[As usual, a mixture of info from the Dallas Morning News and my
personal observations and opinions.]

I've got to start out with something from December 23rd and get
this out of my system.  The Mavs were playing Minnesota in
Minnesota and with 4:37 to go in the game the Mavs were up by
about 5 points.  Isaiah Rider was coming from the baseline full
force for a jam.  Jamal Mashburn was about two feet in front of
the basket and went to block the jam attempt.  Mashburn got the
ball first and then got some body and, as Rider was in the air
when this occurred, Rider went down hard.  Mashburn was walking
away from the basket.  Rider got up and went berserk trying to get
at Mashburn.  The other 'Wolves and the coach were trying to
restrain Rider, but Rider kept trying get to Mashburn.  Mashburn
was over by the scorers table just standing there watching Rider
and saying something like "Come on, I like this" (Mashburn's dad
was a boxer) but making no movement towards Rider.  After about 2
minutes of talking and calming people down, the refs (get this)
_eject_ MASHBURN!  They called a type 2 flagrant foul on
Mashburn.  I went ballistic.  Un-fricken-believable!  I was pissed
(and, as you can tell, I'm still upset about it).  What was
Mashburn supposed to do, just stand out of the way and let Rider
make an uncontested jam?  Even a type 1 flagrant foul would have
been questionable as he was going for, and got, the ball.  But a
type 2 with automatic ejection was just ridiculous and two full
minutes after the contact occurred.  And here is the best part:
they had a wonderful lineup of refs with both Steve Javie and Ken
Mauer.  The third ref was Joe Borgia.  But there was a happy
ending as the Mavs did pull out their second win (both in
Minnesota) and NBA VP Rod Thorn downgraded the flagrant foul two
to a flagrant foul one.  No fine or suspension was assessed for
the foul.  The NBA has to do something about the refs.  This was
the second time that I know of that a flagrant has been
downgraded - especially since a flagrant two includes ejection.
(Okay, deep breath, calm down.)

With about 2:30 left in the 1st half of the Minnesota game and
Jim Jackson about to shoot two free throws, Buckner signaled for
a timeout.  Derek Harper turned in disbelief and said, "No." 
Buckner insisted, "I'm calling a timeout."  Buckner knelt in
front of Harper in the huddle.  When Harper again questioned the
wisdom of a timeout, Buckner turned without a word and left to
huddle with his assistants.

Sean Rooks on the praise and surprised expressed by some on his
good performance in the game against Minnesota:
"I said I could play.  Don't listen to Quinn and (the other
coaches)."

I'd say the best thing that could happen to this team is for
Buckner to be fired.  That comment does not come from the
offensive scheme or his rotation.  It is purely that almost all
(if not all) of the players have absolutely no respect for
Buckner.  And players don't play well and don't listen to coaches
that they don't respect.  Respect is something easily lost and
very difficult to regain.  And I don't see Buckner regaining it
this year.  The fact that several of the players have vocalized
their complaints to the press indicates to me that they don't
believe that they can approach Buckner personally or that they
don't believe that he listens to what they are saying.  Jim
Jackson, who is normally very diplomatic in saying that he will
talk to Buckner about a problem and not go into details with the
press and who will be the team leader once Harper is traded,
lashed out publicly against Buckner after the loss in Milwaukee
on Dec 22.  The list of players criticizing Buckner publicly
includes all of the starters except Popeye Jones (Rooks, Harper,
Jackson, and Mashburn) and Terry Davis.  But the Mavs getting rid
of Buckner won't happen anytime soon.  Don Carter (Mavs owner)
has been very vocal in expressing his support for Buckner.  And
Carter is not about to lose face twice in a year (the Jackson
holdout being the first).  

The Mavericks released center Darren Morningstar.  He started
training camp as an underdog not expected to make the team but
made the team and started the first 15 games.  All players have
to have a guaranteed contract by Jan 10 and Morningstar was the
only Mav not to have a guaranteed contract.  The Mavs said that
they want to give Morningstar a two week headstart on finding
another team.  Morningstar showed a lot of hustle and a talent
for getting other players mad and would be a good, cheap addition
for a team needing a second or third string center.  Most likely,
either Terry Davis or Randy White will be reactivated to fill the
vacancy.  Look for Davis to be reactivated within the next week
as White still isn't quite ready to return and Davis has been
begging to play.  Buckner could have scored some good points with
Davis and the fans by immediately reactivating Davis instead of
waiting, but ...

The Mavs have once again been hit with the flu.  Sean Rooks and
Fat Lever missed Friday's practice due to the flu.  Has there
been any team that has not been affected by the flu?

Trade talk:
From 12/28: The Mavs and Knicks officials confirmed Monday that
last week the Knicks added their 1997 No 1 draft pick (with
lottery protection) to their offer of Greg Anthony, Tim McCormick
and Houston's 1994 No 1 for Harper.  The Mavs turned it down
despite the fact that they earlier indicated interest in the
trade if it included the '97 pick.  (Gotta love the Mavs
management.)  Needless to say, the Knicks were upset.  A Mavs
source said that they would rather have a promising young player
(read Hubert Davis) than Anthony or another of the picks.  A
Knicks official said, "We are going to pursue other things. 
We're exploring other options.  Obviously, we would not have gone
through this if we didn't have legitimate interest in Derek.  But
we feel our offer was fair, more than fair, for a 32-year-old
guard who is constantly at odds with his coach."  These comments
were made before the Knicks learned that guard Hubert Davis will
be out for 6 weeks with a broken hand.

12/31: Larry Brown is still interested in getting Harper.  The
Pacers have a proposal on the table of Malik Sealy, Sam Mitchell,
and LaSalle Thompson for Derek Harper, Sean Rooks, and Terry
Davis.  Mavs sources said that the team no longer has interest in
trading Rooks.  Even the coaching staff, which supported the
Indiana deal several weeks ago, has been so pleased by Rooks
recent play that it now agrees on management's position on the
deal.  (Oh my gosh!  The coaching staff got a clue.  Now if
they'll only realize that Davis is a legitimate player.)
Rumor has it that Rick Sund (Mavs VP of Operations) proposed
Harper for Sealy and Mitchell.  The Pacers aren't interested.

1/1: A Pacer source said that he thinks that the Mavs-Pacers
talks have cooled.
Sources in New York and San Antonio say that those teams are back
in the picture.  San Antonio tried to rekindle the Reid for
Harper talks, but the Mavs weren't interested.

The Mavs next win <cough> play in Minnesota February 2nd.  It's
going to be a long month.


patricia