Brunson Burned: Luka Doncic's Struggling Mavs Still Searching For Jalen Replacement

Desperate Mavs' hobbled risk-reward, Cowboys helping Frogs and chasing Eagles, Rangers' bounce-back blueprint and The Freak's floundering radio ratings, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

WHITT'S END 12.2.22:

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

*Dallas Mavericks’ decision-makers Nico Harrison and Mark Cuban assured us the loss of Jalen Brunson would be gobbled up by the likes of Tim Hardaway Jr., then Frank Ntilikina and, finally, Facundo Campazzo. Strike three and you’re … 

On to Kemba Walker?

Should they have acquired another playmaker in the offseason? Yup. Do they have enough trade assets to do it now? Nope.

The obvious risk with the 32-year-old Walker is that his knees are toast and his best days behind him (last making an All-Star team in 2020). The potential reward: He gives Dallas a much-needed option that can create scoring opportunities off the dribble, and resurrects his career not unlike what Derrick Rose did in New York.

*TCU’s magical season is getting an assist from Fairy Dust developed by the … Dallas Cowboys?

Long before he was the No. 1 lieutenant of Frogs coach Sonny Dykes, Jeff Jordan toiled for 28 years as a low-profile scout and film-grader for America’s Team. He estimates that while working part-time for the Cowboys 1987-2015 he watched 1,000 college games a year.

His “finds” were diamonds in the rough. Quality over quantity.

Jordan helped discover Kenny Gant from Savannah State, Erik Williams from Central State in Ohio and even Hall-of-Fame offensive lineman Larry Allen, who played at tiny Sonoma State in Rohnert Park, California.

Says Jordan, “I was a really young guy, and you’re figuring out there’s some good football players – Hall-of-Fame level – everywhere.”

With an official title of “Assistant athletic director for player personnel”, Jordan – who was also the head coach at Garland High School for 15 years – arrived at TCU with Dykes from SMU and has now turned his trained eye on scouring for talent in college football’s transfer portal. One of his latest discoveries has helped TCU to a 12-0 season, a spot in Saturday’s Big XII Championship Game and a chance to become the first team from Texas to make college football’s four-team playoff.

Jordan’s gem in 2022 is a nuclear engineer originally recruited to play lacrosse at Navy. In Fort Worth, Johnny Hodges is now a play-making linebacker that leads TCU in tackles and was named the conference’s Defensive Newcomer of the Year.

Says Dykes of Jordan, “I think he’s the most uniquely qualified person for his position in the country.”

Through the years TCU has provided the Cowboys with the likes of Bob Lilly and now KaVontae Turpin. Only fair that the favor gets returned.

*Cowboys fan LeBron James rarely shoots air balls, especially when it comes to social justice issues. But he’s wrong to insist the media pressure Jerry Jones into expounding on the now infamous 1957 photo. It was 65 years ago. Jones was 15. 

Are we really going to hold everyone accountable for every action? Besides, the owner has addressed the photo. 

And while the Cowboys are one of 13 NFL teams to have never hired a Black head coach, they do employ one of the most diverse coaching staffs in the league. Of the Cowboys’ 29 assistants on the 2022 staff, 15 are minorities, including the entire strength and conditioning staff. It is the largest percentage of Black coaches in franchise history. Will McClay runs the team’s scouting department as vice president of player personnel. And well before making Dak Prescott the richest player in franchise history, Jones drafted Quincy Carter to be the team’s quarterback well before the current rise of the Black quarterback.

Once upon a time, Jones was present at a racist event. But he’s not a racist.

*If the Texas Rangers are indeed going to follow the Astros’ blueprint and absorb years of colossal losing only to rally and build a team that wins multiple World Series, they have to do exactly what Houston did: Develop young players. On their way back up from the 100+ loss basement, they Astros got significant impacts from rookies George Springer (2014), Carlos Correa (2015), Alex Bregman (2016), Yuli Gurriel (2017), Kyle Tucker (2018), Yordan Alvarez (2019), Cristian Javier (2020), Luis Garcia (2021) and Jeremy Pena (2022). The Rangers have so far boasted Jonathan Hernandez (2020), Adolis Garcia (2021) and maybe Josh Jung (2022).

*I last hosted a radio show way back when Monte Kiffin was trying to fix the Cowboys’ defense. I have zero desire to be a program director. And I haven’t listened to 97.1 The Freak since its virginal five minutes in late September. But – after a gruesome glance at its initial ratings – my advice to the newest station in town: Maybe mix in some Tchaikovsky? (And while you’re at it, perhaps a pinch of diversity? A quick perusal of on-air hosts presents 10 white folks, eight of which are men with beards.)

In radio, new stations are seen (heard) as the shiny new object. More often than not, a signal switching to a new format – such as 97.1 KEGL going from rock music to non-sports-sports talk – gets an initial ratings bump from curious listeners before water recedes to find its level.

But in the case of The Freak, this is a blatant false start.

Never mind that it’s being swamped by direct competitors The Ticket and The Fan, every show on The Freak is losing to … classical music, WRR. None of the station’s offerings are garnering anything above a 1.8 or ranked inside DFW’s Top 20 in their respective time slots.

Despite its influx of ex-Ticket talent, The Freak has also done nothing to dent the local dynasty, which boasts all shows in the Top 5.

Look, one ratings period won’t harpoon an endeavor. And maybe this week’s addition of Danny Balis – who I predicted two months ago would also unretire to join his old Ticket buddy, Mike Rhyner – will somehow help.

