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09-14-2010, 05:30 PM
What’s Greg Ostertag Doing With The Mavs? (http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/09/13/10/Whats-Greg-Ostertag-Doing-With-The-Mavs/landing_mavericks.html?blockID=310234&feedID=3577)
By Mike Fisher -- FOXSportsSouthwest.com and DallasBasketball.com
The Dallas Mavericks are stockpiling 7-foot centers. Brendan Haywood has a new contract. Gold medalist Tyson Chandler has a new team. A pair of Frenchman, Ian Mahinmi and Alexis Ajinca, fill out the roster.
So what is Greg Ostertag doing at the Mavs headquarters?
He's a local product (Duncanville) and he's 7-2 and he's younger than Jason Kidd and he’s staying in shape (albeit by playing rec-league hockey in Scottsdale, Arizona).
"I know I can still play," Ostertag said recently, meaning "play basketball'' as opposed to "play hockey.'' "It's just a matter of getting back into shape. I can still play. I can put in 10 or 15 minutes a game, get some rebounds and block some shots."
The Mavericks are not convinced of that.
But the Mavs’ D-League affiliate, the Frisco-based Texas Legends, are intrigued.
The Dallas Morning News, after seeing the 11-year NBA vet working out at Mavs headquarters with Ajinca, is noting that Ostertag may re-enter the basketball world as a player/coach with the Legends. Maybe Ostertag has some teaching skills. Maybe he could sell a few tickets for the D-League franchise in its inaugural season. And maybe he’s got some basketball left in him, though Ostertag recently earned a tryout with the Portland Trail Blazers that we hear apparently didn't go especially well.
Dallas has its long-term commitment to Haywood, and he teams with Chandler (fresh off his Team USA title in Turkey) to provide the Mavs a top-notch rotation at center. If Dallas needs emergency big men, they've pretty much signed up every 7-foot tall person in the entire nation of France – at the very least providing Roddy Beaubois kids with whom to exchange inside jokes.
(For the record, the official plan with the two French centers: The Mavs believe ex-Spurs project Mahinmi will win the No. 3 job and will eventually try to find a trade fit for Ajinca.)
This back-to-the-future experience with Ostertag comes 15 years too late for at least one long-time seat-holder in the Mavs’ personnel room. Ostertag, after starring at Kansas, was available in the 1995 NBA Draft. He was very much coveted by none other than owner Don Carter's wife, Linda, who herself had played basketball at Duncanville High and was certain Greg could help the franchise.
And maybe Mrs. C was right. A decade-and-a-half later, Greg Ostertag might get a chance to help the franchise. … the D-League franchise in Frisco, that is … maybe as a coach, maybe as a player, and certainly, if the need ever arises, as the planet’s largest rec-league hockey player.
Mike Fisher covers the Mavs for www.FOXSportsSouthwest.com and at DallasBasketball.com. Follow The Fish and the Mavs at twitter.com/fishsports
Just in case you didn't know, he's younger than Jason Kidd by a year :lmao
By Mike Fisher -- FOXSportsSouthwest.com and DallasBasketball.com
The Dallas Mavericks are stockpiling 7-foot centers. Brendan Haywood has a new contract. Gold medalist Tyson Chandler has a new team. A pair of Frenchman, Ian Mahinmi and Alexis Ajinca, fill out the roster.
So what is Greg Ostertag doing at the Mavs headquarters?
He's a local product (Duncanville) and he's 7-2 and he's younger than Jason Kidd and he’s staying in shape (albeit by playing rec-league hockey in Scottsdale, Arizona).
"I know I can still play," Ostertag said recently, meaning "play basketball'' as opposed to "play hockey.'' "It's just a matter of getting back into shape. I can still play. I can put in 10 or 15 minutes a game, get some rebounds and block some shots."
The Mavericks are not convinced of that.
But the Mavs’ D-League affiliate, the Frisco-based Texas Legends, are intrigued.
The Dallas Morning News, after seeing the 11-year NBA vet working out at Mavs headquarters with Ajinca, is noting that Ostertag may re-enter the basketball world as a player/coach with the Legends. Maybe Ostertag has some teaching skills. Maybe he could sell a few tickets for the D-League franchise in its inaugural season. And maybe he’s got some basketball left in him, though Ostertag recently earned a tryout with the Portland Trail Blazers that we hear apparently didn't go especially well.
Dallas has its long-term commitment to Haywood, and he teams with Chandler (fresh off his Team USA title in Turkey) to provide the Mavs a top-notch rotation at center. If Dallas needs emergency big men, they've pretty much signed up every 7-foot tall person in the entire nation of France – at the very least providing Roddy Beaubois kids with whom to exchange inside jokes.
(For the record, the official plan with the two French centers: The Mavs believe ex-Spurs project Mahinmi will win the No. 3 job and will eventually try to find a trade fit for Ajinca.)
This back-to-the-future experience with Ostertag comes 15 years too late for at least one long-time seat-holder in the Mavs’ personnel room. Ostertag, after starring at Kansas, was available in the 1995 NBA Draft. He was very much coveted by none other than owner Don Carter's wife, Linda, who herself had played basketball at Duncanville High and was certain Greg could help the franchise.
And maybe Mrs. C was right. A decade-and-a-half later, Greg Ostertag might get a chance to help the franchise. … the D-League franchise in Frisco, that is … maybe as a coach, maybe as a player, and certainly, if the need ever arises, as the planet’s largest rec-league hockey player.
Mike Fisher covers the Mavs for www.FOXSportsSouthwest.com and at DallasBasketball.com. Follow The Fish and the Mavs at twitter.com/fishsports
Just in case you didn't know, he's younger than Jason Kidd by a year :lmao