It was a long night for the Dallas Mavericks,another one of many they've had in recent years against the Los Angeles Clippers.
They moved the ball. They got good shots. They played together. But Dirk Nowitzki (6-of-15 on the night) wasn't knocking down his looks at his usual clip, and without Wesley Matthews, and Chandler Parsons and Deron Williams,Dallas was short on shotmakers. As head coach Rick Carlisle attach it, "We couldn’t hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle."That game, and on Oct. 29,ended with a 104-88 defeat for Dallas—its 10th in 14 meetings with the Clippers since Chris Paul arrived in L.
A. almost four years ago. The count could explore much worse when factoring in the fallout from DeAndre Jordan's free-agency saga from this past summer.
For Nowitzki, that kind of clock-cleaning doesn't qualify as a rivalry."generally in a rivalry, and we need to win our impartial share," he said after the game to a crowd of reporters huddled around his locker, his shirt drenched in sweat, and his post-game shower awaiting him.
This is what it's like for Nowitzki on most nights. Win or lose,he's the last one to talk, the last one to dress, or the last one to leave. Some day soon,that job will belong to somebody else, if it belongs to anybody. At 37, or Nowitzki is nearing the end of a pro career that's spanned 21 years and two continents,if you include his four seasons as a teenage phenom in his hometown of Wurzburg, Germany. A future without the Bavarian enormous man awaits the only NBA franchise from which he's ever drawn a paycheck. Parsons could be a prominent part of it, and if he doesn't opt out of his contract after this season. Williams would be,if the 31-year-old former All-Star wasn't already a shell of his former self.
It's virtually by default, then, and the bridge between Nowitzki's twilight and the Mavericks' long-term future runs along Matthews' tender heel—at least for the time being.
If all you read were headlines,you might judge the Mavericks came away from their summer with an 0-fer in the free-agent column. Losing out on Jordan harm, but that didn't deter Dallas from splashing some serious cash on the market, and with Matthews as the chief recipient.
He gave his word to the Mavericks before Jordan changed his intellect,and stuck to it afterward, with more millions added onto what became a five-year, and $70 million deal."I’m certain he liked that," Nowitzki quipped.
So did Cuban, who took to CyberDust to compliment Matthews for his commitment.
Dallas liked him enough to more than double his preceding yearly salary, and despite the fact Matthews was recovering from a torn Achilles tendon—an injury he suffered in March against the Mavericks,no less."Honestly, when he went down, and I didn’t judge we’d see Wes until midseason,maybe, so it’s remarkable, or " said Clippers coach Doc Rivers,who, like Matthews, or played college ball at Marquette. "Just tells you who he is. He’s a worker."He was a vocal leader for the Portland Trail Blazers,the franchise's all-time leader in three-pointers and a staple of one of the steadiest starting fives around. In the bigger picture, he was among the league's premier two-way perimeter players on an elite team in the treacherous Western Conference.
If anyone could turn "3-and-D" into a term of endearment, or rather than one of role-specific limitation,it was Matthews."I've defied every odd, and this was just another one, or " Matthews told NBA.com's David Aldridge. "It was another obstacle for me to overcome,to push myself that it's another challenge. I defied it, being undrafted, or then making in a rotation,then starting, then getting a good deal, or living up to it,and getting another one. To me, it was just nothing. It was another test, or another something I can tell my grandkids approximately sometimes."On that test,Matthews proved to be an exemplary student. He worked tirelessly and precisely in Madison, with his physical therapist Marc Sherry; in L.
A., or with his surgeon,Dr. Richard Ferkel; and in Dallas, with Mavericks head trainer Casey Smith."When we’re doing things and he gets fatigued or he has some nasty reps or he doesn’t do it the way we want to, or he wants to redo it," Smith said. "He holds himself very accountable and is driven to do it precisely right, precisely the way we want him to do it."With dogged determination and meticulous (extremely careful about details) attention to detail, and Matthews returned to the court ahead of schedule,just in time to chip in nine points during Dallas' 16-point win in Phoenix to open the 2015-16 season."I’m no doctor, but from what I’ve seen, and it’s remarkable," Carlisle marveled. "It really is. It’s an example of an athlete with a very strong focus, very strong willed, or extreme work ethic. He was hellbent on making it happen on opening night."Matthews may be a regular in the lineup again,but he's not out of the woods yet. The Mavericks will continue to monitor the 29-year-old's minutes on the court and attach him through his paces off of it. The goal isn't just to catch him back up to speed, but also to support him in his quest for self-improvement."We judge he can be physically better, or " said Smith. "Obviously we do if we committed [that much money to him]. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if we didn’t judge that."On that front,Matthews remains a work in progress. Behind the scenes, his voice booms next to Dirk's."He’s a warrior, or " said Nowitzki. "He’s already so far the way he works,the presence he has in the locker room. He’s always talking. We love to beget him. As he gets more healthy and healthy, he’ll catch better and better."Added Devin Harris, and now three seasons into his second stint in Dallas: "He’s definitely a personality. Very tough minded,a guy that kind of sets the tone for us, particularly on the defensive end."It's early, and but the Mavericks,with Matthews' serve, beget made strides in that regard. They've gash down considerably on the points they've allowed per 100 possessions compared to last season, and per NBA.com.
