Damon Jones' Coat: February 2008

wait...who?

now, everyone has known for a few years now that one of the major concerns on the phoenix suns is their lack of depth. some say, it's no big deal, these suns can still run and gun with the best of 'em, that their rotation players are warriors. and yes, for the most part, these statements are true. but while perusing the box scores of tonight's nba games, i came upon this gem in the nawlins-phoenix game:

Linton Johnson, SF

24 (minutes)

2-5

1-2

0-0

...who is linton johnson?

fine, today he got more play time cause the suns got blown out by the hornets (are they scary or what? cp3 for mvp? there's an outside shot. but damn, at the young age of 22, he already has the nba in his hands.), but when the 8th man on your team is "linton johnson," that can't be a good thing. what are you going to do if/when grant hill goes down? are you going to play with 5 people and an old fat guy (shaq) in a run and gun system?

my initial thought on this new suns team? they suck. ok they don't suck, but they are not better. upon first hearing the trade, i didnt think it was a smart move for the suns (great for the heat though). but then i told myself, well, maybe it'll work out, maybe he'll be "re-energized" or whatever. after all, he is a superstar/hall of famer/kazaam. but then i remembered, this is the same guy who beginning in '06 took a vacation for half the season only to come back in the stretch run. he's been old since '06. he doesn't fit into the suns' system. i understand the suns were in an existential funk at the time with egomaniacs marion and stoudemire, but wouldn't you want to trade for someone who actually fits in your system, one that no one in the league runs better? marion was an attractive (no homo) commodity, so i'm absolutely certain that there were more suitors than just the heat. after the suns dont win a championship and waste nash's best years (in his 30's? who knew?), i wonder if tnt will welcome kerr back...

btw, bill simmons can suck my nuts.

final note: this upcoming road trip for the mavs, to say the least, it's monumental. spurs, lakers, jazz? bring it on.

more new players.

to add more front-court depth, the mavs have picked up yet another nets player, jamaal magloire, to back up erick "let's wait till the guy fouls me" dampier (though to be fair, he's been playing well as of late, and seems to be a huge beneficiary of this new pass happy mavs team aka jason kidd's hoss-ness. now if only we could surgically remove those paddle hands and replace them with some real ones...). it's a harmless signing, one that i really don't mind just cause he's a big body, takes some pressure off damp, and i'm pretty sure the guy can still somewhat ball (or at least do what damp basically does, which is play decent defense and rebound the ball). good enough for me.

however, the real point of this post was to throw in this cheap joke:
with the last roster spot on the mavs up for grabs, can we sign someone named jimmy to complete round 2 of the 3 j's? or better yet, let's sign the real deal, jim jackson. he's out there somewhere doing nothing right now, and we could totally steal him away from the suns who are actually interested in him in order to fill out their roster as well.

(yes, i'm aware the original jamal only has one a in his name. close enough.)

total joke by the way. i would be down with picking up brent barry, although my gut (and reports that he has yet to clean out his spurs' locker) tells me he's just gonna go back to san antone. why break up a good thing, i guess.

final note: yes, i know this injury will help the mavs some way, some how, but i was severely disappointed to hear about yao's season-ending injury. in truth, even with teams i deep down hate, i really dont like when injuries to key players happen. it's sad, it ruins the course of a season, and it just changes everything. honestly, i was looking for a rematch of these two texas teams, after some definite hard feelings after our last meeting in the playoffs (jesus that 40 point walloping was HI-larious). i think it would have been an interesting story line, what with t-mac and the rockets not being able to get past the 1st round, and all that stuff about in-state rivalry (which i love). anyhow, here's to a quick recovery for yao, and hopefully he'll be ready to rep in beijing later this year.

Racist.

DJC gets political.

This may have just won my vote. Story here.

premature ejac. part duex: make or break.

at this point it seems like, for various reasons, the kidd trade will not go through. one way or the other, we still have an excellent team that is capable of reaching our goal of winning a championship (which i truly believe, regardless of what many critics say about the current incarnation of our team...though i am still curious to see how we handle the new suns and new lakers).

however, the thing that worries me the most, and which you've probably read about by now, is how this non-trade effects the team chemistry and mindset from here on out.

cities with successful teams usually take it for granted, but the continuity and longevity of this team has been a blessing, and most times it correlates with how successful a franchise has been (look at how long the guys on the spurs have been together. jesus! that is a family in the truest sense of the word). the mavs as we know them have pretty much been together for almost 4 years now, which means our core guys (dirk, j-ho, jet, dh, damp, stack, and diop) have been through the motions, through all of the ups and downs (and we've been through some major ups and downs...i'd argue more often and more extreme than most teams), and worked through the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears that create teams that want to fight for each other till the bitter end. this is a kind of brotherhood that most people will never be able to understand, and with this non-trade, it has possibly been shaken to its core.

how are they going to treat devean george from here on out?
it's pretty obvious that dirk wants kidd on the team. how does devin feel about that?
will the events of the past week create different factions on the mavs?
can we come back from this drama stronger than ever, or are we just going to doubt ourselves and our teammates for the rest of the season?
if the front office doesn't believe in us, how do we believe in us?

