Subject: Rick Carlisle

• And Then – Just Like That – There Were Only Three Candidates to Coach Mavs

  May 2, 2008

• Coach Carlisle?!

  May 3, 2008

• Monday Morning Meanderings

  May 5, 2008

• Mavs Inching Closer To – Yawn – Hiring Rick Carlisle

  May 7, 2008

• Sunday School – Handing Out Grades To Our Weekend Wrap-Up Shows

  May 12, 2008

• Meet the New Boss. Same as the Old Boss?

  May 14, 2008

• Central's HOV Lane Drives Me Crazy

  May 14, 2008

• Former Maverick Close to Coaching Phoenix Suns. No, Not That One.

  May 30, 2008

• Clearance! Josh Howard Prepares to Restore his Rep

  June 20, 2008

• Bummer Summer

  August 26, 2008

• Mavericks Acquire Pacman Jones

  October 14, 2008

• NBA GMs Aren't Impressed With Your Dallas Mavericks

  October 23, 2008

• The Top 10 Most Memorable Openers in Dallas Mavericks’ History

  October 30, 2008

• Your ’08-09 Dallas Mavericks: Still Good. Still Not Good Enough.

  October 30, 2008

• Take It Easy On Lupe. And: EARTHQUAKE!

  October 31, 2008

• All is Forgiven, Michael Finley

  November 6, 2008

• Mav. Wrecks.

  November 10, 2008

• Friday Pop Quiz

  If you knew the tenants of this joint are a combined 7-14-3 and that the building got majorly snubbed this afternoon, you might be headed for a gold star. And stuff. Simple. Anyone getting the matches perfecto wins a year’s free subscription to the Dallas Observer (redeemable each Thursday at any local newsstand). And oh, what the heck, since I’m feeling generous I’ll throw in a couple months' free online membership to this here Sportatorium. Good luck. 1. After an announceme

  November 14, 2008

• Houston, We Have a ... Three-Game Winning Streak?

  5-7 is looking pretty good right about now, huh? When you get a break from resurrecting the Cowboys, take a minute to not bury the Mavericks either. On the brink of a 2-8 start Monday night, the Mavericks last night beat the Rockets in Houston for their third consecutive victory. Even better: Tomorrow night they’ll get their first home win of the season and improve to 6-7 as the Memphis Grizzlies slink into AAC. Trailing the Knicks 112-105 with 2:28 remaining on Monday, things lo

  November 20, 2008

• Is Jose Juan Barea For Real?

  He just can't be. Can he? I was in the fifth row at American Airlines Center Saturday night and I still don't believe what I saw. Or heard. Either Criss Angel is playing some mind trick on me, or J.J. Barea may actually be an NBA player. Barea, all 5-foot-10ish, made slithery drive after squirrely shot en route to a 16-point third, climaxed by a double-take, up-and-under, left-handed reverse layup that brought the crowd to its feet and the Atlanta Hawks to their knees

  December 9, 2008

• Your 2009 Dallas Mavericks: Mediocre? Morose? Magical?

  In between the few highlights of an entirely underwhelming college football championship game between what looked like two very average quarterbacks, I sneaked some peeks last night at your Dallas Mavericks. What'd I see? Another win, pushing their record to an impressive 22-13. Another unimpressive performance, this time barely outlasting the lowly New York Knicks 99-94 in what was a one-point game in the final minute. Not exactly sure what to make of these Mavs.

  January 9, 2009

• Will Dirk Nowitzki Finish his Career as a Maverick?

  It's not exactly Calvin Watkins' expose in Dallas' Only Daily featuring five sources detailing the Cowboys' anarchy at Valley Ranch, but NBA.com's Art Garcia - formerly of your Fort Worth Star-Telegram - stirs your Mavericks' pot a bit this morning. Garcia writes that Dirk Nowitzki hasn't exactly "connected" with head coach Rick Carlisle and that several of the team's veterans think the head coach's practices "accomplish little." Oh yeah, and he addresses what a lot of us are fearing more

  January 22, 2009

• Whitt's End: 1.23.09

   *I know I'm in the minority, but I kinda like the Rangers' Alternate 2 uniforms blue. Oops. I seem to have misspoke one word out of turn. In an abundance of caution, let me try it again. I know I'm in the minority, but I kinda like the Rangers' Alernate 2 blue uniforms. See. Silly, huh? *The Mavs losing by 34 at Milwaukee is bad. Rick Carlisle having to remind them to play hard is worse. *Michael Irvin's reality show giving a guy a chance to make an NFL training camp r

  January 23, 2009

• Mavericks 118, Kings 100. A Requiem in 10 Parts

  My Top 10 observations from last night's Mavs' romp: 10. Mark Cuban really really really really loves him some Jason Kidd. "He's got the most incredible basketball sense I've seen in my entire life," says Cuban. I've never liked the Devin Harris-Kidd deal, but apparently - and appropriately - the owner doesn't give a damn what I think, saying he'd make the trade again "100 out of 100 times." Why? "Because Kidd makes us a better basketball team." 9. Take a stroll through the American Airline

  February 11, 2009

• "The Greatest Regular Season Win in Mavericks History"? Let's Go to the Tape.

