Mavs Makeover: Offseason Moves Gut 2022 Western Conference Finals Team

Mavs catch their own big fish, Cowboys kickin' it old school, Rangers' bad luck and conning teens into sucker bets, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

WHITT'S END 7.7.23

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*In 2009 the Dallas Cowboys were tired of inconsistent kicker Nick Folk, so they spent a fifth-round draft pick on David Buehler. In step with most NFL teams’ fickle kicking carousels, Buehler wore out his welcome in only two seasons after finishing 30th in accuracy with eight field goals and two extra points missed.

So in 2011 the Cowboys brought in training-camp competition in the form of veterans Shayne Graham and Dave Raymer. Just for, um, kicks, they also signed a free agent who couldn’t win the job at Arkansas and was forced to walk on at Oklahoma State.

And that’s how Dan Bailey – the best kicker in Cowboys’ history – got his shot.

Moral to the story: Don’t snicker when they this week signed a former Plano soccer star out of the USFL, because Brandon Aubrey might just be the next Dan Bailey. After he starred at Notre Dame and played in the MLS, Aubrey went to the Birmingham Stallions and this season made 14 of 15 field goals and all 35 PATs.

Gone is Brett Maher (still a free agent, by the way) and his extra-point yips. Your Week 1 Cowboys kicker will either be Aubrey or Tristan Vizcaino, who have a combined 12 field-goal attempts in the NFL..

In Week 2? No guarantees.

The Cowboys have never won a playoff game on a final-play field goal. But it will happen one day. Maybe on a kick by an unheralded free agent you never of. Until today.

*My 10 Best Kickers in Cowboys History:

10. Mike Clark 1968-73 - Dallas' last straight-on kicker made three extra points and a rare 9-yard field goal in Super Bowl VI.

9. Toni Fritsch 1971-75 - Austrian soccer-style kicker made team's 6th-most field goals, but only 20 of 59 from 30+ yards.

8. Richie Cunningham 1997-99 - Fourth-most field goals in team history (75), 80-percent accuracy and 95 of 95 on extra points.

7. Efren Herrera 1974-77 - Mexican-born kicker made only 67 percent of his career kicks, but converted field goals of 35 and 43 yards in Super Bowl XII.

6. Nick Folk 2007-09 - Made 79 percent of field goals, holds franchise record for most extra points without a miss (131).

5. Brett Maher 2018-19, ’22 – His team-record 19 field goals from 50+ yards will forever be overshadowed by the four missed extra points in the playoff win in Tampa last January.

4. Rafael Septien 1978-86 - Made 112 more extra points than any other Cowboys kicker, and second-most field goals with 162.

3. Chris Boniol 1994-96 - Third in made field goals, including two in Super Bowl XXX and a team-record seven against Packers in 1996.

2. Eddie Murray 1993, ’99 - Never missed an extra point and his clutch 41-yard field goal in overtime against Giants set up Dallas' Super Bowl XXVIII run.

1. Dan Bailey 2011-17 - Missed only two of 278 extra points, and is franchise all-time leader in made field goals (186), 50+-yard field goals (27) and longest field-goal streak (30).

*Though I didn’t love the way the Dallas Mavericks tanked the end of last season, they deserve credit for re-signing Kyrie Irving. Even more so, for luring him back with a team-friendly contract that essentially gives the Luka-Kyrie experiment two years to work … or else.

*Maybe all these signings, trades and draft choices will ultimately make the Mavs better. Or maybe we'll be forced to only look back fondly at the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals last Summer and wonder what happened. Gone from that roster: Reggie Bullock. Dorian Finney-Smith. Jalen Brunson. Spencer Dinwiddie. Davis Bertans. Trey Burke. Sterling Brown. Boban Marjanovic. Feels like 20 years ago, not two.

*Like the first time Michael Jordan took off (almost) from the free-throw line in the NBA Slam Dunk contest, Texas Rangers’ slugger Josh Hamilton’s outrageous performance in the 2008 Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium was the apex of the event. Since then, it’s slowly deteriorated into repetition and, ultimately, yawns. The Rangers’ Adolis Garcia is in the All-Star Game contest Monday night in Seattle and – let me guess – he’s going to take big swings and hit the ball over the fence. Truth is, it’s difficult to make a home run exciting. I dunno, maybe try a blindfold, establish bonus targets or make contestants hit from their opposite side. Or, maybe find a player with Hamilton’s magnetic back story.

