and
pressing and you could feel that they had the momentum. A surprising
pull-up 3-pointer by Finley game Dallas a 63-62 led with 6:26 left (it
wouldn't have been surprising if it was Scott or Hubert Davis, but you
normally don't see Finley do that). The game was tied 74-74 after 3.
The game still stayed close in the 4th. Vancouver led 84-82 with 6
minutes left. Bradley converted the 3-point play to give Dallas the lead.
The Mavs continued to rally and Davis hit a long jumper and A.C. Green hit
two free throws to give Dallas a 89-84 lead with 3:23 remaining. Finley
capped the 9-0 run by hitting a jumper with 2:55 left. The Mavs did try
to give Vancouver a chance to win as they started playing their slow ball
offense that was ineffective and even once resulted in a 24 second
violation. But Vancouver did not take advantage and the Mavs won 92-87.
Vancouver only scored 33 points in the 2nd half.
After the success in the Seattle game, Jim Cleamons added some more
pick-and-roll options into the triangle offense. Cleamons was also often
(but not always) encouraging the team to push the ball and play at a
faster pace.
A potential problem seemed to have appeared in the game (though I haven't
heard or read any one talking about in regards to the Vancouver game),
when Cleamons pulled Khalid Reeves midway through the 4th, Reeves took a
wide walk around Cleamons and did not look at him as he went to the bench
- he was very unhappy to be pulled. During the next timeout, Reeves was
not a member of the huddle and not paying attention to what was being
said. Reeves was re-inserted a minute or two later and helped in the win.
Also a note about Reeves: he loves to drive to the basket - and has been
pretty successful at it.
Kurt Thomas made his first apparence as a Maverick and I was impressed.
Don't look for him to get too many assists, though. If he gets the ball
near the basket, he'll most likely take the shoot. What was really
impressive was his helping defense. A couple of times Abdur-Rahim had
Dennis Scott beat defensively and it looked to be a sure two points and
out of no where there was Thomas to stop the play. It was my first real
glimpse of what Nelson has been raving about. Hopefully he'll stay healthy.
Quotes
Jim Cleamons: "We've shown some character. We've gotten better. We have
a lot of work to do, but they're playing hard and they're with energy and
emotion. That's the way they have to play."
Cleamons: "We're starting to see the pieces come together. For the first
time in a long time I looked down there and actually had a bench."
Cleamons: "We were nervous and jittery in the first half but we finally
settled down. Once we got the jitters out of our system we were OK. Now,
we'll see if we can make it four in a row."
Cleamons: "We made a concerted effort to win our games at home. Our
defense has come alive in the fourth quarter. We have gotten better, so
what we have to do is keep learning. We have a lot of work to do, but
they are playing hard and playing with some energy and emotion. That's
the way you have to play this game."
Dennis Scott: "I had to get this monkey off my back. I have to thank my
teammates for being patient with me the last two games."
Scott: "Everybody knows I can shoot. Hopefully the secret will get out
that I can flat out play the game of basketball."
Scott: "We kept out poise and played tough down the stretch like good
teams do. We're not a selfish team. Everybody believes in everybody."
Scott: "I'm personally sick and tired of hearing about and reading about
the 3 Js and how selfish they were. We're not a selfish team anymore."
Scott: "There's no jealousies on this team. There might have been a smoke
cloud in this locker room back when the 3 Js were here, but not anymore."
Michael Finley: "Dennis hit some big shots. He was in what we called the
zone. Every time he got the ball and shot it, it looked like it was going
in."
Finley: "When Dennis is on a roll like that it's our duty as his teammates
to get him the ball."
Finley: "Our crowd was really into it. When you get that type of crowd
behind you it easy to feel comfortable."
Finley: "A lot of people thought we couldn't do what we've done. We've
surprised a lot of people, including ourselves a little bit. This could
be a good season."
Finley: "I know the newspapers and magazines picked us to finish last.
It's going to fun proving them wrong."
Kurt Thomas on his first game as a Maverick: "It's been a long, hard road
back. There were a lot of hurdles and a lot of setbacks. It was very
rewarding, just being out there and playing again."
Brian Hill: "In the first half we attacked but in the second half we did a
lot of standing around. They did a good job of doubling Shareef."
Hill: "In the first half, we were running and we were competing for the
low post. We were getting good ball movement and getting the ball inside
and attacking the basket. In the second half, we did a little more
standing around."
Bryant Reeves: "Everyone knows Dennis Scott is capable of scoring.
Tonight was his night. He got off to a great start and never let up."
