Full-Court Press

More goodies on Roddy B.

There are some
interesting things to note about Roddy Beaubois' showings
lately.

 

Some of this comes
courtesy of our good buddy over at The Ticket, Norm Hitzges. He mentioned on his
show this morning about how Roddy B. has run up most of his big games against
bad teams, including 40 points Saturday at Golden State.

 

Couldn't be more
true.

 

A little research
shows that Beaubois has hit double figures this season 13 times. All of those
games except one came against sub-.500 teams. And the one team above .500 was
Milwaukee very early in the season when the Bucks weren't that
great.

 

The Mavericks, are
11-2 in those games when Beaubois scores 10 or more. But against the
competition, shouldn't they be?

 

Incidentally, J.J.
Barea has reached double figures 22 times and the Mavericks are 14-8 in those
games. Of the teams Barea has reached 10 or more points against, 13 of them are
.500 or above.

 

Doesn't detract from
what Beaubois has done. But it's going to be very interesting going forward to
see how he handles tougher defensive competition.

 

By the way,
according to Mavericks' research only four rookies have scored 40 or more points
in franchise history.

 

Mark Aguirre 42 points on 11/14/1981

Jay
Vincent 41 points on 12/29/81

Jay
Vincent 40 points on 2/16/82

Roddy Beaubois 40 points on 3/27/10

 

Mavs have a quiet edge to them

By early Sunday morning, Dallas time, the Mavericks' locker room was a relatively quiet place, free from over-jubilance.

They know good and well that beating a heart-not-in-it Golden State team doesn't mean all that much.

What will mean plenty is a win Monday night at home against Denver.

And the Mavericks appear to have that aim firmly in their minds.

"We got a big one coming up,'' said Jason Terry. "We know they'll be ready.''

And so will the Mavericks, if their body language is any indication. It's the only game against Denver in Dallas this season because of the uneven scheduling.

A win gives them the season series, which could come in mighty handy when it comes to tiebreakers and such for playoff seedings.

Break out the ice bags

The Mavericks let Golden State get within 22, but stretched it back to 91-62 after three quarters, which means Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd should start icing those knees and kick back for the last 12 minutes.

Interestingly, when the Warriors got within 84-62, it was Roddy Beaubois who nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to stem the tide.

The Mavericks will rely on subs most of the fourth quarter. At least, that's what they should be doing after the first timeout.

Haywood gets jammed

Brendan Haywood got a jammed left middle finger in the first quarter and has not come back into the game, although his return later has not been ruled out.

Roddy B. -- as in Brilliant

The rookie has knocked down all five of his shots, including three 3-pointers to pile up 14 points in five minutes of playing time.

That's why the Mavericks have bolted to a 40-27 lead over the Warriors with 10:13 left in the half.

Beaubois has been a bit player in the last few games, but he's making a case that he deserves to be in the rotation.

Actually, that's not true.

He's making a case that he's the best player the Mavericks have right now.

Mavs leading the Maggettes

Corey Maggette has 17 first-quarter points, but the Mavericks have a 31-27 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

That advantage comes courtesy of Eddie Najera, with a pair of 3-pointers, Roddy Beaubois, who has five points, and Jason Terry, who has four.

That's 15 of the Mavericks' points off the bench.

Jason Kidd already has six assists.

Mavs look like they are going to use Beaubois, Terry and Kidd together at the expense of J.J. Barea.

Haywood has digit difficulty

Brendan Haywood got hit on his left hand and appeared to have a finger knocked out of place. He went to the bench and athletic trainer Casey Smith started working on getting the thing straightened out, literally.

Haywood came out of the game, but Erick Dampier was not the replacement. The Mavericks are going small to match up better with the Warriors.

Haywood seems to be OK. He is on the bench, not in the locker room.

Mavs must match speed with speed

The Mavericks know this is not going to be a typical game tonight.

The score won't be in the 80s or probably even the 90s, unless you're talking about the score at the end of the third quarter.

"We got to be aggressive, but not frantic,'' Rick Carlisle said. "Defensively we got to have a physical presence but attack for great shots. And we got to do a better job than we did the other night at getting in the paint and getting to the free-throw line.

"This is a completely different kind of game than the Portland game. We're not going to walk it up against them. That just doesn't work. We got to be aggressive and smart and play our game.''

By the way, the Warriors won't be quite as small as they usually are. Ronny Turiaf will start, coming back from a sore left knee that kept him out of nine games.

Throw strategy out the window

The Mavericks know tonight's game against Golden State won't be conventional.

"First one to 120 wins,'' Jason Terry said.

That's the way it is when you play the Warriors. Don Nelson is sure to throw some creative lineups on the floor and the Mavericks will have to score big to win the game.

It will also be fun to see rookie Stephen Curry after he has nearly a full season under his belt. The Warriors are touting him as rookie of the year and with good reason. He's had five games in which he's had at least 30 points and 10 assists.

Another key point will be whether the Mavericks go big with Brendan Haywood (or Erick Dampier) at center or try to match up with the smaller Warriors.

Stevenson happy for his close friend

SAN FRANCISCO _ Mavericks' guard DeShawn Stevenson considers Gilbert Arenas to be like a brother to him.

And when news came down Friday that Arenas would be spared jail time for his gun-possession charge, Stevenson was nearly as relieved as Arenas.

"Obviously, he did something wrong and he's paying the price being suspended all year,'' Stevenson said after Friday's practice. "And for him to get 30 days in a halfway house is awesome. I hope he can take this experience and understand that as a professional you have a target on your back and I'm just happy because they were trying to take everything away from him that he worked so hard for.''

Stevenson, Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler were longtime teammates with Arenas in Washington before the trade brought them to Dallas.

Said Haywood: "Gil's the luckiest guy in the world. He must have a whole back yard of four-leaf clovers. He gets 30 days in the halfway house instead of 90 days in the big house. I'm happy for him.''

Stevenson knows that there will be a segment of public that feels Arenas got preferential treatment. But he doesn't see it.

"Some people will think he got off easy, but I don't,'' he said. "He's been gone a whole year. They took his whole check which is $15 or $16 million. And then to get 30 days in a halfway house and be away from his children and stuff like that. I think he did his time.''
EDDIE SEFKO