Dallas Mavericks Roundtable: Week Six

Welcome, to the Dallas Mavericks roundtable for week six of the NBA season.

Below, you will find observations from Mavericks fans about the games from this week, picks for next week's games, and insights to the direction the Mavs are going.

This week we will start keeping track of the picks we make for the upcoming games; this way the reader can see how close we are in our picks.

It was a good week from the Mavs, three games, three wins, two of which by the score of 100-98, two of which over good teams. The scores:

12/2: Clippers 98, Mavs 100
12/4: Suns 97, Mavs 112
12/6: Hawks 98, Mavs 100

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

How did the Mavs look to you this week?

Janet Kessler: Liked the ghost of Mavericks past ('06-'07). Against Phoenix, I didn't recognize them. I mean, they did not look like that struggling to find themselves team that started the season. They looked so sharp and confident. I give them an A.

Waleed Ershad: A! Had to rally against the Clips, but one good thing did come out of that...they proved they could win a tight game and be clutch. Also, they destroyed the Suns.

Alex McVeigh: B. Looked pretty good, but championship contenders should beat the Clippers and Hawks by more than two points each. The Suns game was a great effort, but I wonder how much the score reflected the Suns' flaws rather than the Mavs' strengths.

Hard to argue with three W's though.

What was a personal highlight for you?

Janet: So many this week, let's see: The new streak is at four, JJ the new starting two-guard, another 30+ for Dirk,Terry stayed hot all week, the bench was hot all week, And Kidd was Kidd.

Waleed: Barea's clutch three-pointer against the Clips. Boy is he playing with confidence and swagger. Also, the Jet's first quarter buzzer beater against the Suns was nice.

Alex: Brandon Bass bringing the thunder with three monster dunks during the Hawks game. One was off of a Terry missed layup, the other two were from great outlet passes from Kidd, which ended up being the difference in the game.

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

Janet: Letting themselves get too dependent on little JJ. His play has been bringing so much energy, scouting teams will find a way to defend against him. We need Josh back (I'm repeating my self, I know), we need his stability at the three to give stability to the two. We need to keep working on getting Green going. He has looked really lost when he has been in.

Waleed: Josh Howard's ankle! Other than that, everything is going good for now.

Alex: While the wins are coming, they need to be better about putting away bad teams. They need to stay consistent while playing good teams, you can't let a team like the Lakers go on a 19-0 run and expect to win.

They need to avoid scoring gaps, even if it means getting aggressive and forcing the issue to get to the charity stripe.

What do you think of the Jason Kidd, J.J. Barea, Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki, and Brandon Bass lineup that Carlisle has been throwing out there?

Janet:   I love it! It will work against most teams, but not with teams with big two-guards like Kobe. Starting JJ has given the Mavs the energy needed to get good starts, at the beginning of the games. Interesting note, JJ is the first starter at the two to get starter minutes (30+ min), since Antoine Wright got hurt.

Waleed: One of the wildest lineups I've ever seen. We saw it used twice in critical parts of games. To comeback against the Clips and to play small ball when the Suns made a little run.

Interestingly, it worked both times. Just goes to show you how excellent of a coach Rick Carlisle is.

Alex: To paraphrase my recent article, can't argue with the results so far, but I'd like to see an acceptable alternative when they play someone with a long, athletic two-guard.

Why do you think the Mavs have struggled to put away games against good teams?

Janet: Early in the season it was there lack of defense and tendancy to just jump-shoot to death, especially in the fourth. Against Atlanta, they almost gave away.

They just relaxed on defense, and wheren't getting stops. They just got sloppy. The differences in the body language of the team, this time they didn't panic. They just got the job done.

Waleed: The Lakers is the most recent example. Kobe Bryant was the main reason we lost that one (despite Devean George's excellent defense).

But I think the main reason is because our defense, as well as our offense, always gives out in the end.

Josh Howard should help us with that when he returns. He'll give us a stopper out at the perimeter and offense since Dirk never seems to show up in the fourth.  

Jason Terry and Josh Howard can get the job done on the offensive end when Dirk doesn't get the job done.

Alex: The team is a work in progress, and Barea has done well filling in when Kidd isn't on the floor.

They need to avoid long scoring droughts, and avoid losing momentum, especially on the road. The team seems to be very temperamental when it comes to momentum on the road, letting the home crowd get back into the game, and they become shell-shocked.

I'd like to see them respond to opposing team's runs by getting aggressive. Aggressive, not stupid. Work the shot clock if you must, but they need to get the best possible shot, they have too many good shooters to go scoreless for too long.

They also need to close the third quarter and open the fourth quarter with a nice run, either to get back into the game, or give themselves some space on the scoreboard.

This week's games:

12/9: Spurs @ Mavericks

Janet: Carlisle has already said the three-guard lineup won't work against San Antonio. On the other hand, if JJ can penetrate SA defense like he's been doing so far, it will be fun for us. He started doing this on LA, so look for Carlisle to give JJ a chance. 

Carlisle won't waste a lot of time on it if it dosen't work. Having Devean George back will give us some defense. He can matchup with Ginobli or Finley but he's not a third shooter. 

Don't think about starting Terry if worse case happens. This is another team that Dirk will play big against. Hopefully we'll finally have Josh and Antoine back. Will duct tape work on J-Ho's ankle?

After the poise they showed against Atlanta, even when the Hawks were threatening at the wire; I'm going Dallas over San Antonio, streak at five.

Waleed: San Antonio has their boys back (Parker and Ginobili). Hopefully, Parker doesn't take too much advantage of Kidd's age and loss in speed (although Kidd is still a great defender and I wouldn't be surprised if Kidd does a good job on him.)  

Howard will keep Ginobili in check and Damp always does a decent job on Duncan. It'll come down to bench play and unfortunately for the Spurs, the Mavs' bench is on fire.

Mavs win 95-86

Alex: Should be a better game than the last go-round. While Parker was playing last time, Ginolbili has always been a terror.

I actually like the three PG lineup against the Spurs, it can help contain Ginobili, and someone who is big like Finley isn't quick enough to burn Barea or Terry.

Close game, but the Mavs are rolling, especially at home.

Mavs win 95-90.

12/11: Bobcats @ Mavericks

Janet: The only thing we need to worry about is the Mavs getting bored and losing focus. This should be a done game. Dallas over Charlotte, winning streak goes to six.

Waleed:  No one can match up against Dirk. Dirk goes for 35 and the Mavs get the 103-88 victory.

Alex: A healthy Jason Richardson will give the Mavs some trouble, expect big minutes for George during this game. If George can contain J-Rich and get some help, the Mavs should be able to negate the rest of the struggling 'Cats.

Mavs win, 100-85.

12/13: Thunder @ Mavericks

Janet: The only thing we need to worry about is the Mavs getting bored and losing focus.  This should be a done game. Dallas over Charlotte, oops Thunder, streak goes to seven.

Waleed: Again, no one can match up against Dirk...or anyone else on that note. The Thunder can't play defense. Kidd gets 15 assists for the Mavericks and they win 118-92

Alex: If the Mavericks can't wallop the Thunder, then this is a lost season. Hopefully they can get Green some garbage time minutes with Barea and Terry, which could help down the road when he comes into the offense.

Mavs win 110-80.

Picks record as of 12/8/08:

Blake: 4-2
Janet: 6-0
Waleed: 5-1
Alex: 5-1