Shawn Marion is known as the Matrix and he can do it all on a hoop court. For years he operated in near anonymity in Phoenix. It got so bad that Shawn threatened to leave just so he could be the man on some other team instead of third banana behind Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire on the Suns. Finally the Suns gave him his wish and dealt him to the Heat for the Shaq. The Heat were not very good and needed a big man, so Matrix was dealt to Toronto and from there he was dealt to Dallas.

Dirk Nowitzki will join Shawn Marion to go for the NBA title!

In Dallas, Shawn will never be the man. That label belongs to Dirk Nowitzki the perennial All Star and offensive power house. But the overall game and relentless movement on offense from Shawn has brought an extra dimension to the Mavericks that will only serve to enhance the play of Nowitzki.

“He’s pretty amazing, I got to admit,” Nowitzki said. “Playing against him all these years, you don’t really know all the little things he does. I really like playing with him. He doesn’t demand the ball, he just gets his points on the go.”

And he also sees the big picture. Marion’s do-it-all game should make life simpler for Nowitzki.

“I really think, especially on the break, that’s going to open up my shots on transition,” he said. “And we can get some baskets where we don’t have to work extra, extra hard.”
source

The Mavericks will now face the Western Division with 3 solid but aging stars in Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and Shawn Marion. If they stay healthy it could be the same formula the Boston Celtics used to win the NBA title a few years ago.

Image: Zuma Press

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It came out during an interview with Rick Carlisle, the Dallas Mavericks are better. Now if you look at the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association there are 3 super teams and the rest is wide open. The super teams would be the Los Angeles Lakers, the Denver Nuggets, and the San Antonio Spurs. After that the West is wide open, with even the rotten teams improving themselves.

The Dallas Mavericks have added Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, and Tim Thomas to a 6th place team. That is three quality players that will add shooting, scoring, size, and rebounding. Each of those players has missing parts to their games, but put the 3 together and you have an amazing set of situational type players.

So what does Rick Carlisle, the coach of the Dallas Mavericks think of all this?

What about the roster changes of the off-season? What do the incoming players bring to the table?

I like the moves we’ve made. We’ve acquired competitive guys. I like our chemistry. I think the pieces we added fit. The personalities of the new guys complement our nucleus. And I really believe the abilities of our new guys complement the guys that we have. We’re more athletic. We’ve got more experience.
source

Rick is a coach that holds you accountable and often puts you in situations to help the team with what you do best. Look for him to get the most out of the new players. He also is a strong believer in scripting plays and defending 1 on 1. It will be interesting to see how well the new players adapt to this type of coaching.

Dirk is yelling for the ball!

Rick is smart enough to know that Dirk Nowitzki is what makes the team go and all the new players will have to play to Dirk’s strength. Who knows, maybe the Mavericks could move into the group of super teams in the West!

Image: Zuma Press

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And the winner is…
But first a word from our sponsor…You! Hey, you, click on some of those ads off to the side and keep this blog a rolling. Rolling, Rolling, Rolling.
Now back to Billie Crystal as he announces the best player pickup in the off season…
Drum roll ta ta ta ta tata.
Richard Jefferson by the San Antonio Spurs.
Come on up Richard.

Congratulations and guess why you were number 1?

Jefferson (14 votes)
The first big move of the offseason will prove to be the best move, more than one-quarter of our voters said. RJ is the piece that will get the Spurs back into the West’s elite. Jefferson’s shooting numbers were down last season with the Bucks, but he shot 40 percent from beyond the arc and still knows how to score. Playing in a winning atmosphere certainly will help matters, too.

Most important, perhaps, is that RJ has been healthy for the past two years — something the Spurs’ big three has not been — and he’s still on the right side of 30. If he proves to be the perfect fit, the Spurs could push the Lakers for the Western Conference crown.

source

Duncan will have Richard Jefferson to help him to the NBA Title

Squibster take: This one stood out for me, because Richard Jefferson has been a quality player on a couple of confused teams. Now he won’t have to be the team leader. The Spurs have plenty of those guys. He can do what he does best and slash to the basket. Spurs may be once again looking at NBA title contention.

