The World Championship tournament ended with a terrible showing for the USA and a great showing for Germany. Germany finished 3rd to win the bronze medal and was lead by Dirk Nowitzki's 24 points (highest average in the tournament) and 8.2 rebounds [and the games are 40 minutes long]. Nowitzki was also named tournament MVP and named to the All-Tournament team. USA finished 6th in a tournament it was thought they would win. USA lost 3 times (the first time a USA team lost when it has sent NBA players). Michael Finley played well early, but lost his shooting touch as the tournament went along and Raef LaFrentz rarely got of the bench until the final game where he had a team high 13 points and 7 rebounds. Still no word on Rashard Lewis. Dallas is keeping the mid-level exception available for Lewis and don't plan on using it until Lewis decides where he's going. Seattle is playing hard line and not upping their offer and a sign-and-trade involving Dallas is highly unlikely. Dallas restricted free agents Eduardo Najera and Wang Zhizhi remain unsigned and I don't think either's situation will be resolved until after Lewis decides where he's going. [Unless I'm missing something, for the Mavs to offer more than $1.4 million (the so called $1 million exception) to either player, they have to use part of the mid-level exception. They could use Early Bird rights to re-sign Wang or Najera, but that would have to be for the average player salary (about $4.5 million) and neither is worth that much. If another team makes an offer to Wang or Najera, Dallas would have 15 days to match (and could then tell Lewis that they needed his answer before 15 days were up)]. Training camp opens October 1 and the first pre-season game is October 8. (Less than a month away!!!) Dallas formally re-signed Raef LaFrentz on July 30 to a 7 year, $69,973,750 contract with a player-opt out after the 5th year. He will earn $7,270,000 next season. Del Harris and Denver could not come to a contract agreement for the then vacant head coaching job and, thus, Harris withdrew his name from consideration for the job in early August and remains as a Dallas assistant. Denver finally named a head coach August 21 going with no-name former scout Jeff Bzdelik. Congrats to Marc Stein's new job as ESPN.com's NBA reporter. Stein had been covering the NBA and the Mavs for the past several years for the Dallas Morning News (started as Mav beat writer and then moved to general NBA writer). I've finished my summer project. I now have all the Mavs playoff boxscores, various playoff stats, and an extensive playoff records listing at http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/playoffs/playoffs.html And for some fun stuff, here's some Mavs Playoff trivia (answers at the end): 1. Name the Mav who scored the most points in a playoff game and how many points he scored. Bonus: name the player and points for the 2nd highest. 2. Name the Mav opponent who scored the most points in a playoff game and how many points he scored. 3. Name the Mav who has the highest points average for his playoff career. 4. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest points average. 5. Name the two Mavs who have had 20 rebounds in a playoff game. 6. Name the Mav opponent who had the most rebounds in a playoff game and how many rebounds he had. 7. Name the Mav who has the highest rebounds average for his playoff career. 8. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest average average. 9. Name the Mav who scored the most assists in a playoff game and how many assist he had. 10. How many times did Magic Johnson have 10 or more assists against Dallas in a playoff game? 3, 8, 14, 17, 22, or 26 11. Name the Mav who has the highest assists average for his playoff career. 12. Name the Mav who has the highest field goal percentage for his playoff career. 13. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest field goal percentage for his playoff career vs Dallas with at least 10 attempted 14. How many 3-pointers did Brad Davis make without missing at Utah 4/25/86? 15. How many field goals did Brad Davis miss without a make at Seattle 4/21/84? 16. How many 3-pointers did shooting guard Rolando Blackman make in his Mavs playoff career? 0, 3, 8, 15, 22, 36, or 53 17. Dallas played 10 playoff games in 1984. As a team, how many 3-pointers did Dallas make? 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 18. Dallas played 80 playoff games in 2002. As a team, how many 3-pointers did Dallas make? 21, 34, 48, 52, 67, 79, 86, 93, or 108 19. