Huge

- Although the local media seems to be calling every game of the past 2 weeks the "biggest game of the year", I think we may have finally found the no doubt "biggest game of the year."

- A win tonight does a few things.
1) It gives the Mavs a 2 game lead in the standings over Golden State, and a 3 game lead overall (tiebreaker with Golden State).
2) It starts the long road back to gaining confidence that they can beat good teams. Can this team really go 0-11 since the trade against playoff teams?
3) If they're Dirk-less, it gives them confidence to be able to beat good teams shorthanded. If they have Dirk, it gives them hope for success in the playoffs.

- No matter how you look at it, it's huge. Win this game, and making the playoffs will look increasingly more likely.

For Dallas Mavericks, it's playoffs or bust

02:40 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The only good news about watching the Dallas Mavericks play without Dirk Nowitzki is that it reminds all those who say Dallas will never win with Dirk just how much this team is capable of losing without him.

Others see another hidden silver lining in the team's downturn, which has it on the brink of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

There are fans and followers of this team who contend that missing the playoffs and getting a lottery pick is better than landing the seventh or eighth seed and getting bounced in the first round.

I don't buy it.

First off, if the Mavericks barely miss the playoffs, they aren't likely to win the lottery. Chances are they will get the 14th pick.

Now you can find a serviceable player with that selection. The last three No. 14 picks – Minnesota's Rashad McCants, Utah's Ronnie Brewer and the Clippers' Al Thornton – all average between 12 and 15 points for their teams.

But those aren't franchise-changing players, which is what a team that misses the playoffs needs to find.

And, for me, there are just two huge problems with teams that miss the playoffs.

One is that NBA championships are earned through playoff wins and defeats. Teams that win or get to the NBA Finals are almost always teams that have been going to the postseason and enjoying success for at least two years.

Over the last 12 seasons, of the 24 teams that have reached the Finals, only three had missed the playoffs in either of the previous two years. And it's easy to spot why those teams were the exceptions.

The San Antonio Spurs won their first title in 1999. They did not make the playoffs in 1997. That was the year David Robinson missed all but six games and the team won the lottery and landed Tim Duncan.

Now that's a franchise-changing player.

In 2002, the New Jersey Nets made the first of two straight trips to the Finals after missing the playoffs the previous season. But before the 2001-02 season, they added Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson, which elevated the Nets to the top of the East.

And in 2007, Cleveland went to the Finals two years removed from missing the playoffs. Obviously, LeBron James' rise to prominence can be traced to the Cavaliers' success.

All the other teams had been competing in the playoffs both the previous two years (or more) before getting to the Finals. And in more than 80 percent of the cases, all had advanced to at least the second round.

So I don't see sitting out the most competitive Western Conference race on record and re-trenching with a mid-first round draft pick as a legitimate option for Dallas.

Also, there is a huge mental downside to missing the playoffs. And we know this was a team with a fragile psyche and something less than a killer instinct even when it won 67 regular-season games.

Obviously, Mavericks management heard a clock ticking when it made the Kidd trade. He's a 35-year-old point guard. He won't be playing when he's 40.

And I don't see it as a foregone conclusion that the Mavericks – or anyone else, for that matter – automatically lose in the first round. Yes, I'm well aware of the team's 0-10 record against winning teams since the deal.

Throw out the last two defeats because Nowitzki wasn't on the floor. OK, 0-8's still lousy. I get it.

And watching them struggle to beat a crippled Clippers team makes it hard to think about playoff victories.

But for the year, the team's record in the conference is the same as San Antonio's. It's better than Utah's.

I can't believe that just because Kidd is in the lineup now instead of Devin Harris that none of those games are winnable any more.

Things can change.

In Phoenix, Shaquille O'Neal's first two weeks produced the worst Suns basketball of the year. Critics said they were doomed. Can't run anymore. Can't defend on the outside.

Now Phoenix is playing some of its best basketball and is a major contender in the West.

It didn't click in Dallas as quickly as it did in Phoenix. It still can.

It doesn't have to keep clanking. And for Mavs fans, it's worth being happy for.

In pro sports, anything is better than just barely missing the playoffs. That's not the road to success. It's the road to prolonged mediocrity.




- Rangers win despite more bad defense and more bad pitching out of the bullpen. Josh Hamilton will be the most popular/well-liked Ranger since Rusty Greer this season.



Hamilton hammers win home for Texas Rangers

09:31 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com

SEATTLE – The expectation is that Josh Hamilton will do exactly what he did Tuesday night. He’ll deliver dramatic winning homers.

Here’s a bit of advice, though: If you sit around waiting for a Hamilton homer, you may miss some other compelling parts of his act. The guy can catch the ball, and he can run, too.

And when you put it all together, he’s got the ability to single-handedly deliver a game just like Tuesday’s 5-4 win over Seattle. The standings will say the Texas Rangers are 1-1 today. Make no mistake, though, the win was all Hamilton.

Even before he drove the first pitch he saw from Mariners reliever J.J. Putz into the right field seats with one out and Ian Kinsler on first in the ninth inning, he first kept the Rangers in the game with two running catches and then helped give the club the lead by beating out a rally-starting infield hit.

“When I’m not having a good game at the plate, and I wasn’t having one early in this game, I still want to be able to do everything I can to help the team win a game,” Hamilton said. “I love playing the outfield. I love it even more than hitting.”

When the Rangers acquired Hamilton, it was with the thought that possibly, just possibly, he was a franchise kind of player. He looked the part Tuesday.

