Hoops for Troops Commitment to Service

DALLAS – In celebration of the NBA’s Hoops for Troops week, the Dallas Mavericks partnered with approximately two dozen active military from NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base on Thursday and boxed over 10,000 meals that will go to needy families in North Texas. One of the active military personnel who helped box meals at […]



Numbers on the Boards: Episode 1

Welcome to Numbers on the Boards, a podcast for basketball fans who want to have some fun listening to Mavs TV analyst and 105.3 FM’s Jeff “Skin” Wade and Mavs.com’s Bobby Karalla talk hoops, stats, and life in the NBA with a new guest each week. On this week’s episode, Skin and Bobby are joined […]



Dennis Smith Jr. does the thinking while his play does the talking

Dennis Smith Jr.’s game doesn’t exactly match his personality. The same player with the 48-inch vertical leap and practically a feature film-length highlight reel of dunks in gyms around the country is the one who contextualizes his development in Zen-like fashion at his locker after a game when he scored a career-high 19 points and […]



Dennis Smith Jr. made some veteran plays in win at Atlanta

There are some hard truths we must all accept when we talk about young players. They’re going to make plays that will make us get out of our seats, and they’re going to make plays that will make us shake our heads. The inescapable truth is that Dennis Smith Jr. is only 19 years old, […]



The Mavs are pushing the pace this preseason

The Mavericks played at the second-slowest pace in in the NBA last season. If their style this preseason is any indication of what’s to come when the games start counting, that grinding style will soon be a thing of the past. Rick Carlisle often mentions the importance of controlling tempo. During the past couple seasons, […]



NBA GMs vote Dennis Smith Jr. biggest draft steal, Rick Carlisle best at in-game adjustments

In NBA.com’s annual survey, NBA GMs voted Mavs rookie Dennis Smith Jr. the biggest steal on draft night. The 19-year-old rookie earned 37 percent of the vote. Smith was the ninth overall pick on draft night and the fifth player at his own position selected. The first-year player who passes like a point guard and […]



Frequenting the film room has helped Dennis Smith Jr. ‘keep trucking’ through fast-paced training camp

The NBA is hard for 29-year-olds. It’s hard to imagine how impossible it must seem to a 19-year-old, let alone a teenage point guard with high expectations and plenty of veteran teammates to feed. But that’s the situation Mavs rookie Dennis Smith Jr. finds himself in right now. The preseason favorite for Rookie of the […]



How pushing the pace could lead to a better Mavs offense

Rick Carlisle’s announcement that Dirk Nowitzki would start at center instead of Nerlens Noel was easily the biggest revelation from Mavs Media Day. That statement may be spun in several different directions which all led to new questions. How does it affect Nerlens Noel’s future? Who will start instead of him? Will the Mavs be […]



Dennis Smith Jr. vs. the rookie point guards: Who will be top of the class?

We need to see some games before making any declarations, of course, but this could be one of the best point guard rookie classes to arrive to the NBA in a long, long time. For reference, Dennis Smith Jr. was the fifth point guard selected, and not many people thought it was all that crazy, […]



Dennis Smith Jr. could open things up for the Mavs’ 3-point shooters

  What is the most important position in basketball? Some would say it’s center. If your big man isn’t athletic enough to defend the pick-and-roll or at least score efficiently around the rim, your team might be doomed. Some would say it’s the power forward. Can your 4-man shoot the 3? Can he exploit size […]