http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/bal...urn=nba,195306
I'm not entirely sure why I like these Mavericks as much as I do. There's a very real chance the bottom falls out for this squad, that certain aspects of the team just fall flat, and that the squad barely musters a record above .500.
The team could tune out Rick Carlisle. Jason Kidd(notes), Dirk Nowitzki(notes), Erick Dampier(notes) and Shawn Marion could see age catch up to them. Jason Terry's(notes) hot-shooting ways could come to an end. Injuries could hit hard. The rotations just might not work. Josh Howard(notes) might not show up. The team just might not have it.
Or, everything could go perfectly, led by Carlisle. I guess I'm pretty smitten with the upside of this team, and I think you should be, too. No, I didn't bump their win projection into the high 50s, but I wouldn't be surprised if everything went perfectly. Wouldn't be surprised if everything fell apart, either, but I'm leaning closer to the one where the Mavs do exceedingly well in spite of advancing age.
Let's start at the end of the bench. Depth won't be as big a concern as it was last season, when the Mavs essentially went six deep. Even though the Mavericks lost Brandon Bass, won't see any of their draft picks contributing much and watched as Orlando matched their offer to sign Marcin Gortat(notes) (retaining the athletic pivotman), Dallas now boasts a cadre of sound contributors that can fill in various spots in a pinch.
Signing Quinton Ross, Ross' former teammate, James Singleton(notes), and (former teammates to half the NBA) Tim Thomas and Drew Gooden will help. Acquiring Marion and Kris Humphries will help as well. Only Ross can play shooting guard, still Dallas' biggest hole, but that's a position the Mavs were planning on filling by committee (with Howard, or with Kidd guarding off guards in a small lineup with Terry or Jose Barea).
Marion might not be much toward the end of his deal, and he's coming off the worst season of his career, but he's in a warm-and-fuzzy situation right now with a team that isn't dangling him and with a pass-first point looking to find him at any one of the three positions he can play.
Kidd? You'd have to consider his 40.6 percent mark from long range last year a fluke, but he can still get the job done effectively at point, even if his presence leaves Dallas' defense (just below average last year) in a bit of a pinch. Barea and Terry won't be much help here.
The solution? Listen to Carlisle, who is a fantastic coach, try to get the rotations right, hope Nowitzki (who wasn't as strong and potent as ever in 2008-09, but damn close) sustains his significant levels of production.
And keep on the lookout for teams that can't draw five figures worth of fans. Why?
Dallas has a massive trading chip in the (essentially) expiring contract of Erick Dampier. Damp makes a little over $12 million this year, but his $13 million contract for 2010-11 isn't guaranteed. So from now until draft day, essentially, the Mavs could ship Dampier for a high-stakes player or players from a team either looking to cut costs or clear cap room in anticipation for the free-agent class of 2010. Either way, the phones will be ringing, and the Mavericks cannot screw this up.
With all these players in their 30s and the Lakers showing no signs of falling back to earth, the Dampier trade just might be their best chance to give Nowitzki, Kidd and Marion the elusive championship they've been looking for.
Prediction: 52-30
— Kelly Dwyer
Can the Mavericks return to the level of legitimate contenders in the Western Conference with Erick Dampier at center?
Even though Jason Kidd is 36 years old heading into the season, the Mavericks still want to push the pace and get as many points as they can in transition. The problem is that in a would-be high-octane offense, Dampier might as well be a pair of training wheels on one of those Tour de France racing bicycles. He doesn't rebound enough to trigger the break and doesn't run the floor enough to be a finisher. What's more, despite his size, Dampier is not a shut-the-door defender in the paint. If there's a weakness in the Mavs' plan for a return to prominence in the west, this is it.
