Tag Archives: Dallas

by | February 28, 2012 · 9:26 AM

Lamar Odom is Being a Little Baby Bitch and Everyone Knows it.

This will always be just too damn funny.

If you live in the Dallas area or are a fan of the Mavericks, you’ve probably heard that Lamar Odom has been having a rough season emotionally.  He was traded from the Lakers, a team he loved.  He’s been performing close to half as effectively as he did last season (14.4 ppg to 7.7, 8.7 rpg to 4.5, and his fg% is 35.7%.  Seriously).  He’s a versatile player, seems to be a nice guy, we all felt a little bad for him.  No one likes to feel unwanted.

So when I heard that he’d be missing the game against the Lakers last Wednesday because his father had a serious illness, I didn’t think anything of it.  Those things happen, personal matters do not revere the NBA schedule as much as we fans do.  Let the guy take care of his dad, it’s one regular season game, and that’s that.  He’ll get back to the team as soon as he can (he also had a 5 day break due to the All-Star Game).

It’s that kind of understanding that makes you feel duped in the end.

As I drove home from work Friday afternoon, feeling energetic and excited, I put on 97.9 The Beat and instead of sweet, sweet jams, I was serenaded by a quote from Lamar Odom’s father.  A quote where he says he had a “stomach virus” and had been alright for a while.  At first, it was almost laughable, the DJ poking fun at how Lamar couldn’t deal with playing against the Lakers.  He was painted as someone who ran into his ex-girlfriend in a social situation and it broke him.

Last night, rumors started flying that Odom is desiring a buyout of his contract, presumably so that he can go back to the Lakers.  My first thought was, “Let him go!  He hasn’t been productive for the Mavs all season, and there hasn’t been much inclination that he will.”  But the more I sat and mulled it over, there is absolutely no way the Mavericks organization could do that and save face.  Instead of the probable truth, which is that Lamar likes the Hollywood aspect of playing in Los Angeles, it would appear as if the Mavericks organization is flawed.

This is a very unfair situation to place Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban, let alone the rest of the players on his team.  To be very honest, it doesn’t feel fair to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Lamar, let me break it down for you:

During your toughest struggles, this city supported you.  Meanwhile, your beloved Lakers organization has forgotten you.  They have their eyes set on Dwight Howard, even if it’s not a feasible goal.  They are cutthroat in regards to moves, and always have been.  Do you really think that if you had stayed, you would be better off?  You wouldn’t.  Right now, you’re playing for the NBA Champions, the team that swept you out of the playoffs last year.  If you were a Laker right now, you would be another piece of big man trade bait like Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.  At best, you would have sweetened a package proposed to Orlando and you would be playing there, while Kobe Bryant and Dwight team up, once again, forgetting you.  They traded you for pennies.  PENNIES.  They are more interested in signing a retired, 37 year-old Rasheed Wallace (a former Celtic, if that says anything) than getting you back.  It’s over.

I’m sure it’s tough being married to a transsexual, and I’m uncertain of logistics in such a relationship.  But what LA plastic surgeon hack took your balls, my man?

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by | February 2, 2012 · 4:17 PM

What’s in a Game?

Even with less games, one game means much less in a lockout-shortened season.

I spent some time today with Doyle running over last night’s Mavericks-Thunder game, both teams’ chances in the West, and the strenuous (or is it?) relationship between the Thunder’s stars.

TH: Last night, the Oklahoma City Thunder managed to dismantle the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks.  The loss, though, is not too surprising, as the Mavs were without Lamar Odom and Brendan Haywood, and Jason Kidd is still out with his calf injury.  Dirk Nowitzki had a spectacularly awful game (2-for-15 shooting) and Rick Carlisle was thrown out of the game after punting a ball into a boy’s face.  How do you, Doyle, feel as a Mavs fan about this loss?

DR: I don’t think that the term “dismantle” is appropriate in this instance. This was a game that the Thunder should have won since they have been deemed the Golden Child of the Western Conference. You mentioned the absences on the Mavericks’ roster last night so this should have been a cake walk for OKC, but it wasn’t. This was a competitive game with the Mavericks finding ways to either lead or stay in contention until the final minute of the game. If Nowitzki did not shoot so poorly, clearly his knee is still bothering him, and if the Mavs had some shots fall late, the outcome of this game could have been different.

TH: The one worrying thing for the Mavs is this:  Nowitzki’s had a few bad games, is this all because of the knee or could there be a mental problem that’s causing his trouble?  He’s been complacent often this season, and watching the game against the Spurs (his first game back, I know), Dirk doesn’t seem as fearless as we’ve come to expect.

