DIRK’S ON FIRE

I stay glued to the boob tube last night watching the encore telecast of the “Battle of Texas” rematch between the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. Mark Cuban’s boys got back at the Alamo outfit, 99-94 in overtime to extend their winning streak to four games.

It was a pulsating victory for the Southwest Division leading Mavericks (9-3) but what caught my attention was the dazzling display of offensive wizardry in Dirk Nowitzki.

Nowitzki pumped in 32 big points in the second half and overtime to finish with 41 markers. His shooting prowess was awesome as he scored on almost all angles in which ESPN analyst Mark Jackson can’t help but praised the 7-foot scoring machine as “the greatest seven-foot shooter of all-time”.

Prior to the Spurs game, the 32-year old Wurzburg native scored on a buzzer-beater as he uncorked his patented fall-away jumper to whipped the Milwaukee Bucks, 115-113.

“With Josh out and Marion out, I’ve just got to keep going offensively and make things happen,” Nowitzki said after his 14th career game of 40 or more points.

Even his teammates spoke highly of the MVP-like efforts of the German bomber. “He’s playing great basketball and (I) think he’s one of the top guys right now in the league,” Mavs power forward Drew Gooden said. “He’s really playing at a high level. We need that because of all the injuries we have right now and he’s doing everything he can to carry this team.”

Nowitzki is currently posting norms of 27.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg in 12 outings so far with the Mavericks. With his present form, Nowitzki is sending a strong message to all 29 other teams to watch out for Dallas this season and from all indications, it looks like another MVP season is in the works for the sweet-shooting blonde bomber.

*****

Herewith are the completed NBA transactions covering the period November 11 to 16:

Monday, November 16

Memphis waived guard Allen Iverson.

Toronto signed forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

Golden State traded guard Acie Law and forward Stephen Jackson to Charlotte for guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic.

Saturday, November 14

Memphis signed guard Jamaal Tinsley.

Friday, November 13

Houston waived forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

Thursday, November 12

New Orleans fired head coach Byron Scott and named Jeff Bower head coach and Tim Floyd assistant coach.

Toronto waived guard Quincy Douby.

Wednesday, November 11

Washington signed guard Earl Boykins and waived forward Paul Davis.

HARSH REALITY OF COACHING

It’s hard to believe how fast Mike D’Antoni’s free fall from being an elite NBA coach to being a prime candidate in the chopping board this early in the season. The New York Knicks had only won once in eight games and everyone is pointing to D’Antoni as the main culprit for the woeful start.

It’s not too long ago when pundits kept on praising D’Antoni and the Phoenix Suns for it’s revolutionized run-and-gun game which resulted into four winning seasons out of five campaigns D’Antoni spent in the Desert City. He was well acknowledged as the man who turned around the career of Steve Nash with the Canadian extraordinary point guard bagging back-to-back Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards under his watch.

But there seems to be an extreme contrast during his days with the Suns before and the now, the Knicks. With Phoenix, he had a great team anchored on Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa. While with the Knicks, he had to settle for journeymen and mediocre players like Larry Hughes, Nate Robinson, Al Harrington, David Lee and Danilo Gallinari among others.

When D’Antoni bolted out of the Suns to join the Gotham City outfit, he was welcome and seen in the Apple City as “the savior” of the disgruntled franchise coming off from a erratic leadership courtesy of erstwhile mentor Isiah Thomas. But just like his predecessors in the Knicks camp which included the legendary Larry Brown, his initial year was a big bust finishing off with a disappointing 32-50 win-loss slate. And as expected, D’Antoni’s coaching style was widely-criticized by the media. He is now enduring heavy pressure from the Knicks management and fans to finally deliver in his second season and if not, it’s gonna be goodbye time in New York for the 2004-05 NBA coach of the year.

D'Antoni’s current situation just proves that coaching life in the NBA is a dog-eats-dog world and is far from being considered as a stable job. Today, you are praise in high heavens and tomorrow, you are a goner.

IN THE HEAT OF THE ACTION

The magic of Fil-Am head coach Erik Spoelstra is up in the air this early in the 2009-10 NBA season. So far, his Miami Heat had posted a 4-1 win-loss slate to lead the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference.

