"Stackhouse was a man."

[DAINTX]

we should take dirk off mav hands

Stoudamire for Dirk, straight up. That seems like a fair trade. Dirk may have a little more skill, but Damon probably has more heart. OK, maybe the Mavs would have to kick in a few $M, but most would go for that, right?

[GrandeDavid]

Avery is cheap. I don't think his jersey should be hanging in the rafters.

[Avitus1]

I can't wait till Avery gets fired.

[Findog]

I can't wait till Avery gets fired.

April 17th or 18th.

[Kindergarten Cop]

April 17th or 18th.

Do you really think that Avery will be fired at season's end?

[bigfundamental21]

I think it starts from the top down. I think Cuban's stupidity infiltrates the entire Mavs organization. Avery is just a mentally weak coach and is susceptible to Cuban's idiocy.

yeah, it all starts with Cuban .

Avery is not thinking about the Spurs when he says stupid crap like that. He is trying to make his boss happy. He can't say anything different or his job is gone. Either way, he may lose his job if he can't right the ship.

As for unretiring his jersey.... i don't agree. Avery's time as a Spurs player has nothing to do with his time as a mavs coach. he's just being a homer.

[Findog]

Do you really think that Avery will be fired at season's end?

Unless Dirk gets healthy real quick and this team improbably makes a deep playoff run, Avery is done. And he'll be gone for the ulative effect of getting successively outcoached by Riley and Nellie, which isn't that bad because those are two of the keenest basketball minds around, but also making the strategic decision to "do like the Spurs do" and mess around with rotation and sub patterns early on. It turns out wins were precious in the West this year, and wouldn't it be nice to have back those early season losses to teams now that we can't survive Dirk being out so long? That SPAM works for San Antonio, but we have to find our own approach.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Unless Dirk gets healthy real quick and this team improbably makes a deep playoff run, Avery is done. And he'll be gone for the ulative effect of getting successively outcoached by Riley and Nellie, which isn't that bad because those are two of the keenest basketball minds around, but also making the strategic decision to "do like the Spurs do" and mess around with rotation and sub patterns early on. It turns out wins were precious in the West this year, and wouldn't it be nice to have back those early season losses to teams now that we can't survive Dirk being out so long? That SPAM works for San Antonio, but we have to find our own approach.

Yep, Avery should get fired. It's his fault his chump ass owner went out and ditched its two best defenders to get a geriatric point guard and ed up the team chemistry.

[Findog]

Yep, Avery should get fired. It's his fault his chump ass owner went out and ditched its two best defenders to get a geriatric point guard and ed up the team chemistry.

Great take. You don't know anything about the Mavs.

[Findog]

Also, here's a friendly tip AHF, but you're an even bigger than the Mav trolls on this board and the annoying bandwagon fans you're surrounded by in Dallas. It's a great way to make your case by engaging in the exact behavior you claim to detest in our fanbase. Not every Mav fan is trying to insert sand in your vagina. Some of us just want to talk hoops. You don't have to get into a defensive stance just because "Dallas Mavericks" appears under my screen name and avatar. I'm not here to push anyone's buttons or rile anybody up. Most Spurs fans are pretty knowledgeable to talk basketball with. If you want to stay in the shallow end of the pool, why not just hang out in the Troll Cave?

[ChuckD]

Stackhouse was wrong to do what he did. How many times do I have to state that? But like he said, this is nothing new with Ginobili. He's not a completely innocent party to the altercation, just a bit craftier and wiser.

You've just defined the line between champions and "other teams". Too bad (for you, anyways) the Mavs are on the other side of it. EVERY champion team does this. They also DON'T react when the other team does this, or something worse, like Stack's takedown.

Once you lose your cool, you're done. What Stack basically said was "I can't win against Ginobili playing physical basketball, so I am forced to turn this into WWE", which, considering that he plays for Cuban, shouldn't be much of a surprise.

[ChuckD]

Great take. You don't know anything about the Mavs.

You know, you people keep saying that, but I have to be honest with you: the date of that trade may just be made into a San Antonio municipal holiday. The Mavs had achieved separation and an edge, and they ing voluntarily gave it up.

Point guard is one of the toughest positions to truly learn int he NBA, and it can sometimes take 5-6 years to truly learn the position. Look at Chauncey Billups. He was considered a bust, and Detroit got him as a backup. That's why you go and get veteran mentors at the position. You go and get someone who is willing to play a role and 25 minutes when Harris is ing up, and then is willing to play 5 minutes when he's single handedly destroying SA.

[debo]

Of course he was wrong. So was Ginobili for excessive contact on the box out.

you mean he PURPOSELY shoved his body up against Stackhouse in order to secure a rebound?

[T Park]

Im amazed that stack's hand on manu's chest is a result of manu flaling backwards, and "pulling" stack down.

Amazing how Manu can do that all over the place.

[hater]

was it dirty?

answer my question dog. was stackhouse's retaliation dirty?

[Findog]

answer my question dog. was stackhouse's retaliation dirty?

Of course it was. If you had bothered to read my posts in this thread, would it lead you to a different conclusion?

