Here comes Nellie

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

Dimesmack picking up on the Nellie to the Cs theme. With kudos to Animal 
House, "Thank you may I have another". As long as Ainge is in charge of the 
personnel decisions, it is a match made in heaven. Further evidence below, in 
addition to reasons why Danny was wise in dumping Walker....

DJessen33

<Posted on Sun, Mar. 28, 2004 
 
 
 
Running for home
 
 
 
 


Nelson gambling on small lineup change

By Art Garcia

Star-Telegram Staff Writer


ORLANDO, Fla. - Dirk Nowitzki had seen enough Friday night and took the 
entire organization to task. Apparently, Don Nelson has seen enough, too.

On the heels of three consecutive losses, and eight in the past 13 games, 
Nelson decided to retool the starting lineup. When Michael Finley comes back from 
his right calf strain, perhaps today against the Magic, he'll be starting at 
small forward instead of shooting guard. Rookie guard Marquis Daniels, coming 
off a season-high 31-point effort at Miami, will remain in Finley's old spot.

Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Antoine Walker also will remain in the starting 
lineup. Nelson, obviously dissatisfied with the production of the four players he 
has used recently at center, wants to use Walker in the middle.

Nelson said the shake-up is a last-ditch effort.

"I'm taking a gamble," Nelson acknowledged Saturday. "We haven't been playing 
up to our capabilities. The team is reaching out for help from the coach. I'm 
trying to give it to them. If this doesn't work, I don't know where to go, to 
be quite honest."

Nash probably said it best not too long ago. Maybe the Mavericks are just a 
"good" team. Despite the expectations coming off last season's run to the 
Western Conference Finals, they're just not a "great" team.

The Mavs would be hard-pressed to call themselves even a good team right now. 
Only 10 games are left before the real season starts. Instead of hitting 
overdrive going into the playoffs, the wheels are coming off.

After the 119-118 overtime loss in Miami on Friday, Nowitzki alluded to a 
rift within the organization, from owner Mark Cuban to Nelson to the players. 
Nelson and Cuban's issues have been well-documented the past two seasons, and, 
though they've publicly attempted to skirt the issue lately of another divide, 
Nowitzki plainly said both aren't on the "same page."

"When things aren't going well, it's natural to look for answers," Cuban 
said. "I don't have any problems with my relationship with Nellie at all. I still 
have confidence we are going to turn it around. When I look around the West, I 
only see two teams playing at the top of their game -- the Lakers and 
Grizzlies. Everyone else is still working to get to the top of their game.

"I hate to lose, and so does everyone on this team, and I know everyone is 
focused on getting where we need to be. Ten games is a long time, and a lot can 
happen."

Said Nelson: "It's the same ol', same ol'. We don't communicate as much 
anymore because he's not around as much anymore. He talks more with Donnie 
[Nelson], and that's fine."

But Nowitzki's frustration wasn't reserved for the hierarchy. Some players 
haven't bought into Nelson's system and pout after being taken out of games, 
Nowitzki said. Though Nowitzki wouldn't say which players, Walker's outburst this 
month regarding playing time didn't sit too well with teammates.

The Mavs are 44-28 and two games behind fifth-place Memphis in the West. Not 
only are their hopes of a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the first 
round slipping away, but they could easily slide into seventh. Houston, which 
hosts the Mavs in the season finale, is only two back in the loss column.

The confidence of a Mavericks team that last season went into every game 
believing it could win, especially on the road, has taken a hit.

"When things aren't clicking, things have a tendency to compound themselves," 
said Donnie Nelson, president of basketball operations and assistant coach. 
"Confidence is down, and you end up digging a deeper hole. Things were clicking 
earlier in the year for whatever reason. That's why you see Nellie juggling 
lineups."

Though Don Nelson praised the effort in losses at Miami and Indiana, he 
hasn't found harmony. The rotation changes nightly, and, with Finley out the past 
two games, Nelson has relied even more on rookies Daniels and Josh Howard. The 
four centers of late -- Scott Williams, Shawn Bradley, Eduardo Najera and 
Danny Fortson -- have had their moments but not enough to warrant consistent 
minutes.

Walker and Antawn Jamison have struggled adjusting to new roles and 
expectations. And the Big Three -- Nowitzki, Finley and Nash -- aren't without fault; 
each has suffered a drop in production in at least one major area.

"I don't think there are any players that can look in the mirror and say, 
'I've played consistently good basketball,'" Donnie Nelson said. "That's the 
issue. Everyone has had a hand in this from the top on down."

Can everyone get on the same page -- on and off the court -- in only 10 
games? Some say yes. Other aren't so sure.

"Ten games can jump-start you one or two spots," Jamison said. "It's 
definitely enough time. Our problem has just been on the road. Once you look at these 
road games with the exception of the Philadelphia game, we were pretty much in 
every game.

"We just have to find a way to get it done. I don't think we're thinking 
negative or 'here we go again' when we're on the road. We just got a couple bad 
breaks."

Added Bradley: "We have to make it enough time to get the momentum going in a 
different way than where it's going right now. We need to go into the 
playoffs on as positive of a note as we possibly can. We have to figure out a way to 
do that. It's not a starting over."

The Mavs won 19 of 23 games before the recent swoon. The younger Nelson 
believes that's reason enough for optimism.

"It's rekindling something we know we're capable of doing," he said. "When 
you fall off a bike, your confidence might be down, but you don't forget how to 
push the pedals."

Shuffling the deck

Coach Don Nelson says he's changing the starting lineup to try to jump-start 
the Mavericks:


Before Pos. Now 
Scott Williams C Antoine Walker 
Dirk Nowitzki PF Dirk Nowitzki 
Antoine Walker SF Michael Finley 
Michael Finley SG Marquis Daniels 
Steve Nash PG Steve Nash 

Playoff outlook

If the NBA playoffs started today, the Mavericks would be the sixth seed in 
the Western Conference and would face the third-seeded Lakers. Los Angeles 
would have home-court advantage.>