[madape]

Originally posted by: Poindexter Einstein

When you evaluate Najera and Laettner in such a manner ("solid veteran rotation players"), I (a) almost died laughing, and (b) understood how flawed your analysis of players is.

Here in Dallas last year, Najera was a 3rd string center on a team who sorely needed a center, and a 3rd string SF on a team who lacked one, and a 5th team PF. He provided hustle, but was constantly injured. Laettner was in such demand that the Warriors paid him in full to go away, rather than keep him on their roster.

Those are the players of YOUR dreams? Ack, if I was Shawn Bradley, i would be insulted to be placed in such company, in the pantheon of "players that Madape thinks are wonderful."

I WOULD ADDRESS ALL THE OTHER POINTS OF YOUR SILLY ANALYSIS, BUT THE OTHERS ALREADY SKEWERED IT SO WELL THAT THERE IS NO NEED TO DO IT AGAIN. We have a solid center in Dallas now, and maybe someday you will open your eyes and appreciate the upgrade that has finally arrived. He isnt perfect, but thats how centers are - they come with flaws. BUT, he is the very thing we have been wanting here for the last 10-15 years, and I sure as heck am thrilled to see it.

I have no doubt that Erick Dampier is a mediocre center, and I agree with you that he has flaws, and that he certainly isn't perfect. If 8 points and 7 rebounds looks like an elite center to you, than YOU are the one who needs to open his eyes. Those numbers are NOT indicative of "one of the best centers in the Western Conference" as many have argued. They are indicative of a man who should be earning about $4 million a year. I too am more than happy to be seeing significant court time being given to a true center. It's unfortunate that those minutes are going to a man who hurts us more than helps us (check the plus minus stats), and to someone who's contract will be an albatross on our necks until the year 2011.

I thought we did a damn good job of addressing the center situation with good smart pickups like MBenga, Pavel, and Booth. All of which in time could have matched or excede the prodcution we're currently seeing from Erick Dampier at a fraction of the cost. It's not even worth mentioning the two time NBA shotblocking champion with strataspheric plus minus production who can barely get off the bench for this team. I firmly beleive that if we employed a steady rotation of Bradley/Booth/MBenga, we'd see better numbers and more wins.

Dampier is a guy that virtually no one else in the NBA wanted to pay more than the mid level exception to get, and we give him a contract worthy of a player with twice his ability. Golden State had zero interest in keeping him, and probably would have let him go for nothing if the Mavericks hadn't stepped in to be their fairy godmother. I admit that Laettner and Najera weren't the prizes of our roster at the time, but they are the kind of players that help teams win. I would rather have both backing up Dirk than see our future placed in the hands of a bum like Dampier. Dampier is a career loser and career underachiever. He's made a career of making others around him WORSE. It's scary as hell to think that we are a Dirk sprained ankle away from BECOMING the 2003 Golden State Warriors. And as much as I enjoy seeing a true center on the floor for more than 10 minutes a game, I do NOT want the Mavericks to become the Warriors.

At least before we traded for this guy, we were headed in the right direction. I was excited to watch Harris, MBenga, Pavel, Howard and Daniels grow with this team. I was anticipating that at least one of those two first round picks would turn into something special. I knew it would be a tough transition period when Nash was forced out, but I was comforted by the fact that we had a nice future to look forward to. A big chunk of that potential was traded away for a guy I long thought of as being one of the biggest walking turds in the NBA. His performance thus far is EXACTLY what I expected. Mediocre numbers... 3 crap games for every good one... just enough to keep bafoons talking about him as if he were one of the best centers in the NBA, and just enough to keep our future stars on the bench. People who pay attention should know better. People who have followed him longer than two months should know better. He's an average center at BEST. On a good night he looks like a real player, but the good nights are few and far between for Dampier. He's much more likely to lay an egg than to have a double double. If you expect anything more... well, as most Golden State fans would advise, get used to being disappointed.