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Dallas' Josh Howard has logged 35 1/2 minutes of fourth-quarter playing time in the finals without a single point
maybe spur fans wil not bash the spurs front office for passing him now
Mavs on the move -- new hotel should minimize distractions
By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer
June 16, 2006
MIAMI (AP) -- Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson was serious about ending his team's "vacation mentality."
At the coach's order, the club packed up and left its downtown Miami hotel on Friday and moved to Fort Lauderdale.
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"That's really ... to kind of refocus a little bit," said Donnie Nelson, the team's president of basketball operations. "It's a little bit of training camp, bunker mentality, which I think is sort of a good call."
The Mavericks came to Miami leading the NBA finals 2-0. They're now tied with the Miami Heat 2-2 going into Game 5 on Sunday night.
Players were excused from talking to media Friday, but the coaches spoke. Johnson had some sharp words about the team's at ude.
"Fort Lauderdale certainly doesn't have the same distractions, challenges of say downtown, close to the beach and all that," Nelson said. "I think sometimes you have to make a change for change sake. This just gives us an opportunity to get back to a little bit more of a training camp type of regimen, refocus and completely cut out the distractions."
Nelson added that the move was not made to address a particular problem.
"It's not like our guys were dancing the streets until 3 o'clock in the morning," he said. "More than anything, we just need to be able to rebound the core of why we're here. It's changing gears for good reasons."
AH, THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Alonzo Mourning wasn't enthused when Miami center Shaquille O'Neal was sent flying out of bounds by Dallas' Jerry Stackhouse in Game 4 of the NBA finals.
Still, it did remind Mourning of a different time in the NBA -- a time he greatly enjoyed.
Mourning was, and is, no stranger to intense contact around the rim. And after Miami's 98-74 win Thursday night, he said he longs for the days when the NBA game was more physical than it is today, albeit not necessarily to the flagrant-foul level of the Stackhouse-O'Neal incident.
"What happened to that part of the game? That's what I know and that's what I miss, when you could touch someone," the Heat backup center said. "We're used to it."
Mourning was in a good mood, of course, after the Game 4 win -- but the sage in the Miami locker room was quick to caution teammates that two victories in the NBA finals means little.
"We know where our strength lies. It's right here in this locker room without y'all in it," Mourning told reporters afterward. "All season we've had doubters. Somehow we've always found a way to work hard, come together and make it right. Make it right. Make it right."
Stackhouse was suspended one game by the NBA on Friday for the hit.
DAY OF REST
Neither team practiced Friday, since the finals don't resume until Sunday night. But when asked for specifics on how his team would prepare for Game 5, Mavs coach Avery Johnson seemed a tiny bit exasperated.
"Would it matter? What's your suggestion?" he asked the inquiring reporter.
When the reporter said she'd recommend the Mavs "get a little shooting in," the room broke out in laughs -- except for the coach sitting on the dais.
"OK," Johnson said, before moving on to the next question.
Players were not available for comment Friday. Only Johnson and Heat coach Pat Riley met with reporters.
STACKHOUSE AND BAVETTA
When Dallas' Jerry Stackhouse and veteran referee Bavetta get together, fireworks tend to occur.
Bavetta was one of the three referees working Game 4 Thursday night -- when Stackhouse leveled Heat center Shaquille O'Neal with a flagrant foul. Stackhouse was suspended one game by the NBA on Friday for the hit.
Bavetta -- who was trailing the Stackhouse-Shaq play -- made a flagrant-foul call against Stackhouse in last year's playoffs, when he hit Phoenix's Joe Johnson in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals. Johnson landed face-first and fractured a bone near his left eye on the play.
And this year, after drawing a double-technical in a regular-season game in San Antonio which Dallas lost 98-89, Stackhouse verbally assaulted Bavetta -- who was working that night, too -- afterward.
"It's tough to come on the road in this environment and have to play against the refs, too. ... It's like the game is about him," Stackhouse told The (Fort Worth) Star-Telegram that night in an expletive-filled tirade.
For what it's worth, Bavetta was on the officiating crews when Dallas won close-out games against both San Antonio and Phoenix en route to the Western Conference championship.
