4:10 pm Cuban on Hardline

[mattyd]

Cuban is on the next segment....

[Eman]

So what did he say?

[Murphy3]

There's Cuban admitting that the Mavs made a mistake in taking the ball out of Dirk's hands too much by making Walker the point forward...an obvious point made by many of us..

PoindexterEinstein, David...would both of you like to step up and admit that you were wrong for backing Nellie with his decision to make Walker the point forward and taking the ball out of Dirk's hands?

[ames7]

You know what? I feel better now having listened to that. I don't know what it was last year, I didn't quite buy into anything they were saying about the makeup of the team going into the season. Cuban said he was glad USA basketball lost the gold b/c it'll be a wakeup call that they'll have to change the way they do things. Having listened to him talk about how last year's team took the ball away from Dirk, I felt more relieved than anything else...just to know that they recognize that. If it took last year's painful lack of direction & playoff disaster to get them to change the way they do things, then it'd have been worth it. I buy into what they're doing now a lot more.

Sounds like Terry is staying & apparently, so are all 47 centers. I'd like to see how he plans on making that work w/the rest of the roster.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Thats all he said?

[GermanBlitzkrieg]

Murph, I stopped careing after Christmas. I enjoyed, in some maschochistic way, the mid-90s better than last year. I guess because then I didn't expect much, was looking for improvement, could dream. Last year, by December it was obvious that we had taken a step back, Dirk was underutilized, ect.. REALLY looking forward to this year, though!!

[ames7]

Ok, I did a quick write-up.

-On too many centers: didn’t expect DJ & Pavel to help anyway. Damp, Shawn, & Booth will be the centers. Keeping DJ & Pavel around (i.e. not sending them to Europe), want them to get NBA training here, especially working w/trainers here.

-Says he’s done, no more moves. Terry’s here to stay, he’s moving in. Stack’s here to stay.

-JT is the PG unless Harris just blows up & takes it away. Compares him to Bibby going from Vancouver to Sacto. Cites JT’s assist #s in the yrs when they had guys in Atlanta.

-Donnie & Nellie really like Harris. Compares him to Kevin Johnson (Suns). He’s fearless. Working out w/Fin in Chicago. Says he tries to dunk on guys a lot, needs to develop a floater.

-Says he LOVES the team, thinks it’s better than last yr AND 2 yrs ago. Says we have someone “of all star caliber” at every position.

-What he learned from last yr: we took the ball out of Dirk’s hands too much. Will save Dirk energy by not having to play C. Damp can bang down low. Booth can come in & block shots too.

-Not worried about backup for Dirk, says b/c we have depth, can play Damp at the 4 behind Dirk sometimes, & also Alan Henderson if he’s healthy.

-Said he had to spend a lot of $$ & fought hard to keep Daniels & Howard while making these moves. Says we have the veteran core as well as the foundation for the future.

-Says the Walker deal to Atlanta wasn’t an option until right before it happened. Says the Damp deal couldn’t have happened if we’d signed Nash.

-Glad that USA basketball lost the gold. Said the only way they were going to get better is if someone smacked them over the head. Compares them to the Mavs last yr, everyone out there plays hard, just not the right mix.

[grndmstr_c]

Thanks a bunch for the summary.

[StvNash13]

Don't you get the feeling that Mark reads this board or something? Other than bashing Nellie, he said most of the things that we discuss daily on here.

[Evilmav2]

-Says the Walker deal to Atlanta wasn’t an option until right before it happened. Says the Damp deal couldn’t have happened if we’d signed Nash.

He also pointed out that it cost him less to sign Dampier than it would have cost him to retain Nash. Obviously here he is weighing the monetary costs of carrying a re-signed Nash on the roster along with Najera and Laettner, versus paying Dampier sans Eddie and Christian.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I don't buy what he said about the option to send Walker to Atlanta before right before it happened. We had heard the J-ho and Walker to Atlanta for Terry and Henderson rumor come up.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: DevinHarriswillstart
I don't buy what he said about the option to send Walker to Atlanta before right before it happened. We had heard the J-ho and Walker to Atlanta for Terry and Henderson rumor come up.

Well we know that Walker and Howard didn't go to Atlanta for Terry and Henderson, so the rumor was ultimately false. We've heard tons of rumors here, and most turn out to be false. It could be just coincidence that we hear an unfounder rumor, or the hawks could have planted it, or our competitors. So there are lots of legitimate possibilities why it wasn't an option before the night before.

[FreshJive]

"Says the Damp deal couldn’t have happened if we’d signed Nash."

Why? Is this because it is over Cuban's self imposed limit or is there a legal reason? He should just admit that he didn't want to resign Nash.

[V2M]

Originally posted by: StvNash13
Don't you get the feeling that Mark reads this board or something? Other than bashing Nellie, he said most of the things that we discuss daily on here.

