Jim Jackson's return this season is doubtful. He will not accompany the team on the 6 game road trip next week. After that, there will only be 4 games left. If the Mavs are still in the playoff hunt after the road trip, Jimmy may return. Jackson: "[The return] depends on where we're in the hunt or not. If I could just touch the court once, I'll be happy." [Jim has been practicing with the team and been on the court the past two games during the pre-warmup shooting. Kidd and Jackson were playing a game of one-on-one prior to the Minnesota game. Jim's shot looked a little off, but it looked better prior to the Seattle game (but he did not stay out as long).] The Mavs gave out 2,500 Jason Kidd replica jerseys to Wednesday's Laker's game. One of the kids who received a jersey was Nick Van Exel's son. After the game, his son walked into the Lakers' locker room wearing the jersey. His father laughed. Reebok sent the wrong shoes to Scott Brooks. Brooks: "I tried them on and said, 'Wait a minute. Either I've grown and I'm 6 foot 3 or these are women's shoes.'" "I don't know. Maybe they think I play like a girl." Next season most of the Mavs road games (and a couple of home games) will be shown of KDFI Channel 27. The Mavs current station KTVT Channel 11 is becoming a CBS affiliate in July. The Dallas Morning News did two interesting surveys regarding Rookie of the Year. For the first one, they sent a rookie ballot to the 27 teams. 20 GMs and/or Director of Player Personnels responded (10 from East and 10 from West). They were asked to select the top 3 rookies and rank them. The rookie received 3 points for a 1st place vote, 2 for a 2nd, and 1 for a 3rd. Votes Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts Jason Kidd (Dal) 9 7 3 44 Grant Hill (Det) 4 9 6 36 Glenn Robinson (Mil) 4 6 7 31 Brian Grant (Sac) 2 0 1 7 Eddie Jones (LAL) 0 0 2 2 Pete Babcock (GM Atl) voted a 3-way tie between Kidd, Hill, and Robinson. Each of the 3 received 2 pts (a 2nd place vote) for Babcock's vote. For the second survey, the Morning News contacted 24 (11 from the West, 13 from the East) of the 105 members of the media who actually vote for Rookie of the Year. Hill received 11 votes, Kidd 10 votes, and Robinson 3 votes. 5 of those voters (3 Hill and 2 Kidd) said that they could still change their mind before submitting their vote, but each said that it would be either Kidd or Hill. The Rookie ballots are due April 21. Quotes from the articles Gregg Popovich (GM SA): "Jason Kidd revitalized that whole city with his enthusiasm, leadership, and unselfishness. He's what every coach would fight for to have on his team because of his character qualities, as well as his ability. Competitively, he's like Bird and Magic and Michael. No one competes like this guy." Pete Babcock (GM Atl): "All three of them have had a big impact on their team. I would rate them as equal, just because they're all so different." A Western Conference GM: "Grant Hill hasn't helped them win many more games than they would have won without him. He goes out and gets 30 points, and they don't win. He's not a leader. He looks like he just wants to blend in." [Detroit has won 7 more games than last year for the same number of games played.] An Eastern Conference GM who rated Robinson 1st, Kidd 2nd, and Hill 3rd: "Robinson gets double and triple-teamed every night. He can't be stopped by single coverage. Kidd's ball-handling skills and play-making ability rates with the very best in the league, but being an inconsistent shooter rates as his weakness. Hill is a good all-around player but an inconsistent outside shooter." Ernie Grunfeld (NY GM) and Scott Layden (Uta Director of basketball operations) agreed: "All three will be All-Stars." Billy McKinney (Det VP of Operations): "Obviously, I pick Grant first. But I like the things Jason's done. I think he's been very good. After that, I'd say there is a group of guys who have really helped their teams. I think the rookie class as a whole has been very good." Larry Brown (Coach Ind): "[Kidd is] Rookie of the Year, in my mind. I think you could give