Feeling different this season

[cow]

Short story. I think the fear of destination cities and superstars leaving is overblown. The fear is bigger than the reality, imho.

Overblown or not, we are looking down the barrel of that gun.  Team building matters, like in my San Antonio example, and that is one thing the Mavericks have proven to be very inept at.

[fifteenth]

Overblown or not, we are looking down the barrel of that gun.  Team building matters, like in my San Antonio example, and that is one thing the Mavericks have proven to be very inept at.

"looking down the barrel of that gun" <-- pro sports fact of life

Are we still talking about "feeling different"? In my opinion, this is not really all that new. Maybe this old man syndrome is more about being old then about sports changing. But I don't know...the younger one's around here pretty much assume everything sucks and will always suck. Those guys are going to be a blast when they're our age! 

The inept Mavs have a top 4 to 6 team in the West this year. If the new regime doesn't move the team to true contender in 4 years there is a chance Luka leaves. 

That seems kinda like a pro sports fact of life too. In basketball they choose to leave. In baseball you trade them away for propects. 

Hey, the NFL is different. You can keep your stars by signing them for forever, on big contracts, and then you can't build a team because you're strapped. And your players decline quickly after you sign them anyway. 

Sports is just hard. 

I'm going to be hopeful and happy and predict that the Mavs will build a contender over the next four years. I'm probably wrong, but that's ok.

[khaled1987]

I feel different this year but for different reasons. 

I started following the Mavs in 2008 which is later than anyone here, mainly because basketball was never that big in Egypt and the time difference sucks. 
Before 2008 I only watched a couple of international tournaments and I liked international players more than US tbh 

In later summer 2008 I lost my dad after a MI, in which we spend weeks beside his bed in hospital, I was just 21 and my family had other struggles, I was barely surviving college and was just getting a passing grade.

I needed  something new, Soccer was my passion but I needed another thing, and that was basketball. I choose the Mavs because I liked Dirk and generally fan of German in team sports. 

That year RC was already a coach, Dirk was franchise player and Donnie was the GM, Cuban is the owner but he is the one I liked least. 
For 11 years the group remained the same, until Dirk retired. Then this summer both Donnie and RC leaves the team (one is fired, the other resigned) 

So, in a way it is a whole different team now, I am in a different phase in my life where sports isn't big on my list. I have no connection at all to the City.

I still love the Mavs and rooting for them, but I am not sure if I am as passionate anymore

[fifteenth]

I feel different this year but for different reasons. 

I started following the Mavs in 2008 which is later than anyone here, mainly because basketball was never that big in Egypt and the time difference sucks. 
Before 2008 I only watched a couple of international tournaments and I liked international players more than US tbh 

In later summer 2008 I lost my dad after a MI, in which we spend weeks beside his bed in hospital, I was just 21 and my family had other struggles, I was barely surviving college and was just getting a passing grade.

I needed  something new, Soccer was my passion but I needed another thing, and that was basketball. I choose the Mavs because I liked Dirk and generally fan of German in team sports. 

That year RC was already a coach, Dirk was franchise player and Donnie was the GM, Cuban is the owner but he is the one I liked least. 
For 11 years the group remained the same, until Dirk retired. Then this summer both Donnie and RC leaves the team (one is fired, the other resigned) 

So, in a way it is a whole different team now, I am in a different phase in my life where sports isn't big on my list. I have no connection at all to the City.

I still love the Mavs and rooting for them, but I am not sure if I am as passionate anymore

So sorry for the loss of your Dad khaled! My wife had to suffer the loss of her dad and brother over the last decade, so seeing that gives me compassion for going through it. 

It's really cool that you found the Mavs and found us! How long after jumping on the bandwagon did you find our message board? Did you like basketball at all before finding Dirk, or did he bring you into the sport?

[cow]

The inept Mavs have a top 4 to 6 team in the West this year. If the new regime doesn't move the team to true contender in 4 years there is a chance Luka leaves. 

You put Luka on any team in the league as currently constructed and he'll get them to the playoffs.  And credit where credit is due, the Mavericks drafted him (and Jalen) and there are a lot of teams probably kicking themselves for not doing so.  

And there are reasons to be hopeful.  Giannis and the Bucks are a prime example.  

It just gets exhausting to have another offseason the equated to paying THJ big money, Reggie Bullock and Sterling Brown.  No offense to any of those guys as they all seem like high character guys, but so did Josh Richardson.  And on the flipside, you have armies of veterans lining up to join the Lakers and the Nets.  And like I said, it helps keep expectations in check for the season.  I'll be cheering like heck that the Nets/Lakers end up being like those Glove/Mailman Lakers teams.  

Maybe it's not our turn yet and LeBron may age out of the league at some point (hopefully).

