Dallas Mavericks Roundtable: Week Five

Welcome to the Week Five Dallas Mavericks roundtable!

This features four of the most active Dallas Mavericks community members, and their thoughts on the previous week of Mavericks action.

This week, we saw Dallas' win streak hit seven games, and the Mavs played the Lakers tough for three quarters. Jason Terry and J.J. Barea had great weeks, and Dallas looks to be putting a slow start in the rear-view mirror.

Scores for this week:

11/25: Pacers 106, Mavs 109
11/28: Mavs 107, Lakers 114
11/29: Mavs 101, Kings 78

The first three questions will be the same every week: an analysis of the week's games. For the last two, we'll be examining some topics on a larger scale.

How did the Mavs look to you this week?

Blake Gibbs: The Mavs looked decent, however, their ugly fourth quarter against L.A. shows they still are going nowhere without a change.

Janet Kessler: I give them an A. They really look confident, more like a unit of one instead of five individuals.

Waleed Ershad: They looked great! Two wins and a close game with the best team in the league. The bench came out and played pretty well. Jason Terry has been stepping it up. The defense looks great. All this without our No. 2 guy: Josh Howard.

Alex McVeigh: The Mavs look to be back to form, meaning they can beat bad teams and struggle against good teams. Except for the 19-0 run against the Lakers, they looked good. B.

What was a personal highlight for you?

Blake: My personal highlight was seeing Jason Terry turn into the Mavs legitimate No. 2 guy.

Janet: J.J.  See my latest read. O'le Barea, O'le!

Waleed: Barea and Jet are probably gonna be mentioned.  So I'll go with Devean George.  He's shootin it well and plays excellent defense. 

Alex: Watching J.J. Barea make us forget about losing Devin Harris (at least, until Harris dropped 34 and 47 during a back-to-back), by getting to the basket, making great passes, and hitting jumpers.

If you had told me that Barea and Kidd would be on the floor together during a fourth quarter close game at the Staples Center, I would have thought you were crazy.

What is the most immediate issue that needs to be fixed?

Blake: The most immediate thing that needs to be fixed is simple: Trade Howard, Stack, and anyone else, except for Dirk, Kidd, Green, to get a big man here.

Janet: J-ho's ankle, especially with Antoine Wright's injury. I wasg going to say fix   the two-guard spot. However, if you check out the box scores, that's the most productive position on this team. Somehow putting it to a committee works for them.

Waleed: Josh Howard needs to come back! And closing out games is always a problem. Dirk needs to show up in the fourth. They should run more pick-and-rolls with Terry and Dirk as well.

Alex: They need to play a full game against a good team. For 40 minutes, the Mavericks were outplaying the Lakers in every way possible, and then they had a lapse. That can't happen in the playoffs if you expect to win a title.

Should the Mavs start rebuilding (by trading Howard, Kidd, etc.) or stand pat for the season and try and make a run?

Blake: The Mavs should start rebuilding, but not completely. Keep Dirk, Kidd, and Green as your core, then trade everyone else and change the DNA of this team.

Janet: This team is built around two future Hall-Of-Famers. Let's do it. Besides Chris Kaman, there's not much out there. I don't know, other than Devean George, whom I would give up.

Waleed: Heck no, they shouldn't start rebuilding. We got Kidd now, whether we like it or not, and we need to make a run. Plus, no one's going to give us any good value for our guys.

Alex: I am encouraged by Jason Terry's return to form, and the promise that Barea, Wright, Green and Singleton offer. I think this is the last year for Dallas to stay the Mavericks as we once knew.

If they get another first-round flameout or miss the playoffs, everyone but Dirk is on the block. Although, if they miss the playoffs and snag Ricky Rubio on the draft, all is forgiven.

What do you think is the key difference in the Mavericks winning these games?

Blake: The Mavs have been playing more of a team game on offense, and are creating more turnovers on the defensive end. Those have been the two major differences during their last seven games.

Janet: Jason Terry staying hot the whole week and the coaching by Carlisle & Crew.  Personally I think they must be hitting J-HO's stash, because the lineup combos have been crazy and aggressive.

But I like it! They need to still be trying to get Gerald Green minutes. Cupcake has got to make the most of his chances; other guys are hungry for those minutes too.

Waleed: Better defense and the fact that Jason Terry is shooting lights out. Also, the bench has played far better. But I'm just worried if the bench can be consistent. Can Barea play the way he did again? The same goes for George, Wright, etc.

Alex: While Wright is finally giving them production at the two, Jason Terry is the reason that they've been winning.

He's always been a great character guy, he gets the crowd and the team fired up, and he's been great about having his minutes moved around to help the team.

But when he's hitting jumpers, he's got one of the best strokes in the league. The last time he was the legit No. 2 guy, Dallas went to the Finals.

I think J.J. Barea has been phenomenal during the win streak. Barea is really benefiting from watching someone like Kidd. He's passing well, he's driving to the lane, he's also playing pretty good defense for a guy that's barely 5'10".

The bench as a whole is making good strides, which is taking the pressure off of Kidd and Dirk. During the losing streak, especially when Kidd was out, the offense would cease to exist, leading to holes that the starters struggled to overcome.

This week's games:

Clippers @ Mavs

Blake: The Mavs need to start defending their home court. It would be a great way to start the seven-game home stand with a win. I think the Mavs can do it, and also get a look at Chris Kaman (a potential Mav before the trade deadline). Mavericks win by 10.

Janet: Revenge against the Clippers will be sweet, streak to two wins easy.

Waleed: Mavericks beat the Clippers up 105-88.

Alex: While Baron Davis was never intimidated by the AAC crowd, he can't do it himself. Hopefully Chris Kaman likes what he sees in Dallas (and vice-versa), but the Mavs win relatively easily. Mavericks win: 95-80.

Suns @ Mavs

Blake: This rivalry will still be heated, and it will be an exciting game to watch. The Suns have been hot and cold so far this season, so it will all depend if Damp, Singleton, and Diop can play above their potential and stop the inside game of the Suns. I don't think they can do it, and the Mavericks lose by 12.

Janet: The biggest challenge is the Suns. Dirk usually has big games against them.  Close game, win streak at three.

Waleed: Jason Terry scores 40+ for the win (like Wade and Harris) 102-98

Alex: The Suns scare me the least out of the "contenders." While Shaq is a shadow of his former self, something tells me that Dampier/Diop won't be able to stop him on the inside. If Terry keeps it up, and the bench can outplay Phoenix's bench, Dallas should win this one at home. Mavericks win again 104-100.

Hawks @ Mavs

Blake: After the loss to the Suns, the Mavs come out focused against the Hawks. It will be a close game, but the Mavericks prevail after coming from behind. Dallas wins by three.

Janet: Another big win takes the new streak to four.

Waleed: Dirk's line: 33 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists. Mavs win 93-89

Alex: A young Hawks team comes out and punches the Mavs in the mouth. While Dallas wakes up after a slow first quarter, they struggle to get within six, and the Hawks steal the game. Dallas drops this one: 93-100.