Banner Off-season Hasn't Materialized - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

MavsFanFinley · 07-19-2003, 11:18 PM

Did we miss something? Have we signed Daniels already or are the Mavs that confident he'll sign whenever we offer?

Banner off-season hasn't materialized for Mavs
Team missing on free agents; coach says things could be worse

07/20/2003

By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News

A couple of weeks ago, the Mavericks were poised to make a banner headline in free agency.

All Go for Zo was a possibility.

At one point, the Mavericks would have settled for A New Day with P.J.

They're looking for a way to trot out Miller Time.

Twenty days into July, the most apt characterization might be Hello, Status Quo. Nearly everybody who is anybody in free agency has already found a home.

The debate can continue as to whether Alonzo Mourning and his agent took the Mavericks on a long and winding road that ended at Exit 16W on the New Jersey Turnpike, as owner Mark Cuban suggested last week.

P.J. Brown stayed in New Orleans. Utah and Denver look like possible options for Indiana's Brad Miller, the one remaining free-agent big man of significance.

It's not the way the Mavericks wanted the summer to go, and the possibility of a team-altering change remains.

Then again, it could be worse, not that you would know it from the hue and cry on talk radio and Internet message boards. That's what coach and general manager Don Nelson thinks. Nelson has conveyed the message to son Donnie, the team's president of basketball operations, in their frequent phone conversations the last couple of weeks.

"I don't know if this has been disappointing," Don Nelson said. "You keep working, you keep trucking. You have to make sure that you don't panic and make a bad decision because there's pressure to do something. That's what I keep telling Donnie."

The son has applied the message as he and owner Mark Cuban continue looking for possible additions.

"Our philosophy is, in order to tamper with what you have, you've got to make a significant upgrade because chemistry is too good," Donnie Nelson said. "We're not afraid to pull the trigger on a deal if it's an upgrade. If it's a lateral move, we'd be crazy because the guys in the locker room deserve better."

Which means the Mavericks may be awfully similar in look and style to the team that last season won 60 games with a relatively young roster and went to the Western Conference finals.

Except that in the Western Conference, teams that stand still risk getting run over.

"It will be tougher than a year ago," Don Nelson said, "and last year we thought it was pretty maxed out."

The Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant's legal problems notwithstanding, added Gary Payton and Karl Malone. San Antonio has a younger Rasho Nesterovic to replace David Robinson and a young roster (Tony Parker, Stephen Jackson, Manu Ginobili) that should improve. Sacramento still might be the deepest team in the league.

The Mavericks' biggest concern could be wiped away if Raef LaFrentz and Shawn Bradley combine to produce more than 16 points and 10.7 rebounds at center. Don Nelson expects LaFrentz to improve in the second year of his seven-year contract. LaFrentz averaged 4.8 rebounds a game last season, far under his career average of 7.1.

"The first thing he has to do is rebound better for a big guy. He has to pursue the ball better. He's a pretty young guy," Don Nelson said of the 6-11 27-year-old. "There's room for improvement."

And Don Nelson is optimistic that first-round pick Josh Howard and summer-league find Marquis Daniels can contribute next season.

The Mavericks have tried to address what they could.

"Our summer program was designed to beef up our front line," Don Nelson said. "We tried to do it but haven't. What are you going to do?"

foglemann · 07-19-2003, 11:54 PM

"Our summer program was designed to beef up our front line," Don Nelson said. "We tried to do it but haven't. What are you going to do?"

FIRE your ass!!!!!! Get out of Maui and do your f***king job. This has gotten way out of control. Instead of the old geezer doing his job, being GM, he's got Donnie and Cuban being a two headed monster scaring away any and all free agents.

MFF, totally agree, they seem very confident that Daniels will be in a uniform, but I can see them screwing it up, not like they haven't screwed things up already. I really like Marquis and if he got taken from our team just becaue Nellie and crew were waiting for ANOTHER FA, I will be pissed. All we've done is wait for the past two offseasons to no avail. Actually getting something done could be a start. How about signing Daniels, that would be appreciated, thanks.

Murphy3 · 07-20-2003, 12:30 AM

at least they did try this year..too bad they didn't make significant efforts in any of the past 2-3 previous off seasons.. but, trying and failing isn't much better than just being too blind to see your weaknesses

Rod1975 · 07-20-2003, 01:39 AM

Heck, just for kicks, lets sign this guy. lol

8'0" 341 lb kid. Can't be any worse than Bradley......

Murphy3 · 07-20-2003, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Banner Off-season Hasn't Materialized

At least they are consistent

Chiwas · 07-20-2003, 12:43 PM

Quote:

The Mavericks' biggest concern could be wiped away if Raef LaFrentz and Shawn Bradley combine to produce more than 16 points and 10.7 rebounds at center.

This is the key. Dallas woudn't need to sign a big man if this could happen. 16 points and 11 rebounds shoudn't be a problem for Shawn and Raef in 48 minutes. And if Howard plays more the 3 instead of Nash-NVE (or Finley, but the point is that Howard WILL grab more rebounds than NVE), the rebounds number needed for the couple centers would be less than 11 easily.

