# Why are the mavs so hated?



## INTELLECT (Nov 22, 2002)

man every where I turn I see peeps hating on the mavs. On every board I go to "cept this forum" the mavs get rained on like they suck or something. They've had back to back 50 plus win seasons and are on the verge of doing something not too many teams have done as far as nba starts go. It seems like the mavs are prolly the most underrated team in the nba. They still don't get the respect they deserve and their 14 and 0. I don't get it man. Last year they got hated on for defense now they are playing VERY WELL on the defensive end and now it's "only the regular season" the mavs choke every year in the playoffs. Peeps seem to forget that none of the mavs key guys had been in the playoffs before 2 years ago. Shaq and the lakers got swept 2 times in 3 years in the playoffs before winning their first title. Peeps seem to have amnesia about jordan's bulls being stopped by the pistons three times in a row before winning a title. What is up with all the mavs hate? Is it because the team is full of white boys or something?


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

Some posters like to bring up the past in a way so as to have something to hold to so they don't have to give props to a team like the Mavs.

Others just cannot believe that the regular season means something, forgetting that it is the prelude to the playoffs for this NEW season.

There are probably many reasons why they don't like the Mavs - nothing new in that, as many don't like the Lakers or the Celtics, or the Pistons, etc.

I <b>doubt very much whether race has anything at all to do with why some posters don't like the Mavs!</b> :|


----------



## Fordy74 (May 22, 2002)

Im a Knicks fan but I like the Mavs. All the haters dont have much to go on besides lack of defense which as you pointed out they have improved on. If they keep this undefeated streak going who cares what the haters say! I think the Mavs are good for basketball. An exciting team with a fun style of play and an eccentric owner who is involved in the team and wants to win real bad. I dont know why anyone would hate the Mavs.


----------



## IV (Jul 16, 2002)

welcome to the world of being on top. 
why do you think so many people hate the lakers and now are so please that they are not doing well? you cant have your cake and eat it to.


----------



## INTELLECT (Nov 22, 2002)

even before the mavs were on top peeps wouldn't admit they were a good team. I think it's because alot of their players are white. Mad NBA PLAYERS have animosity toward the mavs cause of their players skin color


----------



## IV (Jul 16, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>INTELLECT</b>!
> even before the mavs were on top peeps wouldn't admit they were a good team. I think it's because alot of their players are white. Mad NBA PLAYERS have animosity toward the mavs cause of their players skin color


I dont think thats true. a players skin color should have nothing to do with what they do on the court. The reason why the mavs were not getting respect for being a good team is because they lack defensive intensity. Yes they could score, but we all know defense wins championships. Now that the Mavs are doing there part on the other end of the ball the props are there.


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>INTELLECT</b>!
> even before the mavs were on top peeps wouldn't admit they were a good team. I think it's because alot of their players are white. Mad NBA PLAYERS have animosity toward the mavs cause of their players skin color


I agree with IV on this. Nobody who loves the NBA gives a hoot about skin color, life styles, or things they do off of the court - at least I don't care about those things. I care about great NBA basketball.

I think many were turned off because they didn't defend worth a [email protected] when it came to the games that count - the playoffs! Now they are seeing them play some zone "D" and trying as a team to put some real effort into "D". 

They don't have great individual defenders, except probably Bell - but you don't need that when you play concerted TEAM defense AND you have somebody in the paint who can either defend with his body or defend by making the opponents alter their shots!

So, please stop with the race card, as it is a non-factor.


----------



## TomBoerwinkle#1 (Jul 31, 2002)

I just want to start out by saying that I _like_ the Mavs. They are a good team that is exiting to watch. Their defense is improved, but still not great. You know what, that's ok. There have been a lot of west coast teams in the past who won a lot of games with lax defense simply by putting up major numbers on offense.

But people don't give Dallas a lot of respect for this reason: they've earned a reputation for being a crappy team by _being_ a crappy team for a whole lot of years in a row. When you get a reputation like that it takes more than one or two good but not _great_ seasons in a row to get people to notice that you don't suck anymore. Especially people who don't watch a lot of games, and therefore don't see the improvement firsthand.

I think with the gaudy start that Dallas came up with this season, a lot of heads have turned and you'll be hearing less and less chatter about Dallas' weaknesses. However, the critics won't really be silenced unless and until the Mavs make a run DEEP into the playoffs. Until then, they will carry the albatross of their past miserable seasons with them.

From the looks of it though, this may be the year, so hang in there.


----------



## INTELLECT (Nov 22, 2002)

*article from last year since peeps don't think the mavs are hated cause of skin color*

Nick Van Exel didn't have any trouble believing what he was hearing, because he'd heard it before. It was something guys in the league started intimating about the Mavericks the past couple of years. 

"You know," Van Exel explained with a shrug of his shoulders, "that old stereotype." 

Van Exel just hadn't heard the accusation hurled with venom. And certainly not in his face. 

But there it came in the heat of battle Tuesday night, aimed right at him, now that he's a member of the Mavericks. 

