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E for effort: Vince Carter and his beardThe rumor was that Dirk Nowitzki and Odom got into fisticuffs in the Saturday loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. This has been shot down left and right, and it seems highly improbable.
What did happen is that Odom played four first-quarter minutes and pulled his usual charade of effort including a botched lay-up attempt and a half-assed casual trot down the court to get back on defense. He was quickly pulled.
At half, Mark Cuban apparently marched into the locker room and confronted Odom asking him if he was going to nut up. Odom apparently retorted, "Stop playing games" over and over. Odom was also late to the game against Portland Friday night and to a pre-game meeting Saturday in Memphis. All of these were final straws.
What is not being discussed was how piss-poor the entire situation was handled and how taken Cuban and Co. were in the trade talks.
Harking back to columns and thoughts when the trade was made, there were definite insinuations that Odom was too hot to handle. Those insinuations were right.
As the season wore on, it was pretty fucking clear that Odom had ZERO interest in being a Dallas Maverick. Instead, fans were greeted with a chorus from the team and media that he was dealing with off-the-court shit and that he showed more "energy" depending on the game.
There was zero accountability. Fans meanwhile bitched and moaned. Media simply patted them on the head and told fans/listeners/readers to sit back down. No way fans would know more about basketball or effort than some guy with a TV/radio degree from UNT.
The Odom situation is almost not about Odom at all. It's about the way Cuban runs his organization to be beholden to no one -- media, fans -- and the way the media simply lets him do his own thing. What is apparent is that the media is no more knowledgeable of basketball than many fans. Some pundits might tell you why Dirk Nowitzki is really good more than a fan can tell you that Dirk Nowitzki is really good. But, as far as Odom goes, any asshole with the ability of sight knew that Odom was putting forth no effort.
The message from the media -- some of whom are employees of the Dallas Mavericks -- was that there was nothing to see. Move along.
Fact is, the Dallas-Fort Worth media -- generally -- is quite full of themselves. The airwaves and bylines have provided them a safe sense of security. They work in a top-five market in a four-team town. They stay generally uncritical and there's zero attempt to maintain some sense of accountability. Listeners/fans/readers are treated like total retards.
With Odom gone and with Cuban's disdain of his play public, the media are now OK with bashing the entire situation. Cute.
****
As for the team, the minute I read that Odom was divorced from the team, I had one thought: Let's get healthy, let's get things together and let's see what happens.
I still think this is a marginally good team that can make the playoffs, but probably get run out of the building in the first round of the playoffs.
Still, one distraction, one of the things holding you back, is gone. You can only get better.
They showed that winning is still possible beating the Sacramento Kings 110-100. OK, beating the Kings is no crowning achievement. But wins are precious. Wins mean the difference between a five-seed and an eight-seed. Win what you can.
I was most impressed with the effort last night. It did seem a weight was lifted. The Mavericks filled up the box score last night and when you're talent is not there, you depend on effort. I was very pleased with these lines:
Jason Kidd
7 points - 6 rebounds - 7 assists - 1 steal - 2 blocks
Shawn Marion
10 points - 8 offensive rebounds - 10 rebounds - 2 assists
Brandan Wright
9 points - 4 rebounds - 2 assists - 2 steals - 2 blocks
Vince Carter
7 points - 7 rebounds - 5 assists - 1 steal - 3 blocks
A lot of things going on. A lot of active hands, a lot of effort and a lot of filling in the cracks. And these don't take into account pretty efficient nights from Dirk Nowitzki, Brendan Haywood, Delonte West, Jason Terry and Roddy Beaubois. Even Yi Jianlian scored eight.
Five Mavericks scored double digits. Six grabbed at least five boards. Three had at least five assists. Five had at least one steal and one block, apiece.
Watch out for a Odom-less Dallas Maverick team.
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