Dallas Mavericks Roundtable: Final Regular Season Edition

Well, it's been a long season and the Dallas Mavericks finally look to be coming into their own. The loss yesterday to New Orleans is just a hiccup as the Mavericks enter the home stretch playing some of their best ball of the season.

The team is one game out of sixth place and a game away from eighth. The Mavericks have some work to do, even over the final two games of the season.

This will be the final regular season roundtable, but stay tuned on Friday for a breakdown of the Mavericks' first round matchup.

1. How have the Mavericks looked to you the past few weeks?

Janet Kessler: They still have this dual personality, good Mavs-bad Mavs. The three games since Josh came back have been great. Makes me wonder though, what kind of damage our team could have done this season.

Alex McVeigh: Better, but I'm still waiting for them to drop one they shouldn't, probably to Minny. The Hornets finish with a tough schedule, but the Jazz have the Clips at home, so there's a guaranteeed win.

Robert Allred: I wish I could come up with a new answer here, but there really isn't one. They have looked the same. A couple great games, a couple games that go like they are supposed to, and then a couple of really bad stinkers.

2. What was a personal highlight for you?

Janet: Setting the Suns, was so so sweet.  J-ho's buzzer beater to give J-Kidd his 16th dime, put me on the floor.  The ABC announcers switching sides to the Mavs, at the middle of the third quarter.

Alex: The Suns' game in general, but especially Howard's halfcourt shot. That's the kind of shot that falls when things are going your way, and it seems like the Mavs are too often on the losing end of that.

Robert: It has got to be the Phoenix game this past weekend. Blowouts suck to watch, until your team is the one doing the blowing out. And the Mavs absolutely destroyed the Suns.

3. Is there any reason to believe the Mavs won't have a letdown game or two (like Memphis and G-State) to close the season, given the stakes?

Janet: Like they haven't been a train-wreck waiting to happen all season.  This season has been the J-ho factor. How much does he have left?  I don't think the Mavs really know.

Alex: There's no reason to believe it, but I'm hoping they won't. Last year they went pretty hard at the end, and they ended up getting destroyed by the Hornets, so who knows how it will effect them?

Robert: Absolutely not. At this point, it has to be almost expected. Still, they can have all the letdown games they want so long as they turn it on on the playoffs.

4. Do you play Josh Howard as much as possible leading up to the playoffs hoping to get a better seed, or do you conserve his minutes for the playoffs?

Janet: I don't think he can hurt his ankle anymore than it already is. It's a matter of how much pain J-ho can endure, and that seems to be a lot. If the Mavs are really serious about getting off the eighth seed, than they have no choice but to play him if he can play.

The Mavs are playing teams that they won't get away with two 20+ shooters.  They have to have that third option to keep the double team off Dirk and Terry.

Alex: I play him against teams like the Hornets and Rockets, but give him the night off against the T-Wolves. It's the second night of a back-to-back, and while they need to win it, if they can't without Howard at this point, then they're done.

Robert: Its a tough call. I think you want to keep him as rested as possible, but you also don't want to let him sit and rust. The more important thing is health though.

It doesn't matter who we play in the first round. If we are not healthy, we don't stand a chance and realistically, we don't win a series either way.

5. What role player (e.g. Singleton, Green, Hollins) would you like to see get more time as the season winds down?

Janet: I like to see Ryan Hollins get more time. He was a throw-in on the Diop trade, with Matt Carroll. Hollins has turn out to be a traded up over Diop. It's amazing how many Rim-Rockers, the Mavs have now.

Alex: I would like to see Green take some of Howard's minutes, especially against the T-Wolves. He needs to get in some sort of groove so he can provide some instant offense off the bench.

He did that against the Lakers a few times, and that's something we can use to hold off those scoring lulls that the Mavs occasionally have.

Robert: Singleton. I love the guy. He is fun to watch and is also a great story. I always like to see the underdogs come up big, and this guy is a true example of an underdog.