Money316
06-18-2007, 01:59 PM
Taken from Dallas MN on Saturaday,
San Antonio proves Dallas not far off
01:13 AM CDT on Saturday, June 16, 2007
Morals for the day: Never shop for groceries when you're hungry, never bark back at your boss without a backup plan and never overreact to a playoff bust.
The first two heat-of-the-moment illustrations have kept me within the legal limit on Yoo-hoo and relatively well-employed.
The last revelation? Came to me the last week while watching the Spurs scrimmage the Cavs.
Forget that San Antonio probably could have asked any of its seconds – Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, even Utah – to stand in against the Cavs, and Cleveland fans still would have booed David Stern.
No matter how bad they looked, the Finals made you think: Just how awful could the Mavs be, anyway?
The knee-jerk reaction after the Golden State debacle registered fairly loud. The Mavs aren't athletic or tough enough, there's no low-post presence, and the point guards couldn't find an open man with a telescope.
Come to think of it, the points hold up pretty well. But is it worth blowing up the team to fix?
Consider the counsel of one Manu Ginobili, who feels your pain. Or at least he did until the champagne set in.
"Every time you don't finish with a win, you're going to feel upset," Ginobili told reporters. "There's only one team that's going to finish with a smile. It wasn't our turn last year. But we came up strong in this playoffs and that's why we are so happy.
"But you're not going to win every year."
Of course, that's easy for him to say. The Spurs win every other year , giving rise to a curious debate over whether this qualifies them as a dynasty. Don't expect any quibbling here. The Spurs and Rockets have won nearly half the league's last 14 titles, so many that I'm thinking of petitioning Stern to fly the Lone Star over NBA headquarters.
North Texas hasn't held up its end of the bargain. But the Mavs have come close, which you may remember.
After the Mavs beat the Spurs in the playoffs last year, the book on the intrastate rivals seemed apparent: Dallas was trendy and San Antonio, despite a good core, looked old and thin.
So what did the Spurs do? They traded Rasho Nesterovic for a couple of spare parts and resuscitated Jacque Vaughn.
Basically, they stuck to their plan, which is to throw the ball into Tim Duncan and hound the other team like tabloids chew on Paris Hilton. The concept isn't exciting on paper or especially TV, but it sure wins.
Not that the Mavs have much trouble with it. After eliminating the Spurs last year, they beat them three out of four this season.
All of which begs the question: Do you base your off-season plans on how to beat the eighth seed, or do you go after the league's best?
Despite their problems, the Mavs are a versatile, flexible bunch. They can run, and they can play half-court. They play decent defense. And there's not a knucklehead in the lot.
You've read here that the Mavs could sure use a point guard. Maybe Chauncey Billups or even Jason Kidd. Either would be a serious upgrade. But because of salary cap issues, you'd have to trade for either, and both the Pistons and Nets would start negotiations by asking for Josh Howard and work from there.
A low-post threat? Utah beat the Warriors because of Carlos Boozer. But point guards are easier to come by than a good power forward.
The Mavs probably would be better off making Devin Harris the full-time point and tracking San Antonio's route: Adding better pieces for the bench.
What Devean George and Greg Buckner give you on defense, they subtract on offense when the Mavs go small.
Candidates for the Mavs' bench? Our NBA expert, David Moore, offers up a couple of unrestricted free agents in Desmond Mason or Matt Barnes. Maybe Charlotte's Gerald Wallace, a good defender who can score. A big body in New Jersey's Mikki Moore.
Bonzi Wells? Maybe not.
Or how about this: Fabricio Oberto, the Spurs' 6-10 center, can opt out. He's smart and nifty around the baseline, and you'd be hurting a rival by stealing an important piece.
"We are going to do what we do every summer," Mark Cuban writes. "We are going to be opportunistic and work to keep our core players together."
You could do worse, probably. If you don't panic. As the Spurs have proved time and again, there's always next year.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/061607dnsposherrington.379d5d8.html
San Antonio proves Dallas not far off
01:13 AM CDT on Saturday, June 16, 2007
Morals for the day: Never shop for groceries when you're hungry, never bark back at your boss without a backup plan and never overreact to a playoff bust.
The first two heat-of-the-moment illustrations have kept me within the legal limit on Yoo-hoo and relatively well-employed.
The last revelation? Came to me the last week while watching the Spurs scrimmage the Cavs.
Forget that San Antonio probably could have asked any of its seconds – Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, even Utah – to stand in against the Cavs, and Cleveland fans still would have booed David Stern.
No matter how bad they looked, the Finals made you think: Just how awful could the Mavs be, anyway?
The knee-jerk reaction after the Golden State debacle registered fairly loud. The Mavs aren't athletic or tough enough, there's no low-post presence, and the point guards couldn't find an open man with a telescope.
Come to think of it, the points hold up pretty well. But is it worth blowing up the team to fix?
Consider the counsel of one Manu Ginobili, who feels your pain. Or at least he did until the champagne set in.
"Every time you don't finish with a win, you're going to feel upset," Ginobili told reporters. "There's only one team that's going to finish with a smile. It wasn't our turn last year. But we came up strong in this playoffs and that's why we are so happy.
"But you're not going to win every year."
Of course, that's easy for him to say. The Spurs win every other year , giving rise to a curious debate over whether this qualifies them as a dynasty. Don't expect any quibbling here. The Spurs and Rockets have won nearly half the league's last 14 titles, so many that I'm thinking of petitioning Stern to fly the Lone Star over NBA headquarters.
North Texas hasn't held up its end of the bargain. But the Mavs have come close, which you may remember.
After the Mavs beat the Spurs in the playoffs last year, the book on the intrastate rivals seemed apparent: Dallas was trendy and San Antonio, despite a good core, looked old and thin.
So what did the Spurs do? They traded Rasho Nesterovic for a couple of spare parts and resuscitated Jacque Vaughn.
Basically, they stuck to their plan, which is to throw the ball into Tim Duncan and hound the other team like tabloids chew on Paris Hilton. The concept isn't exciting on paper or especially TV, but it sure wins.
Not that the Mavs have much trouble with it. After eliminating the Spurs last year, they beat them three out of four this season.
All of which begs the question: Do you base your off-season plans on how to beat the eighth seed, or do you go after the league's best?
Despite their problems, the Mavs are a versatile, flexible bunch. They can run, and they can play half-court. They play decent defense. And there's not a knucklehead in the lot.
You've read here that the Mavs could sure use a point guard. Maybe Chauncey Billups or even Jason Kidd. Either would be a serious upgrade. But because of salary cap issues, you'd have to trade for either, and both the Pistons and Nets would start negotiations by asking for Josh Howard and work from there.
A low-post threat? Utah beat the Warriors because of Carlos Boozer. But point guards are easier to come by than a good power forward.
The Mavs probably would be better off making Devin Harris the full-time point and tracking San Antonio's route: Adding better pieces for the bench.
What Devean George and Greg Buckner give you on defense, they subtract on offense when the Mavs go small.
Candidates for the Mavs' bench? Our NBA expert, David Moore, offers up a couple of unrestricted free agents in Desmond Mason or Matt Barnes. Maybe Charlotte's Gerald Wallace, a good defender who can score. A big body in New Jersey's Mikki Moore.
Bonzi Wells? Maybe not.
Or how about this: Fabricio Oberto, the Spurs' 6-10 center, can opt out. He's smart and nifty around the baseline, and you'd be hurting a rival by stealing an important piece.
"We are going to do what we do every summer," Mark Cuban writes. "We are going to be opportunistic and work to keep our core players together."
You could do worse, probably. If you don't panic. As the Spurs have proved time and again, there's always next year.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/061607dnsposherrington.379d5d8.html