The Daily Nickel

1. The Mavs Go 2-0... 105-99 over the Wizards and 114-96 over the Raptors- The Wizards game got a little chippy, which was good because it helped the Mavs get up for the struggling Wizards.  Roddy B hasn't looked all that great in a starting role since the All-Star break.  He's scored 10, 5 and 2 in the three game stretch.  Against the Raptors the rest of the starters decided to follow his lead... only Dirk scored in the double digits for the game.  Dirk did have a 31point 13 rebound double-double... that'll do.

2.  Kinsler to bat leadoff-  We tried this before and we got a lot of leadoff pop-ups.  We hope we're wrong, but we're predicting another shake-up at the top before June.

3.  Rangers lose first Spring Training game- Wash says,"That's the way baseball go," Young makes an error on the first ball hit to him playing 3rd in place of an injured Beltre and Kinsler goes 0fer in the leadoff spot.  We'll just say there's a little room to improve.

4.  Michael young changes his tune-  Young claims none of us know what happened and he's not talking about it.  Even though he's acting more like a woman every day, we're glad to see him holding down the 6th spot in a very strong lineup.  Maybe he can get the utility role to receive the kind of recognition the sixth man has started to in the NBA?

5.  "The King's Speech" Wins Best Picture-  I don't know, maybe its a great film, but I can tell you I didn't rush to the box office to see it and its not on my Netflix que.  I hate when movies I haven't seen win awards like this.  What I do know is that "Inception" was flippin awesome... I bet the judges don't know about the ring thing.

The Frustrations of a Not-Handyman

We all know by now how babies are made, but its harder to understand how certain traits from each parent are passed down to their offspring.  I imagine a bunch of genes getting together and haggling over who gets in.  Obviously this is why the stronger traits, like blonde-hair and blue-eyes, are usually able to bully their way through, while weaklings like red-hair and left-handedness hardly ever negotiate their way in.  Its the same reason younger siblings are usually so much less impressive than the firstborn (this is something not talked about in modern times, but that has been stipulated by every intelligent civilization since creation... look it up).

The worst combination of traits that won out in my genetic formation were non-handyness and cheapness.  The latter requires me to test the former routinely... and my incredibly high screw-up factor usually ends up costing me more money in the end.  I've had to hire an electrician to switch the light switches, while I visited the emergency room with 3rd degree burns from electrocution.  Another time I hung a curtain rod all by myself... and had to pay for a visit from the sheetrock man when the whole thing came tumbling down under the oppressive weight of the curtains.

The Boys of Summer...Starts with a Day in the Spring.

"Baseball, to me, is still the national pastime because it is a summer game.  I feel that almost all Americans are summer people, that summer is what they think of when they think of their childhood.  I think it stirs up an incredible emotion within people." 

~Steve Busby, in Washington Post, 8 July 1974

5:30am -Wake up
A hot shower... hopefully

6:00am - Vans leave for the Facility

6:30-7:00am - Players arrive.

7:00am - Rehab/PT area and weight room opens.  Due to sheer numbers of players (upwards of 280), the rehab areas are large and loaded with trainers and staff for all the gamut of injuries baseball players will inevitably encounter in the early days of spring training. 

7:00-7:45 - Breakfast.  A quality spread to start the day is much needed fuel for the Phoenix heat and the Florida Humidity. 

The Daily Nickel

Melo and DWill sure would have looked nice in Maverick blue...

1. Mavs stand pat - Despite the flurry of deadline deals yesterday, the Mavs roster remained unchanged.  Rumors swirled over our interest in Devin Harris, Tashaun Prince and JR Smith but it seems like the Mavs were always lowballing and the Nets, Pistons, and Nuggets never bit. 

I would have liked Prince and if all we had to package with Caron's expiring was DoJo and/or a very low 1st round pick, we should have pulled the trigger.  Remember, the window's closing....

2. Cam Newton a Cowboy? - Not so fast.  Given the Cowboys' needs on defense and belief in their current QB, I'd place the odds of Cam ending up in Dallas at virtually zero.  And as great an athlete as he is, count me among those who think he wont become much more than an average NFL QB.  "Athlete" QBs rarely are....

