Sports Morning Headlines-Monday, 12/5/11
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- Created on Monday, 05 December 2011 06:40
- Last Updated on Thursday, 16 May 2013 07:51
- Written by MVPTexas Morning Report
Mavs' weekend free agency roundup - Free agency begins to get serious this week as teams can talk directly with players starting at 9 a.m. (CT) Monday. As ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported Sunday, center Tyson Chandler plans Tyson Chandler plans to meet face-to-face this week with officials from the New Jersey Nets, Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks Southwest Division rival Houston Rockets. The Mavs have five other free agents that can also begin to meet with other suitors. One of those is DeShawn Stevenson, who has upward of a dozen teams express interest in signing the veteran, hard-nosed shooting guard. To begin the paring-down process, Stevenson will engage in a series of conference calls with interested teams throughout Monday, agent Mark Bartelstein said on Sunday. The Mavs have made their interest in re-signing Stevenson known through Bartelstein. READ MORE
J.J. Barea wants to go back to the Mavs - Jose Juan Barea is going to get a lot of offers in free agency. That’s what happens when you’re the spark plug on the championship team. Barea does what he does very well. He manages the offense, hits some shots, and if you lose him for a minute, bam, he’s backdoor and you’ve given up two points. But the Mavericks want him back, because of his contribution to the championship run, and for his part, Barea says he wants to oblige them… for the right price. From ESPN.com: During a brief phone conversation Friday with Barea, who is in the Dominican Republic before he returns to Dallas next week, he reiterated that he hopes to again be playing for Dallas and that the ball is in the Mavs court. “I always said thats my first option,” Barea said. “I did my job last year.” He said he is not necessarily chasing the highest offer or a starting job, saying, “I just want what I deserve.” READ MORE
Report: Nets, Warriors Rockets leaders in Tyson Chander sweepstakes - It starts here: Tyson Chandler wants to get paid. A lot. This is likely his last big contract and the man wants his money (reportedly he asked the Mavericks for a $20 million deal and wants max money from others). Dallas has balked at the cost and that is why Chandler has said he expects to be on another team next season. I wouldn’t be shocked if in the end he comes back to the Mavericks, but right now he is going to play the field. Who is in that field? New Jersey, Golden State and Houston, Marc Stein at ESPN reports. READ MORE
Should The Rockets Use Their Amnesty Option On Luis Scola? - If Houston were to use their Amnesty clause right now, the only logical answer would be castaway Hasheem Thabeet. But if they were to hold onto it, like the little kid who whips out the bag of chips he saved from lunch just as everyone else’s stomachs are grumbling, waiting for the bus ride home, then options are opened; things could get interesting. Looking at the team’s salary situation over the next four seasons, only one player is signed through 2015: a then 35-year-old Luis Scola. And, according to ShamSports, even though the fifth year of his $47 million extension is not guaranteed unless performance milestones are reached, at just over $11 million he’s risky. READ MORE
Project Spurs: Butler, Howard to meet with Spurs Tuesday - As word came out earlier the San Antonio Spurs were interested in soon-to-be free agent Vince Carter, David Aldridge of TNT and Michael Lee of the CB Washington Post are now reporting that both free agent small forwards Caron Butler and Josh Howard will meet with the Spurs on Tuesday. Per Aldridge's twitter handle: Caron Butler itinerary: CHI Mon, LAC Mon night/Tue, SAS Tue, NJ Wed, DET Thursday if he hasn't made up his mind yet... READ MORE
Project Spurs: Report: Spurs looked to add Oberto before the lockout - It's plain to see the San Antonio Spurs need more big-man depth. Tim Duncan is about the only legit big man the Spurs have on the roster. Not to take away anything from DeJuan Blair, and Antonio McDyess but they can only do so much to contend with the big men of the NBA. Matt Bonner is not known for his defense and Tiago Splitter still has yet to prove he can man the paint along side Duncan or by himself. But did the Spurs try to add make an attempt to add some depth at the 5-spot by trying to add former Spur Fabricio Oberto to the roster before the lockout? Apparently so. READ MORE
Astros appear invisible at winter meetings - While those taking part and covering the annual baseball winter meetings are already converging on Dallas fans of the local nine may wonder if the Astros are even there? If you go only by the national columnists and commentators Astro folk may as well have stayed in Houston. The only comments written or heard about the Astros are not good ones. The apparent struggle in finding a new general manager is not necessarily due to the Astros looking for the perfect candidate, but more that many potential candidates have not been interested in the job. This may have been in part because new owner Jim Crane was too honest when he took over. He made it perfectly clear there will be no open checkbook to sign players. The club's plan is to build with youthful (less expensive) players. As he said "payroll must reflect revenue." Astro revenue fell short in 2011 and most certainly will fall shorter in 2012. Baseball is a wonderful sport. But attending games is not free. READ MORE
Astros interested in Cardinals' Jeff Luhnow as candidate for open GM position - Cardinals vice president of player procurement Jeff Luhnow has interviewed for the Houston Astros' general manager position. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com first reported the story. Luhnow and Rockies senior vice president of scouting and player development/assistant general manager Bill Geivett represent the first two candidates to interview for the open job. Geivett reportedly interviewed for the job on Friday. READ MORE
Frontline starter at top of Rangers' wish list - Wilson, Buehrle expected to draw wide interest at Meetings. C.J. Wilson faced Mark Buehrle on April 27, 2010, at Rangers Ballpark. In the only matchup ever between the two veteran left-handers, Wilson and the Rangers came away with a 4-2 victory. Now, Wilson and Buehrle face off again -- this time in a different venue. They are considered the two best pitchers on the market, and their final destination could be determined at the Winter Meetings this week in Dallas. The Rangers have expressed interest in both. So have other teams -- most notably the Marlins, Nationals, Yankees, Red Sox and Angels. There could be others. As many as 20 teams are looking for starting pitching in a thin free-agent market, and at least a dozen -- including the Rangers -- have spoken with Buehrle's agent Jeff Berry. READ MORE
Rangers have history of big deals at Anatole - Winter Meetings return to Dallas site of landmark A-Rod deal. It was 11 years ago when Tom Hicks stepped out of the Hilton Anatole around 6 p.m. on a Saturday. The sun was going down and the weather was turning cold. A major ice storm was a day or two away. "I'm going home to eat dinner with my family," Hicks said. "It's down to between us and the Braves. I'm exhausted." He had just left a suite at the Anatole where he and other Rangers officials had been negotiating with agent Scott Boras during Major League Baseball's annual Winter Meetings. The prize was free-agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez, and nobody knew where the slugger was going. READ MORE
Texans beat Falcons for sixth straight win - Houston coach Gary Kubiak would've told anyone who asked that the Texans were going to be fine with rookie T.J. Yates playing quarterback. He was right. Yates threw a touchdown pass in his first NFL start, Arian Foster rushed for 111 yards and Houston overcame another injury to Andre Johnson to beat Atlanta 17-10 on Sunday. The Texans (9-3) have won a franchise-record six straight games, a remarkable feat considering they're down to their third-string quarterback and have played many of their games without their star receiver. READ MORE
Cowboys 'iced' own kicker in bizarre finish - Jason Garrett's conservative-but-cute game management cost the Cowboys at a critical moment Sunday. Confidently burning too much time, then taking an unnecessary timeout, led to a 19-13 overtime loss to the Cardinals. Garrett has proven to be a frustratingly conservative play-caller at times this season. He's also gotten "too cute" in potential game-winning situations with calls that at best seem odd and at worse are risky. He was all of that in the final 30 seconds of regulation in Arizona. After quarterback Tony Romo fired a 15-yard strike to Dez Bryant for a first down at the Arizona 31, the Cowboys could have stopped the clock with at least 24 seconds left. They had two timeouts. It's pretty simple. Use your first timeout to get your team lined up for at least one more play to make it a more reasonable field goal. With the ball at the 31, kicker Dan Bailey's try was from 49 yards. It doesn't matter that Bailey had made one from 50 in the second quarter. Any kick approaching 50 yards is a gamble, even for the best NFL kickers. There's a big difference between a 49-yarder and a 42-yarder. READ MORE
Jones upset by penalties on special teams - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones watched Orlando Scandrick commit two illegal blocks on punt returns and blamed coaching for it. "You can't touch people in the back," he said. "That's got to be coached. You cannot touch people in the back on kicking. And I'm not being critical of anybody. I'm just ... the call was a good call. He hit him in the back." Scandrick's second illegal block penalty wiped out a Dez Bryant punt return to the 25-yard line with 2:54 left in the game and the score tied 13-13. Scandrick said he pulled up to avoid the penalty but expressed frustration at the result. "My hands were up here. My hands were here. And I pulled up," he said. "What am I supposed to do? Next time, I'll just turn around and stop." READ MORE
With barrage of injuries, Stars must rely on depth - Dallas Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk signed seven free agents this past summer with the stated goal of improving the organization’s depth, and after suffering a spate of injuries recently, that additional depth will be severely tested. With several key Stars out for at least a couple more weeks, including starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen and top defenseman Alex Goligoski, the squad faces a challenging December. But it is also a prime opportunity for some other players to step up and shine with some additional ice time and responsibility. READ MORE
NHL Realignment: Radical Plan Hopefully Gaining Support - Lost in the debate last night over the Mark Fistric hit and the absolute ridiculousness that was the game against the Islanders was the fact that Hockey Night in Canada debuted a new, radical realignment plan that supposedly pleases just about every team with concerns. Above, you'll see the new proposed realignment plan that will supposedly be presented by the NHL to the Board of Governors next week in Pebble Beach* that has 16 teams in the West and 14 in the East, and places Detroit and Dallas together in the same division. This is very similar to the previous four-division proposal that was discussed a few weeks ago, with several significant changes. READ MORE
---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story
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