  Found this VHS remnant from the Dallas Mavericks' 1985-'86 season at Half Price Books over the weekend -- for the low, low price of $3.98. Fortuitous timing, to say the least, as tonight at 8:30, Your Dallas Mavericks play the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics at the American Airlines Center. Dallas was 33-30 going into that March 10, 1986 game; Boston, 50-12. Dallas was playing without an injured Derek Harper and down 104-91 with fewer than six minutes left to play. The more things chan

  February 12, 2009

• Who Would You Trade Dirk For?

  A year ago tomorrow the Mavs pulled the trigger on their controversial blockbuster, sending Devin Harris and two first-round draft picks to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd. Lookie who's in town tonight? It's those same Nets and a very different Harris, fresh off his All-Star appearance and a 41-point torching of the Mavs earlier this season. For once, I'm not here to rehash the deal. I am here to say it looks more and more like the Mavs won't make a similar splash by tomorrow's 2 p.m. tr

  February 18, 2009

• The Maddening Mavericks

  Danny Bollinger The forgotten one?I give up. I admit, I expected the Dallas Mavericks to lose at Phoenix, lose at Portland, beat Golden State and get blown out by the Lakers. I went 0-4. In typically unpredictable, unsettling fashion, they went 2-2. I'll go on Channel 52 tonight at 6:30 - fingers crossed - and fake like I can accurately dissect these Mavs. But who am I kidding? I can't know them if they don't know their own identity. Are they a championship caliber team? A talented

  March 16, 2009

• Sheepish Mavericks 96, Shitty Timberwolves 94

  Because the Mavs beat one of the worst teams in the NBA, they may get to avoid playing the best. Embarrassing that the Dallas Mavericks had to pull a leftover Easter rabbit out of their hat last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at American Airlines Center. But in this economy ... sorry, in this Western Conference playoff race, a two-point escape beats the hell out of laying an inexplicable, rotten egg. The Mavericks actually trailed by seven points in the fourth quarter against a

  April 14, 2009

• The Dallas Mavericks Go for Broke, But Where Is it Getting Them?

  March 5, 2009

• Overhauled and Underrated, the Mavericks Are Priced to Sell

  November 6, 2008

• The Mavericks' Faith In Jason Kidd

  For better or worse, the Mavs trust in the power of Bas-Kidd-Ball

  October 9, 2008

• Mavericks' New Coach Promises Not To Be 'Ivory Johnson'

  May 22, 2008

• After the Season Is Torched and the Coach Fired, Mavericks Begin an Overhaul

  May 8, 2008

• Mavs Have an Old Deamon to Exorcise

  The Mavs better find a way to exorcise their old demon after suffering a Game 2 playoff loss against the Spurs

  April 23, 2009

• Spurrifics 105, Mav-Wrecks 84

  Got his team back in the series.Seriously now, did you expect anything different from these Dallas Mavericks? A frustratingly inconsistent team that led the NBA in close victories also had more than its share of blowout losses and inexplicable letdowns. So after the Mavs rallied from 13 down to win Game 1 on Sunday, you knew - well, at least some of us did - that a repeat performance in last night's Game 2 was unlikely, even improbable. I could X and O the 21-point loss, or I co

  April 21, 2009

• Pinch Yourself: Mavericks 106, Spurs 93

  In hindsight, Dirk Nowitzki vs. Matt Bonner was a laugher.On second thought, forget The Alamo. And the San Antonio Spurs. What began as a competitive series that some of us skeptics thought the Spurs would win in seven games magically morphed into a hockey power play. Afforded basically a 5-on-2 advantage, the Mavericks ultimately skated past old, slow, buried San Antonio. Last night Dallas put the Spurs out of their misery with a 106-93 victory at AT&T Center that gave it the series,

  April 29, 2009

• Dallas v. Denver: Nuggets in 5

  Mavs' fans, prepare to be nauseated.I sincerely hope I'm wrong about this, but I have a feeling we're all about to get really pissed. Watching the most athletic - and by far the most animated and arrogant - team in the NBA knock the Dallas Mavericks out of the playoffs could be very painful. Get out your hate hats, Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets is Sunday at 2:30. If you haven't seen a lot of Nuggets' games this season, just wait. A week from now you'll look back at

  May 1, 2009

• The Mild-Mannered Mavericks Are Infected Again By Chronic Case of Whine Flu

  May 7, 2009

• Mavs-Nuggets: Irrationally Optimistic Game 5 Preview

  Stay classy, Kenyon Martin's girlfriend. Stay classy.Let's keep this short and sweet, as I'm scurrying off to Las Vegas this morning to accept a CLIO Award. (No, check that, they're whispering in my ear that my schedule actually calls for an Observer staff meeting in Uptown.) Guess the awards will have to live with appearances from Mavs owner Mark Cuban and ... Barry Manilow? *I'm not saying it's chicken shit for Cuban not to be at tonight's Game 5 in Denver. He has been committed to

  May 13, 2009

• Opponents Can't Defend Dirk Nowitzki. So Richie Whitt Will Do It.

