Are Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks the new San Antonio Spurs?October 08 09  Every day until the regular season begins, HoopsVibe the Blog will ask and answer an important question facing each of the NBA’s thirty teams. Weigh-in with thoughts on our Key Questions feature in the comment box below.
Today’s team: The Dallas Mavericks.
Key Question: Are the Dallas Mavericks the new San Antonio Spurs?
The Answer: Call it ‘The Texas Switcheroo’. Typically, the San Antonio Spurs crept up on the NBA by quietly upgrading their roster during the off-season. They left the high-profile moves and controversial headlines to their Lone Star cousins, the Dallas Mavericks. Not this summer. The Spurs seized the golfing season spotlight by trading for versatile star Richard Jefferson and signing the dependable Antonio McDyess, while the Mavericks took a more understated route, building on their strong 2009 by re-upping with point guard Jason Kidd and adding Drew Gooden and Shawn Marion. Now, in 2010, it’s Dallas, not San Antonio, who seem slept-on, overlooked and taken for granted. And with a potentially great starting unit and deep bench, Team Cuban could surprise come playoff time. They should have an elite first-five. Eleven seasons into his Hall of Fame career, Dirk Nowitzki has shown little sign of slowing. The German will get his 25 points and 9 rebounds per night, but the Mavericks need him to lead and defend like he did during the latter part of last season. Armed with a new three-year deal, Kidd will again handle the point-guard duties. No longer an elite table-setter, the veteran will serve as sideline boss Rick Carlisle’s on-court coach. In somewhat limited minutes, he’ll still post respectable assist and rebound numbers. Kidd’s most important job will be to keep others happy, though. For instance, the temperamental Josh Howard needs consistent touches early in the game to re-establish himself as a star. Marion, also an emotional star, has to get his in the open court; Gooden excels when receiving regular service on the block. Gooden, Howard, Kidd, Marion, and Nowitzki are all above average rebounders and defenders. So, as a group, they’re ideal for Carlisle’s get-stops system and, on both ends of the floor, match-up favourably against most starting units. There is also great depth. Jason ‘The Jet’ Terry is a perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate, while Erick Dampier and Tim Thomas provide insurance down-low. However, the energetic Jose Barea and tough James Singelton are worth watching. And several others are capable of filling a role in an emergency. Not long ago, Dallas considering trading Nowitzki and starting over. Instead of following the conventional model of bottoming-out by trading assets for draft picks and cap space, they re-tooled on the fly around Nowitzki. This was the right decision. The Mavericks are again relevant and dangerous. Only now, they’re sneaking up on opponents.
Prediction: 3rd in in the Western Conference, capable of challenging the league’s best.
Sound off: Where will Dallas finish in 2010? Get at us in the comment box below; follow Oly on HoopsVibe and Twitter. Photo courtesy of webcoderguy.
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on 10.11.2009 | The Mavericks are very solid, very , very solid ... Look for them to have a good year third, fourth, or five in the west! . | Posted by
Melo boy
on 10.10.2009 | Remember...this is preseason! Dont judge until the season actually starts! . | Posted by
catfish
on 10.10.2009 | Dallas would have an excellent starting five if Dirk, Kidd, and Marion were five years younger! . | Posted by
NikToDiTyme
on 10.10.2009 | As a dallas fan, I agree that Dallas and SA have nothing alike !!Yes the srpurs won 4 titles in the last decade, but when both teams met, who always had the upper hand ?? Think about that, mavericks haters, tough to swallow uh ?! . | Posted by
NAW UR MAMA SUCKS
on 10.9.2009 | SOUNDS LIKE UR STILL MAD ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR HUH????ITS ALRIGHT BUDDY, NAW JK f-YALL HATERS, D-TOWN STAND UP . | Posted by
DALLAS SUCKS
on 10.9.2009 | GO SPURS GO!!!! WHERE ARE YOUR RINGS DALLAS LOSERS . | Posted by
on 10.9.2009 | Golden can play. He just needs the right situation . | Posted by
JJ
on 10.9.2009 | Umm—If Gooden is the key you guys are in serious trouble. He plays no defense, is a sub par rebounder, not a shot blocker and is a black hole on an offense that has pleny of capable scorers. There better off going small with Terry (or Barrea) and moving Marion to PF or playing Dampier---Gooden could have a 20 and 10 season, on any team that has no chance for the playoffs. . | Posted by
O.Sandor
on 10.9.2009 | Hi folks. Thanks for reading and commenting. Even if you disagreed, which is fine. However, respectfully, I really disagree with your comments.
