# Let's talk Mavericks history



## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

In an effort to create some discussion during the long offseason, I thought this would be quite an interesting topic.

Just talk about the Mavericks history, basically from their first season in 1980 to the Three J's to when we were woeful to right before the Cuban era.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about us - I know the general gist of it but I don't know about our previous franchise players. Some possible questions in this topic that could create some discussion


Worst coach ever?
Worst trade?
Best trade?
What went wrong with the Three J's
Player comparisons for guys like Brad Davis, Rolando Blackman, James Donaldson etc etc
Anything else you can think of that we didn't cover would be great. Let's get some good basketball talk going. 

PS..Ed and Bray, you grandpas, it's your time to shine.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

Tersk said:


> PS..Ed and Bray, you grandpas, it's your time to shine.


 :rofl:


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

[*]*Worst coach ever?* - Well, Richie Adubato went 2-27 with the '93 squad, but he had worse than a NBDL roster to work with. (I had nothing else to do - that's why I watched  ) Jim Cleamons, on the other hand, came from Chicago with skins - what did he have to do with Jordan's and Pippen's greatness? I don't know - and Mash, Jackson, Kidd and Finley all played under him in '97, but it was ugly. But worst? Gimme Quinn Buckner - Mash and Jackson are better than 13 wins. :curse: 

[*]*Worst trade?* I still miss Jamal Mashburn - I still don't miss Shawn Bradley. 


[*]*Best trade? * Tractor for Dirk. If winning a coin flip counts for anything, we got Mark Aguirre by calling heads.


[*]*What went wrong with the Three J's?* Leadership and vision. I thought at the time that I was qualified to sit down with them and convince them of their Hall of Fame destiny. The crap about the girl was a cop-out, if you ask me.


[*]*Player comparisons for guys like Brad Davis, Rolando Blackman, James Donaldson etc etc*
Davis got his jersey hung in an era when the Mavs needed to hang one, but were too ticked off at Aguirre to hang his. Brad was a good pro for a long time, but it's kinda embarrassing to think that was the best we had. Blackman - on the other hand - was greatness.

Donaldson? Roamed the paint in a time when dinosaurs ruled the floor. I long for the Artis Gilmores and Moses Malones of the day. (Dampier is comparable in size to Moses Malone, but no contest. One HOF, one benched.) 

I long felt that the Mavs were jinxed. Super studs would come with the snake bit-drafts - Jim Jackson, didn't want to play. Roy Tarpley - the saddest waste of talent (next to Len Bias) in the '86 "Drug Draft". And my all time favorite Maverick talent-wise - Mark Aguirre, who scored more points than anyone in the NBA between '83-'88, was good buddies with Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas but didn't share their feeling of entitlement. 

Painful, yet sweet memories.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

Tersk said:


> PS..Ed and Bray, you grandpas, it's your time to shine.


When I saw the thread title, my eyes lit up.  :eek8: :makeout:


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

I'm definitely just watching in this thread....but...

What did you guys think of Leon Smith? When the Mavs drafted him, what expectations did you have? What was the feeling like when he turned out to be a bust?


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

_Dre_ said:


> What did you guys think of Leon Smith? When the Mavs drafted him, what expectations did you have? What was the feeling like when he turned out to be a bust?


I claim previous education as my shield. Doug Smith was the definition of bust a few years before; and after Nellie "got lucky" with the big German, I knew it would be too good for the Mavs to hit big on a phenom. 

Remember, I'm a MFFL - I expect the worst. :angel:


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Tersk said:


> PS..Ed and Bray, you grandpas, it's your time to shine.


I am still looking for my bi-focals.... :biggrin:


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

:gossip: 

:whaasup: 

:whoknows:


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## StackAttack (Mar 15, 2006)

Heh, remember when we picked Samaki Walker over Damp (who we'd eventually be overpaying by around 10 million dollars), freaking Kobe, Peja, Nash, Jermaine, and Big Z?


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

StackAttack said:


> Heh, remember when we picked Samaki Walker over Damp (who we'd eventually be overpaying by around 10 million dollars), freaking Kobe, Peja, Nash, Jermaine, and Big Z?


 :whatever:


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Here's an interesting fact:

Before Dallas had the Mavericks they had a basketball team known as the Dallas Chaparrals, which are now known as the San Antonio Spurs :biggrin: 

Ok so that was more of the history of the spurs, but it did include some history of basketball in dallas. Plus it's just about the only thing I can contribute to this thread


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

ezealen said:


> Here's an interesting fact:


I don't know if everyone realizes it, but Dallas didn't have a name selected until they asked people of the metroplex to send in their nominations. I don't remember any of the other ones, but I do remember Vern Lunquist (I think) covering the story and telling some of ideas being thrown around.

The finalists were selected and put into a cowboy hat (Don Carter's). The drawing was live - I saw it - and the Mavericks were born. :banana:


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## StackAttack (Mar 15, 2006)

What I heard on ESPN Radio during the Finals (they were talking Mavs history) was that they had a drawing that really had no meaning; Mavericks was already decided upon by one of the original owners, James Garner, who played Maverick on the western TV show of the same name.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

StackAttack said:


> What I heard on ESPN Radio during the Finals (they were talking Mavs history) was that they had a drawing that really had no meaning; Mavericks was already decided upon by one of the original owners, James Garner, who played Maverick on the western TV show of the same name.


