Dallas wants D'antoni

[Lorenzo]

well I was kind of disappointed after the news about johnson.....but it's clear that he lost touch with the players and vice versa. nobody besides jet terry really went far out of their way and defended him either.....not even dirk and dirk will speak his mind without fear of reprisal as he did when nash left.....and after the finals when cuban was talking too much. dirk did say some good things about johnson however.

I think the mavs just need a fresh start with a coach that they can relate to. As you see with the pistons they have a new coach, but they have still maintained a lot of the efforts and tradition that larry brown brought to them. the same with dallas. they have changed since nellie has left.....but a lot of the things that nellie tought them dirk for example, is still present in his game. hopefully the defensive attitude that avery instilled in the team will stay with the players even if their new coach is more offensive minded. the mavs do need dribble penetration though. they aren't getting much with kidd in the half court setting as they did with harris.

 

[Lorenzo]

first of all, get a clue.

dallas has more shooter than dirk and terry. How about stackhouse? how about george or lue even? how about howard?

big men who can pass- dirk is one of the best in the game at this. what bigs do the suns have who can pass? uhhh diaw? that's it. that's not a must for this system.

finishers- stackhouse, howard, bass can all finish well. even terry and dirk are respectable. Look at the suns, our finishers consists of barbosa, amare, and hill. other than amare that's not impressive. shaq can't finish anywhere near as well as he used to.


and lastly, when was the last time avery coached a team with 2 good big men? he hasn't. dirk is the only big he's ever had to coach. You actually probably couldn't call shaq a good big anymore. he's about equal to dampier in my book.

the one thing about dirk that I respect so much is his work ethic. every year this guy has improved an area of his game. he is such a good passer for a man of his size...which wasn't always the case....this is something that he worked on over time. this year his defense showed enormous improvement. not saying he should be on the all nba team in that regard, but he had a good defensive year I thought. at least the best of his career IMO.

 

[D-Dogg]

they aren't getting much with kidd in the half court setting as they did with harris.

That was just a bad trade, man...bad trade. It would have been a great trade last season...but not this one. What Dallas was lacking last year was a guy who could stabalize them on offense when needed, but this year was a year too late.

Not as bad as the shaq trade (a good gamble, IMO) but it's going to hurt Dallas to see harris do well and ason fall off even more.

Plus, the west is just going to get tougher with Oden coming in next year for Portland, the Nooch still rising and Bynum's return.

 

[D-Dogg]

the one thing about dirk that I respect so much is his work ethic. every year this guy has improved an area of his game. he is such a good passer for a man of his size...which wasn't always the case....this is something that he worked on over time. this year his defense showed enormous improvement. not saying he should be on the all nba team in that regard, but he had a good defensive year I thought. at least the best of his career IMO.

I really love watching Dirk play. He's great...he's not clutch, but in the last two of the last three minutes of a game, he's amazing. When the last minute comes along though, he grips.

 

[Lorenzo]

I really love watching Dirk play. He's great...he's not clutch, but in the last two of the last three minutes of a game, he's amazing. When the last minute comes along though, he grips.

well his playoff resume isn't great for clutch. eventhough ironically when you look at his playoff numbers they are significantly higher across the board compared to the regular season stats. but I think people look at the finals and the GS series a lot and judge him. dirk has had countless games that he has delivered clutch performances and you don't have to look beyond the 06 playoffs all the way up to the finals.....unfortunately he missed his moment in those finals. his play in that series did not equate to the play that got him there I hope he gets back there.....but his team isn't as good and his window isn't getting any larger.

 

[D-Dogg]

well his playoff resume isn't great for clutch. eventhough ironically when you look at his playoff numbers they are significantly higher across the board compared to the regular season stats. but I think people look at the finals and the GS series a lot and judge him. dirk has had countless games that he has delivered clutch performances and you don't have to look beyond the 06 playoffs all the way up to the finals.....unfortunately he missed his moment in those finals. his play in that series did not equate to the play that got him there I hope he gets back there.....but his team isn't as good and his window isn't getting any larger.

