The Dallas Mavericks' re-progamming of O.J. Mayo is working

DALLAS, Texas - O.J. Mayo just turned 25, and if he had the chance to hop into a way back machine to tell an 18-year-old version of himself without fear of a butterfly effect or disrupting the time-space continium he would say:

"I would tell myself to stay hungry and don't believe in the good or the bad," Mayo told me a few days ago after a Dallas Mavericks practice. "When you are young people tell you the stuff you want to hear all the time. No one hardly ever tells you what you need to hear, just want you want to hear. Obviously I built a big-time ego and a comfort level like you made it and you arrived. There is so much more to prove, ways to get better. There is a long way to get better. You don't get into the Hall of Fame with a heck of a high school career."

When the Mavericks acquired the shooting guard from the Memphis Grizzlies in the offseason I was all in, primarily because of his size (6-4, 210), age (25) and talent. If the Mavs are going to have a good season, this acquisition has to hit and Mayo will be the team's second-leading scorer behind Dirk Nowitzki.

This can work big, provided Mayo regains his confidence as a scorer and a guy who is comfortable shooting the ball at all times. He can shoot more, and he has the ability to penetrate into the lane to score or create.

As a rookie, he averaged nearly 16 shots per game. That figure dropped every season, including last season's mark 11.1 per game. As the Grizzlies improved, Mayo's shots dropped. The Grizzlies had changed to a more inside oriented team, anchored around forwards Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.

By the time Mayo arrived to the Mavericks, he sounded totally screwed up. Was he a role player, or a scorer?

"You are a 1,000 percent right. I programmed myself to fit their role for the team to have success," Mayo said. "Now I'm battling to program myself as a scorer. I get here early and stay late to get that swagger back. It's like a broken computer."

The Mavs told Mayo to shoot, and to look for his shot.

Through four games, Mayo is averaging 14.3 shots per game, 21.5 points per game, and is shooting a ridiculous 18-of-27 from 3. That last figure is not going to hold, but if Mayo can average 16 points per game, the Mavs will have successfully made up for Jason Terry's lost production.

Whether Mayo can become the fourth-quarter scorer like Terry remains to be seen, but for the time being it does appear the computer is getting fixed.

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A beating: Dallas Mavericks go Gangnam Style

The gangnam thing is only slightly more annoying than "Call Me Maybe" but in keeping with this incredible trend the Dallas Mavericks have gone gangnam on us, too.

 

  

 

 

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Former voice of the Dallas Mavericks, Jim Durham, has died

Very sad hear to the news that former Dallas Mavericks radio play by play voice Jim Durham has died. According to reports, Durham died on Sunday at his home in Tomball, Texas. He was 65.

People around the greater FW/d know Durham as the voice of the Dallas Mavericks from 1993 to 2001 - their dog days.

There was a time when Durham was the voice of a much greater team - the Chicago Bulls. For a host of people who lived in the Midwest during the '90s, Durham was the voice of Michael's Bulls. Durham did Bulls' games from 1973 to 1991.

"He was a great, great radio guy," said the current radio voice of the Mavericks, Chuck Cooperstein, when I got him on the phone today. "I grew up in New York, and Marv Albert is the voice of the Knicks. So Jim is the radio voice of that Bulls team to a lot of people."

In recent years he was the lead radio NBA voice for ESPN radio.

Durham was the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media award winner in 2011. He is survived by his wife, Helen, and their three children.

 

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The number the Dallas Mavericks need to hit to make the playoffs

Since the Dallas Mavericks decided not to blow it up and opted for a revamped roster than a destroyed roster the playoffs are a possibility.

The Western Conference is not the same Western Conference it was a few years ago when the eighth-seeded team won 50 games; the playoffs are viable for the Mavs.

The last time the Mavericks did not make the playoffs was the 1999-'00 season, when they had great players such as Gary Trent, Robert Pack, Rodrick Rhodes, Cedric Caballos. How did that team ever lose?

This season, making the playoffs is a major score. The playoffs. Period. That's it. No Finals. No West Finals. The West quarterfinals would merit a parade. 

A safe number for the Mavs would be 43 wins to secure the eighth seed.

Below is a look at the number of wins for the eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference in each season since 2000:

’12: Utah 36 (lockout shortened)
’11: Memphis 46
’10: Oklahoma City 50
‘09: Utah 48
’08: Denver 50
’07: Golden State 42
’06: Sacramento 44
’05: Memphis 45
’04: Denver 43
’03: Phoenix 44
’02: Utah 44
’01: Minnesota 47
‘00: Sacramento 44

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The key to the Dallas Mavericks having a successful season is this guy

The Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team begins the real season tonight against Dwight Howard’s Los Angeles Lakers.