The Daily Nickel

1. Streaking Mavs Win 14 of Last 15-  Seven Mavs in double figures, largest margin of victory on the season.  It looks like the D-Fdub isn't the only ones writing off a D-Will-less Utah... so are the Jazz players.

2. Cowboys Could Go After a Prince in Round 1- He has safety size and corner coverage skills.  Since we havent been able to find anyone that can play either position in the last couple of years, this seems like a good enough idea.

3. Rangers Lineup-  Kinsler hitting pop-ups in the leadoff spot again?  We hope not, but moving him up and dropping young down sounds about right... Could this be the real reason for Michael Young's temper tantrum?  I think we're on to something.

The Daily Nickel

1. Carmelo is officially off the market.  The extension has been signed and the blockbuster deal nets NY with Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and the great Renaldo Balkman.  Denver gets Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, a 1st round pick, two 2nd round picks and $3mm. 

2. So who won?  Well it ain't New Jersey, who struck out once again.  Most will say NY, since they got the best player (and maybe the best two players...) in the deal.  I would say Denver.  My belief is Melo was going to NY all along regardless, whether by trade or free agency.  Its quite possible NY traded much more than they needed to to get their superstar.  Denver on the other hand avoided losing a stud for nothing, got rid of bad contracts and acquired young talent despite having absolutely no bargaining position.  That's some quality GM'ing if you ask me, especially when seen in comparison to what Cleveland got for Lebron (two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks) and what Toronto got for Bosh (two 1st round picks).  Denver execs need to mail Mikhail Prokhorov a fruit basket or something....

Devin to Dallas?

Every time a big star is on the trading block, New York Knicks' fans insist that they are going to get him. This time, when it came to Carmelo Anthony, they were right.

After losing out on the Summer of 2010 Sweepstakes by failing to land Chris Bosh, LeBron James, or D-Wade, the Knicks have finally secured a genuine superstar to anchor their franchise.

Sure the Summer of 2010 free agency brought them Amare Stoudemire, but we all know that he has the knees of a 76 year old bag-lady and that he's allergic to hard-nosed defense. You can't build your team around Amare Stoudemire, and the Knicks knew that so they traded for the Nuggests 26 year old starting small forward.

Now that all the drama with Melo is over, what's next ?

Parental Failure

Smug- Having excessive
pride in oneself

When my wife is mad at me she plans a girls trip out of town and leaves me alone with the two hellions we're raising.  Apparently I've done something recently (or maybe it was this one?) that merited such an event. 

These "special" weekends with my boys are a complete lose-lose scenario for me...either I act like it was a breeze and I start getting weekly opportunities, or I act like it was horrible and my wife sits there with a smug look of superior parenting and eventually notes that she, "handles it all the time."

Melo as a rental......and other trade deadline stuff

The Mavs are rumored to be potential trade deadline wheelers and dealers every year and this year is no different.  With the Feb 24 trade deadline fast approaching, its appropriate we visit the topic and how it relates to our boys.  Let's take a look at a few of the guys rumored to be for sale and whether they are worth giving up Roddy B, picks, Caron's expiring or all (or none) of the above. 

Mavs in PHX

Tonight’s game was a matchup of an old bitter rival between two teams led by once best friends, and still good friends. The last game before the all star game is what your high school basketball coach called a “trap game.” The game before Christmas break where if you’re not focused you can walk into The Little Sisters of the Poor’s home turf and walk out with a loss.

Fortunately due to the rapid growth of the blog and our many followers, the d-fdub was able to send yours truly, to the game as a correspondent all the way in the unfriendly biosphere known as US Airways Arena. The suns have been struggling all year after losing Amar’e and signing as many 6’7 210lb small forwards as they possibly could. Their win two nights ago against a head coachless Jazz was a squeaker to get them above 500. The mavs had just beaten the Kings the night before. I for one am happy that the Kings have taken on the persona of their owners, The Maloof Brothers. Know the brothers and the team all suck instead of just the brothers.

Caron is out for the season...hold that thought.

-Mavericks forward Caron Butler underwent surgery today to repair a ruptured right patellar tendon. The surgery was performed by team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal at Texas Sports Medicine. He is expected to miss the remainder of the season.  -Associated Press 01/04/2011

          Did you catch the word "expected"?  Most people with a full rupture of the pateller tendon will undergo surgery and will require many months of post-op rehabilitation.  Caron Butler doesn't follow what is "expected".  He's trying to make his Mavs comeback in remarkable time; the playoffs are his goal.

