Art Garcia from mavs.com reports:
Four horsemen are game-time
The game-time list is pretty lengthy for tonight’s Golden State matchup. Decisions have yet to be officially made on Josh Howard, Eddie Jones, Brandon Bass and Devin Harris, but all four just got off the court here at Oracle Arena without any problems.
“Everybody for he most part when through shootaround and we’ll see how they feel come game time,” Avery Johnson said.
Of the group, Harris and Bass are the most likely to play. Both went through practice yesterday.
Little Ball of Hate Jen Engel Ft. Worth Star Telegram
Has this story about Reggie Miller thinks Dirk is the man.
Our Dallas Mavericks return to what basically amounts to a crime scene this evening.
Oakland. For a game against Golden State.
It was less than six months ago that a timid, bordering on gutless, team impersonated what had until then been a pretty intimidating group under Coach Avery. This ended with a humiliating first-round loss to Nellie and his Warriors.
Of course, this mother of all choke jobs has led to all kinds of knee jerking, overreacting and downright lunacy from a fringe contingent of Mavs observers who no longer believe Dirk is The Man. Or capable of being The Man.
You know The Man, the player who demands the ball be in his hands for The Shot, who plays his best in The Game, who leads his team to The Ring.
So is it time to give up on Dirk? Or does he have The Man in him?
TNT analyst Reggie Miller believes he does, and Miller would know, considering he had that "It" factor when he played for Indy.
"I know Dirk has it. You don't win MVP if you don't have it," Miller said. "So if you are asking me: 'Does he have it?' Yes. Now, does he have it when the lights and cameras are on, in the biggest moments? That is yet to be determined."
This became a big question since Golden State followed closely on the heels of Miami. Two playoffs. Two very different failures. Both qualify as big-time chokes.
Dirk struggled in both. He looked very un-The-Man-ish in both.
"He does have it," Miller insisted. "But I don't think he thinks that he has it."
And before anybody chimes in with any "What's he going to say? He's a former player" garbage. Let's remember this is TNT, where brutally honest is a résumé requirement.
Starting with Sir Charles.
He and Reggie, and really everybody on TNT's crew, have skewered Dallas at one point or another -- for being soft, for having Mark Cuban, for anything and everything.
So, if Reggie thought for a second that Dirk was incapable of winning a championship for Dallas, he'd say so. And loudly. And often. And did I mention loudly because, well, he has to be heard over Charles.
Instead, "no" was his response to any and all Kobe-to-Dallas talk.
He quickly noted how silly he considers Maverick Kobe rumors because (1) There is no way in Hades LA trades him to a West team; and (2) If Lakers brass came down with a case of stupid and traded West, look for them to want Dirk and Josh and a big man.
And Reggie does not see why the Mavs would do this.
"They are right there. They are knocking on the door," he said. "So why make wholesale changes for a guy you'd have to give up everything but the kitchen sink for?"
The why is simple. Many have lost faith that this Mavs team, as currently comprised, is capable of winning a championship. Especially with Dirk playing The Man. Especially in the playoffs.
"I always tend to worry about Dallas in the postseason," Miller said. "What will their psyche be like? Come April and May, are they mentally strong enough? Their psyche has been bruised a little bit."
He thinks they will be OK because they have Dirk.
He thinks Dirk is The Man.
I think you should listen to Miller because it takes one to know one.
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