- Turco'ed - definition (verb) - To ambush the opponent in the shortest of time, no matter the sport. Where, in the blink of an eye, usually within 1 period/quarter of play, a team's chances of winning have been eliminated and the rest of the game is spent in give-up mode.
Dallas Stars' freefall continues with 6-3 loss
11:45 PM CST on Thursday, January 3, 2008
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The spiral down continued Thursday for the Dallas Stars and Marty Turco, who allowed three Minnesota goals on the first four shots he faced and was pulled 13:14 into the game.
Dallas went on to lose 6-3 – its third loss in a row – and fell to 23-16-4 (50 points). Minnesota, meanwhile, moved to 23-15-2 (48 points) and closed the gap in a tightening Western Conference.
"For us to be a good team, we have to have all the pieces in place, and we're missing a lot of pieces right now," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "It's just as simple as that."
While the Stars are missing injured players such as Sergei Zubov, Jere Lehtinen, Jussi Jokinen and Philippe Boucher, Tippett was referring to the product on the ice.
Dallas made mistakes in all phases of the game. The struggling power play has not scored in four games and is 0-for-16 in that span. It had two chances in the first period, resulting only in a short-handed goal for the Wild.
Marian Gaborik broke in and scored on Turco when the Stars' goalie made a failed attempt at a poke check. Turco, who struggled in Detroit the night before, then allowed goals to Pavol Demitra and Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the next 3:24. He was pulled in favor of backup goalie Mike Smith.
When asked if Turco might need an extended break, Tippett said: "I don't know. We'll see."
Smith made some key saves to keep the Stars in the game, but he was beat on a Gaborik shot in the first period, yielded a power-play goal to Eric Belanger in the second and also was beat late in the game by Mark Parrish.
As Tippett said, it was a little bit of everything. The goaltending wasn't great and the special teams play was below par. The top lines were better than they were in Detroit the night before, but they did not carry the game.
"It's everything," Tippett said. "Every part of our game."
Stars center Mike Modano, who helped set up Steve Ott on a second period goal, said it has been very tough for the Stars to create offense lately.
"Ability with the puck right now is not really good," Modano said. "It just seems to be a real struggle to just get the puck up and down the ice."
As a result, the Stars are giving up the first goal and playing from behind against strong defensive teams.
"They got the lead early and they kept on coming, and we didn't really adjust until the middle of the second period," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "You can't let a team like that get the lead. That's been their model for years."
Of course, the Wild also was motivated to follow that model. They lost an 8-3 game in Dallas last week and wanted a little measure of revenge.
"We knew how we played the last game in Dallas. We kind of struggled," Demitra said. "We obviously prepared for this game."
Now, the Stars will get the same opportunity for revenge. They play host to Detroit on Saturday and will see the Wild again Monday at home.
Zubov will test his hand injury today and could be back in the lineup against Detroit. However, the Stars say they have to be ready even if he isn't.
"He's a great player, but we're certainly capable of winning games with the lineup we have right now," said rookie defenseman Matt Niskanen, who scored a goal in his return to his home state. "Right now, I don't think we're giving a complete effort as a group for a full 60 minutes.
"We definitely have the people in here that should be able to get it done. We'll get it turned around."
- Mavs finally coming around. Health, health, health. All components of Avery's master plan are finally all healthy at the same time. And who would have thought Dampier would be such a major key to their success? Look it up.
Dallas Mavericks starting to play with feeling
12:40 AM CST on Friday, January 4, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com
Avery Johnson went to the dentist Thursday morning and was all numbed up for the start of practice.
But by the end of the workout, his face was slowly getting back to normal.
Sort of like the Mavericks lately.
What started as a sometimes-painful season that was lacking identity has started to develop some feeling. The cloudiness of the first two months has slowly begun to fade, judging from recent showings. The Mavericks have started to play better defense. They have cut down on opponents' points in the paint.
They have won games by keeping foes in the 80s and 90s and by scoring well into the 100s.
It's a start toward getting this team where it belongs, Johnson said.
"We're going to get that swagger back," Johnson said through his tingly jaw after practice. "We haven't gotten it yet. We've seen it in spurts. It's just going to take work and practice. It's going to take film sessions."
What has given Johnson and everybody else in the Mavericks' camp cause for optimism of late is the return of one of their most treasured assets – the ability to play and win while employing any style.
"That's where we feel our success can be, to be able to change," Johnson said.
Things that are coming into focus lately are everywhere, but three stand out:
The center position
The play of Erick Dampier is giving credence to what Johnson has been saying all season, that Dampier's shoulder injury hurt more in the playoffs last season than anyone let on at the time.
"Obviously, you've seen it," Johnson said. "People wonder why I 'didn't use him' in the playoffs. He had a shoulder that required surgery. He really could not perform. So now you can see when Damp is able to play at a high level, when we get that consistency, we're a pretty good team."
