State of the Mavs

[RareMilk]

Off topic but I can't live with myself knowing there isn't any game day thread! I'm refreshing this thread like crazy and I should be typing up an essay...

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by alby

If Kerr made this move, he would be a complete idiot.

So you're saying there's hope.

[alby]

Originally Posted by alby

October: 0-1
November: 8-7
December: 11-4
January: Currently we are sitting at 7-7, with a game in Miami on Saturday.

I'm going out on the limb and say Dallas is going to have a 9-3 February.

March? Let's just say, I hope we have reinforcements by then... that month looks extremely tough.

Alright, good way to finish the month. Two wins in a row, cumulative record of 8-7.

Let's see what February has in store for us.

Go Mavericks!

[ghazi]

@ ORL v PORT @ UTAH v BOS before the All star break.

I hope we win atleast 3 of those (yeah I'm greedy!)


Also v SAC v CHI

[alby]

I'm going to say we're going to beat Boston in Dallas. F jinxes. Go Mavs

[dude1394]

Watching the game now....armstrong is all in jkiddo's ear...he may be more of a help that first thought.

[alby]

DA has brought a lot of energy on the defensive end.

[ty]

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

So you're saying there's hope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA

[alby]

February: 1-0

[BGMaverick9]

http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=1294

Mavs Trade Ideas: Things I Think I Know
Dirk, Kidd And Josh? Covered. Shaq, Marion And Iverson? Covered.
By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

As you know if you read Alan Peppard’s Dallas Morning News celeb-chasing column, I moonlight as a High Society type. (I’m right there between the Jonas Brothers and the Obama sisters.) I also do some volunteer work over at the Pro Football Hall of Fame DNA Testing Center. But my real job is holding down the DB.com Personnel Dept., where I’m revealing “Things I Think I Know About The Mavs’ Trade-Deadline Thoughts.’’ And yes, I play all the hits here. … Dirk and Kidd and Josh, Shaq and Marion and Iverson. …

(Before we start: hat-tip to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, who began last week with an intricately-detailed analysis of Mavs’ trade possibilities that set the bar pretty high for this sort of thing. ... here, we humbly try to pick up where he left off with a mash-up of gossip, rumors, observations, wishes and pretty-damn-much fact:

I Think I Know 1: Get ready to hear a lot of buzz about Detroit and Dallas at least touching base on an Allen Iverson-for-Jason Kidd swap. It’ll probably not be fire and it might not even be smoke. But it will be buzzy.

I Think I Know 2: Detroit and Dallas will, however, talk about exchanging second-tier talents. The Pistons have always liked Brandon Bass. He certainly has been playing well lately, hasn’t he? And the Pistons have noticed. I wonder if the Mavs like AA (Arron Afflalo) as much as the Pistons like BB?

As as long as we’re talking power-forward prospects. … there isn’t really a shortcut to acquiring a finished product, is there? Because if Philly in any way is dissatisfied with its new five-year, $80-mil commitment to Elton Brand, the Mavs should be so in.

I Think I Know 3: Don’t hold your breath on a Dirk Nowitzki trade. There is the shared Cuban-Nowitzki trust factor here, but there is something else, an organizational philosophy held by GM Donnie Nelson. Let’s call it The KG Rule: You never trade away a franchise player. Because it might take a decade to ever recover from it.

The KG Rule, however, might merit an Amendment: What if you trade KG, as Minnesota did, and get Al Jefferson in return?

I Think I Know 4: There is so much sense to a Kidd-to-Portland trade. Bayliss or Rodriguez coming back, helping Dallas to get younger while the Blazers get the final-piece leadership that vaults them into contention. It’s an easy speculation for the gossip-and-guess crowd. … but it’s too obvious to not eventually be discussed by those involved.

I Think I Know 5: Ultimately, I still believe Dallas’ plan is to retain Kidd via a discounted one-year contract, a sort of bridge-gapping, wait-and-see-‘til-2010 deal that pays him half the $20 mil he makes now but keeps him rolling with a franchise and a city he likes.

There are mixed signals here, though. Why chase Raymond Felton (a factual chase) or Mike Conley (a rumored chase) or Beno Udrih (a rumored chase) as “insurance’’ if Kidd is staying? (Why chase Earl Watson at all?) Shouldn’t the organization be narrowing this down to an “either/or’’?

I Think I Know 6: I put the odds at a Jerry Stackhouse trade at 90 percent. Yeah, that high. The Mavs still want to “do right’’ by him, but they also need to “do right’’ by themselves. Charlotte and OKC aren’t destinations that allow Stack to ride into the sunset with playoff glory. But he can close out a fine career with 15 minutes per game in those sorts of places. And that’s 15 minutes more than he’s going to get here.

