Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 88 – NBA Blog

Phil Jackson jabs Mark Cuban over 2006 Finals

Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports:

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson insinuated that complaints about officiating by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the 2006 NBA Finals may have cost the Mavs the championship.

Before Saturday’s Mavs-Lakers game, Jackson was asked whether it was crucial for the Lakers to have home-court advantage should the Mavs and Lakers meet this year in the playoffs, because of Cuban’s personality.

Jackson said: “Why?”

Cuban’s penchant for complaining about officiating, the reporter asked. That’s when Jackson, while laughing, said of Cuban:

“Oh, he lost that Miami series. He definitely had it coming that time. I think he’s toned it down in the last years.”

Read fan reaction or share your own opinion in this forum topic.

Marco Belinelli fined for foul on Shawn Marion

Marco Belinelli of the New Orleans Hornets has been fined $10,000 for his Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Belinelli was initially called for a Flagrant Foul, Penalty One against Shawn Marion of the Dallas Mavericks. The league office has upgraded the call to a Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two.

The incident occurred with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter of the Hornets 93-92 win over the Mavericks at New Orleans Arena on Wednesday, March 9.

Rashad McCants rejoins Texas Legends of D-League

The Texas Legends announced today that guard Rashad McCants has reported back to the team and is expected to be active for tonight’s game, as the Legends host the Sioux Falls Skyforce at 7:00 PM at HP Court inside Dr Pepper Arena.

McCants, 26, was assigned to the Legends from the Dallas Mavericks training camp and played in three games with Texas, before exploring options overseas. He becomes one of four Legends players to have been drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft.

In his three games with the Legends earlier this season, McCants averaged 12.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists, including a season-high 20 points in his first game with the team against Austin.

Despite leaving the storied college program of the University of North Carolina after just three years, McCants ranks 14th all-time in scoring at the school and is tied for second with 221 career three-point field goals. He also helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2005 National Championship.

He was drafted in the first round (14th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. McCants played in parts of four seasons with the T-Wolves and later the Sacramento Kings. In 249 career NBA games, the guard has averaged 10.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

Chris Roberts, a 22-year-old guard out of Bradley University, was also acquired via the available player pool. He played in one game at the start of the season with the Idaho Stampede, in which he scored four points and grabbed two rebounds. Roberts has appeared on ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 Plays five times, including his 75-foot buzzer beater to defeat Oakland in the 2009 Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament Quarterfinal. Roberts will also be active for tonight’s contest.

Rashad McCants set to rejoin D-League

Marc Stein of ESPN reports:

After three months away from the game, Rashad McCants is planning to come back to Texas to try to revive his NBA career.

McCants reconnected this week with the D-League’s Texas Legends and has been invited to rejoin the team after leaving the Legends in December to sign a more lucrative contract in China.

The Chinese deal with Lionang Panpan, however, collapsed almost immediately after McCants left Frisco. The former 2005 lottery pick appeared in only three games with the Legends before his departure and hasn’t played organized ball since.

But McCants, who likewise hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2008-09 season, asked to rejoin the Legends after receiving an offer to join the recent flurry of NBA veterans — headlined by Allen Iverson — to sign in Turkey this season. The 26-year-old apparently convinced Legends co-owner and Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson that he’s ready to commit to a D-League stint as opposed to signing somewhere in Europe where he can make more money.

Mavericks sign Corey Brewer

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed forward Corey Brewer. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Brewer (6-9, 188) was originally the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He holds career averages of 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 25.7 minutes in 232 career games (147 starts) with Minnesota.

Brewer played in 79 games (35 starts) as a rookie for the Timberwolves in 2007-08, but sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament 15 games into 2008-09 campaign that cost him the remainder of the season. He returned for the 2009-10 season to start all 82 games and average career highs in points (13.0), rebounds (3.4), assists (2.4) and minutes per game (30.4).

Brewer has played in 56 games this season averaging 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 24.3 minutes before being traded to the New York Knicks as a part of the 12-player deal that also landed Carmelo Anthony in New York. Brewer joins the Mavericks after the Knicks requested waivers on him on Mar. 1.

The former University of Florida standout was a two-time national champion with the Gators in 2006 and 2007 and was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. In three years at Florida, Brewer also won three Southeastern Conference Championships to go along with two national titles and recorded the first triple-double in Florida basketball history on Dec. 18, 2005.

The native of Portland, Tenn., was a 2004 McDonald’s All-American after averaging 24.9 points and 12.8 rebounds in his senior season at Portland High School.

Brewer is also active with both the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Association to create awareness for the disease that has impacted his family.

Brewer will wear number 13 for the Mavericks.

Read fan reaction and share your own opinion in this forum topic.

