Interesting history

[GhostofAlfrederickHughes]

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
The New York Times


May 19, 2003 Monday
Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section D; Column 6; Sports Desk; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 733 words

HEADLINE: PRO BASKETBALL;
Van Exel Has Found His Niche With Mavs

BYLINE: By CHRIS BROUSSARD

DATELINE: DALLAS, May 18

BODY:


He was viewed as a throw-in, a disgruntled veteran the Dallas Mavericks were forced to take in a trade for Raef LaFrentz. If Nick Van Exel did not erupt at his new coach, poison the Mavericks' chemistry or throw a fit about coming off the bench, Dallas might survive him.

That was the perception when Van Exel was traded to Dallas from Denver in February 2002.

Van Exel's basketball skills -- crazy range on his jump shot, crafty penetration, guts galore in the clutch -- were almost forgotten. The focus was more or less, "Just keep your mouth shut, Nick, and things might work out."

But Van Exel could not keep quiet, and the Mavericks could not be more thankful for it. If Van Exel had not opened his mouth after Dallas lost the opening game of its semifinal series against the Sacramento Kings, the Mavericks might not be preparing for the Western Conference finals against the Spurs. Game 1 is Monday night in San Antonio.

Thinking his teammates were giving the Kings too much respect, Van Exel told them to stop being so deferential, reminding them that they were also a dangerous team, that they did not win 60 games this season by accident. In their next half of play, the Mavericks scored 83 points on the way to winning the next two games. They won the series, four games to three.

"I think we owe the series to Nick Van Exel," Dallas Coach Don Nelson said after the Mavericks' 112-99 victory over Sacramento in Game 7 on Saturday. "When things were looking bleak, he got us thinking the right way and taking the next step. We really needed to hear that from a teammate and not a coach."

Van Exel has given Dallas more than an inspirational speech during these playoffs. He scored 26 points, shooting 10 of 15, against Portland in Game 7 of the Mavericks' opening series; he backed up his speech by scoring 36 in Game 2 against the Kings; and he dropped in 40 points in Game 3, becoming the first reserve to reach that figure since Freddie Brown had 45 for Seattle in 1976.

Van Exel has averaged 20.3 points and has shot 50 percent this postseason, second on the team to Dirk Nowitzki. Against Sacramento, he averaged a team-high 25.3 points.

"I knew he was a heck of a player, but I didn't know he was this good," said Nowitzki, who has averaged 25.3 points in the playoffs; he averaged 20.7 against the Kings. "Bobby Jackson is a heck of a defender and at times he just made him look silly."

Few thought Van Exel would be content backing up Steve Nash; he had had some highly publicized problems when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. But Van Exel, at age 31, is happy. A starter for the first eight and a half years of his career, he now says he likes coming off the bench.

"He doesn't want to start," said Nelson, who called Van Exel his best player in the playoffs. "I started him one time and it gave him the heebie-jeebies."

Van Exel says he visualizes before a game what he must do when he goes in off the bench. So when Nelson started him against the Spurs in December, Van Exel said it threw him off; he still finished with 16 points and 8 assists.

"I'm so happy with my role," said Van Exel, who is averaging 35 minutes a game in the postseason. "Steve is a great point guard. I just know what to expect, and it's a big difference when you know what to expect."

No one expected Van Exel, a one-time All-Star, to be playing what may be the best ball of his 10-year career.

"I guess you just get better with age," Van Exel said. "Now, I just see the game so much clearer than I did when I was younger, as far as making flip shots, getting into the paint, creating easy opportunities for myself. I just see the game so much better."

Poison the Mavericks' chemistry? Far from it. He has been their glue.

"He gives us focus, leadership, a guy who's been there, done that before," Mark Cuban, the Mavericks' owner, said. "We've got young guys who are going through their first Game 7's, but this is old news for Nick. He thrives on these things and that's one of the reasons we got him."

Cuban denies the commonly held belief that Dallas initially thought of Van Exel as merely a throw-in.

"We wouldn't have taken him unless we really wanted him," he said. "We called Jerry West, and Jerry West said, 'He'll probably be the best guy in the deal when you guys get into the playoffs.' So we said, 'O.K., we should be doing this deal.' And it's panned out exactly that way."

[timvp]

The moment the Mavs traded Van Exel was the moment that their championship hopes died. He was the best player in the playoffs for the Mavs. When Dallas faced the Spurs, Pop would routinely put Bruce Bowen on Van Exel ... and Van Exel would still go off from time to time.

Van Exel carried that 2003 Mavs team.