Hometown Hero: A DDPB Dynasty

[Cap Ologist]

October 4, 2007

In a shocking move that stunned the NBA world, Dallas Ranger owner Mike English announced the firing of current general manager, Donny Nelson, and the hiring of unknown Michael Ryan as his replacement. Declining to comment about the change, English simply stated that "I'm tired of losing our last game each season, and we seem to be stuck in a rut."

With less than a month before the Ranger's first game, this move will no doubt be heavily scrutinized in the coming weeks. New general manager Michael Ryan issued a brief statement, "I'm very happy to be given this chance. We will have several tough decisions in the coming weeks to make. As it is right now, I don't feel that our team is constructed to contend for a championship this year, much less be able to maintain a contending run over several years."

After the short press conference, English and Ryan met upstairs later. Their conversation was heated, the emotions ran high. At the end of the meeting, English said, "Do what you think is best, I'm expecting a trip to the Finals and I don't want to pay the luxury tax. Let me know what you decide."

The next day, Ryan announced several player moves:

Dallas sends:
SG Maurice Ager

to Atlanta for:
2008 2nd Round Pick
2009 2nd Round Pick

Mainly a salary clearing move by Dallas who will use the 2 draft picks to sweeten future deals.

Dallas sends:
PG Jose Barea
SF Devean George

to Philly for:
2008 2nd Round Pick
2009 2nd Round Pick
2010 2nd Round Pick

Another salary dumping move by the Rangers who add more trade fodder to their arsenal.

Dallas sends:
PF Brandon Bass

to Charlotte for:
2008 2nd Round Pick

Yet another salary dumping move, one more pick to trade later.

Dallas sends:
SF Dirk Nowitzki
PF Nick Fazekas
C DeSagana Diop
2008 2nd Round Pick (Atlanta)
2008 2nd Round Pick (Charlotte)

to Minnesota for:
PF Al Jefferson
C Theo Ratliff
SF Ryan Gomez
2008 1st Round Pick

This draft essentially boils down to Nowitzki for Jefferson and Gomez. The Rangers get younger, pick up another 1st round pick and add depth to their bench as Gomez is predicted to be 3rd guy off the bench.

Dallas also announced they'd agreed to 1 year, minimum salary contracts with several free agents:

PF Chris Webber
C Peter John Ramos
SF Thaddeus Young - sent to the D League to start the season.

Our opening day roster:
PG Jason Terry
SG Devin Harris
SF Josh Howard
PF Al Jefferson
C Chris Webber

Bench:
SG/SF Eddie Jones
SG/SF Jerry Stackhouse
SF/PF Ryan Gomez
PF/C Erick Dampier (unmoveable contract unfortunately)
PF/C Peter John Ramos
PG/SG/SF Trenton Hassell (see Erick Dampier)
PF/C Theo Ratliff (final year of $11 million contract, won't be back next season)
PF/C DJ Mbenga (see Trenton Hassell, Erick Dampier)

DLeague
SF Thaddeus Young

[Cap Ologist]

October/November

Our season starts off with a loss to Sacramento 102-95, new Ranger Al Jefferson scores 21 and grabs 11 rebounds, Chris Webber scores 11 and grabs 13 boards. Record: 0-1

Next up is New Orleans, and we get our first W, 114-110. Jason Terry scores 35, Josh Howard adds 23, Jefferson gets another double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Record: 1-1

We continue our winning ways with a 111-98 victory over Memphis. We have 6 guys who score double digits, led by Terry's 25 points. Record: 2-1

We dispatch Oakland 121-98. This time we have 7 guys who score over 10, once again led by Terry, Webber scores 17 and pulls down 11 boards. Record: 3-1

Orlando is up next, and we handle them 100-76. Howard leads the scoring with 22, and we have 6 who top 10+ points, with Terry getting close with 9. Record: 4-1

Miami is waiting for us, and they put a 116-98 beating on us. Shaq scores 49 points and grabs 14 boards on us, showing us that we still have work to do on our interior defense. Record: 4-2

