Mavs Full Court Press

Catching up with...the Memphis Grizzlies

The Mavs will face the Grizzlies tonight for the fourth and final time this season. The Mavs have used the Grizzlies as a punching bag this year and have won all three of their meetings so far by an average of 11 points. The Mavs have now beat the Grizzlies in 10 straight regular-season games.

It's pretty much over
Not much was expected of the Grizzlies this year, and they have roundly delivered on those expectations. They have spent the last month dumping what salary they can and acquiring draft picks and youngsters when possible. They have lost 9 of their last 10 and the lottery drawing can't come fast enough. They are still one of the worst defensive teams in the league and have allowed under 100 points in only 2 of their last 13 games.

Bigs not doing much
The Grizzlies didn't trade for Kwame Brown with the expectation that he would be a great player, but he has been a complete non-factor thus far. Meanwhile, Memphis probably expected Darko Milicic to thrive under the expanded workload and absence of Pau Gasol. That has also been fruitless. In his last three games, Darko has averaged a mere 2 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Warrick thriving
With Gasol out of the picture, Hakim Warrick has made the best of the situation. He's really come alive lately and is averaging 20.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 57.3 percent from the floor in his last five games. If he can continue to play with gusto, he could join Rudy Gay as another one of the pieces the Grizzlies plan to build around for the future.

Burning question
Will Mike Miller be dealt on draft day for a higher pick? (My bold prediction says yes.)

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Catching up with...the Memphis Grizzlies

The Mavs square off with the Memphis Grizzlies once again tonight. They have beaten the Grizzlies nine times in a row, the last of which was a 103-84 blowout (and that certainly isn't the first).

No more Pau
The Grizzlies finally decided to give up on Pau Gasol leading them where they needed to go, so they have entered rebuilding mode. They dealt Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown (whose contract expires at the end of this season), rookie Javaris Crittenton and Pau's brother Marc Gasol (who is still in Spain). Many slammed the Grizzlies for not getting enough in return for Pau, but Memphis GM Chris Wallace says that if you're criticizing his dealings off the record, you're nothing but a catty high school cheerleader.

Miller may be next
With the Grizzlies' best player gone, it's only natural to assume that their second-best player is on his way out also. Mike Miller is having his second fantastic season in a row and could have many teams salivating over him (despite the bad hair). He is just shy of being 28 and makes a market-value salary of about $9 million through 2010. He is a deadly three-point shooter who has improved all around, and it's no wonder that he has been mentioned as potentially being dealt to many different teams ever since Gasol got dealt.

Who's going to man this ship?
With Gasol gone and Miller possibly moving also, the big question becomes...who will be running the show now? That player is likely to be Rudy Gay. The second-year player has made a huge jump this season, and he is likely one of the pieces the Grizzlies are looking to build around. When he was drafted, many dogged Gay out for a lack of heart and work ethic, so we'll see how adapts to the role of being a No. 1 guy, if it does go down like it appears it will.

Burning question
What is the best deal the Grizzlies can get for Mike Miller?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Grizzly blowouts

Tonight's game wasn't exactly close (or watchable unless you like bloodbaths), and the Mavs ended up winning the game 103-84. They now have a nine-game winning streak against the Grizzlies and are 42-7 lifetime versus the teams in Vancouver/Memphis.

With the game not being compelling or competitive, it makes you wonder: how does tonight's 19-point blowout rank all time? Surprisingly, it's only the seventh largest win the Mavs have had over the Grizzlies. The top 5:

1) 37 points
January 25, 2001: 120-83
Mike Bibby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (remember him!) all scored 13 points for the Griz and Michael Dickerson and workhorse Bryant Reeves had 11 apiece. Meanwhile, Dirk, Nash, Fin and Hubert Davis led the Mavs and combined for three less points than the whole Grizzlies team.

2) 27 points
March 1, 2003: 114-87
The Grizzlies had five players in double digits and the Mavs only had four. By that fact, you'd think this would have been a little closer, but it most certainly wasn't. Dirk's 28 was a game high and Fin and Eddie Najera both had double doubles.

3) 26 points
May 1, 2006: 102-76
This was Game 4 of the First Round of the playoffs, and the Mavs rounded out their sweep with quite a marauding. Dirk and Josh combined for 52 points and the Mavs tromped the Grizzlies in virtually every statistical category.

4) 24 points
Nov. 6, 2004: 112-88
Damp had his first double-double as a Maverick with 13 points and 18 rebounds while Dirk had 22 points and 13 rebounds and the Mavs won the third game of the season handily.