DR: I’m not as concerned with Nowitzki as I’m sure many are. It would be easy to blame his issues on the lockout but that is a cop-out that is used all too often in this shortened season. We are about a fourth to a third of the way through the season so I expect Dirk to miss more time this year for rest and conditioning. This is true for almost every player who will be injured this season. I also do not think that his recent struggles are mental either. Against the Thunder he stepped into several bold shots in the fourth quarter. Those shots simply did not fall. He’ll be fine as the season progresses and despite being the face of the franchise, the Mavericks have other players who can step up and fill the void when they are called on.

Dallas has the highest scoring bench in the league and also has one of the deepest. The likes of Jason Terry, Odom (when not dealing with a stomach bug), Vince Carter, Delonte West, Rodrigue Beaubois, Ian Mahinmi, and Brandan Wright have all shown that they are more than capable of contributing to the team when called upon. Sure, Dirk being in a funk is disappointing but it is not catastrophic for the team.

TH: Agreed, and playoff seeding is going to be strange this season.  We’ve already seen how younger teams are capitalizing on bigger minutes for their stars, teams like the 76ers, Clippers, and Thunder.  If they manage to keep their high playoff seeds, it will be interesting to see how the older, more experienced teams like the Mavs, Spurs and Lakers re-allocate minutes. Last lockout, an 8th seed made it to the Finals.

But defense wins championships, and that is what ultimately gave the Thunder an edge over the Mavericks.  Without Kidd, the Mavs have to rely on a combo of Roddy B. and West, and there are simply too many contending teams with point guards who will take that matchup to task.  Western teams like OKC and the Clips would fare differently against Kidd’s perimeter defense and smart hands.  Here are a couple questions for you: Do the Thunder deserve their current record?  How do you envision the rest of their season?

DR: I’m not certain that having either Beaubois or West on the court is a bad thing against some of the elite point guards in the league. Both are younger and quicker than Kidd is and therefore have to capability of keeping pace, or at least better than Kidd, with the likes of Russell Westbrook and others. Also, both Beaubois and West bring a different set of skills to bear when on the court. West is a tenacious defender who likes to come off the bench and play alongside Terry thereby alleviating West’s need to score as much even though he is an able scorer. He is on the floor to hairy the opposing point. Where Roddy excels is by pressuring his defender on the offensive side of the floor. Much like Westbrook, Beaubois has an innate ability to penetrate the lane, though he does so with less bombast. Kidd is still a handful with his passing, court vision, and IQ but he has lost a step and the Westbrooks of the league will exploit that. Having West and Beaubois helps the Mavericks be a flexible and more difficult team to matchup with.

As for the Thunder, of course they deserve the record they have, they have won 17 games thus far and you cannot take that away from them. Bill Parcells that is famous for saying “you are what your record says you are,” and for the Thunder that means they have the best record in the West. However, that is not to say that the Thunder are perfect. In fact they are far from it. They are an extremely talented team, let me put that out there first, but they are also extremely inexperienced. On the break, OKC is one of the most dangerous teams in the league, perhaps second or third to only the Heat and Clippers, because they are fast and have the ability to finish at the rim. Westbrook is the spearhead and plays like a charging bull, lowering his head and relentlessly moving forward despite obstacles. Add the scoring threats of Kevin Durant and James Harden and you have the third most potent offense in the league. It is that offense, though, that gets the Thunder in trouble.

On the break, everything works well. However, in the halfcourt the Thunder often look lost and their offense stagnates. Frequently, Thunder players stand and watch the ball handler try to create for themselves in an isolation situation. Yes, the Thunder’s big three are great individual scorers but a Joe Johnson-esque ISO bogs down the entire offense and instills a heavy reliance on long jumpers or contested drives. With the skills that these players possess it is shocking that the Thunder are not more creative offensively, Scott Brooks, in my opinion, deserves a lot of blame for this.

When the Thunder offense is mobile in the halfcourt they create boundless mismatches but these go ignored far too regularly. In the game against the Mavericks there was a possession where Harden had the ball and was determined to take the shot, with Shawn Marion guarding him I believe, while on a switch Terry was defending Durant. Harden did not make use of the obvious advantage his team had in that situation and wound up missing the shot he took. Why Brooks is not irate or frustrated that this scenario repeats itself seemingly every game is anyone’s guess. The Thunder have a lot of growing to do if they are actually going to grow into the team everyone thinks they are. Until that happens they should be looked on as a new version of D’Antoni’s Suns. A good team that won’t make the Finals.

