Just Pick a Theory . . . Any Theory

What happened to the Mavericks Friday night? What inspired their amazing turnabout, in which they beat the Lakers, 106-94, after struggling through the first two games of the series like houseflies caught in the grits and gravy?

There are several theories, such as:

The Media Theory--The Mavericks, according to this theory, put themselves into a frenzy reading the stuff written about them in the local press.

This theory gained support when Mavericks’ owner Donald Carter accosted Dallas Times Herald columnist Skip Bayless after Friday’s game. If Bayless had roasted the Mavericks any hotter, you would have had to stick apples in their mouths and call it a luau.

Carter warmly and sincerely thanked Bayless for inspiring the team.

This theory was deflated somewhat by Maverick forward Sam Perkins, who said, “We don’t read the papers.”

Someone please tell these guys that Noriega is still in power, Jesse Jackson has faded and Doonesbury is making fun of the Reagans.

Rest assured, however, that even though the Mavericks don’t read the papers over breakfast in the team bunkhouse, somehow they know what’s being said and written about them. It’s an incredible ESP athletes have. How do you think they get through college without cracking a book?

Supporting the Media Theory is the fact that Maverick Coach John MacLeod abandoned his substitution pattern--for which he has been roundly criticized in the press--in which people such as Mark Aguirre and Roy Tarpley spend almost half the game on the bench.

Aguirre played 37 minutes (23 points, 10 rebounds) Friday; Tarpley 41 (21 points, 20 rebounds).

Not that MacLeod reads the papers.

The Fan Factor--This one is obvious. Team loses two on road, returns home to rowdy fans, responds with a greatly increased intensity of play.

The Reunion Arena crowds are noisy, 17,000 urban cowboys and cowgirls whoopin’ and a’ hollerin’ and a’ wavin’ their hoopie hankies, or Dallas doilies, or whatever they’re called. The latest fan craze, you know. Hey, it beats the wave.

“This is one of the arenas I dread,” Laker Michael Cooper said.

The Mavericks even have their own celebrity fans. Friday’s special guest was Dallas Cowboys Coach Tom Landry, who surely was a morale factor, although the Mavericks couldn’t persuade Landry to sit courtside, wear shades and leer at the opponent.

I did see a fan that looked a lot like Dustin Hoffman, but she was taller.

Simple Pride Theory--Seldom has a team’s pride been wounded, its courage called to question, more than was the case with the Mavericks after the first two alleged games of the series.

The Mavericks were embarrassed, chagrined, chastened, humbled, humiliated.

So they came out and played harder. How much harder?

“A lot,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said.

How did the Mavericks stop Byron Scott (11 points) and Magic Johnson (14 points), for instance?

“They just got up on their (Scott and Johnson’s collective) butt,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said.

Also, the Mavericks adopted the basketball philosophy of Moses Malone, who once described his job as “Mostly I goes to the rack (backboard).”

Two statistics tell it all: In the fourth quarter the Mavericks outrebounded the Lakers, 17-5. And for the game the Mavericks beat the Lakers on the offensive boards, 25-10.

“That (rebounding) was the key, point blank,” Magic said.

The Mavericks went to the rack. And every offensive rebound they grabbed was the immediate death of a potential Laker fast break.

“We get the boards and we out (on the fast break),” Magic said, wishfully. “You gotta box out (screen the Mavericks from their offensive boards) and go get it. It’s free, it’s to the person who wants it.”

Friday that person was invariably a Maverick.

“They were all over the place,” Johnson said.

Indeed, it’s hard to figure how a team can put increased defensive pressure inside, on Kareem and assorted Laker lane-drivers, and also greatly increase the pressure on the outside shooters, such as Scott.

It’s called effort. The team that tries harder often wins. In that, basketball is a microcosm of life, although I’m not sure on what planet.

“They were doing a lot of pushing and shoving, which is legal,” Cooper said. “We were reacting, instead of instigating. At home, we were the ones bumping and setting hard picks.”

Aguirre said before the game, “You have to go at the Lakers, because they don’t like to be went after.”

The Mavericks discovered that secret in time to win one game, at least.

The Aguirre and Tarpley Revenge Theory--Mark and Roy are trying to show the Lakers they made a mistake in rejecting the 1986 trade that would have sent them to the Lakers in exchange for James Worthy.

Tarpley has 53 rebounds in three games. The last Laker to get that many rebounds in three games was either Rudy LaRusso or George Mikan.

Aguirre played with a frenzy that belies his reputation as a player who doesn’t always care. He wrestled and butted heads with A.C. Green, Magic, Worthy and Cooper. He and Cooper exchanged angry words.

“We started bangin’,” Cooper explained. “He probably didn’t mean what he said, and I know I didn’t mean what I said, but it had to be said.”

Well said, although I don’t know what it means.

Law of Averages--The Lakers simply had a letdown, an especially funky, ugly fourth quarter.

Riley gently locked the locker room door after the game, after kicking out the ballboys, and told the Lakers that their overall effort was less than perfect.

I’m not sure what purpose this served, except to give the players the general drift of what would be written the next day in the newspapers, which they wouldn’t be reading.