*Big Brothers Big Sisters lil’ bro Ja is a sharp cookie. He’s about to start a Summer internship with Big Four accounting firm KPMG for crying out loud. But evert now and then I’m reminded that he’s still a 16-year-old kid. Like last week, when he 1) Swore that Spain was both a country in Europe and a state in the northeastern U.S.; 2) Bet me a hamburger that Scoot Henderson – and not Victor Wembanyama – will win NBA Rookie of the Year.

Ja wonders why there isn’t a NBA 1-on-1 tournament. But he also thought Spain was a European country AND a state in the northeastern U.S. So there’s that … ⁦@BBBSGREATERDAL⁩ pic.twitter.com/ZvkdHVTer3

— Richie Whitt (@richiewhitt) July 1, 2023

*We all know ESPN jumped the shark decades ago. It’s much more about self-promotion more than covering sports. Non-stop broadcasts of Wimbledon, while pretending the French Open (which belongs to Tennis Channel) doesn’t exist. Shoving the WNBA down our throats. And The ESPYs?! And now the chest-thumping “worldwide leader in sports” thinks it’s best to fire astute NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy and keep someone named “Molly,” whose vital job is to introduce topics for Stephen A. Smith to fake rant about. Now, if Van Gundy is joining the Mavs then I’m all for ESPN’s skewed bloodbath. But, wait, Van Gundy would come here to replace Jason Kidd as head coach. Right?

*Hot.

*Not.

*If the Cowboys win another 12 games and make a playoff push, it will be without the usual recipe. Because not only is quarterback Dak Prescott not ranked among the NFL’s Top 100 players, Mike McCarthy is not a Top 10 coach according to a group of analytics geeks and only No. 19 by a media group of so-called experts.

*People suck, special Fourth of July edition: Was lucky enough to be in the VIP area of the fireworks show at Dallas’ Clyde Warren Park last Saturday night. Each reserved table came with a personalized bucket of goodies. But after looking up at the fireworks, I looked down to see our swag gone. Poof. Snatched off the table by someone who leaned way over a fence and stole it. Couple bags of popcorn. A cookie or two. Patriotic hand fan. Nothing of real value. But it’s the principle of thievery that irks me. Red, white and boo!

*Sorry, Mavs, but in what world – or metric – is Grant Williams considerably better than Bullock? I’m not a big Bullock fan, mind you. And, okay, Williams is eight years younger and brawnier, allowing him to guard some bigs. But Williams is also notoriously a fake tough guy, last seen trash-talking and waking up Jimmy Butler in what turned out to be a key home loss in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat.

*Imagine being delayed on your flight from DFW to Orlando because a woman is frantically convinced that a person sitting near the rear of the plane isn’t “real.” Creepy.

*If you need reminding at what a crazy sport baseball can be, I hope you watched the 7th inning of Thursday night’s Rangers-Red Sox game. In an inning that started with a groundout and ended with a bases-loaded strikeout, Boston sent 12 men to the plate and scored six runs on seven hits. The thing is, none of the hits were roped. Four of them, in fact, left the bat at less than 80 mph. Bloop ’em where they ain’t, indeed. Said Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy, “We had some bad luck. It's hard to have worse luck than what we had.”

*Not sure what it says about me, but my favorite TV show these days is American Ninja Warrior. Guilty pleasure and all, it made me actually yell out loud the other night.

*As good as they are, the Rangers haven’t been too dramatic. After Thursday night’s 10-6 loss at Fenway, they are 0-30 when trailing after eight innings. If they’re going to hold off the Houston Astros and win the AL West, that stat has to change.

*I know it might be my most un-American take ever, but I’ll be perfectly fine if I never have to hear “Sweet Caroline” … buhmp Buhmp Buh! … again. Ever.

*The final season of the lame-duck Big XII is going to be wild. First of all, how about 14 teams including newcomers Central Florida, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati. Secondly, everyone thinks Texas (with 41 of 66 media votes) is going out in style. The Longhorns haven’t won the title since Colt McCoy was the quarterback … in 2009.

*Saturday = 59. Some of “us” didn’t think I’d make it past … 45.

*If you missed my 247 reasons to celebrate America’s sports, they’re right here. Hopefully we’re still around next year to bump it up to 248.

*This Weekend? Friday let’s play golf with Dad. Saturday let’s celebrate another trip around the sun. Sunday let’s play tennis and then jump in the pool. As always, don’t be a stranger.

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