NBA Jam Set to Return

Nothing screams Freshman year of high school like NBA Jam. Well, maybe the untimely death of Kurt Cobain, but the arcade hit, and subsequent Super Nintendo favorite played a large role in my life in 1994.  I remember sitting in class, passing notes back and forth with my friends trying to get “cheats” for the game, to unlock players like Michael Jordan and Bill Clinton.  After school was out, we would gather at one of the members of our group’s house and play the Super Nintendo version of the game all night long (and all weekend long). On a trip to San Antonio, I remember spending 4 hours and countless quarters in an arcade in our hotel, trying to master the arcade version of the game, only to find out the “cheats” for the Super NES version were different than the “cheats” for the arcade version.  Needless to say, I was overcome with joy to read that the game is being revamped and released in December 2010.

Marc Stein, writing for ESPN.Com’s “Weekend Dime,” provided a breakdown of each team’s roster from 1993-1994 and who he would like see represented in the new version of the game. Reading through the list brought back countless memories and filled my head with the voices of the game announcers–”he’s on fire!”

One point where I disagree with Stein, I would pick Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, instead of Shawn Marion, for the Mavericks. Either way, the Mavs team in this version of NBA Jam, will be a significant upgrade from the 1994 version, which featured Derek Harper and Mike Iuzzolino.

Top 5 Sports Moments from Weekend

I realize that I’ve been on a top 5 kick lately, but it’s just the mood I’m in. Let’s keep it rolling with the Top 5 moments from a busy sports weekend:

1.) SMU Becomes Bowl Eligible – For whatever reason, I’ve been a SMU fan from my earliest days. I have never attended school there and they haven’t had the on field success that elicits t-shirt fans, but I’m a fan of the Pony Express. I went to several SMU games as a kid, pre-death penalty, and I was at the first post-death penalty game, a win over UConn. To see this team rise from the depths, become bowl eligible and sit in the driver seats for the Conference USA title is great indeed.

2.) TCU Sends a Message – There are two legitimate national title contenders in Texas–the one in Austin everyone expected and then the one in Fort Worth that’s been battling for national respect for a decade.  While it will still take a miracle for TCU to earn a spot in the BCS National Championship Game, if they run the table and win their BCS bowl game they will provide yet another example of how the BCS is the biggest fraud in all of sports.

3.) Mavs Continue to Play Strong – In spite of a recent rash of injuries and illnesses, the Dallas Mavericks continue to play as well as anyone in the NBA. Over the weekend, they took games at Minnesota and Detroit and tonight won on a last second, OT buzzer beater in Milwaukee. While this may not be the Lakers, Celtics & Cavaliers, three straight road wins is always a feat in the NBA. Plus, the Mavs got these 3 wins without Josh Howard, Tim Thomas, Erick Dampier and Shaw Marion.

4.) Colts beat the Patriots – I’ve always said, every time the Patriots win, somewhere a little puppy dies. To see the look of failure and utter dejection on the face of Bill Belichick walking off the field last night actually helped ease the pain of the Cowboys loss (see #5).

5.) Wade Phillips is one step closer to being fired – In the “desperately-seeking-a-rainbow-after-the-storm” category, the Cowboys loss to Green Bay on Sunday means this franchise is one step closer to ridding itself of its final obstacle in the race to win a Super Bowl–Wade Phillips. I’m convinced that if this team does not make it to the NFC Championship game this year, Jerry Jones will fire Wade. While I will always support fellow Texans, Wade is just not the right fit in Dallas. In keeping with the “support my fellow Texans” theme, I’m also glad that the Packers win ensures that their GM, and former Atlanta Rabbit great, Ted Thompson’s job is safe for at least another week.

How about Von Wafer

Entering the off-season, I felt the Mavericks’ three biggest needs were to address the center, shooting guard and lack of athleticism. It appeared that the Mavs had addressed the center situation by singing an offer sheet for Marcin Gortat; however, we all know how that worked out. While several rumors have swirled around regarding other potential deals to address the center position, none have materialized as of this time.

Acquiring Shawn Marion improves the athleticism of this team to some extent and the flashes that Rodrigue Beaubois has shown in his brief NBA Summer League career suggests tha the too could add some athleticism to this team. Yet this team still lacks the athleticism of many of their Western Conference counterparts.

The only thing the Mavs have done at the shooting guard position is the signing of Quinton Ross, who the front office says will provide defensive help and shoot the three. What they really mean to say is that Ross is just another Antoine Wright.  If we assume that the Mavericks will move Josh Howard to the starting shooting guard position, we can set the depth chart–Jason Terry will come in off the bench and get a majority of the minutes at the 2 and Ross will fill in, as needed, in specific situations. Theoretically, the Mavs are three deep at the 2 position.

I love what JET brings off the bench, but neither Ross nor Howard excite me.  My suggestion? Go for a change of pace, sign Von Wafer.  The little I saw of Wafer last year, I liked. He would instantly add a level of athleticism to this team that is asbsent. 

How would the rotation work at four deep? The move would make Josh Howard expendable. He could be shopped to someone like New Orleans, for Tyson Chandler, or to Charlotte, near his home, for someone like Emeka Okafor.

The Mavericks starting line-up would look something like this:

PG – Jason Kidd

SG- Von Wafer

SF – Shawn Marion

PF- Dirk Nowitzki

C – Emeka Okafor/Tyson Chandler

I realize the move has it drawbacks.  One, Wafer’s limited body of work and lack of starting experience. Terry would still get a majority of the minutes at the 2, but would start as a change of pace. Think of the way the Nuggets used Dahntay Jones last season (18.1 MPG, 5.4 PPG). Wafer put up better numbers (19.4 MPG, 9.7 PPG) as a reserve.