But, for now, the station that constantly crows about being “unique” isn’t even improving the wheel, much less reinventing it. Ratings for The Freak’s prime shows – “The Speakeasy” 7-11 a.m., “Ben & Skin” 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and “The Downbeat” 3-7 p.m. – are behind ancient music, and barely on the current map.

A look at the DFW ratings (including overall rank in the market) for Oct. 13-Nov. 9 in the coveted demo of Men 25-54:

7-11a: #1 Ticket 9.0; #15 Fan 3.0; #24 Freak 1.3

11a-3p: #5 Ticket 5.9; #7 Fan 5.0; #25 Freak 1.0

3-7p: #3 Ticket 5.6; #6 Fan 4.8; #24 Freak 1.8

Overall: #2 Ticket 6.8; #7 Fan 4.3; #25 Freak 1.3

*I love Christmas. Almost as much as I hate Christmas commercials. The one that really sears my sensibilities is back again, for what feels like the 30th consecutive season of sappy disingenuousness. It’s this one, where an unleashed puppy runs out of a forest through two feet of white powder and jumps into a woman’s arms with – magically – not a speck of snow on it or her. Insulting. Now, next year and forever.

*Hot.

*Not.

*We already know the Cowboys are pretty popular throughout the country, as they’ve played in the NFL’s Top 3 most-watched TV games this season. But they’re not doing bad at home either. Dallas leads the NFL in home attendance at 93,418 per game. Second place? New York Jets at a distant 79,826.

*Mavs inexplicably lost an overtime game to the 5-18 Detroit Pistons Thursday night in which they missed 15 free throws, include four by Luka Doncic. While they’re losing five of six and falling below .500 at the quarter-point of the season, old friend Kristaps Porzingis scored a career-high 41 for the Washington Wizards this week. It’s still early in the season, but if things don’t change it’ll get late quick.

*The Dallas man that declined a $3 million offer for Aaron Judge’s 62nd home-run ball is hoping for a rally. Now in auction, the current high bid is only $1.15 million. But the window is open through Dec. 17 and experts say the final price will approach $4 million.

*Just between us, I witnessed a Thanksgiving miracle. Ordered a 10-pound ham online, went to pick it up Thanksgiving morning and was handed a bag filled with not only a 10-pound ham but also an entire meal complete with green beans, scalloped potatoes, macaroni-and-cheese, cinnamon apples and rolls. For all the times I’ve left a drive-thru without getting my French fries, let’s call it even.

*As for Cowboys receivers, I’d rather root for the one that spends time raising money for Make-A-Wish than one that thinks it’s funny to get kicked off an airplane or another who punches out people at CVS. CeeDee Lamb > Odell Beckham Jr. > Terrell Owens.

*The now Frisco-based PGA of America is in the holiday spirit, announcing that Championship Grounds Ticket Packages for the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship will be sold at a special holiday offer of 10-percent off until Dec. 31.

*Saddened and – honestly, shocked – at the passing of former Rangers’ pitcher Gaylord Perry this week. Why? Because Perry seemed like he was 60 when I was 10. I used to listen to Perry pitch and pitch and pitch some more in games called by Dick Risenhoover and Bill Merrill on an old transistor radio set to WBAP 820 AM in the 1970s. They don’t make ’em like Perry anymore. He regularly hurled 25+ complete games and 300+ innings in a season. He made the Hall of Fame and lived to be 84. So eff you and your analytics and your “bullpen starts.”

*Eight years later and Dez Bryant is still pissed about the NFL overturning catches.

*Number I find even more obscene than Elon Musk paying $44 billion for Twitter: Kanye West gives Kim Kardashian $200,000 a month in child support.

*Bad Luka: Just think of all the energy he would save by not reacting – overreacting – to Every. Single. Play. Whether it’s a strong finish or a curious foul, he responds with demonstrative facial, vocal and physical contortions. In a vacuum, no biggie. Over 100 games, huge. Watching him play is enthralling. Watching him whine is exhausting.

*Good Luka: He has played 283 regular-season NBA games. Dirk Nowitzki played 1,522. They have the same number of 40-point performances: 20.

*Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year is a sad state of our union: “Gaslighting.” The word – which defines the practice of grossly misleading others for personal gain – comes from the 1944 move, Gaslight, in which a nefarious husband tricks his wife into thinking she’s losing her mind by telling her the gaslights in their home aren’t dimming. Spoiler alert: They are.

*Walker will wear No. 34, where he’ll have to go a bit to unseat Devin Harris as the best Mav to sport that number. Another Walker – Herschel – wore 34 for the Cowboys, but I waaaaay digress.

*Can the Cowboys catch Philadelphia in the NFC East? I’ll let you know after Sunday’s Titans-Eagles game.

*With some help from all those soccer Moms driving all those kids around to all those DFW fields, the U.S. advanced to the World Cup’s Round of 16. Weird that America is so jazzed about being in the Top 16 of any sport, but it’s a thing. But so is butchered soccer grammar such as “U.S.A are advancing!”, which shouldn’t be a thing at all.

*This Weekend? Friday let’s go to a birthday bash for one of those friends that’s 59 going on 29. Saturday let’s go hang out with Big Brother Big Sister lil’ bro, Ja, between shifts at his new job. Sunday let’s go to Cowboys-Colts. As always, don’t be a stranger.

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