What were the "three J's" like, and how were they perceived?

[Roddy B for 3]

This is a topic for all the old-school Maverick fans. I am curious how good, and how hyped the early 90's "three J's" were. I am not trying to read from to people who weren't around or didn't watch them live. I am also hoping I can get a comparison to a modern young, hyped team, like were they hyped to be a future juggernaut (think Minesota), a future contender (think L.A.L.) or a future treadmill team?

[Zen_Paradox]

I remember them being really hyped by the organization...especially with the incredibly bad "who's a Mavericks fan?" season ticket spiel. That was a train wreck...

I'd compare them to the Wizards now. A lot of talent in the backcourt and SF, and the rest...kinda meh. Basically, a treadmill team.

For most fans though, including myself, I think they were a breath of fresh air with unknown potential. Having said that, they fit together a little wonky, and didn't offer the floor spacing that the Wizards currently have with Beal and Porter.

I didn't take the time to go back and look up stats here, just kinda shooting from the hip.

[Otis Driftwood]

They were fun to watch. And - there was promise with them. After the pitiful seasons in the early 90's including the Buckner debacle in Mashburn's rookie season and Jim Jackson's holdout in the previous season, they drafted Kidd -and it was fun to watch the Mavs again.

Then - as we like to say down here in the DFW area, the wheels came off. Actually, they flew off. Big time.

As far as current comparisons, I guess you could say the Wiz. Pretty much the same for any team with a dynamic backcourt and a pedestrian frontcourt.

Can't protect the paint at all = Lose games

[2011Champs]

The three J's never materialized the way they could have. Immaturity split the bunch up. If Dallas had Mark Cuban back then he possibly could have kept them together by having a stronger coach and spending money needed to complete the roster. I remember them as being a good collection of individual players but not good teammates. Jason Kidd couldn't shoot worth a darn but I do remember a few dunks.
As much as I hate the way Cuban treats the draft and constant roster turnover,thinking about the 3 J's era makes me greatful for ownership that will spend money to win and be competitive.

[Roddy B for 3]

I remember them being really hyped by the organization...especially with the incredibly bad "who's a Mavericks fan?" season ticket spiel. That was a train wreck...

I'd compare them to the Wizards now. A lot of talent in the backcourt and SF, and the rest...kinda meh. Basically, a treadmill team.

For most fans though, including myself, I think they were a breath of fresh air with unknown potential. Having said that, they fit together a little wonky, and didn't offer the floor spacing that the Wizards currently have with Beal and Porter.

I didn't take the time to go back and look up stats here, just kinda shooting from the hip.

So, am I wrong in thinking it went like this

Several terrible Maverick seasons
-draft Jamal Mashburn, (fan base hopes he becomes an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-draft Jim Jackson(who holds out), (fanbase is already sick of his personality due to the hold out, but we hoped he would become an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-Draft Jason Kidd, everyone is hype, rebrand the team as the "three J's" (and we hoped Jason would become an MVP candidate)

????

Which would mean it was really Jason Kidd and the backup J's???? Lol

[Otis Driftwood]

I remember them being really hyped by the organization...especially with the incredibly bad "who's a Mavericks fan?" season ticket spiel. That was a train wreck...

I'd compare them to the Wizards now. A lot of talent in the backcourt and SF, and the rest...kinda meh. Basically, a treadmill team.

For most fans though, including myself, I think they were a breath of fresh air with unknown potential. Having said that, they fit together a little wonky, and didn't offer the floor spacing that the Wizards currently have with Beal and Porter.

I didn't take the time to go back and look up stats here, just kinda shooting from the hip.

So, am I wrong in thinking it went like this

Several terrible Maverick seasons
-draft Jamal Mashburn, (fan base hopes he becomes an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-draft Jim Jackson(who holds out), (fanbase is already sick of his personality due to the hold out, but we hoped he would become an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-Draft Jason Kidd, everyone is hype, rebrand the team as the "three J's" (and we hoped Jason would become an MVP candidate)

????

Which would mean it was really Jason Kidd and the backup J's???? Lol

Actually, it was Jackson, then Mashburn... then Kidd.

And you forgot one last bullet;

-Zaccanelli gets pissed at Kidd's agent for calling him at 2:00 AM in the morning... trades Kidd.

