Layups: Cubes Says ’10 Mavs > ’06 Mavs
Posted by Neil Paine on October 8, 2009
Via Ball Don't Lie: Mark Cuban is excited about this year's Dallas Mavericks squad, to such a degree that he's calling their roster "much better" than the one that came oh-so-close to the championship in 2006. So what do you think? Is he right? Did the additions of Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Tim Thomas, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai, and Quinton Ross really make Dallas a Finals-worthy team again? Or is the West so much stronger than it was 4 years ago that Dallas could theoretically be more talented and still have a worse record and/or postseason finish?
October 8th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Damn they've got a lot of undersized 4s! It's very difficult to predict how the player combinations will function on both ends. I wonder if a lack on interior d when they go small will be an issue. Kidd's already shown that he can't stay in front of quick PGs anymore. That's a lot of lane space for all those quick PGs they face like Parker, Paul, Brooks, etc. to operate in. On the other hand they do have fire power and a great coach.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Agree that Carlisle's a good coach. Don't know how you can coach a team to be younger and more athletic, though. Second round, tops.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Come on now. It's not that hard to coach a team to be younger and more athletic. Look at Jordan in 1996 and Shaquille in 2000. Both played younger and more athletic than the previous seasons, and all Phil Jackson had to do was get them to watch Braveheart and read books about Zen. Compared to instituting the triangle offense, that's child's play!
October 9th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
The West isn't necessarily better than it was in 2006. I think that a lot of star players have migrated East (Garnett, Lewis, Allen), then some solid contributors headed back out West (Andre Miller? Could be interesting with where Portland was last season). But the big thing for Dallas has always been Dirk, and hopefully Kidd is getting acclimated to the system by now so he can score as well as do all of the other stat-stuffing things he does (and Shawn Marion as well, for that matter).
So it seems that they're about the same position as they were in 2005-06. Heck, they've had 9 straight 50-win seasons! It seems like they've changed a lot, but the pieces are still there (i.e. Dirk Nowitzki).