Sean Rooks was finally reactivated last Tuesday. He had dropped hints that he was considering taking his case through the Player's Association soon if the team continued to delay reactivating him. Chucky Brown was released (he had a whole 10 minute 1-1 FG career with the Mavs). The trade rumors for Rooks have apparently died down since Golden State and the other team the Mavs were talking to (sorry, I don't remember which) turned down the offers. Hopefully they will stay dead and those two teams missed obtaining a Mavs gift. BTW, the trade talks were initiated by the Mavs - Rooks did not ask to be traded; he did ask to be reactiviated though. Randy White says that he is ready to return and that the swelling in his knee that would occur after playing is gone. He hopes to be reactivated in the next 2 to 3 weeks. Terry Davis still wishes that the team would reconsider reactivating him. The operation to remove scar tissue and a supportive rod from his elbow is tentatively scheduled for January. After the last pay day he said something like, "They're paying me all this money; I wish I was earning it." The flu bug swept through Dallas in force. Lucious Harris played only 11 minutes in the first half of the Clippers game (Tuesday) before having to sit out the rest due to the flu. Lucious, Popeye Jones, and Derek Harper played with the flu in the Chicago game (Friday). And Derek caught a relapse of the flu Saturday and stayed at the hotel while the team faced San Antonio. No public conflicts between Buckner and any players occurred last week. An Indiana Pacer's scout was at the Clippers game. The Pacers have shown interest in acquiring Derek Harper. (Hmmm, Harper for Reggie Miller?? :) ) Jamal Mashburn turns all of 21 tomorrow (Monday). The Games: Someone please tell me it was just a bad dream! And I'll wake up and last week's pathetic games were just a nightmare from my twisted mind. Yuch, Yuch, Yuch. You call that basketball? LA Clippers 105, Mavericks 98 - at Dallas, November 23rd Okay, you know I've been critical of Buckner's interaction with the players, but I've refrained from commenting on his line ups. But I saw something Tuesday night that completely blew my mind - a line up of Jim Jackson (G), Fat Lever (G), Lucious Harris (G), Darren Morningstar (C), and Donald Hodge (C). HUH? And he actually kept this line up for 5 minutes or more, not that they were doing much. I was actually kind of glad to hear at the half that Lucious wasn't going to return due to the flu because that meant that Buckner could use that line up again. The Mavs actually led a large portion of the game. Neither team was playing well - there was a _lot_ of ugly basketball. My favorite moment of the night was when Buckner finally inserted Rooks and Rooks took immediately took it strong to the hole. He was fouled and, thus, didn't make the dunk, but it was so nice to see a Mav finally take it _strong_ to the basket. Rooks only played 4 minutes. The Mavs were up 66-62 late in the 3rd and then feel to pieces. The Clippers went on a 15-4 run as the Mavs could not find the basket much less keep ahold of the ball and the Clippers had their way. They even got the lead up to 12 points late in the 4th. The Clippers: Ron Harper had an excellent showing with 32 points (he couldn't miss) on 13-18 FG, 1-2 3-ptr, and 5-8 FT in 40 minutes. Loy Vaught was also on fire and had 24 points on 10-14 FG and 4-4 FT. He also had 11 rebounds in 33 minutes. Mark Aguirre enjoyed his return to Reunion with 16 points on 6-12 FG, 1-3 3-ptr, and 3-3 FT in 31 minutes. Mark Jackson had 17 points on 6-11 FG, 1-4 3-ptr, and 4-4 FT and 11 assists in 38 minutes. The Mavs: How bad was it? Well, Popeye Jones (1-2) was the only Maverick to shoot at least 50%. Jamal Mashburn had 20 points on 9-23 FG, 1-4 3-ptr, and 1-1 FT in 36 minutes. Jim Jackson had 19 points on 9-24 FG and 0-1 3-ptr in 44 minutes. Doug Smith had 18 points on 6-11 FG and 6-7 FT and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes. ------ Chicago Bulls 108, Mavericks 85 - at Dallas, November 27th Highlights? Don't look for any here. The Bulls led the entire game and the Mavs didn't look like they even belonged on the same court. It was completely pathetic. BTW, Buckner is using the Bull's triangle offense. The Bulls showed how it can work and the Mavs showed how it can fail. The Bulls: B.J. Armstrong had 26 points on 10-15 FG, 1-2 3-ptr, and 5-6 FT in 35 minutes. Toni Kukoc had 24 points on 8-16 FG, 0-2 3-ptr, and 8-8 FT and 7 assists in 38 minutes. Horace Grant had 15 points and 13 rebounds in 30 minutes. The Mavs: Jamal Mashburn is shooting well every other game and had 21 points on 10-16 FG and 1-1 FT and 5 assists in 35 minutes. Tim Legler was the only other player in double digits with 12 points. No one else really deserves mentioning. Just put it down as a lost and try to forget it. ------- San Antonio Spurs 104, Mavericks 80 - at San Antonio, November 28th Just when you'd think it can't get any worse. How bad was it? The starters of Jackson, Lever, Mashburn, Jones, and Morningstar shot a combined 9-48 (18.8%). If you take Jones (3-5) out of that, it shrinks to less than 13% FG. Once again, the Mavs never led. This was a team that had no confidence in its shooting ability. They were passing up _wide_ open shots and dishing it to a covered man. It got so bad that I was screaming at any semi-open Mav to shot the ball whether I felt that they were slightly out of range or not. Lever was passing them up. Mashburn was passing them up. Jackson was passing them up. The only one who wasn't was Donald Hodge (3-4 FG, 6 pt) who hit a couple of 15 footers. And to make matters worse, the Spurs were playing really well. They only committed 5 turnovers. David Robinson _banked_ a running one-handed 35-footer to end the first half - his first three of the season. The Spurs: David Robinson looked great and had 28 points on 10-14 FG, 1-1 3-ptr, and 7-10 FT, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 blocks in 28 minutes. He sat out the 4th quarter. Dennis Rodman had 20 rebounds and 1 point (0-1 FG, 1-4 FT) in 33 minutes. 5 other Spurs were in double figures. The Mavs: Jamal Mashburn hit his slump again and had 14 points on 2-19 FG, 0-1 3-ptr, and 10-11 FT in 38 minutes. Sean Rooks looked good in his first real outing with 14 points on 4-6 FG and 6-8 FT, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 27 minutes. Fat Lever had 0 points on 0-7 FG and 0-1 3-ptr and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes. Jim Jackson had 7 points on 3-14 FG, 0-1 3-ptr, and 1-1 FT and 4 assists in 28 minutes. Lucious Harris shot well with 11 points on 5-8 FG and 1-1 3-ptr in 19 minutes. Tim Legler was the only other Mav in double figures with 14 points on 5-10 FG, 1-4 3-ptr, and 3-3 FT in 27 minutes. ------- patricia