Dallas Mavericks Roundtable: Week 12
Big week for the Mavericks. We saw Diop go bye-bye and two new Mavericks are ready to make a difference.
It also was a tough week on the court, with two losses to three playoff teams from the West. Another test is coming up, this time with road games to Eastern playoff contenders Detroit and Boston.
We've also got a new addition to the Roundtable, Robert Allred, and we hope you enjoy his contributions as well as the rest of ours.
Last week's scores:
1. How did the Mavericks look to you this week?
Janet Kessler: We are right back were we started. I'm really getting depressed about our situation. Heaven forbid, but are the Mav-wrecks back?
Alex McVeigh: I have a feeling that the Nuggets are going to be the first-round foe, if we're lucky, and we won't be able to beat them.
I think the Mavericks are better, talent-wise, but the Nuggets are the epitome of the kind of team the Mavs just can't beat right now. They need to stop letting Chris Andersen have career nights against them. While a win over the Jazz was nice, they could have beaten the Hornets.
Robert Allred: Up until Saturday night, the Mavs looked like they would be playing the lottery this offseason. While that still is a very real possibility, the team showed some promise with a big win on Saturday night.
It will be interesting to see if this win can springboard the team into making a push for position in the final handful of games leading up to the All-Star break.
2. What was a personal highlight for you?
Janet: Changing the channel.
Alex: Dirk's 44 was nice, but if it's in a losing effort it doesn't mean much.
Robert: Sadly, I think there is only one highlight for this week in Mavs basketball, and that would be the Jazz win on Saturday night. For me, it is not so much the fact that they won, but the fashion in which they did so.
In the waning minutes of the game and hanging on to a three-point lead, I think that any confident Mavs fan probably had the rug pulled out from under them when they saw Dirk hobble off the floor. Without both Howard and Nowitzki, everyone had to wonder where the scoring was going to come from to help the Mavs put this away.
Although Dirk did come back in a few minutes later, it was obvious he wasn't going to have the same impact that he did for the first 3 1/2 quarters. Instead of wilting away, Wright hit a big shot, Bass had a huge basket and rebound, Terry hit a money three-pointer and Kidd had a great steal that essentially iced the game.
The team rallied around Dirk and pulled itself to a much needed win over a good, not great, Utah team.
3. What is the most immediate issue that needs to be fixed?
Janet: Mark Cuban & Donnie Nelson need to find a third shooter NOW! No time to waste.
Alex: Feels like a broken record, but they need to play all 48 minutes. You're not going to beat good teams if you take even a half-quarter off. They're either starting slow or finishing cold. Hot starts and finishes can make a lot of mistakes disappear.
Robert: I think it is the same issue that the Mavs have had for some time now. They need to start well and finish well. It is a simple concept, really, but it has been their biggest undoing.
In three of four games this week, the Mavs have been outscored in the first quarter, and, in two of those, they were outscored in the final quarter. This is not good enough for a championship-caliber basketball team.
Constantly fighting back from behind will wear on a team. Likewise, giving up late leads in the final quarter can be detrimental to a team's psyche.
4. The Mavs just completed a trade with Charlotte, with Diop headed to the 'Cats for Ryan Hollins and Matt Carroll. What do you think of this trade?
Janet: I just hope we get at least a fair shake with this deal, compare to the Kidd trade. Ridding the payroll of Diop's inflated salary is a plus. Time will tell if we got our money's worth with the new guys. Let face it, Donnie & Cuban needed to trade for any chance to compete this season.
Alex: I like it for a few reasons. It gives us a half-decent backup center for a fraction of the price of Diop, and the structure of Carroll's contract gives the Mavs even more flexibility in the future.
Hopefully a good three-point shooter will inspire the Mavs to attack the basket more, which will allow him to get some Matt Bonner/Bruce Bowen-like open looks, which he should hit.
If not, another jump shooter just exacerbates the problem that the Mavs have been dealing with all season.
Robert: NBA Finals, here we come!
No, not really. This isn't a groundbreaking trade, but it's not a bad trade either. When the Mavs initially re-acquired Diop, I thought they overpaid, but I was still excited to have him back in Dallas. He proved to be a shell of the player that he was in his first stint, however, and was overall disappointing.
While I don't expect either Hollins or Carroll to come in and be significant contributors, I think they are an upgrade over Diop, specifially on the offensive side of the ball.
5. Do you think the refs and/or David Stern have something against the Mavs? First, there were games 3 and 6 of the 2006 Finals, then the disaster call at the end of the Nuggets game, and now not only does J.R. Smith NOT get in trouble, but it appears Cuban might. What's the deal?
