duncan228
04-30-2010, 12:23 AM
Cowlishaw: Pulling Beaubois in 4th quarter was a mistake (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/043010dnspocowlishaw.3ff700b.html)
by Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News
The oldest team in the NBA was nearly rescued by the youngest rookie on either roster Thursday night.
Roddy Beaubois was this close to being one of the team's all-time surprising playoff heroes.
And then, in head-scratching fashion, his electrifying play was brought to a halt by his own coach. With it went another lost season for the Mavericks who were 97-87 losers to the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center.
Game 6? Game over.
And no one can say it had to be that way for Dallas.
The Spurs dominated and led 35-16 when Beaubois entered the game. His speed and energy had San Antonio scrambling late in the second quarter and throughout the third quarter. In his first 18 minutes, Beaubois scored 16 points. A huge Spurs lead was reduced to single digits.
Then Beaubois returned to his usual spot on the Mavericks' bench for more than nine minutes in the fourth quarter, ending Dallas' season and raising questions unlike any Rick Carlisle has brought upon himself in two seasons here.
Although the Spurs had led by the incredible score of 22-8 after one quarter and held a 22-point lead during the second, the scoreboard showed Spurs 70, Mavs 63 after three quarters.
There was definitely a game to be won in the final 12 minutes. So when Jason Terry and Shawn Marion re-entered the game to start the fourth quarter in place of Beaubois and Caron Butler, it had to be for a two-minute rest. Three minutes tops, correct?
Instead, Beaubois did not return to the court until there was 2:44 to play and the Mavericks' deficit was stuck on eight points.
Carlisle praised Beaubois' play and saw nothing controversial about his decision to sit the rookie for nearly 80 percent of the final period.
"I gave Jet a shot," Carlisle said of Terry. "We were hanging right in there a good portion of that time. Those have been tough decisions all year. But in a difficult team situation, he gave us a big lift."
The lift was followed only by a huge letdown and one that's not easily explained. Terry, though obviously more experienced than the rookie, was having a terrible night. He was 0-for-6 before he hit his first shot and finished with two points in 20 minutes.
Beaubois finished with 16 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes. He caused Spurs coach Gregg Popovich considerable matchup problems, forcing him to go with Keith Bogans, who has a minimal offensive game, at a time San Antonio was struggling to score.
Even Terry, who replaced Beaubois, wondered where the rookie went with the game and the season on the line.
"It was the same thing he did all year. The kid can play," Terry said. "Whether he was out there or not, that's another story."
Today, it's not another story for the Mavericks. It's THE STORY.
Admittedly, Beaubois had help in re-energizing the team after the brutal start. Nowitzki played like a superstar in the second half when he scored 25 of his 33 points. Butler, the Game 5 hero with 35 points, tossed in 25.
Beyond that, there was nothing. Beaubois was the one who came from nowhere – he played just 10 minutes in the series' first five games – and brought this team back from the dead Thursday night.
Then Carlisle sent him back from where he came, and the Mavericks ended up with their third first-round loss in four seasons since the 2006 trip to the NBA Finals.
It didn't have to be that way. Carlisle thought that the team's terrible first period was to blame for the season's sudden end.
"The first quarter has been a big story in this series," he said. "It was our undoing tonight."
Actually, the undoing didn't come until the fourth quarter. That's when the Spurs and their fans breathed a sigh of relief to see Beaubois stationed on the Mavericks' bench.
With four fouls in 21 minutes, he might not have lasted long in the fourth period, anyway. Thanks to Carlisle's decision, Mavericks fans will never know.
[B]*********************
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apologizes to fans after first-round series loss to Spurs (http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/04/dallas-mavericks-owner-mark-cuban-apolog.html)
Brandon George/Reporter
As you can imagine, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wasn't in the best of moods after the Game 6 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night ended the team's season in the first round of the NBA playoffs yet again.
Cuban spent several minutes in a small room, sitting in a chair with his head down following the loss. Finally, he emerged and wasn't happy at a TNT cameraman in the locker room who had taped Cuban with his head down in the small room. Cuban asked a Mavericks media relations person to obtain the tape.
Cuban then congratulated the Spurs and apologzied to Mavericks' fans.
"Congratulations to the Spurs. George Hill emerged as the star and really was the difference-maker. They deserve to win. They're a Texas team, so I guess I'll be rooting for them the rest of the way. I'm proud of our guys and the way they kept on fighting back," Cuban said. "I'm not so proud of the NBA.
"I'm not proud of my inability over the last 10 years to have an impact like I want to have, so I kind of feel like I owe fans an apology, but that's just the way this business goes, but congratulations to the Spurs."
Cuban didn't have much to say on the Mavericks moving forward at this point and what he'll do with the team this summer, during the NBA's free-agent shopping spree. He did say again that he wouldn't base his decisions on another first-round playoff exit. He also talked about the team's All-Star break trade that brought three players to the Mavs from the Washington Wizards.
"Well, we have a great base. We'll have a chance to work with each other. You can see some of the uneasiness [of new players fitting in after the trade] because we haven't had a full season to play together and that showed a few times, but we'll pull all the pieces together and we'll go at them again next year," Cuban said. "Every year I tell you the exact same thing, we're going to be opportunistic and do our very best to put the best team on the court. That's not going to change.
