Rick Carlisle Dropped the F-Bomb On Me

This took place back on January 29 or 30^th, right after the Mavs game against Golden State on January 28^th.

The back story is... it was Jeff Caplan’s last day as beat reporter for the Mavericks. (because of that stupid thing with the papers sharing content) We were standing around talking, waiting for everyone to get their equipment set up and Jeff told Rick that it was his last day covering the team and he should say something outrageous or shocking. I happen to ask the first question and this was his response…

HERE

I am going to try and find the unedited version, not sure if we still have it though. This is the version we had to play on the air.

Off topic, its funny how much Coach Carlisle looks like Jim Carey

I thought this was random and funny, so enjoy.

Mavs Struggle For Scoring...

Since Jason Terry went down with his broken hand we all knew the Mavs would be searching for scoring. They had to find some way to replace his 15-20 points a game, and it seems obvious to me that Coach Carlisle is trying to find any combination of players he can to fill JET’s void. It might be too late for that though.


Since before the All-Star break, the Mavs had a lead on Boston and blew it, beat a bad New Jersey team only to turn around and lose to Houston without T-Mac. Dallas beat up Sacramento, but then plays absolutely horrible against San Antonio who was missing Obi Won Ginobli and Tim Duncan. Surprise, they rebound once again with a win against Milwaukee but the Bucks were missing Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut. Then, last night they get taken to OT by Oklahoma City (who isn’t a bad team) but Kevin Durant only played in the first quarter.


With all that being said, I have seen a couple lineups in the last two games that I don’t think we have seen at any other point in this season. This pushes me to believe that Carlisle is struggling to find production outside of Dirk and Josh Howard and will try anything.


In the Milwaukee game there was a lineup of Barea, Wright, George, Dirk, and Singleton. In the Oklahoma City game there were a few different ones.

- Kidd, Barea, Green, Bass, Singleton
- Kidd, Green, Howard, Dirk, Singleton
- Barea, Green, Howard, Bass, Singleton

Now, I know neither Milwaukee nor OK City have big dominant centers so you can sit Dampier for longer periods of time, but I think there is more to it than that. Carlisle knows that he has to get scoring and Erika Dampier isn’t able to produce on the offensive end so…he brings in players like Bass and Singleton who are more active on offense.


Then there is Gerald Green. Mr. Green didn’t have a great night last night going 2-8 from the floor for 6 points, but I still believe he should be getting those minutes. Even though he had an off game, (which could be from not getting to play ever) he was active and involved and he deserves those minutes over players like Carroll, Stackhouse, and George as I stated in an earlier posting.


Here is the problem with all of this though. Coach Carlisle has waited too long into the season to start experimenting with different lineups and ways to score. Obviously nobody expected JET to go down, but as a coach you have to be prepared for those types of things.


A lot of people were confused and kind of questioned Carlisle’s rotations at the beginning of the season because certain players would play one game and not the next or only get like 3 or 4 minutes. That was the time when he should have been experimenting with lineups and things of that nature. James Singleton has just now started to get valuable playing time, but he should have been in the rotation since the very beginning.


This was just something I noticed, so I thought I would share it. The Mavs are hurting for scoring a lot more than I think they originally thought they would. This is another reason it would have been nice to bring in a decent role player before the trade deadline.


HOLLA!

Interview With Matt Carroll of the Mavericks

I had the chance to talk with Matt Carroll of the Mavericks earlier this month and he discussed being traded to the Mavs, Jason Kidd taking control of the offense (this interview took place right after Carlisle handed the play calling over to Kidd), and his time at Notre Dame.

Listen to the interview HERE

If you missed my interview with Ryan Hollins it is still available here

Thanks

Celtics Sign Stephon Marbury

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics announced today that they have signed free agent guard Stephon Marbury. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are very excited to have a player of Stephon’s caliber joining our team. Our entire organization is confident in the belief that Stephon can play an important role in helping us to win another championship,” said Danny Ainge, Celtics President of Basketball Operations.

Marbury, a 6’2”, 205lb guard, is entering his 13^th season in the NBA and has posted career averages of 19.7 points and 7.8 assists per game. The former Georgia Tech product is third among all active players in assists with 6,396. The two time All-Star has averaged 20 or more points in a season seven times and has averaged eight or more assists nine times. During his career, Marbury has finished in the NBA’s top 5 in assists five times, and has finished in the top 10 nine times.

Marbury will wear #8.

The Celtics finally aquire Starbury, SUPRISE! It will be a nice addition to the team as long as he doesnt cause any problems. I still think the top 3 in the East stays as is with Boston in the 1 spot, Cleveland at 2, and Orlando in 3rd.

Antoine Wright Wasn't Supposed To Be In Kidd Trade...

After the Mavericks got finished practicing earlier this afternoon, the other media members and myself had the chance to speak with Antoine Wright. The discussion turned to him being traded here last season and the Mavs guard had some interesting things to say.


Antoine was not supposed to be involved in the Jason Kidd trade. “I felt betrayed a little bit because I wasn’t supposed to be in the trade” Wright said. He followed that up with “Lawrence Franks said you are not in a trade, go on vacation.” Antoine said he was on vacation when he saw his name scroll across the bottom of the TV screen and rushed to call his agent to see if he really had been traded.


Hear all of Antoine Wright’s comments by clicking HERE


That is kind of shady business if you ask me, but I guess that is how things go in the NBA.


As for my thoughts, I am glad he is part of this team, and I enjoy watching him play. (It is nice to see someone on the Mavs cut to the basket) I have been big on him since he got here and I think he is finally becoming the player Coach Carlisle pictured him as being when he took over.


It is interesting to think who the Mavericks starting 2 guard would be right now if they didn’t make the Kidd trade. Would JET be starting? Would the Mavs have made a move in the off season for someone? We will never know.

You can actually read a real writers article on Antoine Wright by checking out Eddie Sefko's piece here

I'm Out, Holla!

Random Mav of the Week!

This is a new weekly posting that I have decided to do. It will run through the remainder of the Mavs season and I am not sure if it will carry over to the Rangers or not, but the Cowboys will be involved when their season starts back up.

These random players have played for the Mavs at some point in their career but they were never a super star. That is one of the main things with this, they can not be huge names like Dirk or Steve Nash or something like that. It has to be random.

This week's Random Mav of the Week is….

Popeye Jones

Although Popeye was a pretty good Mav while he was here, he is probably better known for looking like Sloth from the Goonies.

See the resemblance? If he would have played for a team called the Sloths he would for sure be #1 on my power rankings for athlete most looking like the team mascot he played for.

Popeye was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the second round (41st overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft but his rights were traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for former University of Michigan center Eric Riley's draft rights. He played professionally in Europe for a season, then played for the Mavericks three seasons until being shipped to Toronto. He made a return to Dallas in 02-03 but only played in 26 games.

Popeye is now coaching for the Mavs, helping in the player development department. (I always see him working with Brandon Bass at practice) He also has two sons who are supposedly really good at hockey. You can read Jeff Caplan’s article about that by clicking here.

Congratulations to Popeye Jones, Angry Trey’s Random Mav of the Week