One man down for the Mavericks

By Henna Khan Business Manager Dallas Mavericks’ forward Caron Butler will not be participating in the remainder of this season due to a surgery he underwent today. He went in to have a ruptured right patellar tendon repaired by team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal at Texas Sports Medicine. While the time it may take him to recover is not certain, Butler is expected to miss the rest of the season. Butler went down in a game against Milwaukee on Saturday January 1. Due to several reasons, the team lost that game. However, Butler was coming off a season-high 30-point performance the previous game while picking up the offensive slack because of an injury to leading…

James’ decision to leave not looking so bad

Peter Sblendorio Sports Editor The sports world was buzzing on Thursday about LeBron James’ return to Cleveland for the first time since a messy break up during the summer that saw the star forward join the Miami Heat. While there are still many that question James’ decision for leaving the franchise that crowned him as King James seven years ago and many that will never forgive him, the Heat-Cavs game on Thursday proved that James may have made the right choice after all. It’s true that Miami has struggled more than expected to start this year, slumping to an 11-8 start coming into Thursday’s game. Their potential for greatness, however, was illustrated in the Heat’s…

Lakers setting the pace in 2010

By Peter Sblendorio Staff Writer While seemingly all of the hype in the young 2010-11 NBA season has gone to the Miami Heat and their new “Big 3”, the two time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers have quietly established themselves as the team to beat once again. Unlike the Heat, who added two of the games biggest superstars to their roster in the offseason, the summer months were quiet in L.A. Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher returned for a chance at another title, and that was pretty much it for the Lakers. That said, the Lakers have not missed a beat, winning their first eight games and looking dominant in the process. The Lakers have…

Eventful start to Dallas Mavericks’ preseason

It’s that time of year again-all 32 NBA teams are preparing for the upcoming 2010-2011 and beginning to play preseason games. Only 4 games into the preseason, the Mavericks franchise has experienced some unexpected events and results

Mavericks among LeBron’s list of possible destinations

By Travis Bremner Staff Writer The 2010 NBA free agent market has been talked about for years, the main reason being one of the two best players in the league have expiring contracts, LeBron James. No one has much clue as to where he who he will sign with, probably not even the people in his inner circle, in fact he may not even know, but there are six franchises that are realistic spots for him to play, including Dallas. Cleveland (55% chance) – I’ve thought all along that James would stay in his home state; you can’t judge how much it means to him play in the city he grew up in. The Cavaliers…

Suns looking like the Suns of old

By Peter Sblendorio For years we have heard about why the Suns cannot win in the playoffs. Their core is too old, they don’t play defense, their top scorers are too inconsistent, etc. In 2009-10, however, the Suns have showed that their fast pace run and gun offense can be effective against the NBA’s elite, and they are growing closer to the Western Conference Finals with each transition dunk or spot up jumper.  Their success this season, which netted them the three seed in the west, starts with Steve Nash. Nash’s age would suggest that he is well past his prime, yet he posted a sparkling 11.0 assists. His ability to lead the Suns transition…

LeBron James voted NBA MVP

By Peter Sblendorio For the second time in as many seasons, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James was named NBA MVP on Friday. James was second in the NBA in scoring with 29.7 points per game, only behind Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant. In addition to a sparkling points total, James averaged 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game in 2009-10. James has been the focal point of the Cleveland offense, who is the number one seed in the Eastern Conference of the NBA playoffs. He led the Cavaliers to a series win over the Chicago Bulls in 5 games earlier in the week. James will recieve his MVP trophy during Game 2 of the…

Player rotation, among other things causing Mavs 3-1 deficit

By Travis Bremner Staff Writer The Dallas Mavericks are on the brink of being eliminated from the NBA playoffs short of their ultimate goal yet again tonight at the hands of their arch rival San Antonio Spurs. Down 3-1 in the series, odds are not in Dallas’ favor to come back and win – only eight out of 189 have every won a series when trailing 3-1. For this to have a chance, several things have to happen. 1. Drive the ball. The Mavericks are a jump shooting team, we all know this, but taking the basketball to the rim has to be the number one goal for this offensively. In games three and four…

I am officially retired

I am retired. That’s right; I am retired from the one thing I grew up with truly loving. I am done with the NBA. Now this might sound a little weird, but it’s all true. Now, what catastrophic event could cause all this? Not my arch nemesis San Antonio Spurs or my hatred for the league commissioner David Stern. It’s the guys that are on the court game in and game out. The officials. I have watched my fair share of sporting games in my life. And with every sporting event you watch, great calls and bad calls by officials are made. Sure, sometimes the call was not fair but it went your way. And…

NBA playoffs begin, Mavericks play Spurs first round

By Gaby Moran Staff Writer As the NBA season came to an end the week of April 12, all teams prepare for first round of playoffs this coming weekend. The Dallas Mavericks, No. 2 ranked team in the west, play the San Antonio Spurs, No. 7 ranked team, on Wednesday April 18 and Monday April 21 at home and Friday April 23 and Sunday April 25 at San Antonio arena. These four games will be played automatically, since a team needs four out of seven wins to move on to the next round. If more games are needed, then they will be scheduled later on. Mavericks should pass second round easily since their record with the Spurs…