Only Seven More Hours Until Tipoff . . .

Whelt, it's official, sports fans, Diop's back in Dallas (at a substantial pay raise, the lucky bastard and I say that with love). JJ Barea's also on the roster, having signed a deal for $1.5 million.

If there're any more moves in the offing, the Organization's being very quiet about them. Nothing on the Morning News, the Star-Telegram, or DB-dot-com. Seems the Org was serious about just a couple of tweaks to the roster and then going onwards. Makes me nervous, but I'd feel that way no matter what they did.

Gonna be a loooooong few months.

Mavs first summer league game's tonight on Channel 21 (or NBA TV, for those fortunate souls who have SuperTV). I'm there. Hoops withdrawl ain't pretty.

Got an ad in my Yahoo mail yesterday saying that Platinum level tickets are going on sale. At around ninety bucks a game. Yowzers! Ponying up for the good rafter seats damn near bankrupted me this last season. Besides, the fans in the Platinum section tend towards the "cocaine-and-boob-job" crowd. Blarch.
-BJ

Lovin' Us Some Mavs

Another thing that's on-trial this season, I think, is the Mavs' culture as an organization. The constant cry from management is, "We love our players." That's been taken to mean by some of the pessimists among MFsFL that the team will not slight the players even when the situation calls for it -- like not trading Jet Terry or Stackhouse even though it'd probably be a smart move financially.

One of our most intriguing acquisitions so far this off-season has been Gerald Green, a rising star that stuck on his way up. He's got a devestating slam, but almost no game. Blame bad coaching in high school that exploited his talents without developing them. Instead of going to college he went straight to the draft, he was a first-round pick, and he's been a tumbleweed through the NBA ever since. He played for Boston, got packed off to Minnesota as part of their deal to get Kevin Garnett, was traded to Houston, and cut after just one game.

Green admits he's had problems with discipline. The Word is his game suffers fundamental flaws. But a four-foot leap is not something to dismiss, if the man above the legs is willing to shut up and learn a few things.

Here's the culture part. Green had offers from other teams, for more money. He turned them down because he wanted the opportunity Dallas provided -- a chance to work with an organization that's willing to work with him. I've read it several times as I browse through the backlogs on dallasbasketball-dot-com; the Organization dedicates a lot of time and attention making sure the team has what it needs, and will stand by their men as best they can. Gerald Green's an asset we could use, and he's not going to get used unless and until he sharpens up. He needs help doing that. Mavs provide help. Asset gets used. Everybody leaves happy.

On the strictly business end of things, with not a hell of a lot of alternatives, loving your players and investing in them is the sensible move. The only other one is to admit the Kidd trade was a mistake, trade Dirk to a team that can use him properly, and resign ourselves to lottery-dom until the basketball gods send another superhero down our way. (Just for the record, no. You may not trade Dirk. Ever. Under any circumstances. Pry his leash from my clenched fist. I dare you.)

Caring about your players and wanting them to develop as men is not a bad thing. I think "we love our players" is being taken the wrong way by a fanbase that's probably in worse shape than the team after three years of playoff fuckups and bad luck.
-BJ

Basketball Junkies, Rejoice!

Oh thank God! TXA-21's televising the summer league games. First one's this Friday. We don't have to go cold-turkey until the season officially starts. Besides, I need my Followhill fix. Mark rules. :-)

There's been a lot of positive feedback about Coach Carlisle in the past couple of months, as he, Misters Cuban and Nellie, and the Organization's spin-meisters ladle out the sunshine. Whether that's a reflection of the man himself or the Mavs and fanbase working through post-AJ-hangover is a matter of interpretation.

The summer leaguers are playing for permanent roster spots; the team still needs some serious patching on interior defense. According to the Morning News Coach plans to run them into the ground over the next three weeks. "[W]e shouldn't lose a game," Carlisle said at practise yesterday. Anybody taking bets on that? I'll put ten on the Mavs.

