I talked with my folks, listened to the Randy Galloway show, listened to
part of the 3rd and all of the 4th of the Mavs-Bucks game, and listened
to the after game show.  So here are some stuff about the Mavs that I got
from those sources.

The fans and the players are _really_ upset with Buckner right now.  
Mashburn stated that the players don't know what to do on the floor with
the triangle offense.  He said that the players just run to spots instead
of focusing on the game.  Most of the calls in the Galloway show were
complaining about Buckner.  Someone commented, and Galloway agreed, that
Buckner's rotation stinks right now.  Players have to "keep looking over
their shoulders" that if they make one mistake, they might be pulled.
They also puzzled over the situation with Sean Rooks.  Apparently, Buckner
is still shopping him around (note, Don Carter gave Buckner the power to 
make trades when he came on).  No one understands why Buckner doesn't want
him and why he seems to be asking so little for him.  Galloway said that
if Buckner comes up with a trade possibility, upper management should veto
it 'cuase, unless Buckner turns things around within the next few weeks, it
might be Buckner that is not around.  My folks had a suggestion concerning
Buckner's 5 year guarenteed contract: have Carter ask each player that is
upset with Buckner (Jackson, Harper, Mashburn ...) donate a million to cover 
eating the contract.  And the Harper for J.R. Reid plus a possible draft pick
might not be completely dead.  Reid is performing well and the Mavs might have
just wanted to see how he would play this year.  (I still say they need to
get a point guard for Harper, not a power forward - especially one that is
somewhat similar to Doug Smith.)

Having heard and said all of that, the game was completely different from 
what I expected.  Buckner must have started listening to someone as he 
threw out the triangle offense for most of the game and just let the players
run.  They were apparently down 16 points at some point in the first half,
but managed to comeback and were within one point when I turned on the radio
in the 3rd.  The team was running, having fast breaks, not using the entire
shot clock, and basically enjoying themselves.  Ted Davis said that it was
the funnest and most exciting game he had seen all year.  The teams stayed
within 4 points of each other for the rest of the game.  But guess who was
the main force for keeping the Bucks in the game in the 3rd?  Frank 
Brickowski??  He just kept scoring, and scoring, and scoring.  Sheesh.  Derek 
Harper, according to Ted Davis, was the rallier behind the Mavs comeback.  
It was easily his best game of the season.  Mashburn also had an excellent 
game.  Jackson didn't score that well, but he did hand out several assists.  
Buckner again surprised people by play Rooks for about 34 minutes.  Morningstar
only played 2 minutes despite starting (I don't know why).  Dreiling gave Rooks
the breather in the 3rd (I don't know why - he wasn't that effective).  

Now to late in the fourth.  With the teams trading leads, Buckner tried the
triangle offense again (I don't know why - it wasn't that effective).  But
at the end, he again let the players play.  
Okay, pretend you are there:
The game is tied 104-104 with about 22 seconds left and the Mavs are coming
in from a timeout with 18 seconds on the shot clock.  Reunion Arena is rocking
and everyone is on their feet.  Mashburn shoots a short jumper, Ken Norman 
blocks it and Mashburn snatches the flying ball and immediately shoots a tough
turnaround jumper, which is good!  The place goes crazy; the Bucks call time.
106-104 Mavs, 9.6 seconds left.  The Bucks can't inbounds, so they use their
last timeout.  They pass it into Brickowski who quickly passes it to Ken
Norman, who's behind the 3 point line.  Mashburn takes a running dash at him;
Norman fakes, Mashburn jumps, Norman ducks under him and launches the 3 ... 
nothing but net.  Arg.  2.7 seconds left, Bucks 107-106.  The Mavs barely
get it inbounds.  Jackson misses at the buzzer.  Bucks win 107-106.  The
fans at Reunion give the Mavs a nice ovation anyways.  

Hopefully Buckner will have learned something from this game.  The 
youngsters can play well without the stiffling triangle offense.  I, and
possibly they, can live with the triangle offense if it is intermixed with
a running offense.  And hopefully they will continue to play like they did
last night and the disasters that occurred during Thanksgiving week can
become a distant bad memory.      

Some numbers:
The Bucks:
Frank Brickowski had 30 points including 10-13 FG and 6 rebounds.
Ken Norman had 23 points and 7 rebounds.
Eric Murdock had 16 points and 8 assists.
Todd Day had 15 points.

The Mavs:
Jamal Mashburn had 28 points including 11-19 FG, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Derek Harper had 24 points including 10-22 FG and 6 rebounds.
Jim Jackson had 9 points and 8 assists.
Doug Smith had 18 points.
Sean Rooks had 14 points.
(BTW, the announcer said that these 5 comprised the best lineup for the Mavs
of the night.)

Dallas shot 48% FG.
Milwaukee shot an incredible 57% FG.  Why is that so incredible?  Well, they
were only averaging 41% FG for the season.


patricia