          Let's first break down the injury.  The pateller tendon is a strong, fibrous, cartilaginous band that inserts on the lower leg bone called the tibial tuberosity and originates at the apex of the patella. Clinically, it should be called a ligament because it attaches a bone to bone, whereas a tendon attaches muscles to bones.  However, because the patella is a sesamoid bone, literally meaning "a bone impacted in a tendon" and it isn't a typical attachment, it is named a tendon. 

Mavs 116, Kings 100 and the return of Roddy B

The Kings have 2 young, studly players on their squad, Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, and have managed to scraptogether just 13 wins this season.  The Mavs are 38-16 so far and have played every one of those games without a supposed young stud.  Well, Tyreke Evans was out for the Kings Wednesday night while the Mavs finally got Roddy B back on the court.  The point is my 13 month old could have logically figured this one to be a blowout.  Of course, they still play these games out in the NBA.....just ask the Lakers.

The Mavs started out slow and the crowd was a little dead, but who wouldn't be after being forced to watch another retarded skit from Skin Wade.  Thankfully, Carlisle recognized the anticipation of the fans and the team's need of energy and inserted Roddy for Deshawn after only 2 minutes of game.  And the crowd went wild.....

What's so Special about Roddy B?

Many of us have wondered this season "What's Wrong with Roddy B?"but now that the Mavs 2nd year guard inches closer to a return to the active roster, we need to answer the question "What's so Special about Roddy B?"

Rodrique Beaubois, affectionaly known in the D-Fdub as "Roddy B", is a bundle of energy and excitement when he steps onto the court. His athleticism allows him to play above the rim on offense and it allows him to stop skilled guards from penetrating on defense. Even though he is raw, and for the most part, untested, many Mavs fans are foaming at the mouth to see Roddy back in action. Why is that? What does Roddy possess that this current roster so desperately lacks?

First of all, we need to realize that Roddy's value is linked directly to the strengths & weaknesses of Jason Kidd. Kidd is an excellent floor general, passer, spot up shooter, and defender, but he doesn't penetrate to score, and he has lost the ability to guard the quick point guards in this league (Tony Parker and Chris Paul are two that come to mind). Roddy can aggresively drive to the hoop to get easy buckets and he can guard the quick, small players that give J.Kidd so much trouble at his age.

The Miracle of Child Birth

A very inefficient way to walk

The way I understand it, and have explained to my children, two or more people conceive a child by holding hands and spending too much time together.  Over the period of many days (young children have no concept of time... there is no difference between 5 minutes and 5 hours to them.  Hardly seems worth bringing up the concept of months and chance derailing such an important conversation) the female person becomes extremely emotional and begins to forget things rather routinely.  It's ok to have a little fun at the female's expense as long as you never mention that she is also gaining significant weight. 

Mavs Starters Can't Finish in Denver

 ESPN Box Score

I’m sitting in my living room with the DVR stopped on the last bucket of the game. I can’t believe that it went down like this. I went from sure they were gonna lose, to sure they were gonna win, to unsure of anything, to depressed.

Both the Nuggets and Mavs are back in the Pepsi center after a games last night in which the Mavs won by 2 against a weak and young Sac team and the Nuggies lost a close one to the GSW in a Monta Ellis bucket fest. Obviously its much easier to make the transition coming into your own house as witnessed by the first quarter. The little mavericks started the game with Dirk, Tyson, Predrag, Jason and DeShawn to toy around with this lineup. DeShawn is our “stopper” and Melo has been playing out of his gourd lately (see HERE) so this made sense. Good news, we neutralized Melo in the first quarter; bad news is Bauncy Chillups (pronounced BAHN-see) decided to go crazy. To start the game off the Mavs look sluggish and terrible on defense. My roommate (not a dude or an NBA fan) says “They’re moving so slow, why is no one running hard?, not like the college guys.” I had to explain to her the 82 game monster that is the NBA season and about how talented the entire NBA is and so on.

