Kori Ellis
10-04-2006, 01:17 AM
Mike Monroe: Cuban not exactly fond of teams training abroad
Web Posted: 10/03/2006 09:56 PM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA100406.08C.COL.BKNmonroe.mavs.2e10e6a.html
San Antonio Express-News
The Spurs are training and playing exhibition games in France, which makes French citizen Tony Parker very happy.
The Suns are training and playing exhibition games in Italy, which makes coach Mike D'Antoni, a dual American and Italian citizen, very happy.
The Mavericks are training in Denton and playing an exhibition in Pittsburgh, which makes German citizen Dirk Nowitzki very prickly.
Germans who had hoped they might get to see Nowitzki in action this month as part of NBA's Europe Live international effort have to content themselves with seeing his mug on the cover of the European version of the EA Sports NBA Live computer game box.
The league wanted the Mavs to play in Germany, for obvious reasons. But Nowitzki will be playing in Pittsburgh, instead of his fatherland, because Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sees no benefit to exporting the league's traning camps and preseason schedule overseas.
"Yeah, I think the NBA was trying to get us to go to Europe," Nowitzki said Monday at the Mavericks' media day in Dallas. "For me, it's not really understandable that there are games going on in Germany next week, and we're not there. Steve (Nash) is playing over there, and Philly (the 76ers). I would love to be there representing the Mavericks in my home country, but it hasn't worked out the last four or five years.
"We get to go to beautiful Pittsburgh this year."
Cuban is no isolationist; just a realist.
"It's hard enough for these guys, as it is, to prepare, avoid distractions, learn the system and deal with the intellectual side of it," Cuban said. "It's been suggested to us that we might want to go over, and then you watch the teams that do go over ... well, the Sonics came back from Japan and lost a game by 50 points.
"I'd rather play in Pittsburgh and Louisville and Lexington. I don't have a problem training outside of Dallas. I'd love to train in another city where we could build NBA fans and expose families to the heroes of the NBA. I just don't think there's any value in doing it overseas."
Spurs fans love to despise Cuban because he celebrated his team's Game 7 victory at the AT&T Center and said the River Walk was 'nasty.' The most objective knew he was right, as the recent River Walk cleanup proved.
NBA commissioner David Stern isn't crazy about some of Cuban's public utterances, either, and it is certain he won't like Cuban's stance on exporting training camps and exhibition games to Europe any more than his disappointed MVP candidate power forward.
"It doesn't really help the NBA," Cuban said. "Would we rather pick up a kid in Beijing or Moscow who says, 'I'm an NBA fan for life,' or would we rather pick up a kid in Louisville who says, 'Mommy, I got to see Dirk play against Tracy McGrady in a game, and now I'm an NBA fan for life?'
"Which one does ESPN want?"
Cuban doesn't think the rigors of international travel bode well for the teams that are participating in Europe Live, either. The fact the Spurs and Suns are "over there" doesn't make him any less critical of what he thinks is a misguided marketing effort.
"You've got to try to be a good partner as an NBA owner and say what kind of fits the NBA, but you also have to look at it from a team perspective," Cuban said. "When you're traveling over there, even though they give you an extra couple of days, it's draining on the body. And with you guys as media partners in a whole different financial world, they don't want to send everybody over there, and you've got to deal with that.
"I don't think it works for us in any way, shape or form, and it works against us in 100 different ways."
For the Spurs, the benefit this month of being close to some of the basketball contacts who have helped them pipeline talent to San Antonio no doubt outweighs some of the detriments that deter Cuban from sending the Mavs to Germany.
And the Rhone River is anything but nasty.
Web Posted: 10/03/2006 09:56 PM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA100406.08C.COL.BKNmonroe.mavs.2e10e6a.html
San Antonio Express-News
The Spurs are training and playing exhibition games in France, which makes French citizen Tony Parker very happy.
The Suns are training and playing exhibition games in Italy, which makes coach Mike D'Antoni, a dual American and Italian citizen, very happy.
The Mavericks are training in Denton and playing an exhibition in Pittsburgh, which makes German citizen Dirk Nowitzki very prickly.
Germans who had hoped they might get to see Nowitzki in action this month as part of NBA's Europe Live international effort have to content themselves with seeing his mug on the cover of the European version of the EA Sports NBA Live computer game box.
The league wanted the Mavs to play in Germany, for obvious reasons. But Nowitzki will be playing in Pittsburgh, instead of his fatherland, because Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sees no benefit to exporting the league's traning camps and preseason schedule overseas.
"Yeah, I think the NBA was trying to get us to go to Europe," Nowitzki said Monday at the Mavericks' media day in Dallas. "For me, it's not really understandable that there are games going on in Germany next week, and we're not there. Steve (Nash) is playing over there, and Philly (the 76ers). I would love to be there representing the Mavericks in my home country, but it hasn't worked out the last four or five years.
"We get to go to beautiful Pittsburgh this year."
Cuban is no isolationist; just a realist.
"It's hard enough for these guys, as it is, to prepare, avoid distractions, learn the system and deal with the intellectual side of it," Cuban said. "It's been suggested to us that we might want to go over, and then you watch the teams that do go over ... well, the Sonics came back from Japan and lost a game by 50 points.
"I'd rather play in Pittsburgh and Louisville and Lexington. I don't have a problem training outside of Dallas. I'd love to train in another city where we could build NBA fans and expose families to the heroes of the NBA. I just don't think there's any value in doing it overseas."
Spurs fans love to despise Cuban because he celebrated his team's Game 7 victory at the AT&T Center and said the River Walk was 'nasty.' The most objective knew he was right, as the recent River Walk cleanup proved.
NBA commissioner David Stern isn't crazy about some of Cuban's public utterances, either, and it is certain he won't like Cuban's stance on exporting training camps and exhibition games to Europe any more than his disappointed MVP candidate power forward.
"It doesn't really help the NBA," Cuban said. "Would we rather pick up a kid in Beijing or Moscow who says, 'I'm an NBA fan for life,' or would we rather pick up a kid in Louisville who says, 'Mommy, I got to see Dirk play against Tracy McGrady in a game, and now I'm an NBA fan for life?'
"Which one does ESPN want?"
Cuban doesn't think the rigors of international travel bode well for the teams that are participating in Europe Live, either. The fact the Spurs and Suns are "over there" doesn't make him any less critical of what he thinks is a misguided marketing effort.
"You've got to try to be a good partner as an NBA owner and say what kind of fits the NBA, but you also have to look at it from a team perspective," Cuban said. "When you're traveling over there, even though they give you an extra couple of days, it's draining on the body. And with you guys as media partners in a whole different financial world, they don't want to send everybody over there, and you've got to deal with that.
"I don't think it works for us in any way, shape or form, and it works against us in 100 different ways."
For the Spurs, the benefit this month of being close to some of the basketball contacts who have helped them pipeline talent to San Antonio no doubt outweighs some of the detriments that deter Cuban from sending the Mavs to Germany.
And the Rhone River is anything but nasty.