ducks
07-21-2008, 12:58 PM
Dirk Nowitzki did not do any interviews immediately after propelling Germany to its first Olympic berth since 1992. He couldn’t.
The Dallas Mavericks’ best player was in the locker room in Greece bawling Sunday, like a baby or newlywed or player who has finally delivered on a promise to his country, his coach and himself.
He had been thinking of this moment long before he dreamed of MVPs and NBA championships. Anybody who even kind of knows The Big German is giddy for him, with the possible exception of Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who is certainly no fan of NBA players in the Olympics.
And even he is happy for Dirk.
"My issues on the Olympics are not with Dirk or the players," Cuban said via e-mail Sunday. "I’m thrilled for Dirk. It’s a dream of his, and there is nothing that could make me happier for him."
Well, except for an NBA championship. He has kind of been banking on Dirk leading the Mavs to a ring. That was the thinking behind the whole not being willing to trade Dirk for Kobe last summer. Cubes and Nellie Jr. have bet a lot on their favorite German, and seem to have accepted he needs better toys around him to achieve his other dream.
And good news, there was movement on the toy front this week. While Dirk was doing his Superman impression thing to push Germany to the Olympics, the Mavs were not-so-quietly, as it turns out, inquiring about acquiring Ron Artest from Sacramento.
I am strangely intrigued by this. Actually love this deal.
Sure, Artest has a lot of crazy and a little team wrecker in him, a subject on which Mavs coach Rick Carlisle has intimate knowledge. Artest basically imploded his Indy team with his decision to brawl in the stands.
Carlisle obviously had to, at least, kind of-sort of, sign off on talking to Sacramento, which means he likes Artest’s brand of crazy. What the Mavs were not willing to do was give up Josh Howard for it.
This confirms two things the Mavs have been saying:
1. There is genuine league interest in our Doobie Brother.
2. The Mavs do not want to unload Josh so badly that any deal is better than no deal.
What reportedly killed trade talks was that Brandon Bass and Jerry Stackhouse, not Josh, were offered. I am not so sure I wouldn’t have sent Howard to Sacramento.
Moving Stack is understandable (even though I am a huge Stack fan). But the willingness to part company with Bass is beyond me. He was the only player, other than Dirk, who actually showed interest in trying to defeat the Hornets.
Much like a year ago, when the Mavs were publicly saying how much they loved their team and yet talked to anyone and everyone about changing it, there appears to be a lot of talking going on now.
What I can not quite figure out is why Josh is so untouchable. Maybe, the Mavs are guilty of still buying into the hype generated by the playoffs a couple of years ago.
What we know now is Josh is not the complement to Dirk we thought he was. He doesn’t have it upstairs, on the floor, or in the fourth quarter.
If Dirk can carry the Motherland into the Olympics for the first time in 16 years, he doesn’t require a Kobe or LeBron to be his sidekick. But he does need someone more dedicated than Josh has been.
And let’s be clear for everybody who has ever said Dirk is incapable of being the man: It is on his shoulders the Deutschland is going to Beijing. He scored 32 points in Sunday’s game against Puerto Rico for the last and final spot.
My good friends at ballineurope.com — which has the best Web site mascot ever, a literally smoking Euroballer — helped put this feat in proper perspective.
"For German basketball in general, this is the top of the top for the generation around the Dallas Maverick player," Web site founder Christophe Nye said. "It would have been a shame for them if they were the only team sport not qualifying, as handball, volleyball and water polo did."
This sets up interesting viewing for Mavs fans, not named Cuban, with Germany’s victory Sunday placing it in a group with Angola, Spain, Greece, Team USA (and JKidd) and China, featuring Mavs GM Donnie Nelson as an assistant coach. Talk about your reunions.
China plays Germany on Aug. 16, with Team America playing the Germans two days later. This, of course, will test Cuban’s happy level for Dirk and his OK level with NBA players being in China.
And he has a pretty good argument in Carlos Arroyo.
He was one of the Puerto Rican players; past tense needed because of a torn leg muscle that prevented him from playing against Germany. He also, to his chagrin, is a free agent.
"If it’s bad, what happens to him?" Cuban said.
And if it is Dirk, Cuban will be the one bawling like a school girl.
