Mavs Full Court Press

Mavs interested in Lue

According to a league source, the Mavericks are in the mix for veteran point guard Tyronn Lue, who was waived by Sacramento on Friday.

The source said Denver and Phoenix are also interested in the 10th-year player out of Nebraska. Lue, who was acquired by the Kings in the trade that sent Mike Bibby to Atlanta, can sign with another team Tuesday and be eligible for the playoffs because he was waived by Friday’s deadline.

The Mavs have an open roster spot and some minutes available at backup point guard, where J.J. Barea and Devean George have played recently.

Lue, 6-0, 175 pounds, averaged 6.8 points and 1.8 assists in 33 games this season.

— Jeff Caplan

Catching up with...the Sacramento Kings

The Mavs will see if they can overcome a tough loss last night to the Spurs with a short trip home. They will play one game at the AAC, then will travel to the West coast for two games. First, they must get past the Kings, who are finishing up a five-game road trip. They have split their previous two meetings this season and the Mavs have won six of their last seven against the Kings.

No more Bibby
Franchise cornerstone and long-time point guard Mike Bibby is a King no more. He was traded near the deadline to the Hawks for a youngster and expiring contracts. Although Bibby was an important part of the franchise for 6 1/2 years, the Kings were likely ready to move on from a player who had become increasingly injury prone and inconsistent. The only player they received in return for Bibby whose contract won't be expiring after this season is PF Shelden Williams.

Miller renaissance continues
Much like Bibby, many had written center Brad Miller off going into this season. With a big decline and some costly injuries last year, Miller looked to be starting on the down swing of his career. This season, he has roundly shut those rumblings up. He is just short of 32 years old and is playing his best ball since 2004-05. On the season, he is averaging 14.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Also, for whatever reason, his three-point shooting is improving with age. He has made 24 threes this year (which puts him on pace for a career high) and is shooting a reasonably respectable 32 percent.

Beno is a gas
The Spurs set Beno Udrih adrift early this season in a weird trade with the Timberwolves. When Minnesota cut him, the Kings quickly snatched him up. With Bibby missing a large chunk of the first part of the season, Beno got his chance to shine and made the best of it. Now that Bibby is gone again, he has the starting job back. In his last five games he is averaging 13.2 points, 6.6 assists and 4 rebounds.

Burning question
What will they use their large amount of salary cap space for this off season?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Catching up with...the Sacramento Kings

The Mavs will try to extend their winning streak to eight tonight against the Sacramento Kings. The Mavs last faced the Kings in the third game of the season and won handily 123-102. They Mavs have now won six straight against the Kings and 14 of their last 17.

It's Miller time
Kings center Brad Miller has been looking like 2004 Brad Miller. He got off to a slow start this season, but has come on very strong lately. In his last 10 games, he's averaging 16.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He has stepped up from injuries to various teammates and is showcasing his role as a skilled big man consistently. On the season, he is the team leader in rebounds, blocks and free-throw percentage. He is also tops in the NBA in free-throw percentage among centers with 86.9 percent.

Martin returns, Bibby should be back any time now
Kevin Martin played Saturday after missing 17 games with a groin injury. He returned with gusto and scored 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting and looks to be back in the full swing of things. He is the Kings best player, and they obviously need him back. However, it is interesting to note that they went 7-10 in the stretch that Martin didn't play, and are 7-11 in games that he has played in this season.

Mike Bibby has missed the entire season thus far due to a thumb injury. When he returns, the Kings will have a sure-handed point guard that they have definitely been missing. He had a big down year last season in which he averaged career lows in assists and shooting percentage, but still shot the three decently. He likely won't return tonight, but should be back sometime soon.

Salmons is tearing it up
The return of Kevin Martin (and potentially Mike Bibby) may bring him back down to Earth some, but John Salmons has been helping Brad Miller carry much of the load lately. Since Martin went down with his injury, Salmons has averaged 19.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Even when the Kings get back to full health, Salmons may have earned more minutes in coach Reggie Theus' rotation and he could find himself in more of a full-time role than he started the season with.

Random useless fact
Reggie Theus left New Mexico State to coach in Sacramento. In Theus' last year, the Aggies went 25-9 and 11-5 in conference. New head coach Marvin Menzies has led the Aggies to a 9-10 record, 3-1 in conference thus far.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Remember when Mavericks vs. Kings mattered?

Remember the olden days?

Remember when the Mavericks and the Kings were actually referred to as rivals?

Things have changed a bit over the last few years. After the Kings discarded the Mavericks in the 2004 playoffs by way of a 4-1 series drubbing, the Kings underwent quite an overhaul. With a core of Mike Bibby, Doug Christie, Peja Stojakovic, Chris Webber, Brad Miller and Bobby Jackson, (who had aptly replaced Vlade Divac), the Kings had just suffered a heartbreaking seventh-game playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Instead of making slight changes and making a run at it again, they slowly traded out each member of that old-guard Kings squad, leaving Mike Bibby the only true holdover remaining (Miller came in too late to really count). Check out the staggering amount of change they underwent from 2004-2006 (abridged for mercy's sake)

• June 2004: Drafted Kevin Martin
  
• July 2004: Signed Greg Ostertag
• October 2004: Signed Matt Barnes, Maurice Evans
• January 2005: Traded Doug Christie (first of the old guard to leave town) to Orlando for Cuttino Mobley and Michael Bradley
  
• February 2005: Traded Chris Webber, Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley to Philadelphia for Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner
• August 2005: Traded Bobby Jackson, Greg Ostertag to Memphis for Bonzi Wells
• January 2006: Traded Peja Stojakovic (last of the old guard to go) to Indiana for Ron Artest

To cap all of that, they hired Eric Musselman to be their coach in June 2006, running out Rick Adelman, the man who helped direct the run-and-gun circus that made those Kings teams so entertaining. Now they have no true identity. Bibby's  scoring average, assists and shooting percentage fell significantly  from 2005-06 to 2006-07 and just isn't what he used to be. Something is wrong with Miller who missed 19 games with injury last year and posted very poor numbers otherwise. Artest has been good when he plays, but can't seem to play an entire season without getting suspended or offering some kind of knucklehead distraction. Martin is their best player, but nobody seems to want to give him much help. They lack depth and focus, something that new coach Reggie Theus will try his hardest to fix. Good luck.

So, the question remains...what is the identity of this Kings team? Are they a rebuilding team with young players that should pan out in a couple of years? Not really. Are they a veteran squad who could put something together if they could stay healthy? Probably not. Are they a good trade away from coming close to the playoffs. Possibly. It's really hard to say what they are, other than bad. It's unfortunate too, those rabid fans in Sacramento deserve more. And those memories of a rabid run-and-gun rivalry between the league's two preeminent offensive floor shows is a distant memory for Mavs and Kings fans alike.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd