Well, he's gone and it has been a _long_ time coming.

Carter will be paying Buckner the remaining $2 million for the four 
years left on his contract.  

Carter: "It wasn't just young players.  It was young and old.  The 
bridges that were burned weren't just under one or two people."

Carter asked 8 people in the Mavs organization to give the positives
and the negatives of Buckner and spent four days coming to this
decision.  "I did not ask anybody to do any Quinn bashing.  What I 
asked for was the positives and the negatives, so that I could look 
at all the possible things I could do to try to save him."

Carter: "I knew we had a bunch of bridges that got burned early, and
I was looking to see if I could find enough timbers to repair them.
And if I could have, we wouldn't be having this meeting this morning."

Players reactions:
Every player the paper contacted said that Buckner's early-season
approach, especially towards Derek Harper, was Buckner's undoing.
Terry Davis: "We can move on now, man."  "For myself, I'm glad I'm off
  parole.  Hopefully things can work out and, hopefully, next season 
  will be better than this season."
Tim Legler: "I think it would have been hard to get players back.  
  After going through what we did with him this season, I don't think 
  it would have put a lot of hope and optimism in the players.  He did
  so many things early on, I think, it stripped his credibility.  When 
  he came in acting like he knew everything with no experience, that 
  was not the best way to go."
Sean Rooks: "I would say hopefully a coach comes in now who respects 
  my game and actually thinks I'm a player.  Quinn had different 
  thoughts as far as my game went.  I don't think he respected me as 
  a player.  I think I can just excel with another coach, as long as 
  I'm not fighting whether the coach respects me."
Rooks also expressed sympathy for assistants Randy Wittman and Tom 
Newall.  "I can't say I feel sorry for Quinn, but I do feel bad for
Randy and Newell.  They both did a great job under difficult 
circumstances this year." 
The 3 Mavs assistants have two years remaining on their contract and 
will meet with acting VP of Operations Keith Grant Wednesday.  Their 
future in Dallas will, of course, depend on what the next coach wants.

Reporter Cathy Harasta expressed the fans' reaction to Buckner best a
few weeks ago in one of her articles:
"Buckner's disregard of Derek Harper never will be forgiven in this 
city.  Long time Mavericks fans saw it as the equivalent of treason."
"In his eagerness to snap ties with the Mavericks recent past, Buckner
forgot that Harper was part of the club's crest - the good past.  Fans
don't forget that type of tie-in.  On some points, fans are fickle.  
But when it comes to gratitude for good years, fans tend to honor 
players such as Harper with unyielding loyalty.  Quinn appeared to 
have missed that."

Buckner back to NBC?  Don't count on it.  "We enjoyed having Quinn
here, but we're happy with Julius Erving in our studio and happy
with the rest of our coverage team," NBC Sports vice president Ed
Markey said Tuesday.

As for the next coach, Dick Motta and Keith Grant will be in charge
of compiling the list of coaching candidates.  Carter said that 
Motta can also add add his own name to the list if he wants.  Carter
said that they are not in a rush to find a new coach, but hopes to
have one by the June 29 draft.  Carter said that other current coaches
may become available (fired or quit) that the Mavs might want to look
into.  Carter reflected my opinion on Motta: "I don't think he wants 
a full-time job."  But writer Randy Galloway is "99 percent" certain
that Motta will be the next Maverick coach.
Some of the current possibilities/speculations: Motta grooming Brad 
Davis and also have his son Kip Motta as assistants; Jerry Sloan, a 
Motta protege, if Utah fires him; Phil Johnson, a Motta protege, 
former NBA coach and now Utah assistant.  Dark horse: former Mavs 
assistant and interim coach Gar Heard, currently assisting in Indiana.

I also think that Keith Grant will be given the title of VP of 
Operations permanently.  Interesting to note, it was Grant who said 
"no question, you need to take Tim Hardaway" when the Mavs drafted
Randy White and tried to push for the Mavs to take Clifford Robinson 
in the second round when the Mavs took some no-name who never played 
(due to John McLeod questioning Robinson's attitude).


Media bias?  The blurb on page 2 of the sports section of the Dallas
Morning News says: "Webber Tops Rookies: Golden State's Chris Webber
beat Orlando's Anfernee Hardaway in the closest NBA Rookie of the Year 
voting in 13 years.  The Mavericks' Jamal Mashburn finished third.  
(Story, voting, winners, Page 11B.)"  Finished third?  While technically
true, getting 1 vote is nothing to brag about.  The burning question
is what biased person _gave_ him that 1 vote.  [The story on Page 11B
is an Associated Press story.]  


By far the MVP of the team this season has been Fat Lever.  Who would
have thunk it.  After practically two years of not playing due to 
knee injuries, he comes back and has a great season.  His stats do
not accurately reflect his season as he was the backup point the first
two and a half months of the season and a lot of what he did is not
reflected in stats.  He was the emotional and key ingredient to many
of the rallies that occurred (of course, most of those rallies didn't
change the outcome).  If it wasn't for the fact that we need his 
large salary slot to sign out draft pick, I'd be in favor of convincing
Lever to return.


Records set by the Mavs this season:

NBA, Team
*Consecutive losses, season - 20 (Nov 13-Dec 22), tied mark set by
 Philadelphia in '73.
*Consecutive home losses - 19, broke mark set by Orlando ('89-'90, 
 '90-'91).
*Fewest victories, consecutive season - 24, broke mark of 29 set
 by Los Angeles Clippers ('86-'88).

Club, Team
*Most steals, season - 767, broke mark of 688 ('86-'87).
*Fewest points, season - 7,801, broke mark of 8,007 ('91-'92)
*Fewest field goals, season - 3,055, broke mark of 3,120 ('91-'92).
*Lowest FG percentage, season - .431, broke mark of .435 ('92-'93).
*Fewest free throws attempted, season - 1,942, broke mark of 1,986
 ('90-'91).
*Fewest free throws, season - 1,450, broke mark of 1,499 ('91-'92).
*Fewest assists, season - 1,629, broke mark of 1,630 ('91-'92).

Club, Individual
*Most offensive rebounds, game - 12 by Popeye Jones vs New Jersey
 (Nov 9) and Lakers (March 10), tied Roy Tarpley's mark.
*Most 3-pointers by rookie, season - 85 by Jamal Mashburn, broke
 mark of 59 by Mike Iuzzolino ('91-'92).
*Most turnover, season - 334 by Jim Jackson, broke mark of 285 by
 Mark Aguirre ('83-'84).
*Most minutes, season - 3,066 by Jim Jackson, broke mark of 3,032 
 by Derek Harper in '87-'88.
*Most rebounds by rookie, season - 605 by Popeye Jones, tied mark
 of 605 by Sam Perkins ('84-'85).
*Most assists by rookie, season - 266 by Jamal Mashburn, broke 
 mark of 239 by Derek Harper ('83-'84) [Note, Brad Davis started
 for the Mavs that season; Harper came off the bench.]
*Most minutes by rookie, season - 2,896 by Jamal Mashburn, broke
 mark of 2,626 by Jay Vincent ('81-'82).
*Most starts by rookie, season - 73 by Jamal Mashburn, broke mark
 of 62 by Elston turner and Jay Vincent ('81-'82).



patricia