Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  36 responses

Mark Cuban’s Warning to Lazy Mavs

by Marcel Mutoni

Following a demoralizing loss to the Thunder on Monday night, Mark Cuban took some time away from saving the economy, and lit into the basketball team that he owns.

Though no specific players were named in his rant, Cuban did not mince words.

From the Dallas Morning News:

“If each player can’t take the personal initiative to make every game important and play like it, I don’t see them being here next season. The ball won’t always bounce the way we want it to, but every player can control their level of effort. If it’s not important enough to them to lay it out every game the rest of the season, they won’t be back.”

“I don’t care what their contract is. I would rather turn over the roster 100 percent than subject fans to another game like last night. This team has the talent to win in the playoffs. But that’s only going to happen if all 15 guys know and execute their assignments and play every possession like it’s important.”

With their work clearly cut out for them, the 8th place Mavs now have the unenviable task of playing back-to-back games against the Spurs and Hornets starting tonight.

Looks likes some changes are coming to Dallas and soon.

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  • tom Posted: Mar.4 at 9:02 am
    its about time

  • niQ Posted: Mar.4 at 9:05 am
    what happened to the carter trade? why didn’t it go through?

  • PoppaGrizzly Posted: Mar.4 at 9:12 am
    Could Dirk be gone next season? I doubt it, but Cuban is bananas and could ship him off. Maybe they could get a hall of famer who is past his prime(again).

  • TADOne Posted: Mar.4 at 9:16 am
    Promises, promises.

  • Sesa Posted: Mar.4 at 9:20 am
    Get Shaq!

  • Mr Unbreakable Posted: Mar.4 at 9:26 am
    Get TMac!

  • Hisham Posted: Mar.4 at 9:33 am
    Get rid of James Singleton!

  • Fred34 Posted: Mar.4 at 9:45 am
    Take note: that’s what management is supposed to sound like. (now back to ignoring my job)

  • Mo Charlo Posted: Mar.4 at 10:00 am
    This is what you have to deal with if Dirk is your best player and team leader.

  • jay Posted: Mar.4 at 10:07 am
    ricky rubio; save us!

  • ciolkstar Posted: Mar.4 at 10:17 am
    I’ve never been a Mavs or Cuban fan, but you can’t question theman’s dedication to bringing winning baskeyball to Dallas. I still think that they could land Bosh if thry play their cards right. The window for winning with Dirk is closed, but qas long as Cubes is willing to dish out the $, they’ll have a chance at some major free agents.

  • Doc Funk Posted: Mar.4 at 11:31 am
    The SEC thinks Mark Cuban knows a little too much about personal initiative.

  • Darksaber Posted: Mar.4 at 11:33 am
    Mo sure knows his Mavs ball. Take it from someone who watches most of their games since 2004, Dirk is not the problem. Always does his best to give them the chance to win. And james singleton is the most athletic Mav not named Gerald right now, and is probably their best offensive rebounder (considering the minutes he gets). Josh Howard, thats your cancer right there. Sloppy on O, nonexistent D, no longer passionate on court. And apart from Bass (Maxiell-West) they have zero inside game. Ason is doing Kidd stuff at his advanced sports age, impressive. But with him and Damp in the starting give, Mavs have no scoring optipns at the 1 & 5 spots. It’s no coincedence that Terry is on a scoring tear this season, he steps on and teams now have ro guard 3 Mavs. Stupid roster that on paper should be solid defensively but isn’t. And Ricks sounding pretty fed up too. So shut it Cubes, you didnt do crap at the deadline

  • BETCATS Posted: Mar.4 at 11:35 am
    good bye Eric Dampier

  • donlaker Posted: Mar.4 at 12:35 pm
    mark cuban, it is time for you to get the old converse out, and a whistle and coach your team to a title. get rid of devan george / eric dampier , and pay shaq to come and help next year, dirk is not sure he wants the n.b.a. much longer (that euro ring is easier to get) so overhall now or the ,devin harris trade will haunt you forever……………

  • phil Posted: Mar.4 at 12:57 pm
    Coming from the same guy who stood pat over the offseason and at the trade deadline despite an embarrassing playoff exit last year and a subpar start to this season, I’m not holding my breath.