There are reasons to be excited about the Mavericks:

-Luka (duh):  let's see what's new in his bag of tricks and let's see if he can regain that joy in the NBA like he showed for his national team.
-I don't have a lot of faith in Kidd but it's going to be interesting if nothing else.
-KP:  This season will determine his long term fit on the Mavericks.
-TPE Watch 2022

But I do still worry if it will ever be our time with Luka.  That's on Cuban.  I stopped watching football for two reasons:  the injuries and Jerry Jones.  Jerry has a ton of faults but you can never question his dedication to that franchise and the marketing acumen.  As bad as that team has been for the last 20+ years, everyone still wants to be a Cowboy and almost every player has a great relationship with Jerry, save for Dak.  And when I say I think the Jones family would do a better job with the Mavericks, that just shows how much I distrust Cuban.

[fifteenth]

It just gets exhausting to have another offseason the equated to paying THJ big money, Reggie Bullock and Sterling Brown. 

Great post. Makes sense. 

The only comment I have is that this offseason seemed different to me because they signed a starter level player early rather than waiting on a superstar, or waiting on anyone. We've all wished they would have done that before. Bullock is a higher level player than Delon or JRich. 

And Bullock and Sterling both seem to be in line with the "surround Luka with shooters and defenders" (which I like) wheras Delon and JRich were more "hope they can be the defender/secondary creator" moves. Neither guy had really proven much. JRich had one good year, but the signing included hope that he could return to that and wasn't based on what he had done recently. And the attempt at a secondary creator this offseason (which has failed so far) was for someone who is proven rather than a hope in someone taking another step forward. 

Those are differences I see in this offseason. If you're disappointed that our higher tier player attempt (Lowrey) failed, I am too. But I'm happy that they moved quickly to sign a starter level player, which seems different.

[khaled1987]

So sorry for the loss of your Dad khaled! My wife had to suffer the loss of her dad and brother over the last decade, so seeing that gives me compassion for going through it. 

Thanks man, really appreciate it.

 Did you like basketball at all before finding Dirk, or did he bring you into the sport?

Before 2008 I only knew little about the NBA, watched FIBA world cup in 20006, FIBA Euro Finals in 2007 (what a game that was) and some Olympics in 2008. Till 2008 I barely watched Dirk or heard about the Mavs, just read a news that a German player was first European to win MVP ever in 2007. 

I played "NBA live 2008" around late August and decided to play with Dallas due to Dirk and having a highly rated Howard.  I was so NBA illiterate that I thought he was Dwight Howard whom I watched with US team
I then started watching the Mavs games in October, and was fascinated with all the differences in the rules between USA and rest of the world,  the trades, the draft etc

It's really cool that you found the Mavs and found us! How long after jumping on the bandwagon did you find our message board? 

Initially I was into another forum called prosportsdaily that had very active Mavs section between 2008-2012 (now the 1st page has threads with last post is in 2014), I joined the forum around 2009 iirc, I remember very well his coverage for 2009 NBA draft, I would make few posts there tbh, maybe 20-50 posts annually tbh

[fifteenth]

Initially I was into another forum called prosportsdaily that had very active Mavs section between 2008-2012 (now the 1st page has threads with last post is in 2014), I joined the forum around 2009 iirc, I remember very well his coverage for 2009 NBA draft, I would make few posts there tbh, maybe 20-50 posts annually tbh

You're a valuable and welcome contributer here! I love learning about other countries, so I'm tempted to ask you some questions about Egypt, but I'll spare you and everyone else. I'll save it for a time when we're both in a non-basketball thread sometime.

[cow]

Those are differences I see in this offseason. If you're disappointed that our higher tier player attempt (Lowrey) failed, I am too. But I'm happy that they moved quickly to sign a starter level player, which seems different.

I wasn't on the Lowry train.  If the Mavs were truly interested, I'm proud that they moved on quickly and signed Bullock immediately rather than another Danny Green situation.  I don't think big names are always the answer but I'll be pleasantly surprised (shocked) when a big name decides to come here in free agency (see DAJ before he changed his mind).  I think that's the main impetus of my Jones versus Cuban comments.

[fifteenth]

I wasn't on the Lowry train.  If the Mavs were truly interested, I'm proud that they moved on quickly and signed Bullock immediately rather than another Danny Green situation.  I don't think big names are always the answer but I'll be pleasantly surprised (shocked) when a big name decides to come here in free agency (see DAJ before he changed his mind).  I think that's the main impetus of my Jones versus Cuban comments.

Jerry has Mark beat in that regard by a million miles. I'll give Jerry his due on that while also noting that the Cowboys were America's team before Jerry came along. 

Man, I'm so different regarding what would be a destination city for me! If I was a pro athelete I'd want to play for Devner, that bad city of Utah, Seattle, or a Canada team...or maybe an eastern conference team close to the smokey mountains. Y'all can have the beach. I'll take the mountains and forests.