"A bunch of white boys!" Van Exel said somebody on the Blazers spat. 

It was not an observation served up solely as a census count of Van Exel's new team, which is, in fact, the only NBA team with a predominantly white starting cast. 

It was meant to be a slur. You know, white men can't hoop. 

And with so many white players to depend on, the slight suggested, Van Exel would ultimately wind up a loser in this league long dominated now by the predominant segment of its workforce, black players. 

That is a strong, though rarely publicly acknowledged, perception about white players in the NBA, and basketball in general. Larry Bird was an exception. Jerry West was another generation. Those days are gone. 

The lone non-foreign born white player named to last February's NBA All-Star Game, Minnesota's Wally Szczerbiak, recalled to Newsday that weekend an occurrence during a game against Toronto. When Raptors star Vince Carter found himself being guarded by Szczerbiak, Szczerbiak said Carter turned to the Minnesota bench and exclaimed: "You better get this white guy off me, or I'm going to score 40." 

"When a guy like Vince Carter has that much disrespect for you to say something like that, it just goes to show you where some of these guys are coming from," Szczerbiak commented. 

Imagine what all the Carters in the league think then of a team like the Mavericks filled out with a plethora of white guys – what with starters Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Raef LaFrentz, and reserves Shawn Bradley, Evan Eschmeyer and, to less extent, Eduardo Najera and Wang Zhizhi. Three of the Mavericks' starters are white and more than half of the active roster right now is not black. That is unusual in the NBA. It's a throwback, way back. 

"What? You mean we have too many white players?" coach Don Nelson said Wednesday when asked about the smear from one of the Blazers. "Never heard it. 

"Thank God for sports. That's the beauty of it. It's a place where, who cares what color he [a player] is? If a guy's good, he's good. The European players – the ones who make it, make it. The ones who don't, they go back. I just don't see it." 

Basketball, like most sports, wasn't always a meritocractic oasis, of course. It had to go through a period of breaking down barriers and stereotypes and segregation. Some of the earliest pro leagues mimicked many college programs and didn't allow black players. They even forbid competition against black teams, or teams with black players on them. 

Those days, thankfully, are over. 

It's ironic, though, that nowadays the pendulum has swung so far that white players are the subject of doubt, and sometimes ridicule, from black peers because of the color of their skin. But they are, whether it's on the American Airlines Center floor or in the local recreation gym. 

As Shaquille O'Neal wrote in his book, Shaq Talks Back: "If you're from the 'hood, you don't want to get dunked on by a white guy. That's just how it is." 

That's just how it was, maybe. 

I would think no player wants to get dunked on by anyone, and that there is no additional shame for the countless black players in the league who've been dunked on now – posterized, as the saying goes – by All-Star Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. I would also think that there is no extra shame for black players left to look as athletic as a fire hydrant when All-Star Mavericks guard Steve Nash crosses them up with a dribble. 

But if race is yet another obstacle – along with O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and David Robinson – with which these Mavericks must contend, there is good news: With more wins right now than all but one team, they've just about turned into pure myth another ridiculous stereotype.


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

*Okay - your POV is stated by others, BUT*

But Nellie is like me and countless others who love this game:

<i>"What? You mean we have too many white players?" coach Don Nelson said Wednesday when asked about the smear from one of the Blazers. "Never heard it. 

<b>"Thank God for sports. That's the beauty of it. It's a place where, who cares what color he [a player] is? If a guy's good, he's good. </b>The European players – the ones who make it, make it. The ones who don't, they go back. I just don't see it." </i>

So - now you've made your point, Nellie made his point, and this should be <b>The last time we have to endure this kind of discussion - right? RIGHT! I hope I have made my point CLEAR here at bbb on this subject.</b>


----------



## INTELLECT (Nov 22, 2002)

actually i'm a black guy who sees that this is happening. But since this is a taboo subject on this boards I wont discuss it even though it is an issue.


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>INTELLECT</b>!
> actually i'm a black guy who sees that this is happening. But since this is a taboo subject on this boards I wont discuss it even though it is an issue.


Yes, anything to do with racism, alternate life styles, sexist remarks, or anti-other countries is taboo here - for a reason. If we would discuss this - what would the end result be - would it change anything - would it look like someone is bashing the black players/white players for their attitude of what some might feel is racist?

What I mean is this:
It settles nothing, and might be offensive to some posters, whatever their race/color/sex/creed/or lifestyle.

Hopefully, this is a basketball site that encourages posters in their fandom, that wants all posters to feel welcomed, where they don't have to worry about prejudice of any kind, and a place where they can't be called ignorant, morons, or other names.


----------



## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

Actually I hate to pull the reverse racism card but I do think thats why they are not well liked. First they sucked for a decade and now they are the best team in the League with the likes of Nash, Nirwiztki, LaFraentz, and Bradley? You think Stern would promote this team more considering theyve been looking for a gimick. I also believe this is the reason Charles Barkley hates them also. And you would be hard pressed to tell me he aint racist. He only gave one piece of commentary on the Mavs and he waited until after thier first loss to say it. Way to look like a genuise there Chucky!! Before the loss all he said was the Mavs were not that good and yada yada yada but never said why. But he talked up the teams the Mavs had destroyed. Now Im confused. Wait until they lose to say they are soft in the middle. But dont mention that that wein streak was without a lot of players.


