Tied at the Half
The Mavericks have been playing better as of late (4 straight blowout wins before last night's overtime win at Portland), and with San Antonio's loss yesterday they have moved into a tie with the Spurs for the division and conference lead at the half way point of the season. The Mavericks are 31-10, which puts them on pace to win 62 games (I had predicted 53 before the season started).
Surprises so far this season:
Eric Dampier's benching - His failure to even put up the average numbers he had last season resulted and him being taken out of the starting lineup and favor of DaSagana Diop (whose better than expected play is it's own surprise). Dampier has played better since being benched and Diop hasn't shown all that much as a starter, so their roles could be switched again.
Doug Christie - I questioned how much he had left, but I wasn't expecting him to retire a quarter of the way into the season.
Devin Harris - His improvement has come quicker then many had expected, especially in the area of committing fewer turnovers.
Offensive ball movement - Has improved considerably since the beginning of the season.
Adrian Griffin - An excellent in-season pickup who was without a team this season. He has helped the Mavericks a great deal, basically being everything that Doug Christie was supposed to be.
Surprises so far this season:
Eric Dampier's benching - His failure to even put up the average numbers he had last season resulted and him being taken out of the starting lineup and favor of DaSagana Diop (whose better than expected play is it's own surprise). Dampier has played better since being benched and Diop hasn't shown all that much as a starter, so their roles could be switched again.
Doug Christie - I questioned how much he had left, but I wasn't expecting him to retire a quarter of the way into the season.
Devin Harris - His improvement has come quicker then many had expected, especially in the area of committing fewer turnovers.
Offensive ball movement - Has improved considerably since the beginning of the season.
Adrian Griffin - An excellent in-season pickup who was without a team this season. He has helped the Mavericks a great deal, basically being everything that Doug Christie was supposed to be.
posted by Freethinker at 9:56:00 AM
2 Comments:
Diop is 5-0 as a starter. How can you beat that? If they keep playing like this Damp will never start again (in my opinion). Diop is the fire that needs to be lit under the Damp's butt. Just my three cents (inflation affects everything you know).
I don't think Diop's play has been I major factor in their 5-0 record. And it's not like they're going to win the rest of their games, at some point they'll hit a skid and maybe Avery will flip them back.
Post a Comment
<< Home