Full-Court Press

Getting to know...the Charlotte Bobcats

The Mavs will try and get back on track tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats, a franchise  that has never beaten the Mavericks. The Bobcats are 0-6 against the Mavs, but things are finally starting to look a little better for a team that has had little success in its 3 1/2 seasons of existence.

J-Rich and G-Wallace
Former Maverick killer (or maybe still) Jason Richardson teams up with Gerald Wallace to create a potent 1-2 punch that has carried this Bobcats team to many of its 16 wins. Both are averaging 20+ points, 5+ rebounds and 3+ assists per game. Wallace earns his living at the free-throw line while Richardson has been soaring from three-point range all season. There are other peripheral pieces that help carry the Bobcats too, but without both of these dynamic athletes, the Bobcats are probably middling around 10 wins.

Don't forget the point and the center
Richardson and Gerald Wallace may get all the highlights, but point guard Raymond Felton and center Emeka Okafor are just as vital. Felton is a big part of setting up his team in scoring and is tied for 9th in the league in assists with 7.1 per game. On the other end of the spectrum, Okafor holds down the post and is averaging a double-double with 13 points and 10.1 rebounds. He is 14th in the league in rebounding and is also averaging 1.8 blocks and 1.1 steals.

Despite all that...
The Bobcats still aren't very good. They have streaks where they look good—beating the Celtics, Blazers and Magic—but the bad has outweighed the good yet again for the Bobcats. They are dead last in the league in free-throw shooting, 28th in rebounding and 21st in offense. Their defense is mediocre at 99.2 points per game allowed and their shooting percentage is also rather low at 44.9 percent as a team. The bottom line for the Mavs is to contain the point guard and stick to Charlotte's main scorers when they start to heat up.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

On deck: Juwan Howard

Knowing he's going to have to fill in for Brandon Bass, Juwan Howard compared himself to baseball's Craig Counsell, a do-it-all utility guy that minds his own business and then takes care of business when his name is called.

"A guy his teammates know they can depend on. I want to be that Craig Counsell," Howard said.

Howard has been in this position before. Last season with the Rockets, he filled in for Yao Ming when the Rockets center missed 30-some games. Howard filled in well and the Rockets kept on winning.

But, he has only played brief minutes for the Mavs this season and he's been inactive the last two games. The changes tonight.

"Time to play a little bit. Pull off the cobwebs. He needs to play a little bit," coach Avery Johnson said. "He can contribute, we think he's a contributor, that's why we got him. He's been pretty good in practices, physical, so whatever amount of minutes, whether it's 10 or 15 or eight, whatever it is, we're going to need his physicality and lead the ship in toughness."

-- Jeff Caplan

Bass hurting, day-to-day

The good news is Brandon Bass is listed as day-to-day. The bad news is it is his Achilles tendon that's injured and that is a very painful injury to deal with.

Avery Johnson said an MRI taken Tuesday was negative.

"He has something there that we have to manage more than what we've been managing here recently," Johnson said. "He was playing pretty good, but the last two games he's been struggling physically."

Johnson said the clinching blow was when he went for a blocked shot against Washington and landed underneath the basket on the foot. "That pretty much sent it downhill," Johnson said.

-- Jeff Caplan

Bass injured, sent home

Brandon Bass crossed the line from hurt to injured after Monday's loss at Washington. The problem he's had with his right Achilles tendon has not only taken him out of the lineup for tomorrow's game at Charlotte, but it's shipped him back to Dallas for further tests.

"He hasn't been well and he's been hot and cold," coach Avery Johnson said. "It used to be just pain, now he's injured, so we sent him to be re-evaluated."

-- Jeff Caplan

Break out the brooms

The Mavs were swept in the season series by the Wizards for the first time since the 1996-97 season. They won both games this season by a combined 30 points.

How do you explain that the Mavs are 18-6 against rugged Western Conference competition and just 9-7 against the East?

And now the Mavs are 9-10 on the road, matching last season's total road losses.

-- Jeff Caplan

Eastern sweep(s)

With a 102-84 loss to the Wizards today, it marks the first time in almost 11 years the Mavs lost both games to Washington. March 18 and 29, 1997, the Mavs lost to the Wizards in two close games.

