Not much out there today. Another game at Cleveland tomorrow, so there's that. Lebron/Shaq/Mo should be playing so that should be fun.

Sefko writes about the amazing Kris Humphries. Carlisle sees him as a max energy/effort guy.

You got guys who can shoot real well. You got guys who can penetrate. And then you got guys who are going to have to dive on the floor, rebound, bring a little extra that sometimes guys who play a lot more minutes have a tough time doing night in and night out.

In that same article, Marion is hoping to return Friday against the Rockets and Tim Thomas is still about a month to a month and a half away.

Carlisle was upset at Humphries after a "letdown" during the last game.

There was one time he didn't run back after a turnover, which surprised me. He's got to be a dirty-work guy for us. I love his skills and I think his game is efficient, but there can never be a letdown like that.

Dirk is working on a hook shot!

I work on it all the time. To use it in a game-time situation, it's something different. Now it's preseason, a good time to swing one. But I don't know if it's ready.

I never understood why players don't use that more. Kareem was unstoppable with it. Of course, it's not flashy and you won't make sportscenter with a hookshot like you would a dunk, so maybe that's why.

Finally, the Lebron "crab dribble" is legal now.

This is stupid. It is traveling and should be a foul, no matter who does it. Of course with the star treatment in the NBA, this shouldn't come as a surprise. You have to please the King.

A win last night for the Mavs against the Cavs 92-83

Nothing to take away from this game really.  No Lebron/Shaq or Mo for the Cavs, so it was pretty much an exhibition. Nobody got injured, so that's a good. Kris Humphries with a very solid 12/9. Dirk was his old self and Beaubois had an orgasmic dunk in case you missed it. 

Sefko writes that  the Marion acquistion has been kind of overlooked  compared to the other moves in the West, Artest joining the Lakers and Jefferson with the Spurs. Doesn't seem to bother Marion though...

Who cares,You know what I'm saying? I respect those guys. The thing is, I don't get into that stuff. I'm trying to win me a championship. That's my goal.

Amen.

More Marion stuff with the obligatory article about his shooting form.

Dirk is excited about this team and is eager to see how it looks like when Josh and Marion are at full strength.

We got to find out if that lineup works with Josh at shooting guard, Marion at small forward, me at power forward and whoever at center. I really like what we did [in the off-season]. I got to admit, I'm impressed. But we got to all come together and get Josh on the court.

And that's about it for this morning. The 27th can't get here fast enough. Only 9 more days!

Somebody has to do it...

Cuban thinks this is the best Mav team to date

If we stay healthy and jell together, everybody on this team is just excited. The attitude and the feeling and the chemistry -- there's just a good feeling around the locker room and on the court. It's really fun, and it's different than it's been in previous years.

I could see that, we're talking about a team that got to the finals with Adrian Griffin starting so... Also, if Howard is healthy, big if, it should be fun. Speaking of...

Howard finally practiced this week, so that's a good.

I was able to get out there and give it a shot. I’ve got to work through the pain. It's the first time I actually did any contact stuff., so I’ll have to keep doing rehab.'

I know about the whole chemistry issue and what not but I could care less if Josh misses a week or two or even three in the regular season, as long as he's healthy.

Marion is out 7-10 days with a calf injury

I want to just play through this, but it's one of those injuries that they tell me if I don't let it heal completely it will keep lingering," "I don't want it to linger. When I came back the first time it was still hurting me a little bit, but I was trying to fight through it and I actually tweaked it a little bit more and it started hurting more. Now I'm just working on rehabbing and working on my conditioning."

Get healthy. He's been impressive in his limited preseason action no need to rush anything at this point.

Kris Humphries is impressing everybody

Beaubois has shown some orgasmic flashes of his potential, but like any rookie he'll have his ups and downs.

The Cavs tonight, but alas it looks like there will be no Lebron as he battles a case of the flu

Finally why Nellie is still awesome....He's gonna play former Aggie great Acie Law at small forward this year.

So Mr. Baggett hasn't updated this site in a week. Boo. What should be done? Lynching? Death by erotic asphyxiation? Force him to watch Boat Trip? We're not asking for much just post some occasional links and open a gamethread or two and you're done. Where are we gonna talk about future MVP  Rodrique Beaubois,  the great Kris Humphries, and Dirk's awesome hair? Update the site or bad things will happen.

“It sounds like he’s missing most of next season, if not the entire 82 games,” one league executive who has had recent discussions with the Houston front office told Yahoo! Sports. “That’s all that [the Rockets] will concede quietly, but they know it’s probably much worse.”

The Rockets and Yao’s reps are frightened over his future, and the concern is the most base of all: Does Yao Ming ever play again?

I know they are a rival and all that but this would suck. Only so much grind you can put on a 7'6 frame before it gives out. I hope this is not true.

Link

. Several league sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks have been working hard the past few weeks to see whether they can find a taker for Smith.

He's got a 6 million dollar trade kicker so....

"I'm not saying he's impossible to trade. There are a few owners like Paul Allen, James Dolan, Mark Cuban and maybe Daniel Gilbert who would pay the money. But there aren't many.

 

I think we're looking at a future Maverick great here. I would love for this to happen.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/insider/news/story?page=09DraftBuzz&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft2009%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fpage%3d09DraftBuzz