The Mavericks saw the same defense from Golden State on Wednesday that the Warriors used to beat them in the playoffs last spring. Atlanta last week did the same thing. Both times, Dampier burned them, as did others. Ball movement was crisp. Scoring was spread around. Smiles were everywhere.
"Obviously we're a better team when I'm out there on the floor setting picks, playing defense, rebounding, doing the little things that people don't notice," Dampier said. "My shoulder is a lot better, almost 100 percent. Before the surgery, it was kind of painful. But now I'm able to go out and do things pain-free."
Spacing
Eddie Jones starting opens the floor for Dampier, Josh Howard and Devin Harris.
"Eddie's been one of our good facilitators right now," Johnson said. "He's been initiating plays for us, and that's been a delight.
"The space goes from a pretty shrunken space to much more space to deal with because guys don't want to leave him. I think it helps everybody if Eddie's man doesn't leave him."
Johnson said it will take 10 or 15 more games before he can decide if Jones in the starting lineup is a permanent fixture.
Points in the paint
In one of the themes of their revival, the Mavericks have improved theirs and cut down on the opponents' cheap baskets.
"Our whole goal is to totally take away points in the paint," Jones said. "We're trying to get it together. If we keep guys from getting in the paint, we're a heck of a ball club."
- Mack about to make another genius hire, much like the Gene Chizik hire a few years ago. Goes out and gets a top 5 assistant coach. Austin, Texas has jedi powers when it comes to convincing guys to make lateral coaching moves.
Texas covets Auburn defensive coordinator
11:51 PM CST on Thursday, January 3, 2008
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
chipbrown@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has interviewed with Texas coach Mack Brown about joining the Longhorns' staff, and a deal could be reached quickly, according to a source close to the UT program.
If Muschamp, 36, joins Brown's staff, he would be the defensive play-caller and coach linebackers. Duane Akina would relinquish play-calling duties and coach the secondary while maintaining a co-coordinator role. Larry Mac Duff, who served as co-coordinator and linebackers coach this season, resigned Wednesday.
Muschamp's agent, Jimmy Sexton, didn't immediately return phone calls.
UT's defense was ranked eighth nationally against the run (93.4 ypg) this season but gave up 25.3 points per game and a school-record 4,825 total yards and 277.8 passing yards per game.
Under Muschamp, Auburn was fifth nationally in scoring defense (16.7 ppg), eighth in total defense (298.3 ypg), seventh against the pass (179 ypg) and 26th against the run (119.3 ypg).
According to a source, Texas would likely have to pay Muschamp at least $400,000 to lure him from Auburn, where he has served under Tommy Tuberville the past two years. Akina and Mac Duff both earned $300,000 this season.
If Muschamp comes to Austin, it would be the second time in four years that Brown would be raiding Tuberville's staff for a defensive coordinator. Brown also hired Gene Chizik from Auburn in 2004. Chizik spent two years at Texas, including UT's national title season in 2005, before taking the head coaching position at Iowa State.
- Check this video out.
- Bo's core beliefs on football, coaching, and defense......
Steven M. Sipple: Core philosophies guide Pelini
Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007 - 12:24:08 am CST
Bo Pelini’s three-year tenure as Louisiana State’s defensive coordinator began rather inauspiciously.
In the Tigers’ 2005 season opener, Sam Keller — yes, that Sam Keller — torched Pelini’s defense for 461 passing yards as Arizona State accumulated 560 total yards in a 35-31 loss to LSU. In LSU’s next game, the Tigers fell 30-27 in overtime to Tennessee.
“Believe me, everybody in the state of Louisiana was ready to hang Bo Pelini,” says Bo Pelini.
At that point, it might have been tempting for Pelini to make significant changes to his defense. But he declined to deviate from his core philosophies. The result: Louisiana State ended the 2005 season with an 11-2 record and ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense — the ranking it also holds this week as it prepares to play Ohio State in the BCS national title game Jan. 7 in New Orleans.
Pelini’s core philosophies? Well, the new Nebraska head coach (he was hired Dec. 2, but is coaching Louisiana State’s defense in the championship game) addressed them last spring in a presentation to Louisiana high school coaches. A kind reader e-mailed me the presentation in the form of an audio link from fastandfuriousfootball.com, which provides a variety of learning resources for coaches.
It’s informative listening material, another chance to get to know Bo, and a nice Christmas surprise for sure. Some highlights from the 60-minute presentation:
* Pelini tells the coaches his goal always is to field “the best-effort defense” in the nation.
“Our philosophy is to create a culture of swarming to the football — that’s the first thing we do,” he says. “I want opposing teams, when they’re watching film of us, to say, ‘Wow, how do they get those guys to play so hard?’”