We head north to New Jersey, but get slapped 99-90. Jason Terry and Eddie Jones each score 21, Webber and Jefferson combine for 10 points, still reeling from the beating Shaq put on them. Record: 4-3

Washington is next, and we get back on the right track with a 114-104 win. Howard scores 30, Terry adds 23, and we get rid of the bad taste of defeat. Record: 5-3

We return home to face Phoenix. They pummel us 124-110 with 7 of their players hitting double digits. Eddie Jones scores 20, Webber scores 18 for us. Record: 5-4

Luckily New York is next, and we get a 100-89 win. Howard scores 22, Terry 21. Record: 6-4

Denver beats us 98-86. Iverson and Carmelo light us up for 33 and 29 points, and we can't keep pace. Record: 6-5

Next up is Minnesota. Dirk scores 30 on us, but our balance is too much for them, we win 94-80. Record: 7-5

We travel to San Antonio, and we learn we're still not elite with a 95-77 loss. Terry scores 21, Howard only scores 6. Record: 7-6

Portland is easily handled, 93-71. Stackhouse scores 21, and we have 4 others over 10 points. Howard scores 2. Record: 8-6

Memphis is next, and we win 109-95. Stackhouse scores 19, Webber 18 and Jones 15 as our senior citizens lead us to victory.Record: 9-6

San Antonio comes to town, and we get revenge with a 109-97 victory. Howard scores 31, Terry adds 27. Record: 10-6

Houston comes next, and we win 104-86 behind Terry's 36 points. Record 11- 6.

Summary:
We trail Houston by 1 game in our division. Overall, we've done an acceptable job. We need more consistency from our starters, namely Howard and Jefferson who we would like to form the core of our team going forward. In other news, Minnesota has yet to win a game, and so it is quite likely we'll have a great draft pick this offseason.

[Cap Ologist]

We start off the month of December looking to improve the overall depth of our team. We're kind of hamstrung with Dampier, Hassell and Mbenga taking up space. We release Theo Ratliff, his contract will come off at season's end and he's not contributing. I'd much rather use his roster spot to take a flyer on a young player.

We add:
PF Tiago Splitter
PF Taj Gray

I think at some point we're going to have to add more scoring power. Jefferson has been more solid than spectacular, and two (Webber and Jones) of our top five scorers probably won't be back with us next season. Another starter, Devin Harris, is in the last year of his contract, he wants an extension, but I think he's asking more than he's worth right now. We'll see how the month plays out before we make any trades.

We start the month of December against Utah, who we beat 99-80. Terry leads all scorers with 26, Jefferson has a double double, 14 points, 11 boards. Record 12-6

Detroit is next, and we come out on top, 105-98. Terry scores 27, Jones scores 25 to offset Richard Hamilton's 33 points. Record 13-6

We pay a visit to Dirk and Minnesota who have finally won a game. We win 111-85 behind 6 players in double figures, Jefferson leading the way with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Chris Webber hurts his knee, but shouldn't miss too much time. Record 14-6

Seattle is next, and we're happy with a 105-100 victory. Terry scores 24, Howard adds 20, Webber only scores 2 points in 31 minutes. Record 15-6

Houston is next, and we have a half game lead on them for first in our division. They prevail 104-89 behind 27 points from McGrady and 22 from Ming. Webber leads us with 21 points, and back up center John Peter Ramos grabs 17 rebounds. Record 15-7

Chicago is next, and we beat them 96-89 behind 5 guys in double figures, and several at 8 points. Ramos again has a solid game with 8 points and 12 rebounds. Record 16-7

Oakland hands us a 104-96 loss. Terry scores 26, Howard 21 but it's not enough. Record 16-8

Atlanta kicks us while we're done, 100-96. Jefferson scores 23 and grabs 10 boards, Terry added another 23 in the losing effort. Record 16-9

Always nice to play New York when you are on a losing streak. We win 109-94 behind Jones' 22 points, Howard's 21 and Ramos' 14 rebounds. Record 17-9

