Only 22 games left for the Mavericks. So, thinking about it then big picture, Mark, how would you describe the season to date with the stretch run in front of the Mavs? Well, I think the season to date, Amy, and of course, as always, it's a pleasure to speak with you. You know, it's been up and down.
I think that's the best way I can put it. There have been some memorable, extraordinary moments. And of course, the trade for Kyrie Irving recently was certainly one of those memorable moments. They've had some great victories this year. They've also had some really squirrelly, disappointing losses where they haven't played well and lost a team.
Frankly, they shouldn't have lost. You know, there have been some sky-high moments and some pretty down-to-the-dumps moments for the Mavericks season so far this year, but the acquisition of Kyrie Irving certainly raises the ceiling of what this team can accomplish. And that's what the next 22 games are going to be about.
Getting chemistry with he and Luca and them getting more comfortable playing with each other. And of course, winning as many games as possible because it's a sprint in the Western Conference. The standings are jam-packed and two or three wins can vault you up to a home court advantage spot and two or three losses.
I'm sorry I could put you in the lower echelon of the playing tournament. There's a lot of work to do in these last 22 games for Dallas. Why did the Mavericks start this next segment of the season sitting in the number six spot in the West?
So we'll talk about the conference in a second, but why the inconsistency? Why the missteps for the Mavericks in some of those games that could have been winnable? Well, I mean, one thing I would say, of course, is that they've had moments this year where they haven't been very healthy. But then, of course, I think a lot of teams in the league can say that.
So I don't want to lean on that too much, but it is indeed a factor. Another thing I think that happened this year, and this is something that may be hard to pick up on if you're not around the team all the time, but I do think it was a group of players who, for the first time in their collective careers, at least in the case of most of them, went on a deep playoff run in the previous spring. Remember the Mavericks, of course, went to the Western Conference Finals last year.
And I think that there was maybe a little bit of a learning process that two things happen whenever you do that. Number one, you start to get other teams' best shot. And number two, and maybe even more importantly for the Mavericks, was that you can't just pick up where you left off. You have to go through the long process of being a new team and laying a new foundation and managing expectations and all those sorts of things that they went through. It's hard to quantify that, but it was something that I felt like was a factor in just the fact that they weren't playing up to their capabilities. Down on the defensive end of the floor, inconsistent shot making, heavy, heavy reliance on Luka Doncic. And now, obviously, that's the big reason why you trade for Kyrie Irving, so there isn't such an enormous weight on his shoulders. But those would be the reasons, I would say, for the inconsistency. What was your reaction when you heard about the Kyrie Irving trade?
A lot of wows, a lot of texts, a lot of calls. I mean, it was a jaw-dropping moment for me. I felt like, of course, the reports and the 48 hours between Kyrie's trade request and the trade actually happening, I knew the Mav name was coming up in it, but then, of course, the Lakers were involved and the Clippers were involved. And so there were other teams, and Phoenix's name, I think, even came up as well. And so there were teams that you felt like could put together a really competitive offer, but the Mavs moved quickly. They put together, frankly, a better offer than I thought they would. I thought maybe they would try to let it play out a little bit and see if the lack of leverage that Brooklyn had might lead to being able to get the deal done with a little bit less of an offer in terms of giving up two starting players an unprotected first. But they made the move when they knew they had a chance to get the deal done and not wait for it to get into a sort of bidding war with other teams or anything like that, and that's to their credit. Mark Followell is with us here on After Hours, CBS Sports Radio, heading into the final stretch of the NBA season with the Mavericks as their TV play-by-play voice for how many years now, Mark?
This is my 18th year on our TV broadcast, and I was on radio for six years before that. So it's been a while. Any questions considering Kyrie's past and how things went or didn't go with the Nets?
Not really. None of that really has come up here. I think that the only questions that have come up here that have centered controversially, if you will, around Kyrie is more along the lines of what's his future here. He's faced questions already and said he doesn't want to talk about his future and the fact that he is going to be a free agent this summer. Obviously, there were a lot of rumors and belief that the Lakers wanted him and he wanted to go to the Lakers. Really, that's about the only thing that's come up around Kyrie. You can hear from a few fans online who were really upset with the Mavericks acquiring him, given what happened with the tweet that promoted the anti-semitic movie and that sort of thing earlier in the season.