(Personally, I miss the lockout shortened 66-game schedule. It was hard on the players, and playing double headers maybe was not the best idea, but it was fun.)

The Mavs’ grand plan to add Deron Williams flopped in the summer, and instead the team will now look almost nothing like it planned even a few weeks ago as Dirk Nowitzki is out for a while recovering from knee surgery.

With Rick Carlisle as its coach, the Mavs will be competitive as they will defend and try to rebound. That will keep them in games, and I expect them in the playoffs in a Western Conference that isn’t too stacked.

One of the many problems this team will face, even when Dirk returns, is who will score?
Not Elton Brand. Too much mileage. 
Chris Kaman, when healthy, has a nice post game and will score more than the Mavericks have ever had at that spot. But he's not a money scorer.
Darren Collison … maybe, eventually.
Assuming Dirk returns healthy and can still score at a high rate, the rest will come down to whether O.J. Mayo can be a solid scorer on a good team. Can he create his own shot when there is none?

His scoring average topped out at 18.5 points per game when he was a rookie in Memphis on a team that finished 24-58. A good scorer on a bad team doesn’t mean much.
As the Grizzlies improved, his production consistently dropped. Here are his numbers in the first four years in the league.

’08-’09: 18.5 ppg, 3.2 apg.; Grizzlies finished 24-58 no playoffs
’09-’10: 17.5 ppg., 3.0 apg. Grizzlies finished 40-42 no playoffs
’10-’11: 11.3 ppg., 2.0 apg. Grizzlies finished 46-36 West semis
’11-12: 12.6 ppg., 2.6 apg. Grizzlies finished 41-25 West quarters

Notice the correlation? There is a reason the Grizzlies had reportedly shopped him for years. There is also a reason he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. The ability is there.

If the Mavericks can develop/unlock his ability to score and complement Dirk they should have a nice and maybe even a surprising season.

 

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Time for the Mavericks to dump Delonte West

Hard not to like Dallas Mavericks guard Delonte West becuase he does have a little bit of crazy in him, and some game which makes the latter worth the former.

Until it's not, which would be right now.

Today, the Mavericks indefinitely suspended Delonte West for the second time in two weeks. The regular season has not even started and this guy has been suspended twice.

Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said in a statement: "We have suspended Delonte for conduct detrimental to the team. The suspension is effective immediately and no other statements will be issued."

Apparently West got into a disagreement after the Mavs' preseason loss against the Thunder on Wednesday night in Wichita, Kansas.

West went to Twitter to defend himself with the following Tweets that would make any English teacher resign and take up wine consumption:

"I'm gonna just pray for um!!!...perception is not reality!!!..real is real...in any language,culture...and what's wrong is what's wrong!!"

"All my family friends fans...who been right der wit me this uphill battle over the last 4years to get to this point....already know"

"That my name showin up in any fashion in a negative light is the worst thing that can happen.everything Ived worked towards out d window"

"Just ask u to talk with me....I'm a grown man...that's not above logic and reason...Before u go to the papers wit false information."

"If I'm not what u lookin 4 ....That's fine...just dont kick me in my ass on the way out the door....I didn't do anything to deserve that..."

"I love the city of Dallas..I love playin in the NBA...no I'm not off my meds...no I ain't on no bipolar trip...this real people lives.."

"And it just ain't right..imma leave it at that..no ill will towards no one...I'm just sittin here across from the arena wit tear in my eyes"

With Dirk Nowitzki out after having knee surgery for a few weeks, losing West's production and ability to slash and score is not exactly something the Mavs want to do. Plus, he is a fearless player. But who are the Mavs kidding?

West has been a headache for every team since he entered the NBA as a first round pick by the Celtics. A former pro sports GM once told me, "If you are traded or not re-signed, there is always a reason and it's generally not good."

West has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, which is no joke, but there does come a point when the headache is not worth it.

 

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Lamar Odom wants to apologize because it's not his fault

Not that this will change a thing about the trade that brought Lamar Odom to the Mavericks, which turned out to be a lemon, but the new member of the L.A. Clippers apparently wants to apologize to the Mavs and team owner Mark Cuban.

On Friday during the LA Clippers' media day, ESPN NBA guy Ric Bucher tweeted: "Lamar Odom, unprompted, told me he'd like to apologize to Mark Cuban and Mavs fans for not being himself. Felt it was beyond his power."

What a great line - "Hey, sorry - but the reason I robbed the bank is because of something beyond my power."