it to Grant and not have a problem or Glenn Robinson and not have a problem. But Jason's as good of a player as there is in this league. The things he does for his team, unfortunately, don't really measure in stats. It's just like John Stockton, who's probably my favorite in the league. We're so lucky, as coaches, to have someone in the league like Jason. This kid is unique, and I hope he's recognized." David Robinson (SA center): "Glenn is the best [rookie] we've seen this year. No one else can do the things he's doing." Tom Enlund (Mil beat writer): "All long, I've been leaning toward Robinson. But when I finally saw [Kidd] for the first time, I thought, 'Maybe I should re-think this.' God, he's really good." Enlund is still leaning towards Robinson. Sam Smith (Chicago Tribune): "Hill has a really mature game. With Kidd, I find his game a little less sophisticated." Mike Kahn (president Pro Basketball Writers Association): "It became more clear when Jim Jackson got injured that Jason Kidd was the reason the Mavericks have become so much better. He has a general presence and floor leadership that makes him so effective." Greg Boeck (USA Today): "If anybody chooses to check on [Robinson's] game instead of his contract, they will see he has the best game of any rookie in the league. He has been double-teamed since the day he stepped into the league." Minnesota at Dallas (April 7) Minnesota coach Bill Blair missed the game with a back injury. Minnesota had a small lead at 14-9. Dallas was up 18-16 when they went on a 16-8 run, including 10 by Jamal Mashburn, to close the quarter. Dallas was up 34-24 after 1. Dallas wasn't shooting well, but was out-rebounding Minnesota by 8. Jason Kidd had 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 points on 1-9 FG in 9 minutes. The Mashburn-Kidd show continued in the 2nd. Dallas out-scored Minnesota 28-18 over the first 11 minutes of the quarter to go up 62-42 with 1:06 remaining. Minnesota scored the last 4 points of the quarter. At the half, Dallas 62-46. Dallas shot 42% FG and Minnesota shot (from memory) 56% FG. Dallas out-rebounded Minnesota 35-17. Mashburn had 23 points and the Kidd watch was on with 3 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds. Dallas maintained their large lead after 3 at 87-65. And the boards were getting ridiculous - about a 20 rebound difference. Kidd only played about half the quarter and was just 4 points and 2 rebounds shy of his second triple [and I was kinda hoping the Mavs bench would blow it forcing Motta to put Kidd back in]. And they did! Minnesota started the 4th with a 18-6 run to cut Dallas' lead down to 91-79 with 7 minutes left. Motta made a mass substitute and all the starters returned. Dallas was up 93-83 when they went on a 8-0 run, capped by Kidd's 10th and 11th point, to go up 101-83 with 3:20 remaining. He was still 1 rebound shy of the triple. And he got it just a short bit later when Doug Smith blew a layup and he was their for the rebound and was fouled. I went bonkers and we gave him a standing O. The Mavs won 111-94. How about that Kidd! His neck was still bothering him and he goes out and gets his 2nd triple-double in 3 days. Who cares that he only shot 3-14 FG. He had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists in 29 minutes. And Jamal did not mind one bit that his 31 points performance was over shadowed by Kidd's triple. He had 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 9-9 FT in 34 minutes. And Lorenzo Williams continued his strong performance with 13 points and 16 rebounds, including 10 offensive. Well, the bench sucked, but it didn't make a difference in the end. Dallas won despite shooting 39.6% (42-106) FG to Minnesota's 48% (36-75) FG. Dallas just creamed them on the boards by out-rebounding Minnesota 58-37 including 28-6 on the offensive glass. Christian Laettner and Doug West are the only Wolves deserving mention. Laettner had 22 points including 10-16 FG and 9 rebounds. West had 17 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. Quotes Jamal Mashburn on Kidd's run for Rookie of the Year: "He deserves it. He's so good, he should average close to [a triple-double] a couple of years from now." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 28 25 24 - 111 .404 .333 .396 .920 Minnesota 24 22 19 29 - 94 .545 .000 .480 .880 Halftime: Dallas 62-46 3rd Q: Dallas 87-65 Minnesota's largest lead: 14-9 7:29 1st Dallas' largest lead: 87-65 end of 3rd Lead changes: 6 Technicals: Tom Gugliotta 3:47 3rd, Minnesota illegal D 5:17 4th, Dallas illegal D 10:52 4th Refs: Ed T. Rush, Bob Delaney, Luis Grillo Attendance: 17,502 (sell-out) Dallas Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Jamal Mashburn 34 11-20 0-2 9-9 31 2-5 5 2 3 1 0 Popeye Jones 23 5-9 0-0 0-0 10 3-7 1 2 4 1 0 Lorenzo Williams 41 6-10 0-0 1-2 13 10-16 0 3 2 2 2 Jason Kidd 29 3-14 2-3 3-4 11 4-10 13 3 2 1 0 Lucious Harris 31 4-13 1-3 6-6 15 2-4 3 0 3 1 0 Scott Brooks 16 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 1-1 3 2 0 0 0 Roy Tarpley 17 6-10 0-0 0-0 12 2-8 0 0 5 0 0 Tony Dumas 19 4-10 0-1 0-0 8 0-1 3 1 2 0 0 George McCloud 14 1-8 1-2 0-0 3 2-2 0 1 1 2 0 Doug Smith 13 0-6 0-0 2-2 2 2-4 1 0 2 2 1 Donald Hodge 3 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 240 42-106 4-12 23-25 111 28-58 29 14 25 10 3 Minnesota Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Doug West 36 5-10 0-2 7-7 17 0-6 8 3 5 1 1 Christian Laettner 36 10-16 0-0 2-2 22 1-9 1 2 2 1 2 Sean Rooks 28 3-7 0-0 2-3 8 2-8 1 3 2 1 1 Darrick Martin 34 3-6 0-0 2-2 8 0-2 3 3 2 1 0 Isaiah Rider 30 6-18 0-4 0-0 12 1-2 3 4 1 0 0 Winston Garland 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Tom Gugliotta 19 1-3 0-2 4-4 6 0-4 2 2 1 1 0 Pat Durham 21 2-4 0-0 3-4 7 0-0 1 0 2 2 1 Stacey King 14 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 2-4 0 4 2 1 0 Chris Smith 12 2-2 0-0 1-1 5 0-1 1 0 1 0 1 Greg Foster 5 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 2 0 0 Totals 240 36-75 0-9 22-25 94 6-37 21 21 20 8 6 Seattle at Dallas (April 8) Jason Kidd played despite pain in his neck and left shoulder and muscle spasms. He did not leave the locker room until about 2 minutes before the national anthem. The Sonics started with a small lead, but Dallas rallied back to be only down by 1 after 1. Seattle 28-27. Lucious Harris was on fire and was hitting almost everything. If it wasn't for him, Dallas wouldn't have been in the game. Seattle's D was focusing on Jamal Mashburn and limited him to only 4 points. At the half, Seattle was up only by 7, but it seemed like a lot larger. Lucious' 3-pointers and free throws were the only things keeping them in the game. Seattle shot 49% (24-49) FG and Dallas shot 36.1% (13-36) FG. Seattle shot 3-5 FT and Dallas shot 14-16 FT. Seattle out-rebounded Dallas 27-21. 13 Dallas turnovers led to 9 Seattle points and 10 Seattle turnovers led to 12 Dallas points. Seattle had 36 points in the paint to Dallas' mere 12 and 12 fast break points to Dallas' 6. Sam Perkins had 12 points, Shawn Kemp had 4 points and 8 rebounds, Detlef Schrempf had 12 points and 4 assists, and Gary Payton had 12 points and 6 assists. Harris had 19 points including 6-8 FG and 5-6 3-pointers including a running 35-footer just prior to the half, Kidd had 7 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds, and Mashburn had 10 points including 6-8 FT. And then came the 3rd. It must have been fun to have been a Sonics fan. Roy Tarpley had an awful 7 minutes in the 2nd quarter (only stats for that 0-4 FG and 3 turnovers) and just got killed by Kemp in the 3rd. Kemp had _5_ consecutive dunks. Kemp shot 8-9 FG in the 3rd and Seattle shot 17-19 (89.5%) FG. Geez. Seattle tied the Mavs record for points in a quarter with 43 points. Seattle was up 96-61 after 3. The 4th, well, it was pure garbage time. The only question was whether or not the final margin was going to be less than 30. George McCloud got most of his points in the 4th and did keep it under 30. Seattle won 125-98. Was there a category that Seattle did not cream Dallas? Seattle shot 58.8% (50-85) FG and Dallas shot 41% (32-78) FG. Seattle out-rebounded Dallas 49-34. You want to talk about a telling