First off to the no-name commenters, I’m ONLY comparing Dallas’ off-season with the quiet, understated approach San Antonio used in summer’s past. In this respect, they’ve changed roles. And the Mavs are being overlooked like the Spurs have been in years past. In no way, am I belittling the Spurs four rings. And in no way, do I think they are there.
Second, you guys are flat wrong to take issue with the Mavericks’ defense. When they went to the NBA Finals and posted strong regular season numbers, it was because of Avery Johnson’s defensive system. A.J., part of the Spurs system as a player, remodelled the club’s philosophy around getting stops. For a time, they were, in fact, an elite defensive team.When they got away from playing defense, they fell pack to the Western Conference pack. Snika: under Johnson, at their best, they were very much a blue-collar, defensive team!
Carlisle, a very solid defensive coach with Detroit and Indiana, brought this to Dallas. By improving their defense and getting it back to year’s past under Johnson, they took a step forward in the west last year.
I believe Drew Gooden is the key. His skill-set, while not quite commanding a double-team, can keep defenses honest. For instance, NBA analyst and former teammate Eric Snow believes Gooden could average 20-10, this won’t happen as a fourth option on Dallas, but it gives an idea of his ability. Sure, Gooden is slightly undersized, but all five of the Mavs starters are good or great rebounders.
Finally, the Mavs are deep, talented, have a great coach, and strong organization. Do not sleep on them out west or in the playoffs. If you do overlook them, then perhaps, they do have some small similarities to San Antonio?
Thank you for commenting. And thank you for being passionate, either way! . | Posted by
on 10.9.2009 | f-the spursD-town stand up . | Posted by
on 10.9.2009 | well after reading yalls comments, its pretty obvious hes right about the mavs being slept on. And yall are just hatin, its a good article and as a Dallas fan i appreciate somebody writing about them and not just about LAL, BOS, or CLEand half of the comments here are contradicting each other about the negative points of the artivle, just thought i would point that out . | Posted by
on 10.9.2009 | As soon as I saw "Dallas" and "new San Antonio Spurs" I knew this article was going to be pure bull. Didn’t even bother to read this trash, what a moron the author is. Tell me when Dallas wins 4 rings and plays something called defense, then you can talk.....and still be an idiot for whatever comes out of your mouth. . | Posted by
Mandi
on 10.9.2009 | For The guy below me is dumb:Right the f*__ on! Ok, I’m still a little bitter about Cuban axing Avery Johnson, but with both Johnson and Carlisle - The Mavs defense has begun to rival the Nugs or the Celtics. Josh Howard seems to have that old-school "grind it out" defensive thing. Watch closely, dumb guy. . | Posted by
Snika
on 10.9.2009 | It is a joke that DIRK plays defense, but yes... as a team, their defense has improved. They still lack the post that they need to challenge the elite teams of this year. BUT MOST OF ALL, please don’t compare a team that has made it to the finals once to a team that has been there and won it 4 out of 5 times in the last decade. This is not the case, and the teams are really not that similar. The Spurs have always been a low scoring, defense first, grind-it-out team. I wouldn’t use any of those terms to describe any Dallas team of the last decade. . | Posted by
The guy below me is dumb
on 10.9.2009 | Actually, nim rod, the Mavericks with Avery Johnson and now Carlisle have had a top defense for years. That has been their foudnation for success. Perhaps, you are living in 2000 when the Mavs had Nash and Walker and Jamison. Step into the now. Dallas is very good, not sure if they are better Denver but they are fourth or perhaps third out west. If healthy, they’ll be good, real good. . | Posted by
on 10.9.2009 | is this a joke??? man... this cracked me up!! Dallas and Defense??? Oxymoron! . |
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Oly Sandor | Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More |
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