HERE AND THERE
Dallas' Josh Howard has logged 35 1/2 minutes of fourth-quarter playing time in the finals without a single point. ... Miami is 10-1 at home this postseason, including seven straight wins. ... Heat center Shaquille O'Neal had 13 rebounds in Game 4, giving him 369 in finals games -- eight more than Larry Bird for eighth on the all-time list. ... When Alonzo Mourning is in the game for Miami, the Heat have outscored the Mavericks 99-81 in these finals. When he's not, the Heat has been outscored 278-262. ... D.J. Mbenga, who was suspended for the last six games after going into the stands during the Western Conference finals, will be on the active roster for Game 5 of the finals, coach Avery Johnson said Friday. ... The Heat played a total of 51 playoff games in their first 15 seasons. Game 6 of the finals in Dallas on Tuesday will be their 51st in the last three seasons.
Updated on Friday, Jun 16, 2006 7:59 pm EDT
Dallas' Josh Howard has logged 35 1/2 minutes of fourth-quarter playing time in the finals without a single point
maybe spur fans wil not bash the spurs front office for passing him now
Good to know the fine ladies of Miami are doing their part.
Talk about circling the wagons. Their hotel is about as secluded as their play on the court.
i think someone was stupid and thought the Mavs would sweep so they only reserved for up until Game 4... well THEEEY WEEEEERE WROOOOONG!!! hehehe
Moving to a new hotel is a bigger distraction. Stack was the guy staying out late anyway, right?
Yeah, Pat Riley sent those women to play physical and bang bodies with the Mavs.
hotel california?
Good move...change things up a bit...
You can take the idiot out of the environment but you can’t take the idiot out the player…
It is unfortunate that these fools getting paid huge amounts of money to perform can just party all night if they wish and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it with all the guaranteed contracts.
Props to Avery for attempting to remove them from temptation….
Richard Justice had a blurb about this in his blog, the last part concerns the hotel:
Avery Johnson went ballistic on his Dallas radio show Friday afternoon when he learned Jerry Stackhouse had been suspended for Game 5. He also moved his players to a hotel 45 minutes from Miami.
"It's just a bunch of baloney, for lack of a better word," Johnson said. "It's just sickening. Our fans should be upset; our players will be. It's just humiliating."
Memo to Avery: Don't let the world see you sweat. Even if you think the thing is coming undone, act as if it's no big deal. You may give your players a seige mentality, which isn't a bad thing. You may also give them a reason to give up in the fourth quarter when things are tight. If the NBA doesn't want them to win, how can they win?
Take the high road, Avery. Tell the world you'll overcome it. Tell the world you've overcome bigger obstacles than those knuckleheads in the NBA office. Besides, Jerry Stackhouse had it coming. The NBA has officiated such incidents pretty consistently.
Stackhouse wasn't going for the ball. He was going for Shaquille O'Neal. He went in high and hard. Did he hurt him? No, he didn't. All he did was something really stupid in the second half of a game that had gotten away. He lost his composure, and now the Mavericks have lost their best bench player for Game 5 on Sunday.
If Avery had to be mad at someone, it should have been Stackhouse. Then again, that doesn't play as well.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban joined the chorus, sending an e-mail to the New York Times that said: "It makes no sense at all. There have been more accidental elbows to Mavs players' heads this series than is statistically possible. More stiff arms to faces of our double teams, all without response from the league."
Johnson spoke of "foolishness that goes on" in the NBA. He said superstars were treated differently. Yes, they are. Avery knows that, too. They're given the benefit of the doubt in every sport. It has always been that way. It will always be that way.
"Shaquille O'Neal does the same thing, he gets a slap on the wrist," Johnson said. "I've seen it before, it's been around forever. Certain players get royal treatment and certain players don't."
As for moving his players out of Miami, that stuff doesn't work, either. It's Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Effort isn't an issue. If a coach has to get his players' attention now, he has problems a new hotel can't fix.
Neither team practiced Friday, since the finals don't resume until Sunday night. But when asked for specifics on how his team would prepare for Game 5, Mavs coach Avery Johnson seemed a tiny bit exasperated.
"Would it matter? What's your suggestion?" he asked the inquiring reporter.
When the reporter said she'd recommend the Mavs "get a little shooting in," the room broke out in laughs -- except for the coach sitting on the dais. "OK," Johnson said, before moving on to the next question.
Damn...Avery got OWNED....
hehe...wow im going to remember this one and save it for posterity.
Ducks' goes on record to advocate the Spurs passing on Josh Howard with the 28th pick in the draft. Are you crazy, blinded by bitterness, or just stupid?