That one is kinda important.

[Roddy B for 3]

I remember them being really hyped by the organization...especially with the incredibly bad "who's a Mavericks fan?" season ticket spiel. That was a train wreck...

I'd compare them to the Wizards now. A lot of talent in the backcourt and SF, and the rest...kinda meh. Basically, a treadmill team.

For most fans though, including myself, I think they were a breath of fresh air with unknown potential. Having said that, they fit together a little wonky, and didn't offer the floor spacing that the Wizards currently have with Beal and Porter.

I didn't take the time to go back and look up stats here, just kinda shooting from the hip.

So, am I wrong in thinking it went like this

Several terrible Maverick seasons
-draft Jamal Mashburn, (fan base hopes he becomes an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-draft Jim Jackson(who holds out), (fanbase is already sick of his personality due to the hold out, but we hoped he would become an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-Draft Jason Kidd, everyone is hype, rebrand the team as the "three J's" (and we hoped Jason would become an MVP candidate)

????

Which would mean it was really Jason Kidd and the backup J's???? Lol

Actually, it was Jackson, then Mashburn... then Kidd.

And you forgot one last bullet;

-Zaccanelli gets pissed at Kidd's agent for calling him at 2:00 AM in the morning... trades Kidd.

That one is kinda important.

I LOVE the Mavs! I have been following the team hardcore since '03 and I know quite a bit about the the Cuban era!

However I don't know much about the earlier eras. Maybe I will make more threads like this one to learn.

In case you can't tell by my explanation points I am extremely excited right now. Who is Zanccanelli????? I know Kidd was traded for Finley, but I only know about the singer being the reason, and the owner/GM not knowing bbll (aka don't trade a future HOF PG).

But WTF are you talking about with the contract being a reason JKidd was traded????
I LOVE HEARING NEW (even if their old) STORIES ABOUT THE MAVERICKS!!

[Otis Driftwood]

So, am I wrong in thinking it went like this

Several terrible Maverick seasons
-draft Jamal Mashburn, (fan base hopes he becomes an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-draft Jim Jackson(who holds out), (fanbase is already sick of his personality due to the hold out, but we hoped he would become an All-star)
Another terrible Maverick season
-Draft Jason Kidd, everyone is hype, rebrand the team as the "three J's" (and we hoped Jason would become an MVP candidate)

????

Which would mean it was really Jason Kidd and the backup J's???? Lol

Actually, it was Jackson, then Mashburn... then Kidd.

And you forgot one last bullet;

-Zaccanelli gets pissed at Kidd's agent for calling him at 2:00 AM in the morning... trades Kidd.

That one is kinda important.

I LOVE the Mavs! I have been following the team hardcore since '03 and I know quite a bit about the the Cuban era!

However I don't know much about the earlier eras. Maybe I will make more threads like this one to learn.

In case you can't tell by my explanation points I am extremely excited right now. Who is Zanccanelli????? I know Kidd was traded for Finley, but I only know about the singer being the reason, and the owner/GM not knowing bbll (aka don't trade a future HOF PG).

But WTF are you talking about with the contract being a reason JKidd was traded????
I LOVE HEARING NEW (even if their old) STORIES ABOUT THE MAVERICKS!!

I promised @Dirk Nowitzki I'd post a little description of "the dark days". It's coming.

[Roddy B for 3]

Actually, it was Jackson, then Mashburn... then Kidd.

And you forgot one last bullet;

-Zaccanelli gets pissed at Kidd's agent for calling him at 2:00 AM in the morning... trades Kidd.

That one is kinda important.

I LOVE the Mavs! I have been following the team hardcore since '03 and I know quite a bit about the the Cuban era!

However I don't know much about the earlier eras. Maybe I will make more threads like this one to learn.

In case you can't tell by my explanation points I am extremely excited right now. Who is Zanccanelli????? I know Kidd was traded for Finley, but I only know about the singer being the reason, and the owner/GM not knowing bbll (aka don't trade a future HOF PG).

But WTF are you talking about with the contract being a reason JKidd was traded????
I LOVE HEARING NEW (even if their old) STORIES ABOUT THE MAVERICKS!!

I promised @Dirk Nowitzki I'd post a little description of "the dark days". It's coming.

