ElNono
10-19-2007, 07:51 PM
In it for the long haul
After playoff flameout, Mavs set to grind it out again
The biggest question for the Mavs this season might not be whether Dirk Nowitzki can bounce back from his MVP playoff flop, or who will provide some needed low-post scoring, or even how long owner Mark Cuban can stay alive on Dancing with the Stars.
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2007/writers/marty_burns/10/19/mavs.focus/p1_avery.jpg
Keeping the Mavs motivated through an 82-game
season will be Avery Johnson's biggest challenge this
season.
The biggest question might be, How in the world are the Mavs going to stay motivated during the regular season?
"I'm going to take the regular season one game at a time," forward Josh Howard said as he sat as his locker before a recent exhibition game in Chicago. "I see it as a chance to get better every game."
"We know we can't just coast during the regular season and then try to turn it on [for the playoffs]," veteran guard Jerry Stackhouse added. "We're not going to do that."
Clearly, Howard and Stackhouse got the memo from coach Avery Johnson.
The Mavs reached the Finals two years ago. They won an NBA-high 67 games last season. Over the past three years, no team has posted a better regular-season record (185-81, .752). Yet all it has brought them so far is disappointment and heartache.
How could this year's regular season be anything but a death march for Nowitzki and Co.? We're talking 82 games. That's six months of shootarounds, training rooms and nonstop questions about their famous playoff flameouts. All for the right to get back to the postseason, where they will spend another two months (they hope) trying to get back to the NBA Finals.
"We'll find out after the season," Johnson admitted when asked if his team can stay focused through the long haul. "Maybe [that] has happened to other teams. But this team is different. We have our eyes not on the past but on the future."
It would be very easy -- maybe even natural -- for Dallas to ease up on the throttle this time around and not push so hard in the regular season. After all, winning a championship is all that matters now. Nowitzki himself probably has April 19 (the first day of the playoffs) circled on his David Hasselhoff calendar.
But as Johnson knows, trying to get a team to refocus mentally after a season spent going through the motions is like trying to turn around an ocean liner. Just ask last year's Heat.
Plus, there is also the thorny problem that the Mavs just might need every win during the regular season for playoff seeding (and home-court advantage). That's why Johnson plans to go deep in his bag of coaching tricks to keep his team focused during the 82-game grind.
For example, Johnson has instituted "active rest" days in which players will be given days off of practice to work out in the weight room. The idea is not only to give his players a change of pace but also to improve stamina and have his team be better conditioned come playoff time. Johnson believes the Mavs were a bit tired and heavy-legged against the Warriors last year.
"It looked like they were just running past us," Stackhouse said.
Johnson also said he and his coaches will break down the season into five-game components, then evaluate players' performances based on those smaller time frames. Those who meet certain scores will be given various rewards. Those who fail will hear the screechy voice of the Little General.
"Yeah, we have some different things we do, some that we don't publicize," Johnson said, declining to offer specifics. "Rewards and disciplines ...
"We just want to focus on getting better every day, playing hard, playing physical and having fun."
According to Stackhouse, it's the last part that will carry the Mavs through the regular season. The 12-year veteran said the game is still fun for him and his teammates -- even despite the last two playoff disappointments. The addition of new blood such as Eddie Jones and Trenton Hassell, veterans who have never appeared in the Finals, will also help keep Dallas primed.
"I think [the last two] seasons, even though they didn't pan out like we wanted, we still enjoyed the process," Stackhouse said. "We enjoyed being together as a team and going out there and competing and winning games."
So far it's been a rather quiet preseason for the Mavs. Other than Howard's recent dustup with Kings center Brad Miller -- and those Kobe Bryant trade rumors -- Dallas has pretty much stayed under the radar. It's almost as if the Mavs know they won't win 67 games again, but they might be a better team at the end.
Maybe that's the way the Mavs plan to do it this season. Maybe they'll make less noise during the regular season and more when it counts.
