Dallas Mavericks Skip First Quarter Against Grizzlies: Fan Reaction

This is getting to be old stuff, but the Dallas Mavericks are perfecting a losing game plan of not showing up for a full game. It's been happening all year but the last two games really put the meaning in "take a break." In the April 6 game against the Portland Trail Blazers the Mavericks took the third quarter off, scoring 10 to the Blazers 30. In the second game of a back to back on April 7 against the Memphis Grizzlies the Mavs score 10 to 29 in the first quarter and it wasn't that close. The Mavericks had four points with four minutes left in the first quarter. The game was frustrating on another level as well. Baseball kicked the game off my regular Dish channel to a local Dallas station not available to me. I ended up watching the game online in french. An interesting experience and language wasn't a barrier.

Some random musings after the last two games—the whole season really.

A Dirk Nowitzki quote after the Trail Blazer loss is a very important point: "It's always like I start off hot, I get out of the game at 6 minutes, whatever, first quarter. Then I didn't get a shot, basically one shot in the second and one in the third. And then we're down 8 and then it's like, 'Here you go, now you've got the ball, make something happen.' It's tough. I've got to be able to keep myself in rhythm and keep getting touches throughout the game."

Dirk's quote is something I've been harping on for some time. Dirk, Brandan Wright, Vince Carter, and others have had some good playing time but never get the flow back after being pulled for rest. I'm thinking the timing of the rotation is interrupting individual and team production. Vince Carter has scored 14 points in a first half and never hits the floor in the second half. Brandan Wright plays eight minutes, sparks a resurgence, and doesn't play another minute. It's on the coaches and the team to keep the hot player(s) in the game.

Do the plus or minus stats on a recap sheet mean anything? Supposedly meant to indicate team scoring efficiency by giving individual players a plus or minus score for the time they are on the floor. I think so. If we look at the Mavericks/Grizzlies game we see seven Grizzlies players in the plus column. They won the game. Only two Mavericks players are in the plus column.

I'll use my informal individual performance formula to indicate who played the best for the Mavericks. The formula is less meaningful when play is under 20 minutes so I'll skip those players. A score of 10 or better is good. You don't need stats to know who played good but they can be interesting.

Dirk Nowitzki: 5 (Dirk's season average is 18.2)

Shawn Marion: 15.

Vince Carter: 15

Delonte West: 0

Jason Terry: 9 (season average: 4.8)

Brandan Wright: 10

Rodrigue Beaubois: 3

This indicates the three best players on the floor for that night were Marion, Carter and Wright. Marion and Carter are the only Mavericks who scored a field goal in the first quarter. Wright contributed three points on free throws in the first quarter. The game was lost in the first quarter. OK—on to the next game.

Gerald is a fan of the Dallas Mavericks since the mid 80s. There are more good years now. He'll stick with them all the way.

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