So I certainly understand where people are coming from on that, and there was some disappointment from some fans in that regard. But generally speaking, again, the only thing that has been widespread, if you will, from a controversial standpoint is just questions and wondering what he's going to do in the summer when he reaches free agency. Again, the organization, the team, et cetera, all have the remainder of the season in the summer to make a really solid pitch for him to be part of the equation here on a long-term basis because they could use a player of his talent and electric scoring ability and ability to run an offense and to take the pressure off Luca. Luca needs, and all teams do, not just Luca. You've got to have that complimentary second-star caliber player, and Kyrie gives them that and more.
He's far more than just a complimentary guy. He is truly a genuine second-star to play alongside Luca, as we saw, for example, in the All-Star game this weekend. Right. They certainly gave up a lot, so we'll see if it was worth it.
But definitely in a win now mode, trying to capitalize on their playoff appearance last year. Luca, it's funny because he's still so young, and yet it feels like he's been in the league forever. Almost every time he steps on the court, we're talking about something new he's done or some perspective about his age versus what he just accomplished. But over the few years that you've seen him in the league, and certainly now stepping into a role as a superstar, where have you seen the greatest growth with him?
Oh, gosh. I would say the greatest growth for Luca is just being able to continue to withstand the punishment that he takes on a night-to-night basis. He's a very physical player. His post-up game has grown. His ability to continue to get the ball in the lane and to finish through contact. The fact that he still, no matter what other players try to do, plays at his own pace, you can't speed him up.
And so his weapon, I always say, is not pace, but it's change of pace. So just the continuing maturity of his game, understanding his own game, when the double team is coming, when he should look to be a facilitator, when he knows it's his time that he's got the score, I think he's got a great sense of what the team needs. So I know that's a lot of things that I said in answer to your question, but I think a lot of things about his game have grown in his time in the league. He came into the NBA ready to produce at a high level, and he just continues to grow and grow and grow ever since.
And obviously, of course, is in consideration. I know there are others as well and other strong candidates for it, but certainly is adding an MVP caliber year this year. But the fact that he has been on the scene since he was a teenager, and as you point out, has been ready to handle the stage, it's pretty amazing. The man's only 23 years old. Yeah, and he'll be 24 here before the end of the month.
So his birthday is coming up on February 28th, about to roll over another year on the calendar. But I think his experience leaving home from Ljubljana, Slovenia, at 13 years old, going to play at Real Madrid, playing for their reserve team, their junior team, their youth team, and then moving on to play with the first team at 16 years old, MVP of EuroLeague. I mean, those experiences hardened him in the right way and challenged and pushed him in the right way, where he was ready to step in and be a contributor at a high level immediately upon his arrival to the NBA.
So yeah, he's only 24 years old, or about to be 24 years old, but obviously he has a game that's far more mature than that. Dirk Nowitzki is part of a loaded list for Hall of Fame candidates. Hall of Fame finalists, I should say. Top six on the all-time scoring list, an MVP, a champion. What did he mean to the team? What did he mean to the franchise? Oh, wow. He meant everything.
He's the last, one of the last of a special breed. And I guess Steph Curry is going to end up doing this well, and of course the late, great Kobe Bryant also. But to come into the league and to struggle in the beginning, and then, you know, and people not sure if this new wave of playing, this seven-foot guy who's shooting threes, if this is going to work, if this is going to lead somebody to a championship, and coming here and struggling in the beginning, and then starting to play very well at a very high level, and take the Mavericks to the playoffs, and go on deep playoff runs, and then suffer the bitter defeat in the 2006 finals, and go through all of that in a 67-win season, and go out in the first round, and then to win a championship in 2011. You know, one of the things I said at the time, and I said it in something I wrote for the final home game, the night that Dirk retired and played his final home game at American Airlines Center, and something I wrote for our local television broadcasts on Valley Sports Southwest, then it was Fox Sports Southwest. I said, you know, everybody in Dallas in 2011 was rooting for the Mavericks, and they wanted to see the Mavericks win a championship, but the theme of it more than anything was, yes, we want the Mavs to win, but I just really want Dirk to win. I really want these guys to win it for Dirk.
