[Thebo]

Originally Posted by Jeff Wade

I'm going by TRACK record. Tell me the great Free Agent Cuban has signed. I'm not saying Don Nelson either.

The best player he has ever signed was 27 year old Monta Ellis. But Ellis said it was mainly about playing close to home. He also signed a 33 year old Tyson Chandler.

wow, that's great two B rate players in his 16 years of owning a team.

Who's track record are you using? The one you created for yourself? Tyson Chandler has never signed with Dallas Mavericks. Last time I checked, when Chandler was 32, he signed with Phoenix Suns, at the same time DJordan was trying to make up his mind. If you want to measure by great names signed, perhaps you should start by giving an example of a great player that Mavericks has ever signed (not drafted).

How is this not bias against Cuban when you do not even double-check your argument against Cuban? Being biased for or against usually consists of arguments that carry no real weight and more often than not are opinionated.

I do find it amusing while others have to provide sources for their claims for DJordan reportedly giving his verbal agreement, you do not have to give a single proof how exactly Cuban forced or tricked DJordan into giving the verbal agreement. Nobody is claiming that Cuban did not go all out for getting his word, but there is no reason to think that Cuban claimed to the media that DJordan gave his word when he did not. It would not be a smart business move.

"Jordan was just testing the market and had never been pressured like that by a brash Billionaire that is looking for anything that is said like a "ok maybe" then run to the media and use the media to put more pressure on him."
Can you cite your source where DJordan had said "ok maybe" and not "yes, I will"? Others presented a source which you claimed to be hearsay. If that is hearsay, then what can be said about your claim where DJordan had said maybe? I am not saying that DJordan did not give a simple maybe verbal agreement, but there is more reason to believe that he had given yes-agreement than maybe-agreement.

I do like your thought that Cuban has so much influence that he was able to make other Clippers' players join DJordan in his H-Town home, only so that the drama would be bigger.

You should also not trash Tim MacMahon, if he was not using his occasional sources and citing various sources, then you and him would have more in common than not.

"Monta was an ok Defensive player, but he was out of position defending shooting guards. "
What do you mean by out of position defending shooting guards? Height? Since when you are exempt from defending the position you yourself play? Ben Wallace spent most of his time playing center positiob, I guess he would have been better defensive player had he only had to defend against power forwards.

You can also use an example of Tony Allen, who is slightly taller than Monta, but should be slightly shorter than average shooting guard. I guess Tony Allen would magically become better defensively if he defended point guard positions.

For the record, I am not agreeing nor disagreeing if Monta is or was an ok defender. I am pointing out a problem of your logic which occurs by you not clarifying your statement. I personally loved everything about him when Ellis played for GSW. I liked him as a Maverick, but eventually got tired of his iso treatment.

Erica: "Finley absolutely is a top-3 SG for the Mavs. He supported the franchise and kept us treading water until we could improve the talent (kinda like Matthews)."
Jeff: "Are you really saying Matthews is as good as Michael Finley?"

Erica made no statement that Matthews is as good as Finley. Statement was made that Matthews is keeping Dallas Mavericks relevant just like Finley did back in the day when there were no decent pieces to compete. It is not nice to exaggerate others' words.

Here is another example of exaggeration:

DevinHarrisWillStart: "... he would be the first person to tell you that Finley didn't have handles. ..., but ball handling wasn't his forte"
Jeff: "So you would be funny and say he's the WORST DRIBBLER IN THE WORLD AND NBA."

As far as I can read, only one person called Finley the worst dribbler in the world and NBA. And that person was not DevinHarrisWillStart. Just to clarify it also was not Jeff "Skin" Wade that DHWS was referring to.

"Could you name some PF's that are better or more effective defensively than Dirk?"
Dirk is not a great defender. He is really good one only when it matters, usually playoffs, but it probably would be as easy to name weaker defenders as it would be to name better defenders. He should be somewhere in the middle, if not on the worse part since the NBA is becoming faster and smaller.

"cuban forced him and probably lied a bit about how committed he was."
It is not good to use probably in an argument. When you make claims out of thin air (without proof) that make Cuban look worse, does it make you impartial or biased against Cuban? By claiming that you are not biased against Cuban, but making statements that show clear bias - it is more closer to hypocrite than impartial person. Nobody wants to be hypocrite.

"A great business man is never supposed to put all their eggs in one basket and also they're always supposed to have a plan B that is just as good as Plan A."
In your opinion, what kind of scenario would have been as good as signing DJordan (I actually never wanted him, it was only once Cuban had said DJordan agreed, that I started considering him)? DJordan was never plan A, he was actually plan D or E. Plan A was to get CP3 or D-Will and Howard. In your opinion, what was worthy of a plan B after DJordan fell off? Who would you have signed or what had you done differently? Mind you, once DJordan declared his love for CP3 and Griffin, you had only scrubs left.

"It's also over exaggerated how much it hurt the Mavericks. It didn't affect them at all. They were going to be like a 45 win team reguardless either way. "
Mavs were saved by Deron Williams. Mavs finished the season 42-40. I highly doubt they would have made it without D-Will who made himself available when there was no decent point guard left in the market. And this 42-40 record that Mavs finished at is still somewhat short of 45 win season that by you the Mavs were going to get regardless if DJordan signed or not. It turns out that DJordan did not sign and Mavs ended below 45 win margin.