Don’t believe the lie. Kobe Bryant wasn’t dishing out compliments to the Mavericks as some sort of clever ploy. He was being straight up honest.
“No question,” Kobe said Saturday when asked by our girl Gina Miller whether the trade moves the Mavs to the Lakers’ level. “I hate to say it, but it’s true. … Trust me, I don’t like it by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s a great move by (Dallas). It pains me to say it. But you guys made two great pickups.”
When Dirk dropped his 20,000th point this week against the Lakers, the crowd rose to their feet and cheered. Once on the bench for a timeout, Dirk stood up and applauded the crowd and thanked them for their support. It was a sentimental moment.
Dallas loves its big German. No doubt. But in the end, do we REALLY care about his personal achievements? The Mavericks lost the game in embarrassing fashion as Dirk and several other players wasted 10+ seconds passing the ball when they needed a three pointer to tie.
Check out the game video recap below from December 5th game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Pretty funny stuff. Check it out. Mark Cuban gets thrown through a table by the WWE’s Seamus O’Shaunessy.
In this space each week will be a report on the goings on in the NBA’s Southwest Division.
Dallas 10-3
Houston 7-6
San Antonio 4-6
New Orleans 5-8
Memphis 4-8
I watched as much of the game as I could last night before I just had to get some sleep. So I missed the entire 4th Quarter and overtime as Dirk led his team to the win.
If you missed the entire game, or just a part, you can catch the entire replay right now at ESPN360.com. Not sure how long they’ll make the game available, but it’s the main banner image right now. So catch it anytime today if you can.
I was in the AAC last night for the Mavs season opener against the Washington Wizards and wanted to share a few quick thoughts on the game and the Mavs.
Associated Press - Vince Carter racked up 21 points in his Orlando debut and Brandon Bass added seven of his 13 points in the final two minutes to lift the Magic to a 110-105 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the preseason opener for both teams on Monday night.
Carter, who was acquired by the Magic in an offseason trade with the Toronto Raptors, scored 15 points in the third quarter. Bass was a key reserve for the Mavericks the past two seasons before signing a four-year free-agent deal with the Magic during the offseason.
Even though he only made one or two of the top 10 spots in this video, this only reminds me how much the Mavs lost when they let Brandon Bass go.
Check out this video of the press conference showcasing the new Mavs uniforms and summer signees including Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Tim Thomas, Nathan Jawai, and Quinton Ross.
ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that the Mavericks are “actively pursuing two-for-one trades in hopes of easing the roster logjam before training camp starts Sept. 28, with center Nathan Jawai and swingman Shawne Williams among those being made available.”
Williams is a third year veteran with a career 30.6% three-point shooting. Jawai is coming off his first year in the league with an average of only 3.2 minutes per game.
Since the Mavs just re-signed James Singleton, it’s important to maximize remaining bench players at each position. It’s a little late in the offseason to be making this effort, but we wish Cuban and Donnie great success.
It will be interesting to see who, if anyone, the Mavs can get with these 2-for-1 specials.
I’m seriously starting to second guess my career choice. Looking at Greg Buckner, I can’t help but believe that I might have made it to the NBA for at least a few seasons as a walk-on had I taken better care of my ankles in high school. Oh, hindsight, you miserable @*$%.
