Tiger Woods dominated the Bridgestone Invitational this weekend, locking up his eighth win at the course and notching his 79th career victory. He should be all set in his preparation heading into next week's PGA Championship.
Mark Cuban wrote a massive blog post on the state of the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Howard and tanking. It is very compelling and provides a lot of insight into the mentality of Cuban and the team. Here are some highlights.
All my thoughts on the new CBA have been well chronicled elsewhere, so i won’t revisit them here. But what we have not discussed publicly was our concern of bringing back an older team in a shortened season. We basically saw the 2011-12 season as a throw away no matter who we signed. With out the time to prepare and get their bodies ready, throwing a team with with an older starting lineup right into the fire was going to be tough. Young guys can walk into an NBA game any day of the year. Get to your mid 30s, not so much. So to bring the gang back , we would basically be losing a year. When you look at keeping together an older team and the first year after your championship is a lost year, it’s hard to justify keeping an older team together. But we were the champs. That meant a lot.
It also meant that if we kept everyone together we would have to make do with our existing roster. We would have little room to add new players. In particular we would not be in position to add someone who could come in and be a cornerstone for our future. IMHO we would be stuck with an aging team and not be in a position to make a big impact on our roster.
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Culture is very important to the Mavs. Your best player has to be a fit for what you want the culture of the team to be. He has to be someone who leads by example. Someone who sets the tone in the locker room and on the court. It isn’t about who talks the most or the loudest. It is about the demeanor and attitude he brings. It is amazing how when the culture is strong, the chemistry is strong. When the Mavs have brought in players that didn’t fit or buy in to our culture it created on the court and off the court problems. Its possible to handle one guy who may not fit it. It’s going to have a negative impact on your won and loss record if you have more than one.
Our culture is one of the reasons I won’t trade Dirk.
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Let me address here the inevitable question of Dwight vs Mavs culture. We saw it as somewhat of a risk, but felt like because Dwight by all appearances and checking we did, is a good guy and with our support systems we believed we could make it work. if not, he was obviously a very trade-able asset. But, as everyone knows, we didn’t sign him. He went to the Rockets. I do have to say the meeting with Dwight was very interesting. He is a smart guy. Much smarter than people give him credit for. He is also a very, very good listener. Unlike most people, he spent far more time listening than talking. And he had the best response to an opening question that I have ever heard from a player, or anyone for that matter. When we asked him what his goal was, his response was very specific ” I want to be Epic” . Which was a perfect lead in to the video we created for him
Derek Jeter strained his calf and may be heading back to the DL. He is not happy.
Alex Rodriguez and 12 others players will learn their fate today as suspensions from the Biogenesis scandal will be delivered. There are supposedly three new names that haven't hit the public. Though A-Rod will be suspended, the Yankees expect him to be in the lineup on Monday as he is allowed to continue playing during his appeal. He says he "can't wait to see his teammates." Think it's mutual?
LeBron James selected the soundtrack for NBA 2K14.
The NCAA is investigating whether Johnny Manziel profited from an autograph signing session during the offseason. He is rumored to have accepted a five-figure fee for his services.
Another jailhouse letter from Aaron Hernandez emerged. He has now been warned that TMZ keeps leaking his letters.
The Atlanta Braves beat the Phillies on the road to win their 10th in a row.
Clint Dempsey discussed his return to the MLS.
The Detroit Pistons are interested in Rajon Rondo despite trading for Brandon Jennings.
FLASHING LIGHTS
Check out some highlights from Chance The Rapper's performance at Lollapalooza in his hometown of Chicago.
Big Sean released the tracklist for his upcoming album, Hall of Fame.
2 Guns led the box office this weekend. Here's our review from Friday.
O RLY?
Me: hey what's up? You got the movie coming,right? Andre 3000: yeah…and I got a solo album coming top of the year. Me:*droptofloor*
— Stephen Hill (@StephenGHill) August 3, 2013
Pusha T explains the delay on his album and says he has a beat from Joaquin Phoenix.
Juicy J drops a new track to remind everyone his album drops on August 27th.
DID YOU REALIZE?
Obamacare is adding pressure to public unions as healthcare costs are expected to rise.
Other government agencies want access to NSA spying information to help with their cases.
The NYT spoke with the man who has one of the toughest jobs in Afghanistan: Burying the wanted dead bodies that litter the capital city, including what remains of suicide bombers.
US Embassies will remain closed through Saturday, in anticipation of a possible terrorist attack.
GOTTA HAVE IT
Just Blaze has something a little different for you guys. Check out his full album stream below.
