Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Marquee chance for Mavs' DanielsObviously Sefko dropped the ball on Jim Jackson. He's with the Lakers.http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...e.cd59cc4.htmlMarquee chance for Mavs' DanielsYoung guard gets a rare star turn as hobbled Mavs troll for talent10:46 PM CST on Monday, March 13, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning NewsThey say that when one door closes, another surely opens.For Marquis Daniels, the door has flung wide, and he is going to get every chance to stride through it.While the Mavericks were weighing options for picking up a player to help them through their injury crunch, the key to holding the fort could be Daniels, who has come through with two of his best games of the season since Devin Harris went down with a left thigh injury."He's got to play more minutes and be more responsible," coach Avery Johnson said of the third-year guard. "That's why it's team game. You can have a 10th man in the starting lineup. We have guys one through 12 that we feel good about putting in games."Daniels has just about run that gamut. But with Harris out indefinitely (results of an MRI exam will be known today), Daniels will become the backup point guard in many situations. He also will be the starter at shooting guard while Josh Howard and Adrian Griffin, who are listed as day-to-day, recover from hamstring problems.Daniels will try not to deviate from the attitude he's had all season, which is to do whatever he can whenever he is called upon. The neck strain he had this season is gone, and his slashing style is back.In the last two games, he's averaged 15.5 points, seven rebounds and two steals and shot 48 percent from the field. He's also average 37 minutes. With Harris sidelined, Daniels will run the team from the point guard spot more often during the coming games."That's something I've been trying to do, working on getting my assists up and keeping my turnovers down as much as possible," he said. "I just try to get in the lane; if I have a shot, take that or find other guys."Meanwhile, the Mavericks were combing through a list of names ? some obvious, some not so well-known ? who might fit on their roster if they decide to make a stopgap move while their injured players heal."Anyone is a possibility, but first and foremost we'll look internally and see if any of our players here can answer the bell," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. "We have to see how long everybody's going to be out. We'll base all our thoughts when we figure out what kind of hand we have."While Latrell Sprewell, Jim Jackson and Fred Hoiberg are out there, three lesser-known names might make more sense: Gerald Fitch, Will Bynum and Ime Udoka.Fitch was recently waived by Houston, and the Mavericks have been in contact with his agent. Bynum and Udoka have been impressive in the developmental league.Greatness at 82: Tonight marks the 82nd game in Johnson's head-coaching tenure, and he's guaranteed to have the best record in NBA history after the equivalent of one season.A win would give him a 66-16 mark. He was 16-2 after taking over for Don Nelson last March.Strong competition: The Mavs are in a stretch in which they play numerous teams battling for either playoff spots or a higher seeding for the postseason."I love it," Johnson said. "I wish we could play the last 20 games like this because I really want to try to go into the playoffs playing at a high level. But you can't play at a high level when you're playing against teams that don't really have anything to play for."Utah, Sacramento and Cleveland represent the kind of teams Johnson likes to see at this time of year."The physicality is a lot higher," he said. "It can expose certain things about us that we need to continue to improve on."Briefly: Another byproduct of playing Utah and Sacramento back-to-back was that Johnson got to see the Mavericks stand up against physical opponents despite being shorthanded. While he's never happy with losses, he can handle them better when his team has left its best effort on the floor. "I'm not disappointed in that area," he said. ... After tonight, the Mavericks play seven of their next nine on the road.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels WTF, why are we talking to Gerald Fitch's agent. Rockets have holes at guard, and they cut him. He's not worth cutting Rawle, we would be in the same position with that move. Both young players who will not contribute this season.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Yeah the rockets have Luther Head and Mcgrady before he went down. It is a meaningless move and I guess Marshall has not proved anything to Avery that he deserves minutes this season.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Looks like Rawle might have locked himself up with a spot. He didn't look too bad, compared to the names out there in free agency.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Marshall looked good at the beginning of the game but made a ton of mistakes. Well he has potential but is very raw in his game. I think if he gets consistent minutes he might develop into a decent player.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Yeah he made mistakes, but he made Rookie mistakes, what else do you expect from a rookie? He looks alot like what Daniels looked like a few years back.I think his emergence will keep us from taking our chances and a contract on somone in FA.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Daniels looked really good his rookie year. That is when he made that great playoff run scoring a lot of points. Unfortunately back than Dallas didn't play defense. Thanks to playing Walker at center and Jamison is a poor defender as well.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Yeah, but Daniels got alot of playing time all year, and then really came on strong in March/April...Marshall just started playing in March...gotta give him a learning curve man.
Re: Marquee chance for Mavs' Daniels Daniels got garbage minutes his rookie year at the start. He gradually got more minutes, but he never played a whole lot in the 1st half.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Unfortunately back than Dallas didn't play defense. Thanks to playing Walker at center and Jamison is a poor defender as well.</div>And the Big 3 as well.
