A lot of stuff today so get ready:
- Ok, so the big news from yesterday, of course, was the Mark Cuban interview on the Ben and Skin show. If you missed it, there were several bombshells, including Cuban suggesting that Jason Kidd's number wouldn't be retired after the way Kidd ditched Dallas for the Knicks, and Cuban asserting that Dallas is better off without Deron Williams. Pretty much everyone throws their two cents in on this. On the topic of Kidd, Jeff Caplan writes that Cuban's anger is "misplaced", while on the Deron Williams matter, Jean-Jacques Taylor emphatically states that he isn't buying what Cuban is selling, which saddens me because it requires me to admit in public that I agree with something Jean-Jacques Taylor said.
- Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News also thinks Mark Cuban is wrong, but to read why you'll have to be a DMN subscriber. However, Mike Heika at the DMN had some follow up questions and answers with Cuban, which you can read; they contain more of the same from Cuban.
- Cuban's interview probably deserves a breakdown, because I think there's all sorts of strange tidbits in there to analyze, but if you did listen Cuban at one point is asked if he learned anything from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, to which Cuban said that Jerry was great at "selling his product". I think this is really what Cuban is doing, and since his product is O.J Mayo, Elton Brand, etc. and not Dwight Howard and Deron Williams, he's not going to say "oh, well we didn't get the guys we wanted, so we settled for the top of the bargain bin pile". So, when Cuban says he's fired up to see his team, or that he wants to develop and build around the players he has understand that this is a businessman who understands that the way he speaks about his business can affect his bottom line.
- I don't know about Kidd, but Dwain Price writes that there is somebody who really wants his jersey to be retired with the Mavericks.
- Does the mental image of Roddy B boxing amuse you, or is that just me?
- This image absolutely amuses me: Chris Kaman changes a flat tire. Honestly, I'm glad this happened because I feel like the last twelve times I saw a picture of Kaman off-court he was holding a gun and that was starting to become a little disturbing.
- Oh, so continuing picture time: the rookie pictures are here! For many players this is the first time we've seen players in their new jerseys. Here's J-Flight, and J-Flight in flight. MMB-Favorite Jae Crowder, who is excited! Bernard James is too serious to do all that silly stuff because he's a grown up. And all three together.
- Over at Gothic Ginobili, Aaron McGuire is doing a 370-part capsule series, covering every player in the NBA. Although I wonder if Mr. McGuire isn't possibly crazy, it's good stuff, and the first two Mavs have just recently been put up: Vinsanity and His Dirkness.
- In non-Mavs news, check out our own Tim Cato's recent articles over at Lone Star Ball: on Martin Perez's latest outing, and Zach Jackson's start.
And that's it.