— Fran Blinebury, Yahoo! Sports 2009-10 NBA Preview magazine
• The Two Man Game: "The Mavs are blessed with all kinds of options. Against bigger teams with more traditional post threats, the Mavs can use a big lineup of Kidd-Howard-Marion-Dirk-Damp. When in need of more offense, they can sub out Damp for Gooden, or play Terry at the 2 and shift Dirk to the 5. If they're looking for all-out defense, Carlisle could theoretically trot out Kidd-Ross-Howard-Marion-Damp. And all of those lineups don't even mention point guards J.J. Barea and Rodrigue Beaubois, big man Kris Humphries, or resident gunner/headcase Tim Thomas. Most of the Mavericks can swing multiple positions, and that gives Rick Carlisle nothing but options." [more]
• Mavs Moneyball: "This team, while being more athletic, still has their issues; first and foremost defensive rebounding is a big area of concern. If the Mavericks cannot get better at keeping their opponent to one shot, this could singlehandedly crush their hopes of making a deep playoff push. [The] other glaring weakness is their perimeter defense. They must get better defensive guard play from Jason Kidd and Jason Terry [...] Both of these guys do great things for this team on the offensive end, but they need to step up to the challenge on the defensive end." [more]
• NBAMate: "I saw enough glimpses of [the Mavericks] last year to make me believe they can go deep in the playoffs, but let's not forget how bumpy the road was before they got there. The Mavs were brilliant over the final 10% of the season, but pretty woeful over the first 90%. Put some of that down to adjusting to Jason Kidd if you want, and there's no doubt a new point guard requires the longest period of adjustment of all positions. But now we're seeing even more shuffling of the lineup, and I expect this team to take a little while before we see their best. Of course, if things don't go according to plan, the Mavs might have a mid-season trade up their sleeves to catapult them amongst the le favorites. Nothing about this team smells of 'building for the future' or 'developing youth.' It's about getting a championship, now, before this Kidd-Dirk window closes." [more]
TrilliTrill, "Jason Terry"
There really couldn't be an easier choice for a team song than "Jason Terry" by TrilliTrill. Not only is he a player for the Mavericks, but the song isn't quite as good as its creator thinks it is. Sorry, Mark Cuban. Anyways, we eagerly await TrilliTrill's follow-up, "Walk Like a Nowitzki."
— Trey Kerby, The Blowtorch
The Mavericks have as impressive a collection of fantasy talent as any other team in the league. Nowitzki has been delivering top-10 fantasy seasons for almost a decade and is showing no signs of slowing down. He's as safe and reliable as you can get at seventh overall in standard leagues. Kidd is aging like fine wine, and his surplus counting stats make him the most valuable player that also happens to score less than 10 points per game. His 291 threes-plus-steals were the second-most in the league in 2008-09. Terry's ridiculous efficiency makes him a roto powerhouse that can often be had at a heavy discount. His current average draft position places him in the seventh round (80.6) despite a season rank of 20 last season.
Shawn Marion's impressive run as the No.1 player in fantasy ended as soon as he left the Phoenix system, but he's still "very good" and Dallas is an excellent spot for him. He'll run the break with Kidd and play off Dirk's perimeter game — don't be shy if he's there for you at the Round 3-4 turn. Josh Howard spent roughly five years as an "upside" pick, but much of the shine is off thanks to consistent injury concerns and the fact that he's actually 29 years old at this point. He's still recovering from off-season ankle and wrist surgeries and it's a guess as to if/when he'll be 100 percent. Drew Gooden will likely be productive enough to warrant a roster spot at various points of the season, but consistency figures to be elusive.
— Matt Buser, Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Basketball / BuserSports.com
I should enjoy watching Mr. Belvedere a lot, but I shouldn't have to masturbate at the end of every episode.
I should want to cook Mr. Belvedere a simple meal, but I shouldn't want to cut into him, to tear the flesh, to wear the flesh, to be born into new worlds where is flesh becomes my key.
You gotta trust Trillitrill. I mean, he's true and real all at once, TWICE!
She's probably just a lesbo anyway.
Who'd win in a 3-way Royal Rumble between Mr. Belvedere, Tony Danza, and Charles In Charge?
Danza was a boxer before he got into acting.
Webster.
V.I.C.I. would make a run-in and kick all of their asses.
speaking of bad ABC sitcoms, has anybody ever caught Bob Saget's standup act? Danny Tanner works blue, very very blue...almost as if he's trying to overcompensate for Full House.