Dallas Mavericks 92, Vancouver Grizzlies 87 at Dallas (November 4)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 18 32 24 18 - 92 .438 .333 .420 .650
Vancouver 30 24 20 13 - 87 .456 .083 .407 .632
Halftime: Vancouver 54-50
3rd Q: 74-74
Technicals: Vancouver Illegal D 9:21 4th, George Lynch 6:40 4th
Refs: Terry Durham, Luis Grillo, Roddy Mott
Attendance: 14,285 (cap 18,042)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Michael Finley 41 12-18 1-3 4-7 29 3-8 2 3 3 3 1
A.C. Green 41 1-8 0-0 2-2 4 5-13 0 1 1 0 0
Shawn Bradley 37 5-12 0-0 1-1 11 1-12 0 0 3 0 6
Khalid Reeves 25 3-11 0-2 3-4 9 1-4 7 3 4 1 0
Hubert Davis 23 2-8 1-1 0-0 5 0-2 2 1 1 0 0
Kurt Thomas 11 2-7 0-0 0-0 4 2-6 0 0 4 0 0
Kevin Ollie 23 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 7 0 1 1 0
Dennis Scott 32 11-20 3-9 3-6 28 2-5 4 1 4 0 2
Samaki Walker 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0
Totals 48 37-88 5-15 13-20 92 15-54 22 12 22 5 9
Vancouver Grizzlies REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Shareef Abdur-Rahim 39 10-24 0-0 8-10 28 4-7 4 3 2 1 1
Otis Thorpe 38 6-10 0-0 4-6 16 3-14 3 1 5 0 0
Bryant Reeves 41 7-16 0-1 0-3 14 3-9 2 2 4 0 3
Anthony Peeler 29 4-10 1-4 0-0 9 0-1 3 0 2 2 0
Anthony Daniels 33 5-12 0-2 0-0 10 0-1 4 1 1 2 0
Lee Mayberry 15 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0-4 2 0 2 0 0
Pete Chilcutt 17 3-7 0-1 0-0 6 3-6 1 1 2 0 1
Blue Edwards 13 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 1 1 0
George Lynch 15 2-6 0-1 0-0 4 3-4 1 1 2 0 0
Totals 48 37-91 1-12 12-19 87 16-47 21 10 21 6 5
Dallas at Charlotte (November 5)
Bobby Phills (sprained right ankle) and Erick Strickland (sprained right
ankle) did not play.
Talk about a good game. The two teams were playing each other almost
point for point with both teams shooting well. The game was tied at 9-9
with 8 minutes left, 15-15 with 5:30 left, and 21-21 with 3:04 left.
Dallas was up 25-23 when Charlotte went on a small 5-0 run to close the
quarter. Charlotte led 28-25 after 1. Charlotte shot 60% FG and Dallas
shot 50% FG. David Wesley had 9 points and Khalid Reeves had 7 points.
The good play continued in the 2nd quarter and the game was tied 38-38
with 7:53 remaining. Dell Curry got really hot in the quarter and was
draining 3-pointers and long shots. Behind Curry's performance, Charlotte
went up 52-44 with 3:49 to go. Dallas out-scored the Hornets 12-7 to end
the quarter. Charlotte led 59-56 at the half. For the half, Charlotte
shot 59% FG and Dallas shot 56% FG. Curry had 15 points (including 13
points in a 6 minute span of the 2nd quarter) including 5-6 FG and 3-3
3-pointers, Wesley had 10 points, and Glen Rice had 10 points. Reeves had
13 points and Hubert Davis had 10 points.
And then came the 3rd quarter. Despite poor shooting Dallas got within
61-60 with 9:43 left only to see Charlotte score the next 7 points.
Dallas then scored the next 6 points. Charlotte led 67-66 with 4:30 left.
Charlotte again pulled ahead by 7 at 75-68. And the Mavs came back as
Michael Finley scored 6 straight points to put Dallas within 1 at 77-76
with 1:03 remaining. Charlotte led 82-78 after 3. Every time Charlotte
tried to pull away, the Mavs answered and kept the game close - despite
only shooting 30% FG in the quarter compared to Charotte's 52% FG.
Rice scored 13 points and Finley scored 10 points in the quarter.
The Hornets went on a 7-2 run to go up 89-90 with 9:33 left. Charlotte
put up 10 point leads at 93-83 with 8:09 remaining and 95-85 with 6:33 to
go. Charlotte was leading 98-91 with 4:24 left when Reeves hit a
3-pointer to bring Dallas within 4. After a Charlotte free throw and a
lot of missed shots, the Hornets led 99-94 with 2:48 left. Finley hit a
15-foot jumper with 2:29 left and Rice converted the 3-point play with
2:15 left to give Charlotte a 102-96 lead. The teams traded two free
throws. Shawn Bradley hit 1-2 free throws (the team's first missed free
throw of the game) with 1:19 left. Curry missed a shot and Reeves swished
the 3-pointer with 45.9 seconds to go to cut Charlotte's lead down to
104-102. Reeves was playing tight defense on Wesley and was called for
the hand-check foul putting Wesley on the line. He hit both free throws
to give Charlotte a 106-102 lead with 43.4 seconds remaining. Reeves was
fouled driving, but only hit 1-2 free throws with 26.5 seconds left.
Vlade Divac hit 2 free throws and David Wesley hit 2 more free throws to
close the scoring. Charlotte won 110-103.