You are going to feel pretty stupid when Josh Howard starts going back to being Josh Howard in this series. As a team, Mavs have been dreadful in the 4th quarter the past 3 games, and one of those games can be thrown out because we had a 27 point lead.
On another note, maybe it would have been advantageous for you to draft him with the 28th pick just to prevent him from elimininating your team this year with his superior play during round 2. Do you think this statement might have been a bit misguided?
Either way, I guess we both agree that we are glad to see him playing for the Mavs here in the finals.
doesn't look like ducks said that at all. are you crazy or just stupid?
Oh because were really hurting with out him. My vote goes for you being the most bitter poster here. All you can say is bitter, whiny, and some other weak response to any poster that is a spurs fan here. Your just weak period, at any back handed compliment or diss. You post with arrogance as if the mavs are some kind of dynasty, yet this is your first year in the finals. Ive tasted more championship runs then you can say you ever have. Get over the mav/spurs series already that was weeks ago. LOSER
I was talking about double teams
hehe. wow you guys, being angry doesn't mean that your right.
the guy said what he said. read it.
if you feel that not taking josh howard with the 28th pick now looks like a sound move because of josh's 4th quarter futility in the finals so far, than I guess I am the one who is out of line on this one.
when you make an absurd point and back it up with statistics, it is fair game for others to rebut your claims. sorry to bother you guys with my endless bitterness.
go mavs! jho in 06!
that ducks guy is a total idiot, but no one really ever calls him on it.
"Dallas' Josh Howard has logged 35 1/2 minutes of fourth-quarter playing time in the finals without a single point
maybe spur fans wil not bash the spurs front office for passing him now"
Ducks
i don't think I really misconstrued what ducks was putting forth for discussion.
Well, I would say there is some truth in this statement.
As a Mavs fan, I am thanking my lucky stars you guys didn't have the foresight to listen to your franchise guy and draft Howard with that pick you ended up totally wasting while pursuing a potential trade for Jason Kidd.
I think its pretty obvious to anyone who watched the series that if he was playing for Spurs and not Mavs, the series would have been tipped in your favor.
So, in that sense, its fair to say that you guys are "really hurting with out him."
Angry, logic devoid responses welcome.
I posted if the mavs won the le I wanted howard to be the mvp
that is not going to happen
I wanted howard
but howard is not all that yet
he will be maybe
I am sick of spur fans bashing them for passing on him
alot of other teams passed him
the spurs front office usually finds gems in the first round
thanks for sticking up for me
You have a real knack for cutting the heart of what it relevent in this matter. For instance, I think you are right on that the fact that the Spurs have won 3 rings is worth bringing up when talking about whether Josh Howard would have been a good pick for you guys at 28 in 2003.My vote goes for you being the most bitter poster here. All you can say is Oh because were bitter, whiny, and some other weak response to any poster that is a spurs fan here. Your just weak period, at any back handed compliment or diss. You post with arrogance as if the mavs are some kind of dynasty, yet this is your first year in the finals. Ive tasted more championship runs then you can say you ever have. Get over the mav/spurs series already that was weeks ago. LOSER
Also, way to take the high road by avoiding anything that could be construed as bitterness or anger. Whereas my posts was littered with personal insults directed at innocent people, your post transcends this by being 100% about basketball.
All in all, you represent yourself exceptionally well.
Why don't they just move back to Dallas already and just forget about Game 5, I mean come on, everyone knows the Mavs are winning in 6, so do they really even need to play game 5?
As for not picking Josh Howard in the 03 draft, I don't think it was a bad idea. That was fine. However, I'm still not over trading Leandrinho for nothing. THAT WAS A BAD IDEA.
Then again, maybe we should have pulled a Dallas and picked Josh Howard just so that Dallas couldn't, and then traded him for nothing instead. Now that I think about it, that would have been more enjoyable.
what do you do afor a living?
i am going to take a wild guess and say that you are not the general manager for an nba team based on your personel assesments.
I'm going to assume you're talking to me. So here we go. I know why we traded Barbosa, that doesn't mean that I think it was a good idea. He's turned into a good player, just like I thought he would. It really didn't matter who we picked in that draft, unless of course maybe Lebron dropped down to #28 in a freak accident, because chances were pretty good that we weren't going to keep him. So really, the only good in picking Josh Howard would have been that we could have traded him so that he wouldn't be in Dallas right now. And yes, Dallas has done this to SA before.
And for the 1 millionth time, why can none of you Mavs fans spell?
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