Could you get Okafor or Chandler for Howard? It’s worth shopping around. I hope the Mavs learned from the Gortat fiasco and would have a deal in place for Howard before inking Wafer. This is the key piece to making the deal work. If you can’t move Howard for an upgrade of Dampier, then there’s really no sense in pursuing Wafer. However, if the Mavs are serious about addressing two of the most glaring weaknesses, they should at least give Wafer a casual glance.

Mavericks back-up center options…

The Suns have reportedly offered to buy out the remainder of Ben Wallace’s contract. Let’s hope that the Mavs aren’t feeling so desperate that they express interest in him. Wallace would do nothing to addressing any of the issues facing this team. Indeed, he would only add to the Mavs problems.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Mark Cuban told NBA TV that the Mavs have contacted Lamar Odom’s agent. To me, this is a more compelling option, specifically, could he be used a small, athletic 5? With that, you could a run a starting line-up of Kidd, Howard, Marion, Dirk and Odom onto the court. As the News reports, this is unlikely though since it would probably require a sign-and-trade to secure Odom and the Lakers aren’t looking to dump salary.

We know the New Orleans Hornets were shopping Tyson Chandler last season, would he be worth using the Dampier trade chip? I would think this would be something worth looking into. If healthy, Chandler could help address several issues with this team.

Life after Gortat…

It’s being reported that the Orlando Magic will match the Dallas Mavericks’ offer sheet on center Marcin Gortat.  While I was warming up to the Gortat signing, I don’t think the Magic’s move devstates the Mavericks’ off-season program.

The biggest acquistion was Shawn Marion. The Mavs dumped dead weight and got a major contributor in return. We won’t know the full effects of this season’s draft for a couple of seasons, but Rodrigue Beaubois is getting rave reviews early in summer league play. Even the signing of Quinton Ross has the potential to pay major dividends in the upcoming season, still many Mavs fans have been running for the panic button since the news first broke out of Orlando this afternoon.

I can understand the concern, especially after losing Brandon Bass. However, I’m an optimistic type of guy and I prefer to look at as a “glass half-full” situation. During the playoffs, outside of Dirk, the player on this team who impressed me the most was Ryan Hollins. Yes, he is young, raw and prone to some silly mistakes. On the other hand, he is YOUNG, energetic, athletic and long–a rare commodity on this team. With Bass and Gortat no longer options at the 5, barring any further moves before the start of the season, the Mavs will be forced to give Hollins more minutes, which is the best thing for him at this point in his career.

Will there be more moves? Probably. Shortly after the Marion trade, when it appeared that Gortat was on his way here, I wrote that I felt Donnie and Mark had more moves up their sleeves. After today, I’m even more convinced. Will the Mavs be forced to use the Erick Dampier trade chip a year earlier than desired? Perhaps, but I find it unlikely. If the Mavs deal Damp now, they will have to get another 5 in return. I just don’t see that player on the market.

Let’s talk about Orlando for a minute. I don’t claim to be an expert on Central Florida sports, but who the hell do they think they are? Yes, they have every right to play sneaky, but is a small market team like Orlando really ready to play the free-agency game with the big markets (i.e. LA, NYC, Dallas, etc.) Make no mistake about it, the Magic are rolling the dice, acquiring Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, bringing Gortat back and the whispers of interest Allen Iverson. What happens when the Magic can’t pay their luxury tax bill or, even worse, what happens on pay day and the Magic can’t make payroll? Are they going to come running to the Association to bail them out?

The Magic got a sniff of something beautiful in June and now they’ve become greedy. When you become greedy, you make bad decisions.  Mark my words, the Magic’s overly ambitious off season will come back to bite them in the ass before the end of the 2009-2010 season.

—————-
Now playing: Modest Mouse – I Came As A Rat
via FoxyTunes

Burying the lead

The top story  on the NBA page of ESPN.com features a story about the potential trade of Carlos Boozer to the Chicago Bulls, a fascinating proposition indeed. (The potential trade involves Tyrus Thomas, a freakish athlete that would be perfect for the Mavs, but I digress.)

ESPN buried the lead. If you read the entire story you learn that Bulls were potentially the 4th party in the Shawn Marion trade, before dropping out. If the Bulls had stayed in the trade, the Mavs would have received Tim Thomas from the Bulls in addition to Marion from the Raptors.  As I’ve previously stated, I’m glad to have Marion, but I would have loved to have Tim Thomas as well.

Can you imagine how awkward it would have been for Thomas to be on the same team with Dirk, after the infamous kiss (and Dirk’s subsequent 50+ plus performance) in the 2006 playoffs?

Would that be more awkward than John Kitna playing on the same team with Bradie James?

More moves in store for Mavs?

Maybe I’m reading way too much into it, but Mark Cuban’s latest Tweet excites me even more than Marion trade, RT “mcubanWelcome to @matrix31 and all of our new mavs ! The fun is just starting ! #fb“.

Could this mean more moves to come for the Mavs this summer? Possibly trading Josh Howard or Jason Terry for a 2 (think Jason Richardson or Rip Hamilton)?

The guys at DallasBasketball.com make a compelling case for keeping Erick Dampier until next summer and after reading I tend to agree.

Whether or not the Marion move is the last for the off-season or not, I’m a lot more excited about the Mavs than I was a year ago at this time.

Mavs close to trading for Marion?

ESPN and the Dallas Morning News are both reporting that the Mavs and Raptors are in the process of trade talks for Shawn Marion. At first glance, I love this move. It looks like it would cost us Stack and some cash. Other sources say it may require a third team. I hope Cuban does whatever it takes to pull this move off.  This would leave you with the Damp contract to play with and it might make Josh Howard expendable. Marion is not who he was in 2006, but he is still a great player and would instantly make this Mavs squad better than the team we saw lose to the Nuggets. More on this to come….