The Heat started the new season with impressive wins over the New York Knicks (115-93), Indiana Pacers (96-83), Chicago Bulls (95-87) and Washington Wizards (93-89). Their only loss came at the hands of the visiting Phoenix Suns (104-96). It seems defense is the team’s passport for possibly going deep in the playoffs come April next year. Minus the losing game against the Suns, they held their opponents to below the century mark in four victorious games.

Spoelstra has also done a good job in revitalizing sophomore forward Michael Beasly, who had a trouble-filled summer. Beasly is currently averaging 13.0 ppg and 6.2 rpg. Resident superstar Dwyane Wade continues to lead the offensive game of the Heat with 25.2 ppg and 4.8 apg. Also worth mentioning are the current forms of comebacking center Jermaine O’Neal, who missed 55 games last season due to various injuries, and utility man Udonis Haslem. So far O’Neal had submitted norms of 14.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg while Spoelstra is all praises for Haslem, the youthful mentor taken by the selflessness of the veteran power forward. Spoelstra speaks highly of the hardworking 6-8 hometown native of Miami:

"There's probably a lot of coaches and organizations out there that would like to take a starter and put him on the bench, for various reasons, to help with the rotation, to help solidify the second unit. There's few players that actually can do that or would be willing to do that, or would be willing to sacrifice for the better of the teams.

A lot of players will say that and it's an empty statement. They'll say, 'I'll do whatever it takes to win.' You say, 'OK, what are your conditions?' And you find out pretty quickly what somebody's conditions are. It really shows the kind of character that Udonis is, that he backs up what he's saying, that he is about the team. There is a purity about him."

It looks like the Heat is ready to pose serious challenge to their state-rivals Orlando Magic as the flagship squad in the Sunny State of Florida and maybe, just maybe, a stumbling block in the Eastern Conference for the retooled Boston Celtics in their quest to reclaim the NBA diadem next June.

*****

Herewith are the completed transactions covering the period October 26 to November 5, 2009:

Thursday, November 5

Memphis waived forward Trey Gilder.

Sacramento waived forward Desmond Mason.

Minnesota named Darrick Martin assistant director of player development.

Wednesday, November 4

Sacramento signed forward Ime Udoka.

Monday, November 2

Minnesota exercised the contract option on forward Corey Brewer and center Kevin Love through 2010-11.

Saturday, October 31

Indiana exercised the contract options on guard Brandon Rush and center Roy Hibbert through 2010-11.

Denver signed forward Renaldo Balkman to a contract extension and exercised the contract option on guard Arron Afflalo through 2010-11.

Friday, October 30

Houston exercised the contract option on guard Aaron Brooks through 2010-11.

Utah exercised the contract options on center Kosta Koufos through 2010-11.

Washington exercised the contract options on guard Nick Young and center JaVale McGee through 2010-11.

Thursday, October 29

New Jersey exercised the contract options on guard Courtney Lee, forward Yi Jianlian and center Brook Lopez through 2010-11.

Toronto exercised the contract option on guard Marco Belinelli through 2010-11.

Memphis exercised the contract options on guards Mike Conley and OJ Mayo and forward Darrell Arthur through 2010-11.

Charlotte exercised the contract option on center Alexis Ajinca through 2010-11.

Wednesday, October 28

Phoenix exercised the contract options on forward Jared Dudley and center Robin Lopez through 2010-11.

Orlando waived forward Linton Johnson.

Chicago waived forward Derrick Byars.

San Antonio exercised the contract option on guard George Hill through 2010-11.

Oklahoma City signed guard Thabo Sefolosha to a contract extension.

Tuesday, October 27

Orlando exercised the contract option on forward Ryan Anderson through 2010-11.

Monday, October 26

Chicago exercised the contract options on guard Derrick Rose and forward Joakim Noah through 2010-11.

Cleveland exercised the contract option on forward JJ Hickson through 2010-11.

New Orleans exercised the contract option on forward Julian Wright through 2010-11.

Phoenix signed center Jarron Collins.

Detroit waived forward Deron Washington.

Milwaukee waived forward Walter Sharpe.