Category: Dallas Mavericks Blog

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have assigned rookie guard Gal Mekel to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Mekel (6-3, 202) is averaging 2.4 points, 2.1 assists and 9.6 minutes in 30 games (one start) this season.

He has missed the last 21 games of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to address a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee.

Mekel (6-3, 191) spent two seasons at Wichita State University (2006-07, 2007-08) before leaving school early and beginning his professional career in Europe. In his first season overseas, he was named the 2009 All-Israeli League Newcomer of the Year.

Last season, the point guard led Maccabi Haifa to an Israeli League Championship en route to claiming his second Most Valuable Player award. Mekel averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 32.3 minutes in 30 games while shooting .525 from the field and .779 from the free throw line.

The Petah Tikva, Israel native is just the second Israeli-born player to sign with an NBA team. He follows in the footsteps of veteran forward Omri Casspi.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have reassigned Jae Crowder and Shane Larkin to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Crowder (6-6, 235) and Larkin (5-11, 176) were both a part of Thursday night’s Legends’ victory. Crowder finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists to record the Legends’ first triple-double of the season. Larkin chipped in 9 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.

Both Mavericks will join the Legends and be available for tonight’s game when they take on the Los Angeles D-Fenders at 7:00 pm CT at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

Here’s ESPN Dallas reporting on the Mavericks, who have enjoyed great success this month but have a tougher schedule going forward:

We might find out what the Mavs are made of over the next eight games, starting with Friday night’s home game against the rugged Chicago Bulls.

“The competition gets tougher,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “So it’s more physical, it’s harder to score, it’s harder to get stops. You’ve got to be that much more tied together, you’ve got to be that much more efficient and you’ve got to have that much more concentration on the boards.”

The Mavs will see only two sub-.500 opponents over that stretch, and both of those games are on the road. The other six games feature matchups against the top three teams in the West standings (Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers), a rematch with the Pacers and a visit to the Golden State Warriors that could have significant playoff-seeding implications.

“This stretch we’ve got coming up is pretty tough, a lot of good teams, some of them on the road, so it should be a good test,” Nowitzki said.

Here’s the Dallas Morning News blog reporting on veteran Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki, who would be perfectly happy spending most of Sunday’s All-Star game on the bench watching the action:

The Mavericks played 54 games before the All-Star break, and Nowitzki played in all but two of them. Like most of his teammates, he was rolling in the weeks leading up to the NBA’s annual intermission.

Unlike most of his teammates, he doesn’t get to kick back on a beach or at the house to chill out for a few days. But he still doesn’t plan on putting in much of a workload in New Orleans. With his sprained left ankle still healing, plus a playoff race ahead of him, he values all the rest he can get.

“A couple minutes,” was all Nowitzki said when asked what he expects to do in Sunday’s All-Star Game. “I got a couple days now, and I probably won’t do much, including the game.”

Here’s one take from ESPN Dallas on Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki and the type of help he’s had:

The hodgepodge of players such as Michael Finley, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Josh Howard, O.J. Mayo, Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler leaves a very mixed bag to select from. It also shines a light on the fact Nowitzki has had to carry the load in Dallas without legitimate, surefire star support. It comes down to Steve Nash, before the point guard hit his MVP stride, and Jason Kidd, returning after he had passed his prime. Nash was the perfect teammate for Nowitzki earlier in his career, and Kidd was just as perfect later in Nowitzki’s career. I’m going to go with Kidd. While Nash could shoot the lights out, Kidd had the better all-around game out of the two point guards. As Nash helped Nowitzki grow as a player, Kidd helped guide him to immortality as a champion.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have recalled rookie guard Shane Larkin from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Larkin (5-11, 176) has played in 32 games for the Mavericks and is averaging 3.6 points and 1.8 assists in 12.5 minutes per contest.

Larkin was originally assigned to the D-League on Jan. 31 and played in one game for the Legends. In that game, he recorded 9 points and 7 assists in 33 minutes against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Here’s the Dallas Morning News talking to former NBA player Jim Jackson, who discusses why the era of the “Three Js” never flourished:

Jim Jackson: “It’s a couple of things. It’s not as easy to point to one thing, but I try to tell people this all the time that I was the first when I came in in ’92. Jamal came in the following year, so we got a chance to play 82 games together, Jamal and myself. When Jason [Kidd] came in my third year (Jamal’s second) I got hurt 51 games into the season, so we never completed an 82-game season. The following year, Jamal got hurt 20 games into the season, so we never completed an 82-game season. Then the following year, we all got traded. Now, couple that with that during my five years here in Dallas, had three different ownership groups … Then you also have four different coaches … We never really had an honest shot at it really working because of all the moving parts that took place.”

“It’s more so the outside influences that kind of took hold of what was going on. And a lot of it had to do with management that didn’t understand how to really get these three young guys and build around it, and I love Donald Carter to death, but from a management perspective, I think you can see a difference between a Mark Cuban and what the past ownerships were able to do.”