Rick Carlisle

Three Ways the NBA Lockout is Making the Mavs, and the Playoffs, Impossible to Predict

The NBA's regular season is so often discarded as an insignificant enterprise, though for reasons that are largely flimsy at best; there's real value to be gleaned in that initial 82, whether about a team's overall offensive or defensive aptitude, a coach's substitution patterns, the compatibility o ... More >>

Managing the Matrix: If the Mavs Aren't Careful, They'll Grind Shawn Marion into Uselessness

The Mavericks currently live in the murky cloud that makes up the bulk of the Western Conference: Their credentials are decidedly less than those of the conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, but beyond that their prospects remain a mystery. We know now that Dallas is a good team - as evidenced b ... More >>

The 2012 Dallas Mavericks: 33 Storylines from 33 Games

A (Wait, It's Already Midseason?) Midseason Report

The Mavs May Survive This Dirk-less Stretch, Thanks to a Crappy Batch of Opponents

Sometimes all you can do is take the win and move on. The Mavs were at home Monday night against the Suns, winning 93-87 in an ugly game in front of a seemingly disinterested crowd. It was the Mavs' second straight game without Dirk Nowitzki, who is sitting out at least four games (and maybe more) ... More >>

The Mavericks Finally Fought Back, and They Have the Title to Prove It

Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs shed labels and the Miami Heat on the way to their first NBA championship.

Take a Bow, Dallas. You Did Good.

​The first -- and probably the last -- time we'll see the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks all together. Rick Carlisle just called Dirk Nowitzki "the best basketball player on the planet." Screw it, let's go with it. And, for the record, Carlisle did smile. And DeShawn Stevenson did show up ... More >>

2011 NBA FINALS GAME 4 -- Mavericks 86, Heat 83: My Top 10 Observer-ations

​10. Could tell something wasn't right with Dirk Nowitzki early in the second quarter. He didn't look good on the bench. Peaked even. Towel over head. Two warm-up jackets draped over him. Gulping liquid out of two water bottles. Not involved in coach Rick Carlisle's huddle. Then at half ... More >>

2011 NBA FINALS -- Mavericks vs. Heat: The Preview

​Charles Barkley is 3-0 picking the Mavericks in playoff series this spring. ESPN's Bruce Bowen is 0-3 picking against them. Me? 2-1. I picked Mavs over Blazers and Thunder but had them losing to the Lakers. In Miami for tonight's Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I'm having difficulty viewing ... More >>

2011 NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS -- Mavericks vs. Thunder: My Top 10 Observer-ations

​10. I'll have my position-by-position breakdown complete with, yes, the highly (smirk) coveted prediction tomorrow, but let's get this party started pronto. Back in 1994 I covered the Mavericks for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a team that featured point guards Jason Ki ... More >>

Dirk Nowitzki a Top 10 NBA Player of All-Time? Yes, But Only Among Players Without a Ring

​You know me, the biggest Dirk Nowitzki homer in town. But Rick Carlisle even made me cringe earlier this week by tabbing the Mavs' star as a top 10 NBA player "of all time."Carlisle has been great in these NBA Playoffs. Keeping his Mavericks mentally together after the Game 4 Portland Pratfal ... More >>

Erykah Badu to DJ Dallas Mavericks Playoff Pep Rally at South Side Music Hall on Saturday

Drew WilliamsDJ Lo Down Loretta Brown, aka Erykah Badu.​The Little Mavericks sure have local basketball fans in a tizzy now that they're up two games to none on the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Playoff's Western Conference Semifinals. And even one Erykah Badu is getting in on the fun -- just mome ... More >>

Those Same Old Mav-Wrecks

Another humiliating collapse has even the most loyal Mavs fans bailing before the inevitable crash and burn.

What If Dirk Nowitzki Weren't White?

His critics wouldn't call him soft, but his teammates would still lead the Mavs to another early exit.

