Mavs rookie Ager off to strong start
Maurice Ager has been enjoying a hot summer, and it's looking like he might find himself in a position to help the Mavericks right away
02:07 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 12, 2006
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
The story, apparently, was either embellished or flat-out exaggerated.
It happened in Maurice Ager's junior season at Michigan State. He was getting ready for a big regular-season game against Duke and, by some accounts, began hyperventilating.
This was not out of character for Ager. He's an emotional person. Sometimes, he gets too excited, which he admits works for and against him.
As his college coach, Tom Izzo, once said: "Maurice would hyperventilate if he was going to the prom. He's just excited about life."
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Ager, of course, doesn't think the story has been accurately portrayed.
"Sometimes before games, you're just excited to play," he said. "But I don't know about hyperventilating. I think that's a little extreme. Hyperventilating, you're shaking and stuff. I don't think it came to that.
"But I'm always excited to play. That can be my strength and it can be my weakness. Sometimes I go off too fast. But I'm learning every day."
He's doing so with the Mavericks' summer-league team. He has averaged 20 points in three games to lead the Mavericks in the Toshiba Vegas Summer League.
Ager, the 28th pick in the NBA draft last month, appears to be headed toward a significant role with the Mavericks next season. With the trade of Marquis Daniels, Ager has a chance to earn minutes in the backcourt.
Summer league is nothing more than a chance for a young player to get a feel for the NBA. It's like training wheels.
But the Mavericks are genuinely high on Ager because of his athleticism, his slant toward the defensive end of the court and his for ude, which is considerable.
"He's talented enough for this league and will be able to make an impact, simply because of the four years he had in school and his at ude and confidence," said Rolando Blackman, who is coaching the Mavs' summer squad. "He'll be able to help."
Emotion is a big part of the 6-5 Ager's life. He broke down and cried when the Mavericks selected him late in the first round.
Ager has felt the tug of emotions in other directions, too. His father died of lung cancer when Ager was a college freshman. Before that, the two weren't exactly close. But Ager learned to deal with it.
"He moved away when I was younger to take care of his father down south," Ager said. "I never held it against him. He had to do what he had to do. And my mom did a good job of raising me."
His mother, who is moving from Detroit to Dallas later this summer, and Izzo were the primary reasons Ager embraced the concept of accountability in life. He believes in looking at himself when things go wrong rather than blaming outside influences.
He knows Avery Johnson coaches the same way.
"That's cool," he said. "I can use that. Hopefully, he thinks I can take that and will treat me the same way. I think I did a good job with Coach Izzo, knowing what to take and what not to take."
And his religious upbringing won't hurt him with Johnson, either. Both coach and player know that having a hard edge and being spiritual aren't mutually exclusive.
"You can still be a Christian and still be tough," Ager said. "I play hard every day and don't take anything on the court."
Ager says he always knew he would be an NBA player. But a couple of games in his senior season solidified him as a legitimate pro prospect. He had 36 points in a triple-overtime loss to Adam Morrison and Gonzaga in a holiday tournament.
LAURA RAUCH/AP
Maurice Ager, driving to the basket during a Toshiba Vegas Summer League game, is averaging 20 points for the Mavericks. 'He's talented enough for this league and will be able to make an impact,' coach Rolando Blackman says of the No. 28 pick out of Michigan State.
More impressively, he came back the next night with 20 points in an overtime win over Arizona.
Two nights, two games. Those are NBA conditions, and Ager performed well in both.
"I'd forgotten how good he is," said Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who while at George Washington played against Ager and now is his teammate in the summer league. "I forgot how unstoppable he is when he gets the ball."
There is more good news for the Mavericks about Ager – he didn't end up in San Antonio. The Spurs wanted him and apparently tried to trade up to draft him.
"I've heard they're very disappointed that he ended up in Dallas," said Jim Boylen, the Michigan State assistant coach who spent 13 years in the NBA as an assistant.