unless this whole trade ordeal was from the beginning nothing more than a very risky yet genius motivational tool orchestrated by cuban (which i highly doubt), i am actually scared about how this could affect the team as a whole. having the specter of almost being traded from the place where you began your career can have a terrible effect on you (ie. devin harris), whether consciously or subconsciously. the strong-minded find ways to deal and come out as impenetrable as ever. the rest, however, can be left with an overwhelming sense of doubt. the past two playoffs have done no favors for building our team's mental strength, and this entire drawn-out ordeal has not been easy for anyone to deal with. how devin, the major player in this trade (this also being his first time dealing with such a topic), deals with this coming back from his injury remains to be seen...

in the proposed trade, no matter what the front office says, it basically sent a message that said "sorry guys, we don't think you can get it done." that hurts. this is only amplified by the fact that these guys have played together, and so successfully, for so long. much has been made about the frailty of this team's mindset, and if the critics are right, and the aforementioned message is the one being picked up by the mavs...well, you get the idea. as sam would say, that's just BNB (bad news bears).

or maybe, just maybe...this is the jolt that the mavs needed. that despite past successes, they need to prove themselves yet again. that they realize, more than ever, they need to come together as a team, move past all this craziness, not give a shit about what personnel moves other teams are making, and just do what in the past they have proven they can do: take care of ourselves, each other, and just win.

there is no middle ground on this. it's either one or the other. make no mistake, we will make the playoffs regardless of which mindset we choose, but the outcome of the 2nd season will depend heavily on which path we choose to go on. it just so happens that all of this comes at a time when our conference is the strongest it has ever been. if we go on to win the championship, this is the kind of cinderella story that people will always remember (a la this year's ny football giants). if not, it will just be another disappointing end to a string of successful seasons that were unfortunately heavily overshadowed by our failures.

thank god for the all-star break, where everyone (except for dirk) can get major rest, both mentally and physically, as well as the opportunity to sort out what is important to them.

mavs fans, this is it. this is our make or break season. we don't have to necessarily win a championship (though it would be nice), but we have to show that this is a team that people can have confidence in, that despite past failures, we can still create something positive. we still have an incredibly bright future, but, depending on how this year goes, it may or may not be with the same mavs team you have enjoyed for the past 4 years. other than dirk (and possibly j-ho, though i'm not even really sure on that), no one on this team is untouchable.

seriously...we need a team/fan therapist.

Premature ejaculation. (Originally titled: The Return of Most Definitely.)

FUCK devean george. he doesn't do shit for this team. this has turned into the oj simpson edition post: if i did it, here's how it happened:

let's begin with a little bit of my personal history with j kidd. i've loved him since he was drafted by the mavs in 94. i've got his rookie card (i gave away some good basketball cards to get that gem) and his jersey somewhere at home. seeing him back in a mavs jersey is something i've wanted to see for a long time (though to be honest, not really this late in his career), stretching back to when he became a free agent in 2003 and had strongly considered a return to dallas.

i dont think i've ever been more jealous of albert than when he got kidd's first signature shoe (i still hate you for that, btw):

i did however get his next pair of kicks, though they were not half as cool:

(don't laugh. it was the 90's, i was young, and i just wanted to wear whatever my idol was wearing.)

anyway, onto the real sports stuff.

let's start with the bad:

he's old. he can't shoot. his style of play is different than the mavs system. he's way too expensive. we just gave away our future. harris is way underrated, and, as we've been seeing recently, is a huge reason why our team works, both offensively and defensively. i thought this season or the next would have been his coming out party. he'll never get the acclaim like kidd has, but dammit, he's gonna be good.

i do feel that this trade is mostly a reaction to what's been going on around us. the lakers definitely get the last laugh, as they gave away nothing for a dominant and ugly big man in pau, whereas the mavs and suns gave away key players. obviously, our front office thought we needed this trade to keep up with the suns and lakers. who's next? are the spurs gonna make any moves?

i'd currently grade this trade as 40% good, 60% bad. yes, this trade is a gigantic risk for our team now, and it makes our future outlook very cloudy. honestly, don't let the rest of this post fool you; i'm still very very very skeptical about this trade. i'm still having conflicting feelings about this trade. that said...

