Nowitzki Admits Getting Tense in Pressure Situations

[mabber]

There's a blog on ESPN about Cuban's influence over the refs (for the worst)


You've probably read it but here it is anyway....








Stack: Cuban doesn't speak for Mavs

New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy couldn't decide whether he wanted to kiss Dirk's butt or take shots at Mark Cuban, so Bondy did some of both in his column.

Here's the juicy stuff on "the rich, loud-mouthed Mark Cuban":

... mostly people know the Mavericks for somebody else, for Cuban and his quotes. From long distance here in New York, Cuban looks like a great owner. He is not Jim Dolan and his team is winning a great number of games.

But if you talk to the players, they don't sound so thrilled with the man. Cuban has hijacked the national headlines. Sometimes it seems he is doing so at the expense of Nowitzki and his teammates. He is like George Steinbrenner, when The Boss was younger and at his Bossiest. A couple of the Mavericks worry that Cuban is coloring the perception of this team. Whenever Cuban screams about a call, the players somehow end up sounding like the chronic complainers.

"We don't want to give people the impression we're a whining team," Jerry Stackhouse says. "[Cuban] can be a distraction if you look at it that way. He's always going to be like that. He's not speaking for us. He's just like the fan in the 10th row. Some things are out of our control. Sometimes it does carry over.

We made a conscious decision as a team to lay off the refs."

Yeah, it's difficult on the Mav players as they can't really say exactly what they want to about Cuban since he pays them. I think Only Dirk & Stack have said things negatively about him (maybe Terry). It's his team so what can players and fans really do about it? Obviously, he truely believes that what he does doesn't have a negative affect. He wants to win more than anything, but I just don't get why everyone else but him sees the problem with how he goes about a lot of things.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I think as far as Cuban is concerned,

"if it ain't broke, why fix it?"


In hindsight, he is almost like "the ultimate fan"

I'm annoyed with him and his immaturity BUT I can't argue with how much he's helped the franchise.

I remember there used to be some beef between him and Nellie, especially when Cuban always wanted to be practically in the huddle during timeouts.

I'm just waiting for Avery to just snap on Cuban one day and force him to go watch games from the owner's box

[Fromthebleachers]

people and cuban omg. here we go again. if you like the team you like the team. I never heard of anyone not buy microsoft products because they dont like bill gates, or not uying something simply because of the management. if you like something you like something, but to not like something just because the owner isnt your idea of what a typical NBA owner should be is crazy. Sure hes not like everyone else, but thats what makes him unique. That whats makes him different and thats whats made him successfull. He hasnt been in the business for very long so hes going to have his pitfalls and his mistakes. but will everyone agree that this year has been different? and yet people still find a way to run a knife in the back just because they try to think, "well hes just being quiet because theyre winning". please. hes a fan just like everybody else so dont go parading on changing someone just because it doesnt quit you. for the thousands that may hate him, theres thousands that love him and what hes doing for the team, this city, and for everything else hes a part of. so you and everybody else can shove your critisism back where it came from and be glad you have a greta team this this godforsaken professionally talent riden city as of late.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

people and cuban omg. here we go again. if you like the team you like the team. I never heard of anyone not buy microsoft products because they dont like bill gates, or not uying something simply because of the management. if you like something you like something, but to not like something just because the owner isnt your idea of what a typical NBA owner should be is crazy. Sure hes not like everyone else, but thats what makes him unique. That whats makes him different and thats whats made him successfull. He hasnt been in the business for very long so hes going to have his pitfalls and his mistakes. but will everyone agree that this year has been different? and yet people still find a way to run a knife in the back just because they try to think, "well hes just being quiet because theyre winning". please. hes a fan just like everybody else so dont go parading on changing someone just because it doesnt quit you. for the thousands that may hate him, theres thousands that love him and what hes doing for the team, this city, and for everything else hes a part of. so you and everybody else can shove your critisism back where it came from and be glad you have a greta team this this godforsaken professionally talent riden city as of late.

- Mark Cuban's Assistant

[mabber]

I think as far as Cuban is concerned,

"if it ain't broke, why fix it?"


In hindsight, he is almost like "the ultimate fan"

I'm annoyed with him and his immaturity BUT I can't argue with how much he's helped the franchise.

I remember there used to be some beef between him and Nellie, especially when Cuban always wanted to be practically in the huddle during timeouts.

I'm just waiting for Avery to just snap on Cuban one day and force him to go watch games from the owner's box

Cuban did mention recently that he would have never hired Avery if he hadn't been on the floor seeing how the players reacted/responded to him when he was an assistant to Nellie.

[Fromthebleachers]

hater...

[monosylab1k]

With Cuban, you take the good with the bad. And the good definitely outweighs the bad.

And, I don't think there is, but IF there is a real bias among the officials and the league's front office against the Mavericks because of Cuban, then that's a serious league problem that tears at the very fabric of the game.

[mardigan]

He hasnt been different this year still pulls the same , yelling and screaming like a baby on the sidelines, bullying refs, and just recently pushing a camera out of his face after a game,wearing offensive shirts about San Antonio at the hime Spur games, he will never change. And as far as your assesment that people wont stop liking the product just because of the managment, ask Lions fans about that. Yes he has turned that franchise around, and has done great things for the city of Dallas, but dont act like this guy is some angel. He is a big ing baby, and pretty much the biggest reason most Spur fans hate the Mavs so much.