Whitt's End: 4.15.11

​Whether you've reached the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End: *If the Mavericks lose in the first round to the Trail Blazers, Rick Carlisle should be fired. The window propped open by 33-year-old Dirk Nowitzki is closing, and 50-something wins without a ... More >>

The Mavericks Need to Start Talking and Mark Cuban Wants the Media to Stop Writing

​Whether his angle is salient or not, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban isn't afraid to talk. And it seems veteran guard Jason Terry is popping off every other week about the Mavs catching the Spurs or having the best bench in the NBA or something else equally daft. But, as has been the case ... More >>

With an Unrealistic Shot at Reaching the Summit, the Mavs Have Stopped Climbing

​I'm fascinated by Mount Everest and absolutely bow down to those who have reached its peak. It remains at the, ahem, top of my bucket list. Watching the Dallas Mavericks lose again yesterday -- this time to the lowly 15-26 Detroit Pistons by 14 -- I'm left to equate their demise (that's six ... More >>

Ready or Not, Here Comes Basketball Season

​With the Cowboys' hopes buried, the Rangers' pursuit of Cliff Lee still a week from climax and the leftover turkey all but scarfed, time for your Mavericks to snatch our attention. If they haven't already. In case you're one of those that refuses to pay attention to basketball before Th ... More >>

Dallas' Other Teams are Playing Too. Who Knew?

For the last month we've all been - gladly, of course - buried up to here in the Texas Rangers. Don't look now, but the other sports in our city didn't shut down. Let's play some catch up, shall we? FC DALLAS - In the Major League Soccer's Western Conference semifinals, they have a 2-1 aggregate le ... More >>

Will the Dallas Mavericks Bore Their Fans To Death With Another Winning Season?

The Dallas Mavericks Lift Our Hopes Only To Break Our Hearts. Again.

Dallas Mavericks: Where Do We Go Now?

​I was really excited - re-invested, as it were - in the Dallas Mavericks and this year's NBA Playoffs. The team was poised. The games are fun. The conversations about the games are entertaining. The city is empowered by the wins and somehow galvanized by the losses. But, alas, the circus ten ... More >>

GAME 6: Spurs 97, Mavs 87. My Top 10 Observations.

Another year, another painful playoff loss.​10. The Mavericks are now the only NBA team to lose in the first round of the playoffs as a No. 1 and No. 2 seed. Granted the four-time champion Spurs aren't your pedestrian No. 7 seed, but it's still an ugly epitaph to have etched on your tombsto ... More >>

GAME 4: Spurs 92, Mavs 89. My Top 10 Observations

​10. Spurs' rookie DeJuan Blair is a beast. Sunday he had seven points and seven rebounds in 11 minutes and even placed an elbow in Dirk Nowitzki's ear to bait him into a technical foul. Roddy Beaubois may grow into the Mavs' point guard of the future, but some of us (my hand was raised) were ... More >>

10. As in, Ten Consecutive Narrow Escapes For Your Dallas Mavericks

Are the Mavs lucky or just dang good?​Mavericks 108, Bucks 107 last night. Partly thanks to coach Rick Carlisle's meticulous end-game sets, and sometimes because they've just been lucky, the Mavs have won 10 consecutive one-point games. The feat ties the NBA record set by the St. Louis Hawk ... More >>

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 wha ... More >>

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

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/wimpi ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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

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-o ... More >>

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

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 ... sorr ... More >>

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

"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 ... More >>

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 - t ... More >>

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. Si ... More >>

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 bett ... More >>

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 a ... More >>

Overhauled and Underrated, the Mavericks Are Priced to Sell

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

NBA GMs Aren't Impressed With Your Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks' Faith In Jason Kidd

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

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

Meet the New Boss. Same as the Old Boss?

Central's HOV Lane Drives Me Crazy

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

Mavs Inching Closer To – Yawn – Hiring Rick Carlisle

Monday Morning Meanderings

Coach Carlisle?!

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