DALLAS MAVERICKS SUMMER REPORT CARD
http://www.nba.com/reportcard/summer/2010/mavericks/
Overall Grade: B+
Summary:
Despite the fact that it all ended with a distasteful first-round playoff loss to rival San Antonio, the fact that the Mavericks won at least 50 games for the 10th consecutive season is nothing to ignore. The Dirk Nowitzki Era has been one of continued excellence, even if it hasn't yet delivered the ultimate prize.
Job No. 1 in the offseason was getting the free agent Nowitzki signed back on board. That was accomplished quickly and everyone breathed a sigh of relief to put him next to Caron Butler as a potent frontline scoring duo. It would be nice if Shawn Marion could bounce back from a letdown season.
The Mavs made have made themselves stronger and more athletic in the middle over the past year by bringing in Brendan Haywood and Tyson Chandler. The latter could really ignite things if he rediscovers his spark.
The backcourt mix of the aging -- Jason Kidd and Jason Terry -- and the youthful -- J.J. Barea and Rodrigue Beaubois -- is capable enough.
This time Mark Cuban probably won't call them the most talented Mavs team ever, just let them chase the Lakers and stay near the top of the West.
--Fran Blinebury
i guest soo............!
B+ is pretty high, LAL and MIA got A.. Good offseason move by the Mavs so far..
nice acquisition for the mavericks but don't forget that tyson chandler is very injury-prone. dallas better hope that ian mahinmi would turn out to be good for them. di kaayo kasaligan ang health ni chandler. pero kung sa nba live pa ni, lig-on gyud kaayo ning dallas, champion gyud ni.
Hope they can provide Do Jones some minute. been watching this guy in Youtube. Hes a good Shooting guard and a good defender. His Big also
Dallas Mavericks May Get The ‘FarmVille’ Treatment As Mark Cuban Looks To Social Games
Billionaire Mark Cuban is interested in launching social games to improve the productivity and profitably of the businesses he owns and runs, including the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and HDNet, an operator of high-definition TV channels. In a recent post on his blog, Cuban put out a call for developers, saying that he wanted to invest in social game projects:
“I’m looking for consumer and corporate applications. I’m not looking for knockoffs of existing games/apps… My preference for all the above is that they run on or integrate deeply with Facebook and/or iTunes 10/Ping and all the devices they support.”
I reached out to Cuban to ask what kind of social games he wanted to develop. He said he wants all his businesses to each have their own games. For the Mavericks, which he owns, Cuban wants to build a social game that the “Mavs can be part of” that is compelling enough to turn players who don’t already like the team into fans.
As for HDNet, of which he is the chief executive, Cuban thinks that having employees play social games could make repetitive tasks seem fun, thereby increasing productivity at work.
“I think social games will extend very quickly into the business space,” Cuban says. “I’m a big believer that they solve a very big problem most companies have at various levels: boredom. People in a lot of positions get bored to tears or lose interest in what they are doing. Social gaming can add some fun and competition to mundane clerical and other tasks.”
‘Productivity games‘ are still a niche genre of gaming, but one that is being taken seriously by some academics and researchers. The idea is to put to use the qualities that make a game engaging and exciting — the competition, social interaction, user interface and other game mechanics — in a work setting. A number of companies have also been using and experimenting with productivity games. Microsoft, for instance, has used games to entice employees to beta test products like Microsoft Office Communicator and localized versions of the Windows operating system.
Cuban is also looking for “physical products that have integrated social gaming components.” Not sure what that means? I didn’t either, so Cuban gave an example of a kids’ toothbrush that uses Bluetooth to send updates about how long his kids brushed their teeth, and can track performance and build in rewards for good behavior.
Details on Cuban’s social gaming projects are still sketchy because he is still unsure of which, if any, game companies he will invest in. He says about 200 companies and individuals have responded to his call so far, some with good ideas. Some of the “bigger companies” in social gaming have approached Cuban, he said, though not the top dogs like “FarmVille”-maker Zynga or CrowdStar.
Cuban says he’s looking hard. So if you’ve always dreamed about developing a game for the Mavericks, or HDNet for that matter, this could be your big chance. Pitches, he said, should go to the comments section of his blog post or his email address: blogmaverick@aol.com.
http://blogs.forbes.com/oliverchiang...mepagechannels
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