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Nets hire Del Harris as assistant coach

The New Jersey Nets have named Del Harris as an assistant coach, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today. Harris joins Tom Barrise, John Loyer, Roy Rogers and Doug Overton as a member of Interim Head Coach Kiki Vandeweghe’s staff.

Harris, 72, joins the Nets following one season as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls were he helped first-year coach Vinny Del Negro reach the playoffs.

Prior to his time in Chicago, Harris was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks from 2000-08. During that time, Harris worked closely with Vandeweghe and Nets point guard Devin Harris. Harris brings 50+ years of coaching experience to the Nets including 30+ seasons in the NBA. As a head coach, Harris amassed a career record of 556-457 (.549) in parts of 14 seasons with the Lakers, Bucks and Rockets, reaching the playoffs 11 times. Harris received the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 1995 after guiding his Lakers to a 48-34 (.585) record, finishing third in the Pacific Division.

Harris also has international coaching experience as he coached Nets forward Yi Jianlian and Team China in the 2004 Olympics, where the team finished eighth out of a field of 12. He also coached seven seasons in Puerto Rico’s National Superior League (1969-75), posting a 176-61 record and winning three national championships (1973-75).

Before entering the NBA ranks, Harris was the head coach of Earlham College from 1965-74 finishing with a 175-70 (.714) record.

The Plainfield, Indiana native attended Milligan College in Tennessee where he played four years of basketball with career averages of 18.0 points and 9.5 rebounds.

Mavericks drop 49 points on Nets in second quarter for 77 first half points

Wednesday night in New Jersey the Nets (0-17) are hosting Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks. For New Jersey this is a must-win game if they want to avoid making some very negative history. With no wins and 17 losses coming into the game, if the Nets fall to 0-18 it will mark the worst start of any team in NBA history.

The Nets hung tough in the first quarter, which ended a tie at 28-28.

But then, all heck broke loose. The Dallas Mavericks went bonkers in the second quarter and outscored the Nets 49 to 22. The halftime score is Mavs 77, Nets 50.

For the game, Dallas is shooting 29-of-36 (80.6%) with 7-of-8 three-pointers and a perfect 12-of-12 free throws. Dirk Nowitzki has 13 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Erick Dampier has 12 points. Jason Kidd has 12 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Jason Terry is 5-of-5 with 11. Tim Thomas is 4-of-4 with 10.

As a team, the Mavs had 22 first half assists.

For New Jersey, Brook Lopez leads with 12 points. Chris Douglas-Roberts has 10. No Nets player has more than 3 assists or 3 rebounds.

The Nets as a team shot 50% in the first half — a very nice showing. But the Mavs went bonkers and unleashed one of the most unstoppable displays I’ve ever seen.

Erick Dampier had health scare

Eddie Sefko, special to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports:

The Mavericks survived a scary situation Sunday evening that had nothing to do with a 95-90 win over the Detroit Pistons.

When Erick Dampier left the pregame warmups because he wasn’t feeling right, nobody was quite sure what was happening. Minutes later, with emergency medical personnel working on Dampier, he was whisked by ambulance from the Palace of Auburn Hills to a Pontiac, Mich., hospital.

By the end of the game, the Mavericks received news that Dampier’s symptoms had subsided. No team personnel divulged what those symptoms were, but an NBA official said that doctors had ruled out any serious health issues, including H1N1 (swine flu).

Dampier apparently was lightheaded when he left the arena, but was feeling much better at the hospital, giving the Mavericks a huge sigh of relief.

Glad to hear that Erick is OK.

Nancy Lieberman to coach Frisco D-League team

Marc Stein of ESPN reports:

The incoming NBA Development League franchise in suburban Dallas, co-owned by Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and scheduled to begin play in the 2010-11 season, has made a bold choice for its first head coach: Nancy Lieberman.

Lieberman, an ESPN television analyst, is poised to become the first woman to be a head coach the D-League, which sent 20 players to the NBA last season and is widely regarded as the most scouted league in the world outside of the NBA.

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com Nelson’s ownership group has secured approval from the NBA to hire Lieberman to coach the yet-to-be-named team based in Frisco, Texas, which will serve as the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate next season. A formal announcement of her hiring is expected this week, possibly as soon as Wednesday.

