This new thread is for all Maverick Articles so we can have them organized in one place. I know that Mavsfan and I post a lot of articles from the Dallas Morning News. Usually they only get a few replies. I think it will be benifical to the Maverick Forum if we have them all in one thread. Now I'm not sayin dont post them as an individual thread if they will spark up a great debate. I'm just saying that most of them dont spark up a debate. These articles are more like update articles. Articles that update you on the team's play.I'll post one that I found today. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><span style="color:#3333FF">Most improved Mavs? Point to guards</span></span>07:56 PM CST on Sunday, December 3, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News It's no surprise that, through the first month of the season, the two most improved Mavericks play the same position ? point guard. If Devin Harris hasn't made the biggest leap on the team from Game 1 to Game 16, then it's only because Anthony Johnson had more ground to cover. Coach Avery Johnson said there's a reason why these two have made monumental improvement, particularly during the 12-game winning streak. "With Devin, we've taken all the pressure off of shooting," the coach said. "He's just a penetrator who can shoot. His job is to penetrate." And the Mavericks' improvement offensively ? better spacing so that the point guards know where their teammates are ? has been a big reason. "A.J. has been the guy, after Devin, who has made the most improvement in that area," Avery Johnson said. "We put together a pretty nice game the last game. We'll see what happens against Washington. Anthony Johnson said he can see the improvement happening almost by the game, especially with Harris, who moved into the starting lineup in the third game. "He's getting to the rim and creating opportunities for big Damp [Erick Dampier] and everybody, really," the veteran said of Harris, in his third year. "Devin Harris is playing extremely well, and my hat's off to him." Harris also has been benefiting from the rules that make it difficult for defenders to re-direct players driving to the rim. "You have to either let him go or it's a foul," Anthony Johnson said. Keeping a level head: Is it hard for the Mavericks not to think about the winning streak? Not really, because Avery Johnson won't let them. "These guys don't get caught up in any early season hype, one way or another," Johnson said. "First week of the season, we were in a situation where in some circles, we weren't going to do this or that. Now, we're supposed to do this or that. "But they don't believe anything about themselves, only what I tell them." And what is he telling them right now? "That we're just working, trying to get better every game," he said. "There's a particular area, no matter what happens tomorrow, that we cleaned up in practice today." Briefly: By making 21 consecutive free throws, Dirk Nowitzki has climbed to third in the league at 92.4 percent. ... Harris is shooting 85 percent from the line after hitting just 72.9 percent in his first two seasons. ... Over the last 10 games, Dampier is averaging 11.4 points on 71.4 percent shooting. He remains atop the league in field goal percentage (67.7).</div> Link
Mavs' defense sparks reboundBy ART GARCIAStar-Telegram Staff WriterThe Mavericks didn't have their Wheaties Tuesday morning before facing New Jersey later that night.More like their Avery's."We had a nice breakfast meeting this morning where we went over some stuff," Dirk Nowitzki explained. "AJ was obviously disappointed in our defense [Monday] night and the whole outing we had. So we were just ready to play."AJ, aka coach Avery Johnson, got his point across. It's one the Mavs know all too well. They just needed one of those not-so-subtle reminders from their general."If your defense is solid," said Nowitzki, sounding very much like a Johnson soldier, "it always gives you a chance to win games."The Mavs (13-5) bounced back from their first loss in nearly four weeks with defensively pleasing 92-75 victory at Continental Airlines Arena. The Nets were held to 35 percent shooting (an opponent low this season).The Nets (7-10) scored just 14 points in both the first and fourth quarters -- illustrating the Mavs' fast start and suffocating finish."We were really, really concerned about this New Jersey team," Johnson said. "Any team that marches out Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, [Nenad] Krstic and Richard Jefferson, those four guys can beat you all by themselves."I liked the way we had energy early in the game and the way we sustained it."The Nets had trouble with Josh Howard. After scoring just five points in Washington, Howard was all over the court early. When he wasn't knocking down a 3-pointer or posting up Kidd, he was rejecting Krstic from behind or stripping