- Dallas has a very important stretch of games coming up. 9 of next 10 are at home. They get 5 semi-easy games at the beginning. And then tough, close losses on the road at the West's best can be made up for with a nice stretch of LA, Boston, and San Antonio starting in 2 weeks.
- There is no margin for error now. There are no more moral victories. This is the time you use to build momentum for the playoffs. You've proven you can hang with these teams on the road with a new point guard and lackluster play from Stackhouse and Howard. Now it's time to throw all excuses out the window. Kidd is integrated into the system now. It's put up or shut up time for Josh Howard. No more excuses from here on out.
Expect Dallas Mavericks to soon show value of Kidd deal
12:28 AM CST on Wednesday, March 5, 2008
I don't understand how anyone can watch the Dallas Mavericks play their last eight games and think the team was better off before the Jason Kidd trade.
But I know those people are out there. And the original critics of the deal surely feel that Dallas' 4-4 record since it made the move validates their argument.
And that is nonsense.
Take away the first road loss at New Orleans in which Kidd only knew five or six sets and had had only one practice with the team. In the team's other defeats – all on the road against Los Angeles, Utah and San Antonio – the Mavericks held fourth-quarter leads in each game.
I'll take my chances with a team that can play like that in the first few games following a roster-changing trade any time.
Here's the only way to fairly examine the results the trade has brought about.
The Mavericks have lost road games to the top four seeds in the West. Dallas plays eight such games all season, and they have played four of them in Kidd's first eight. That's just a brutal start for any team trying to find a new rhythm.
Dirk Nowitzki said after Monday's loss in Utah that the Mavericks always find ways to win those games at home. They are going to have to. The opportunity is coming.
The Mavericks play nine of their next 10 games at home with the only trip being to Miami, the team with the worst record in the NBA.
Some of those home games are layups – contests with three Eastern Conference teams currently not in the playoff picture plus one with New Jersey, which could be about to fade from it. But the Houston Rockets, who have achieved the last three wins of their 15-game hot streak without Yao Ming, are coming, and so are the Lakers, the Spurs and the Boston Celtics.
So, yes, the Mavericks have to finish those games, and we can only assume that coach Avery Johnson has learned his lesson after San Antonio and will give Kidd the opportunity to be the closer that Johnson claimed he was at the initial news conference.
The team's statistics are all over the board since the trade, but eight games aren't really enough to make a lot of authoritative statements about anything. But a couple of things do stand out in a positive manner.
Nowitzki's shooting percentage before the trade was .469. He was averaging 22.8 points per game, low for him.
Since the deal, Nowitzki is shooting 52 percent and averaging 28.9 points. I know you can point to some falling percentages for other players, but the first thing you want Kidd to do is get the ball into the hands of the team's best shooter where he needs it.
That is happening.
Also, the team has improved its 3-point shooting dramatically. Kidd's trademark is penetrating and dishing. That wasn't truly Devin Harris' game.
The Mavericks have gone from shooting just under 34 percent from 3-point range to just over 39 percent. That's a significant upgrade, and remember, it has come against some of the best teams in the Western Conference.
I don't think the team as previously constructed could have rallied from a 21-point deficit against Utah to grab the lead in the fourth quarter. Even if the Mavericks couldn't hold it, this team simply has a more competitive demeanor than what was here before.
The Mavericks have made slight improvements in assists and rebounding. In addition, Kidd's arrival was supposed to weaken the team defensively. We haven't seen much of that.
Opponents, who were shooting .445 before the deal, have shot .449 since Kidd got on the floor. Considering the quality of some of the opponents, I can't consider that any real change at all.
After just surviving this tough stretch, everything favors the Mavericks now. A team that hasn't been really good on the road has only eight games left away from American Airlines Center.
The Spurs, the Hornets, the Rockets and the Suns – teams the Mavericks are trying to catch to earn a top-four seed – all have 12. Golden State, the team the Mavericks are trying to hold off, has 14.
As the schedule evens out and Dallas doesn't find itself playing an elite team on the road every other game, the numbers will improve. So will the win total.
To justify making the deal, that's what has to happen. There's nothing that's shown up in the first eight games with Kidd on board to suggest it won't.
- Stars, as hot as they've been, have a ton of teams on their heels. The momentum must be kept.....
Dallas Stars have plenty of pursuers
Despite hot stretch, Dallas still has Ducks, Sharks nipping at heels
12:09 AM CST on Wednesday, March 5, 2008
By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News
ccarlton@dallasnews.com
FRISCO – Nothing comes easy in the Pacific Division, as the Dallas Stars have discovered.
They put together a perfectly timed run, winning 13 of their last 16 games. And they still haven't been able to shake San Jose and defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim.