Mavs Win 10th Straight

The Mavs have achieved their second double digit winning streak of the season.  A feat only matched by the San Antonio Spurs at this point in the season.  Tonight matched a veteran Mavericks team with a very young Sacramento team.  The difference was extremely obvious in the starting lineups, with the Kings most veteran player, Beno Udrih, in his 7th year while the Mavs youngest starter, Tyson Chandler, is in his 10th year.  The total years of NBA experience for Sacramento is only 15 years compared to the Mavericks' staggering 55 years.

The Mental and Physical Off Season for Pro Ball Players

In early to late September, in towns and cities all over North America, about 6,000 minor league and big league baseball players are paying their last month of rent, shipping extra gear home, packing cars full of belongings, and foremost, wrapping up another long season and thinking about recovery.  From extended spring training to the the "bigs", baseball is becoming more of a year long undertaking than a seasonal sport.  Because of these "marathon" seasons, recovery is not only for comfort but must occur for maximal production. 

What happens if the Rangers trade Young?



Is Mike's run with the Rangers over?

 Up until a few days ago, all rumors of Michael Young not being satisfied with his "super-utility/designated hitter" role have been publicly denied by most involved with the club and Manager Ron Washington has been insistent that Young would be an integral part of the Rangers' attempt to repeat as American League champs in 2011.

Now, Young has gone public with his trade demands. He cites being unclear about the intentions of the club in their dealings with him as the main reason that he wants a trade. Nolan Ryan has confirmed that the Rangers are indeed willing to accommodate Young's demand, but he also states that the Rangers are going to need equal value in return for him or they won't do a deal.

I must admit that I've loved having Young be a part of the Rangers organization for the past 10 years, but when a player who is considered your "clubhouse leader" and your "heart and soul" says that he no longer wants to play for your team, then you need to trade him. In fact, this is the second time that Young has demanded a trade after being asked to switch positions (the other time was when he was moved to third base). If Young is so "team-first", how come he keeps making trade demands when the team tries to better itself at the expense of what he wants? If you're getting paid over 13 million by your team, shouldn't you be willing to switch positions if they ask you to?

Peja Watch... and the Cavs Chance at History

Two weeks ago the Mavs fandom was pretty depressed.  We had risen to the highest of highs watching a streaking team widely regarded as one of the few real contenders, only to have all our hopes and dreams crushed as the team fell apart with injuries to our top two players.  With them out, the rest of the guys looked very suspect and when our superstar hobbled back resembling a mere mortal all hope was lost.  Oh the wonders of a good win versus the Celtics.  Now, with 8 straight wins, things are starting to heat up again in the D-Fdub.  Peja looks like he could round out our starting 5 nicely and when Roddy B comes back (read more about that HERE) we might have enough pieces to be considered contenders again.  Tonight was all about our introduction to Peja and, in a distant second, rooting for history, as the Cavs fought to avoid setting the NBA record of 25 consecutive losses.

The Neighbors We All Have

Family "walk"

Family walks are the perfect way to spy on your neighbors.  With the wife and kids in toe, nobody suspects that you are really on a reconnaissance mission in their front yard.  It's amazing what you can learn as you pretend to be enjoying the nice weather with your beneficiaries.  Besides providing cover, I have found it is also necessary for my helpmate to be around just in case we are confronted by a neighbor... to feed me names.  You can only refer to a man as dude, bro, neighbor, man, guy or friend 9 or 10 times in a row before he will figure out you don't know his name.  A nice smile and a wife-fed name drop can start your count over.

Mavs top Bobcats, push streak to 8

Dallas avoided a letdown after the big win last night against Boston by jumping on Charlotte early.  They kept the pedal down, never let up and coasted to an easy 101-92 W, pushing their overall win streak to 8.  The Mavs are still the only team in the league the Bobcats have never beaten.

The story of the night was Tyson Chandler's return to the team that traded him to Dallas for basically nothing. 
After spending most of last season injured and barely able to crack the starting lineup in Charlotte, TC has played like an all-star for Dallas while turning the Mavs into a legit contender.  He played with great energy all night despite not getting to sleep until 6am after the comeback against Boston.  Dirk led the team w/ 25, JET tossed in 21 off the bench, and Tyson added 15 boards along with his usual hand-full of sick dunks.   

