[sbjensen]

Perhaps I'm far too generous, but I've always liked Charles as a player and as a public speaker (that is, loudmouth). I rarely agree with him (and that's always been true), but I believe he speaks his mind candidly, frankly, and with humor.

Why does he diss the Mavs with such consistency? Well, I think Nellie hit the nail on the head. I don't think it's personal at all. He's just lazy about broadcasting, and he believes the Mavs are STILL a soft team. He doesn't pay attention to the fact that the new Mavericks are FAR better rebounders than prior teams, and also have the capacity to play much better team defense. But that doesn't mean that his now-stale, outdated opinion is driven by personal feelings. I really think Charles believes, together with a lot of other people, at least some of whom are great basketball minds, that to win an NBA title a team must be solid defensively and TOUGH. He doesn't believe the Mavs are either one. And, at least prior to this year, they certainly were not defensively solid, when judged against the other elite teams in the NBA. And, I think NVE was the only truly TOUGH player on last year's team. I happen to think that the underlying premise is wrong -- I actually think it's possible to win with great offense and mediocre defense/rebounding -- although my view has far less historical data to confirm it.

Now, Charles, like many other charismatic figures, speaks in hyperbole -- both for humor and to emphasize his point. Thus, his criticism of the Mavs is overstated, and that's just a matter of style. But his opinion, lazy though it probably is, is also consistent with the opinion of most media and probably most basketball people in the NBA. He just thinks the Mavs won't win a title unless and until they get tougher and can defend better. That opinion does NOT make Charles fringe -- it's right with the mainstream view. I understand not liking his style -- I happen to like it, but that's purely a subjective personal view. And even though I like his style generally, he rubs me the wrong way with his criticism of the Mavs, b/c I love the team so much.

Until the playoffs, we won't know for sure if Charles' opinion of the Mavs is truly outdated, or if it is accurate (though far overstated).