stat - Seattle out-scored Dallas 72-26 in the paint. Sheesh. Sam Perkins had 20 points and 6 rebounds. Shawn Kemp had 21 points including 10-13 FG. Detlef Schrempf had 22 points including 8-13 FG and 6 assists. And Gary Payton had 21 points, 8 assists, and 4 steals. Lucious Harris is the only Mav deserving mention. He had a career high 31 points including 11-14 FG and 7-8 3-pointers. The 7 3s tied the Mavs record for 3s in a game. Derek Harper shot 7-11 3-pointers on March 23, 1990. Quotes Jason Kidd "[In the middle of the morning] I rolled over, and it hit me. I screamed. From that point on, I couldn't sleep. It was worse than shooting pain. I couldn't move my [left] shoulder or neck." Kidd: "I shouldn't have played. I wanted to give it a try. It was hurting, no doubt. I didn't really get a chance to warm up." Dick Motta: "I don't know if you learn anything from this. If you get beat bad, you might as well get beat by 40, let some people build up their averages." Motta: "All year, we have had some blowouts, and it hasn't seemed to affect us too much. We didn't play very well in the third quarter, the intensity dropped off a bit. We got a buzzsaw tonight, they just whipped us." Lucious Harris: "Tonight I was knocking them down. If you would have told me I would have 31 tonight, I would not have believed you." Harris: "Their defense kept us indecisive about passes. They were everywhere." Jamal Mashburn: "We lost. That's all I have to say. It was embarrassing, embarrassing for the Mavericks organization. We just came out flat." Detlef Schrempf: "We have a lot of talent right now. We have so much talent and we work so hard on defense. In the third quarter we controlled it a lot better on offense, got every rebound, and put them away." George Karl: "Our strength over the last three or four years has been our depth. We have a lot of good players and when they play well they're a lot of fun to watch." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Seattle 28 26 43 28 - 125 .620 .429 .588 .731 Dallas 27 19 23 29 - 98 .396 .440 .410 .821 Halftime: Seattle 54-46 3rd Q: Seattle 97-69 Seattle's largest lead: 119-88 3:10 4th Lead Changes: 0 Technicals: Dick Motta 0:24 2nd Q, 10:51 3rd; Dallas illegal D Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Terry Durham, Bill Spooner Attendance: 17,502 (sell-out) Seattle Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Sam Perkins 35 7-12 3-5 3-5 20 2-6 3 1 3 1 0 Shawn Kemp 30 10-13 0-1 1-4 21 3-12 2 2 2 1 1 Ervin Johnson 31 5-6 0-0 5-6 15 1-12 0 1 5 1 2 Detlef Schrempf 32 8-13 2-3 4-4 22 2-4 6 2 2 0 0 Gary Payton 34 10-19 1-2 0-0 21 2-3 8 3 3 4 0 Nate McMillan 31 2-6 0-1 0-0 4 2-5 7 4 4 5 0 Vincent Askew 23 3-6 0-1 1-1 7 0-3 4 2 2 1 1 Byron Houston 11 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 1-2 0 0 2 1 0 Dontonio Wingfield 7 2-5 0-1 2-2 6 0-1 0 1 0 1 0 Steve Scheffler 6 0-0 0-0 3-4 3 1-1 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 240 50-85 6-14 19-26 125 14-49 30 16 24 15 4 Dallas Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Jamal Mashburn 30 3-12 0-4 6-8 12 0-0 3 4 2 1 0 Popeye Jones 32 3-8 0-0 1-2 7 2-9 2 1 0 1 1 Lorenzo Williams 27 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2-5 1 1 3 0 2 Jason Kidd 29 2-10 1-5 4-4 9 3-5 10 3 1 2 0 Lucious Harris 29 11-14 7-8 2-2 31 1-3 1 4 2 0 0 Roy Tarpley 11 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 4 1 0 0 Scott Brooks 13 1-3 0-2 0-0 2 0-0 1 1 1 1 0 George McCloud 21 5-8 3-4 2-2 15 1-3 6 1 3 1 0 Doug Smith 12 0-3 0-0 3-4 3 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 Tony Dumas 12 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 1-6 1 2 1 1 0 Donald Hodge 12 3-7 0-1 5-6 11 1-2 1 0 2 0 0 Terry Davis 12 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 0 3 0 0 Totals 240 32-78 11-25 23-28 98 11-34 27 21 20 8 3 The race for 8th: Well, all three teams lost their last game, so Dallas (33-40) remains 1 1/2 games behind Denver (35-39) and Sacramento (35-39). Golden State plays in Dallas and Denver plays in Minnesota on Monday and Sacramento plays in LA vs the Clippers on Tuesday. patricia