Only the ghost of the fouls shadows the idea.

jayC · 07-20-2003, 08:27 PM

Raef should be a 20 point 7 board and 3 block a game center, but hes more likely to be an 12 point 7 rebounds and 2 blocks a game center. Id be curious to see what theo ratliff would do for this team.

one long blue sock · 07-20-2003, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: jayC
Raef should be a 20 point 7 board and 3 block a game center.

NOT ON THIS TEAM, maybe in some fantasy east team he could get those stats.
But not the Mavs.

Bayliss · 07-20-2003, 08:52 PM

Raef should be a 12 point, 8 board, 2-3 block a game center. And that is reasonable if the puss would get off his ass and rebound.

dude1394 · 07-20-2003, 10:22 PM

smoochie, smoochie.

kg_veteran · 07-21-2003, 09:13 PM

Banner off-season hasn't materialized for Mavs
Team missing on free agents; coach says things could be worse

07/20/2003

By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News

A couple of weeks ago, the Mavericks were poised to make a banner headline in free agency.

All Go for Zo was a possibility.

At one point, the Mavericks would have settled for A New Day with P.J.

They're looking for a way to trot out Miller Time.

Twenty days into July, the most apt characterization might be Hello, Status Quo. Nearly everybody who is anybody in free agency has already found a home.

The debate can continue as to whether Alonzo Mourning and his agent took the Mavericks on a long and winding road that ended at Exit 16W on the New Jersey Turnpike, as owner Mark Cuban suggested last week.

Yeah, let's blame it on Zo. The pain doesn't sting quite as badly that way.

P.J. Brown stayed in New Orleans. Utah and Denver look like possible options for Indiana's Brad Miller, the one remaining free-agent big man of significance.

It's not the way the Mavericks wanted the summer to go, and the possibility of a team-altering change remains.

A team-altering change might not have been required if our GM would have put down the coconut and done his job.

Then again, it could be worse, not that you would know it from the hue and cry on talk radio and Internet message boards.

Does this mean that they do read d-m.com? I had always suspected...

That's what coach and general manager Don Nelson thinks. Nelson has conveyed the message to son Donnie, the team's president of basketball operations, in their frequent phone conversations the last couple of weeks.

"I don't know if this has been disappointing," Don Nelson said. "You keep working, you keep trucking. You have to make sure that you don't panic and make a bad decision because there's pressure to do something. That's what I keep telling Donnie."

The son has applied the message as he and owner Mark Cuban continue looking for possible additions.

"Our philosophy is, in order to tamper with what you have, you've got to make a significant upgrade because chemistry is too good," Donnie Nelson said. "We're not afraid to pull the trigger on a deal if it's an upgrade. If it's a lateral move, we'd be crazy because the guys in the locker room deserve better."

Translation: Get ready to see the same team on the court next year.

Which means the Mavericks may be awfully similar in look and style to the team that last season won 60 games with a relatively young roster and went to the Western Conference finals.

Except that in the Western Conference, teams that stand still risk getting run over.

"It will be tougher than a year ago," Don Nelson said, "and last year we thought it was pretty maxed out."

The Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant's legal problems notwithstanding, added Gary Payton and Karl Malone. San Antonio has a younger Rasho Nesterovic to replace David Robinson and a young roster (Tony Parker, Stephen Jackson, Manu Ginobili) that should improve. Sacramento still might be the deepest team in the league.

The Mavericks' biggest concern could be wiped away if Raef LaFrentz and Shawn Bradley combine to produce more than 16 points and 10.7 rebounds at center. Don Nelson expects LaFrentz to improve in the second year of his seven-year contract. LaFrentz averaged 4.8 rebounds a game last season, far under his career average of 7.1.

And if one or both of them suddenly become capable of holding their position in the lane, defending the post, and controlling the defensive boards consistently.

That said, if you could get 8/7 out of Shawn and 12/8 out of Raef, you'd have to be pretty happy with that.

"The first thing he has to do is rebound better for a big guy. He has to pursue the ball better. He's a pretty young guy," Don Nelson said of the 6-11 27-year-old. "There's room for improvement."

Isn't this the same Nelson who said that rebounders are born, not trained, or somesuch?

If Raef would take a few lessons from Dirk on how he did it, perhaps we could get somewhere.

And Don Nelson is optimistic that first-round pick Josh Howard and summer-league find Marquis Daniels can contribute next season.

Since when does Don play rookies? Eddie's the only one I can think of in recent memory. And he didn't get a whole lot of time his first year. I really hope they can play too, but I think we should be happy if Howard can give us 20 minutes a game in his first year. And Daniels, well, he just needs to watch and learn.

The Mavericks have tried to address what they could.

"Our summer program was designed to beef up our front line," Don Nelson said. "We tried to do it but haven't. What are you going to do?"

I suppose you could have pursued more than one free agent, Don. Or wait, you could have pursued at least ONE yourself. Not that I'm bitter, or anything.