For now, though, Cuban, like everybody else, is thrilled that Dirk made his Big German dream a reality.
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/771622.html
The Dallas Mavericks’ best player was in the locker room in Greece bawling Sunday, like a baby or newlywed or player who has finally delivered on a promise to his country, his coach and himself.
He had been thinking of this moment long before he dreamed of MVPs and NBA championships. Anybody who even kind of knows The Big German is giddy for him, with the possible exception of Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who is certainly no fan of NBA players in the Olympics.
And even he is happy for Dirk.
"My issues on the Olympics are not with Dirk or the players," Cuban said via e-mail Sunday. "I’m thrilled for Dirk. It’s a dream of his, and there is nothing that could make me happier for him."
Well, except for an NBA championship. He has kind of been banking on Dirk leading the Mavs to a ring. That was the thinking behind the whole not being willing to trade Dirk for Kobe last summer. Cubes and Nellie Jr. have bet a lot on their favorite German, and seem to have accepted he needs better toys around him to achieve his other dream.
And good news, there was movement on the toy front this week. While Dirk was doing his Superman impression thing to push Germany to the Olympics, the Mavs were not-so-quietly, as it turns out, inquiring about acquiring Ron Artest from Sacramento.
I am strangely intrigued by this. Actually love this deal.
Sure, Artest has a lot of crazy and a little team wrecker in him, a subject on which Mavs coach Rick Carlisle has intimate knowledge. Artest basically imploded his Indy team with his decision to brawl in the stands.
Carlisle obviously had to, at least, kind of-sort of, sign off on talking to Sacramento, which means he likes Artest’s brand of crazy. What the Mavs were not willing to do was give up Josh Howard for it.
This confirms two things the Mavs have been saying:
1. There is genuine league interest in our Doobie Brother.
2. The Mavs do not want to unload Josh so badly that any deal is better than no deal.
What reportedly killed trade talks was that Brandon Bass and Jerry Stackhouse, not Josh, were offered. I am not so sure I wouldn’t have sent Howard to Sacramento.
Moving Stack is understandable (even though I am a huge Stack fan). But the willingness to part company with Bass is beyond me. He was the only player, other than Dirk, who actually showed interest in trying to defeat the Hornets.
Much like a year ago, when the Mavs were publicly saying how much they loved their team and yet talked to anyone and everyone about changing it, there appears to be a lot of talking going on now.
What I can not quite figure out is why Josh is so untouchable. Maybe, the Mavs are guilty of still buying into the hype generated by the playoffs a couple of years ago.
What we know now is Josh is not the complement to Dirk we thought he was. He doesn’t have it upstairs, on the floor, or in the fourth quarter.
If Dirk can carry the Motherland into the Olympics for the first time in 16 years, he doesn’t require a Kobe or LeBron to be his sidekick. But he does need someone more dedicated than Josh has been.
And let’s be clear for everybody who has ever said Dirk is incapable of being the man: It is on his shoulders the Deutschland is going to Beijing. He scored 32 points in Sunday’s game against Puerto Rico for the last and final spot.
My good friends at ballineurope.com — which has the best Web site mascot ever, a literally smoking Euroballer — helped put this feat in proper perspective.
"For German basketball in general, this is the top of the top for the generation around the Dallas Maverick player," Web site founder Christophe Nye said. "It would have been a shame for them if they were the only team sport not qualifying, as handball, volleyball and water polo did."
This sets up interesting viewing for Mavs fans, not named Cuban, with Germany’s victory Sunday placing it in a group with Angola, Spain, Greece, Team USA (and JKidd) and China, featuring Mavs GM Donnie Nelson as an assistant coach. Talk about your reunions.
China plays Germany on Aug. 16, with Team America playing the Germans two days later. This, of course, will test Cuban’s happy level for Dirk and his OK level with NBA players being in China.
And he has a pretty good argument in Carlos Arroyo.
He was one of the Puerto Rican players; past tense needed because of a torn leg muscle that prevented him from playing against Germany. He also, to his chagrin, is a free agent.
"If it’s bad, what happens to him?" Cuban said.
And if it is Dirk, Cuban will be the one bawling like a school girl.
For now, though, Cuban, like everybody else, is thrilled that Dirk made his Big German dream a reality.
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/771622.html