f it...i'm sitting in contemporary US-China relations and we have a guest speaker. this seems like the appropriate time to write a post about the mavs.
you can't judge a team too much by the first few games of the season (who knew the mavs would win 67 after an 0-4 start, then collapse in golden state? seriously, who knew?), but from the 3-4 games i've seen thus far, i'm liking what i'm thinking we're going to become. avery is taking the time to try different line-ups against different teams, giving jj and bass some serious PT that was really lacking for many of our bench players last year (though jj has started a few games with mixed results. he's got good vision but needs to fine-tune his quick decision-making, as he does seem to be a split second late on some passes he makes. he's short, but can be a capable back-up to harris.)
brandon bass gets his own paragraph. this dude is all over the place. he's still extremely young at 22, but it seems like he's got some huge upside. at 6'8", 240, he's one beast of a man and is not afraid to get down in the trenches and fight for rebounds, despite lacking a little height. i'm excited to see him grow this season and am very interested in how avery will use him in different lineups with dirk. he gives us a lot of flexibility, which is always great. sometimes it does seem like he's running wild out on the court, a la dj mbenga with a little more sense and a better grasp of the english language. i feel like the mavs were hoping dj would have been a taller version of bass, but the injury really set him back and so far it seems like it was definitely a better option. oh and props to management on getting bass and dropping pops, however much i did like him. point is, watch out for bass. he probably wont be a superstar by any means (surprise me?), but i see really good things for this guy.
lackluster game last night against golden state. yeah we won, but it was pretty much a repeat of last may. i know moral victories don't really mean much, but golden state left with big smiles on their faces despite being 0-5. the fact that baron davis had a big ol' terrorist smile on his face after he missed the potential game tying three really said something to me. it's just a regular season game, i know, but this was a chance for the mavs to say something, and we ended up looking as defeatable as ever. anyhow, we did get the win, it's early in the season, and neither team was at full strength...so for now, we'll take the win and keep moving ahead.
you've probably already heard it and will continue to throughout the season, but how about jet coming in and lighting it up as the sixth man? he likes to remind people that he held the same role in arizona the year they won the ncaa championship. seems like he's getting comfortable in this new role, and it makes me feel even better that there will be times that our seventh man is jerry stackhouse. that's a pretty good ass bench. we missed a lot of bench production last year despite many people complimenting us on our "depth." last year it was too fluffy and apparently no one except stack liked to score.
one more thing about jet: he does get a lot of flack for having a lot of fundamental problems, especially on the defensive side (he is pretty much rendered useless when his shot is off), but i would be more than happy to have him on our team in this new role if any kind of deal for kobe is out of the question (which it seems like it is). he's a good guy, a decent team player, and he likes where he is. i really like his swagger as well, as the mavs are seriously lacking in that department. but, is it just me, or does his swagger seem a little forced? for some reason, he feels like a miniature pinscher: big bark, little bite. and yeah, he takes a few cheap shots every once in a while (i think it's hilarious when he goes up for layups and basically climbs the guy trying to defend him). i feel like he doesn't have enough skill/credibility to back up that swagger. i might be crazy or something, but i feel like he could reach another level if he had a championship under his belt to help back up his walk and talk. lest we forget, he single-handedly beat miami in game 2 of the finals in the first of our two disastrous years. he's got a bit of that killer's mentality and isn't afraid to take important shots, and i like that about him. anyone have any thoughts on my last points on jet? agree, disagree? i'm curious to see what other people think about him.
once i get my laptop back, expect an awesome picture of stack after he posts a huge game.
hope you could navigate through all of my bad grammar/punctuation and run-on sentences. i'll make some nba predictions on a later date, and again, have a good weekend.
i'm feelin frisky...two posts in one day.
more sports = less productivity
sorry for the lack of updates...i busted my laptop, and i've been busy and will continue to be this month, but expect tons of updates in december and january, when caring about anything school-related is at an all time low.
so the cowboys are kinda sittin pretty right now atop the nfc, which is nice since the cowboys have not been able to claim such a thing for a long time. i say kinda just because lo and behold, the tiki-less g-men have won 6 in a row and are coming hungry to play off a bye week, where coughlin gave them a whopping 5 full days off. despite my hatred for the giants, good for them for stickin it in tiki's face (all of this, of course, barring the usual mid-season breakdown they have every year). my personal take on tiki is that he's a selfish son-of-a-bitch who turned his team against its coach, which can and many times is deadly in whichever sport you play. yeah yeah, coughlin ruled with a steel hand and often put himself at odds with players, but the coach isnt here to be friends: he's here to win, and he'll do what he feels is right to do so. some coaches are friendly and it works for them, and that's great, but it's not a requisite. so right after tiki leaves...
what do ya know...now his players are backing him, saying he's a changed man, and their 6-2 record reflects that. their comments go along the lines of "he used to be a gigantic douchebag but now he lets us rest during the week." pretty much an exact quote.
so the point is, here come the giants. in short, they're playing well on defense (that is a scary starting front 4; yes, even strahan), plax leads the nfc in tds, and brandon jacobs has quitely come back and dominated since his injury in week 1 (averaging over five and a half yards per carry. sick!). there are still relatively weak spots on offense (manning is still not a man...ning, and they only have two really capable receivers in plax and jeremy cuntbag, with toomer running a distant third), so i still believe the cowboys are very capable of winning.
i'd be pretty happy if we left the crappy-lands with a hard-fought victory, and it would be a pretty big statement if we did, considering the quality of many teams we've been playing have been subpar (f the patriots; and for the record, i thoroughly enjoyed laying down the law on donovan's big mouth).
i see the cowboys winning this one, 31-21. two tds each for TO and plax.
a few last notes:
- despite serious problems on this longhorn team, here we are, sittin at 8-2, still with an outside shot of winning the big 12. i gotta give it to 'em, this team is truly gritty. and what have i been sayin all along about JC? amidst all the fumbles (and dropped passes leading to crucial interceptions...!!!!!!), people forgot that he's actually talented and really fucking fast. so hopefully we can keep this momentum going and gut out two more wins, and we'll see where we're at in a month.
- i know, i know, the nba is back up and running and this blog has said nothing about it. i do in fact love the nba, so we'll be on it soon, and i'll be giving you my take on this year's mavs and maybe a few predictions to go along with it. oh and brandon bass: total monster-to-be.
- t.i....if you were here, i'm shaking my head at you.
i smoke rocks.
". But the point is, Crackhead, that you have done me wrong. Now, I get that you love crack. That is totally understandable. I've heard it is really fun, at first, and quite addictive. What I don't understand is,
YOU ARE A CRACKHEAD. WHY DON'T YOU OWN A CRACKPIPE? "
- Hey Crackhead (best of Craigslist)
Proof that no one cares about the Texans. Or the Raiders I guess, especially with the Colts-Pats game this weekend.
Also, Sergio Kindle is out for this week against Oklahoma State. I guess we'll be seeing a lot of awesome linebacker play from my number one man, Robert Killebrew. By awesome I mean blown coverage assignments, missed tackles, and personal fouls. Lame.