Corey Brewer and Jason Terry had a close encounter last year

Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (via blog):

It was a year ago today when Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer had an up close and personal meeting.

Terry was amazingly whistled for a foul on a play in which he received an elbow in the nose from Brewer. Blood was spewing from Terry’s nose as he laid sprawled on his back on the floor.

Terry went to the locker room and was back in the game about three minutes later with cotton sticking from his left nostril. And he wound up scoring a game-high 26 points as the Mavs edged the T-Wolves, 112-109.

After an examination, it was revealed that Terry had to undergo facial surgery after he fractured his left orbital bone. The surgery, ironcially, occurred Mar. 5, which is Brewer’s birthday.

Celtics sign Sasha Pavlovic

By Jeff Lenchiner

The Boston Celtics aren’t playing around. They keep doing what any team with championship aspirations should be trying to do and padding their roster with as many proven veterans as possible. Thursday morning they took another positive step by signing guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it was presumably a pro-rated, league minimum signing.

Pavlovic, a 6’7” guard/forward, has posted career averages of 5.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 466 career games with stops in Utah, Cleveland, Minnesota, New Orleans and Dallas.

The native of Bar, Montenegro was a part of the 2006-07 Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers and was a starter in each game on their run to the Finals. During that 2006-07 regular season he posted a career-high average of 9.0 points per game and shot 40.5% from three-point range in 67 games.

Pavlovic also shot a career-high 41.0% from three-point territory during the 2008-09 season.

He has played in 10 games so far this season split between Dallas and New Orleans was a starter in seven of those contests. He has averaged 4.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and shot 50.0% from the three point line in 17.9 minutes per game in those starts.

Pistons reject Mavs offer for Tayshaun Prince

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports:

Pistons reject Mavericks offer for Tayshaun Prince

The Detroit Pistons have spurned the Dallas Mavericks’ efforts to acquire small forward Tayshaun Prince — at least for now.

The Mavs offered the Pistons swingman Caron Butler and a 2011 first-round pick for Prince before today’s 3 p.m. deadline, according to a person close to the situation.

Butler is out for the season with an injury, but he has an expiring deal, so the trade, basically, would be Prince for the pick. Prince also has an expiring contract.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban jokes about wanting to sign Justin Bieber

Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports:

“If I signed Dennis Rodman, I’m not above signing Justin Bieber — if he’s old enough to play,’’ owner Mark Cuban said Wednesday night. “I don’t know if he’s eligible.

“Could you check on that for me, because I’ll sign him. We can ask for an exception for Bieber Fever. Get the Bieber Fever NBA exception.’’

Bieber, who turns 17 on Tuesday, was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Celebrity All-Star game last Friday in Los Angeles. He scored eight points and distributed four assists, but his East team lost to the West, 54-45.

“That guy can play,’’ Cuban said. “If we’re down a man, he’s the one I’ll sign.

“You’re talking about selling tickets.’’

Peja Stojakovic hits four threes, scores 22 as Mavs beat Rockets

By Jeff Lenchiner

Back 800 years ago, a guy by the name of Peja Stojakovic was a flame-thrower for the Sacramento Kings, ripping the net every night and showing perfect form with one of the league’s best-looking outside shots. Never a great all-around player, Stojakovic was a scorer, and he did it well.

Mostly forgotten about in the past few years, Stojakvoic recently became a member of the Dallas Mavericks, where at least a partial revival was expected. The team has a pretty stacked roster, and all Peja is expected to do is stand outside and hit open shots. Which he was quite good at on Saturday.The AP reports:

Peja Stojakovic is settling in with his new team, adding a valuable dimension to the Dallas Mavericks’ offense.

Stojakovic scored 22 points and broke a tie with Dale Ellis for fourth place in career 3-pointers as the Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 106-102 on Saturday night.

Dallas acquired Stojakovic on Jan. 24, and the 3-time All-Star wasn’t in playing shape because he’d been sitting out since November. He went 1-for-11 from long range in his first three games before rediscovering his touch on Saturday night and going 4 for 6.

“I was getting good looks in the last couple of games, too, it was just that the shots wouldn’t go,” Stojakovic said. “It’s easy to play with the guys. I get so many good looks because they draw so much attention. Tonight (Saturday), I was able make them.”

Stojakovic now has 1,723 career 3s and trails only teammate Jason Kidd (1,756), Reggie Miller (2,560) and Ray Allen (2,562) in NBA history. Allen passed Miller for the lead Thursday, and Kidd wouldn’t mind at all if Stojakovic eventually leapfrogs him.

The Mavs are without Caron Butler, normally a starter. It’ll be interesting to see how effective Stojakovic remains over the course of the season, both before and after Butler’s eventual return.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.