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Misfit Mav · 08-31-2005, 05:57 AM

Pretty good, fair article in my opinion:

Dallas Mavericks (58-24)

Additions: Doug Christie (Sacramento), DeSagana Diop (Cleveland), Rawle Marshal (Oakland) and Josh Powell (Manresa).

Subtractions: Michael Finley.

Strengths: Extremely deep team... They have reliable backups at every position except center... Scoring should not be a problem... They have one of the biggest matchup nightmares in the NBA in Dirk Nowitzki... The German forward is surrounded by offensive players like Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry or Keith Van Horn... Pretty good rebounding team... Josh Howard looks like a star in the making- and he's not the only young player with a lot of promise in Dallas... There is no other squad in the NBA with so many seven-footers... Dallas will have four this season.

Weaknesses: The Mavericks are making the transition to a more defense-oriented style, but do they have the tools to play that type of basketball?... Will players buy into this new philosophy?... Doug Christie is the player with more defensive pedigree, but his best years are behind him... Can Jason Terry and Devin Harris be effective handling the point guard duties?... No reliable back-up for the foul-prone Dampier... DeSagana Diop has been a complete bust in the NBA so far... With Michael Finley gone, who is the locker room leader?... Avery Johnson is an unproven head coach.

Projection: 2nd in the Southwest Division / 4th in the Western Conference

Projected Starters

Point Guard Jason Terry: There is little question about his talent, but he is not really a pure point guard and will never be. Will have to play a lot if Harris doesn't improve.

Shooting Guard Jerry Stackhouse: Very talented guard. Can really score the ball. Can be very selfish too. Will compete for the starting job with Daniels and Christie.

Small Forward Josh Howard: Great all-around player. Can score, rebound, and play pretty good defense. Could very well have a breakout year for the Mavericks.

Power Forward Dirk Nowitzki: One of the finest offensive players in the NBA. Don't be surprised if he tops all scorers this season. Must be a leader for this team.

Center Erick Dampier: Will be asked to do the dirty job, but he won't be able to do that if he can't stay out of foul trouble. Had a dissapointing first season with the Mavs.

Sixth Man Doug Christie: Great defensive player with more than decent offensive skills. Will Christie be able to do for the Mavs what he used to do against the Mavs?

Link

Big Lo · 08-31-2005, 11:10 AM

i thoguht they had 6
dirk
diop
dj
KVH
Damp
Pavel

6-11 is close enough.

Five-ofan · 08-31-2005, 11:32 AM

keith is 6-9 or 6-10 not a 7fter damp is 6-11 i doubt pavel is on the actual roster but he was counted. We have always had alot of tall people. Remember the days of bradley, Dirk, wang, Raef, williams, and i thought some others but cant remember. You can never forget the great Chris anstey but he was before the others. I have no problem with this pick. I think we will finally win the division this year but I am an admitted homer. However, I can take off my homer glasses when necesarry. To a non mavs fan there is honestly no way to pick us over san antonio which means that 4th is the best we can do. Houston has not passed us. Tmac is a beast and yao is scary when he feels like it but they SUCK at every other position. Swift is not that great. He will have some good nights and some nasty dunks but he is not anything special. A talent yes but a good player no.

DeusDeOmini · 08-31-2005, 12:12 PM

With Fin gone who is the lockeroom leader? That is a bit of a strech.

snoop · 08-31-2005, 12:18 PM

Projection: 2nd in the Southwest Division / 4th in the Western Conference

wow just like every year

dirk2003 · 08-31-2005, 12:39 PM

Pretty accurate assessment... Maybe Christie starts and I thought Howard had his break out season last year. Another one would be great.

MavKikiNYC · 08-31-2005, 12:54 PM

When did people starting saying "score the ball"?

Sounds like bill clinton talking about "growing the economy".

jayC · 08-31-2005, 12:54 PM

The mavs could finish with the best record in the NBA. It depends on how much better Devin Harris is and how DJ and Diop perform. If DJ and Diop can give us a reliable 10 minutes a game we could be dominant.

Thespiralgoeson · 08-31-2005, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: DeusDeOmini
With Fin gone who is the lockeroom leader? That is a bit of a strech.

I am sick and g*ddamn tired of hearing people say that ridiculous bullsh*t. Once upon a time, Finley was the ON COURT leader. He was never a lockeroom leader. Finley always always kept to himself. He was always the lead-by-example type. During the Big Three days, if anyone of them was the lockeroom leader, it was Nash, and even he wasn't much for speeches. Actually, the biggest lockeroom guy we had was AJ, and occasionally Van Exel. But seriously, this article suggests that Finley's a lockeroom guy, but Christie isn't? Ugh...