This & That

Luvable Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban was heralded as a free thinking, lovable, players’ owners for years when his team was outstanding. Now he is getting criticism for ripping his players publicly, including texting critical messages to his players right before games.

Which is it? Is he a player’s owner or a meddler?

The truth is, Cuban is a self-promoting, loud-mouth, media whore with money – always has been and always will be.

Currently, he can’t handle the fact that his team is not in the NBA’s top echelon – which in turn means he is personally getting less overall media attention - unless he goes off ofcourse.

The Mavericks are who they are – a little better than average. Deal with it Cuban.

Yea, you get my drift. Even though he lavishes his players with extra goodies, I don’t like an owner who acts like a drunken fan and chases officials on the court and generally makes an ass of himself.

I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now.

The media cut this guy slack for years because he made good copy. That's no excuse for his antics.

If you are wondering why your teams never won a championship Mark - here it is: your teams were soft then and they remain soft now. The only difference is the win total has gone down, which is easily explained - age & the window of opportunity closed.

Browns
Mangini continues to add former Jets to the Browns’ roster. And no, I don’t have a problem with it.

It’s his show and he is simply bringing in his people on the field just like he is bringing in his folks off the field.

For anyone to criticize him for bringing in guys who played for him without seeing them play extensively smacks of stupidity.

What new CEO, COO, Team President, GM or Head Coach doesn’t bring in people he knows and trusts?

We’ll find out soon enough if they can play.

Draft
Currently, the Browns have three first day picks (first two rounds). As of today, I hope they go skilled position players (WR & RB) with two of those picks to give Brady Quinn some help.

Why?

Yes, I know their defense isn’t any good, but did everyone forget they also set a record for going nearly two months without scoring an offensive touchdown?

An influx of talent and speed at the skilled slots couldn’t hurt.

They also still possess a handful of tradable commodities to make moves with and get better.

One suggestion - pick up an available quality veteran receiver (T. Holt) ASAP and release Donte Stallworth.

Sometimes, you have to simply cut your losses and try again. This regime did not acquire Stallworth, so dumping him and going to that same well again (free agency) makes sense for this regime and possesess low risk.

That is, unless they think they don't need WR help? If so, God help us.

Again, we'll be patient and wait for the plan to unfold.

Cavaliers No D
I am glad Head Coach Mike Brown went off on his team for not playing any D on their recent 3-0 road trip.

I watched the second half of all three games and was amazed by their (Cavs) lack of effort at the defensive end. It was pitiful for a team that prides itself on guarding people.

They didn’t stop penetration, didn’t rotate properly and still didn’t defend the post well enough. Simply put, they depended on their superior talent (aka: LJ) to win those games late. Had they been playing quality playoff teams, those would have been losses.

Defense is mostly about effort – something that wasn’t present on this trip. That has to change, and change soon, if they expect to win a championship.

Besides, if you look at his numbers in 2008-09, James simply has not shown the ability to lift his team to victory against the likes of Boson and LA. Until that changes, they have to defend extremely well against quality playoff teams to win it all.

NCAA Tournament
I haven’t seen nearly enough college basketball to make an educated pick, but I always follow one basic philosophy anyway – pick the team with the most future pros.

I have no idea who that is of course since I haven’t been watching closely. I’ve been too busy watching House re-runs.