"The last time I looked, what five teams have won championships out of 30, so I'd say we'll try to go out there and do our best and try not to be reactive like all the media will ask us to be. It's never, like I say ever year, there is one team that wins and 29 other teams that tie for last place and you don't change the way you approach success simply because of the questions."
by Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News
The oldest team in the NBA was nearly rescued by the youngest rookie on either roster Thursday night.
Roddy Beaubois was this close to being one of the team's all-time surprising playoff heroes.
And then, in head-scratching fashion, his electrifying play was brought to a halt by his own coach. With it went another lost season for the Mavericks who were 97-87 losers to the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center.
Game 6? Game over.
And no one can say it had to be that way for Dallas.
The Spurs dominated and led 35-16 when Beaubois entered the game. His speed and energy had San Antonio scrambling late in the second quarter and throughout the third quarter. In his first 18 minutes, Beaubois scored 16 points. A huge Spurs lead was reduced to single digits.
Then Beaubois returned to his usual spot on the Mavericks' bench for more than nine minutes in the fourth quarter, ending Dallas' season and raising questions unlike any Rick Carlisle has brought upon himself in two seasons here.
Although the Spurs had led by the incredible score of 22-8 after one quarter and held a 22-point lead during the second, the scoreboard showed Spurs 70, Mavs 63 after three quarters.
There was definitely a game to be won in the final 12 minutes. So when Jason Terry and Shawn Marion re-entered the game to start the fourth quarter in place of Beaubois and Caron Butler, it had to be for a two-minute rest. Three minutes tops, correct?
Instead, Beaubois did not return to the court until there was 2:44 to play and the Mavericks' deficit was stuck on eight points.
Carlisle praised Beaubois' play and saw nothing controversial about his decision to sit the rookie for nearly 80 percent of the final period.
"I gave Jet a shot," Carlisle said of Terry. "We were hanging right in there a good portion of that time. Those have been tough decisions all year. But in a difficult team situation, he gave us a big lift."
The lift was followed only by a huge letdown and one that's not easily explained. Terry, though obviously more experienced than the rookie, was having a terrible night. He was 0-for-6 before he hit his first shot and finished with two points in 20 minutes.
Beaubois finished with 16 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes. He caused Spurs coach Gregg Popovich considerable matchup problems, forcing him to go with Keith Bogans, who has a minimal offensive game, at a time San Antonio was struggling to score.
Even Terry, who replaced Beaubois, wondered where the rookie went with the game and the season on the line.
"It was the same thing he did all year. The kid can play," Terry said. "Whether he was out there or not, that's another story."
Today, it's not another story for the Mavericks. It's THE STORY.
Admittedly, Beaubois had help in re-energizing the team after the brutal start. Nowitzki played like a superstar in the second half when he scored 25 of his 33 points. Butler, the Game 5 hero with 35 points, tossed in 25.
Beyond that, there was nothing. Beaubois was the one who came from nowhere – he played just 10 minutes in the series' first five games – and brought this team back from the dead Thursday night.
Then Carlisle sent him back from where he came, and the Mavericks ended up with their third first-round loss in four seasons since the 2006 trip to the NBA Finals.
It didn't have to be that way. Carlisle thought that the team's terrible first period was to blame for the season's sudden end.
"The first quarter has been a big story in this series," he said. "It was our undoing tonight."
Actually, the undoing didn't come until the fourth quarter. That's when the Spurs and their fans breathed a sigh of relief to see Beaubois stationed on the Mavericks' bench.
With four fouls in 21 minutes, he might not have lasted long in the fourth period, anyway. Thanks to Carlisle's decision, Mavericks fans will never know.
[B]*********************
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apologizes to fans after first-round series loss to Spurs (http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/04/dallas-mavericks-owner-mark-cuban-apolog.html)
Brandon George/Reporter
As you can imagine, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wasn't in the best of moods after the Game 6 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night ended the team's season in the first round of the NBA playoffs yet again.
Cuban spent several minutes in a small room, sitting in a chair with his head down following the loss. Finally, he emerged and wasn't happy at a TNT cameraman in the locker room who had taped Cuban with his head down in the small room. Cuban asked a Mavericks media relations person to obtain the tape.
Cuban then congratulated the Spurs and apologzied to Mavericks' fans.
"Congratulations to the Spurs. George Hill emerged as the star and really was the difference-maker. They deserve to win. They're a Texas team, so I guess I'll be rooting for them the rest of the way. I'm proud of our guys and the way they kept on fighting back," Cuban said. "I'm not so proud of the NBA.
"I'm not proud of my inability over the last 10 years to have an impact like I want to have, so I kind of feel like I owe fans an apology, but that's just the way this business goes, but congratulations to the Spurs."
Cuban didn't have much to say on the Mavericks moving forward at this point and what he'll do with the team this summer, during the NBA's free-agent shopping spree. He did say again that he wouldn't base his decisions on another first-round playoff exit. He also talked about the team's All-Star break trade that brought three players to the Mavs from the Washington Wizards.
"Well, we have a great base. We'll have a chance to work with each other. You can see some of the uneasiness [of new players fitting in after the trade] because we haven't had a full season to play together and that showed a few times, but we'll pull all the pieces together and we'll go at them again next year," Cuban said. "Every year I tell you the exact same thing, we're going to be opportunistic and do our very best to put the best team on the court. That's not going to change.
"The last time I looked, what five teams have won championships out of 30, so I'd say we'll try to go out there and do our best and try not to be reactive like all the media will ask us to be. It's never, like I say ever year, there is one team that wins and 29 other teams that tie for last place and you don't change the way you approach success simply because of the questions."