Mavs Choose ORGANIC TANKING ©; Luka Doncic Fighting Against Historic U-Turn

Mavericks need a miracle, Cowboys choose Jerry Jones, Rangers' blasts from the past and the latest local radio ratings, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

WHITT'S END 4.7.23

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*And then there was one. As in, the Dallas Mavericks’ magic number for being eliminated from the NBA Playoffs is down to a single hiccup.

To avoid an unfathomable fall from grace – last year’s Western Conference Finals to this year’s Lottery – the Mavs need a perfect end to a season that has been anything but. They have to win Friday night against the Bulls and Sunday afternoon against the Spurs, and also have the Thunder lose at home Sunday to the Grizzlies. Or else …

They will own one of the biggest one-year regressions in DFW sports history.

And as of Friday afternoon? It looks like ORGANIC TANKING ©, as our Mike Fisher originally labeled the plan many years ago, is in play. (Yup, whether Luka Doncic likes it or not.)

Only four times has one of our teams flirted with a title – getting to at least the conference championship round – one season, only to suffer a pratfall of an encore and totally miss the playoffs the following year.

1974 Dallas Cowboys – In the final NFL seasons for future Hall of Famers Bob Lilly and Bob Hayes, they went 8-6 and missed the postseason for the first time in nine years after hosting the 1973 NFC Championship Game.

1989 Mavericks – After Roy Tarpley was suspended and Mark Aguirre traded, they drastically dipped from losing a Game 7 to the Showtime Lakers the previous Summer all the way to 38-44.

2009 Dallas Stars – With 38-year-old Mike Modano on his last legs, they went 36-35-11 a year after pushing the eventual champion Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals.

2021 Stars – In a shortened season after losing the Stanley Cup Finals to the Lighting in the COVID bubble, they went 23-19-14.

The Mavs have endured past disappointing seasons in which lofty expectations were dunked by grim reality. Coming off a gut-wrenching loss in the NBA Finals, in 2007 they won a franchise-record and league-best 67 games only to be upset in the playoffs’ first round by ol’ friend Don Nelson and the Warriors. And in 2012 they “defended” their championship by being swept in the first round by the Thunder.

This year, too, will sting.

A year ago there was no shame in losing to the Warriors, who were headed to their sixth NBA Finals in eight years. During the Mavs’ overachieving playoff run, they won in Salt Lake City for the first time in 11 years and broke a nine-game losing streak in Phoenix.

“We’re just getting started,” said coach Jason Kidd after their Game 5 loss in San Francisco. “In our past, we’d be on our second vacation by now.”

Luka Doncic … Kyrie Irving …

Unless they pull off a weekend miracle – with a little help from Oklahoma City – Kidd circa 2022 will be both prophetic and pathetic.

*Jerry this and Jerry that, but the Cowboys owner must be doing something right. Specifically, the way he treats people. In the tradition of Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Larry Allen and Gil Brandt, DeMarcus Ware is the latest Cowboy to ask Jerry Jones to be his Hall-of-Fame presenter at induction ceremonies in Canton. Only former Raiders’ boss Al Davis (nine) has more than Jerry’s five.

*No joke. When the Rangers clobbered the Phillies, 16-3, on April 1 they improved to 2-0. The fun part: It marked the first time they owned sole possession of the AL West since Oct. 2, 2016. Off to a 4-2 start, they have a chance to have a winning record after 10 games for the first time going 7-3 in 2013. We’ll be doing our taxes in about a week. But for a change in mid-April, we might not be already writing off the Rangers.

*In February’s DFW sports-talk radio ratings, The Ticket continues its stranglehold on competitor The Fan while newcomer The Freak remains a non-factor. The numbers from Feb. 2-March 1 in the coveted demo of Men 25-54:

Mornings: Ticket 11.6; Fan 3.7; Freak 2.1

Middays: Ticket 7.5; Fan 6.5; Freak 2.7

Afternoons: Ticket 9.2; Fan 6.1; Freak 3.1

Overall: Ticket 9.4; Fan 5.4; Freak 2.7

*After the Mavs were eliminated from the playoffs in 2021, owner Mark Cuban gave coach Rick Carlisle a vote of confidence. 

“You don’t make a change to make a change,” Cuban said at the time. “Unless you have someone that you know is much, much, much better, the grass is rarely greener on the other side.” 

But just 11 days later, Carlisle abruptly resigned. Now? Cuban is pro-actively propping up Kidd, saying he “absolutely” will be the Mavs’ coach into 2024. 