[Findog]

You know, you people keep saying that, but I have to be honest with you: the date of that trade may just be made into a San Antonio municipal holiday. The Mavs had achieved separation and an edge, and they ing voluntarily gave it up.

Time will tell. You don't get a le for just beating San Antonio, and you have to advance far enough into the playoffs to face the Spurs. I wasn't in favor of the trade because of the age difference. And the team around Kidd in Dallas is not the best fit for his skills. He was much more effective in the motion Princeton offense that New Jersey runs instead of the iso sets the Mavs have.

But I will say this: the Mavs go as far as Dirk takes them, and with Kidd here, his production was up, way up, back to the MVP level of the last two years. He's going to be 30 this summer, and they wanted to get a point guard that could get him easier looks. He hasn't had that since Nash has left, and he's had to create for himself. It's about conserving him as much as anything. Right now the foundation for the next two years is Dirk and Kidd. They have a lot of work to do to surround them with the right kind of supporting cast. But they probably weren't going to win a le with what they had, the feeling was that they had plateaued by going to the Finals and winning 67 games. The rest of the league had figured the Mavs out, and at that point you learn to execute better or get different personnel.

The other caveat with Harris is that he's extremely injury prone, and they were going to have to roll based on his health and availability for every spring.

[Findog]

I hope somebody on the Mavs gets Kidd a shooting coach during the off season.. if he can start making 15 foot jumpers next year the Mavs will be one scary team.

He's been in the League 15 years. He is what he is. He's a decent 3-point shooter, he's obviously worked on that set-shot from the wings. It's his midrange jumper that sucks.

[marini martini]

crackhouse went down on manus neck for god 's sake! and kept his palm on manus neck to bring himself up, which could have very well have killed him. WTF? That's gansta, guys! And your freaking gang leader is "no can dance cuban" with second leutenant avery? Phishhhhhhhhhaw Makes me embarrased to claim dallas as a city in TEXAS

[GaryJohnston]

Shame on Avery for that statement. But I'm sure he was just frustrated.

[sassystriker]

Stackhouse is just a head. We can't do anything about him, he just doesn't have a breeding. Look at him, he was the one who looked foolish out there for losing his cool. He is too stupid, did he expect Manu to just let him have the ball and say " Ok Stacky, you're bigger than I am, so I'll just stand here while you grab the ball". Dumb! Of course Manu would fight him for that. This is basketball they are playing not chess, its a physical game, body banging and accidents are ever present on court. You've just gotta outwit and outplay other players to make the game yours. If he can't handle the compe iveness and the pressure of the game, he's better off cleaning the floor where he'd have less compe ion.

Avery always forgets to think before he say something. That big mouth of his just have to be taped up permanently.

P.S. Van Gundy is ridiculously stupid and a no brainer!

[kuato]

1) The Bad Boys actually tried to injure opposing players. That's a step beyond hard-nosed play. Like I said, there's a reason you can't get away now with the they tried to pull.

2) Basketball is a much more pleasing sport to watch than rugby. I don't want to watch 200-198 Paul Westhead track meets without any defense whatsover, but I also don't want to watch a bunch of pussies compensate for their overall lack of talent by injuring opposing players in lieu of playing basketball.

----> Did you saw the U.S.A vs Argentina match on the olympics ? , remember Marbury hitting Fabri´s hand.

[Manu-of-steel]

Of course he was wrong. So was Ginobili for excessive contact on the box out. Manu was trying to goad Stack into losing his cool, and he succeeded. But let's put to bed this "Manu is an innocent angel" horse .

Stack has a history of losing his cool, even without provocation-remember when he broke the eye socket of joe johnson? it was stack who did it. manu? he was doing his role which is to box out-have you ever heard of that word before?

[hsxvvd]

squeeky little er.

[travis2]

I watched the video last night and was relying on my memory. Just watched it again. From my viewing, it looks like Stackhouse takes exception to what Manu is doing with his flailing elbow and doesn't interpret it as incidental. He retaliates and the momentum carries them both to the floor. Point still stands, Manu knew what he was doing with his elbows. Boxing out is one thing, using your elbow as a weapon is another.

So I was wrong, Manu did not drive Stack to the floor after the boxout. He DID demonstrate poor body control and flail his elbow in a way that Stack didn't appreciate and lost his cool and overreacted. The point is the same, Manu does these sorts of things all the time that piss off opposing players. Of course you'll say that Manu was boxing out and going on pure instinct and had no intent to hurt or injure, just help secure the rebound for San Antonio. Thing is, Stack didn't think so and retailiated for a reason. What he did in response wasn't right, but I think the point also stands that Manu doesn't get the benefit of the doubt because of his history of flopping, exagerrating contact and using excessive contact in a way that opposing players don't appreciate.

All right, that's more like it. Now, we can agree to disagree on whether he was "flailing" or not. Frankly, I don't think his elbow was that high...sure, it was high, but not like he was going after his face or anything. It was up around the shoulder, not the face. No, it was just hard work on the floor boxing out.

Frankly, I think Stackhouse was pissed that Manu was actually working him for the rebound instead of just letting him have his space. Well, that and the fact that the Spurs were making a run after being down 12. He's a legend in his own mind.