Spurs-Mavs opener won't include rub-it-in reminder of playoffs
By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
November 1, 2006

DALLAS (AP) -- The Dallas Mavericks are letting the San Antonio Spurs
off easy in their season opener Thursday night.

Rather than raising the banner proclaiming themselves "2006 Western
Conference Champions" in front of the state rival they beat along the
way, the Mavs are saving the ceremony for their second home game.

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That's right, Mark Cuban is skipping a chance to rub it in.

"Because opening night is its own celebration, we wanted to do the
banner raising separately," Cuban wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. "In
addition, winning a conference championship is not our ultimate goal.
So the banner raising was more as a thank you to the fans than
anything else."

Cuban might have done it -- if he thought it would bother the Spurs.

"I love to stir things up," he added. "But this is at our place, not
theirs. Raising the banner doesn't stir things up in front of our fans."

Artificial gestures aren't needed to stoke a matchup between the teams
that had the two best records in the West last season and are among
the favorites to win it all this season.

The Spurs and Mavs played one of the best playoff series in years, and
possibly the best ever in the second round, with Dallas pulling it out
in overtime of Game 7 in San Antonio. The Spurs seemed to have it won
until Manu Ginobili shocked everyone by fouling Dirk Nowitzki on a
drive to the basket, letting the big German sink the tying free throw
at the end of the fourth quarter.

The subplots were as terrific as the games. There were built-in
storylines like Mavs coach Avery Johnson's close ties to the Spurs and
longtime Dallas star Michael Finley now playing for San Antonio.
Others developed, from Mavericks guard Jason Terry getting suspended
one game for punching Finley to Cuban making fun of San Antonio's
River Walk.

Dallas went on to beat Phoenix to become Western Conference champions
for the first time. The Mavericks were halfway to winning it all, then
blew a big, late lead in Game 3 and wound up having to watch the Miami
Heat celebrate their title in Dallas.

Between Dallas going into the season aiming for two more wins and San
Antonio trying to reclaim its spot atop the state, conference and
league, it's obvious why this matchup was picked to highlight the
third in the NBA's series of opening nights.

"I think it's great," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "To get
out there right off the bat will wake us both up for the start of the
year."

Terry was even more enthusiastic.

"I love it, love it," he said, smiling wide. "Why wait? Let's get it
started. The team that wins this, obviously, is not going to
(automatically) win the championship, but for us it does give us a
little edge if we can come out on top. It's definitely what everybody
wants to see. It's a good test for us early."

It may not be a full evaluation, though. Spurs point guard Tony Parker
is battling a sprained ankle and may be a game-time decision.

"I have to convince Pop," Parker said Wednesday. "If I feel a little
bit of pain I'm not going to take any risks. ... Hopefully it will be
fine and I'll be ready to go."

Both teams come into this season with new looks.

Dallas has five new rotation players, leaving Johnson the challenge of
figuring out how to divvy up the playing time among Greg Buckner,
Anthony Johnson, Devean George, Austin Croshere and rookie Maurice Ager.

San Antonio has two new centers after giving up on Rasho Nesterovic
and Nazr Mohammed during the playoffs. Francisco Elson likely will
join the starting lineup, with Fabricio Oberto getting more minutes.

AP writer Elizabeth White in San Antonio contributed to this report.

Updated on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 6:39 pm EST

- See, Cuban shows some respect and doesn't rub it in. Maybe he reads
this group as well as mine LOL!

--- In saspursrock@yahoogroups.com, "jdk2509" <jdk2509@...> wrote:
>
> Well, it was only a preseason game, but after the starters of both
> teams went to the bench, you can tell the Spurs are better than Dallas.
> They may have been anxious to beat us as was said before the game. Mark
> Cuban may not show the flag just to try not to rile up the Spurs. Spurs
> will win !!!
>
> Question is - is Parker able to play in the game with his foot in the
> shape it is (fell on somebody in practice) ?
>
> Their first few games are hard anyway : Mavs, Cavs (b2b)
> Raptors, Knicks (b2b)
>