So, he just means so much to the fabric of the city, because he came here and he said, you know, I was a skinny, shy kid from Wurzburg, Germany, and Dallas, Texas adopted me, and, you know, I made it home, and they welcomed me, and they supported me, and so there's just this incredible back and forth mutual admiration society between the city of Dallas and Dirk that's, you know, made him a Dallasite for life and, you know, an incredible fabric of the community when he was on the court and continues to be off the court post-playing career. Mark Followell is with us from Dallas, getting set for the final stretch here, just 22 games to go, and we were talking about the Western Conference, and it blows me away to think about the fact that you've got nine teams that are within, what, three, four losses of each other, all grouped together. So, what are your impressions after having seen three-fourths of the season with this conference? Well, Denver continues to impress. They win under many different circumstances, and, you know, with Jamal Murray having, again, periods of time where he's been out of the lineup this year, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter, Jr., key components have been out of the lineup, but they just keep finding on, finding a way to win at a high level, and they're 27-4 at home. So, they're going to be, obviously, I think they're going to be the number one seed.
They certainly, you know, it's going to be hard to blow that at this point, and they're so good at home. They're going to be a very formidable number one seed in the playoffs, but Phoenix has just added Kevin Durant, who reportedly is going to make his son's debut sometime next week. So, that is a major change in the calculus of the Western Conference. The Clippers have added Westbrook. I don't know what he has left, but I still think the Clippers with Kawhi Leonard rounding into form since mid-January, and Paul George and Zubats inside, you know, this is, and Marcus Moore is getting them toughness, and, you know, I just, you know, I look at that team. Terrence Mann has continued to grow this year, so I really like the Clippers, and I think when they're at the top of their game, they're a force to be reckoned with as well. Dallas is competitive because now they've got two superstars in Luke and Kyrie Sacramento.
I mean, I'm so impressed with De'Aaron Fox seeing them in person for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I know it's going to be the end of a long playoff drought for them, and maybe they're not going to do much their first time through the playoffs, but they're still an exciting team to watch, and I haven't even mentioned the number two seed in Memphis, who, you know, they're young, and I know they stumbled before the All-Star break, but there's still a ton of talent there, and I think they're super competitive. So, you know, this conference is wide open. I think that's why the Mavs, getting back to them, that's why they made the trade, because they look up and down the Western Conference standings, and they see all these good teams and, of course, teams that they respect, but there's no clear-cut favorite, and I think they view that they can be on level terms with any of those other teams in the Western Conference in a seven-game playoff series, and I would agree with that. That's why you go out and make the kind of trade that they made. Even with Denver at the top, and you're right, they've been the number one team in the conference.
They still have questions about their defense, so we'll see. So you want to find Mark on Twitter at Mfollowill, F-O-L-L-O-W-I-L-L, and you can see him, slash hear him, on the Mavericks TV doing play-by-play, and also you're one of those new streamer voices, right? So the MLS moving to Apple TV, that's kind of interesting. Yeah, oh yeah, we're really excited about that. I've done FC Dallas games for the last 11 years, and now part of a group of many, many announcers in MLS who are phased into the new television package, the streaming that the league is doing. Apple TV is the home for almost all MLS games.
I know there's 30-something games that are on the linear broadcast network that are still on Fox and FS1, but the vast, vast majority of games are on Apple TV now, and it's a really exciting time for Apple, and it's a really exciting time for Major League Soccer to have a home that's very, very devoted and very, very passionate to continuing to grow a league that's going into its 28th season. So yeah, all of us that are a part of that are super excited. That means you're hip, Mark. If you're a streamer now, you're so hip.
Well hey, at 50-plus, I will always take being considered hip. That's a good thing. So that's the best news I've heard during the All-Star break. Enjoy the rest of the season. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes. Yeah, you got it, Amy. Take care. Talk to you soon.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-02-23 08:53:47 / 2023-02-23 09:00:38 / 7