Full-Court Press

From Carlisle, daughter knows best

DALLAS -- After he met with his players for their season-ending exit interviews Thursday, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told a story that sort of put this year's disappointing season in perspective.

It was one of those straight out of the mouths of babes type of story. Carlisle started the story off by saying:

"I think it's just so important, coaching, because it's so intensed and it's so emotional. And when you get a team with challenges like we had this year, sometimes there are things that happen along the way that put things in perspective.

"For example, back in early January we had a very, very difficult loss at home and it reall'y upset me. So I went home that night and my daughter (Abby), who is eight years old, knew that this was really upsetitng to me."

Carlisle went on to say: "So there's a room downstairs in our house where I keep all my suits so I don't have to schlep them up and down the stairs. It's one of the guest bedrooms. So I went in there and I took my stuff with me to kind of empty my suit out in the closet.

"So she came in and closed the door behind her, and she sat on the bed, and I turned around and I saw her and I said, "Hey, Abby, what's up?' She goes, "Dad, you know in life there's always going to be bumps along the road.''

That drew laughter from the assembled media.

"Now that's a true story. And at that moment it was clear to me that my focus had to shift to doing everything possible to engage our staff to figure out exactly what the strengths and weaknesses of our players were, and to move forward and find a way to make every day a little bit better if we could.''

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

 

Brand wants to return to the Mavs

DALLAS --With free agency looming, center Elton Brand would like to return to the Dallas Mavericks for a second season.

And he hopes to help make amends for the disappointing non-playoff 41-41 record the Mavs put on the boards this season.

"Free agent-wise, of course I'd like to be back,'' Brand said Thursday. "Like I said (Wednesday), .500 for this organization, that is definitely a failure.

"I don’t want to be a part of that. It left a bad taste.''

So bad that Brand would like to return so he can help the Mavs -- their 12-year playoff streak was snapped -- right that wrong.

"I definitely want to be here on a winning team and try to rectify what happened this season, if possible,'' Brand said. "To break this streak and not be a part of the playoffs, that’s
the most disappointing part.''

-- Dwain Price

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Collison thinks he's a capable starter

DALLAS --If Darren Collison winds up signing a free agent contract with the Dallas Mavericks this summer, he's not ruling out the possibility that he'll agree to be the team's backup point guard again.

"I’m not going to say no, mainly because I definitely experienced it and I’m capable of playing off the bench,'' Collison said Thursday. "At the same time, I know who I am as a person and as a player.

"I know I’m capable of playing for any team as a starter, so we’ll see.''

Collison was replaced as the Mavs' starting point guard by 37-year old Mike James late in the season, and he really wasn't excited about it. But Collison doesn't want to dig up all those bad memories.

"That’s not my concern right now,'' Collison said. "I’m just trying to get over the fact that we didn’t make the playoffs as a team, and I think that’s the most upsetting thing for me as an individual.''

-- Dwain Price

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Collison thinks he's a capable starter

DALLAS --If Darren Collison winds up signing a free agent contract with the Dallas Mavericks this summer, he's not ruling out the possibility that he'll agree to be the team's backup point guard again.

"I’m not going to say no, mainly because I definitely experienced it and I’m capable of playing off the bench,'' Collison said Thursday. "At the same time, I know who I am as a person and as a player.

"I know I’m capable of playing for any team as a starter, so we’ll see.''

Collison was replaced as the Mavs' starting point guard by 37-year old Mike James late in the season, and he really wasn't excited about it. But Collison doesn't want to dig up all those bad memories.

"That’s not my concern right now,'' Collison said. "I’m just trying to get over the fact that we didn’t make the playoffs as a team, and I think that’s the most upsetting thing for me as an individual.''

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Carlisle wants Mayo back with the Mavs

DALLAS -- As it turned out, one of the reasons Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle lashed out at OJ Mayo -- via the media -- following this past Monday's 103-97 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies is because of the valuable time he spent this season nurturing his starting shooting guard.

"With him I’m like a Little League dad,'' Carlisle said Thursday. "I wanted him to do well so badly that sometimes it get the better of me.

"But that’s OK. That’s OK, because if you care that much that’s never a bad thing.''

Carlisle said he wouldn't mind having Mayo back with the Mavs next season. Mayo has a player option that pays him $4.2 million next seaosn, but opted-out of that contract so he can test the free agent market.

However, Mayo said he hopes to get a long-term deal with the Mavs. And he didn't mind Carlisle publicly criticizing him after he scored just two points and turned the ball over four times during Monday's loss to the Grizzlies.

"He obviously wants me to do well,'' Mayo said of Carlisle. "He spent a lot of work this year on me to be successful.

"It's just emotions after that game.''

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs end season with 99-87 win over the Hornets

DALLAS -- Darren Collison poured in 25 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 99-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in the regular season finale Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.

Thus, the Mavs ended what they thought would be a promising the season with a 41-41 record, and no berth in the playoffs for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

Besides Collison, Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Mavs, and Shawn Marion picked up 15 points and seven boards.

The Mavs led the Hornets 19-18 after the first period, 47-39 at the half and 75-64 after the third period. It's the second time in four days that the Mavs have beaten the Hornets, who they defeated 107-89, this past Sunday in New Orleans.

-- Dwain Price

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Carlisle, Mayo trying to move forward

DALLAS -- Neither Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle or guard OJ Mayo wanted to revisit the fallout from Monday's 107-89 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Mayo had a horrible night against the Grizzlies, finishing with four turnovers and two points on 1-of-6 shooting. Afterwards, Carlisle went against the norm and heavily critcized Mayo for his poor performance against his former team.