[cow]

Jerry has Mark beat in that regard by a million miles. I'll give Jerry his due on that while also noting that the Cowboys were America's team before Jerry came along. 

Man, I'm so different regarding what would be a destination city for me! If I was a pro athelete I'd want to play for Devner, that bad city of Utah, Seattle, or a Canada team...or maybe an eastern conference team close to the smokey mountains. Y'all can have the beach. I'll take the mountains and forests.

The heyday of America's Team was long past before Jerry bought the team.  The Cowboys were an unmitigated disaster at the time of purchase.  

I do think Jerry has evolved to an extent as an owner.  He's still likes attention too much and his coaching choices are suspect after Parcells but he has put a lot more faith in Will McClay in building talent up for the team.  Not sure if he'll ever see another championship but he can learn from some of his mistakes.

[fifteenth]

The heyday of America's Team was long past before Jerry bought the team. 

Come on now. They lost for 3 years before Jerry bought the team. 7-9, 7-8, 3-13. They were in decline and a change was needed, but "long past" is overstated. I was there!! That was pre Mavs love for me. The Cowboys had my sports heart.

Plus, the 1988 roster had Ken Norton jr., Irvin, Gogan, Jeffcoat (not old), Nate, Tuniei, Hershel on the roster, with a #1 pick coming the next year. Jimmie made the genius move of stocking up on draft picks. Not sure Tom would have done that. So there's that. But the 90's dominant offensive line was pretty much on the roster!

[cow]

Come on now. They lost for 3 years before Jerry bought the team. 7-9, 7-8, 3-13. They were in decline and a change was needed, but "long past" is overstated. I was there!! That was pre Mavs love for me. The Cowboys had my sports heart.

Plus, the 1988 roster had Ken Norton jr., Irvin, Gogan, Jeffcoat (not old), Nate, Tuniei, Hershel on the roster, with a #1 pick coming the next year. Jimmie made the genius move of stocking up on draft picks. Not sure Tom would have done that. So there's that. But the 90's dominant offensive line was pretty much on the roster!

I was there too.  I remember chants of Landry's washed up.  The team was losing money, headed in the wrong direction and hadn't chipped since the year I was born.

Jimmy is a God.  He's honestly one of my favorite people.

[fifteenth]

I was there too.  I remember chants of Landry's washed up.  The team was losing money, headed in the wrong direction and hadn't chipped since the year I was born.

Jimmy is a God.  He's honestly one of my favorite people.

All true. I just gotta defend the Danny White era. I was always either Tony D or Danny when we played in the front yard. Or the Manster when I was on defense.

[cow]

All true. I just gotta defend the Danny White era. I was always either Tony D or Danny when we played in the front yard. Or the Manster when I was on defense.

I'm a bit too young for Landry reverence.  I also can't stand Drew Pearson as he seems wholly unpleasant. I always enjoy hearing Roger's thoughts on the Cowboys.  Woody and Allen are  probably my favorite Cowboys ever though I do hold a special place in my heart for Michael (leadership and toughness), Tony (took a lot of undue shit nationally because of a botched hold and Jerry's inability to team build) and DeMarcus (he seems incredibly nice).  

Micah Parsons is going to be that dude though.

[fifteenth]

I'm a bit too young for Landry reverence.  I also can't stand Drew Pearson as he seems wholly unpleasant. I always enjoy hearing Roger's thoughts on the Cowboys.  Woody and Allen are  probably my favorite Cowboys ever though I do hold a special place in my heart for Michael (leadership and toughness), Tony (took a lot of undue shit nationally because of a botched hold and Jerry's inability to team build) and DeMarcus (he seems incredibly nice).  

Micah Parsons is going to be that dude though.

I might have liked your post...except for the Drew Pearson blasphemy

[cow]

I might have liked your post...except for the Drew Pearson blasphemy

His personality is the epitome of sandpaper.

[fifteenth]

His personality is the epitome of sandpaper.

LOL. Really? I've always liked the guy. Maybe the fact that he was one of my heroes makes me blind to his faults. 

I got to sit beside Tony D at a Fish radio remote once. That was awesome. I hate that he's having to deal with brain injury.

[cow]

LOL. Really? I've always liked the guy. Maybe the fact that he was one of my heroes makes me blind to his faults. 

I got to sit beside Tony D at a Fish radio remote once. That was awesome. I hate that he's having to deal with brain injury.

He comes off as bitter.  I thought he'd be a little more sunshine now that he's in the HOF and ROH but nope, sandpaper.

[fifteenth]

He comes off as bitter.  I thought he'd be a little more sunshine now that he's in the HOF and ROH but nope, sandpaper.

Ha ha! Well...he was cheated out of a place in the HOF for a long time.  I'm sure he'd be happier if he could get over that. I hope he can.