I Think I Know 7: Charlotte and the Mavs, having already completed one deal and having discussed another, will have enough discussions to potentially transform the Mavs’ roster into “The Dallas Bobcats.’’ And I’m not completely convinced that’s a good thing.

Discussing other teams’ potentially-curable warts is, however, part of this process. Shawn Marion is an example of a wart that doesn’t do much for me. And at a cheaper price, Mike Miller? Less warty.

I Think I Know 8: The economy will be a factor for some owners. How’s that Maloof money holding up? Donald T. Sterling, have you checked your moneybox stashed under that mattress yet? Mr. Sarver, ready to salary-dump?

David Lord’s Josh-for-Shaq trade is glitzy because of the names in the headline. But dig down in there and you find the financial motivation for Phoenix to consider such a concept.

Of course, the GM there, Steve Kerr, married himself to the Shaquisiton. If Lord’s idea ever really hit the bargaining table, Kerr might hit the road, justifiably able to argue that his pickup of Shaq got the Suns a guy contributing 18/9 a night.

OK. Fine, Phoenix. If we give you our Invasion of the Body Language victim (Josh) as part of a monster package, can we get your Invasion of the Body Language victim (Amare)?

And back to other teams’ budget concerns: Mightn’t there also be similar motivation as it involves John Salmons, Brad Miller, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman?

I Think I Know 9: Sometimes, trade talks are about the relationships of the higher-ups involved. People in Toronto do talk to people in Dallas. People in Dallas do talk to people in Chicago. And as surprising as this might seem to outsiders, people in Golden State and people in Dallas know each others’ phone numbers as well.

Andres Nocioni? Stephen Jackson? Jermaine O'Neal?

And while we're on that Canadian phone line. ... Chris Bosh?

That's probably four no-go's. But I bet it's still four phone calls.

I Think I Know 10: I thought I’d finally put my finger on the semantic trickery being used by Dallas management when discussing Josh Howard. They keep saying they want Josh to work out here, that they want Josh to be here.

My semantic trickery observation was going to be this: Just because the Mavs want Josh Howard to be here doesn’t mean Josh Howard’s feeling is mutual.

How clever of me! Except now Cuban’s “I'm not trading Josh’’ stand is fortified by Josh’s “We don’t need no changes!’’ stand.

And in regard to a Josh Howard trade, I’m not sure I think I know anything.

1050pm feb 2 2009

[Five-ofan]

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

I havent posted much about the mavs this year in an effort to avoid knee jerking. Its the midway point and while im not a parcells fan ill run with his qoute, you are what you are. This is a team that needs dirk to absolutely go off to have any prayer of winning against anyone decent and thats a ton of pressure to put on the big fella. Everyone thats been around long enough knows i absolutely love dirk. I dont think everyone realizes quite how lucky weve been with him for a couple of reasons, 1, i think hes been fairly underrated as a player. Hes one of the most effecient offensive forces of all time and hes a much better defender than he gets credit for. 2, He has absolutely no off the court issues. Start naming people who have been as good as him with no off the court issues since he came into the league. The list is pretty dang short. Weve never had to worry about him leaving as a FA(he has been extremely well played but still) and as much as hes been criticized for not "being a leader" vocally, hes never shied away from the responsibility of being a franchise player by asking for a trade even though the mavs have put him in several fairly difficult situations. That said, this team has to do whats best for the team and not whats best for dirk if they end up being different(Though i dont think they are)

As for evaluating the team, what we are clearly isnt working. Id bet quite a bit we make the playoffs if we make no other moves. However, thats not really a big deal. Acknowledging that things are in fact broke and need fixing is the first step. Everyones come to that step. Now you have to decide what you wanna make your core and how best to compliment that. IMO the mavs core is the dirk and jet two man game. Now you get to decided can we patch around that and compete or go another direction. For now im not sure but ill present a couple of options.

First howard needs to go. He has no basketball iq whatsoever and hes a cancer. who do you get for him? id be looking at josh and stack for shawn marion. I know marion has alot of the same issues howard has and hes played a ton of minutes but his contracts expiring and he does alot of the things josh used to, plus i think he plays well with kidd. If it doesnt work youre on your way to rebuilding. That leaves you with

kidd
jet
marion
dirk
damp

as youre main lineup(jet still comes off the bench)
that doesnt fix everything and it might not fix anything but i think it would help(and it would help make use of an existing asset in kidd since marion is amazing without the ball when he thinks he'll get the ball) Ill figure out what else i would do here in a minute but thats it for now...

not at all the trade that ended up happening but im pretty sure i was the first person who ever mentioned us getting marion... Now that we got marion just thought id point that out.