32 replies to this topic

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

Great comeback by the Mavs last night.

[2nd&8]

Last time the Mavericks came back from a big deficit in the 4th quarter was the Pacers-Mavs game about a week or so ago. Of course the next night the Pacers went to Houston & beat them with a Granger tip in.

Now the Mavericks come back in the 4th quarter again vs. the Clippers, who are also coming to Houston the night after. Hopefully Z-Bo & Baron don't go off on the Rox, but with Luther Head having to guard B-Diddy, I've got a bad feeling about it.

As well, I must say the Pacers are pretty odd when it comes to games vs. upper echelon teams. They play the Bobcats and get handled accordingly. Then they play the likes of Boston & LA and blow out one team (Celtics) & overcome a 15 point deficit in the 4th to get a win over the other (Lakers).

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

Yeah, pretty impressive 4th quarter for the Pacers last night.

No McGrady for 3 weeks?

[2nd&8]

Yep, originally it was one week, but then it got upped to 3 after practice yesterday. Luther Head was decent in his first game subbing for T-Mac (21 pts with efficient shooting), but played terrible at Denver (3 pts on 1-7 shooting).

As well, T-Mac's primary back up, Brent Barry, is also out for at least 2 weeks with a right calf issue. So that means Von Wafer (greatest name in NBA history) will see some back up minutes behind Head at the 2 spot.

So in reality, they'll most likely have to rotate between Artest, Battier, Head, & Wafer at the SG & SF position. Lucky for Houston is that the next 3 weeks aren't the toughest part of the schedule.

In the end however, it will all depend on how Artest & Yao play each night though. If there continues to be nights when they go a combined 10 of 32 (like in Denver), then it'll be a long 3 weeks.

[Dom]

lakers lost a thriller last night... droppin them to 14-2 i believe

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

The Mavs probably played their best game of the season last night. Dirk reminded me of the Dirk from 06. He hasn't been shooting well all season. Hopefully that was what he needed to get him out of his funk.

[2nd&8]

Even more so of a positive note has to be the play of Dampier. I think it's safe to say he dominated Shaq last night in all facets of the game. Now I know O'Neal is no longer a huge threat, but he's still averaging 14/8 this season. Yesterday he scored 4 points and had only 5 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Dampier had 9 points and 14 rebounds. As well, Carlisle was also smart to only having Dampier out there when Shaq was on the court. When the Suns went to small ball with Amare at C, there was no real point to have Dampier out there guarding him, since Brandon Bass & Shawne Williams were getting the job done.

I've never been a big Erick Dampier fan (especially when he said he was the second best center in the league a few years ago), but this year he has shown great consistency on the glass and on defense. Even with Diop backing him, I think it's very important for the Mavericks that Dampier stays healthy throughout the year.

[splatter]

The slumping Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday became the fifth NBA team to make a coaching change before Christmas this season, deciding they had to fire Maurice Cheeks despite extending his contract twice in the past year.

As reported by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, citing sources close to the situation, Cheeks was informed of his dismissal Saturday morning after the Sixers suffered their eighth loss in 10 games Friday night at Cleveland and dropped to 9-14.

The move was officially announced by the Sixers later Saturday. Assistant general manager Tony DiLeo will replace Cheeks on an interim basis. Philadelphia hosts the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.

Team president Ed Stefanski said he met with Cheeks, describing the former 76er star as a "gentleman throughout" and a "class act."

"I felt we were not progressing the way we had wanted to progress," Stefanski said."I didn't feel on the floor we were executing the philosophy we wanted to have as Sixers basketball."

NBA coaching sources told ESPN.com the Sixers were determined to give Cheeks every chance to halt Philadelphia's slide after picking up his option for this season in February, extending his contract again in September and spending big money in the offseason to sign Elton Brand away from the Los Angeles Clippers and re-sign Andre Iguodala.

But the Sixers appeared to be sliding further and further away from the high expectations generated by Brand's arrival, falling into their current 2-8 funk after a brief uptick in November that nudged their record to 7-6.

DiLeo has spent 19 seasons with the 76ers. He was promoted to senior vice president/assistant general manager in 2003. His son, T.J. DiLeo, is a guard for Temple and he said after the Owls' 88-72 win over No. 8 Tennessee that he was excited his father had a chance to coach.

"I think it's unfortunate for Mo, he's a great coach, but my dad is ready to step in," DiLeo said. "This caught us by surprise. We had no idea."

DiLeo said he hadn't talked to his father yet, but noticed one missed call from him on his cell phone.

Sources said that the firing happened now because removing Cheeks -- whose contract is guaranteed through next season -- was the easiest way for management to shake things up.

After Friday's 88-72 road loss to the Cavaliers, Iguodala provided a worrying glimpse of the team's psyche, telling reporters: "We didn't have the mental toughness down the stretch. We kind of gave in. I'm not saying that as a team we didn't play hard, but we didn't execute and we didn't get the stops we needed."

Sources close to the situation say that Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski, while planning for DiLeo to coach the team for the rest of the season, will explore the possibility of a reunion with Eddie Jordan, who was fired by the Wizards on Nov. 24 after a 1-10 start.

It remains to be seen whether Stefanski -- who worked with Jordan in New Jersey -- can hold off until after the season to hire the full-time replacement for Cheeks he wants most, or if he will decide he has to move quickly in spite of the additional expense.

Cheeks is a Sixers legend who started at guard for the club's championship team in 1982-83 and posted a 122-147 record in three-plus seasons as coach in his return to Philadelphia. A second-half surge last season was enough to take the Sixers into the playoffs with a mark of 40-42, but the bar had been raised significantly after Philly extended Detroit to six games in the first round and then signed Brand.
The Sixers, though, have struggled to integrate Brand offensively with the holdovers from last season that thrived in a frenetic, up-tempo system Cheeks employed to mitigate Philadelphia's lack of outside shooting.
Sources say that Cheeks had been urged by his bosses to keep trying to push the ball -- on the premise that Brand, as a former All-Star, could adjust to anything and would eventually find his niche -- but the Sixers have clearly lacked cohesion at both ends. Brand also missed two games recently with a hamstring injury.

The other coaches fired this season, in addition to Cheeks and Jordan, were Oklahoma City's P.J. Carlesimo on Nov. 22 with a record of 1-12; Toronto's Sam Mitchell on Dec. 3 with a record of 8-9; and Minnesota's Randy Wittman on Monday with the Wolves at 4-15.



I knew they needed a shake up but didnt think they would get rid of the coach who they just gave a new contract to.

I always liked cheeks as a player but not so much as a coach. I didnt think he had the demeanor to be one.

When he was paired up with Dr. J, Andrew Toney, Moses Malone, and Bobby Jones what a team that was in the early eighties.

[T-Rich49]

I would just like to say that my boy Mario Chalmers is making a few teams look foolish right now for not taking him

[T-Rich49]

Devin Harris lit the Mavs up for 41 points.How's the trade working out now Cuban?

[ryno]

T-Rich49, on Dec 19 2008, 10:10 PM, said:

Devin Harris lit the Mavs up for 41 points.How's the trade working out now Cuban?

We're happy to have Devin in the swamp. He'll make a nice partner for LBJ in a couple of seasons.

[Dom]

Lakers and Celtics play a hell of a game tonight. Lakers take it in OT in Boston 110-109

[warthog]

That was an exciting game.