Full-Court Press

Mavericks are ready for ... Stockton and Malone?

The Utah Jazz won’t look anything like the Utah Jazz
tonight when they visit American Airlines Center.
 
Jerry Sloan? Gone in a stunning retirement before the
All-Star break.
 
Deron Williams? Gone, in a stunning trade with New Jersey
that should be official before the day is done.
 
None of that bothers the Mavericks, of course. They have
bigger fish to fry than the in-transition Jazz.
 
“I don’t know about the trade,’’
Jason Terry said after shootaround. “I don’t know if it happened or
it didn’t. I don’t care if John Stockton and Karl Malone came out
here tonight. We’re hungry, we’ve been off for six days, we want to
play somebody.’’
 
After a pause, Terry realized what he had said.
 
“I know they’re going to put it on Twitter:
Stockton and Malone, coming out of retirement,’’ he said.
 
What is headline worthy is that the Mavericks continue to
hold steady with the team they have. All the rumors about Devin Harris coming
back where, as expected in some corners, little more than a price-driver for
the New Jersey Nets, who indeed fetched a tidy return on Harris and Derrick
Favors. Williams is a perennial all-star.
 
But the Mavericks continue to maintain that they have what
they need right now, with nothing incoming.
 
“We got a great group of guys,’’ Jason
Kidd said. “We feel confident we can compete with the best. With moves or
no moves, we feel we can win a championship. It starts tonight and we have to
compete and play the way we played before the break.’’
 
As Terry said, the Mavericks don’t expect anybody else
to arrive before Thursday’s trade deadline. When Terry was asked if this
is a championship team, he said:
 
“I don’t want to put that out there right now
because somebody on Twitter will say that I’m guaranteeing it. But I feel
very confident that we’ll be playing very late in the season.
 
Eddie Sefko
 
 

Carlisle wanted to open up his player's lungs

DALLAS _ Coach Rick Carlisle had a few important things on his check list he wanted to put his team through when the Dallas Mavericks went through their first practice Tuesday.

“The most important part about today is we’ve got to open up the lungs, we got to (get) minds back in the right place and understand what we have ahead of us tomorrow,’’ Carlisle said. “We don’t leave our game on the practice court.

“It’s a mix of the right work and the right mental stuff. I think we’ll be OK, but we’ve got a tough game tomorrow.’’

The Mavs play host to the Utah Jazz at 7:30 Wednesday night.

-- Dwain Price

Terry said the Mavs will catch the Spurs

DALLAS _ Jason Terry has a message for the San Antonio Spurs.

"We’re going to catch them sooner or later,'' the Dallas Mavericks guard said. "Whether it’s now or in the playoffs.

"We’d rather it be in the playoffs in the Western (Conference) Finals or what have you. But we’re going to catch them.''

The Mavs (40-16) trail the Spurs (46-10) by six games for the top seed in the West with 26 games left.

Terry said since the Spurs knocked off the Mavs last year in six games in the first round of the playoffs, he believes the Mavs are on a mission for a big payback. 

“What happened to us last year in the first round, we’re still motivated by it,'' Terry said. "It is what it is. I wish them well.''

-- Dwain Price

Mavericks waiting for clearance sales to start

The Mavericks aren’t aggressively out there shopping
for anything on the trade front. That’s the luxury they have as they sit
at 40-16 with a roster that has come together quite nicely in the last few
weeks.
 
That doesn’t mean they aren’t keeping their eyes
and ears open.
 
If a huge bargain drops in their lap, be assured that they
won’t hesitate to jump on it. If you can get a $900 suit for a $99
trade-in, you do it.
 
But the names that some people are throwing out there simply
don’t make sense. There appears to be no desire whatsoever on the
Mavericks’ part to pick up the final two seasons of any contract that is
worth upwards of the range of $10 million per year. That would eliminate any
Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace or Rip Hamilton talk before it begins. And don’t
hold your breath on Devin Harris, either. Why the Mavericks would want him if
they trust Roddy Beaubois is a mystery.
 
By the way, the Mavericks will continue to be used as a
price-driver by other teams.
 
Anyway, if you’re talking about an expiring contract
like Troy Murphy or Tayshaun Prince, the conversation at least has some
validity. But again, the Mavericks are looking only for value. They won’t
do anything if it’s not a clear win for them.
 
It’s a good position to be in, particularly if some
teams go into panic mode in the next 48 hours.
 
Eddie Sefko
 

Trade winds dead calm around the Mavericks -- for once

Having done all they could to add a pair of impact players –
Roddy Beaubois and Peja Stojakovic – without giving up anything, the
Mavericks have found themselves in unfamiliar territory with just three
shopping days left before the trade deadline.
 
They are outside the vortex, safely away from the maelstrom.
 
If trade winds are gale force in Denver and New York, they
wouldn’t even blow Tiger Woods’ golf ball an inch off line in
Dallas.
 
The Mavericks seem to be in no mood to deal and it sounds
like most of the teams around the league have gotten that message. Owner Mark Cuban
said from All-Star Weekend that it’s been pretty calm. President Donnie
Nelson has been talking to everybody as he usually does. But while the
Mavericks in the past have been option No. 1 for teams trying to make or
facilitate a deal, this year, the Mavericks seem to like their team and are not
getting a whole lot of advances from other teams trying to pry pieces away.
 
But remember, it’s early.
 
The trade deadline is 2 p.m. Thursday and all it takes is
one phone call made or received to change everything.
 
It could happen. But the way things look now, it’s not
likely.
 
Eddie Sefko
 
 

For Mavericks, anytime's a good time to rest

I’ve gotten a few emails about how the Mavericks’
hot streak of the last month is going to be tested because the five days off
during All-Star break is going to freeze their momentum.
 
To that, I’ll fall back on the Shawn Marion commentary
he had after the team won at Phoenix on Thursday: “We are an old team. It’s
definitely good to take these four or five days and recharge.’’
 
That’s because older teams usually are smarter teams.
They know how to come back from a stretch of R and R and not act like they sat
around and got fat over the course of a short period of time. And the schedule
coming out of the break should help, too. After a home game Wednesday against
Utah, the Mavericks go to Washington, Toronto and Philadelphia – all lukewarm
Eastern Conference teams at best.
 
Once they get back from that trip, it will be March and the
stretch run gets serious.
 
And quite frankly, it wouldn’t bother me a bit if the
Mavericks had to find their legs again for a week or so. They’re not
going to win 13 of every 14 the rest of the way. If there’s a dead spell
to go through, bring it on now and let them fight their way out of it and be
back on track come April.
 
Eddie Sefko
 

Who'll be the All-Star MVP?

Well, the wise guys say it’s a toss-up between
LeBron James of the East and Kobe Bryant of the West.

 

Personally, give me Blake Griffin at 10/1 odds.

 

Here’s the list of player odds, courtesy of our
buddies at bodog.

 

James and Bryant are 13/2.

 

Kevin Durant is 15/2, while Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose and
Dwight Howard are 17/2.

 

Carmelo Anthony and Griffin are 10/1 and Amare Stoudemire
is 12/1.

 

Dirk Nowitzki, by the way, is at 18/1, just behind Chris
Paul, Kevin Love and Paul Pierce at 15/1.

 

Any money wagered on Nowitzki is sucker money, by the
way. A jump shooter can’t win the MVP award. I think there’s a rule
against it.

 

Nobody else is under 20/1.

 

By the way, Howard is a slight favorite over Durant,
James, Anthony and Wade to score the first point of the game.

 

Yes, you can actually bet on that.

 

Griffin is the prohibitive (1/3) favorite to win the dunk
contest, Ray Allen is favored in the 3-point shootout and, of course, in the
most important event of the weekend, Team Texas, led by Nowitzki, is favored to
win the Shooting Stars competition.

 

Hit the ATM as fast as you can to put money on him at
3/2.

 

Eddie Sefko

 

Del Harris gets some well-deserved recognition

Del Harris has been in the NBA family for 35 years as a
coach at all levels and he’ll get a nice accolade for his long,
successful career Saturday morning in Los Angeles as part of All-Star Weekend.

 

Harris will receive the 2011 Jerry colangelo Award, which
is named after the former Phoenix Suns CEO and chairman of USA Basketball. The
award honors men who have exemplified integrity, leadership and character on
and off the court while working under the NBA umbrella. There’s no more
worthy recipient than Harris, who was a Mavericks’ assistant coach for a
decade, has more than 500 wins as an NBA head coach and currently is general
manager of the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League.

 

Past recipients include Rich DeVos (owner of the Orlando
Magic) and Don Carter (first owner of the Dallas Mavericks).

 

In 12 full seasons as a head coach he has complied a
556-457 (.549) overall record with three different teams (Houston Rockets,
Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers).

 

Harris also served as coach of the Chinese national
men’s basketball team, where he coached NBA All-Star Yao Ming and led
China to a surprising upset victory over Serbia and Montenegro in the 2004
Athens Olympics.

 

Eddie Sefko

 

 

Roddy B.'s start will juggle the rotation

With J.J. Barea out because of an illness, coach Rick
Carlisle elected to start Roddy Beaubois with Jason Kidd in the backcourt.
 
Jason Terry then came into the game six minutes into it.
 
Expect Beaubois to back up Kidd when he needs a breather.
 
The Mavericks have slipped out to an early 19-15 lead.
 
Eddie Sefko
 

Barea's fever could mean Beaubois will heat up at point guard

 
The Mavericks don’t know, or at least aren’t
saying, whether they will have J.J. Barea for tonight’s game against the
Suns.
 
Barea has been dealing with a groin problem and a flu-like bug.
Apparently, Barea was feeling better on Wednesday when the Mavericks played
Sacramento, but was feeling worse on Thursday.
 
That means it could be heavier duty for Roddy Beaubois
tonight, who played for the first time this season against the Kings.
 
“Nobody played big minutes last night and it’s
the first game he’s played, so his situation is probably a little
different,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “Barea is fighting a
little fever at the moment, so I’m not sure of his availability. So Roddy
may have to play some at the backup point.’’
 
Eddie Sefko