Dallas Mavericks: 4 Keys for Mavs To Repeat as Champs in 2011-12

I know, I know, the 2011-12 season actually needs to happen first. 

Assuming that it does, what do the Dallas Mavericks need to do to repeat as champs and actually get remembered as more than just the team that knocked off the hated Miami Heat? 

Let’s be real; the Mavs are in danger of suffering the same kitschy fate as the 2004 Detroit Pistons who knocked off a similarly hate-able Los Angeles Lakers team featuring a veritable “who’s who” of desperate, sad, ringless ballers. 

The Pistons were contenders for the better part of the 2000s. But now? Between the hilarity of Rasheed Wallace and the fading careers of Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince, that Pistons team is now more of a novelty than the testament to team basketball they were less than five years ago.  If this isn’t sounding familiar yet, I don’t know what else to say. If it helps, Jason Terry is the hilarious Maverick. 

That being said, it’s a very fine line between being a one-off champion and a perennial champion. Even those aforementioned Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals the following year without adding any significant players (before losing in Game 7 to the San Antonio Spurs).

Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1983 Philadelphia 76ers for a championship team that didn’t make a post-championship trip back to the Finals at least once with the same core. So, in theory, it shouldn’t take much for Dallas to make it back to the Finals next season. But it is only a theory.

With that, let’s take a look at the four keys to Dallas' repeating as champs in 2011-12.

Re-Sign Tyson Chandler

This is obvious and has been written by every sports website on the Internet. I’m not going to waste your time regurgitating how important Chandler is to the Mavs, both on the court and in the locker room.

Instead, enjoy his Dallas highlights!

Incorporate Roddy Beaubois and Corey Brewer

These two faces missing from the Mavs’ Finals run are also two of Dallas’ youngest players. Beaubois and Brewer represent just about everything Dallas so desperately needs: youth, energy and athleticism.

With so much of the roster (literally the entire rotation save for Tyson Chandler) over 30, it’s so important to keep everyone fresh by giving minutes to young players. And with sub-30 J.J. Barea and newly-acquired Rudy Fernandez on the roster, Dallas can conceivably go 11 deep, assuming everyone keeps their egos as low as their minutes will be.

And those egos will definitely need to be low, because when the playoffs start and the rotation shortens from 11 to 8, there are going to three unlucky players stuck in suits.

Keep Caron Butler Healthy

Dallas won the Finals in six games without (arguably) their second-best player. In theory, they’re not losing anyone from their core (no disrespect, DeShawn Stevenson).

Barring a disaster where all of their old men hit a wall and their productivity falls off considerably, keeping Butler healthy will be enough to keep Dallas at the top of the hyper-competitive Western Conference.

This is especially true after considering that as long as Butler stays healthy, Dallas won't be forced to overextend themselves and try to incorporate a scrub like Dominique Jones. Sorry, DoJo, but you should think about returning to the dojo for a change of career. When your playing days are over, maybe you can teach karate.

Maintain the Status Quo

What’s the old saying? “If it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it”? Did I just quote ”Beauty and the Beast? Maybe.

Anyway, the whole article has been building up to this rather obvious point. The Mavericks just won a championship. Obviously, they must be doing something right.

As long as Dallas maintains the status quo, they should be right back in the Finals this season. After that? Who knows. Their collective age will eventually catch up to them, but this current roster is good enough to get back to the Finals as is.

The real question is what other teams will do to upgrade their rosters to overtake the Mavericks. But even so, Dallas famously stood pat at the NBA trade deadline last season and ended up winning the championship.

There's no reason why they can't do the same thing again.