5) 21 points
April 11, 2005
The 2004-05 season was quite unkind to the Grizzlies when they played the Mavs. They lost all four meetings by a combined 78 points, including this gem in which six Mavs scored in double figures.

Note: The Mavs have dropped two of their seven losses to the Grizzlies by 20 points or more. Nov. 8, 2000 they lost 101-74 and Nov. 26, 2005 they lost 112-92.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Grizzlies are kind of grisly

Well, in the first quarter at least, it would seem that Memphis is the perfect team for the Mavericks to face after losing Devin Harris for up to three weeks, and maybe more. Harris has a bone bruise on his left ankle so Jason Terry started tonight. After one period, Dallas is leadinig 33-19 and Josh Howard is doing his regular first-quarter thing. He has 14 points, which makes this the fourth time in the last five games he has 10 or more.

As far as what the Mavericks are going to do, they say they have no plans to bring in a temporary replacement for Harris. And head coach Avery Johnson said the only choice the team has right now is to await Harris and Jerry Stackhouse, who has a strained hamstring, to get better.

"We had a moment there where we had a chance to see our team," Johnson said, "but now we have two guys that are out of the rotation so some of the other guys are going to have to play."

Of course, the Harris injury comes at the worst time for Dallas. The next three games are against Eastern Divison leaders Boston, Detroit and Orlando.

So the Mavericks will be enjoying their time in Memphis -- at least if it continues like this.

-- Jan Hubbard

Catching up with...the Memphis Grizzlies

The Mavs will play the first of a four-game road trip tonight, the longest they have undertaken so far this season. They will start out with the Memphis Grizzlies, a team they traditionally abuse. The Mavs have now won eight in a row against Memphis and won their previous meeting this season 108-105. The Grizzlies have won 3 out of their last 6, which is only their second time they have done that all season.

Mighty Mike
With Pau Gasol out last season, Mike Miller had the opportunity to carry the Grizzlies for a large chunk of the season. Now that Gasol is back and Rudy Gay has emerged as a solid player, Miller has proved the doubters wrong and sustained his impressive play. He is averaging 16.9 points per game, but the most impressive part of his game is his shooting percentages. He's shooting 51.8 percent from the floor (best on the team) and 44 percent from the three-point line (also a team best).

Rudy, Pau and Mike
The Grizzlies have a solid big three in Rudy Gay, Pau Gasol and Mike Miller and can pin any success they have on those three excelling at the same time. Their paltry 13-31 record tells you that success has been fleeting, but it's tough to talk badly about these three guys. The rest of the player and the coaching staff...well that's another story.

They're not going to stop you
They can score in bunches, especially from long range. But don't expect them to put up much of a fight on the defensive end. They are 29th in the league in defense and you won't see them getting a lot of steals in the Mavs. They are also sloppy and commit 15.7 turnovers per game.

Burning question
Will they trade Pau Gasol and go into rebuilding mode?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

How do you leave him open?

The Mavericks just dodged a bullet. Sharpshooter Juan Carlos Navarro is likely the last guy you want to leave open in that situation behind Mike Miller. He had two wide-open chances to tie it up and couldn't convert. Navarro is shooting over 50 percent from three-point land this season. The Mavs just got very lucky they aren't playing overtime right now.

-Scooter Hendon

Gasol getting doubled

The Mavericks are aggressively double teaming Pau Gasol every time he touches the ball. He has turned the ball over twice now, once with a Jason Terry steal and once with a Gana Diop block. If he keeps holding onto the ball when the Mavs send two defenders on him, it will continue to happen and he doesn't seem very adept at passing out of double teams.

-Scooter Hendon

Darko out

Darko is definitely in plain clothes and will not be playing in this one. With him out, the Mavericks can expect more small lineups as the Grizzlies will likely try and outrun and outscore Dallas. To that respect, the Mavericks should be looking to slash the lane and post up more against a Memphis team that is now lacking some in size. Backup center Stromile Swift could see a few more minutes when Pau Gasol needs a rest.

-Scooter Hendon

Grizzlies start small backcourt

The Grizzlies started an undersized backcourt of Damon Stoudamire (5-10) and Juan Carlos Navarro (6-3), probably in a desire to spread the floor with more three-point shooters. The Mavericks wouldn't be wrong to throw Jason Terry and Devin Harris out there at the same time against that lineup as that seems like a large backcourt tandem in comparison.

-Scooter Hendon

Darko is day-to-day

Memphis' starting center Darko Milicic underwent and X-ray after injuring his thumb in last night's game against New Orleans. The X-rays came back negative, so Darko could play tonight or sit out as a precautionary measure.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd