http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/...oves-mean-wins
DALLAS -- Mark Cuban isn't going to crown any NBA team in September.
The Los Angeles Lakers hogged offseason headlines by acquiring two potential Hall of Famers in point guard Steve Nash and center Dwight Howard to play alongside proven champions Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. However, the Dallas Mavericks owner cited recent history as proof that offseason splashes don't guarantee postseason celebrations.
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"The Lakers have done this before. Gary Payton and Karl Malone and Kobe and Shaq were all together, and it didn't work," Cuban said Monday, referring to the 2003-04 Lakers, who lost in the Finals, when introducing his team's acquisitions to the media and season-ticket holders. "It takes great chemistry. ... It takes guys wanting to be there. I don't know if all their guys want to be there."
Cuban may have been referring to Howard, who can become a free agent after this season.
"It's going to be interesting," Cuban continued. "Look, they're going to have a great team, but I remember when we made our run, we weren't supposed to win any series. Remember the Lakers were the defending champs, and we swept them and they had everybody back.
"A lot of teams do a great job of winning the summer, but I never get so antsy about what happens over the summer. I just want to know what happens during the season. As long as we keep on getting better and we're healthy going into the playoffs, then anything can happen."
There was no way the Mavs were going to win the summer after Deron Williams decided to move to Brooklyn with the Nets instead of returning home to play in Dallas.
The Nets are another team that got a lot of attention in July. They persuaded Williams to remain the face of their franchise in part by trading for Joe Johnson despite his monster contract and re-signing Gerald Wallace to a rich deal.
The Mavericks not only missed out on Williams, they also saw super sub Jason Terry go to the Celtics. Dallas did sign guard O.J. Mayo, got forward Elton Brand on a waiver claim from Philadelphia, signed center Chris Kaman and acquired Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones in a trade from Indiana.
"I never get too excited about what teams do on paper," said Cuban, who claims he believes in hindsight the Mavs are better off without signing Williams to a max deal that would have eaten up all their cap space. "It all comes down to what you do on the court, and I think we've put ourselves in great position to really do good things this year, and I think we've put ourselves in position to keep our players. So when they do great things, they can all grow together. And that's our goal.
"Again, the Lakers will do what the Lakers do. The Nets or whoever will do what they do. But I think we've put ourselves in great position."
Cuban is wrong. The big 4 did work as it got them to the Finals. Unlike that though, Nash and Howard aren't playing for pennies on the dollar and there's no Shaq or prime Mamba to run things. Now it's all worn out rat snake with prime ego and pussy ass Gasol.
sounds like he is a little butthurt tbh
The Lakers won the Summer?
cuban might be wrong 99% of time but what he said in the OP does look right as it gets. 04 lakers got real lucky to overcome the spurs and made the finals, but only to get curbstomped by pistons in 5 games pretty meekly, and we know the spurs defeated the pistons the right next year in the finals.
Lucky or not, they did overcome the Spurs.
They picked up Malone and Payton for nothing in that year. No one turns that down. Kobe's trial was a much bigger obstacle tbh.
Regardless, it's not the talent but the lack of team chemistry any new team will have, especially when new acquisitions are a big part of the new picture. It takes a while to get it down (see Miami in 2011). Unfortunately for LA, they don't have a several year window in which to find team chemistry with that group.
Cubes just trying to convice those ticketholders that this summer wasn't a failure.
Bitter old man is extra bitter since the Dwight trade. Can't blame him tbh with the spurs going into the fetal position and crying first, then when they finally decide to do something, they start auditioning scrubs
Japeth AguilarBitter old man is extra bitter since the Dwight trade. Can't blame him tbh with the spurs going into the fetal position and crying first, then when they finally decide to do something, they start auditioning scrubs
Obvious ty troll is obviously tyBitter old man is extra bitter since the Dwight trade. Can't blame him tbh with the spurs going into the fetal position and crying first, then when they finally decide to do something, they start auditioning scrubs
Pretty much. Sad that spanish 24 is volunterring for a dempled chin from Bynumite as well.
have u noticed any strong reaction from pop this time like he did following the gasol trade? swapping bynum for a DH is at best a one step forward, two steps back move, although you got an insignificant upgrade in your interior defense, on the other end of floor you're gonna miss that named bynum and what he did for this team imhoBitter old man is extra bitter since the Dwight trade. Can't blame him tbh with the spurs going into the fetal position and crying first, then when they finally decide to do something, they start auditioning scrubs
You're underestimating the level of consistency and effort Dwight brings to the table every game, that will be key during the playoffs. Bynum is great but not when he's in "I don't give a " mode, which happens way too often. Isn't Dwight averaging almost 20 rebounds vs miami... that's monstrous.
And even if Popovich isn't all that concerned about the Lakers recent acquisitions, i still don't see the spurs FO making moves to try to get past OKC either.
Maybe Pop already accepted his imminent future, a team that will soon be left with nothing but a playoff ghost at the point and the spurs consequent descent into tanking .
DH might be a slight upgrade over bynum but you & other frontrunners are deluding yourselves if you think this trade makes them le contenders again like when they got done the gasol deal. they got a core of big four but 3 of them are well in their 30s, and i don't think the squad they have now is much stronger than the team of the past two seasons, which failed to get past the 2nd round both times
our team struggled against decent bigs, not just DH but also the less dominant ones like Hibbert who took a miami-indiana series to 7 games, but we would always end up on the winning side and we've also improved alot during the offseason with the acquisitions of allen, lewis and many others. we are deep as now and have some cold-blooded shooters who'll make you pay if you double team bron or wade like you used to tbh
First, Gasol is 32 and coming from a great olympic performance, you make it sound like he's 39. Second, you can't double team a starting five loaded with stars without paying the price. Nash is a huge offensive upgrade at the point, a veteran with playoff experience that can shoot and dish and is great in the clutch. Also, LAL's bench is legit now with some good shooters, no more white scrubs.
So you just expect to end up on the winning side against a Dwight/Gasol frontcourt combo, when miami struggled against Hibbert, the same Hibbert you say took miami to 7
Amazing that Lakersfans call their bench "great" or "deep".
When it's been Odom and virtually nothing else for years (not to mention nothing the last 2 years), you get overexcited about anybody decent.Amazing that Lakersfans call their bench "great" or "deep".
Jamison, Meeks, and Hill are pretty ing solid as our first 3 off the bench, imo. After that it's terrible, unless Clark can give us some good minutes.
Ok, point taken but still...
Ok, point taken but still...
Seriously.... they should watch a few Clippers, Nuggets, and Heat games this year and see what a real bench looks like, tbh....Amazing that Lakersfans call their bench "great" or "deep".
Sounds like he was actually correct, tbh...
First, Gasol is 32 and coming from a great olympic performance, you make it sound like he's 39. Second, you can't double team a starting five loaded with stars without paying the price. Nash is a huge offensive upgrade at the point, a veteran with playoff experience that can shoot and dish and is great in the clutch. Also, LAL's bench is legit now with some good shooters, no more white scrubs.
So you just expect to end up on the winning side against a Dwight/Gasol frontcourt combo, when miami struggled against Hibbert, the same Hibbert you say took miami to 7
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