Let me just say, I HATE DOUBLEHEADERS ON TNT! While I love Kenny and EJ and especially Chuck as much as anyone, it irks me to no end that I have to watch the end of a game I could care less about while my team starts playing their game on the West coast. And when TNT does eventually cut over to the late game, it’s over halfway through the first quarter! Because oh yeah, even after the Magic-Celtics game was over (and I must admit, it was a hell of an ending), we were still forced to endure a commercial break. Just get to the damn game already! The least they could do is split the screen between the two games in that same annoying fashion that they do when they interview coaches while the game is in progress. (I never really understood that either. Talk about distractions!) It's really annoying when I’ve stayed up ‘til nearly 10pm just to watch the tipoff and end up missing over six minutes of game action. Something about that is just fundamentally wrong...
Apparently, tonight was the night when the other shoe finally dropped as the Mavs lost a close and very winnable game at Phoenix. Up until halfway through the third quarter, the Suns’ largest lead had been one point, and for less than a minute of game time. But down the home stretch of the fourth quarter, when the boys in blue have been their best of late, the Mavs didn't play like themselves. Their defense was nearly nonexistent and turnovers wreaked havoc on their offensive game. When an under six-foot-tall point guard is the best offensive option you have in the final seconds of a close game, that's when you know you're in trouble. No offense, JJ, but where in the world did Dirk and Jet disappear to? Oh wait, I think I saw Dirk swarmed by a sea of white jerseys and extended arms.
Watching this game and the way my Mavs collapsed in crunch time left me full of nagging questions. Like who the heck is this Dragic kid and where did he come from? A young and more clean cut Steve Nash lookalike, he burned the Mavs while running backup for the aging Steve Nash. Why have I never head of him before? And who is Earl Clark? Had it not been for Amundsen’s cutesy little ponytail, I don’t know that I would have recognized most of the roster, aside from Nash, Stoudemire, and one of my all-time favorite players, Grant Hill. I don’t know if anyone else thought about it, but at one point I saw Hill and Jason Kidd going one on one and I was reminded of the fact that the two of them shared Rookie of the Year honors many years ago. Their careers have definitely taken different paths since that time, but there’s no denying that either one of them plays strictly for the love of the game.
And whatever happened to Josh Howard? Granted, injuries have plagued him the last few seasons, but he has become a shadow of the player he once was. Gone are the games where Josh lit it up in the first quarter, allowing Dirk and Jet the ability to save themselves for the second half, particularly clutch time when the game is on the line. Now, rather than disappearing in the second half, it's as if J-Ho never set foot on the court at all. One thing I noticed during my time as the HP Insider was that Josh seemed different, like he was distracted somehow. Although he was physically present at practices, film sessions, and even in games, it just seemed like his mind was a million miles away. It truly saddens me because just a few short years ago, it seemed like J-Ho was on the fast track to success after he earned his first All-Star bid, but now he has been reduced to a sometime starter, sometime bench player, leaving fans, media, and surely even Howard himself wondering about his future as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
Apparently, tonight was the night when the other shoe finally dropped as the Mavs lost a close and very winnable game at Phoenix. Up until halfway through the third quarter, the Suns’ largest lead had been one point, and for less than a minute of game time. But down the home stretch of the fourth quarter, when the boys in blue have been their best of late, the Mavs didn't play like themselves. Their defense was nearly nonexistent and turnovers wreaked havoc on their offensive game. When an under six-foot-tall point guard is the best offensive option you have in the final seconds of a close game, that's when you know you're in trouble. No offense, JJ, but where in the world did Dirk and Jet disappear to? Oh wait, I think I saw Dirk swarmed by a sea of white jerseys and extended arms.
Watching this game and the way my Mavs collapsed in crunch time left me full of nagging questions. Like who the heck is this Dragic kid and where did he come from? A young and more clean cut Steve Nash lookalike, he burned the Mavs while running backup for the aging Steve Nash. Why have I never head of him before? And who is Earl Clark? Had it not been for Amundsen’s cutesy little ponytail, I don’t know that I would have recognized most of the roster, aside from Nash, Stoudemire, and one of my all-time favorite players, Grant Hill. I don’t know if anyone else thought about it, but at one point I saw Hill and Jason Kidd going one on one and I was reminded of the fact that the two of them shared Rookie of the Year honors many years ago. Their careers have definitely taken different paths since that time, but there’s no denying that either one of them plays strictly for the love of the game.
And whatever happened to Josh Howard? Granted, injuries have plagued him the last few seasons, but he has become a shadow of the player he once was. Gone are the games where Josh lit it up in the first quarter, allowing Dirk and Jet the ability to save themselves for the second half, particularly clutch time when the game is on the line. Now, rather than disappearing in the second half, it's as if J-Ho never set foot on the court at all. One thing I noticed during my time as the HP Insider was that Josh seemed different, like he was distracted somehow. Although he was physically present at practices, film sessions, and even in games, it just seemed like his mind was a million miles away. It truly saddens me because just a few short years ago, it seemed like J-Ho was on the fast track to success after he earned his first All-Star bid, but now he has been reduced to a sometime starter, sometime bench player, leaving fans, media, and surely even Howard himself wondering about his future as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
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