I had to turn up the heat in my house after watching the ice-cold Mavericks trying to make a basket in the second half against the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Shooting an awful 31% from the field in the second half, including a whopping 14%, 11 point third quarter, the Mavericks shot selection was awful.
This was a key game for them, and they couldn’t close out a game that was there for the picking.
If you were able to see through the ice, you would have noticed a considerable upgrade on the defense side of the ball. Now let’s not get [...]

The new Cowboy Stadium is an oasis in a sports desert. Yet beware. Sports bars are simply a mirage. Public transportation non-existent and parking will cost you a bunch of gold coins.
Over 108,000 individuals made the journey to Arlington, Texas, yet it felt like a ghost town.
The below freezing wind chill factor could have played a huge role in lack of personality around the stadium I will admit that. Yet maybe it’s my Midwest raised kid in me coming out, but I expected more.
I certainly did not appreciate the 45+ minute standing in line to get into the stadium. Six [...]

Appears Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton, and Quinton Ross are on their way to Washington to become Wizards.
In return the Mavericks will get Caron Butler, Deshawn Stevenson, and Brendan Haywood.
Our friends at the Dallas Morning News officially broke the news.
021310dnspomavstrade.10ffd1520.html

A glaring omission in the “Rookie vs. Sophomore” game at the American Airlines Center is a Dallas Maverick.
At the same time, the Dallas Mavericks will have two, count them two, All-Star players come Sunday night.
Dirk Nowitzki, an 11 year NBA veteran will start for the West All-Stars, while Jason Kidd, a 15 year NBA veteran was recently named a reserve after Kobe Bryant decided not to play.
The lack of youth is alarming though.
There is a thin line between building a successful team around a young core, and building a team with a veteran foundation. What side of the fence are [...]

Kobe limping, means Jason Kidd will be taking his place on the All-Star team for the West.
If the All-Star game was anywhere but Dallas, I have no doubt that Chauncey Billups would be your All-Star reserve.
Jason Kidd has had a solid year, but it’s tough to really say he has had an All-Star half.
So taking nothing away from Kidd, this is after all all about the fans, it will be fun to see Dirk and Jason in front of the home crowd.
Maybe having two All-Stars will break the Mavericks out of their self- proclaimed “funk.”
Crazier things have happened. Like six [...]

A believed target of the Mavericks, Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards, is being reportedly going to become a Houston Rocket according to multiple sources (first broke by Yahoo Sports).
Yet every supposed “insider” has a different location for Josh Howard to end up at. Howard for his part has stayed out of it, choosing to not say anything.
Being around Josh I believe he is confident that he will stay in Dallas, at least until the end of the season.
He is well aware of the rumors, he has been asked every night it seems about the rumors. He says he would [...]

The weather in Dallas seems like the only one that isn’t in the mood to party. Despite the chilly forecast All-Star Weekend has officially kicked off.
I had the chance to talk with Dirk Nowitzki this afternoon and he is feeling the “funk” Mavs fans are feeling. He believes that the team can “rebound from it”, and believes the team is set up nicely for a second half run.
Funny how he believes this team can rebound from the “funk,” they haven’t proved they can rebound on the court.
Dirk didn’t necessarily want to talk about the past, he thought the break was [...]

A night after scoring 127 points in a win against the Golden State Warriors, the Mavericks gave up 127 to the Denver Nuggets. Unfortunately for Dallas, they weren’t even able to score over 100.
Mavericks looked flat, uninspired, and ready for the All-Star break a day early. A game like this is inexcusable.
So the Mavericks go into the All-Star break leading the Southwest Division by 2 games over the Spurs with a record of 32-20.
Playing without Shawn Marion and Eric Dampier, the Mavericks got pushed around under the boards getting outscored 44-16 in the paint. The Nuggets took control from the [...]

I know what Green Bay Packer fans have been feeling for the last few years. (No this is not a Packer blog, I’m getting to a point here trust me). They vehemently cried “cheese whiz” when the Packer organization decided to trade Brett Favre go and let the younger Aaron Rodgers play.
Ask Packer fans now, and most are sitting comfortably with Aaron Rodgers.
Go back almost two years to the day in your Maverick time machine and ask yourself is trading a young Devin Harris for the proven Jason Kidd worth it?
I won’t spit into the wind and detail my belief [...]

Forgive me for using the words shoot-out when it comes to an NBA game, but there is no other way to explain it. Mavericks went on the offensive against a young Warriors team and pulled out a 127-117 win. It was a night of season highs for three Maverick players.
The Mavericks needed a win, and got just that.
Two players in the eye of the tornado-like trade winds, Josh Howard and Drew Gooden, played key roles in the win. With Dampier out with injury, it was imperative that Gooden respond with a solid game. Gooden responded with a double-double, with [...]