  May 14, 2009

• Mavericks-Nuggets: A Requiem in 5 Predictable Parts

  No Jason Terry. No Gatorade dump. Hindsight, they say, is 20/20. Sometimes, unfortunately, so is foresight. On Friday, May 1 I picked the Denver Nuggets to eliminate the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Last night it came to pass, in the form of Nuggets 124, Mavs 110. Dirk Nowitzki was as gritty as he was great. But Jason Terry never arrived, Josh Howard spent the series hobbling and the Mavericks had no answers for Denver's relentless energy and superior athleticsm. And, lest we

  May 14, 2009

• The French Disconnection

  Though I'm always skeptical when a head coach drafts a player 24th overall and then contends he "pin-pointed" the kid all along - see: Jimmy Johnson on 7th-rounder Leon Lett, circa 1991 - I'm willing to forge into the Rodrigue Beaubois Era with an open mind. Well, I lied. I won't sit well with Beaubois without pre-conditions. You? I know the French guard has long arms and mad hops - yes, it's very weird that his YouTube highlight video is set to a song by Michael Jackson - but here's

  June 25, 2009

• The Mavericks' French Misconnection Marks More of the Same on Draft Day

  July 2, 2009

• Boxing's Worst Nightmare Comes to Dallas

  ​Okay, I'm sucked in. Not to the point of eating Creatine cupcakes, stocking my closet with Affliction T-shirts and putting Newy Scruggs in an arm bar, but I'm intrigued enough by the sport of Mixed Martial Arts that I'm journeying to American Airlines Center Saturday night for UFC 103. I know Floyd Mayweather makes his first return to the ring since 2007 but at this point, UFC is kicking boxing's ass. Despite what Tim Cowlishaw says, UFC > Boxing, right? Granted, UFC 103 features

  September 17, 2009

• Happy Basketball! Do You Believe in These Dallas Mavericks?

  Dirk looks excited about the season. You?​Last time we saw our Dallas Mavericks it wasn't pretty was ugly. Jason Terry was flopping (only 15 points per game), the defense was floundering (surrendering 115 per game) and owner Mark Cuban was flapping (his gums at Kenyon Martin's mom) in a 5-game playoff loss to the athletically superior Denver Nuggets back in mid-May. Tonight we can officially bury last year beneath this year as the Mavs open the 2010 season against the Washington Wi

  October 27, 2009

• Wizards 102, Mavwrecks 91: My Top 10 Observations

  ​10. There was some good news out of the Dallas Mavericks' hideous 102-91 loss to the Washington Wizards last night at American Airlines Center. Bruce Hornsby - a long-time buddy of head coach Rick Carlisle - played a stirring National Anthem on the piano. (But, dude, he has the limpest/wimpiest of handshakes.) 9. The other positive was that Dirk Nowitzki is still terriffic. And he got a pre-game haircut. Not his traditional sheared buzz cut, but he no longer looks like a GEICO cavem

  October 28, 2009

• The Best 12 Minutes Ever By a Dallas Maverick. Take a Bow, Dirk Nowitzki.

  ​I remember watching Mark Aguirre go off on the Denver Nuggets in March of 1984. In scoring 24 points in a quarter, the ball just seem to magically, directly commute from hand to hoop. He launched a wing jumper and you knew it was going in. Measured. Smooth. Beautiful. Nothing, in other words, like Dirk Nowitzki's historic performance last night at American Airlines Center. In the most dominating, productive 12 minutes of basketball in Dallas Mavericks' history, Dirk willed and skilled hi

  November 4, 2009

• Drowned Out By Grandiose Doings in Arlington, the Dallas Mavericks Begin What Should Be a Loud, Proud Season

  November 6, 2009

• Gentlemen, Start Your ... 7-10 Splits?

  ​For those of you - both of you - not consumed by Cowboys-Eagles this weekend, NASCAR comes to town in the form of the Dickie's 500 Sunday at.Texas Motor Speedway. Driving. Racing. Wreckin'. Watching. Drinking. Eating. Bowling? It's the events surrounding the race that actually make NASCAR more circus than sport. The fun kicks off tonight at 7, in fact, with the Sam Hornish Jr. Celebrity Bowling Tournament at Main Event in Grapevine. The tournament, benefiting Speedway Charities, has

  November 5, 2009

• It Ain't Hump Day ... It's Sick Day. Mother Effer.

  ​For a couple weeks I coughed and sneezed and hacked and blew and ... denied. Last night I gave up and went to the doctor. Sure enough: Swine Flu. AIDS. Walking Pneumonia. Sorry, but today I gotta make this - ahhhhhchooooo! - short and sweet: *Rick Carlisle gets mad and Erick Dampier gets what? 14 points? 20 rebounds? I smell a trade in the Mavericks' future. *This is the problem with we, the media. When the D.C. snipers were on their killing rampage back in October of 2002, the stor

  November 11, 2009