Janet: I think David Stern is still having nightmares about Mark Cuban being right about "dirty refs in the NBA." It's like David Stern is the NBA god and has no one to answer to.
Alex: I think David Stern would rather eat his own hat than see Mark Cuban with the Larry O'Brien trophy, but that doesn't mean much. I think with the J.R. Smith thing, it's clearly being shown that the league does not like Cuban, and won't give him the benefit of the doubt.
That "foul" at the end of the Nuggets game was ridiculous though, and just brought back memories of the 2006 finals. If the Mavs are going to win, they shouldn't expect any help from the boys on blue, which is more than can be said about Bron Bron.
Robert: I wouldn't call it a conspiracy theory. The 2006 finals sucked and I will maintain that it was the worst-officiated series I have ever seen in my limited time here on Earth. That being said, I am not of the opinion that there were a couple of NBA business executives standing in the grassy knoll and another in the book depository with the intention of bringing down the Dallas Mavericks.
Is it possible that the league executives and officials do not like Mark Cuban and therefore call things against him and his team that they would not against other teams. It's even likely. But it's not a conspiracy.
Player of the week:
Janet: Dirk for his 44 points against Denver.
Alex: Dirk, because he is scoring on his face-off and making free throws when he gets to the line, which is often. Hopefully, everyone else can follow his example.
Robert: For me, its a toss-up between Dirk and JET. But because Dirk is the easy answer, I'll give the nod to JET Terry. He is having a fantastic season!
Games for this week:
1/19: Mavs @ 76ers:
Janet: Maybe a chance for a win, if J-Ho is back. I'll stick my neck out, Mavs over 76ers.
Alex: If Brand comes back, the Mavs might have trouble matching up with him.
Ironically, if he doesn't and the Sixers play the game that has led them to seven straight wins (run and gun), the Mavs should be able to both outrun and outgun them.
Robert: I think the Mavs are going to bring the Sixers streak to a hault while starting a little streak of their own. The Sixers have been playing some impressive ball as of late and the Mavs have played like a train wreck, but I don't think Philly is as good as their past seven games indicate or the Mavs are as bad as their four-game losing streak would have you believe. Should be a close game decided in the fourth, but the Mavs win.
1/21: Mavs @ Bucks:
Janet: Hopefully a win
Alex: A decent team with hot and cold shooters. I think that Joe Alexander is going to have a career night, but I think the Mavs' small lineup can contain Michael Redd. If Damp can stay out of foul trouble and/or get Bogut into foul trouble, the Mavs should have no trouble. Mavs win.
Robert: The Bucks will learn once again why they wish they had never met "Tractor" Traylor, and the Mavs win their third straight.
1/23: Mavs @ Pistons:
Janet: We ain't there, and we have not been that lucky either. Mavs lose.
Alex: The Pistons are the sort of fatally-flawed playoff team that the Mavs should beat at this stage of the season. I think it will be a good game, and I think the Mavs will pull it off by less than five.
Robert: Similar to the Mavs, the Detroit Pistons have found themselves in a funk as of late, and unless they can turn this thing around real quick, they could watch this season slip away from them.
The difference in their funk and the Mavs', however, is that theirs appears to be relational. Since the AI trade, Detroit has not appeared to be a cohesive unit. I really just don't think they like each other.
Unless the Pistons find "The Answer" (ha) between now and Friday, the Mavs will win this one easily.
1/25: Mavs @ Celtics:
Janet: We are going to get spanked. I really hate losing. Mavs lose again.
Alex: I can't pick the Mavs in this one, as much as I'd like to see it. Unless Wright has a good game on both sides of the ball and Howard stays healthy, I don't think they can stop Pierce or Allen. Maybe they can take notes on the Celtics' ball movement and work that into the Matt Carroll era.
Robert: I want to pick the Mavs to win in an upset, but the homer in me must finally be squashed. I really think that the Mavs will go 2-1 in the three games leading up to Boston, but I picked them to go 3-0 because I cannot look at the games individually and see a Mavs loss.
I'll tell you what's going to happen, though. I am going to pick the Mavs to lose this game, and they'll go ahead and win it, but lose one of the others I picked.
Ah, screw it. This is my first roundtable, and I can be a homer if I want to. The Mavs upset the Boston Celtics on the road to keep their new winning-streak alive at five.
Picks as of 1/18:
Janet: 18-8 (2-1 last week)
Waleed: 18-8 (2-1 last week)
Alex: 18-8 (2-1 last week)
Robert: 0-0 (0-0 last week)
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