Popeye Jones accused of drunk driving

Chris Dell of the Dallas Morning News reports:

Former Dallas Mavericks player and current assistant coach Ronald Jerome “Popeye” Jones was arrested Sunday evening in Richardson and accused of drunken driving.

Jones, who played for the Mavericks from 1993 until 1996 and again in 2002-03, was bonded out of jail this morning at about 4 a.m., according to Richardson Police Department public information officer Jonathan Wakefield.

The report went on to say that Jones declined to take the breathalyzer test, which we logically assume is usually only done by someone who has something to hide, unfortunately.

Oct 27: Wizards 102, Mavericks 91

The AP reports: Finally healthy after two seasons virtually lost to knee injuries, Gilbert Arenas had 29 points and nine assists as the Wizards took an early lead over the revamped Dallas Mavericks and never let go on their way to a 102-91 victory Tuesday night… Arenas shot 10 of 21 and made 8-of-9 free throws for more points than he had all of last season… The assists included several nifty passes that set up Brendan Haywood for dunks. He also helped set up reserves Andray Blatche for 20 points and Randy Foye for 19 in his first game with the Wizards. Caron Butler added 16 points, with injured forward Antawn Jamison watching from the bench. He’s likely to miss the first eight to 13 games because of a shoulder injury… But the Mavericks fell into the old habit of trying to ride a big night by Dirk Nowitzki. He scored 34 points, but was only 10 of 25. He was 12 of 13 from the foul line—all in the first half.

Mavericks trade Nathan Jawai to Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has acquired 6-10 forward Nathan Jawai and cash considerations from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a conditional second-round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The pick is protected through the 55th draft position.

“Nathan is a young project who likely will add depth to our roster at his position,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operation. “We were contemplating this trade prior to Kevin Love’s hand injury, so this move is not intended to replace Kevin in the short term by any means. That would not be fair to Nathan. Rather, this move provided us an opportunity to work with a young player with size, and later determine if he could be a fit for us.”

Jawai, a native of Sydney, Australia, was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 41st overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, and was subsequently traded to Toronto as part of the deal that sent Jermaine O’Neal to the Raptors. Jawai appeared in six games during his rookie season, playing a total of 19 minutes. He also appeared in 14 games for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League, averaging 11.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 52.6 percent from the field.

Prior to entering the NBA Draft, Jawai played one season in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), where he averaged 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for the Cairns Taipans. Jawai was the 2007-08 NBL Rookie of the Year, the 2007 NBL All-Star Game MVP and earned All-NBL Second Team honors.

NBA tells bench players stay seated so fans can see

Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.

But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.

The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.

That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.

The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.

“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”

I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.

Oct 5: Magic 110, Mavs 105

The AP reports: Vince Carter scored 21 points in his Orlando debut and Brandon Bass added seven of his 13 points in the final two minutes to lift the Magic to a 110-105 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the preseason opener for both teams on Monday night… Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points, including going 17-for-19 from the free-throw line. Drew Gooden, an offseason free-agent pickup by the Mavericks, added 18 points. Orlando’s Dwight Howard had 17 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 4:31 left in the third quarter. Rashard Lewis added 18 points for the Magic.

Mavericks practice jerseys and court have sponsor

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed HDNet as a sponsor for the team’s practice jerseys. HDNet logo placement will also be on Mavericks coaching staff apparel worn at team practices.

HDNet is the ground-breaking independent network with unique and provocative content that appeals to men of all ages. HDNet delivers more hours per week of award-winning, original, true high definition programming than any other television network.

“The Mavs and HDNet have been long time partners and we are excited to expand our relationship,” said Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban.

As part of the agreement, the HDNet logo will be featured throughout the Mavericks practice court.

Co-founded by Mark Cuban and Phillip Garvin, HDNet operates two 24/7 all high-definition channels (HDNet and HDNet Movies). HDNet was launched on Sept. 6, 2001 and is now headquartered in Dallas and Denver. The networks are available in the U.S. and Canada via 12 different cable and satellite providers. HDNet, the reason HDTV was created.