O’Neal to the Cav’s – does Shaq have enough left in the tank?
Artest to the Lakers – can Phil Jackson handle this guy? If he does then Phil goes to the Hall of Fame without retiring.
Carter to Orlando – Plenty of O, but will he deliver the D?
Marion, Miller, Turkoglu, and Wallace round out the field with Rasheed to the Celtics maybe paying the biggest dividends.

Photo source Newscom

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Every year you can count on the Dallas Mavericks being very interesting with Mark Cuban as an owner and Dirk Nowitzki as your star player, you have all the makings of an explosive team with explosive ownership. The Mavericks as usual made a lot of moves to change their team. One of the most lethal moves was to pick up Shawn “Matrix” Marion.

The Shawn Marion deal helps; there’s no question about that. In talking with Mark Cuban during summer league he told HOOPSWORLD to expect a lot of small ball next season. He said they’ll run Dirk Nowitzki at the center, Marion at the four, Josh Howard at the three, and some combination of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and J.J. Barea in the backcourt. We were quick to point out that playing Dirk at the five has been tried and was a dismal failure for both Don Nelson and Avery Johnson, but Cuban insisted that the up-tempo style his team will look to run next season will make that lineup a lethal combination.
source

Shawn Marion will be a Maverick

The Mavericks did not stop there as they also signed Drew Gooden, the man of 7 teams in 7 years.

Like Brandon Bass, Gooden has a good mid-range game. The good news for Mavericks fans is that Gooden is more consistent than Bass, who seemed to have good games about three out of every five nights. Gooden will deliver the same effort night in and night out, and given enough playing time he’s a solid double-double threat. He rebounds well, grabbing 7.9 boards per game over his career, hits 47% of his field goal attempts, and is an above average defender, as well. He should be a great addition, one who complements Jason Kidd nicely.
source

The up tempo style of the Dallas Mavericks makes the need for a lot of players paramount and in case you were wondering, they are loaded with a lot of players. Check out the two deep of:
PG Jason Kidd Jose Juan Barea
SG Jason Terry Matt Carroll
SF Josh Howard Shawn Marion
PF Dirk Nowitzki Drew Gooden
C Erick Dampier Kris Humphries
[as reported in Yahoo Sports]

Most teams would salivate at the likes of that type of depth. Not the Mavericks, they still feel they need a shooting guard to really make the team go. These guys never quit, on the court or in the front office.

Photo source Newscom

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Hey, the Heat can forget about Amare Stoudemire.

Miami finally took that option Friday, taking the Heat out of the chase for Marion’s ex-Phoenix Suns teammate Amare Stoudemire.

In a deal first reported by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher, the Heat agreed to trade Marion and guard Marcus Banks to the Raptors for O’Neal and swingman Jamario Moon.

source

All Shawn Marion did was lay down a dunk to beat the Bulls and then get shipped out of town.

Is this deal a big deal?
well, no, maybe, yes, depends.

O’Neal gives Miami a center. That makes Pat Riley happy, but O’Neal’s contract of 23 million can come off the books next year when Dwyane Wade has to be signed.

Marion gives the Raptors some scoring, but many think that Bosh will be heading out of town.
Photo source Newscom

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Shawn Marion shows off his Matrix WWE move with the knee smash from up high

Shawn Marion is an amazing player and if you have ever watched him play for the Phoenix Suns or the Miami Heat, you would have been amazed. Just how does he do what he does? And that jump shot or whatever you want to call it, just where did that come from and how come no coach ever made him change it? Maybe because it goes down even from long range?

Anyway, Matrix wanted out of Phoenix. It was simple math really. Steve Nash was the man and when his time was done, Amare Stoudemire was to be the man. Even Shaq got more pub in his brief stay in Phoenix. Of course, when did Shaq not get max pub?

Matrix took his game to Miami and Shaq went to Phoenix to save the Suns. It did not work out for either of them.

Shaq is old and not quite the force he used to be and Matrix, once again, seems under appreciated. Shawn Marion wants to be the man, instead he is trade bait.