TH: I’m not so sure they won’t make the Finals, with the Western Conference being weaker than it has been in years.  The Chris Paul trade fiasco essentially knocked the Lakers from contention, alienating Pau Gasol and losing Odom to the Mavs for peanuts.  Dallas lost enough players over the summer that this year almost seems like a mini-Mark Cuban rebuilding effort, and San Antonio appears limited in roster movement until Tim Duncan decides to retire.  When was the last time any of these teams appeared so fragile?  Already headed this way, the lockout and compressed season has hit older teams harder than anyone would have expected.

After last year’s Conference Finals appearance, the Thunder have the experience and resilience to make it, but it hinges upon favorable seeding matchups and Westbrook’s shot selection.  Durant has shown more leadership this season, but it might take an MVP trophy for the rest of the team to realize that he’s the clear #1; also, an increased role for James Harden could produce stagnation, as he loves watching the ball leave his hand.  You’re absolutely right that the blame falls on Scott Brooks.  He needs to explain to his team, in clear terms, that Kevin Durant is the best basketball player on the Thunder.

Durant’s been strikingly supportive of his teammates, and I love it.  Superstars in the league now tend to throw their team or their coaching staff under a bus if it suits their personal aspirations, while Durant’s shown a commitment to the city, its team, and management.  But maybe they’d be a more cohesive team on the court if he were to drop the humility a tad, and stepped up and took sole ownership of the team.

DR: I’m not certain that Durant becoming more of a focal point for the offense to flow through is necessarily the right course of action. That could elicit a #MeloSystem style of offense. I would like to see Scott Brooks shoot an email to Sebastian Pruiti and request some suggestions for plays in the halfcourt. They could be much more fluid if he did.

You are right though, the West is wide open and the Thunder need to exploit it, but they need to first battle through the surprisingly tough Northwest Division. If the playoffs began today they would have to face the Trail Blazers in the first round. That is far from a desirable match…but nothing in the West will be ideal this year.

Yes, the Thunder are a good team but their mediocre defense and lack of ball movement could be their eventual undoing. Until that time they need to enjoy the ride. Oh, and…something, something, Westbrook and Durant hate each other, something. There, I think I just covered the main issue that we have been dodging.

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by | February 2, 2011 · 6:55 PM

The Beef’s All Dallas Team

We built this city...a homegrown basketball team

Here at the Beef we are very proud of our city. It has produced some serious NBA talent over the years. That got us thinking, who are the best players to come from the city that we live in? We have compiled a list, well, actually a team of the best players from our town. The team is composed of players who were either born in Dallas or played their high school ball here. Hopefully you will enjoy our All Dallas Team.

The starting lineup:

Deron Williams – Okay, we know, technically he is from The Colony. But seriously, how many people outside of the Metroplex can even locate it on a map? We annexed him. Williams’ career numbers speak for themselves when it comes to why he gets the starting point duties on the team. He has averaged 17.3 points and 9.1 assists in his five and a half years in the league. His numbers this season are even better than his career averages at 21.9 points per game and 9.4 dimes. Add that to his ability to score from anywhere and his game management and sheer will to win and you can see why he quarterbacks the All Dallas Team.

Willie “The Whale” Naulls – Naulls was listed as a forward/center however at 6’6″ he is the perfect size for a starting shooting guard in today’s NBA. As a member of the Boston Celtics, he contributed to three consecutive NBA championships from 1964-66. For his career he averaged 15.8 points and 9.1 rebounds. Having a two guard who can work in the post is nice. However, having a two guard with three rings is even better. Naulls’ streak of 30 consecutive games of scoring 30 or more points was broken this year by Amar’e Stoudemire.

Grant Hill – There was a time that Hill was considered the second coming of Jordan. That title was thrown around a lot in the late 90s. Injuries sidetracked any hope that Hill was the next chosen one. However, they did not completely derail his career. He has since performed quite well in the league keeping his averages quite respectable. His career numbers are 17.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. A solid three no matter how you look at it, especially if you look at his six seasons in the league with the Detroit Pistons.

LaMarcus Aldridge – If anyone saw his performance against the San Antonio Spurs on February 1 then you know exactly why he is the starting power forward. He smoothly dropped 40 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over the league’s best team. Aldridge is having his best statistical year this season averaging 21.4 points and nine rebounds. He is a big that can stretch the defense and open up opportunities for the other players to slash and make cuts towards the rim. His two assists per game this season are a testiment to his court vision.

