Re: Hopes soar for Mavs' Dampier <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Hopes soar for Mavs' DampierCenter's rebound totals improving, but Johnson is raising the bar higher11:52 PM CST on Thursday, December 21, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News Avery Johnson always wants more. More assists from Jerry Stackhouse. More offensive rebounds from Dirk Nowitzki. More consistency from his team. But there's nobody he wants more from than Erick Dampier. That's why games like Wednesday's 103-95 win at Seattle that capped a 3-0 road trip was so tantalizing to the Mavericks coach. Dampier took up the slack for an injured Nowitzki with 22 points and 16 rebounds. The 22 points Johnson can live without. But the 16 rebounds are something he'd like to see more often. After a relatively strong stretch of games from Dampier and backup DeSagana Diop, the center position had, as Johnson said, leveled off. "Where they were is not good enough," Johnson said. "Where they were, you sometimes get suckered into thinking, we're doing good. But doing good compared to what? "Let's say hypothetically you're averaging six points and six rebounds. The bar was already low." Johnson wants more. He wants to see a long string of double-figure rebounding games out of Dampier. And he has communicated that expectation to the 6-11 bundle of inconsistency. "That's what I'm telling Damp," Johnson said. "When he gets 10 rebounds, OK. I'm going back and looking on the film and trying to see if it could have been 17. When he hits 10 rebounds, it's not like a sign of relief. I'm trying to see if there's more games where he could have 15 to 17 [rebound]games, not eight to 10 games." Dampier's 16 rebounds against the Sonics were his season high. And when his teammates see him working that hard around the bucket, they tend to think about Dampier more when it comes to offensive opportunities. Stackhouse said it's the responsibility of everybody to realize that a hard-working big man has every right to touch the ball on the offensive end once in a while. "He controlled the paint and that's where he got his opportunity," Stackhouse said. "Guys found him. But if he has a game where he shoots 2-for-5 for us, it's still a good game if he does all the other things. And it's great to reward him when he's playing games like that. When you draw his man, dump it off to him because he deserves those opportunities. And he works hard for a lot of them." Dampier remains unassuming about his contributions. He knows the ball doesn't always bounce his way for rebounds. But the hard screens he sets, as well as the defensive presence he has, usually have a positive impact on the Mavericks' fortunes. If he can get the rebounds, he does. If he can't, he tries to tip the ball out and give a teammate a chance to run it down. And as for the idea that Johnson continually wants more, Dampier said he agrees 100 percent. "I think we can do this every night, whether it's me or DeSagana," Dampier said. "We feel like we have to be productive every night." Nowitzki was quick to point out how much a game like Dampier's on Wednesday impacts the team. "It was fun to watch," he said. "Defensively, he was big-time. He was contesting shots, blocking shots. He was a beast on the glass, finishing in the paint. He was great. We all like to see that." Like Johnson, they all want to see more.</div>Glad to hear this. Avery working hard to keep Dampier motivated. Avery is gifted in that area of coaching.
Re: Hopes soar for Mavs' Dampier I think motivation was the whole key for Dampier. Which is something he lacked all though his Mavs career. It seemed to turn around when Damp got the swtich to the bench for Diop last season. He was actually caring about contributing to the team while he was on the court. And this season it has even gone a notch bigger. Into Beast Mode
Re: Hopes soar for Mavs' Dampier Hmm... I don't mean to talk badly about Damp, but I think the rebound numbers are a bit inflated... as I recall, he missed a lot of short shots and grabbed the rebound right there. Ah well.
Re: Hopes soar for Mavs' Dampier ^Doesn't matter...at least he gets those rebounds back...it could be worse you know, lol.Besides he has an incredible field goal %...so he can't be getting that many of his own put backs.