The problem now is that Marion doesn’t appear to have a long-term future in Miami. The team is going through a rebuilding process with Dwyane Wade and rookie Michael Beasley as the cornerstones. Marion, who turns 31 at the end of the season and plays the same position as Beasley, doesn’t appear to be a great fit.

He has been dangled to the Lakers and Jazz, and more recently the Heat tried to work out something with the Bulls that would have brought them Ben Gordon and others.
source

Photo source Newscom

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Michael Curry will try to right the Piston ship

The NBA is proud to bring a brand new coach to your area. They did it for 8 teams.

Think about that. 8 new coaches.

Ever heard of a brand new coach immediately winning it all? It has probably happened, but not to my knowledge.

Usually you just fired the last coach because the team stunk so bad he could not make them win.

So this year we bring you the 8 trying to make the magic happen.

Michael Curry, Pistons

Curry, 40, was an assistant to last year’s coach, Flip Saunders, who was fired. From 2000 to 2004, Curry was president of the National Basketball Players Association. He’s also a former NBA vice president for basketball operations and played for six teams in an 11-year career.
source

Michael is lucky. He inherits a veteran team with a real honest to god chance to win it all. The team knows him. The GM, Joe Dumars, knows him. Heck, the hotdog vendor in section 133 knows him. Michael Curry was a defensive minded team oriented over achiever as a player. He even used to plan out bike trips and movies for when the players were on the road.

But can he coach? Well, he can as an assistant, but can he as the head coach?

Vinny Del Negro, Bulls

Del Negro, who has no coaching experience at any level, follows interim coach Jim Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles. Del Negro, 42, formerly was assistant general manager for the Phoenix Suns and played for five teams in a 12-year NBA career.

Scotty Skiles and Jim Boylan is a tough act to follow. Vinny has his hands full with that crew in Chicago. Skiles whipped and beat them to play defense and play as a team. Boylan found out they are lacking depth, size, speed, etc. Good Luck!

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Club President Pat Riley named Spoelstra, a seven-year assistant, to succeed him. Spoelstra, 37, is the youngest coach in the league.

This guy just has the job on loan until Pat Riley sees a good enough team to take over. Sure doesn’t hurt to have Dwyane Wade and the Matrix auditioning for jobs.

Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats

Have witnessed Larry up front with my Pistons and he is an amazing coach and complicated man. He is always chasing after something that is missing in his life. Some think he is looking for his father that left him at young age, not literally, but figuratively.

Larry will put them in half court sets and make them play playoff style basketball. If teams listen, they win, but most young players do not want to play that way. Example: Chauncey Billups was close to a triple double one night and Larry pulled him and said “You don’t have a clue as to how to play point guard for me, do you?” Think about it.

Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks

This one will be fun to watch. The Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki were often shooting before crossing half court and now will be playing half court. Rick was the Piston coach before Larry and he alienated so many people that he had to be fired with a winning record. Chauncey Billups used to say they knew exactly what plays would be run in the last two minutes as Carlisle called all the plays. Rick also does not like to double on defense. Can Dirk defend?

Mike D’Antoni, New York Knicks

Mike has his hands full until the Knicks can clean house and find some D’antoni style players. He needs speed and outside shooting to go along with a pass first dribbling point guard, a la Steve Nash. Mike is a great coach and the players love his style. The ball gets shared and the pace is quick.

Can he play enough defense to win a title though?

Must be Michigan week in the NBA or something

Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons
Larry Brown, former Detroit Pistons coach
Rick Carlisle, former Detroit Pistons coach
Vinny Del Negro replaces Jim Boylan former assistant at Michigan State University
Before Jim Boylan was Scott Skiles former player at Michigan State University
Mike D’Antoni was brought in to replace Isiah Thomas former Detroit Piston
The D’Antoni wanted to trade Zach Randolph former player at Michigan State University
Terry Porter, former Detroit Pistons assistant coach
Scott Skiles, former player at Michigan State University
Scott will work for GM John Hammond and he worked under Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons.