Just consider:

• In the fifth and seventh innings, he ran down long fly balls off the bats of various Mariners to keep a 1-1 score tied. Brad Wilkerson had driven a two-out pitch from Vicente Padilla deep towards left center in the fifth. But with Richie Sexson lumbering around the bases, Hamilton, stumbling into the wall as he reached for the ball, made an over-the-shoulder grab. In the seventh, he went to right-center to take extra bases away from Raul Ibanez to start the inning.

• In the eighth, he started the Rangers' rally by hustling to first after chopping a pitch from lefty Eric O’Flaherty into the ground. Thought Sexson fielded the ball cleanly, the high bounce and Hamilton’s hustle gave him enough time to reach the bag just ahead of the Mariners first baseman. Hank Blalock followed with a double on a 1-and-2 count, and then Milton Bradley’s fly ball gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead. They expanded it to 3-1 when David Murphy doubled with two outs.

• In the ninth, after Kinsler’s hit, flu-ridden Michael Young struck out, leaving Hamilton to face Putz. In the season-opener, Putz struck Hamilton out to end the game. Hamilton saw eight pitches in that at-bat, though, including four fastballs.

“I think he’s trying to do too much right now only because it’s a new team,” manager Ron Washington said. “But he saw a lot of pitches from Putz the night before. I’m just glad he threw a first-pitch fastball.”

The Rangers, however, seemed determine to find out the full scope of Hamilton’s capabilities because they gave the lead right back with a second consecutive day of shoddy fielding.

The Rangers committed two of their three errors in the bottom of the eighth. The two errors, combined with a wild pitch by Joaquin Benoit, produced three Seattle runs. The winning run scored when Benoit’s first pitch to Adrian Beltre with two outs skipped away from Gerald Laird. Yuniesky Betancourt scored from third when Laird had trouble grasping the ball after chasing it down at the home on-deck circle.

But it was only the last mistake in an inning full of them. He quickly got No. 7 hitter Jose Vidro to bounce to Young, who didn’t even have to take a step to field the ball. Young, who battled the flu all day, may have been in a semi-weakened state. His routine throw didn’t even make it across the infield grass and skipped by Ben Broussard, allowing Vidro to go to second.

The Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, Kenji Johjima and Betancourt, followed with singles to make it a 3-2 game. With runners on first and third, Ichiro Suzuki slapped a ball to second baseman Ian Kinsler. Kinsler, who had taken a fastball off the right hand while trying to bunt in the seventh, tried to do too much. It was unlikely Kinsler would have gotten the double play even if he had fielded the ball cleanly, but he bobbled it and got no outs while the tying run scored.

After a sacrifice bunt, an intentional walk of Raul Ibanez and a strikeout of Richie Sexson, the Rangers seemed in position to get out of the inning with the score tied. That’s when Benoit threw a pitch in the dirt and the go-ahead run scored.

It was apparently all just part of the setup for Hamilton.

“The guy stayed focused all game long,” outfielder Marlon Byrd said. “He did what he needed to do. He’s just amazing.”




- This ain't good. Stars looking at starting 2 rookie defenseman to open the playoffs. Ouch.



Dallas Stars' Zubov may miss start of playoffs

02:18 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com

FRISCO – Dallas Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov has had a setback in his recovery from foot and groin injuries and will be re-evaluated Friday, coach Dave Tippett said.

Zubov may not be ready to play when the playoffs begin next Wednesday or Thursday.

"He's going to see a specialist and probably won't be on the ice for a few days," Tippett said.

Zubov has missed the last 30 games with foot and groin injuries. The foot injury started to become a concern in early January, and Zubov missed three games at the time. However, he tried to play through the foot pain and ended up compensating so much that he injured his groin.

Zubov's last game was Jan. 17. He rested the foot for a month and then tried to skate on it in mid-February. When the foot did not respond, Zubov had a screw placed in a small bone in his right foot Feb. 24. The screw was supposed to help ensure the foot would be stable and ready for the playoffs, and Zubov has been skating since March 21 with seemingly good results.

He traveled with the team on its most recent road trip to California and skated hard in Friday's practice.

However, he was given Monday off to rest and then did not skate Tuesday. He instead went out of town to see a specialist, and Tippett said he expected to have an update Friday.

"It's a concern, it's a concern," Tippett said when asked how serious the problem could be. "We'll revisit it on Friday. We'll see what results we get and where we are."

When asked if Zubov was having problems with the foot or the groin, Tippett replied: "All of the above."

Zubov missed Game 7 of the Stars' first-round playoff series with Vancouver last season, and Dallas lost, 4-1.

He had surgery to repair a sports hernia in the summer and then returned to the ice in September for preseason workouts.

He tallied four goals and 31 assists in the team's first 46 games and was drawing mention as a candidate for the Norris Trophy, given to the top defenseman in the NHL. He was averaging 25:41 in ice time, tops among all Stars players.

Dallas quickly overcame the absence of Zubov, going 15-4-0 in the first 19 games he missed. However, the increased pressure from opponents and the inexperience of three rookie defensemen caught up to the team in March, when it went 2-7-2.

The return of Philippe Boucher (shoulder) to the lineup should help take some pressure off the young defensemen, but the absence of Zubov would be clearly felt, especially in the playoffs.

"Obviously, he's one of the best defensemen in the league, so we definitely miss him," captain Brenden Morrow said. "We've played some good hockey without him, and we need some guys to step up if he's not ready. Those are big minutes to fill, but someone might have to fill them."

Briefly: C Brad Richards missed practice Tuesday, and Tippett said it was a mixture of allowing Richards, who was acquired in a Feb. 26 trade with Tampa Bay, to take care of some personal concerns and also because he was dealing with some soreness. Tippett said he thinks Richards will skate today.