Posted on Tue, Jan. 04, 2005
Nelson says don't get too excited
By Art Garcia
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS - It's not nit-picking when Mavericks coach Don Nelson says don't get carried away with a couple of runaway wins. Nelson is trying to keep an eye on the bigger picture and, frankly, blowing out Boston and Milwaukee isn't going to impress him much.
"You have to play at a higher level," Nelson said Tuesday. "That's my message to this team. You can't be satisfied with a 20-point win and scoring 120 points. You can't be satisfied with that because a better team is going to come in, and if you're going to play at that same level, you're going to get beat. You have to play at a higher level. That's my message."
The Mavs (20-10) have opened their five-game homestand with a pair of 19-point victories over the Celtics (114-93) and Bucks (123-104) over a span of six days. The win streak is actually three games, going back to a 14-point road win against the hobbled Denver Nuggets on Dec. 26.
The leisurely homestand does toughen up with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers visiting Wednesday. The Indiana Pacers, with Jermaine O'Neal back in the fold, follow on Saturday. Another three-day break follows before the homestand ends against revamped Houston on Jan. 12.
The Lakers (16-12) aren't the same team without Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson, but they're not pushovers, either.
"They're going to be a hard team to beat," Nelson said. "They rely on Kobe a lot, and you would expect that they would. Rudy is a different coach. They don't run the triple-post anymore. They go to their strengths, a lot of isolations. And they have a lot of players who are hard guards, so we'll have our hands full."
For the first time this season, the Mavs have shot better than 50 percent and passed for at least 25 assists in consecutive games. But those stats might be misleading considering Boston and Milwaukee are a combined 22-37 going into Monday.
Nelson and the rest of the coaching staff weren't too pleased with Sunday's second-half performance of the point guards, particularly Jason Terry and Devin Harris. Terry, however, finished with 10 assists, giving him 24 in the last two games. The Mavs are 5-1 since he replaced Darrell Armstrong in the starting lineup.
"I'm trying to execute and get in the lane," said Terry, averaging 7.2 assists as a starter. "They have been telling me that all season to get in the lane. When I do that, it's easy to find guys."
Stackhouse reinjures hand
Mavs guard Jerry Stackhouse banged his sore right hand in Sunday's win over Milwaukee. The hand swelled up again, and Stackhouse had a large callus on the palm of his hand Monday.
"I hit it again," said Stackhouse, who scored 18 points against the Bucks. "The good thing about it now is when I hit it, it's not agony pain like when I hit it before."
Stackhouse missed five games with the injury last month. He expects to practice today and play Wednesday against the Lakers.
One for the old-timers
The end of Monday's practice for low-minute players ended with a spirited scrimmage matching four coaches and Shawn Bradley against five players. The game got intense enough that nearly all of the starters and key reserves watched from the catwalk overlooking the practice court.
The team made up of players only -- Devin Harris, Darrell Armstrong, DJ Mbenga, Calvin Booth and Alan Henderson -- ended up losing to lead assistant Avery Johnson, developmental coaches Mark Bryant, Hubert Davis and Kelvin Upshaw and Bradley.
So how can a team of active players fall to four retirees and Bradley?
"The problem is they didn't have a chance to scout us," said Johnson, who added his teammates might consider coming out of retirement. "That shows you when you're not prepared, you're going to get beat."
Nelson says don't get too excited
By Art Garcia
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS - It's not nit-picking when Mavericks coach Don Nelson says don't get carried away with a couple of runaway wins. Nelson is trying to keep an eye on the bigger picture and, frankly, blowing out Boston and Milwaukee isn't going to impress him much.
"You have to play at a higher level," Nelson said Tuesday. "That's my message to this team. You can't be satisfied with a 20-point win and scoring 120 points. You can't be satisfied with that because a better team is going to come in, and if you're going to play at that same level, you're going to get beat. You have to play at a higher level. That's my message."
The Mavs (20-10) have opened their five-game homestand with a pair of 19-point victories over the Celtics (114-93) and Bucks (123-104) over a span of six days. The win streak is actually three games, going back to a 14-point road win against the hobbled Denver Nuggets on Dec. 26.
The leisurely homestand does toughen up with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers visiting Wednesday. The Indiana Pacers, with Jermaine O'Neal back in the fold, follow on Saturday. Another three-day break follows before the homestand ends against revamped Houston on Jan. 12.
The Lakers (16-12) aren't the same team without Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson, but they're not pushovers, either.
"They're going to be a hard team to beat," Nelson said. "They rely on Kobe a lot, and you would expect that they would. Rudy is a different coach. They don't run the triple-post anymore. They go to their strengths, a lot of isolations. And they have a lot of players who are hard guards, so we'll have our hands full."
For the first time this season, the Mavs have shot better than 50 percent and passed for at least 25 assists in consecutive games. But those stats might be misleading considering Boston and Milwaukee are a combined 22-37 going into Monday.
Nelson and the rest of the coaching staff weren't too pleased with Sunday's second-half performance of the point guards, particularly Jason Terry and Devin Harris. Terry, however, finished with 10 assists, giving him 24 in the last two games. The Mavs are 5-1 since he replaced Darrell Armstrong in the starting lineup.
"I'm trying to execute and get in the lane," said Terry, averaging 7.2 assists as a starter. "They have been telling me that all season to get in the lane. When I do that, it's easy to find guys."
Stackhouse reinjures hand
Mavs guard Jerry Stackhouse banged his sore right hand in Sunday's win over Milwaukee. The hand swelled up again, and Stackhouse had a large callus on the palm of his hand Monday.
"I hit it again," said Stackhouse, who scored 18 points against the Bucks. "The good thing about it now is when I hit it, it's not agony pain like when I hit it before."
Stackhouse missed five games with the injury last month. He expects to practice today and play Wednesday against the Lakers.
One for the old-timers
The end of Monday's practice for low-minute players ended with a spirited scrimmage matching four coaches and Shawn Bradley against five players. The game got intense enough that nearly all of the starters and key reserves watched from the catwalk overlooking the practice court.
The team made up of players only -- Devin Harris, Darrell Armstrong, DJ Mbenga, Calvin Booth and Alan Henderson -- ended up losing to lead assistant Avery Johnson, developmental coaches Mark Bryant, Hubert Davis and Kelvin Upshaw and Bradley.
So how can a team of active players fall to four retirees and Bradley?
"The problem is they didn't have a chance to scout us," said Johnson, who added his teammates might consider coming out of retirement. "That shows you when you're not prepared, you're going to get beat."