Terry Porter, Phoenix Suns

A hustling guard as a player and an average coach at Milwaukee, Terry will have some talent to work with, but will drastically change the style for the Suns. Terry is a real believer in defense.

Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks

Scott will have some hungry players in Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson. Maybe not enough talent to win, but that has never been an issue with Scott. He just wants you to bring the desire.

Photo source Newscom

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Stephon Marbury may never find his potential

For better or worse and most of the time worse, Stephon Marbury has been the face of the New York Knicks. He was like a plague to both Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas. Now the Knicks are prepared to face life without him.

The rumor is that the Miami Heat will go after Stephon. That may be a bad idea even though the Heat need a point guard.

Yes, yes, if Stephon Marbury would mind his ways the backcourt of Marbury and Dwyane Wade would be awesome, but therein lays the problem. Would he mind his ways. Stephon once admitted that he only played for the money.

Miami seems to be the wrong team for that to happen. Where is the leadership? Matrix is unhappy. Beasley if off to a ‘fined for smoking’ start. Wade is off and on injured. Riley is getting old. Just where is the strong leadership?

The Knicks are preparing to put Marbury on waivers by the end of the week, several sources with knowledge of the situation told Newsday. The team must await the go-ahead from Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, however, because it would involve eating another large chunk of money in a buyout, Newsday reported.

Marbury is entering the final year of his contract, worth $21.9 million.
source

Two stories…

Years ago my Detroit Pistons picked up NBA troublemaker Mark Aguirre. It will never work the experts said, but the experts failed to take into account the strong leadership of Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer. Aguirre was everything the Pistons wanted and the reward was an NBA title.

Story number two…

One night while playing against my Pistons, Stephon Marbury buried shots from all over the court in the fourth quarter. You know that shot chart they show with the circles that are red for made shots? Stephon had about 10 of them all from different places on the court. It was amazing. Don’t even remember who won.

So that has always had me wondering if Stephon went to a team with strong leadership and could display those kinds of talents, just how good could he be? Just how good could the team he played for be?

We may never know.

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LeBron James is partying at the thought of all the NBA players available in 2009

Even with all the big name free agents in 2010, with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in the group, the year 2009 could still be the year of the free agent.

Try this out for 2009.

Some of the Restricted Free Agents: Andrew Bynum, Marvin Williams, Jason Maxiell

Some of the players that can opt out of contracts: Kobe Bryant, Carlos Boozer, Rip Hamilton, Hedo Turkoglu

True Free Agents: Shawn Marion, Andre Miller, Rasheed Wallace

So what about money?
Some teams are loaded depending on what happens.

Thunder 25 – 30 million
Trail Blazers 15 – 32 million
Grizzlies 18 – 24 million
Pacers 11 million
Heat 10 million
Bobcats 10 million

Plain and Simple, there will be lots of player movement in 2009 in the NBA.

story source espn

Photo source newscom

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Tim Duncan says “You have to stop me to get to the finals

The Lakers picked up Pau Gasol, so they would not lose any momentum when Andrew Bynum was injured. When Bynum comes back, you have a front court of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom to go with Kobe Bryant. Arguably a powerful lineup.

The Phoenix Suns dealt the Matrix for Shaquille O’Neal. The Suns needed a center to get past the Spurs and because the Gasol deal had moved the Lakers ahead of them. If Shaq can turn it on one more time for the speedy Suns with Amare Stoudemire moving to power forward and Steve Nash wanting to win a ring before he retires, then the deal will look brilliant.

Even the San Francisco Warriors picked up Chris Weber, because they have playoff potential and are seeking any edge they can find.

So the Spurs looked around and decided to take…no one.

Yeah, that is right. No one.

“I never feel pressure to make a deal,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We talk to everybody, just like the other 29 teams. If something makes sense, we’ll do it. But making deals because you feel pressure is a recipe for failure.” source

Now the San Antonio Spurs did sign Damon Stoudamire to fill in for the injured Tony Parker, but that is it.

Their record does not look quite as sparkling as usual due to various injuries, but come playoff time you still have to knock off the Big Fundamental if you want to win the West.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Are the Spurs still the team to beat?

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