The Dallas Mavericks will not be welcoming swingman Josh Howard back into the lineup any time soon, as the Mavericks announced Friday that Howard is out indefinitely.
Howard made his season debut on Saturday night, after undergoing minor reconstructive surgery on his ankle on May 22.
However, in his third game back, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle noticed Howard noticeably limping, and took him off the court a few minutes into the second half.
“He will rehab even more aggressively than he has in the past,” Carlisle said.
Howard missed 30 games last season because of his ankle and wrist, which was also operated on May 22. The Mavericks compiled a 33-19 record without him, and a 17-13 record with him last season.
The wrist and the ankle have both been giving Howard trouble since the surgery, although the ankle has been more troublesome.
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 12:32 am by bryan
After watching his team lose to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday (who were missing All-Stars PG Tony Parker and PF/C Tim Duncan), Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle called out his team on Thursday.
“Simple as that,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “If you don’t play hard enough, you’re going to get your ass kicked. … That’s essentially what happened.”
As has happened a few times this season, the Mavericks’ offense degenerated in the second half into resembling the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offense—namely, letting their All-Star work one-on-five and having the rest of the players clear out. Mavericks PG Jason Kidd expressed his frustrations after the game on Wednesday.
“We asked [Dirk Nowitzki] to do way too much tonight,” Kidd said. “We asked him to carry the load offensively, defensively and that was just not right for us as a teammate and as a team to put him in that position.”
The Mavericks signed F Shawn Marion in the offseason in an attempt to become a tougher team, and Carlisle frequently challenged his team during training camp and the preseason. So far, the Mavs have trailed by double digits in five of the eight games they’ve played, and they’ve won two of those games.
“Our biggest hurdle is when we have an opportunity to seize the moment, we don’t be the aggressor,” Jason Terry said. “We kind of wait for things to happen. Once we get over that hurdle, then we’re going to be a championship team.
“But until we get that killer instinct and get that swagger like nobody can touch us — which they can’t when we play the right way — we’re going to struggle.”
Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 10:24 pm by bryan
The Dallas Mavericks D-League affiliate has just hired Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman as their coach, making her the first female coach to be hired to coach in the NBA D-League. The Mavericks’ affiliate will tip off in November 2010.
Lieberman set a different kind of record back in the day, as she became the first female to play professional basketball with men when she played for the Springfield Fame in the United States Basketball League. Lieberman drew attention for her basketball skills early on in her life, as she was selected for the inaugural U.S. Olympics women’s basketball team in 1976… at age 17.
Lieberman returned to the WNBA in July 2008 briefly as a player… this time, at age 50.
Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations, partially owns the Mavs’ D-League affiliate, and had this to say about Lieberman’s hiring:
“She’s got the skins, the experience — she knows what she’s doing — so I certainly hope that we’re well beyond those issues,” Nelson said. “Besides, if you can’t respect authority, no matter what form or color it comes in, I don’t want you on my team.”
In Lieberman’s eyes, she’s become a pioneer of a different kind with the hire.
“I kind of look at President Obama,” she said. “Everybody knows it’s historical because he’s a man of color. But at the end of the day, regardless of his race, creed, color or gender, he has to be president. Everybody knows I’m a woman, but at the end of the day, regardless of my race, creed, color or gender, I have to win basketball games.
Lieberman hopes to observe Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle, so she can implement some of the same drills in her practice, to make the transition from D-League to the NBA easier for the Mavericks’ players.
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 1:18 am by bryan
A Los Angeles Clipper fan made accusations online that Mavericks center/forward Drew Gooden used a homosexual slur to insult he and his friend on Saturday night.
Chris Wylde, a 33-year-old season ticket holder of the Clippers, went online to Outsports.com, a website dedicated to gay issues in sports. Wylde claims that Gooden called he and his friend “faggots” after they’d sat courtside and took part in “good-natured” heckling.
“After the game we went to the souvenir shop and my friend said he wanted to check if one of the kiosks had a particular jersey he was looking for, so he headed back through the stadium and I followed a few feet behind,” Wylde told the Web site. “I saw him look shocked and turn to me, then I heard from Drew Gooden who was surrounded by three or four guys walking past me and pointing to me, ‘There’s that other faggot.’ He had said, ‘There’s that faggot’ about my friend and that’s why he turned to me shocked. It was completely unsolicited. We said nothing to him during the game, or in the hallway. He just called us both ‘faggots’ because he’s a bigoted spoiled bully.”
A Mavericks team source refutes the accusations, saying that a man walking out of the Staples Center with Gooden was the source of the comments.
However, Wylde confirmed to ESPNDallas.com that he was sure that Gooden was the one who delivered the offensive epitaphs. Wylde mentioned that Gooden did not direct the comments at he or his friend; instead, Wylde overheard Gooden talking to his friends.
“I personally think Drew is kind of covering his tracks right now,” Wylde said. “I’m 100 percent confident he said it. I basically just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen in the future, because God forbid he says it to the wrong person.”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban responded to the allegations on Outsports.com when asked by the Web site.
“For the record, I heard their heckling during the game, some was funny, some not as innocent as they want to make it sound,” Cuban wrote in an e-mail to Outsports.com. “That doesn’t excuse any homophobic commentary from anyone, but it does make me want to get confirmation. This wouldn’t be the first time I received an accusatory email that turned out not to be factual because someone wanted to make a point of some sort to or about a ‘repulsive millionaire.’ Based on some of their heckling towards our players during the game, there could be some other motivation in their communications with us.
“In terms of how I deal with it internally, it’s just as wrong to accuse someone of being homophobic as it is to make homophobic comments. I will deal with this privately and whatever we find or actions we take will stay private.”
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 8:14 pm by bryan
On Sunday night, Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Ronald Jerome “Popeye” Jones was arrested in Richardson, Texas and charged with driving while intoxicated.
Police received calls from concerned citizens around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night, noting someone was driving a gray GMC Yukon erratically in the street. Police pulled Jones over and determined that he was intoxicated, although Jones refused a breathalyzer test.
Jones, who played for the Mavericks two separate times during his NBA career, resisted officers when he was asked to place his hands behind his back.
“They were forced to take him to the ground where they could better control him,” public information officer Jonathan Wakefield said. “When they did that, that’s when he sustained injuries to his face.”
Jones received treatment for his injuries at the scene, and the police did not charge him with resisting arrest. He was not at Mavericks’ practice on Monday.
at 7:47 pm by bryan