So … stay tuned?

*Hot.

*Not.

*With the Cowboys’ shrewd acquisitions – in exchange for only late-round capital – of cornerback Stephon Gilmore and receiver Brandin Cooks, the drama has been thankfully sucked out of their draft. No glaring roster holes means they have the luxury of drafting the best player available regardless of position. Pressure on the Cowboys won’t come in April, but instead next January.

*Passports are a scam. To renew one it not only costs $130 – for what?! – but also takes 10-13 weeks. (Unless you want to use an expediting company and pay upwards of $700.) So while your passport is being processed, you’re without the ability to travel internationally for 10-13 weeks because you have to mail in your old one. Why?! But when you originally paid for your passport you paid full price, not some partial payment that discounted 10-13 weeks. You could try to make an appointment at a passport office, but I went 7-for-7 getting a “no appointments available the next four weeks, please try again later” message. I wound up mailing mine. So I’ll be here if you need me, trapped within our borders for at least the next 10-13 weeks. Did I mention it was a scam?

*A Mavs’ season that will likely end on Easter was actually lost before Halloween. If they miss the play-in tournament by one game – perhaps even because of a tiebreaker – it will be easy to find a game or two to blame. Didn’t take long to go down the schedule to remember where this season ultimately drove into the ditch. In the season opener at Phoenix they blew a 22-point second-half lead in a loss to the Suns. And in their fifth game, on Oct. 29 at American Airlines Center, they coughed up an eight-point lead in the final 1:56 of an overtime loss to – sure enough – the Thunder. 

OKC might be playing next week because it rallied to beat the Mavs five months ago.

*We should treat our mass shooters more like our sports streakers. Guy runs on the field at a game and all the TV cameras turn away, refusing to give him his 15 seconds of desired fame. But when a mass shooter kills innocent Americans, we rabidly dig into his identity, past and even manifesto. Study our shooters’ motives in private? Of course. But publicly, let’s keep them anonymous.

*Came across a White Sox game this week and felt all sorts of Rangers nostalgia. There was Elvis Andrus, collecting his 2,000th career hit. And there was Hanser Alberto. Who? He’s the guy that produced the game-winning hit the last time Texas won a playoff game. Yeah, it’s been a minute. Then a 22-year-old utility infielder, Alberto gave Texas a 5-4 lead with an RBI single to center field in the 14th inning of ALDS Game 2 against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Oct. 9, 2015. The Jays, of course, won the series’ next three games and then swept the Rangers the following season. At the time, we had no clue Alberto’s would be their last postseason game-winning hit for going on a decade.

*Remember my story last week about losing my credit card and someone finding it and deciding to go on a “finders keepers” shopping spree? The individual has been caught and arrested on charges of credit card fraud. It’s a state jail felony. Actions have consequences.

*I’ve been known to make a sports wager or two, so I’m usually keen to the point spread in a given game. And the bizarre end of the Mavs’ win over the Kings Wednesday night makes me wonder if Luka wasn’t “interested” as well.

Just plain bizarre. 

The Mavs, who were favored by 6.5 points, led 123-119 and were inbounding under their own basket with two seconds remaining. Game. Over. Standard protocol is for the winning team to simply dribble out the clock. No reason for the Mavs to do anything other than touch the ball and accept their W. But as the Kings began walking off the court Luka took the pass, checked the clock, took two dribbles and inexplicably launched a 70-foot shot that … swished! 

Had it counted, the 3-pointer would have given Dallas a seven-point win and a “cover” of the spread. Referees, however, ruled the shot no good, leaving Luka’s hands just after the final buzzer. Luka is a known trick-shot artist who loves taking, and often making, hoops from improbable angles and impossible distances. 

Maybe he was just having fun. Or maybe … Nah.

*Ventured into Deep Ellum this week to check out a new Austin-based band. Highly recommend the ALT-rock quartet, Dress Warm.

*If the Mavs miss the playoffs, it will mark the first time since 1981 that all three Texas teams air-balled the NBA postseason.

*Hmm, not hearing a lot about the supposed egg shortage on the verge of Easter are we? But, you know what, it seems America is ghosting religion. Saw a study this week that revealed that in 1972 only five percent of us were atheist or agnostic. In 2023 that number has risen to 32 percent.

*This Weekend? Friday let’s take Big Brothers Big Sisters lil’ bro Ja to Mavs-Bulls. Saturday let’s play some tennis. Sunday let’s celebrate Easter by watching The Masters. As always, don’t be a stranger.

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