Super Bowl Etiquette

This post is written assuming that Sunday you will get together with your friends to watch the championship game of the best sport in the world. If you don't know what I'm talking about you're either foreign or female... or friendless. Aside from the readers suffering from one of the three f's, everyone is with me. I think it's appropriate, therefore, that we cover some ground rules to keep you safe and maximize your experience at these get-togethers.

Mavs 101, Celtics 97 - Kidd's late 3 keeps Mavs streaking

Dallas took their talents and a 6 game win streak to Boston, winners of 9 of their last 11 and owners of the best record in the eastern conference.
Boston also had four all-stars, a revved up home crowd, and probably the best defense in the league on their side, while the Mavs had Dirk.....and some other guys.  JJB has been playing better than decent lately and got the start as Dallas put out a 3-guard lineup from the tip.  Carlisle must have been on to something, bc the Mavs started off hot against Boston scoring 34 in the first quarter.  The team eventually cooled down and gave up the lead in the 4th.  Boston led by 6 with 2 minutes to go, but Dirk was straight money, finishing with 29 on 9-14 shooting, 21 of which came in the second half.  He had a huge and-1 in the closing minutes to bring the team within 1 and had the assist on the game winning 3 by JKidd w/ just 2 seconds left.

The Answer to the Question: Dirk vs Bird

In honor of Mavs v Celts tonight, I thought I’d touch on the age old Dirk v Bird comparison. It’s kind of weird they are always compared since they play a pretty different style. I mean if Dirk was a black dude, I’m pretty sure Bird wouldn’t be the guy people pick as his benchmark, but when you are a tall, white, blonde dude w/ a great shot and a funny accent, its basically a foregone conclusion. All the Dirk-lovers (i.e. me) will side w/ the German bc we’re MFFLs, his greatness is still fresh in our minds, and bc when you say Larry Bird we think primarily of the hick from the McDonalds horse commercials. All the Dirk haters will dismiss him bc he’s not athletic, doesn’t play good D, and isn’t a vocal enough leader. Those things may or may not be true, but to those people I say Tyson Chandler is athletic, plays solid D, and is a vocal/emotional leader but won’t ever come close to the greatness of Dirk and Bird so SHUT UP. I’m a numbers guy; let’s see what they tell us….

What's Wrong with Roddy B?

So, where’s Roddy B. Yeah, he’s supposedly coming back soon but man, it’s taken awhile. Why? Well, let’s chat. Roddy sustained a fracture to his 5th metatarsal (small toe) in early August while playing with the French national team. Yes, we’ve heard the news. But, why is it February and he’s not back?

Mavs enjoy a No-Nonsense win over the Knicks

I miss Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni not being in Phoenix anymore. When he was coaching the Suns, the Mavericks got to play against his team four times a year instead of only twice.
His team’s inability to play any defense whatsoever always makes for a really entertaining game. The Knicks played so little defense last year in the Garden when the Mavs came to the Big Apple that the Mavs won by 50 pts. This year was much the same as the Mavs cruised to their 33rd victory of the season winning 113-97.
Below are some news and notes concerning the Mavs 16 point win over the New York Knicks:

The Greatest Maverick (that isn’t American Born, who’s last name starts with a “N” and ends in a vowel) EVER

I haven’t always been a Mavs fan. In fact, when I was younger I wasn’t much of a sports fan at all! My mom was one of 4 daughters of an OB/GYN. She never played sports but still has a face shield and a foil in the garage from the ONE semester of fencing she took at Boston College. My dad was from NYC and played hockey at Boston University and grew up loving Mickey Mantle and the Yankees. I grew up in Austin where we didn’t have a whole lot of rinks that didn’t end in “mall” to go hit the ice and so hockey never really took off for me.

'Melo to the Mavs....A Delirious Daydream or a Possible Reality?



Dirk and Melo making championship plans?

One of the beautiful parts about being a Mavs fan is to know that Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban are hardly ever satisfied with their current roster, and they are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to acquire the talent that they desire.  One obvious talent that any gm and owner would be crazy not to desire is the very available Carmelo Anthony.    The disgruntled Nuggets star small forward can be had if the team is right and if the price is right.