Confession: I did not catch the Mavericks preseason opener. One, because I had made time to digest it fully at 1 p.m., only to discover that it was blacked out. And two...well, that's all I got. I caught glimpses of the first quarter and watched the highlights but my first thoughts are: it's the first preseason game with an almost new roster. If anyone is actually panicked, upset or worried, well, they can just deal with it. Onto the links:
- Look, sending reporters places is expensive. Sending reporters out of the country for preseason games? PSH, YEAH. So, the Mavs radio voice, Chuck Cooperstein, has been ESPNDallas.com's correspondent. Today, he writes about the Mavericks ungodly amount of turnovers, Chris Kaman, Rodrigue Beaubois' injury and FIFA 13, because FIFA 13 is great.
- Cooperstein also details the Mavs attending "El Classico," the match between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Not much to see here, but hey, whatever.
- Were you as mad as I was that the NBA-TV blacked out the live broadcast of the game? Well, Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram has some answers. Also, FYI, I would very much love to watch a meaningless preseason game during the lazy time of a Saturday afternoon then the more socially hectic time of 7 p.m. I guess TXA-21 thinks all Mavericks fans are forever alone.
- I feel like Jae Crowder is going to have a disproportionate "stories-to-playing-time" ratio, because the dude is very likable, has a great personality and has an underdog NBA story. So here's a nice story from Price about Crowder and his father.
- Saving the best for last, it looks like there actually is a beat reporter in Europe from a newspaper and it's Eddie Sefko from The Dallas Morning News. He provides the best quote ever from Darren Collison: "Coming off that screen from Dirk, I haven’t ever been that open in my entire life."