We've also got the Olympics this year. Let not the USA be pwned again, please God?
-BJ

Step Away From The Edge

I'm clinging, suction-cup-Garfield-like, to the idea that the Mavs didn't improve after the Kidd trade was due to mismanagement of the team's skills. Because the alternatives are terrifying -- the Mavs haven't retained and developed the talent necessary to remain in the elite picture, Kidd really is old and past it, Dirk's just not that good. Those thoughts make me want to get into PJs and crawl under the covers with my Cabbage Patch doll. I can handle disappointment, a season full of complete futility is another story -- I had to root for Detroit when the Tigers were seriously flirting with Worst Baseball Team Ever and let's not discuss the Lions for that way lies madness.

Watched one of the Sports Extras the other night. The interviewee was a lady name of Nancy Lieberman, the First Lady of Basketball. I was prepared to not take her seriously, but oh well I couldn't sleep.

Thank God I did. I didn't realize it, but I'd replaced Mr. Galloway on that NBA Ledge, ready to shitcan hope and faith, ready to believe my beloved Mavs were doomed to another (for them) pisspoor year. Ms. Lieberman pointed out that Avery Johnson's overmanagement of the team had neutralized whatever advantage we got in the Kidd trade and with a new coach that will change, repeated that Josh Howard is showing positive signs of getting his shit together, and basically reminded everyone that we are an elite level team and MFsFL have a right to expect and hope for great things next season. Granted, she did lose brownie points by getting Master Geschwinder's name wrong.

I'm aware that all the sound bites did was reinforce my own prejudices . . . so sue me, I don't want to believe my team is crap. Why so many basketball guys in Dallas do want to believe that is a discussion for another day.
-BJ

Job Hunting In The Show

Yesterday kicked off free agency, when franchise and player representatives can come to the table and talk business. How much does your guy want, how much ya got, how much is he worth, et cetera et cetera et cetera.

According to the rules of the draft (see June 25th entry), a first-round draftee gets a minimum two year contract with the franchise that selected him, with a team option for two more years. Second rounders aren't guaranteed contracts, but the drafting franchise still own the rights to that player for three years.

But not to put too fine a point on it, the NBA only drafts sixty players a year. I'd have to work it out by hand, but just going by the NBAs list the odds on getting drafted this year were about . . . one in three, one in four. What do you do if you're #61 in terms of potential awesomeness? Or if the scouts caught you in a slumpy phase or while you were sick or hurt? Or your game's still maturing? Or the NBA just doesn't like you?

A lot of the leftover players let it drop right there and pursue other ambitions. The ones who feel they've got a shot become free agents.

Free Agency, or Taking The Scenic Route to the NBA:
According to the Great Yet Flawed God Wikipedia (so if on any point I'm factually incorrect, say so), a "free agent" is a ballplayer with the right to seek their own employment. Once a player signs a contract, they're no longer in control of their employment and may be traded to another team at the franchise's discretion so long as the other team matches the terms of that contract.

Free agents come in two breeds; unrestricted and restricted. Unrestricted free agents are players without a team -- those whose contracts have expired without re-upping, those who've been released from their contracts, and those who were not drafted by the league. They are free to offer their services to any franchise, and to accept any offers made. Restricted free agents are players still signed with a team but are free to solicit and accept offers from other teams. However, if the player's currently signed team matches the prospective team's offer the player remains with their current team.

What this means to the Mavs is we've got several blank roster slots, some critical vacancies in terms of gameplay (David Lord did a magnificent analysis of those needs over at Dallas Basketball dot com), and not a lot of spending cash to work with. However, the field of free agents is good. Of the list of free agents currently on the roster, I haven't heard anything yet about the Mavs making offers.

The word just came down via the Morning News that a deal's been worked out for center DeSagana Diop (please not for the whole mid-level exception). There's also a new guy by the name of Gerald Green -- they're talking a one-year deal. Right now, the Mavs have eight contracted players -- Eddie Jones (exercised his player option), Kidd, Dirk, J-Ho, Jet Terry, Dampier, Jerry Stackhouse, and Brandon Bass. Just-waiting-for-a-starting-time deals in place for Diop and Green . . . five more guys and we have ourselves a team.

An editorial note; Brandon Bass will at times be referred to as the Four-String Motherfucker. It's a nod to my favorite metal band's nickname for their bass guitar. My kingdom for the AAC to quit playing Enter Sandman and start playing For Whom The Bell Tolls.
-BJ