[jacktruth]

Starting lineups, particularly with Nellie are overrated. You choose a starting lineup to set the tone of the game and get your players operating in thier strength as early as possible. On the defensive side, you want to prevent the other team from setting the tone, and getting thier players operating in thier strength.

Nearly every team in the NBA starts with the same strategy: Pound the ball inside and establish an inside game early. When you get into a rythm and the other team makes adjustments, start an inside-out game to your best shooters.

If you start Dirk at center, teams will attack the basket, and they will be successful. Dirk gets frustrated defensively (perhaps even in foul trouble). Dirk also is out of place offensively, and though he can score at the 5, he is not as successful. By then the opponent gets warmed up and feeling good (possibly with a point advantage), thier outside shot starts dropping, and you are playing thier game.

But if you start Bradley, the defense faces a great shot blocker. Dirk plays his natural position on defense and gets off to a better start offensively. The front court of Bradley-Walker-Dirk is a good rebounding group, which frees Nash up a bit.

Now, the other team must make adjustments to the Mavs tone and the mavs offense. After all that, you still have a premier scorer on the bench in Jamison. Once the mavs start thier frontcourt rotation, they are tough to beat. You nearly always have Dirk-Walker, Dirk-Jamison, or Jamison-Walker. Any of these pairs can produce points and rebounds. If you are going against a backup center, you have a major offensive advantage with Dirk-Jamison-Walker.

To sum up, the start of the game is a small part of the game. The stretch of the game depends much more heavily on your rotation than on your starting lineup. That is the Mavs current philosophy. This year, I'm on board with it.