Mavericks a reflection of Cuban
Remember the old adage that teams take on the personality of their coach? I think the Dallas Mavericks have taken on the personality of their owner.
Mark Cuban is in many ways a great owner. Dallas went from non-competitive to competitive virtually overnight after Cuban bought the team, and Cuban has kept the Mavs at or near a championship level for almost a decade.
But Cuban also is volatile. He’s passionate and emotional and sometimes even irrational. And that seems to have spread to his ballteam.
Dallas beat Denver 119-117 Monday night to stay alive in their Western Conference semifinal. The Nuggets still lead the series 3-1, but the Mavs played valiantly to keep their season going, in a game in which they trailed most of the way.
But the Mavericks made it much harder on themselves than they had to. Dallas was whistled for three technical fouls in the fourth quarter, which by definition means at critical times.
All teams get technicals. Before the fourth quarter Monday night, Denver was handed three technicals and Dallas just one. But in the fourth quarter, when points and possessions are pearls of great price, the Mavericks gave away points.
With 11:32 left and Denver up 90-85, Erick Dampier was given a rough-housing technical, wiping out a Dallas rebound. The Nuggets were given a foul shot and an extra possession, which they turned into three points.
With 7:59 left and Denver up 97-93, Brandon Bass received a technical for arguing and staring, and Carmelo Anthony’s foul shot gave the Nuggets a five-point lead.
With 6:07 left and Denver up 102-100, Antoine Wright was given a technical for arguing a call. Chauncey Billups’ foul shot gave the Nuggets a three-point lead.
Dallas overcame those three (or five) free points and won, but it wasn’t. And it’s inexcusable. Teams have got to handle their emotions better than that, and that’s where Cuban fails, too.
His behavior in the Denver series has been poor. Yelling at Kenyon Martin’s mother after Game 3, calling K-Mart a “thug,” then failing to apologize over the next two days (and counting) is a festering story that should never have happened.
On TNT, Chris Webber made a great point, calling Cuban one of the stars of the league and pointing out that the NBA holds star players accountable for their actions and the same should be demanded of Cuban.
And Cuban’s volatility has spread into his team, which won Monday night despite itself.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
I moved to Dallas around the same time that Mark bought the Mavericks. He used a lot of gimmicks and did some crazy things to get people to watch them in Reunion Arena. It was great for the franchise and the city.
But they play in American Airlines Center now and are annual playoff contenders. The three-ring circus act needs to go. If it doesn’t, then he’s done all he can do, and should sell the team.
No slack from me. He is a buffoon, always been a buffoon, and it is good to see his arrogant, overhyped butt go down in flames once again. How sweet it is….
In many ways I have to agree with you that the Dallas team does take on the style of their owner. However, the league also uses that against Cuban and the Mavericks as well. From the loss in the finals a few years ago, to the call on Saturday night, Dallas has had to fight not only the other team, but the refs and the league as well.
However, for the largest part of the playoffs and quite some time before that I have heard that Dallas has been a soft team that they did not fight hard for rebounds, which for the most part they just let Denver run over them. Also, if we want to look at hard fouls, and body slamming rebounds, look at Kenyon Martin and NeNe. These two could lessons in rough play. I was proud that Dallas showed some emotion and I believe it was this emotion that helped them come back and win. But, I also believe that Denver did not really care if they lost this game, now they can go back home and win the series on their home court. Not to mention the fact that the Lakers are in a very tough series with the Rockets, which will allow the Nuggets rest before they go on to play what should be the Lakers, but who knows.
I am not really a Dallas fan, I am a Thunder fan. However, I was rooting for the Mavericks over the Heat in 2006. But it is plain to see that as long as Mark Cuban owns the Mavericks Dallas will never win a NBA championship, at least not as long as David Stern in the commissioner.