the ball from Carter."Asserted myself again," Howard said. "I don't think I did a good job [Monday] doing that. I missed a couple shots and I just got missing in action. I've got to continue to be a presence out there offensively and defensively, if I want to help this team win."Howard also made his presence felt during huddles, imploring his teammates to rebound."This was one of his better nights growing as a leader," Johnson said.Though Nowitzki didn't have his stroke down, he still had 26 points and 13 rebounds. Jason Terry and Devin Harris combined for 23 points and 12 assists. Erick Dampier had nine boards and three blocks.Unlike the eerily quiet flight up from Washington and the subdued bus ride Tuesday afternoon, the trip back to Texas promised to be "back to normal," Jerry Stackhouse said.That is whenever the Mavs made it on the plane. The team was stuck in the arena for more than an hour after the game waiting on its plane. It seems several team "guests" were flown to St. Thomas, and the plane didn't return in time for the scheduled departure.It's unclear if Johnson capped the night by springing for takeout. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------MAVERICKS PLAYBOOK'Show' far from overBy ART GARCIAStar-Telegram Staff WriterEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The ride had to end sometime. The journey, well, it's just beginning."We barely even talked about the winning streak," Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said after the 12-game unbeaten run ended. "All we said is, 'Let's keep this show rolling.' We never really talked about numbers or we want to reach a certain number in a row. We never did that."We all know it's very early. We still want to work on our games and get ultimately to be the team that we were last year. That team went to the Finals. We still have a long way to go."The Mavs (13-5) got back on the winning track Tuesday night, beating New Jersey 92-75 at Continental Airlines Arena to split the two-game road trip.Though they weren't caught up in the streak, which fell two wins shy of tying the franchise's best, how it ended proved disappointing. The Mavs were thoroughly outplayed for three quarters in Monday's 106-97 loss at Washington -- a team they beat by 27 points two weeks before.The Wizards dominated the boards. Josh Howard and Jason Terry had their worst games in weeks. And no one was able to slow down Gilbert Arenas.Road swingMost players are more comfortable in their arena, so it's not surprising that their stats are usually better at home. The disparity for Josh Howard last season was especially pronounced.Howard is averaging 18.8 points on 49.4 percent shooting (52 percent on 3-pointers) and six rebounds at home this season. On the road going into Tuesday, his numbers were 11.0 points on 43.3 percent from the floor (28.6 percent on 3s) and 2.7 boards.Avery Johnson is trying to pinpoint the reason for the difference."Does he settle more for jump shots on the road or is he getting in foul trouble, is it less free throws?" Johnson said. "We had some things that we looked at last year, but we've got to give him a chance because he was injured early on to see if we can help him stay steady on the road."Perhaps they've already figured something out. Howard scored 23 on 10-of-20 shooting against the Nets.You're outNormally it's a player or coach drawing the ire of official Joey Crawford, one of the league's more theatric referees. In the third quarter, it was a fan.After a stoppage in play under the Mavs' basket with 2:48 left in the period, a middle-aged male fan got Crawford's attention. The exchange didn't last long."I want him out," Crawford said to a nearby usher. When arena security didn't react quick enough, Crawford added: "Get him out of here." The fan left without incident.According to a statement released by NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson, the fan "used repeated profanity directed at the official." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Post Game Quotes Dec 5, 2006 - @ NetsMavericks head coach Avery Johnson:On winning tonight:?Tonight we needed to come back after what happened last night in Washington. We take our hats off to Washington because they deserved the win, but we didn?t really get a chance to play Maverick basketball until the fourth quarter.?On playing the Nets:?We were really, really concerned about this New Jersey team. Any team that marches out Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, (Nenad) Krstic and Richard Jefferson, those four guys can beat you all by themselves. I like the way we had energy early in the game and the way we sustained it. They tried to make a run on us at the end of the third quarter but we were able to hold them off. We needed everybody to perform tonight, and even though we didn?t shoot the ball great, I thought our defense was pretty good and pretty active.?On the coming back after a loss last night:?The plane was quiet, the bus was quiet on our journey here. That?s a good sign. Guys usually play some different games, but there were no games being played. We don?t take losing well, which is a good sign and fortunately we were able to come out and establish ourselves and at least give ourselves a chance to win.?Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki:On holding the lead:?I thought we showed a lot of poise in that fourth quarter. We knew the Nets are a good team and that they were going to make a run. We stayed solid defensively all night long, which was a big thing. We had a major defensive letdown yesterday.?On the Maverick offense:?Offensively, it was just keep your poise. We have a lot of weapons out there I missed a couple shots early, but I was able to knock a couple down.?On finding his offensive rhythm:?I kind of started out slow, didn?t have a lot of great looks to start off. Then, the fourth quarter, my teammates believed in me and I believed in myself and it?s all about confidence. I think I worked hard enough over the years to get my confidence there. If I am open and it?s there I have to be aggressive and make something happen for this team.?Mavericks guard Jason Terry:On the team:?We are undersized so we have to use our speed and quickness and be strong and hold your ground. We know we have help behind us so it allows us to be more aggressive.?On rebounding from last night?s loss:?It was a bad feeling. We didn?t want to lose this game tonight. We felt like we did the beginning of the season. It was good to see that we responded from adversity and last night from the disappointment.?Vince CarterOn if there were any positives about the game)?There were a lot of things that were positive tonight. I think as a team we were able to pick it up. We got good shoots. I think we defended pretty well. I think we waited too long. We had some key defensive mistakes. The four turnovers in a row were extremely costly. We just have to keep our heads up and keep going.?(On if tonight?s game was encouraging to the Nets)?Of course! I am definitely encouraged. We continued to play and we played to win. We can win a lot of ball games that way. I had a lot of open shots that I missed. We just have to continue to execute.?Jason KiddOn the game)?I don?t think we played tonight in the sense of first half, second half. We are playing against the Western Conference Champs and there was no excitement. I think Mikki (Moore) was the only one that showed up. We have to find out what the problem is. We play well in the first half and then we don?t play well in the second or vice versa. We just need to find out what is wrong.?(On the loss)?It is disappointing. Just when we thought we were going in the right direction we have tonight?s performance. Now having a tough week in the sense of having Dallas, then Phoenix, and then Boston coming in. We thought that this was going to be a week that we could hopefully improve as a team, win or loss. Tonight however we did not do that.?Richard Jefferson?s QuotesOn the game)?We thought we did a good defensive job. A lot of it was our inability to execute on the offensive end. I guess we will watch the tape and see areas where we have to improve. We weren?t real sharp, including myself. Shooting the ball the way I did, I couldn?t even knock down two free throws consecutively.??Whenever you don?t score points, you lack energy. We couldn?t hit shots, we missed our first 10 shots and I don?t know if we got discouraged and started to press later in the game. We got good looks, we just weren?t making them.??We just have to be patient and play with each other and work the best we can together. If you are going to struggle, you have to as team, not as individuals.?(On Mikki Moore)?He was excellent. He is maximizing his opportunity right now.?Mikki Moore?s quotesOn guarding top players)?When I was with other teams, that was my job. I started when I was with Seattle, I had to guard Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan.??I love the challenge and I don?t back down from the challenge. My teammates were out there talking to me and supporting me.?(On the game)?We played alright. We got the shots that we wanted, we just couldn?t hit them. Our team unity is still there. Overall, our team is still together and we are not going anywhere.? (On his performance)?I am not satisfied with my game play right now, but I am enjoying it.?Stu JacksonNBA Executive Vice President of Basketball OperationsOn the ejected fan:?Joey (Crawford) first motioned to the security guard to escort the guy off of the court and he was coming up onto the floor. When security was ready to tell the fan (to) get off the court and give him a warning, the fan then used repeated profanity directed at the official. At that point, the fan was removed.?