  • kev Posted: Mar.4 at 1:00 pm
    Mavs will never win with dirk. worst mvp winner in history

  • Static Posted: Mar.4 at 1:15 pm
    Sounds like Cubes is trying to take lemons and make lemonade…by yelling at his “lemons”, staring them down and telling them to squeeze some good juice out of themselves…good luck

  • Adam Posted: Mar.4 at 2:30 pm
    hey does anybody know who david thorpe is referring to in this article? Years ago, I heard about a short little shooter (whose name is not important) heading into the 10th grade. I went to watch him play at a basketball camp that featured nothing but top-rated players, 16 and under. Most observers thought he’d be overwhelmed by the talent. He played well in his first game, but his team trailed by 9 with 50 seconds to go. However, he then made three consecutive 3-pointers, plus a steal, and suddenly the game was tied. We all stood slack-jawed at what had just happened. But the player acted as if he expected that ending. Two years later, he led the nation in scoring (50 ppg) and was a McDonald’s All-American. Two years after that, as a college soph, he was a starter in the NCAA title game. The kid was easy to write off, but he just kept coming, because he knew he had “it.” Those of us who saw that last-minute performance knew he’d end up being a difference-maker.

  • mike Posted: Mar.4 at 3:07 pm
    could it be chris jackson?

  • Mark Cuban Might Fire You Posted: Mar.4 at 3:27 pm
    [...] thoughts: (via Slam) “If each player can’t take the personal initiative to make every game important and play like [...]

  • adam Posted: Mar.4 at 4:14 pm
    David Thorpes Trivia question. Its Teddy Dupay. I looked it up. Averaged 45 a game in high school. started for florida in the 2000 title game as a sophmore and was a mcdonalds all american. THanks ben.

  • Collin Posted: Mar.4 at 4:49 pm
    if he would have realized this a few years ago, the mavs wouldnt have all these issues.

  • Nik Posted: Mar.4 at 5:38 pm
    Why is everybody thinking that dirk is the problem?? The main problem to me is the guys that surround him, hes sure no leader but he can ball and thats what matters ! the other problem is Nelson, he should be out, the last good trade dallas did was Terry . Dampier needs to go, hes too soft for a center, stack is too old now. Kaman could be a helpful piece as well as a decent guard! I wont talk about kidd…

  • Zee! Posted: Mar.4 at 7:33 pm
    Cubes, please stfu.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.4 at 8:00 pm
    Well, at least they have a shot at the playoffs; they’re currently ahead of Phoenix. Dirk can laugh his @ss off at Shaq, and Cuban can laugh his @ss off at Kerr. Its a win-win situation!

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.4 at 8:02 pm
    Dirk Nowitzki + Jason Terry + Erratic Pothead = Dallas Mavericks.
    So yeah, its the absent supporting cast that needs to step up.

  • jacori robinson Posted: Mar.4 at 8:46 pm
    get tmac baby

  • Peach B. Posted: Mar.4 at 11:04 pm
    If your best player has absolutely no leadership ability, you’re in trouble. Dirk could go out and get 40 every night but if he can’t fire his teammates up, you’re in trouble. I thought adding Jason Kidd would help in that way but clearly not. They play best when Dirk proves that he has some emotion but unfortunately you don’t get passion every game from Dirkenstein.

  • airs Posted: Mar.4 at 11:10 pm
    on a slight tangent, how come in the spurs-mavs game they have “los” in front of their team name on their jersey. some spanish thingy going on? so confused

  • Darksaber Posted: Mar.4 at 11:40 pm
    It’s a special night in the Nba, celebrating the Latino community. New York also has variant unis on tonight. Oh btw, MAVS FINALLY WIN ONE AGAINST A WESTERN POWERHOUSE. Praise the lord. Guess Josh Howard was faking that injury two nights ago, 29 tonight sure made that ankle look fine.

  • Darksaber Posted: Mar.4 at 11:42 pm
    Los Mavs, bébé!!!! Yesssss!

  • Dacre Posted: Mar.5 at 1:36 am
    Who could do more damage in the first round…? MAVS or SUNS…? I wish they would merge teams.

  • CHE Posted: Mar.5 at 12:43 pm
    The mavs need a new team. I am tired of seeing Dirk flop around the court with the same group of guys and underachieve every year. Cuban will probably get rid of a bunch of guys after this year is over.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.6 at 12:47 am
    Darksaber aren’t you German?

  • Darksaber Posted: Mar.7 at 11:00 pm
    Farrrrrr from it Teddy. But i lived in Europe for ages. And i speak German.

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