[TheKid]

Now I know people think I'm bitter on the Mavericks but I'm more concerned than anything else. I've read SEVERAL articles about how the Mavs are better defensively now but I don't see it. The Mavs have added Doug Christie, who ONCE was a good defensive player but NEVER a guy who shut people down. His best years were in Sacramento and that was a team that gave up just as many points as the Mavericks did. People can say he's an upgrade, defensively he's an upgrade over Finley BUT Fin wasn't getting the tough assignments anymore. Do the Mavericks really think Christie at 35 (older than Finley) will make that much more of an impact defesively than Howard and Daniels?????

From what I can tell the Mavericks have the SAME team this year that they had last year adding Christie, and personally I don't think they were so much better last year defensively. Now I know people think because they didn't allow as many points defensively last year as they have in the past, they're better, however, was that a result of better defense or just the fact that they didn't run as much without Nash or Nelson running the show?

Also as we've seen over the past four or five years, the Mavericks figured out how to win during the regular season and while that's fun, unfortunately as a Mavericks fan, I'm ready for more than reaching the playoffs. They need to figure out how to slow down San Antonio and Phoenix in the west and a way to shut down the Eastern conference powerhouses. In my opinion, adding Christie still doesn't get the Mavericks over that hump. Any thoughts?