End of High School
Date: Jun 27th, 2004 6:57:42 pm - Subscribe
Mood: blah
Well, exams have kept me busier than I had hoped, but they're over now.
Tomorrow we have this "exodus" party-thing, which will probably be boring as hell, but since staying at home doing nothing at all is probably slightly more annoying, I will just tag along and see what smells and what doesn't.
I hgot a new laptop Wednesday, that actually has battery life worth mentioning and which is a real powerhouse (my previous one was good for little really, but ti was pretty old, so that is to be expected).
I've been busy checking out the NBA Draft of late. Since I'm a Mavs fan, 've pretty much on what's going on with them. There's trade talk going around that the MAvs would try and land Shaquille O'Neal. My personal opinion here would be that unless Shaq can force the Lakers into a position where they have to accept the best deal they can get (and Dallas ould still win hands down in that category), then it's not worth the cost. I don't want to see the Mavs franchise unravelled just to get some 32-year old monster with an ego bigger than his own stature. But if he really wants out of LA, nd all we have to give the Lakers is Antoine Walker and a couple of dump contracts, plus perhapsone of our rookies, well, I wouldn't really mind. Still, I think a cheaper center like Erick Dampier would suit s just fine.
Speaking of centers, the MAvs got this 19-year old Russian through a trade with Utah (the Mavs gave Utah a future first-round pick). e's a long-term project, but looks interesting surely. A more NBA-ready player would be Devin Harris. He also seems like a nice kid in general, without the sort of Kobe attitude that can end up costing you an NBA title. He probably will never be anywhere near as good as Kobe, but he looks like a possible replacement to Steve Nash in a couple of years, and will definitely be a good player.
Also, the Mavs drafted a guy from Greece, also a point guard. I know little about this guy, and the Dallas forums are awfully quiet on him. I'm not even sure if Dallas is leaving the guy in Greece for a year to develop or if he's coming to the States next season. He looks like a possible sleeper, but somehow I doubt he'll ever be a high-flyer in the league.
So now it's tim eto test these rookies out. The Mavs are plnanning to organise three games against the Chinese national team which is coached by Mavs assistant Del Harris), and Devin HArris and Pavel Podkolzine will both play. Also playing are Marquis Daniels (last year's undrafted rookie sensation) and Josh Howard.
If the MAvs can keep their team intact, then the 04-05 season looks very interesting. You'd pretty much have the same lineup (perhaps with Shaq, or if not with Dampier) starting, but Walker would most definitely be gone, and Jamison is gone already (a shame, in my opinion). That would mean that you will probably still have a high-scoring team that can play decent defense compared to last season, and that wil robably be pretty deep. Whether it'll be a championship team, I'm not so sure, but if Don Nelson can get over his centerphobia, the team's defense might win them more games than it didn last season. If so, we might see the MAvs in the finals next year.
That's all speculation, and this summer is going to be very interesting indeed. Not just from a Mavericks standpoint, but I am really excited about the Olympics. There's not just a lot of good sports going down in Athens this August, but the basketball should be pretty intense. You have a US squad that is stocked with potential talent and potential all-stars/all-stars. No "superstars" like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett or Shaquille O'Neal, but a very capable team that will still go all the way. I'm also interested in what the Russians will put on the court. With Andrei Kirilenko they have an NBA all-star to build around, and they should go far as well. There are a lot of other teams that have players in the NBA that will want to show their capabilities. I just hope I'll be able to watch some matches.
That said, I'll probably be in France when the Olympics start. I'm not sure when the first matches take place, but I may have to put up with watching the French basketball team play whoever they are playing. Not a terribly bad thing, since their team is pretty decent, but I'd much rather see some of the Eastern European teams and the US square off. 
I4ll be in FRance next week, I'll be roaming Brittany for about a week or so. It's a pretty nice area, so it should be bearable. This reminds me that I have to post my diaries of journeys past. There's some intriguing stuff in there.
That's all for now. Take care everyone. 
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