Mavs concerned about tinkering with Terry08:20 PM CST on Wednesday, December 6, 2006It's too early to sound the alarm.Do that when a team has won 13 of its last 14 games, and no one will listen, anyway.But in the last few days, Mavericks coach Avery Johnson has begun to wonder. Is Jason Terry mired in a shooting slump, or do his numbers over the last week to 10 days reflect a deeper issue? Has the guard's impact been diminished by the emergence of Devin Harris and the additions to the Mavericks rotation?A dip in scoring average doesn't concern Terry or anyone else in the organization. But the team must be careful here. Take the ball out of his hands too much, let Josh Howard shoot more of the shots that used to be Terry's and you minimize what makes him special.That's a line the Mavericks don't want to cross."That's one I have a close eye on, how I'm using him this year, how I'm subbing him in and out of games," Johnson said."Jason has been a huge part of our success. I don't see him in the rhythm of the game as much as I've seen in the past. We've got to try to fix that. We need him to take and make shots."Terry has failed to score in double figures in three of the six games leading up to Thursday night's contest with Detroit. He averaged 8.5 points and shot 27.2 percent from the field in the Mavericks' two-game road trip to start the week.The Mavericks wanted to move Terry off the ball more this season, but they didn't want to shove him out of the offense. But look at what's happening.Harris is improving nightly at the point. Anthony Johnson is coming off the bench with strong minutes. That means Terry picks up fewer and fewer minutes at the position. The coaching staff estimates the ball is in Terry's hands 30 percent less than it was last season.Then you have Howard's natural offensive development. He has passed Terry as the Mavericks' second-leading scorer and is actively hunting for shots he once ignored.Terry averaged 20.1 points in the eight games Howard missed with an ankle injury. He's averaged slightly more than 10 points in the games the small forward has been healthy. He's also averaged four fewer shots in those games.No starter has sacrificed more of his game to help the team get off to a 13-5 start than Terry. But he doesn't look at it that way."The whole team has had to make adjustments," Terry said."I haven't analyzed the situation. I haven't paid much attention to it. To me, it's more trying to find consistency with my play. Once that happens, I know I'll be all right."Terry knows his shot will return. It's a confidence born of the fact he goes to the gym every night the Mavericks don't play and refuses to leave until he sinks 500 shots.He knows the shot attempts will return because he has faith in his teammates.The Mavericks aren't a great passing team, but they are willing passers. There are no egos or agendas when it comes to moving the ball. Sure, Dirk Nowitzki will get the most shots, but the ball almost always seems to go where it should.If Howard is hot for a quarter, a game or a week, he will see the ball. The same goes for Terry and every other player on the roster."That's how we play, man," Terry said. "With so many weapons on the team, any given night a guy can go for 25, 30 points. We all have that ability."It's nice for Dirk to go for his 30, but we don't want to put all of the burden on his shoulders."Terry is the player who relieved that burden on most nights last season. He's had his moments this season.There just haven't been as many."Consistency is one thing I'm striving for at this point," Terry said. "There is some inconsistency with my shot. Other than that, I know it's timing, and I know that's going to come. I'm just being patient."This month, I'm really looking to pick it up."Avery Johnson will be watching.__________________
MAVERICKS PLAYBOOKMavs hunt consistencyBy DWAIN PRICEStar-Telegram Staff WriterDALLAS -- Don't, for a minute, believe Mavericks coach Avery Johnson enjoys the inconsistency his team has displayed this season.He's done everything but pull his hair out trying to figure why his team can beat Denver 105-90, then two nights later get blown out by Utah 101-79."We're not where we want to be," Johnson said. "We've gotten so many roller-coaster reactions with wins and losses."We're just kind of up and down right now. We're just trying to find that level of consistency where we kind of know what we're going to get night in and night out."Lakers coach Phil Jackson says the Mavs are just going through an adjustment period, because of the new players they added during the off-season."I think they're still trying to round into what I would call season shape, or getting the roles all defined for the season," Jackson said. "If they can get three scorers going like [Jason] Terry, [Josh] Howard and [Dirk] Nowitzki going occasionally on some nights, they're a very difficult team to play."In that regard, teams are going to have trouble with them. They're a team that has legitimate scorers at three positions."Johnson said the Mavs' poor defensive performance has affected their offense, which is why they're strapped to that roller-coaster."Our defense is obviously a big part of what we built this team on," he said. "And at this point in the season we're just not getting the stops that we need to get."Remembering 62Remember when Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 62 points against the Mavs in three quarters last year? Bryant does, but he really doesn't care about bringing up the past."That makes me tired just thinking about that game," he said. "It was a must-win for us, because we just came off a tough loss and we just needed a big win."I just came out early and asserted myself and just carried it all the way through."Mavs coach Avery Johnson said there was no need to remind his players of Bryant's amazing feat before the Mavs faced the Lakers on Wednesday."They already know that," Johnson said. "NBA TV and everybody's kind of showed it enough."Missing StackhouseWhat Avery Johnson misses the most about Jerry Stackhouse's absence is the physical nature that he brings to the court."The way Stack's been playing this year, it's not so much the points," Johnson said. "It's the way he's trying to pass the basketball, and the way he's trying to rebound better this year and be more competitive on the defensive end."He's just one of our toughest players. I was thinking about that game [Monday] in Utah. That's a game like that where he really excels."Stackhouse has missed the past three games with a strained right groin. Johnson, however, said he should be back in the lineup either Friday against Philadelphia or Saturday against New Orleans/Oklahoma City.
MAVERICKS PLAYBOOKMavs hunt consistencyBy DWAIN PRICEStar-Telegram Staff WriterDALLAS -- Don't, for a minute, believe Mavericks coach Avery Johnson enjoys the inconsistency his team has displayed this season.He's done everything but pull his hair out trying to figure why his team can beat Denver 105-90, then two nights later get blown out by Utah 101-79."We're not where we want to be," Johnson said. "We've gotten so many roller-coaster reactions with wins and losses."We're just kind of up and down right now. We're just trying to find that level of consistency where we kind of know what we're going to get night in and night out."Lakers coach Phil Jackson says the Mavs are just going through an adjustment period, because of the new players they added during the off-season."I think they're still trying to round into what I would call season shape, or getting the roles all defined for the season," Jackson said. "If they can get three scorers going like [Jason] Terry, [Josh] Howard and [Dirk] Nowitzki going occasionally on some nights, they're a very difficult team to play."In that regard, teams are going to have trouble with them. They're a team that has legitimate scorers at three positions."Johnson said the Mavs' poor defensive performance has affected their offense, which is why they're strapped to that roller-coaster."Our defense is obviously a big part of what we built this team on," he said. "And at this point in the season we're just not getting the stops that we need to get."Remembering 62Remember when Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 62 points against the Mavs in three quarters last year? Bryant does, but he really doesn't care about bringing up the past."That makes me tired just thinking about that game," he said. "It was a must-win for us, because we just came off a tough loss and we just needed a big win."I just came out early and asserted myself and just carried it all the way through."Mavs coach Avery Johnson said there was no need to remind his players of Bryant's amazing feat before the Mavs faced the Lakers on Wednesday."They already know that," Johnson said. "NBA TV and everybody's kind of showed it enough."Missing StackhouseWhat Avery Johnson misses the most about Jerry Stackhouse's absence is the physical nature that he brings to the court."The way Stack's been playing this year, it's not so much the points," Johnson said. "It's the way he's trying to pass the basketball, and the way he's trying to rebound better this year and be more competitive on the defensive end."He's just one of our toughest players. I was thinking about that game [Monday] in Utah. That's a game like that where he really excels."Stackhouse has missed the past three games with a strained right groin. Johnson, however, said he should be back in the lineup either Friday against Philadelphia or Saturday against New Orleans/Oklahoma City.