Mavs are going to be damn good. People are wrongly sleeping on this team. Injuries can hurt them (like anyone else), but they have a unique roster. FTM.
I'm cautiously optimistic. I think injuries are the only thing that can prevent them from getting a top four seed.
Agreed. This is mostly cause of the improvements they'll get from Nathan "Baby Shaq" Jawai at backup center.
I'm not sure he's even going to make the team. They have something like 16 guaranteed contracts, so once again, Cuban is going to have to eat sunk costs.
haha:
http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=2144
The Mavs’ efforts to cut from their present total of 17 bodies down to the NBA max of 15 hasn’t yet resulted in the movement of Shawne Williams. Instead, Dallas has completed a trade involving Nathan Jawai.
Jawai, the 6-10, 280-pound center prospect from Australia who came to Dallas as a throw-in in the Shawn Marion trade, has been shipped to Minnesota in exchange for a future second-round pick.
Jawai played in just one preseason game for the Mavs, contributing two points and two assists in an eight-minute appearance against Detroit on Oct. 15.
The departure of Jawai leaves Dallas as 16. The deadline is next Monday, and the club is hoping to pull off another trade that would relieve itself of the persona non grata Williams and his $2.4 million deal. If Williams can be shipped out for something besides a player, non-guaranteed camp invitee Jake Voskuhl has a chance to stick as a backup center and as the 15th man.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09294/1007101-275.stm
Never one to shy away from giving his opinion on controversial subjects, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said steroids could be used to help athletes recover from injuries as long as they are prescribed by doctors and that it could be proved there would be no long-term damage.
At a University of Pittsburgh forum yesterday, the Pittsburgh native responded to a question about the 10-game suspension of Orlando's Rashard Lewis during last season's NBA playoffs.
"I'll get killed for saying this," Cuban replied, "but I'm not so against steroids if they're administered under proper supervision and there is no long-term damage."
He said that steroids, which are banned by all the major sports and are also illegal to possess without a doctor's prescription, may benefit those recovering from surgery.
Cuban said he hoped his comments would initiate a conversation on a topic that is considered radioactive. If the proper medical criteria are met, he added, "why wouldn't we" use them for medical reasons.
"If somebody thinks it's controversial, fine. To me, it's just common sense," he said. "I'm sure I'll hear about it [today] that 'Cuban is for Steroids.' "
Cuban added that he did not think there is widespread use of steroids in the NBA, which like all the major sports, provides for suspensions following a positive test. In recent years, as big-name athletes have been suspended and/or associated with steroid use, performance-enhancing drugs have been the subject of congressional hearings. But steroids prescribed by doctors have also been used legally in anti-aging therapies.
Cuban, a former Pitt student who became a billionaire through Internet-related business dealings, spoke to several hundred students and answered questions for about an hour at the William Pitt Union on campus. His NBA team was in town to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in a preseason game at the Petersen Events Center.
Wearing a Pitt basketball shirt, Cuban asked and answered the first question because it is the one he is always asked when he returns to his hometown.
"No, I'm not buying the Pirates," he said. "I tried. [It's] not going to happen. We'll leave it at that."
Later, while speaking to reporters, Cuban said he still remembers Sid Bream sliding home with the winning run that kept the Pirates out of the 1992 World Series, and he admitted his frustration with the record 17 losing seasons that have followed.
"I'm as disappointed as everybody else. It's frustrating as can be," he said. But he added that he is still a fan of the Pirates and would still support them.
Questions posed to him by students ranged from the $1.5 million he has been fined by NBA commissioner David Stern to his appearance on "Dancing With The Stars" to his days at Pitt.
He called his fines for criticizing NBA officiating "money well spent" because they led to changes that improved the league.
Cuban was introduced by Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon and was given a Pitt jersey, an Oakland Zoo T-shirt and a Primanti Brothers sandwich.
The Mavs are like a -stained mattress. Not always the prettiest sight, but you shouldn't sleep on them
Nobody takes the Mav's seriously. You could go into a full REM dream state much less sleep on them. They will fold as they always do.
awesome take laker fan! When I log onto Spurstalk, I usually can't wait to see what riveting posts cobbler has to offer.
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