Atlanta kicks us again, 99-84. Jefferson scores 20, but everybody else plays badly. Joe Johnson lights us up for 34 points. Record 17-10

Denver beats us 102-97, Iverson scores 42, Camby scores 21. Jefferson and Terry score 18 each for us. Record 17-11

Boston beats us 118-115. Pierce, Garnett, and Allen score 29, 26 and 25, Terry scores 27 and Webber adds 25 but it's not enough. Record 17-12

Milwaukee keeps the pressure on us, we lose 114-107. Charlie Villanueva and Earl Boykins score 32 and 36 against us. Enough said.

A very disappointing month comes to an end. We went 6 and 7 for the month, and are now 2.5 games out of 1st in our division. We are 6th in the league in scoring with 101.1 points a game, but we're giving up 97.5 points. We either have to add scorers or stoppers, or we won't meet our goals. So, we'll make a few phone calls, and see what we can work out.

[Izulde]

You traded Nowitzki?!

[Cap Ologist]

Originally Posted by Izulde

You traded Nowitzki?!

Says the guy who passed on Durant, traded Carmelo, let Shaq and AI walk

Yeah, I hate him in real life. He's such a pansy.

[Cap Ologist]

We send:
SG Eddie Jones
SG Jerry Stackhouse
SF Thaddeus Young

to Detroit for:
SG Richard Hamilton
2009 1st Round Pick

Jones and Stackhouse were serviceable parts, but they didn't fit into our long-term plans. Hamilton will take over the SG, sending Devin Harris to the bench.


Then we send:
SF Josh Howard
PF Taj Gray
2008 1st Round Pick (Dallas)

to Chicago for:
SG Ben Gordon
SF Luol Deng

One more trade before we're done:
PG Devin Harris
PF Tiago Splitter

to Los Angelos Waves for:
C Chris Mihm
2008 1st Round Pick

Then we go ahead and release Dampier and Hassell, they're taking up space and minutes that I'd rather go to Ramos and Gomes in the rotation, so after all is said and done our new lineup is:

PG Jason Terry
SG Richard Hamilton
SF Al Jefferson
PF Chris Webber
C Chris Mihm

Bench:
6th Ben Gordon PG/SG
7th Luol Deng SG/SF/PF
8th Ryan Gomes SF/PF
9th Peter John Ramos PF/C
10th DJ Mbenga PF/C

Mbenga is under contract for 2 years, I can probably move him next year for a 2nd rounder to get rid of the $2 million I still owe him. Hopefully these moves will pay off, I think we've upgraded our talent quite a bit. I would prefer that Webber come off the bench and have Deng start at SF, move to Jefferson to PF, but Avery is in his own little world.

[Cap Ologist]

Our first game with our new team gives us a 113-100 loss to the Waves. Kobe exploded for 55, and we can't match their intensity. Record 17-14

We rebound against Indiana and get a 113-101 victory. Hamilton scores 26, Deng 17 and Gordon 18. Record 18-14

We get another shot at Houston, and they get another win at our expense, 110-100. McGrady and Ming are once again too much for us to handle. Record 18-15.

San Antonio is up next, and they handle us easily 105-90. Hamilton scores 26, Terry adds 20, but we're out rebounded by 12. Record 18-16

We squeak by New Jersey 98-97, and I'm beginning to question some of my moves. Hamilton carries us with 40 points, Jefferson gets 11 points and 10 boards. Record 19-16

We continue to win against Washington, 101-94. Hamilton scores 34, Mihm and Gordon add 14 and 12 points. Record 20-16

We get a win against the other LA team, 114-100, and have 7 guys in double digits. Record 21-16

Charlotte is up next, Hamilton scores 30 points, Webber adds 20 off the bench, and we extend our win streak to 4 with a 111-106 victory. Record 22-16

Denver sends us back to earth with a 96-84 loss. Iverson and Anthony combine for 49 points, and we play like crap. Record 22-17

