The Mavs dropped their home opener 102-91 at the AAC Tuesday night. Let me make a few observations.
- I was disappointed in the defense. Especially since defense is something Coach Carlisle preached and tried to improve during training camp.
- The 2 guard hole still haunts the Mavs. Fans were expecting Josh to be playing there but he isn’t healthy so Dallas went with Quinton Ross. Ross had an ok game defensively but only contributed 2 points on the offensive end. Dallas did get contributions from Jason Terry and J.J. Barea but those guys are a defensive liability.
- I like the toughness and defense that Drew Gooden brings to this team, but he took a few ill advised shots during the game.
- Dirk had a pretty good game, but his shot wasn’t falling like normal as he went 10-for-25. Despite that, Dirk still finished with 34 points and was 12-of-13 from the line. Dating back to the last season, Nowitzki has now scored 20+ points in 26 consecutive regular season games – the longest such streak in the NBA
- Where was the Kris Humphries from pre-season? I thought he would be able to back-up Dirk and be a decent player from what we saw in training camp. He only played 5 minutes and was not very effective.
- Gilbert Arenas looked nice!! I’m glad to see Agent 0 back to his old self. He battled through 2 years worth of injuries, but totally appears to be healthy now. The Wizards can be a really good team once Jamison returns and everyone else stays healthy.