BTW: Odom averaged 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds with the Mavs last season; both career lows.

Odom's meaning, while likely sincere, would be fine and a very nice and sincere olive branch had Odom had the sense to just stop and not add the, "Felt it was beyond his power" line of crap.

 

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They are trying, but the Houston Astros are not yet the worst pro team in Texas history

As the Texas Rangers begin to play into October the team in Houston just hopes the season is cancelled today.

The Houston Astros are awful again. Terrible doesn't do justice.

They are 45-98, easily the worst record in baseball, and they should break last season's 106-loss mark.

But are they the worst team in history of pro sports in Texas? Not quite, but it's not for a lack of effort.
Here is a look at the worst seasons by the major pro sports teams in Texas. 

MLB
2012 Houston Astros: 45-98, .315
1972 Texas Rangers: 54-100, .351

NBA
1992-'93 Dallas Mavericks: 11-71, .134
1982-'83 Houston Rockets: 14-68, .171 
1996-'97 San Antonio Spurs: 20-62, .244

NHL
1994-'95 Dallas Stars: 17-23-8, .438

NFL
2005 Houston Texans: 2-14
1973 Houston Oilers: 1-13
1972 Houston Oilers: 1-13
1960 Dallas Cowboys 0-11

 

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Dallas Mavericks preseason sked features ... uhhh ... other teams

Preseason football got you down?  Don't worry, because here is some good news: The Dallas Mavericks professional basketball club has announced its own version of fake games - the 2012 preseason schedule is out.

As Mr. T said, "I pity the fool!"

The Mavs' eight-game preseason schedule opens with a pair of games overseas against international clubs; this should be a good place for Mark Cuban to spew his anti-Olympic rhetoric. Generally speaking, the foreign crowd really, really hates the Olympics.

The preseason schedule features only four games at the American Airlines Center, and really none of them are against competition you will be fighting to see. 

Only the possibility of Hornets rookie center Anthony Davis appearing against the Mavs generates any real appeal. The rest is rather blah ...

10/6 Mavs at Alba in Berlin, Germany
10/9 Mavs at FC Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain
10/15 Mavs v. Rockets in Dallas
10/17 Mavs v. Suns in Dallas
10/12 Mavs at Hawks in Atlanta
10/22 Mavs v. New Orleans in Dallas
10/24 Mavs v. Thunder in Wichita, Kansas
10/26 Mavs v. Hornets in Dallas

The Mavs begin their regular season on Oct. 30 against the L.A. Lakers in LA where Dwight Howard is expected to pledge to sign with the Mavericks* next summer. 

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* That may not actually happen.

Breaking down the Dallas Mavericks schedule & march towards Dwight Howard

The NBA has released the full 82-game schedule for every club, even the Charlotte Bobcats. Unlike last season's 66-game sprint that featured back-to-back-backs, and double headers, this schedule will return to the normal pace. (Personally, I really liked the 66 game deal).

For Dallas Mavericks fans, circle these games:

10/30 at Lakers. Season opener where Steve Nash will laugh in the Mavs face as he rides Kobe Bryant's back off the court.

11/3 Charlotte. Home opener. Not sure if this counts in the standings, but this should be the ideal chance for Chris Kaman to go for 40 and 10 and OJ Mayo to score 50 points.

11/9 at NY Knicks. Tyson Chandler now Jason Kidd. That's a nice kick to the groin.

12/8 at Houston. The Jeremy Lin Show; the question is whether Lin will be starting the game on the bench by this point.

12/12 at Boston. Jason Terry will want this game so bad it may cause his head to explode.

12/20 Miami. The greatest team in any sport ever will come to town.

1/14 Minnesota. With Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, the Wolves could be one of the sleepers in the West.

1/18 OKC. The Thunder should return to spanking the Mavs.

1/20 at Orlando. The Mavs are praying Dwight Howard is still with the Magic.

2/9 Golden State. My God; are the Warriors still in the league?

2/20 Orlando. Dwight Howard Bobblehead night at the American Airlines Center.

2/26 Milwaukee. It's the rare buy 1 get 3,000 free tickets promotion.

3/20 Brooklyn. Yeeeeah ... Deron Williams may want to sit this one out.

3/26 LA Clippers. Yeeeah ... Lamar Odom may want to sit this one out.

3/28 Indiana. Imagine the reception Ian Mahinmi will receive playing against his old team. Get chills just thinking about the indifference.

3/30 Chicago. If Derrick Rose is actually upright for this game and not hurt as a result of his endless attacks at the rim, a good ticket.

 

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