Saturday, November 05, 2005

MARK CUBAN

Is a big, whiny bitch. There, I said it. I used to think it was cool that an NBA owner would take time to blog. I thought he would provide some insight into the world of NBA. I was wrong.

He seldom blogs about anything basketball related, and when he does it is to flame officials, praise his fluffed up team (the Mavericks) or throw stones at legends.

This post was meant to be the latter. In it, he says, "Let me just say this. There is a reason why Kenny and Charles haven't gotten head coaching jobs. There is more to running a team these days then thinking you know what you are talking about. Kenny, if you want to bust on us for switching on the pick and roll, get some stats to back it up. We track conversion rates on everything we do. High pick and roll, elbow pick and roll, whatever, we track it. If its not working Kenny, we adjust. I know that is probably a new concept to you and Charlie B, but that's the NBA of 2006. With all that money you guys make (hey if you are going to talk salaries, lets see how you like it), go out and hire some kids to track what actually happens in a game rather than having TNT bring in kids to go out and get donuts.

Here is a little test. How many deflections did we have last night versus our season average last year. Do you remember what a deflection is guys ? Its a nice indicator of defensive effort.

And rook..I mean Reggie Miller. Remember this rook. Every year TNT brings in the guy who was good, but retired last year, and puts them in that same seat you were sitting in. You may have noticed that they aren't there any more. Do something more than just try to be another guy who tries to fit in and trade nonsensical barbs with the boys. Charles has earned the right to be the comedian who has some insights. Kenny wants to be the coach, but wont do the work, so never will be more than a sidekick. Rook, you need to add some value, or in a few weeks we will see someone else sitting in that seat. Maybe Derrick Coleman can come in and give us a Whoop De Damn DoÃ?…

But I digress. After listening to some of the idiocy, we just turned it off."

A bit childish, no? Calling out Kenny the jet Smith, Charles Barkely, and Reggie Miller is like sitting at the pearly gates and calling out Jesus, God, and Gabriel. Honestly, for a guy as out of shape and un-athletic as him to call them out is disgusting to me. But he wasn't talking about athleticism. He was calling out their basketball knowledge.

Two of those three were named to basketball's 50 greatest players. All three have been all stars. All three have been defensive first team selections. The Jet has two rings. Reggie has a scoring title. Barkley andReggiee have gold medals.

The Mavericks? Nadda. No championship, ever. Ever.

And it didn't stop there. He posted AGAIN to call them out. Read it if you want. The point here is, Mark Cuban has gone off the deep end. He is using this to drum up more bad press. He is turning into the T.O. of basketball. If T.O. had no talent, a bad haircut, and ran a cut-rate team.

Here was Kenny Smith's response,

"...in terms of basketball, I don't think there's anything that Charles and myself haven't seen or heard or haven't been a part of in an NBA basketball game. There is nothing that's been done in the game of basketball that I can't comment on, but I don't think you can say the same.

To use the term 'idiots' was offensive and I took that personally. I think if you put us in a room and we had to describe the game of basketball people would want to hear what I have to say over what you have to say. If you really understood the game, you would realize that coaches and players have always had different philosophies. That's what makes the game great, that people have different philosophies and some work better than others. It doesn't make the Dallas Mavericks philosophy wrong just because I don't agree with it, and it doesn't make us idiots just because we don't agree with you.

I don't need a stat sheet or the Internet to know how a guy shoots or how he plays the game. My brain and eyes are my computer and I log on everyday. "

And all this came because the TNT crew wasridiculingg the way the mavericks never seem to play defense. And they are right. Check the stats, Mark Cuban, youlovevthemm so much. Wheree does your team rank in defense? Fourth quarter stops? Steals vs. Turnovers? Any statisticalcategoryy that actually effects the game? You load them with offensive talent, and they are fun to watch during the regular season, and they NEVER make it deep into the playoffs. Good teams run them down like chickens. It's simple. Instead of flaming out when you hear something you don't like, learn from it:

Stop whining, get your club to play defense.

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