SI Jinx?
 Mavs Fare Well, 'Cept For JackZen Dig
Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com - Posted: 2004-01-30 00:00:00.000


By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com
And now it’s Sports Illustrated’s turn to explain what’s wrong with the Mavs.
SI gives the Mavs some cover space (a mention on its Super Bowl preview edition) with the headline, “DOUBTING THE DALLAS MAVERICKS.’’ And inside, the headline reads, “THREE’S A CROWD,’’ a reference to the power-forward overload of Dirk, Antoine and Antawn.
The reader is invited deeper for the same sort of national media skepticism we’ve all come to loath.
Except. …
Venerable NBA scribe Jack McCallum – in direct conflict with the headlines – actually paints a somewhat rosy picture of where Dallas might go. Among the notable items:

  • He solicits a sickening quote from Lakers coach Phil JackZen: “They’re not that good,’’ JackZen says. “And I don’t think they’re going as far as they did last season.’’
  • He also gets cute with owner Mark Cuban, apparently prying from him the fact that it’s Grecian Formula that helps him retain his boyish appearance.
  • He cleverly illustrates the nice-guy leanings of these Mavs by pointing out that Antawn Jamison’s hobby is collecting angel figurines.
  • He gets trite when calling the team “Allas’’ because “the team has no D.’’ (Good one, Jack. Did you think of that yourself?)
  • But mostly, McCallum praises the Mavs for their attempts to play “up-tempo hoops in a league stuck in first gear.’’ He says the AnTwin trades clearly make Dallas more talented. He praises the franchise’s entertainment value, from owner on down. And he does a wonderful job framing the Cuban-Nelson partnership, terming it “a simmering teapot of a relationship that sometimes boils over. … What Cuban and Nelson share is a renegade streak, a compulsion to toss chocolate jimmies onto the poached salmon.’’
    We’ll note that we’re not certain if the SI Cover Jinx applies if you get just a mention on the cover while giving kudos to McCallum for all th aforementioned, especially the Cuban-Nellie thing (except for the fact that few of us without SI expense accounts eat poached salmon or even know what “chocolate jimmies’’ are.)
    SI commits only one real crime, and that is failing to realize that while recently “Three’s A Crowd’’ might apply for a time -- McCallum writes, “The personnel changes have exacted a price, most notably a reduction in the effectiveness of the Mavs’ best player, Nowitzki’’ – Dallas’ power trio deserves some benefit of the doubt for what might happen in the coming months.
    Or what might happen on Tuesday in Seattle, when Jamison and Walker both find room to be effective while at the same time The UberMan goes off for 43.
    Very fairly, McCallum writes “what will have to happen for the Mavs to achieve’’ the NBA Finals. He says Walker’s presence will have to continue to pull opposing big men away from the basket. He says Steve Nash will have to stay in one piece. He says Jamison will have to continue to provide instant offense. And, he says, the Mavs must continue to feed off their “we’ll-show-‘em attitude.’’
    Couldn’t agree more. And couldn’t be more happy to finally bump into a national media guy who “gets it.’’