Dennis Rodman – No, Rodman is not a traditional center but who else would you want anchoring your frontcourt than the largest pestering and persistent presence the NBA has ever known? He led the NBA in total rebounding four times over the course of his career. On top of that he led the league in total rebounding average for seven consecutive seasons from 1991-98. That is what a center does, they secure the offensive and defensive glass. He was also a menace on the court getting into the minds of his opponents and then shutting them down with his defense. His career defensive rating is a 100. An added benefit to having him on the team would be his wild antics which the Dallas media would eat up … and probably spit out. What do they know though? “The Worm” has five championships under his belt.

The second unit:

Mookie Blaylock – Again, this is a case of a player from the suburbs (Garland) being annexed onto this team. So sue us. We want Mookie! Blaylock would be the team’s back up point guard and would generally be on the court with Webb in an undersized, albeit, fast backcourt. With a career average of 2.3 steals, Blaylock was crafty on the court. He twice led the NBA in steals per game average. At 13.5 points per game and 6.7 assists he is the perfect complement to back up Williams.

Spud Webb – Everything that Nate Robinson is doing today, Webb was doing better in the 1980s and 90s. Every team need an energetic bench player who can electrify the crowd with his play and especially his dunks. Webb does just that. Everybody roots for the shorter guy on the court going up against the trees. (In Webb’s case he actually did play with a Tree at one point in his career.) His career averages of 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds are excellent second unit material on the All Dallas Team.

C.J. Miles – Miles is an excellent swingman who complements the uptempo pace that the second unit employs. He is having his best season to date this year with the Utah Jazz. As a reserve for the Jazz this season, Miles is averaging 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. He has the ability to stretch the floor, he is shooting 34.5 percent from behind the arc, as well as finish at the rim. His ability to get out on the break is what makes him important to the second unit.

Darrell Arthur – We continue our trend of undersized position players with Arthur at the four spot. He is in his third year out of Kansas with the Memphis Grizzlies and is having his best statistical year (that seems to be a common thread among active players on this list thus far). This season he is averaging 8.6 points on 51.2 percent shooting and four rebounds in 20 minutes per game.

Kurt Thomas – Thomas is not exactly a center but try telling that to the Chicago Bulls or any of the teams that he has played for over the course of his career. He has been a solid post defender for the majority of his career which has given him staying power in an increasingly young league. His veteran experience and countless playoff appearances make him a no brainer to hold down the paint on the second unit. This season Thomas’ defensive rating is a 97 while he has career averages of 12.2 points per game, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks.

Third unit:

Acie Law – In his short career, Law has managed to play for five different NBA franchises. His career numbers are not spectacular but they do not need to be on this roster as he is essentially the third string point guard. Law narrowly edged out Kevin Ollie for this spot for the simple reason that Law will likely have better numbers by his career’s end than Ollie. However, as of right now they are strikingly similar. This season in 23 games with the Golden State Warriors after being traded by the Memphis Grizzlies, Law is averaging 4.8 points on 47.2 percent shooting to go along with 1.3 assists in 15 minutes per game.

Ricky Pierce – Pierce could have easily made the second unit based on his scoring alone. However, scoring was about the only thing he did. The first two units are composed of more rounded players. At 14.9 points per game over his career while shooting 49.3 percent Pierce can come off the bench and score at will.

Quinton Ross – Ross is the ultimate Dallasite. Not only did he attend Kimball High School but he then went on to play for Southern Methodist University. Can you say fan favorite? We can. He even played on the Mavericks for a brief stint. He has averages of 4.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and one assist over the course of his ongoing career.

Tony Battie – Battie was probably drafted higher than he should have been in 1997 but that is of no concern. He has had a solid career in the NBA as a starter and reserve and he is  exactly suited for a reserve role on the All Dallas Team. He has career averages of 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds.

Greg Ostertag – Every team needs a victory cigar and what better player to have in that role than Ostertag? There was once a time that he was considered a kinda sorta formidable center. But, hey he played in two NBA Finals. He averaged 4.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks for his career.

There you have it, the All Dallas Team. Hopefully you like our selections.

Wait, what is that you said?

“Are you kidding me, don’t you realize who you left off this list?”

Oh, no we did not leave anyone off. We do not care to have fake tough guys on our team. Sorry. Do you really think that Rodman could coexist with a fake tough guy?

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