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest 3-pointers made total (not average) against Dallas. 20. Name the 3 Mavs who went 10-10 FT in one playoff game. 21. How many free throws did Terry Porter make at Portland 4/26/90? 22. Name the Mav player who had a playoff game where he did not miss a field goal or free throw and had at least 10 points. 23. Name the 4 Mav opponent players who had a playoff game where they did not miss a field goal or free throw and had at least 10 points. 24. Name the 4 Mav opponent players who had a triple-double in a playoff game. [no Mav has had a triple-double in a playoff game] 25. Name the 2 Mav opponent players who had a 20-20 game in a playoff game. [Roy Tarpley (21 points, 20 rebounds, vs LA Lakers 5/27/88) is the only Mav.] 26. How many times did Shawn Bradley have 6 blocks in a playoff game in 2001? 27. Name the 2 Mavs opponents who had 7 blocks in a Mavs playoff game. 28. Name the Mav player who had the most turnovers (total, not average) in his playoff career. 29. Name the 5 players who have played in over 1000 minutes as a Mav. 30. Name the 2 Mav opponent players who started in the most playoff games vs Dallas and how many games they started. 31. a) How many ejections (both teams) occurred in Mavs playoff games prior to 2001? 0, 1, 3, 7, 10, 13, or 17 b) How many ejections (both teams) occurred in Mavs playoff games in 2001 and 2002? 0, 1, 3, 7, 10, 13, or 17 32. Name the Mav players who were ejected from a playoff game. 33. Name the Mav opponent players who were ejected from a playoff game. 34. Who has more technicals as Mavs coach, Don Nelson or Dick Motta? 35. Name the Mav opponent who has the most technicals in Mavs playoff games. 36. Name the Mav who has fouled out of the most Mavs games and how many games he fouled out of. 37. This player averaged 5.7 fouls in a playoff series (ie, vs 1 team). 38. Name 10 of the 16 players that wore Mavs uniforms and also played against Dallas in a playoff game. (give yourself bonus points for each name you get over 10). 39. Why was Game 5 vs Seattle in 1984 played in Moody Coliseum (Moody Madness game) instead of Reunion Arena? 40. True or false: all 5 Mav playoffs that have gone into overtime have occurred in Dallas. ===== Answers 1. Name the Mav who scored the most points in a playoff game and how many points he scored. Bonus: name the player and points for the 2nd highest. Rolando Blackman, 43 points, vs Portland (2OT) 4/18/85 Dirk Nowitzki, 42 points, @ San Antonio 5/14/01 2. Name the Mav opponent who scored the most points in a playoff game and how many points he scored. Dale Ellis, 43 points, @ Seattle 4/28/87 3. Name the Mav who has the highest points average for his playoff career. Dirk Nowitzki (25.6 points) 4. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest points average. Hakeem Olajuwon (37.5 points) 5. Name the two Mavs who have had 20 rebounds in a playoff game. Roy Tarpley (vs LA Lakers 5/27/88 and @ LA Lakers 5/23/88) and James Donaldson (@ Utah 4/23/86) 6. Name the Mav opponent who had the most rebounds in a playoff game and how many rebounds he had. Hakeem Olajuwon, 26 rebounds, Houston 4/30/88 7. Name the Mav who has the highest rebounds average for his playoff career. Roy Tarpley (12.8 rebounds) 8. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest average average. Kevin Garnett (18.7 rebounds) 9. Name the Mav who scored the most assists in a playoff game and how many assist he had. Derek Harper, 16 assists, @ LA Lakers 4/30/86 10. How many times did Magic Johnson have 10 or more assists against Dallas in a playoff game? 3, 8, 14, 17, 22, or 26 17 (most: 20 assists @ LA Lakers 5/31/88; obviously also had the highest average at 13.6 assists)) 11. Name the Mav who has the highest assists average for his playoff career. Steve Nash (7.4 assists) 12. Name the Mav who has the highest field goal percentage for his playoff career. James Donaldson (68.8% FG) 13. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest field goal percentage for his playoff career vs Dallas with at least 10 attempted Kurt Rambis (79.5% (31-39) FG) [Steve Hayes went 1-1 and Petur Gudmundsson went 4-5] 14. How many 3-pointers did Brad Davis make without missing at Utah 4/25/86? 5 15. How many field goals did Brad Davis miss without a make at Seattle 4/21/84? 6 16. How many 3-pointers did shooting guard Rolando Blackman make in his Mavs playoff career? 0, 3, 8, 15, 22, 36, or 53 just 3 (3-12) [how times have changed] 17. Dallas played 10 playoff games in 1984. As a team, how many 3-pointers did Dallas make? 