To that end, Pelini grades defenders’ effort on every play in practice, always looking for “11 guys playing in one continuous motion from the time the ball is snapped to the time the ballcarrier is on the ground.”
* Pelini avoids “beating guys down” with negative tones and harsh language.
“I take this philosophy: There hasn’t been a player ever that has tried to make a mistake out on the field,” Pelini says. “If he made a mistake, he made it for a reason. Well, as a coach, you need to search for that reason — search for a way to get through to that kid. Ultimately, when you coach that way, the players are going to believe in you. And at the end of the day, they’re going to want to run through a wall for you.”
Pelini tells a story from 2003 when he served as Nebraska’s defensive coordinator. A defender made a mistake in practice, and one of the Husker assistant coaches castigated the player. The assistant ranted and raved and even ran from the sideline into the defensive huddle to get in the player’s face.
“I called the assistant coach over to me and said, ‘All that stuff you just did: Was that for you or for the player? Because I heard you yelling at that kid and not one time did you tell him what he did wrong,’” Pelini says. “I told the coach, ‘So, the next time, it’s on you.’”
The key, Pelini says, is “getting kids to understand what they’re doing so they can do it fast.”
“If I get after a kid, (later) I’ll walk up and put my arm around him and say, ‘You’re better than that, right? You know you’re better than that, right?’”
* Pelini says a lot of coaches get too caught up in X’s and O’s and fail to get to know players on a personal level. He says it’s important to spend time with players away from the football setting, “so you know what makes them click.” He says he wants players to have fun. “Don’t make it doom and gloom for them,” he says.
* One of his main objectives is to take the opposing offense out of its comfort zone and disrupt the quarterback’s play-calling rhythm. To that end, Pelini says, he’s somewhat rare among defensive coordinators in that he scripts his calls early in games. In scripting his calls, he says, he tries to gives the offense “multiple, multiple looks” early on. He uses this tactic “to get in the heads” of offensive coordinators while simultaneously trying to dissuade the offense from using certain plays later in the game.
“If an offense has a couple of plays I know I don’t want to see, I’m going to run some blitzes and pressures and things that say, ‘OK, those things aren’t going to be there for you this week,’” Pelini says. “Because later in the game, when I get into my game plan, I don’t want to see a couple plays (from the offense). If I can put in their heads, ‘OK, let’s go away from that stuff,’ we’re going to be in a better situation as a defense.”
* “I know this: The great defensive football players play with very little or no wasted movement,” Pelini says. “They’re very efficient.”
* He says a prime objective for a defense should be putting itself in “winnable third-down situations,” such as third-and-6-or-more yards.
* He says defensive coordinators shouldn’t show panic, because their players will sense it and react accordingly.
For instance, “I’ve been around coaches who act like the world came to an end if the offense got a 3-yard gain on first down,” Pelini says. “What happens is, you act like that toward your players, they get in there and get more aggressive and boom — you start getting beat on play-action (passes) and ultimately you get beat over the top, and that’s how you lose games.”
* The most important statistic a staff charts during a game is an offense’s “explosive gains,” or passes that gain more than 16 yards and runs that cover more than 12. “If offenses don’t get explosive gains and have to execute all the way down the field, we’re going to win.”
Pelini, of course, speaks with his usual confidence and conviction. In 2005, as his LSU defense struggled early in the season, he held firm to his beliefs. You have to figure he’ll use the same approach in 2008 as he guides a Nebraska defense that finished this season ranked 112th nationally in yards allowed.
“It’s not about what offenses are doing — it’s about us,” Pelini told the coaches in his spring speech. “If we execute down after down after down, we’re going to be fine. That’s the key to playing great defense.”
- Big Magnificent Tuna fires Cam Cameron
- I really hate country music. I really do. The soccer moms will lining up to buy this crap. You tell em it's country, then it's country. Pliable, tractable. Call it what it is - generic, non-inspiring 80's pop garbage. Keep it on Mix 102.9.
Jessica Simpson Starts Work on Country Album
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 02, 2008 07:15 AM EST
By Nicholas White
Jessica Simpson is getting back to her roots.
The singer, 27, has begun recording a country album in Nashville, Billboard reports.
"I am a country girl," she told the magazine. "I grew up in Texas, and country music was what I listened to. I always wanted to wait until the time was right."
So why now? Simpson's recent movie efforts have sputtered, with her Blonde Ambition getting only a limited theatrical release and 2006's Employee of the Month failing to find a large audience. Her last pop CD, 2006's A Public Affair, also underperformed.
Simpson – who's now dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo – added that she'll pen some of the songs for the new project.
"Writing is a release for me," she said. "It's a way for me to tell my story. That's not to say I wouldn't record a song that I didn't write. It's just that it has been a while since I have opened the book."
- Shoot me now.
- And then bring me back to life.
