Nothing has been more entertaining for me of late than Josh Howard's "injury." Why? Because it has spawned the Starters That Suck watch, a study of the Mavericks' incompetent third, fourth, and fifth starters, with frequent contributions by Jason Kidd. Check out a few box scores and notice a) The occasional lack of playing time, and b) The craptastic scoring numbers. Here is the Memphis game from November 20th:
Dallas
Starters
Min
FG
3Pt
FT
+/-
Off
Reb
Ast
TO
Stl
BS
BA
PF
Pts
J. Kidd
G
34:27
7-12
4-6
0-0
+18
3
13
6
5
2
1
0
3
18
G. Green
G
5:48
0-4
0-1
0-0
-4
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
E. Dampier
C
23:04
0-0
0-0
1-2
+21
0
8
2
2
0
0
0
4
1
D. Nowitzki
F
35:30
10-20
0-0
5-6
+12
1
10
3
1
0
1
0
1
25
J. Singleton
F
29:54
1-7
0-1
3-3
+19
2
2
1
0
0
1
2
3
5
And the November 18th game versus...us:
Dallas
Starters
Min
FG
3Pt
FT
+/-
Off
Reb
Ast
TO
Stl
BS
BA
PF
Pts
J. Kidd
G
34:31
3-8
2-5
0-0
+6
2
9
7
5
1
0
1
0
8
G. Green
G
13:30
3-5
0-0
0-1
0
0
1
2
1
1
1
0
3
6
E. Dampier
C
18:46
1-2
0-0
1-2
+2
1
4
0
1
0
1
0
1
3
D. Nowitzki
F
37:30
7-17
1-3
9-9
+12
0
12
3
1
0
0
0
3
24
J. Singleton
F
17:37
2-4
0-0
1-2
+3
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
2
5
And finally, the incredible performance in the December 2nd game versus the Clippers, starring Erick Dampier:
Dallas
Starters
Min
FG
3Pt
FT
+/-
Off
Reb
Ast
TO
Stl
BS
BA
PF
Pts
J. Kidd
G
32:28
0-6
0-4
0-0
-6
2
7
8
3
4
0
1
1
0
G. Green
G
5:43
2-4
0-1
0-0
-9
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
4
E. Dampier
C
2:59
0-0
0-0
0-0
-9
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
D. Nowitzki
F
43:15
10-27
2-6
7-7
-2
1
10
2
1
2
2
0
2
29
D. George
F
22:03
1-3
0-1
1-2
-12
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
2
3
Reports have stated that Howard is out indefinitely, so hopefully we'll see more of this mass suckiness. Feel free to search through old box scores yourself, as these are only three examples of a large phenomenon.