But they're going to need to take care of business over the next six months, or they might just end up as this year's version of the Heat.
link (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/marty_burns/10/19/mavs.focus/index.html)
After playoff flameout, Mavs set to grind it out again
The biggest question for the Mavs this season might not be whether Dirk Nowitzki can bounce back from his MVP playoff flop, or who will provide some needed low-post scoring, or even how long owner Mark Cuban can stay alive on Dancing with the Stars.
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2007/writers/marty_burns/10/19/mavs.focus/p1_avery.jpg
Keeping the Mavs motivated through an 82-game
season will be Avery Johnson's biggest challenge this
season.
The biggest question might be, How in the world are the Mavs going to stay motivated during the regular season?
"I'm going to take the regular season one game at a time," forward Josh Howard said as he sat as his locker before a recent exhibition game in Chicago. "I see it as a chance to get better every game."
"We know we can't just coast during the regular season and then try to turn it on [for the playoffs]," veteran guard Jerry Stackhouse added. "We're not going to do that."
Clearly, Howard and Stackhouse got the memo from coach Avery Johnson.
The Mavs reached the Finals two years ago. They won an NBA-high 67 games last season. Over the past three years, no team has posted a better regular-season record (185-81, .752). Yet all it has brought them so far is disappointment and heartache.
How could this year's regular season be anything but a death march for Nowitzki and Co.? We're talking 82 games. That's six months of shootarounds, training rooms and nonstop questions about their famous playoff flameouts. All for the right to get back to the postseason, where they will spend another two months (they hope) trying to get back to the NBA Finals.
"We'll find out after the season," Johnson admitted when asked if his team can stay focused through the long haul. "Maybe [that] has happened to other teams. But this team is different. We have our eyes not on the past but on the future."
It would be very easy -- maybe even natural -- for Dallas to ease up on the throttle this time around and not push so hard in the regular season. After all, winning a championship is all that matters now. Nowitzki himself probably has April 19 (the first day of the playoffs) circled on his David Hasselhoff calendar.
But as Johnson knows, trying to get a team to refocus mentally after a season spent going through the motions is like trying to turn around an ocean liner. Just ask last year's Heat.
Plus, there is also the thorny problem that the Mavs just might need every win during the regular season for playoff seeding (and home-court advantage). That's why Johnson plans to go deep in his bag of coaching tricks to keep his team focused during the 82-game grind.
For example, Johnson has instituted "active rest" days in which players will be given days off of practice to work out in the weight room. The idea is not only to give his players a change of pace but also to improve stamina and have his team be better conditioned come playoff time. Johnson believes the Mavs were a bit tired and heavy-legged against the Warriors last year.
"It looked like they were just running past us," Stackhouse said.
Johnson also said he and his coaches will break down the season into five-game components, then evaluate players' performances based on those smaller time frames. Those who meet certain scores will be given various rewards. Those who fail will hear the screechy voice of the Little General.
"Yeah, we have some different things we do, some that we don't publicize," Johnson said, declining to offer specifics. "Rewards and disciplines ...
"We just want to focus on getting better every day, playing hard, playing physical and having fun."
According to Stackhouse, it's the last part that will carry the Mavs through the regular season. The 12-year veteran said the game is still fun for him and his teammates -- even despite the last two playoff disappointments. The addition of new blood such as Eddie Jones and Trenton Hassell, veterans who have never appeared in the Finals, will also help keep Dallas primed.
"I think [the last two] seasons, even though they didn't pan out like we wanted, we still enjoyed the process," Stackhouse said. "We enjoyed being together as a team and going out there and competing and winning games."
So far it's been a rather quiet preseason for the Mavs. Other than Howard's recent dustup with Kings center Brad Miller -- and those Kobe Bryant trade rumors -- Dallas has pretty much stayed under the radar. It's almost as if the Mavs know they won't win 67 games again, but they might be a better team at the end.
Maybe that's the way the Mavs plan to do it this season. Maybe they'll make less noise during the regular season and more when it counts.
But they're going to need to take care of business over the next six months, or they might just end up as this year's version of the Heat.
link (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/marty_burns/10/19/mavs.focus/index.html)