That's interesting because the last time the Spurs were upset about the Mavericks taking a player they wanted, it was Josh Howard. He turned out to be a rising star and a key reason the Mavericks beat the Spurs in the second round of the playoffs last season.
If Ager can approach Howard's success, the Mavericks will have found another gem late in the first round of the draft
Is this true? I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't more Dallas Mavericks self-stroking, entirely made-up.There is more good news for the Mavericks about Ager – he didn't end up in San Antonio. The Spurs wanted him and apparently tried to trade up to draft him.
"I've heard they're very disappointed that he ended up in Dallas," said Jim Boylen, the Michigan State assistant coach who spent 13 years in the NBA as an assistant.
Who knows for sure but it's a Michigan State assistant coach saying it.
Might be repeating what Dallas told him.
Last edited by Mr. Body; 07-12-2006 at 09:18 AM.
But then Mark Cuban would cut off his own if someone told him the Spurs would be disappointed if he did it. The Spurs could express interest in crappy free agents just to make Cuban scoop them up.
He definitely fits the "crappy" description.Hey, maybe that means the Mavs will go out and scoop up Elson now. I like that plan!
Good news Spurs homers Mavs lost again...to the Kings by 23+. On a side note Pops Mensah-Bonsu had 13 points on 4-8 shooting. Look out for this guy....he's a star I tell ya.
Don't sell yourself short.
The Mavs got owned twice today.
Lakers 99 Mavs 87
Chump - what is the other league to which you're always referring?
And Sebastian Telfair with an unprecented 11 fouls in Wednesday's game. Genius.
i think there's one in florida.
Summer Pro League in Socal. Though they're there by name, I really don't think the team is using that team as much of a measuring stick for camp invites. I recognize about 3 names off that roster.
Fishing around the rosters in that league, it's good to see Penny Hardaway getting some playing time. My, how the mighty have fallen.
Wow, what summer league team is he playing on? I miss the little Penny commercials
Summer Pro League
He's on the L. Smith Assoc. team.
Can we keep this thread to actual summer league discussion please?
As explained before, the original thread le was a JOKE. (I don't get why Mavs fans are so sensitive -- they beat the Spurs). This is the thread for talking about the LV Summer League (and other summer leagues I guess).
Stop with the nonsense.
And Eric Dampier AKA Chris Mihm ... keep your trolling in the troll forum, thanks.
By the way, the Mavs have a Rocky Mt Revue team, which starts tomorrow in Salt Lake. The Mavs always play in almost all the summer leagues ... Long Beach, Las Vegas (formerly Shaw in Boston), Rocky Mt Revue, etc. Cuban likes to have them field as many summer league teams as possible so their young talent and prospects can get as much game action as possible. It's a good idea, but other teams don't go to the expense of it and just field one (sometimes two) teams.
A little late, eh CD?
Lord knows I hated Miles as a Texas fan, but I hated him cuz he was in good. Good gambler, good D, solid pg.
Didn't expect him to be this good of a scorer though.
I'm sure I posted that before the Vaughn signing.
Miles is going to be in the NBA - he was one of the few guys in the D-League who could take care of the ball and now he's scoring. I understand the Spurs' going with a known quan y. If there's some kind of injury, though....
To be honest, at first I never thought him NBA worthy, part of me still doesn't. He never showed a tendency to score like this except sporadically, then again he had a deep team with solid help.
If he really does break throguh as a good nba player, I was totally wrong about him from his early years.
He is tenacious though, nba scouts love that stuff.
Like I said, somewhere during last season someone (the Flyers' coach?) lit a fire under his ass to look for his own offense. The difference between the first and last time I saw him in Austin was night and day.
Timberwolves 86
Mavericks 76
Grizzlies 121
Mavericks 117
Looks like the Mavs are improving. They might win a game before the league is over.
Mavs 94
Hawks 93
Mavs 120
Wiz 99
Congratulations.
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