Except for the Mavs' shooting in the 3rd quarter, it was a very good game
and the team was never out of it. It was especially impressive
considering the team played the night before with the starters getting
heavy minutes and the players not getting to their hotel rooms until about
3 am.
Quotes
Dave Cowens: "[Dallas] played [Tuesday night] and we didn't. So we wanted
to turn it up on them as much as we could."
Glen Rice: "This is a little closer to what we want to be doing. We're
running the ball more to get easier buckets. And also on the defensive
end we're starting to go after it. Dallas gave us all we wanted. It was
important that we kept our composure down the line after they made a run
at us."
Rice: "Dell was big-time tonight. I'm glad he has found his stroke. I
hope he continues to shoot like tonight because it was fun. I thought,
'Why not just join him?'"
Jim Cleamons: "It was tough playing from behind the whole game. They are
a good ball team and are difficult to play with this many shooters."
Cleamons: "We played from behind most of the night, which makes it
difficult with that many good shooters. In the end, that's a veteran
ballclub. They kept their composure."
Cleamons: "We played from behind most of the night. When you do that you
can't afford to have the little things go wrong. We just couldn't quite
get over the hump. But you can see the learning taking place."
Cleamons: "They're difficult to play with that many shooters. They won
54 games last year, and they showed why because they kept their composure
and we just couldn't get over the hump. It seemed like every loose ball
rolled to them and they would find Curry or Rice."
Cleamons: "It's not good to have to lose, but there's some growth taking
place, and that's what you have to see as a coach. We'll grow. We'll be
okay, as long as we keep learning, keep our focus and realize not one
player in that locker room is good enough to carry us."
Cleamons: "Khalid obviously likes screen-roll situations. We have to
figure out what opportunities we can give him and stay organized as a
unit."
Khalid Reeves on his foul on Wesley: "That was a quick whistle. They
were giving me warnings the whole game, and that one time, late in the
game, they called a little touch foul. What can you do? You just have
to play through it. We had a good chance. We were right there the whole
game. They're a playoff team, and we're not even expected to win 20
games."
Hubert Davis: "We simply didn't get the loose balls, and Charlotte did.
That was the difference. I was hoping after tonight we'd be 4-0, but
you can't always get what you want."
A.C. Green: "I'm not one to accept losing with a smile, but we came back
time and time again. We showed something as far as poise and character.
It's something to build on even though it was a loss. If not for a
couple of lapses here and there, we could be looking at 4-0."
Charlotte Hornets 110, Dallas Mavericks 103 at Charlotte (November 5)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Charlotte 28 31 23 28 - 110 .507 .556 .513 .793
Dallas 25 31 22 25 - 103 .457 .556 .468 .923
Halftime: Charlotte 59-56
3rd Q: Charlotte 82-78
Charlotte's largest lead: 95-85 6:33 4th
Dallas' largest lead: 21-17 3:55 1st
Dallas' last lead: 25-23 1:59 1st
Lead changes: 2
Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 3:25 4th
Refs: Ronnie Nunn, David Jones, Sean Corbin
Attendance: 24,042 (sellout)
Charlotte Hornets REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Anthony Mason 36 1-4 0-0 1-2 3 3-9 6 1 2 0 0
Glen Rice 44 12-21 1-2 3-4 28 2-7 3 1 3 1 1
Vlade Divac 33 6-8 0-0 2-2 14 2-7 3 1 1 1 1
David Wesley 41 6-19 0-2 7-8 19 0-2 8 3 2 1 0
Corey Beck 20 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 1-2 3 0 3 0 0
Dell Curry 32 8-13 4-5 3-5 23 1-4 4 2 1 0 0
Tony Farmer 4 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Matt Geiger 15 4-6 0-0 2-2 10 3-5 0 0 4 1 1
Muggsy Bogues 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 3 0 1 0 0
J.R. Reid 11 3-4 0-0 2-2 8 2-3 2 1 3 0 0
Totals 48 41-80 5-9 23-29 110 14-39 32 9 21 4 3
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Michael Finley 42 7-11 1-2 5-5 20 1-2 4 3 3 3 1
A.C. Green 39 3-10 0-0 2-2 8 5-12 3 0 2 0 0
Shawn Bradley 29 5-8 0-0 3-4 13 1-5 1 2 3 0 1
Khalid Reeves 36 7-12 3-4 7-8 24 1-3 5 0 3 0 0
Hubert Davis 31 6-13 1-2 2-2 15 1-1 0 3 2 0 0
Kevin Ollie 12 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0
Dennis Scott 24 3-8 0-1 3-3 9 0-1 3 1 4 0 0
Kurt Thomas 18 5-13 0-0 0-0 10 1-3 1 1 5 0 0
Samaki Walker 9 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 2-4 0 0 2 0 0
Totals 48 37-79 5-9 24-26 103 12-32 17 10 24 3 2
Note for you Australian fans: Chris Anstey did not play, coach's decision
for both games.
patricia