This also marks the first time the Mavericks have been swept in a season series by an Eastern Conference team since the 2003-04 season. They lost both games to the Atlanta Hawks and both games to the Indiana Pacers that season.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Not exactly schmucks

This qualifies as perhaps coach Avery Johnson's funniest quote of the season. When a Washington reporter asked him if the Wizards are a better team without injured star Gilbert Arenas, Johnson said, no, no, they'd be even better with him. Then he said: "You know, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, those are All-Star players, they're not schmucks you know, they're pretty good."

-- Jeff Caplan

Catching up with...the Washington Wizards

The last time the Mavericks met the Wizards, things didn't go so well. The Mavs lost to the Wizards 110-98 and got outhustled and outplayed for most of the game. It would be the last of three consecutive losses—their longest losing streak of the season. It is their second consecutive loss to the Wizards and they are the only Eastern conference team to currently hold a two-game winning streak against the Mavericks. This is the final regular-season meeting between the two.

Who needs Arenas?
Just kidding, of course. Gilbert Arenas is one of the top guards in the league and has been sidelined after having knee surgery shortly after the season started. He is currently expected back shortly after the All-Star break, but it's not like the Wizards have crashed without their best player. Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison have stepped into the void and carried the team in his absence and guards Deshawn Stevenson and Antonio Daniels have done a serviceable job holding up the guard duties. The Wizards are 21-17 and sit at two games back in the Southeast division behind the Orlando Magic. When Arenas returns, they should be primed to make a dash at a higher seed going into the playoffs.

World beaters
The Wizards recently defeated the Boston Celtics in consecutive games, which is the only time this season the 32-6 Celtics have lost back-to-back games. They held the Celtics to a season-low 78 points and season lows in field goals made and attempted in the first game, then traveled to Boston two nights later to visit another beating on the NBA's top team.

Statistically similar to Mavs?
There are several stats in which the Mavs and Wizards are similar, which may be part of the reason they have struggled recently against them. The Wizards are ranked third in the league in free-throw percentage (79.9%) while the Mavs are first (82%). Their accurate free-throw shooting has been an advantage they have used many times this season, but likely won't be able to exercise as much today. Both teams also rank in the bottom third of the league in assists, and attempt a similar number of field goals. Their strength in free-throws is part of what forces those two stats down. They also have similar scoring offenses and defenses with the Mavs 8th in the league in offense (101.5 pts) and 9th in defense (96.2 pts allowed) and the Wizards 10th in offense (99.3 pts) and 11th in defense (96.8 pts allowed).

Burning question
Do you think Gilbert Arenas will return to full strength this season?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

EJ's in, probably

Eddie Jones said he was feeling good after shootaround this morning and they thinks he'll be in the lineup tonight against Seattle. Avery Johnson seemed to second that by saying he wasn't sure if he would have to limit Jones' minutes as a precaution for that strained groin.

-- Jeff Caplan

Catching up with...the Seattle Supersonics

Not much has changed since the Sonics faced the Mavs eight days ago. Last week's preview is still plenty valid, but we'll take a look at their last eight days anyway.

Still streaking
When the Sonics lost to the Mavs by way of a 90-70 whooping in Seattle, it extended their losing streak to six games. Now it stands at a season-high nine games. It is their third losing streak of at least six games and with them facing the Rockets in the two games following their visit to Dallas, the streak could easily run up to 12 or more.

Second of back-to-backs on the road
They played the Memphis Grizzlies last night, which was the second game of their four-game road trip.
Things didn't go so well in Memphis. They lost 124-100, and the score doesn't really do justice to the manhandling they received. The game before, they got rolled by the Hornets by 31 points. The bottom line is, they are already not very good, and they will be tired on top of their usual badness.

Random useless fact
Damien Wilkins has played in every Sonics game since May 12, 2005. He played all 82 games in 2005-06 and 2006-07 and has played in every game this season.

Burning question
Chris Kaman used to hold a certain title before he got a haircut this year, now someone has taken his place. So the question is, does anyone in the NBA look less like a pro basketball player than oft-injured Seattle center Robert Swift?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd