Going into the 2009-10 season opener against the Washington Wizards, J-Kidd and the Mavs felt confident.
Jason even noted his excitement to play against one of the Wizards’ biggest weapons, healthy for the first time in two seasons, Gilbert Arenas. As he told ESPN.com:
“I know he’s probably real excited to get going. I’m just excited to see him back and healthy.”
 Jason faced off against Gilbert Arenas, back and healthy for the first time in nearly two years (Getty Images). |
As it turned out, it was Arenas who was sharp, and Jason and the Mavericks who looked a step slow, falling 102-91. After a productive and promising pre-season, No.2 was expecting more from himself and his teammates in the season opener. He summed up the performance to DallasBasketball.com:
“It was a zero. We didn’t do anything right.”
Speaking with USA Today, Jason went on to commend teammate Dirk Nowitzki for racking up 34 points in his outstanding performance, but he knows performances by one player won’t carry the team to their ultimate goal of a championship.
“He would be dead by Christmas if we’re going to let him be the offense. Our team defense stunk. We didn’t rebound the ball well. Everything we’re supposed to do well was a no-show tonight.”
No. 2 helped his team out with 6 rebounds and assists, 4 points and a pair of steals in the loss.
RECORD TRACKER
The 6 assists and 2 steals J-Kidd accumulated are helping him climb up the John Stockton ladder. The veteran now has 10,205 assists, 130 shy of passing Mark Jackson for the No. 2 spot. He’s racked up 2,200 steals in his 18 seasons in the NBA, putting him only 8 steals behind Clyde Drexler, who holds the No. 6 spot.
THE SELFLESS STAR
Even though J-Kidd is rapidly making his way up the assists and steals lists, you’ll never hear him boast about it. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, much like head coach Rick Carlisle, sees much more than J-Kidd’s uncanny passing and scoring abilities. As Cuban told the Star-Telegram:
“His greatest strength is that he wants the team to take credit for winning.”
Selfless stars like J-Kidd who put the “we” before the “me” is just what the Mavericks need to take their game to the next level.
NEXT UP
J-Kidd and the Mavs hope to even up their record against the defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, Friday night at 9:30 on KTXA.
RELATED STORIES
Carlisle, Mavericks players work on being a perfect fit (Star-Telegram, Oct. 25, 2009)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1709977.html#at
Arenas carries Wizards past Mavericks in opener (USA Today, Oct. 28, 2009)
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2009-10-27-4119315174_x.htm
All-access pass: Wizards 102, Mavs 91 (Dallasbasketball.com, Oct. 28, 2009)
http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=2173
\Mavericks ready for Arenas’ return (ESPN.com, Oct. 28, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/dallas/columns/mavericks/blog?post=4598276
Wizards at Mavericks Boxscore (NBA.com, Oct. 28, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20091027/WASDAL/boxscore.html