The Stars hold a four-point lead on the Ducks and a five-point lead on the Sharks. Because the teams have not played an equal amount of games, the teams are even tighter than the standings show. Based on their pace, the Stars will finish with 103 points, San Jose 102 and Anaheim 100.
So while the Stars don't have to worry about making the playoffs, they have to match the mindset of the teams in survival mode such as Phoenix, tonight's opponent.
"We'd like to raise our intensity and desperation level. Hopefully, that is a motivating factor for us," captain Brenden Morrow said. "They're fighting for a playoff spot, but we're fighting for home ice and winning the division. There are things we need to focus on."
Winning the Pacific may be more important than usual.
Based on the standings, the second- and third-place teams in the Pacific are likely to meet in a first-round steel-cage match of a playoff series.
"The competitiveness of this Pacific Division has been strong as any," said goaltender Marty Turco, who has won 10 of his last 13 division games. "It makes us better in the long run, the competitiveness which we do enjoy. We would like a little bit of a cushion, but we can't think about it, and we don't have time to."
The NHL's brave new salary cap world was supposed to bring a level playing field.
So far, parity hasn't made its way to the Pacific.
If anything, the teams have gotten stronger.
Since veteran winger Teemu Selanne ended his short-lived "retirement," Anaheim is 11-1.
San Jose has won six straight and addressed its depth problem at the blue line by acquiring defenseman Brian Campbell at the trade deadline.
"You look at both those teams and they look like they're building right now," coach Dave Tippett said. "We have to continue to build our group."
The Stars haven't been standing still, not with the acquisition of former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Brad Richards from Tampa Bay.
Tippett has made certain his team is focused on the task at hand, posting the daily standings in the dining area of the Stars training facility. Defenseman Stephane Robidas said the additional emphasis now will help later.
"You have to be ready for the playoffs," Robidas said. "It's not a switch on and off where you get in the playoffs and start playing."
- Warren Sapp retires. Good player, very dominant in his early years in the league. Always a good quote machine.
- But I will never forget him in the 1995 Orange Bowl. Ray Lewis, Warren Sapp, James Burgess, Carlos Jones and the whole crew were yapping right from the get go, like most Miami or Dennis Erickson teams will do. Jumping up and down after big plays, running towards the sideline after a 3rd down stop. No doubt yelling at Nebraska players/coaches to stop trying to run the option, that they had too much speed.
- And then, slowly but surely, the sweat and grass stains built up on their jerseys. Their shoulders began moving more noticeably as they struggled to catch their breath. And before you knew it, they were on their backs watching Nebraska bulldoze right past them. It was a beautiful thing to watch, true vindication for 20+ years of Orange Bowl heartache.
Sapp files paperwork, officially puts end to 13-year career
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Warren Sapp's 13-year NFL career officially ended when his retirement was posted on the Oakland Raiders' Web site.
Sapp said immediately after last season that he was through playing, but did not file the paperwork. The posting on the team's site was the first official word that the star defensive tackle was done.
In January, the 35-year-old Sapp posted a two-word message on his Web site: "I'M DONE!" He had told teammates and coaches his plans after the season finale against San Diego.
Considered the quintessential "three technique" defensive tackle -- lining up between the offensive guard and tackle -- Sapp made seven Pro Bowls, won the 1999 Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year award, and led Tampa Bay's dominant defense that won the Super Bowl after the 2002 season.
Sapp spent nine seasons in Tampa before joining the Raiders in 2004 as a free agent. He mostly struggled with the Raiders, except for a strong 2006 in which he had 10 sacks, and had become more of a situational player in his final season.
In 2007, he had only two sacks and the Raiders' defense struggled against the run, allowing a league-worst 4.8 yards per carry.
Sapp finished his career with 96½ sacks, 28th overall since the NFL began keeping track of the statistic in 1982, but extra impressive because he played tackle.
His running "feud" with Packers quarterback Brett Favre -- who coincidentally announced his retirement Tuesday as well -- brought some levity to a sometimes brutal game. Sapp was known as a trash talker, and Favre often went directly back at him with a smile when both the Bucs and Packers were in the same division and played twice a season.
Sapp starred in college at Miami, where he arrived as a tight end and left as the best defensive player in the country. He slipped to No. 12 in the 1995 draft after testing positive for marijuana at the scouting combine.
That was just one controversy in Sapp's career. In 2002, he nearly ended the career of Packers offensive tackle Chad Clifton with a vicious hit while trying to throw a block after an interception. Then-Packers coach Mike Sherman confronted Sapp on the field after the game, calling it a dirty play.
Sapp was fined $50,000 for bumping an official in 2003 and was fined $75,000 after being ejected following three personal fouls in the next-to-last game of his career against Jacksonville.
- What a night. Sapp's face, sweatiness, dirty jersey, and body language as he's walking off of the field in Clip #3 is just priceless and remains my favorite Warren Sapp image.
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