He's one of the few guys in the league that I really, truly hope wins a ring.

With the Lakers, of course.

 

[Lorenzo]

He's one of the few guys in the league that I really, truly hope wins a ring.

With the Lakers, of course.

me too. except for the lakers of course....just kidding. I'm a firm believer of the team that wins it all deserves respect. even if I don't like the team. It's good to watch a team battle and lift that trophy at the end of the year. that's why you play the game and that's my favorite moment to watch in sports. of course it's always better when it's the home team....but it can't happen often. if it did it wouldn't be as sweet I guess. that's why I still have Vince Young on my avatar. when one of my other teams win a title I'll change it. but who knows how long I'll be waiting with Vince gone and my other dallas teams choking it up. I'm watching the stars now, but it would only be fitting for another dallas team the choke away a huge lead.

 

[D-Dogg]

me too. except for the lakers of course....just kidding. I'm a firm believer of the team that wins it all deserves respect. even if I don't like the team. It's good to watch a team battle and lift that trophy at the end of the year. that's why you play the game and that's my favorite moment to watch in sports. of course it's always better when it's the home team....but it can't happen often. if it did it wouldn't be as sweet I guess. that's why I still have Vince Young on my avatar. when one of my other teams win a title I'll change it. but who knows how long I'll be waiting with Vince gone and my other dallas teams choking it up. I'm watching the stars now, but it would only be fitting for another dallas team the choke away a huge lead.

Vince is crap!!!


Anyway, I really do like Dirk...he's just a baller. I love watching that guy play. My wife and I both admire the hell out of his ugly ass....he's exciting. It would be nice to see him lift a trophy, it really would. Most of my Mom's family is from Texas (San antonio, corpus christi, austin and abilene) and all love the Texas teams. Most of my dad's family is from Cali..Anaheim and Orange...and I was born in Nebraska. And my dad was in Germany for 22 years in the AF..maybe that's why I like Dirk. Odd life growing up sportswise...I identified with my dad's side of the family and now I am enemy number one for my mom's side.

But I think Dirk is a special talent...one hell of a good player and he seems like a good guy off the court as well. Him and Dwight Howard are two guys on other teams that I really admire for their skills and enjoy watching. Maybe that's why I am so mad about the Heat series...that was Dirk's title. Not just because of the Shaq/LA stuff, but because I felt that Dallas earned it.

 

[Lorenzo]

Vince is crap!!!


Anyway, I really do like Dirk...he's just a baller. I love watching that guy play. My wife and I both admire the hell out of his ugly ass....he's exciting. It would be nice to see him lift a trophy, it really would. Most of my Mom's family is from Texas (San antonio, corpus christi, austin and abilene) and all love the Texas teams. Most of my dad's family is from Cali..Anaheim and Orange...and I was born in Nebraska. And my dad was in Germany for 22 years in the AF..maybe that's why I like Dirk. Odd life growing up sportswise...I identified with my dad's side of the family and now I am enemy number one for my mom's side.

But I think Dirk is a special talent...one hell of a good player and he seems like a good guy off the court as well. Him and Dwight Howard are two guys on other teams that I really admire for their skills and enjoy watching. Maybe that's why I am so mad about the Heat series...that was Dirk's title. Not just because of the Shaq/LA stuff, but because I felt that Dallas earned it.

I like your post there. I'm in the AF too. I don't like the other texas teams.....lol but that's just because I'm a die hard north texas guy and the mavs have had some furocious battles with the other texas teams that have made me dislike them....so I can't really ever root for those teams. even when the mavs are eliminated I just can't bring myself to do it. a lot of guys I work with from other parts of the country seem to think that people from texas just cheer for the spurs when dallas or houston is out, but that is just a stereotype IMO. I have to fight that more often than one would think. Vince is the man BTW and so is dirk. dirk is unlike any other big guy in the league that's for sure. but he will be judged by that finals appearance until something else happens. I think this is a guy who takes care of his body and shows improvement just about every year. who knows how much longer he can continue that trend? most guys can't. and just think that the lakers and mavs were talking trade between shaq and dirk a couple of years back......boy am I glad that didn't happen. anyway good luck to your lakers. i probably won't cheer for them....but i think kobe is the right player over shaq and it will be good for him if he wins that ring without him. it will probably complete his career.

 

[D-Dogg]

I like your post there. I'm in the AF too. I don't like the other texas teams.....lol but that's just because I'm a die hard north texas guy and the mavs have had some furocious battles with the other texas teams that have made me dislike them....so I can't really ever root for those teams. even when the mavs are eliminated I just can't bring myself to do it. a lot of guys I work with from other parts of the country seem to think that people from texas just cheer for the spurs when dallas or houston is out, but that is just a stereotype IMO. I have to fight that more often than one would think. Vince is the man BTW and so is dirk. dirk is unlike any other big guy in the league that's for sure. but he will be judged by that finals appearance until something else happens. I think this is a guy who takes care of his body and shows improvement just about every year. who knows how much longer he can continue that trend? most guys can't. and just think that the lakers and mavs were talking trade between shaq and dirk a couple of years back......boy am I glad that didn't happen. anyway good luck to your lakers. i probably won't cheer for them....but i think kobe is the right player over shaq and it will be good for him if he wins that ring without him. it will probably complete his career.

It would be a nice monkey (King Kong?) to throw off Kobe's back if/when he wins without the big soundbyte.

I really like Vince, I won't lie. I like USC (dad's roots) but had to admire VY's will to win that game...that was all him. It was amazing. I just don't think he's a "quarterback" and I don't like running guys who play QB. But you can't question his leadership ability. He won that National Championship practically by himself. It was an unreal game.

The Kobe decision by Buss was right, as much as for the age of players as it was the malcontent that Shaq had already become. The whole Laker house needed a reshuffle. I thought it would be quicker, but I'm not complaining at the end result.

 

[Lorenzo]

It would be a nice monkey (King Kong?) to throw off Kobe's back if/when he wins without the big soundbyte.

I really like Vince, I won't lie. I like USC (dad's roots) but had to admire VY's will to win that game...that was all him. It was amazing. I just don't think he's a "quarterback" and I don't like running guys who play QB. But you can't question his leadership ability. He won that National Championship practically by himself. It was an unreal game.

The Kobe decision by Buss was right, as much as for the age of players as it was the malcontent that Shaq had already become. The whole Laker house needed a reshuffle. I thought it would be quicker, but I'm not complaining at the end result.

yeah I think shaq was the one doing most of the talking after that loss to detroit. he was the one that wanted the huge money deal over kobe or at least equality....which at that point any level headed person would have been able to say which guy deserves to be invested upon for longterm. but of course shaq is on a different wavelength.

as far as young. I've been hearing that for a long time. when he got to UT many said he wasn't a QB and that he would never take that team to a NT with his arm. many still say that about him. It took him a while in college to be able to throw the ball consistently and to read a defense. I'd say he got pretty good at it at that level and if you watch that USC tape he pretty much mastered it.....as far as reading a defense knowing when to run or pass. but the NFL is different. It will take him a while as most have said and he will need more talent around him.

 

[Lorenzo]

back to the topic of the new dallas coach.....I really liked avery johnson. and it's a shame he couldn't get through to the team. I think he did get outcoached by nellie.....and maybe riley did a better job motivating his team in the finals. at least that's what the heat players marveled about riley at that point in time. but avery got that mavs team playing at a different level in the playoffs. he led them over SA in SA in a game seven. he also won over 70% of his regular season games. did he make mistakes? yeah. but he is young and is entitled to make some. I think this is a guy that can have success if he learns from his mistakes. he at least admits to making mistakes in dallas and says he will try to correct them. I wouldn't rule out a spurs reunion.....DMN is also claiming that pat riley and don nelson have contacted him. I wonder what nellie told him. avery told reporters that it wasn't meant to be repeated?? he's(avery) pretty good at throwing jabs without throwing them if you know what I mean.....