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Dragnsmke1</b>!
> Actually I hate to pull the reverse racism card but I do think thats why they are not well liked. First they sucked for a decade and now they are the best team in the League with the likes of Nash, Nirwiztki, LaFraentz, and Bradley? You think Stern would promote this team more considering theyve been looking for a gimick. I also believe this is the reason Charles Barkley hates them also. And you would be hard pressed to tell me he aint racist. He only gave one piece of commentary on the Mavs and he waited until after thier first loss to say it. Way to look like a genuise there Chucky!! Before the loss all he said was the Mavs were not that good and yada yada yada but never said why. But he talked up the teams the Mavs had destroyed. Now Im confused. Wait until they lose to say they are soft in the middle. But dont mention that that wein streak was without a lot of players.


Does it really matter what Barkley thinks about the Mavs? 

Do you really have the access to the "MOTIVES" behind what Barkley said about the Mavs and more importantly - WHY Barkley said whatever he said?

Will the race problem be solved here by discussion - when it hasn't been solved in thousands of years?

Whenever one makes an "accusation" of someone's MOTIVES, they're acting like they have the ability to "read minds", almost like a "CLEO", don't you agree???


----------



## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>TheRifleman</b>!
> 
> 
> Does it really matter what Barkley thinks about the Mavs?
> ...


I was only using Barkley as an example but you are right. The "race problem" will not be solved on basketballboards .net but that doesn mean it doesnt have an influence on the sport or any sport for that matter. That makes it a viable topic then. And if a person chooses to ignore it because it hasnt been solved how will it ever be solved then?


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Dragnsmke1</b>!
> 
> 
> I was only using Barkley as an example but you are right. The "race problem" will not be solved on basketballboards .net but that doesn mean it doesnt have an influence on the sport or any sport for that matter. That makes it a viable topic then. And if a person chooses to ignore it because it hasnt been solved how will it ever be solved then?


Because the policy here is that "this viable topic" turns into flaming wars. Also, there are many places to discuss the race problem/religious wars/ alternate life styles/sexist topics, etc. and this site is NOT one of them.


----------



## groovehouse (May 21, 2002)

Man, I don't hate the Mavs and I'm a Rockets fan!!


----------



## INTELLECT (Nov 22, 2002)

[email protected] But I do have to say this in response to barkley. He's far from a racist. Heck his wife is white. LOL He just don't like the mavs that's all.


----------



## bdachakeya (Jun 10, 2002)

Well guys, I'm pulling for the Mavs to win it all because I know my Grizzlies are still in learning stages and their chances of doing the unthinkable are slim. But when I think about the Mavs being a majority white team, that was something that rarely crossed my mind until I came to y'all's board. I've even won bets with guys at work who are from Detroit that the Mavs would destroy them both times they played, not because they're a bunch of white guys who can play but what I thought to be a much better team. But to think back on things, especially during my High School years(80s), there was this talk amongst teammates that we better not lose to a team full of white guys because of the perception that Bball was a sport we were the Kings of. But we also thought the opposite when it came to football, because we were under the perception that when we played an all white football team that we had to bring our best because of the notion that we thought white schools had all of the best equipment to train with and ate the best nutritionist foods to prepare and build their bodies. But those are things we should learn to outgrow because we later find out that skills, will, and better executers of the game mostly come out on top. So, alot of this stuff is just myths that all players(black/white) have to get pass, because they will all find out the hard way like Team USA, that championships are won by teams and not by a name or color alone.


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>bdachakeya</b>!
> Well guys, I'm pulling for the Mavs to win it all because I know my Grizzlies are still in learning stages and their chances of doing the unthinkable are slim. But when I think about the Mavs being a majority white team, that was something that rarely crossed my mind until I came to y'all's board. I've even won bets with guys at work who are from Detroit that the Mavs would destroy them both times they played, not because they're a bunch of white guys who can play but what I thought to be a much better team. But to think back on things, especially during my High School years(80s), there was this talk amongst teammates that we better not lose to a team full of white guys because of the perception that Bball was a sport we were the Kings of. But we also thought the opposite when it came to football, because we were under the perception that when we played an all white football team that we had to bring our best because of the notion that we thought white schools had all of the best equipment to train with and ate the best nutritionist foods to prepare and build their bodies. But those are things we should learn to outgrow because we later find out that skills, will, and better executers of the game mostly come out on top. <b> So, alot of this stuff is just myths that all players(black/white) have to get pass, because they will all find out the hard way like Team USA, that championships are won by teams and not by a name or color alone.</b>


Great reply! Championships are won by teams and not by a name or a color is simply perfect! This great game is BIGGER than race, color, creed or anything else that human frailities try to attach to it.

I don't care what Shaq said about any white player - I don't care about any of that - except watching the greatest game ever invented!


----------