“He wasn’t into it the first half,’’ Carlisle said following Monday's loss. “We showed him some film at halftime where he virtually was just standing around defensively. I said, ‘Hey, we need you.

“He just had a bad night -- I guess I’ll write it off to that. But I tell you what, if I was playing against my former team I’d come out ready to go at them. But that’s me. That’s me.’’

Carlisle has spent countless hours this season trying to help Mayo improve his overall game. But what he witnessed from Mayo on Monday, he figured, was unacceptable.

“With all the time that we put into helping him develop and bringing him along, in the biggest game of the year and an opportunity to be a winning team, for him to show up like he did tonight, I was shocked,’’ Carlisle said. “I just want to see him show up. I want to see him show up and compete.
He didn’t compete tonight.’’

Asked after Wednesday morning's shoot around if he had talked to Mayo since Monday's game, Carlisle said: "He's ready to go.''

Asked about if he'd consider resting Mayo, who has logged a team-high 35.6 minutes per game this season, Carlisle said: "He's ready to go. He's ready to go. Is that it?''

When Mayo was asked had he heard about the comments Carlisle made about him following Monday's game, he said: "Nah, what happened?''

Told that Carlisle called him out for lack of effort, Mayo said: "I don't blame him. I just didn't play well. It could be a combination of (lack of effort or not playing well).

"I didn't play well, I didn't play like I would like to. I'm pretty upset about the game, it was a winnable game, I didn't play well.''

Carlisle certainly agreed, saying so after Monday's game.

“If you’re not going to compete, don’t show at all,’’ Carlisle said. “Sometimes guys have bad nights.

“Make sure you put that in there, too. Well, the good news is there’s only an opportunity for one more (bad game).’’

As the Mavs (40-41) prepare to finish the season at 7 tonight at American Airlines Center against the New Orleans Hornets, Carlisle is hoping for a better game from his starting shooting guard. 

"He had a rough night, but he wasn't the only one,'' Carlisle said of Mayo. "But tonight's a new night, today's a new day, so we're getting ready for tonight.''

-- Dwain Price

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Mike James making sense of Boston Marathon bombing

DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks point guard Mike James tried to make sense of Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing, and believes the person/people who are responsible don’t have God in their life.

“We always talk about our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but the one thing that we’ve always got to remember is God is love,’’ James said. “The first thing that He always said is love your brother like you love yourself.

“So this is the hardest thing is that we’re not loving our brother like we love ourselves. So there’s an individualism, there’s a selfishness and because of that when you take God out of an equation, when you take Christ out of an equation, well then all chaos is breaking loose.’’

James went on to say: “It’s the same thing that’s happening in schools. When you take God out of schools in prayers, when you take God out of anything, when you take the Father out of anything this is when the chaos comes along.

“That’s why Christ said you must love your enemies.’’

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs lose to Grizzlies, 103-97, fall below .500 again

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks' revised goal of finishing this season with a winning record won't be realized.

That's because the Mavs couldn't fend off the Memphis Grizzlies, who came into American Airlines Center on Monday night and defeated Dallas, 103-97. The loss left the Mavs with a 40-41 record and ended any hopes they had of completing this season with a winning record.

The Mavs end their season at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the New Orleans Hornets, and the best they can do is finish with a 41-41 record.

The tide turned in Monday's game very quickly. A Chris Kaman 11-footer put the Mavs up, 46-32 with 4:08 remaining in the first half.

But the Grizzlies went on a brisk 19-4 run to take a 51-50 lead with 7:12 to go in the third period. During that eight minute and 46-second stage, the Mavs were just 2-of-14 from the field -- they missed 10 straight shots -- and committed six turnovers.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 26 points, Vince Carter scored 22 and Mike James had 14 points.

Jerryd Bayless paced Memphis with 19 points, Keyon Dooling poured in 13 points, Tayshaun Prince collected 12 points, and Ed Davis finished with 11 poiints and 11 rebounds.

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs finally shaving after bumping off the Hornets, 107-89

NEW ORLEANS -- The Dallas Mavericks can finally shave off those funky-looking beards.

On a day when Dirk Nowitzki scored his 25,000th career point, the Mavs reached the .500 mark Sunday afternoon by defeating the New Orleans Hornets, 107-89, at New Orleans Arena.

The victory enabled the Mavs to even their record at 40-40 with two games left. It also is the first time the Mavs have been .500 since they were 11-11 way back on Dec. 12 -- over four months ago.

Back in early February, the Mavs vowed not to shave their beards until they reached the .500 plateau. The Mavs entered Sunday's game one game shy of reaching the .500 mark for the fourth time since the bearded pledge.

On the fourth try, mission accomplished.

Nowitzki gave his teammates a salute -- and his teammates gave him a standing ovation -- when he reached the 25,000-point barrier on an 18-footer with 6:44 remaining in the first half. Vince Carter proceeded to hug Nowitzki during the ensuing deadball, and the other players and coaches followed suit when timeout was called with 5:52 left before halftime.

Nowitzki finished with 19 points (7-of-14 shots) and six rebounds, Shawn Marion collected 21 points and seven rebounds, Brandan Wright had 16 points and three stitches on his left cheek, Vince Carter poured in 16 points, and Chris Kaman added 11 points and seven boards in 22 minutes.

Ryan Anderson paced the Hornets (27-54) with 20 points.

Dallas led 33-19 after the first period, 62-40 at the half and 81-67 going into the fourth period.

The Mavs play host to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, and then finish their season at home on Wednesday against the Hornets.

 

-- Dwain Price

Follow me on Twitter

@dwainprice