Turning Back Clock to 2011: Doncic, Mavs Can Surpass 50 Wins
WHITT’S END: 3.25.22
Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*Considering their consistent defense and creampuff schedule, the Dallas Mavericks are about to ascend to a level of success not reached since winning the NBA championship in 2011: a 51-win regular season.
Producing 11 consecutive such seasons, Dirk Nowitzki spoiled us rotten into thinking 50+ wins and a playoff berth was a slam dunk. But since winning 57 in the regular season to set up their title drive a decade ago, the Mavs have won 50 only once (2015).
Surpassing that number and getting to at least 51 is extremely doable. Of the Mavs’ final nine games, four will be against NBA Lottery-bound teams with zero motivation: Washington, Portland, Detroit and San Antonio. Those wins get Dallas to 49, meaning it would only have to win two of its other six to get to 51. To get to 50 wins, a team has to win 61 percent of its games. In Luka Doncic’s first three seasons the Mavs won only 40, 57 and 58 percent. Omen or oddity?
*What the Hill? Let’s compare Receiver A vs. Receiver B. Over the last six NFL seasons, A has more catches (34), yards (624) and touchdowns (16). B is younger, has more experience and in 2021 averaged more yards per catch (12.7-11.2). A has three more Pro Bowl appearances and one more Super Bowl ring. Clearly, A is better, faster, more productive than B. But … how much better? B was traded this month for a 5th-round draft pick. A was traded this week for five picks: A first, second, two fourths and a sixth. Is A (Tyreek Hill) really that much more valuable than B (Amari Cooper)? Or did one of the worst trades in Dallas Cowboys history get even more hideous?
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
© Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
*Granted it’s March during a truncated Spring Training leading to a delayed baseball season, but there are a couple numbers that should have Texas Rangers fans optimistic that things are meandering in generally the right direction. The offense – last in the American League in runs scored in 2021 – erupted for 14 and 25 in two of their first three exhibition games in Arizona. And the team’s payroll, long a sore subject, has increased to approximately $130 million. When they first went to the World Series in 2010 it was $87 million. Oh and, for what it's worth, the Rangers have won four in a row. In the 2021 regular season they had only two four-game winning streaks, one in late June and one in September.
*March 2020: My 80-year-old Dad spends 77 days in the hospital fighting Leukemia and dodging COVID-19. March 2022: We celebrate his 82nd birthday free from cancer and playing golf at TPC Craig Ranch, site of the AT&T Byron Nelson. Moral to the story: Don’t give up.
*I dunno, would signing T.Y. Hilton make Cowboys fans less disgusted by their team’s free agency moves? Dak Prescott is warning skeptics that Dallas isn’t done with its team-building for 2022, but … the veteran Colts receiver last made the Pro Bowl in 2017.
*Hot.
*Not.
*Ugliest survey ever. The Cowboys logo and uniform is one of the most recognized on the planet. Other sports teams incorporate a star(s) into their brand, but the lone blue star is iconic and transcendent. According to a new study, however, the Cowboys uniforms are somehow not even the best in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers? What the what?!
*Was in an Arizona casino recently and folks were lined up to make sports bets at a machine that resembled an ATM. When will the conservative buzzkills – I’m looking at you, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick – in Texas bring sports betting to our state? It’s getting closer to being legalized in Oklahoma. Despite Jerry Jones and the Cowboys (and the entire NFL) being a gambling advocate, earliest Texans will be able to place a legal sports bet will be 2023. What will it bring to the Texas economy? In just 10 weeks, legal mobile sports betting in New York topped $4 billion. That’s right, with a b.
*The Mavs are making the playoffs. They have a legitimate shot to earn home-court advantage in the first round and – gasp – win a post-season series for the first time since 2011. But I don’t think any rational NBA observer sees them getting out of the West and into The Finals. Wait, is Fox Sports 1’s Nick Wright “rational”? Because on his latest YouTube offering the host predicts: “Right now, I’m telling you, I don’t think Phoenix makes it out of round two. Because … I think the team they play in Round 2 is the team that’s going to go to the Finals. I think this is the Dallas Mavericks’ year. Not to win the title, but to get to the Finals.” I’ll bet him a $1 he’s wrong, but …
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© Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
*Whatever happened to … Mike Rhyner? The Ticket’s founding father is alive, well and narrating one of the most important books ever written about Dallas. Rhyner is the voice behind the eight-hour audio version of former Dallas Observer columnist Jim Schutze’s award-winning The Accommodation, a seminal work on race and racism in Dallas. Unless you’re scared of big, bad CRT, let one of DFW’s best writers and best voices educate you on how Dallas got here. And if you're craving a live version of Rhyner, he's guest-hosting the Ben & Skin Show Friday 2-5 p.m. on 97.1 The Eagle. A sentence I thought I'd never write: Rhyner will be on the radio, going up against The Ticket's Hardline.
*Tom Brady unretiring. Hill traded. Russell Wilson leaving Seattle. Carson Wentz actually finding a team that believes in him. Crazy NFL offseason. But of all the wacky scenarios that will play out in 2022, this one none of us could have predicted: Deshaun Watson throwing passes to Cooper, in Cleveland.
*Next Wednesday night? No, I’m sorry, I already have a date. A date at Dallas’ forever-cool Granada Theater with Thievery Corporation, a band that allows you to travel the world from the chill and comfort of your own headphones.
*Draft a quarterback in the first round and you’re set, right? Or … Between 2006-2016 there were 29 quarterbacks taken in the first round. None – zero – are with their original team.
*Yeah, his TV ads are annoying. But give Clay Cooley and his cache of auto dealerships along Highway 183 in Irving some credit. The places have replaced their giant Texas flags with giant Ukraine flags. Respect.
*Okay, now my brain is twisted. Is it Ukraine flag or Ukrainian flag? Because it’s “Texas flag” and not “Texan flag”, but it’s also “American flag” and not “America flag”. Help and thank you.
*Jerry Jones’ daughter? Donnie Nelson’s lawsuit? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? With so much media covering so many angles to countless stories, the hyper-speed news cycle just swallows and camouflages these stories. “What have you done lately?” never rang more true than 2022.
*Now that Spring has sprung, binging Netflix on your couch is no longer a happy hobby. But if you decided stay indoors with the other vampires, No. 1 on your must-see list is the documentary Bad Vegan. No spoiler alerts, but watch it and you’ll be mulling: “Is it a crime to be a really persuasive salesman?” and “Should we be sympathetic to the extremely gullible?”
*This Weekend? Friday let’s lunch with some old radio friends. Saturday let’s play tennis in 80-degree temperatures. Sunday let’s see how many of our Final Four picks are actually making it to New Orleans. As always, don’t be a stranger.
