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| Mavs get first road win over Bucks. Photo credit NBA |
by Ace Feltman
The Dallas Mavericks season is nearly two weeks old and so far the newest collection of Mavs has tallied 4 wins to 3 losses. Of course, wins and losses dictate your fate and a 4-3 pace is certainly not one to be desired. But all things considered the Mavericks 2013-2014 season is off to an encouraging start, all things considered. Nine new faces and only four old ones that are rotation players (Dirk, Matrix, Vince, and Crowder) was a threat to overcome the talent the team possesses. Because chemistry can be your biggest weapon. (See: 2011 NBA Champions)
The preseason proved to be very beneficial for the Dirk-Monta Ellis connection but injuries took away time for the Mavs new point guard repertoire to familiarize with their new teammates. Jose Calderon missed most of the exhibition schedule, Devin Harris and Shane Larkin missed all of it, but Israeli rookie Gal Mekel took advantage to shed off some very evident rust.
Which highlights the positive in missing injured players. Gal Mekel has played very well and shown some real nice moves across his first 7 games in the NBA. Jae Crowder has perhaps taken some extra minutes at the swingman position that Harris would be used, and also Wayne Ellington has gotten off to a very slow start. Crowder has improved his three point shot tremendously and I don’t know what it is about braids but they demand hustle from their host! (Kenneth Faried, DeMarre Carroll, pre-traded for Austin Croshere Marquis Daniels come to mind…you can even count Louis Amundson’s ponytail if you want and Corey Brewer’s…long…eyes?)
The 2nd year 2nd rounder has broken down the wall of turrible Mavs’ draft picks. He’s averaging 11/3/1/1/1 in November and his .591 3P% (counting a 1-1 in 9 October minutes) is tied for 3rd in the league, with Anthony Morrow surely enough. A .605 total FG% trails only Markieff Morris of Phoenix and John Henson of Milwaukee.
Gal Mekel is the backup point guard by way of injuries and preseason play indicated trouble of the 2013 backup PG sort. However his play and especially his confidence have soared as he provides stopgap minutes for the Mavs.
And then there’s DeJuan Blair. Brandan Wright’s untimely shoulder injury put Blair on backup center duty. 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds on the defensive and offensive side as well as an energy level not seen since Tyson Chandler patrolled the middle (tear). Samuel Dalembert is the starter but Blair has been eating up minutes and when Wright returns it could be “Sammy D” who sees more time on the bench.
Jae Crowder and Gal Mekel have both shined in opportunities but every time DeJuan Blair forces the opposition to cough up a loose ball or outhustles everyone else on the floor to secure Dallas an extra possession, I simply cannot believe the Mavericks got Blair for $1.4 million on August 7th as their final roster member.
I really can’t believe it. And I love it so, so, so very much.
DeJuan Blair has 26 offensive rebounds so far this year. Kevin Love has 25. Dwight Howard has 24 .
26 offensive boards is also good for 7th in the league and achieved at 20 minutes per game. Players 1-6 all play 34 minutes or more. That’s absolutely incredible. And I haven’t even mentioned three things about DeJuan Blair because they’re going to be an awesomely dramatic finish to his part in this piece.
- He’s 6 foot 7 (same as Brooklyn Nets backup point guard Shaun Livingston)
- He has no ACL’s
- Because of this unique medical situation, he fell to the 37th pick in the 2009 draft (Hasheem Thabeet was 2nd and yes this was the ((unemployed) Roddy B draft)
4-3 isn’t great but it’s good and even though the Mavericks know they need to be better the chemistry is coming together more and more each game, and this is with parts still to be integrated on-the-fly, something very common with the Mavericks in the past couple seasons. But in the absence of key components others have stepped up with chips on their shoulders and 4-3 isn’t so bad then, all things considered.
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