I finally found out why Popeye Jones hasn't played much in the past
three games [and I'm not happy] (the earlier report about a pelvis 
injury was wrong, sorry).  With both Randy White and Tony Campbell 
off IR, Buckner has been having fun trying to find minutes for 
everyone.  Popeye has been getting shafted.  In the Sacramento game, 
both Doug Smith and Randy White played well and had key performances 
- so Popeye didn't get any minutes.  In the Atlanta game, Doug had a 
great game and Randy again played well.  Last night, Doug again had a 
solid performance and Randy had a decent game and Popeye got 12 
minutes.  With the way Doug and Randy have been playing the past few 
games, I can understand Buckner's dilemma; but I wish he could find a 
way to get Popeye more minutes.  Norm Sonju said that Popeye is 
handling it well [but it has got to be tough on a rookie, especially 
since he was starting until now] and that Popeye has an advantage over 
most rookies in that he knows now (where most only learn later) that 
he is a role player and knows what his role is.

Terry Davis is considering going in for elbow surgery - it will end
his season.  Management wants Terry to do due it now so that he can
recover during the rest of the season and spend the off season
working on basketball instead of recovering from surgery (Sonju said
it is about a 3 month recovery time frame).  That way he would be
(hopefully) fully recovered and capable of returning to the form
he was in for the '92-'93 season.  The surgery will be to remove a 
pin in his elbow and calcium build up.  The decision should come this 
week and I expect Terry to go in for the surgery.  He can only extend 
his left arm 26 degrees and is very hesitant to shot (he's a lefty).  
[Recall that Terry was in a severe automobile accident last May where 
he shattered his elbow.]  If Terry does go for surgery, the Mavs
will probably run a smaller lineup, similar to Golden States' (the
Mavs will have Greg Dreiling and Donald Hodge left as legitimate - 
and I use that term loosely - centers, so Doug Smith and even Randy
White will see time a center).

They had the Norm Sonju show after the game (did you notice all the
references to Sonju above?) and he said some pretty interesting 
stuff.  Note that Sonju is the GM and is in charge of business stuff,
like contracts, and league business and doesn't have much to do
with drafting (Rick Sund's job).

It was fun listening to Sonju try to tiptoe around the draft 
questions.  A team can not speculate on underclassmen.  With out
saying names, Sonju said that if a player was available who was
obviously the best player (read Glenn Robinson), the Mavs would
select him even though the Mavs might already have a player at 
that position.  He also had some comments on Montross.  He said
that there were some valid concerns about Montross and that he
would not select him (again, Sonju doesn't draft).  He said that
Jerry West made the comment that if Montross was available at the
Laker's pick, West would not draft him.  He and the other announcer
(not affiliated with the Mavs, so he could say more) made some 
comments about Jason Kidd's talent.  He said that Kidd is a talented 
point guard (more of a pure point guard) who needs to develop an 
accurate jumper, not a 15 to 22 footer, but a 10 to 15 footer.  I
got the impression that Sonju would love for the Mavs to get Kidd. 

Sonju had some interesting comments about Jim Jackson.  He feels 
that Jackson would flourish at the point as Jackson is a player who 
likes the ball to go through him.  Sonju categorized two types of 
point guards: a 1 1/2 who likes to score and create (ala Terry 
Porter, Kevin Johnson, Tim Hardaway and Derek Harper) and a pure 1 
who focuses on passing (ala John Stockton).  Jackson is not a pure 
shooting guard - one who rarely controls the ball and gets shots 
off of screens (ala Rolando Blackman).  Sonju said that Jackson 
would make a good 1 1/2 point guard and that he would have problems 
if the Mavs obtained a 1 1/2 point guard.  This seemed, to me, to be 
another point for having Jackson, Mashburn, and Robinson at 1, 2, 
and 3.  (Yes, I know, there are still a lot of "ifs" for the Mavs 
getting Robinson.)

Sonju also had some interesting insight as to why Doug Smith hasn't
made the impact everyone expected.  He said that Smith is not a
player who has a lot of confidence.  He said that most players who
dominate in college, like Smith did at Missouri, have a "cockiness"
about them, and Smith never had that.  Once Doug misses a few shots,
he is hesitant to take more and will look to pass.  Sonju said that
he talked to Buckner about Smith a while ago and that Buckner has
been working with Smith and trying to help him with his confidence.
Doug is also one of the most liked players by the other players.


patricia