[mardigan]

With Cuban, you take the good with the bad. And the good definitely outweighs the bad.

And, I don't think there is, but IF there is a real bias among the officials and the league's front office against the Mavericks because of Cuban, then that's a serious league problem that tears at the very fabric of the game.

There should be a bias when the guy threatens their jobs and is constantly looking over their shoulder, if you had someone like that at your work you probably would be a little biased about him as well

[monosylab1k]

There should be a bias when the guy threatens their jobs and is constantly looking over their shoulder, if you had someone like that at your work you probably would be a little biased about him as well

So when somebody criticizes you for doing a crappy job, you respond by doing that job even worse just to piss him off?

[mardigan]

So when somebody criticizes you for doing a crappy job, you respond by doing that job even worse just to piss him off?

But he doesnt just respond to the guys that do a crappy job, he makes threats throughout. You dont think it would be harder to do your job if some rich asshole is sitting there reminding you constantly that you better not make any bad calls?

[Fillmoe]

the mavericks leader is soft as double d's....... has no heart, and doesn't want to take clutch shots...... but i bet money he keeps beating up on exercise bikes

[ambchang]

people and cuban omg. here we go again. if you like the team you like the team. I never heard of anyone not buy microsoft products because they dont like bill gates, or not uying something simply because of the management.

You have forgotten about the Hornets already?

[monosylab1k]

But he doesnt just respond to the guys that do a crappy job, he makes threats throughout. You dont think it would be harder to do your job if some rich asshole is sitting there reminding you constantly that you better not make any bad calls?

Yeah that's true. But I guess it's easy to be biased against one rich asshole (Cuban) when you have the blessing of another rich asshole (Stern).

[phyzik]

Yeah that's true. But I guess it's easy to be biased against one rich asshole (Cuban) when you have the blessing of another rich asshole (Stern).

Cuban can shut his mouth..... problem solved.... its that simple, I promise.

[LEONARD]

the mavericks leader is soft as double d's....... has no heart, and doesn't want to take clutch shots...... but i bet money he keeps beating up on exercise bikes

Wow...

[Fromthebleachers]

He hasnt been different this year still pulls the same , yelling and screaming like a baby on the sidelines, bullying refs, and just recently pushing a camera out of his face after a game,wearing offensive shirts about San Antonio at the hime Spur games, he will never change. And as far as your assesment that people wont stop liking the product just because of the managment, ask Lions fans about that. Yes he has turned that franchise around, and has done great things for the city of Dallas, but dont act like this guy is some angel. He is a big ing baby, and pretty much the biggest reason most Spur fans hate the Mavs so much.

thats just about every fan of every major sports franchise in history. And thats just what Mark is... a fan. Where does it outline the protocol for conduct as an owner? Obviously theres hundreds of thousands of Mavs fans out there that could care less about how Marks runs things as long as the team is successfull and is entertaining. Hey for all that people hate Kobe for, you think they still hate him? Please...as long as youre doing your job the rest is just material.

[Fromthebleachers]

the mavericks leader is soft as double d's....... has no heart, and doesn't want to take clutch shots...... but i bet money he keeps beating up on exercise bikes

this from a excremento fan. so named from a rather unpopular character on southpark. hes about as soft as the push cushion sad sack kings. theyre so busy bending over that i dont think there'd be enough testosterone left in ron artest to bring those guys back straight.

[Fromthebleachers]

Cuban can shut his mouth..... problem solved.... its that simple, I promise.

so can either of us, but i promise neither would happen.

[Fromthebleachers]

I bet Mark Cuban is kicking himself for letting the now 2-time MVP walk away. Seems as if all he cares about is saving a few dollars.

With that said, even with Nash, they can't stop former slam dunk champion Brent Barry and the San Antonio Spurs.

? Why would he be kicking himself? The team is better without. And for the moment the deal has worked out well. At the time a lot of people did think that that move seemed like the right move so why would he be kicking himself for making a solid business decision? He didnt want to sign an aging point guard that was lacking in what he wanted to build this team around, and thats defense. Especially to a multi year deal with guaranteed monies. so i applaud him for that. The team is a better one as a result, and steve has yet to take phx to the next level. for what its worth, he is what hes been here in dallas, with better bullets. Its takes a little something to let go what had been working to build something that could work even better. If you want to talk about saving dollars, look to your own team of aging veterans.

[Borat Sagdiyev]

Is Dirk Nowitzki jew?

[stretch]

Is Dirk Nowitzki jew?

[mavsfan1000]

I bet Mark Cuban is kicking himself for letting the now 2-time MVP walk away. Seems as if all he cares about is saving a few dollars.

With that said, even with Nash, they can't stop former slam dunk champion Brent Barry and the San Antonio Spurs.

Now all we need is a Ric Bucher alias. lol

[dirk4mvp]

the mavericks leader is soft as double d's....... has no heart, and doesn't want to take clutch shots...... but i bet money he keeps beating up on exercise bikes

Maybe you didn't read the part he says he wants the ball at the end of games.

[Fillmoe]

maybe i didnt read any part? did you think of that one