God Bless the Little Guys

I have always been one to root for the underdog. For example, in the days when Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson ruled the league, I rooted for their opponent on any given night. In the NCAA tournament, I root for the Butlers of the world, not the Dukes and North Carolinas and Kentuckys. And when it comes to basketball players, (aside from my undying adoration and admiration of the Big German), I have always loved the little guys. I don't just mean small in stature, like J.J. Barea, although for the smallest man on the roster, he probably has the biggest heart. I mean the scrappers, the hustlers, the men who aren't afraid to sacrifice their bodies, be it diving for loose balls, drawing charges, or playing pesky get-under-the-skin defense on the opponent.

I must confess, when I first started watching basketball back in the mid-80's, one of my all time favorite players was actually a Laker. But it wasn't Kareem, or Magic, or even James Worthy. Nope, those guys were not for me. Kurt Rambis was the one I loved. He may not have been the fastest, or the strongest, or had the sweetest shot, but one thing was certain every time he stepped on the court: he always gave 110% effort. Regardless of what was asked of him, he would get on the court and perform to the best of his abilities. And since that time, my love and respect for those kind of guys, the ones I like to refer to as "the scrappers," has grown considerably.

The Mavericks are fortunate enough to have several scrappers on this team, particularly J.J. Barea and Eddie Najera. What I love about Barea is that he never lets his size limit anything he does on the court. For instance, when the Mavs played Orlando at home a few weeks ago, Dwight Howard was dominating the paint, blocking (or at least altering) shots from every angle, and nine out of ten Mavericks shied away from the basket and began jacking up jump shots. The lone man who was willing to penetrate the paint and take the ball to the bucket was none other than J.J. Barea. And how many times this season (I wonder if this is an official NBA statistic?) have we seen J.J. throw his body in front of the defender and hit the floor or take an elbow or shoulder or forearm to the gut while drawing the offensive foul? Who else on this team is willing to continually sacrifice themselves in such a manner? Not many, especially not with such regularity.

And then we have Eddie Najera, one of my all-time favorite Mavericks. While Eddie is not a little guy, even by NBA standards, he has admitted that his teammates sometimes tease him about "being a 6'8" center" and thus, undersized. Even in his initial stint with Dallas, he was a scrapper, a loose ball chasing, hustling kind of player, not afraid to throw himself in harm's way to try and help out his team. I was sad to see him traded away and thrilled earlier this year when I heard he was returning to Dallas. I busted out my old Najera jersey, with the silver numbers nearly faded off from years of overuse (what can I say, it's one of my favorites!), and proudly wore it to the very next game.

In Game 4, I was reminded again of why I love Eddie so much. He's a tough guy, not one to back down from a challenge…or even a fight. After watching our guys get beaten up and no whistles blowing, Eddie came into the game and straightaway sent a message to the Spurs: We’re not gonna take it anymore! He basically horse-collared Manu Ginobili, who was already suffering from a broken nose, knocking him facedown on the floor, just seconds after subbing into the game. Najera was charged with a flagrant-2 foul and automatically ejected, but he had clearly gotten his point across. And amazingly, after reviewing the play, league officials decided against any further action against Najera, declining his suspension, as has often happened in similar situations. (Maybe there is one lone Mavericks’ fan in the league offices after all!) Najera, who proved he has his teammates’ backs, and spoke openly about the foul:

It was kind of frustrating to watch some of them hit Dirk in the face.
It was the same (type) foul. I just came in and tried to prove a point
that we’re going to fight back.

And in Game 5, Najera again escalated his level of physical play with another hard foul, this time on the Spurs’ Tony Parker. Najera was charged with a flagrant-1 foul, which does not result in an ejection. Sitting on my couch, I whooped and hollered as it happened, knowing that Eddie wasn’t going to back down. It’s that mental (and often physical) toughness that Dallas has so often lacked that really takes this team to the next level.

Listening to ESPN radio earlier, I heard it mentioned that Spurs fans are primarily only concerned with the play of one Maverick tonight – and his name isn’t Nowitzki. No, the Spurs fans are worried about Eduardo Najera, a simple role player, a guy who doesn’t even make it into every game this team plays. The fact that they’re worried shows that Najera’s message came across loud and clear. The Spurs are going to have a fight on their hands come 7:00 tonight, because neither Najera nor the Mavs will be backing down.

As I sit here typing this blog, wearing my original Najera jersey and counting the minutes 'til tipoff, I’m really lovin’ me some Eddie Najera and J.J. Barea.

God bless the little guys!

GO MAVS!