I'M SO FUCKING EXCITED!!!!!

this trade shakes things up for a team that's been lacking on the confidence and enthusiasm side. maybe it was time to let parts of the team go, releasing some of the collective bad memories of the past few years. since our finals collapse, it's just been an uphill battle, and would have remained one, no matter what we have or would have done (unless of course we won a championship).

the good things about this trade? i'm glad you asked.

don't be fooled by his age. this guy is one of the few remaining true 90's ballers left in the nba (truly a dying breed), and if you know anything about 90's ballers, you love his skills. he's a baller in every sense of the word, both on and off the court. how do i know this? well, on the court, it's obvious. total smooth operator with the rock in his hands and crashes the boards like no other pg since earvin "kind of has HIV" johnson. the biggest knock on his game, which has been an issue his whole career, is his shot. not as ugly as marion's, but it's close, with that all-wrist shooting motion. his defense has slowed with age, but he's still a great defender, especially with his size, which would be perfect for...guess who? baron davis (and i guess other big guards a la deron williams). and off the court? despite his claims that joumana was the one beating him and causing him mental anguish, i would like you to refer to exhibit A:

right.

i love that old school "no nonsense" baller mentality he's bringing to dallas. his leadership will be invaluable down the stretch, and i believe he'll come down with a case of what i like to call the "shaq effect." new team + fresh start + championship hopes = harder work ethic and an even greater hunger for the promised land. and hopefully the mavs will all feel the effect as well.

at the same time, i would like to take the time to commemorate what our departing teammates have given us over the past few years. it's obvious that we would not be where we are now without their contributions to our teamwork mentality.

just a slice of what they gave us: without harris and diop, getting past the spurs probably would not have happened two years ago. harris tortured parker with his speed on both sides of the ball. diop gave timmy a hard time down on the block, using his length to play some great defense (especially in game 7). they helped us almost solve the spurs. and that's just a small example. if they were both that important in just that one instance, then how important do you think they were when considering the big picture?

it's been fun watching both players grow, with harris maturing before our eyes and diop resurrecting his career after 4 forgettable years in cleveland (thus creating the widespread notion that he was a complete bust). we took risks in believing in both, and they have come through for us time and time again. they will be sorely missed.

devean george...blah blah something about defense, something about championship experience. he was just ok with us.

moe ager, we hardly knew ya.

hopefully stack comes back to us after he gets bought out. he'll have an extra month to rest those injured hammies, so i'll be looking forward to his fresh return (crossing my fingers). his returning (update: direct quote from stack about his trade and buyout: "i'm ain't going nowhere." as in he wants to come back. hooray!) makes this deal a lot more tolerable.

how we're going to change our system to fit kidd's style of play (or if we do that at all) remains to be seen, but i'm giddy with excitement. i cannot wait to see this new incarnation of the mavs in action. he's gonna inject some serious excitement into this team (one that, for bball fans outside of the greater dallas area, is probably boring to watch due to our style of play). thank god for nba league pass.

i also cant wait to see this head of epic proportions (or, disproportions) at our games:

(him and baby anthony lo would have been best friends.)

here's to the return, and hopefully the success, of my former favorite player, the one, the only, the most definite(ly), Jason Kidd. let's just hope toni braxton doesn't have a taste for germans.

Greatest Gaming Design Achievement Ever?

"The Great B-Ball Purge of 2041, a day so painful to some that it is referred to only as the "B-Ballnacht". Thousands upon thousands of the world's greatest ballers were massacred in a swath of violence and sports bigotry as the game was outlawed worldwide. The reason: the Chaos Dunk, a jam so powerful its mere existence threatens the balance of chaos and order. Among the few ballers and fans that survived the basketball genocide was Charles Barkley, the man capable of performing the "Verboten Jam"... Flash forward 12 years to the post-cyberpocalyptic ruins of Neo New York, 2053. A Chaos Dunk rocks the island of Manhattan, killing 15 million. When the finger is put on the aging Charles Barkley, he must evade the capture of the B-Ball Removal Department, led by former friend and baller Michael Jordan, and disappear into the dangerous underground of the post-cyberpocalypse to clear his name and find out the mysterious truth behind the Chaos Dunk. Joined by allies along the way, including his son Hoopz, Barkley must face the dangers of a life he thought he gave up a long time ago and discover the secrets behind the terrorist organization B.L.O.O.D.M.O.S.E.S."

This might be the greatest game ever made. And I'll never know because I run fucking OSX. Fuck Apple. God damn it. I know I can run Windows on Mac but fuck that. I'm pissed.

HE LOOKS LIKE HE'S MADE OF CHOCOLATE!!!! OMG!!!!!

DOWNLOAD HERE:
LINK 1
LINK 2

Best website I've been to in recent memory:
HeyLarryHughesPleaseStopTakingSoManyBadShots.com

Edit: this is the first thing I saw on ESPN today, thought it was fitting:

inspiration.

if you ever needed inspiration, this song is it. before most of the fame, fortune, and pissing, r. kelly reached deep into his soul and created this masterpiece (when his royal airness asks you to write a song, you better be at the top of your game). no joke, this is one of the greatest songs of all time.

here's the video.

amazing. if this song doesn't make you want to go out there and be somebody, you're completely hopeless.

Saving you monies..

Fat People Cheaper to Treat, Study Says

Apparently because fatties and smokers die faster, they end up costing the health care system less. This study was based on the Netherlands where they are socialist and have universal health care. I'm not sure how all of this applies to the US system since the government does not really do shit to help with health care for the general public.

Smokers die the earliest at 77, but healthy people get the most strokes. I honestly hope fatties around the world don't take this as a sign that their disgusting habits are OK. Word to Sam Tarng.