The rolling Cleveland Cavaliers stomped the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas last night 127-94–and the newest Mav was irate. Amar’e Stoudemire spent the first half of the season getting pummeled like that while wearing a Knicks uniform. He came to Dallas to win. Stoudemire told Tim MacMahon of ESPN: “This is something we can’t accept. We’ve got to find a way to refocus. We’ve got to key into the details of the game of basketball…We can’t screw around in games and practices and joke around all the time and figure we’re going to win games. This is the pros. It’s the highest level of basketball. We’ve got to act that way.”
An attitude adjustment is clearly on coach Rick Carlisle’s agenda. The Mavericks are loaded with talent. Few people remember, but the Mavs presented the only real obstacle to the Spurs championship juggernaut last season, taking the Spurs to a Game 7 in round one of the playoffs. Dallas has been relentless in trying to upgrade since. They brought in forward Chandler Parsons and brought back championship center Tyson Chandler before the season. Then the Mavs acquired Rajon Rondo and Stoudemire mid-season, giving them–on paper–one of the strongest rosters in the league. Still at 41-25 there’s time to right the ship. There’s only one way to go, Carlisle hopes. After the Cavs game he said, “this is the lowest point we’ve been at.”