Well, I was 12 or 13 so it looked pretty real.

Drama. :angel:


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

Why were we so woeful during the 90's? We were the laughing stock of the league


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

Tersk said:


> Why were we so woeful during the 90's? We were the laughing stock of the league


A combination of failed expectancies (Rodney McCray and Fat Lever were supposed to provide veteran leadership for the oft' irresponsible Tarpley), and what could best be described as bad luck to go along with bad decisions. The success of the '80s caused a logjam of talent that had to be dispursed. Detlef Schrempf went on a great career, even winning 6th man of the year shortly after leaving here. Same with Dale Ellis. 

Study the draft history http://www.basketballreference.com/teams/teampage.htm?tm=dal&lg=n, it's full of misses and even those talents were full of jinxes. After finishing 22-60 in 1992, we had the third best chance in the draft, picked fourth, and got a player who refused to play here (Jim Jackson). Then we finished 11-71 - had the best chance in the draft - but again the ping pong balls failed us and we picked fourth once again (Jamal Mashburn).

After missing on Karl Malone, they thought Randy White would be his second coming.  


But instead of using the talent we garnished, the Mavs seemed to feel sorry for themselves (I felt sorry for them :clown: ) and couldn't find a coach with credentials. So the guys from major schools like Kentucky (Mashburn) and Ohio State (Jackson) had little or no respect for the leadership here.

Here's the coaching history: http://www.basketballreference.com/coaches/coachteam.htm?tm=dal&lg=n. 

Here's the way it was chronicled from the press: 


> 1988/89: After 5 straight playoff appearances the Mavericks hit a speed bump and begin to unravel. In what started out as an injury-plagued season the Mavericks would quickly fall apart on and off the court. First Roy Tarpley was suspended infinitely in January for violating the league's anti drug policy. Then they started to trade away top stars like Mark Aguirre to the Detroit Pistons for Adrian Dantley who refused to even play for the Mavs, even though he would eventually show up after an 8-day holdout. In another questionable move the Mavs would trade Detlef Schrempf to the Indiana Pacers for Herb Williams. The Mavs would finally bottom out in March with a 12-game losing streak as they finished in 4th place with a 38-44 record.
> 
> 1989/90: After an awful season the Mavericks would bounce back to make the playoffs with a 47-35 record good enough for 3rd place in the Midwest Division. However, things would not all go smoothly for the Mavericks. First Roy Tarpley would find himself in hot water again as he is arrested in November for Driving under the Influence of Drugs. Shortly there after Coach John MacLeod is fired and replaced by Richie Adubato. After finishing the season on a high note the Mavericks would make a quick exit in the playoffs as they are swept in 3 straight by the Portland Trailblazers.
> 
> ...


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

bray1967 said:


> A combination of failed expectancies (Rodney McCray and Fat Lever were supposed to provide veteran leadership for the oft' irresponsible Tarpley), and what could best be described as bad luck to go along with bad decisions. The success of the '80s caused a logjam of talent that had to be dispursed. Detlef Schrempf went on a great career, even winning 6th man of the year shortly after leaving here. Same with Dale Ellis.
> 
> Study the draft history http://www.basketballreference.com/teams/teampage.htm?tm=dal&lg=n, it's full of misses and even those talents were full of jinxes. After finishing 22-60 in 1992, we had the third best chance in the draft, picked fourth, and got a player who refused to play here (Jim Jackson). Then we finished 11-71 - had the best chance in the draft - but again the ping pong balls failed us and we picked fourth once again (Jamal Mashburn).
> 
> ...


OMG... that brought back memories. It was too difficult being a fan during those times.

It was negative press day after day. I remember everybody questioning why the Mavs continued to stay with Tarpley, who violated substance-abuse policy WAY TOO MANY TIMES. Dallas became the team that condones druggies.....

Fat Lever was *always* hurt.

Rolando Blackman, the ONLY consistent producer on offense, was then traded to "rebuild" the team. The only fortunate thing was that the Cowboys had the triplet (Aikman, Irvin, and Smith) and went to the Superbowls. Superbowl frenzy kept the fans from storming the Reunion Arena.

It wasn't until Jason Kidd was drafted that the fans actually saw a glimpse of hope.

Wow.... the old days.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

edwardcyh said:


> OMG... that brought back memories. It was too difficult being a fan during those times.
> 
> It was negative press day after day. I remember everybody questioning why the Mavs continued to stay with Tarpley, who violated substance-abuse policy WAY TOO MANY TIMES. Dallas became the team that condones druggies.....


I seem to remember Don Carter getting soured on ownership after having to put up with first Aguirre, then Tarpley.

Roy brought his car up to an NTB in Farmers Branch (NTW at the time) who was a good customer. They ordered a part from me for his ride, but had to cancel because a technician found pot in his car. He took his car and left.

We were always hearing stupid things like that around the area (he lived near Spring Valley and Montfort), things that made you wonder about his mental state.


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