"Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban appeared on ESPN's "NBA Countdown" on Wednesday before the network's doubleheader that included the Mavericks' loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

He talked about the Mavericks' slow start to the regular season not changing the goal of winning another title and said he believes this Mavericks team can be better than last season's NBA champions:

"We've just got to make the playoffs, that's all I really care about. Honestly, I was telling people if we're 10-10 I'll be thrilled to death. And if we were 5-15, I wouldn't have been shocked, because you can't just walk into a season and be ready, particularly if you're a team that bases its defense on precision and team defense, and its offense off ball movement."