How could he not read the best Mavericks board there is? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Murphy3]

I can only imagine that he checks out this site from time to time...and maybe LMF and db.com as well. Although I doubt he actually makes it to the forums at db.com

[V2M]

Originally posted by: FreshJive
"Says the Damp deal couldn’t have happened if we’d signed Nash."

Why? Is this because it is over Cuban's self imposed limit or is there a legal reason? He should just admit that he didn't want to resign Nash.

Why is it so difficult to understand that even Cuban ain't got infinite amount of money?

We as fans should be just grateful that he's willing to taken on tens of millions in Luxury Tax every year on top of having the second highest payroll in the league.

Isn't it obvious that he's trying to build a team to win the championship?? What more can you ask for?

[nowitzki_prophecy]

Says the Damp deal couldn’t have happened if we’d signed Nash.

Guess sometimes you have to take a step backwards so you could truely develop.

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: GermanBlitzkrieg
Murph, I stopped careing after Christmas. I enjoyed, in some maschochistic way, the mid-90s better than last year. I guess because then I didn't expect much, was looking for improvement, could dream. Last year, by December it was obvious that we had taken a step back, Dirk was underutilized, ect.. REALLY looking forward to this year, though!!

Hell me too to be honest, but I was stuck with the tickets! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

I also want to see dallas FORCE the ball into dirks hands. I'm starting to think that dirk will never be the "demand" the ball kinda guy that americans are used to, however he will bust his ass if asked to. I think they need to force it into his hands, it's obvious he just not egofied enough to demand to be the man and only the man.

[dmavsfan]

I'm glad Dirk isn't egofied. How did Germany force the ball into Dirk's hands that game? Well they just sort of passed it to him a lot and he did lots of stuff with it. And when they needed the big 3 pointer at the end of the game? The PG dribbled down the court and passed it back to Dirk who hit the shot. Sounds simple enough. Just get him the ball!

[sike]

Mark also said he likes this team more than the 92/93 60 win team.....interesting. I, as many of you, loved to hear him admit that it was a mistake to take the ball out of Dirk's hands "because he's our best offensive option".....

[LRB]

Originally posted by: sike
Mark also said he likes this team more than the 92/93 60 win team.....interesting. I, as many of you, loved to hear him admit that it was a mistake to take the ball out of Dirk's hands "because he's our best offensive option".....

Didn't the team in 92/93 lose like 60+ games? Maybe 02/03? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[FreshJive]

Originally posted by: V2M

Why is it so difficult to understand that even Cuban ain't got infinite amount of money?

We as fans should be just grateful that he's willing to taken on tens of millions in Luxury Tax every year on top of having the second highest payroll in the league.

Isn't it obvious that he's trying to build a team to win the championship?? What more can you ask for?

It's not hard to understand, but that's not what he said. "Couldn't" have happened is what he was reported as saying, not "wouldn't" have happened. Couldn't implies that the choice is not his.

[Bookit]

Thanks for that detailed recap Ames7! It is great to come here to get the details since I missed the interview.

[sike]

Originally posted by: LRB

Didn't the team in 92/93 lose like 60+ games? Maybe 02/03? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

well I think this year's team will better than the 92/93 squad and I don't care what anyone else says [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
I guess its LRB's new trick to point out all my many and obvious faults [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] ....boy will that be a long list! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[strategery]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
I can only imagine that he checks out this site from time to time...and maybe LMF and db.com as well. Although I doubt he actually makes it to the forums at db.com

first time long time....if you look on an internet website, you will find that mark cuban owns db.com in some strange way.

[Murphy3]

...but I've been to the forum...Cuban's a relatively intelligent person so I can't imagine him visiting that forum.

[strategery]

fair enough.....

just stating the facts though.

[mavsfanforever]

Thanks a lot ames.

[MavsFanFinley]

-Not worried about backup for Dirk, says b/c we have depth, can play Damp at the 4 behind Dirk sometimes, & also Alan Henderson if he’s healthy.

Great. Instead of playing pf's at the center position, we're going to do the opposite and use our centers at the pf spot.

That's cool they'll give Henderson a shot at the minutes behind Dirk. It sounds like he's hungry to prove that his career isn't finished and it's a mistake to write him off so soon. We'll see.

But what happens if we lose Dirk for a month or more? Can Henderson handle those minutes assuming he is healthy to make the active roster? I don't trust Nelson to use Bradley long enough while switching Dampier/Booth at the 4. And while I'm excited with the promise of MBenga, I'd hate to rely on him for extended minutes. I'm not saying Harvey is the answer, but wouldn't mind if Cuban was a little more concerned for a backup man behind Dirk.

Of course why am I asking all these questions? If we lose Dirk for any serious length of time, we might as well mail the season in.

[lonny22]

Yeah, I saw one day where the site owner had the Mavs Team Offices for an address.

I don't remember Cuban being on dallasbasketball ever, but he did answer questions on Lone Mavs one time. I know he goes to both sites, though.