[G-Man]

I've always said NBA teams get good in stages.

They start off so bad, the only games they win are at home, against other bad teams. Then they get good enough to beat bad teams on the road, and middle of the road teams at home. Next stage, they can beat middling teams on the road and challenge elite teams at home. The final stage comes when they can beat elite teams, both at home and on the road.

So look at the games since January 1. They have beaten Miami, Boston, Philly, Atlanta, Chicago, the Lakers, the Clippers, Memphis twice, Golden State (2 of 3), Clippers (1 of 2) Utah (1 of 2). That is an incredibly solid record against all the playoff teams they've faced, including road wins at Memphis, Miami, Golden State, Lakers and Boston. Four of their losses have been to bad teams,and four to those that are playoff bound.

By my own yardstick, that makes this a good team, able to beat anyone anywhere. But somehow, in my gut, I have my doubts. They are finally learning how to win close games in crunch time, but they struggle against good big men, and on any given night, the shooting can go from fantastic to funky. I could see them beating anybody in the playoffs, but could just as easily see them get bounced in the first round again.

It feels like they are missing several key pieces, yet Kidd's defensive schemes allow them to even beat teams like Philly, that have dominant bigs.

The obvious answer is we won't know how good they are until it counts in the playoffs, but that is weeks away. I want to know what you think. Are the Mavs finally, really good?