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 5 18. Dallas played 80 playoff games in 2002. As a team, how many 3-pointers did Dallas make? 21, 34, 48, 52, 67, 79, 86, 93, or 108 67 19. Name the Mav opponent who has the highest 3-pointers made total (not average) against Dallas. Michael Cooper (27 3-pointers made) 20. Name the 3 Mavs who went 10-10 FT in one playoff game. Steve Nash (@ Minnesota 4/28/02) Dirk Nowitzki (@ Utah 5/3/01) Jay Vincent (@ Seattle 4/21/84) 21. How many free throws did Terry Porter make at Portland 4/26/90? 15 (15-16 FT) 22. Name the Mav player who had a playoff game where he did not miss a field goal or free throw and had at least 10 points. James Donaldson (15 points on 4-4 FG and 7-7 FT, vs Seattle 4/23/87 and 11 points on 4-4 FG and 3-3 FT, vs LA Lakers 5/8/86) 23. Name the 4 Mav opponent players who had a playoff game where they did not miss a field goal or free throw and had at least 10 points. Bobby Hansen (16 points on 6-6 FG and 4-4 FT, @ Utah 4/23/86) Danny Schayes (14 points on 4-4 FG and 6-6 FT, @ Denver 5/10/88) Mike Evans (11 points on 5-5 FG and 1-1 3-pointers, @ Denver 5/10/88) Doug Christie (20 points on 6-6 FG, 2-2 3-pointers, and 2-2 FT, Sacramento 5/9/02) 24. Name the 4 Mav opponent players who had a triple-double in a playoff game. [no Mav has had a triple-double in a playoff game] John Stockton (Utah 4/28/01), Fat Lever (Denver 5/14/88), Magic Johnson (LA Lakers 5/4/86 and LA Lakers (OT) 5/6/84), Clyde Drexler (@ Portland 4/23/85) 25. Name the 2 Mav opponent players who had a 20-20 game in a playoff game. [Roy Tarpley (21 points, 20 rebounds, vs LA Lakers 5/27/88) is the only Mav.] Tim Duncan (32 points, 20 rebounds, @ San Antonio 5/14/01 and 25 points, 22 rebounds, @ San Antonio 5/7/01) and Hakeem Olajuwon (41 points, 26 rebounds, Houston 4/30/88) 26. How many times did Shawn Bradley have 6 blocks in a playoff game in 2001? 3 27. Name the 2 Mavs opponents who had 7 blocks in a Mavs playoff game. Mark Eaton (Utah 4/20/86) and Clemon Johnson (@ Seattle 4/30/87) 28. Name the Mav player who had the most turnovers (total, not average) in his playoff career. Mark Aguirre (115 turnovers) 29. Name the 5 players who have played in over 1000 minutes as a Mav. Rolando Blackman (1889 minutes), Derek Harper (1554 minutes), Mark Aguirre (1547 minutes), Sam Perkins (1339 minutes), James Donaldson (1054 minutes) 30. Name the 2 Mav opponent players who started in the most playoff games vs Dallas and how many games they started. Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 18 games 31. a) How many ejections (both teams) occurred in Mavs playoff games prior to 2001? 0, 1, 3, 7, 10, 13, or 17 0 b) How many ejections (both teams) occurred in Mavs playoff games in 2001 and 2002? 0, 1, 3, 7, 10, 13, or 17 7 32. Name the Mav players who were ejected from a playoff game. Juwan Howard, @ San Antonio 5/5/01 (flagrant foul) Vernon Maxwell, @ Utah 4/24/01 (2 technicals) [Coach Don Nelson was also ejected (2 technicals) @ Utah 4/21/01] 33. Name the Mav opponent players who were ejected from a playoff game. Donyell Marshall, Utah 5/1/01 (2 technicals) John Starks, Utah 5/1/01 (1 technical) Olden Polynice, @ Utah 4/24/01 (flagrant foul) [Coach Gregg Popovich was also ejected (2 technicals) @ San Antonio 5/7/01] 34. Who has more technicals as Mavs coach, Don Nelson or Dick Motta? Nelson (8), Motta (4) 35. Name the Mav opponent who has the most technicals in Mavs playoff games. Vlade Divac (3 technicals) 36. Name the Mav who has fouled out of the most Mavs games and how many games he fouled out of. Mark Aguirre, 5 37. This player averaged 5.7 fouls in a playoff series (ie, vs 1 team). Sam Perkins vs Portland 1990 38. Name 10 of the 16 players that wore Mavs uniforms and also played against Dallas in a playoff game. (give yourself bonus points for each name you get over 10). Chucky Brown (Sac), Mark Bryant (Por), Tony Campbell (LAL), Dale Ellis (Sea), Alex English (Den), A.C. Green (LAL), Avery Johnson (SA), Fat Lever (Den), Danny Manning (Uta), Rodney McCray (Hou), Robert Pack (Min), Fred Roberts (Uta), Gary Trent (Min), Jay Vincent (Den), Samaki Walker (SA), Al Wood (Sea) 39. Why was Game 5 vs Seattle in 1984 played in Moody Coliseum (Moody Madness game) instead of Reunion Arena? World Championship Tennis (WCT) tournament was pre-booked for Reunion for that night. 40. True or false: all 5 Mav playoffs that have gone into overtime have occurred in Dallas. true patricia