LA gets revenge for our last victory, beating us 101-88. On paper, or in this case (1s and 0s) we seem to be one of the best teams, but it's not translating on to the court. Record 22-18

Portland kicks us while we're down, 88-74. Nobody breaks 20 points for us, and we can't generate enough offense right now. Record 22-19

Philly gets our pent up frustration, as we roll to a 117-102 win. Gordon and Terry get 26 and 21 points each. Record 23-19

Miami is next, and we play a balanced game, Mihm and Hamilton get 18, Gordon and Terry add 17 a piece, and we get the 106-100 win. Record 24-19

We close the month of January against New Orleans. Gordon scores 29, Terry scores 26 and we get the 121-104 victory.

It was kind of an up and down month. Overall we went 8-6 for the month. We're beating the teams we should, but we're not beating the elite teams in the league. Hopefully February will be better.

[Cap Ologist]

February is much better, we go 9-2 to improve to 34-21, 3 games back of Houston for 1st in our division. In the West, we are currently in 4th place behind Houston (38-19), Denver (42-15), and Phoenix (45-12). San Antonio is nipping at our heels at 33-23. Minnesota is continuing to struggle at 9-48, so it looks better and better for our chances at landing the top pick.

In the east, Boston is running away with 1st place at 47-10, Chicago is 34-21, Cleveland 34-20 and Miami is 33-25.

Scoring:
Hamilton 23.6 points
Gordon 20.3 points
Terry 18.6 points
Deng 12.9 points
Jefferson 12.1 points
Webber 11.1 points
Mihm 8.3 points
Gomes 4.7 points
Ramos 3.0 points

Rebounding:
Mihm 8.1
Webber 7.9
Jefferson 7.8

We average 101.3 points a game, and allow 98.1. Too close for comfort.

March sees us go 10-6 to bring our record to 45-27, and we're now 4.5 games behind Houston, and 3.5 games ahead of San Antonio. Not sure if we can catch Houston or not, but with 10 games to go, we've got a pretty good chance at being the 4th seed.

We go 7-3 to close out the season, and 52-30 for the season, good enough for 4th place in the West, which means we'll play the Spurs in the 1st round. We went 1-3 against them in the regular season, so we'll be in for a tough first round.

Game 1:
Hamilton scores 22, Webber adds 18. Ginobli leads San Antonio with 18 and Barry adds 15, but it's not enough and we take Game 1 with a 108-91 victory.

Game 2:
Deng scores 25, Hamilton scores 21, but Duncan scores 38 and Ginobli adds 22 and San Antonio steals a game at our place, 120-101.

Game 3:
Tim Duncan continues his hot play with 31, Finley adds 24 points. Terry goes off for 48 points and Hamilton adds 21 and we take a game in San Antonio 119-116.

Game 4:
Parker takes Terry's 48 points personally, and scores 24 points to lead all scorers. Gordon keeps pace with 20 points, but San Antonio is too much in the 4th quarter as they outscore us 25-13 and take a 101-89 victory.

Game 5:
Now it comes down to a best of 3, and fortunately 2 of those will be at home for us. San Antonio goes up 7 in the first quarter, and have a 7 point lead at half time. In the third quarter, we chip away to a 4 point deficit. The 4th quarter belongs to us this time, and we escape with a 100-94 win.

Game 6:
San Antonio isn't ready to go fishing just yet. They lead by 6 after 1, by 20 at halftime, and keep the pressure on to claim a 102-84 victory.

Game 7:
We have a slim 4 point lead after the first quarter, the second quarter sees us exert our will and we lead by 18 at halftime. But these are the Spurs, and they cut the lead to 13 by the end of the third. Twelve minutes remain, and San Antonio simply runs out of gas and we pull away to take a 120-93 victory.

In the east, #1, #2 and #3 seeds Boston, Chicago and Detroit win their series in 6. It takes seven games for #5 seed Cleveland to upset #4 Miami. In the west, New Orleans upsets #1 seed Phoenix in 5 games, Los Angelos takes Denver to 6 games, and Houston needs 7 games to beat Sacramento.

We've obviously gotten a big break with Phoenix losing in the 1st. We went 4-0 against New Orleans in the regular season, but 1-2 against Phoenix. Plus, we'll have home court advantage again.

Game 1:
New Orleans comes in full of confidence after their first round upset. We scratch out a 2 point lead in the first quarter, open it up to 11 points by halftime. We lead by 12 going into the 4th and hold off a furious rally to claim a 113-109 victory. Terry has 27 points for us, countered by David West's 34 points for New Orleans.

Game 2:
New Orleans comes out flat in game 2, no doubt worn down by their emotional upset plus the amount of energy they used in their comeback attempt in game 1. We lead by 17 at the end of 1, and cruise to a 112-77 win. Hamilton scores 36, Terry adds 27, Stojakovic and West score 19 and 17 for New Orleans.

Game 3:
New Orleans bounces back on their home court. We lead by 11 after the first, but they shrink our lead to 5 at halftime. We're down by 3 after the third, but New Orleans has too much for us, and they take a 120-107 victory. Hamilton scores 32, Terry adds 23, but New Orleans is powered by David West's 25 and Chris Paul's 22.

Game 4:
It's a tight game, we're down by 2 after, down by 4 at half, and by 1 going into the 4th quarter. New Orleans pulls away for a 104-95 victory behind Chris Paul's 25 points.

Game 5:
Once again, it comes down to a best of 3 series. We respond to our home fans by going up 19 in the first quarter. New Orleans cuts our lead to 10 at halftime, and to 9 going into the 4th. They give it their all, and we squeak out a 99-93 win, Hamilton and Terry pace us with 27 and 25 points. But Hamilton hurts his knee, and we're not sure how much we'll get out of him in game 6.

Game 6:
Back to New Orleans, where Hamilton only plays 14 minutes for us. We come out hot, and take a 12 point lead into the 2nd quarter. New Orleans rallies in the 2nd, and they take a 3 point lead into halftime. Hamilton's injury is really tough to overcome. We take a 2 point lead into the 4th, and claim a 100-93 win. Gordon takes up some of the slack from Hamilton, scoring 30 points.

And it's on to the Conference Finals for us!

[Cap Ologist]

In the east, Boston closes out Cleveland in 6 games, and Chicago takes 5 to dispose of Detroit. In the West, Denver takes 5 games to beat Houston. And so we're off to face Denver, a team that beat us all 3 times we played them during the regular season. With Hamilton's bum knee, this could get ugly.

Game 1:
Hamilton is again limited to only 14 minutes in this game, and we're feeling good when we have a 7 point lead after 1, and a 6 point lead at halftime. We extend our lead to 10 going into the 4th quarter, and match Denver bucket for bucket to hold on for a 102-92 win. Terry scores 26, Gordon adds 18 and Jefferson chips in 16 and it's enough to counter AI's 31 and Carmelo's 20.

Game 2:
Denver comes out focused and open up an early 14 point lead. They hold us off the rest of the way, and win 115-97. Terry scores 28, Gordon 22, but Jefferson only adds 9 this time. We need Hamilton to come back to full strength soon.

Game 3:
We return home to Dallas, hoping to hold on to our newly gained home court advantage. We play a consistent game, and outscore Denver by 2 points in each quarter to take a 122-114 win. Hamilton plays 20 minutes, so we're optimistic we'll get him back soon. Jefferson scores 26, Terry adds 25, and we withstand AI's 36 and Carmelo's 34 points.

Game 4:
We're up by 13 after 1, 22 at halftime and we win 101-84 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Terry scores 22, Jefferson and Gordon add 20 each, and Iverson and Anthony can only score 20 each this time.

Game 5:
Back to Denver, and it's 31-30 Denver after 1. We take a 61-54 lead into halftime. But Denver reclaims the lead at 79-78 going into the 4th. Denver refuses to die, and they take a 108-105 win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Game 6:
The pressure is on us to win at home, or face going on the road for game 7. We take a 26-20 lead after 1. The 2nd quarter belongs to us and we extend our lead to 19 at halftime. We don't let up, and cruise to a 107-78 win and our first trip to the Finals! Webber scores 20, Gordon and Terry add 21 and 26. If we can get Hamilton back, we could win our first title.

In the east, it's Boston vs Chicago, and Chicago pulls the stunner by sweeping Boston.

[Cap Ologist]

We beat Chicago both times we played them, and this game has extra meaning for Deng and Gordon. Hamilton returns, and we'll be at full strength for this series, plus we'll have homecourt advantage.

Game 1:
Chicago jumps out to a 23-19 lead after 1, and we trail by 1 going into halftime. We take a 3 point lead into the 4th, and we pull away to take game 1, 93-79 behind Jefferson's 23 points. Gordon and Deng didn't do much, combining for 17 points, to cancel out Josh Howard's 17 points in his return to Dallas.

Game 2:
Chicago takes a 20-15 lead after 1, and we make a run to take a 5 point lead into halftime. Chicago has too much for us in the 2nd half, and we lose by 7, 96-89. Andres Nocioni scores 28 to lead the way for Chicago, and Howard adds 19.

Game 3:
We head to Chicago, having lost our homecourt advantage. Chicago leads by 4 after 1, 6 at halftime, and we can't close the gap in the 2nd half. Chicago takes a 94-88 victory behind Howard's 27 points.

Game 4:
The first quarter resembles a football game as we take a 16-14 lead. Our offense gets untracked in the 2nd, and we extend to a 44-40 lead at halftime. Chicago trims our lead to 3 going into the fourth, but we respond and take an 85-77 win behind Terry's 30 points.

Game 5:
Once again, we're in a best of 3 with 1 game in Chicago, then back to Dallas for games 6 and 7. Chicago jumps out to a 29-16 point first quarter lead, and lead 63-42 at halftime. They pull away and we suffer a 114-83 loss as we head back to Dallas.

Game 6:
We lead 20-16 after 1, 50-39 at halftime. We extend our lead to 20 going into the 4th and hold on for a 94-74 victory.

Game 7:
It's back and forth, and we take a 23-20 lead after 1, and Chicago regroups to take a 50-46 lead into halftime. We make our run, and lead 72-68 going into the 4th. For the game, we have 34 lead changes and 14 ties, and the game would come down to who had the ball last. And in a game that would become known as a classic, Dallas escapes with 93-90 win, and their first title.

Next up is the lottery, and thanks to our trade with Minnesota, we come away with the top pick in the draft. Dirk wins the MVP, Ben Wallace is the defensive player of the year, our very own Ben Gordon is the 6th man, Greg Oden is Rookie of the Year, and Gregg Popovich is coach of the year.

All League 1st Team:
PG Steve Nash
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Dirk Nowitzki
PF Kevin Garnett
C Chris Bosh

All League 2nd Team:
PG Gilbert Arenas
SG Ray Allen
SF Paul Pierce
PF Tim Duncan
C Yao Ming

All League 3rd Team:
PG Dwayne Wade
SG LeBron James
SF Antawn Jamison
PF Elton Brand
C Marcus Camby

All Defense 1st Team:
PG Dwayne Wade
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Andrei Kirilenko
PF Tim Duncan
C Ben Wallace

All Defense 2nd Team:
PG Jason Kidd
SG Tracy McGrady
SF Gerald Wallace
PF Kevin Garnett
C Marcus Camby

All Rookie 1st Team:
PG Mike Conley - Memphis
SG Nick Young - Wash
SF Kevin Durant - Sea
PF Brandan Wright - Oak
C Greg Oden - Port

All Rookie 2nd Team:
PG Acie Law - Atl
SG Alando Tucker - Phx
SF Corey Brewer - Minn
PF Luis Scola - Hou
C Spencer Hawes - Sac