He has been virtually silent since the Mavs made the playoffs. Everyone is talking about the fact that he is NOT talking.

I bet David Stern is chomping at the bit waiting for him to let loose.

So, can he go the distance??

If the Mavs win the title, I want a big ass poster of David Stern handing Mark Cuban the trophy. That would be fantastic.

It's going to be very difficult when some adversity happens. It's been a smooth month since the game 4 Portland meltdown.

I'm also concerned about gettin played by the media in regards to discussing the 2006 Finals. Dirk and Jet need to refuse to discuss anything controversial and stay focused. None of this "we thought we were the better team and they stole our title" nonsense. They got into it with the media in 2007 and I think it was a bad distraction. Take the Kobe 2010 Finals approach of staying completely focused on winning and not bringing up the past. Don't give anything to your opponent

Amen...let the Heat get all the media attention for all I care...focus on bball...I gotta trust Carlisle more that Spoelstra in game management

Agree, although I will say Carlisle vs. Spoelstra executing Riley's game plan is a little more obscure.

I saw this article built around a Jet quote on yahoo today and was ready to cringe but it's actually really good

quote:

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Several times in these playoffs, we've been pretty amazed to have been reminded that the only championship ring on the Dallas Mavericks roster belongs to head coach Rick Carlisle, who won one as a reserve with the Boston Celtics in 1986. We're all aware of guys like Dirk Nowitzki(notes) and Jason Kidd(notes) falling short in the finals, but to have nobody on that bench even sneak his way into a championship parade? Kind of crazy. I mean, even the Timberwolves had Darko Milicic(notes). Even the Nets had Jordan Farmar(notes).

But nary a Mav, from top to bottom, has been amongst the toppermost of the poppermost. So I suppose it makes sense for Dallas, one win away from the NBA Finals, to be working with an "us against the world" mindset.
Or, more specifically, an "us against the world that has been so mean to us before" mindset. Whatever works.

Right Jason Terry?

"Peja Stojakovic, Sacramento versus L.A., he didn't get it done," guard Jason Terry(notes) said. "Myself and Dirk, Finals 2-0, didn't get it done. Coach Carlisle, two Eastern Conference finals, never made it to the championship. Jason Kidd, two Finals appearances, didn't hoist up the trophy. Shawn Marion(notes) has been to the Western Conference finals twice, hasn't got to the Finals.
"Those unique stories are what drive us and motivate us to get it done this year."

First off, Jason Terry, can you kindly let us be the ones that term these narratives as "unique stories"? It's not enough that you've mastered that jump shot we could never figure out, now you have to start hitting the journalistic nail on the head?

On top of that, you've apparently spent quite a bit of time on Basketball-Reference.com, Jason Terry. Because that's a pretty accurate representation of your teammates' best chances at a ring. Although Sasha Pavlovic(notes) is kind of bummed that he didn't make the playoff roster, because you'd totally be talking up his "near-miss" (that's the way he'd insist that you put it) in the 2007 finals.

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That quote fires me up as a fan and doesn't give any material to the Heat. The media are going to be all over this angle trying bait the players into good quotes.

[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 5/25/2011 5:18p).]

Well...they "ain't done yet."

Loved how Dirk walked off the court leaving Doris Burke hanging. All business. Not finished at all. ***** wanna ask me how it feels that we're not considered soft anymore? **** off.

Cringed when Cuban was given the mike. Like a ****ing wrestling manager.

I get the Cuban hate, but I have to admit that if I ever got rich, bought my favorite sports team, and made them finally relevant in their sport for the first time, I would behave exactly like him...

That WAS tame for Cuban. He's the owner and deserves to celebrate the WC Championship, his team knows what the task is in front of them. Cuban didn't talk smack, just making a promise to the fans that it's not over.

quote:

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benandskin Ben Rogers
My man @SkinDoesHoops asked Dirk if he enjoyed the celebration. "We got one of those trophies already... I was thinking about the finals."

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quote:

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"We got one of those trophies already... I was thinking about the finals."

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What else can you say? Their biggest challenge is coming up. I like the focus.

LOVED how quick Cuban was to give the trophy to Dirk, who didn't even want to hoist it.

Also, love his response to the bait question from Doris "I have a Denny's waitress's name" Burke.

Paraphrasing:

Doris: Mark, you've been quiet this post season. Why?

Mark: I've got my reasons, but this is about the team.

Maybe Cuban has finally matured a little and realized him spewing off like he has in the past probably doesn't help his guys.


Maybe he's just being quiet so MLB will let him buy a team. Who knows.

And now we learn that Jet got a Finals Trophy tatoo on his arm in October by Stevenson's personal tattoo artist. I can't handle this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=6592221

Chandler just revealed that they've been listening to old Tupac albums in the locker room during pregame to get fired up led by Stevenson ever since the Portland meltdown. Love it

I know I'm clueless but all I remember from 2006 locker room footage is Avery frantically yelling/coaching while the players sat and stared at their feet.

Which one was the game they lost and Dirk got angry and knocked over a treadmill?

quote:

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And now we learn that Jet got a Finals Trophy tatoo on his arm in October by Stevenson's personal tattoo artist. I can't handle this.

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That takes writing down and visualizing your goal to a whole new level.