Please put it on the front page or hmu when you do. Because I want to hear that.

[The Sparest]

Kidd was impressive even in his rookie season and not really being able to shoot very well. He just had "it," and everyone was baffled when the Mavs traded him. You don't trade players like that, and especially for how little they got back (sorry Finley fanatics).

Jackson and Mashburn were promising players when they came in, but some, if not a lot, of that promise was derailed by injuries. They both went on to have long and respectable careers, but no where near as good as I thought they would have based off those early years.

[2011Champs]

Jimmy Jackson obviously had issues or he wouldn't have played for like 12 different teams throughout his 14 year career.

[Jinra]

The 3Js were an odd mix that were never going to be successful. Jim and Mashburn were athletically inferior, and loved shooting tons of jump shots. Mashburn was horrible on defense, while Jim was serviceable. Jason was far superior in skills, but needed athletic finishers and sharpshooters to be successful.

They were fun to watch, and they represented hope to the franchise. They were the kids (no pun intended) that were to deliver us, and they were marketed well. Jason and Jim fought over a lady (I would have fought both of them for Toni Braxton too), but we quickly learned that the players were not the problem. We never should have traded away a Super Star like Jason Kidd, but certainly not for a dump package highlighted by Michael Finley. I don't care what he turned into. We could have done way better.

Thank god Cuban came along when he did.

[SOUNDCHASER]

The Kidd pick at number 2 was the best pick in the draft followed by 3 of the worst drafts we have ever had with
95 6'11" Cherokee Parks at 12, Loren Meyer at 24 with Greg Ostertag there still at 28 and Michael Finley was taken by the Suns at 21.
96 6' 9" Samaki Walker the great one who we picked ahead of Dampier 10th pick and Jermaine Oneal 17th pick after trading picks as part of terms in a trade to acquire Eric Montross from the Celtics.
and then 97 the awesome Chris Antsey experiment at 15 for the 7' Aussie trading down to 18 to snag him. at 19 the better Scott Pollard was probably the only big still worth taking on the board.
In 98 in the draft we traded down to 9 from 6 we finally got lucky and picked some guy named Dirk trading down from 6 to do so I might add.

The three j'S were fun to watch still remember Jackson hitting a half court circus shot and if we could have kept them and Jackson had not gotten hurt maybe we could have done some damage but the picks we had after that era were wasted IMHO till we got Dirk then it was on but at least we got Kidd to come back and get a ring with Dirk. It is interesting to see who else we could have had prior to getting Dirk.

[Zen_Paradox]

The Kidd pick at number 2 was the best pick in the draft followed by 3 of the worst drafts we have ever had with
95 6'11" Cherokee Parks at 12, Loren Meyer at 24 with Greg Ostertag there still at 28 and Michael Finley was taken by the Suns at 21.
96 6' 9" Samaki Walker the great one who we picked ahead of Dampier 10th pick and Jermaine Oneal 17th pick after trading picks as part of terms in a trade to acquire Eric Montross from the Celtics.
and then 97 the awesome Chris Antsey experiment at 15 for the 7' Aussie trading down to 18 to snag him. at 19 the better Scott Pollard was probably the only big still worth taking on the board.
In 98 in the draft we traded down to 9 from 6 we finally got lucky and picked some guy named Dirk trading down from 6 to do so I might add.

The three j'S were fun to watch still remember Jackson hitting a half court circus shot and if we could have kept them and Jackson had not gotten hurt maybe we could have done some damage but the picks we had after that era were wasted IMHO till we got Dirk then it was on but at least we got Kidd to come back and get a ring with Dirk. It is interesting to see who else we could have had prior to getting Dirk.

In hindsight however, had Kidd never been traded, it's possible that Dirk never ends up in Dallas. Also, for some reason I thought Ansy was drafted after Dirk.

[Otis Driftwood]

I had forgotten about Antsey. Successfully. Thanks for ruining my morning.

[Deus]

Yes they were hyped and deserved it. Kidd Mashburn and Jackson. Great players. Bad coaches. Remember Jim Cleamons?
The only thing that I regret is when that idiot Perot kid traded Kidd away. Moron. That was the first thing Don Nelson hated when he arrived in Dallas.