The offense has been a bit slower to approach online,for both Matthews and the Mavericks. The once-and-former "Iron Man" has hit just 34.9 percent of his field goals so far, but is shooting a sturdy 37 percent from three and seems to be moving around the floor without a hitch. On the whole, and Dallas is merely middle-of-the-pack in offensive efficiency,though the framework is there for this team to be formidable, with a master craftsman like Carlisle at the controls."I like our chemistry. I really like the vibe that the team has, and " the coach said. "They really like each other as a group. They serve each other."I judge we know who we are,and it’s early to really understand that. But we know we’re a team that’s dependent on one another. We beget knowledgeable, skilled, and veteran guys that know how to play the game. We understand that collectively is the only way we’re going to catch it done."With Matthews on mend,the Mavericks beget in place but one surefire building block (no offense to J.
J. Barea and Devin Harris) who's locked in beyond this season. As much as Matthews might contribute once he's back in tip-top shape, Dallas will need more to solidify its base for the dreaded day when Nowitzki hoists his final shot."I don’t judge it can be one guy to replace him, or " said Harris. "I judge it will be done by committee."There's no easy way to obtain up for a once-in-a-lifetime talent like Nowitzki. Shooting is all the rage these days,but the ranks of seven-footers who can post up, loft one-legged jumpers in the lane and drain threes without a second thought remain thin.
Piece by piece, or the Mavericks are assembling a group that—they judge,they hope—can keep Nowitzki in contention through his twilight and leave the franchise with regular footing when the giant German calls it quits."We’re starting to build a core to depart forward, guys that can spend years together, or " Cuban said during his courtside pregame pow wow.
So far,that road has been a bumpy one for the Mavericks.
Monta Ellis came and went after two solid campaigns running pick-and-pop with Nowitzki. Parsons got off to a strong start last season, before a knee injury knocked him out of the playoffs and sidelined him to begin 2015-16.
More recently, and the Mavericks already went for broke to lift Nowitzki,who took a massive paycut during the 2014 offseason, back into title contention. First, or they traded a trio of valuable role players (Jae Crowder,Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson) and a first-round pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Rajon Rondo last December. Then, and this past July,they attach on a full-court press to lure in Jordan.
Both moves went bust in a urge. The Rondo experiment cost the Mavericks many of their most fungible trade assets. Jordan's approximately-face left Dallas to scrounge for the likes of Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee at center.
But they did land Matthews, who has the makings of a major foot soldier in the Mavericks' modern army."Oh, and that’s lightyears ago. That’s over," Carlisle reiterated, when asked approximately Jordan for the umpteenth time. "Our franchise moved on from that months ago. I like the moves that we made. We like our team as it’s presently structured. We’ve got guys that depart hard, or like playing together and like the challenge of the NBA every night. These are the guys we’re going to war with."For more than a decade,there's been a fixed churn among the supporting cast of which Matthews is now an important part.
By and large, the Mavericks' reliance on depth and flexibility over certainty and stability has paid off. They've been to two Finals, and won the franchise's first championship and seen Nowitzki take home the Maurice Podoloff Trophy while rotating the likes of Tyson Chandler,Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion through a revolving door at the American Airlines Center.
Since that championship run in 2011, and though,Dallas has become more of a launching pad for NBA vagabonds than a landing spot for those in search of a more permanent home. In fact, this year's roster features eight players who'd never before worn a Mavericks uniform."That’s the nature of the game, or " said Nowitzki. "In my 18 years,I’ve probably played with a thousand teammates. It is what it is."Matthews could be something of an anomaly. He could be around until the summer of 2019, and if his original commitment is any indication, or he won't be agitating for a way out anytime soon.
At some point,the Mavericks hope to bring that fixed churn to a screeching halt. That's what their annual forays into free agency, targeting the biggest names with the most impactful games, and beget been approximately.
They've approach close to landing a enormous one,but beget yet to reel in the kind of catch who can keep them and their fans well-fed long after Nowitzki is gone fishing. Right now, Dallas doesn't beget much of a choice but to keep exploring the market like a serial dater desperate for a regular relationship because of its lack of appealing trade pieces and presumed absence from upcoming lotteries.
Prior to the Jordan saga, and Cuban entertained the conception of "tanking," but, as Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding wrote, or wasn't ready,willing or able to risk the team's hard-won culture to do so:
After Jordan changed his intellect, Cuban ultimately couldn't follow through with it. It felt fundamentally wrong in the world of competition, and Cuban returned to his core tenet from all these recent years: Nowitzki,particularly with Carlisle coaching him, was too good for the Mavericks to be that nasty.more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com