Maverick Showdown

The NBA is all abuzz about the Phoenix Suns, winners of 18 straight before losing to Minnesota a couple days ago. Nash for a third MVP, Amare healthy, six great players on one team all working together under their on/off the court general, this is their time, this is their year...

Except for one Lone Star team standing in their way, before they can even dream of making it to the final round of the NBA playoffs. The fourth team covered in our ongoing profiles of possible championship teams is the Dallas Mavericks, the only team to beat the Phoenix Suns twice this year (2 out of 2, on November 9th and December 28th...but what if this is Phoenix laying a trap? Doubt it...highly doubt it...).

Similar to the Suns, or at least constructed to take on any team at any time, they are undoubtedly my favorite to win the whole thing this year, due to the fact that they essentially have the same team who won the championship last year--oh, sorry, lost to Dwayne Wade and the refs last year, just kidding. Until there is a new champion, though, people will be saying that until they are blue in the face, but for a good reason--so it doesn't happen again.

Anyway, the Mavericks are able to dictate every game they play. They have a deep bench. Sure they lost some locker room presence in the off-season, but they were able to replace this with several key reserve players, like young Croshere or the old D. George. Plus, winning produces all the locker room cohesion a team can ever need, and this team is winning. They have defenders to guard their hoop (Dampier and Diop), speed players to run the court (Harris), two experienced warriors in Stackhouse and Terry, and then to top it all off, Dirk--one of the top 5 players in the league, easy.

It's like the last scene in Maverick, the movie. Everyone shows a hand one better than the previous guy, culminating in Mel Gibson's famous scene--no, not his drunken rant, but in the movie, which I won't spoil...entirely. Listen, the hero wins, you don't need a movie critic to tell you that, it's pretty obvious. Anyway, that's Dirk, the guy who completes your hand and makes it, potentially, unbeatable.

Then there is Coach Avery Johnson, who is young still, so he still has all the fire of a coach with a great squad, hungry to win--the whole organization is hungry, from owner Marc Cuban all the way down to the people who run the snack stand (sorry, bad joke). But the fact remains, there is no letdown in this team. Able to rattle off huge win streaks, win at home (17-3) or away (16-6), they bring it every night.

They have lost only one game to a sub-.500 team (true, Phoenix has lost none...but they are equal to the Mavs in preparation and heart). There is no relaxation here. Tops in most of the categories, the one area of concern is assists (26th in the league.) That stat is a little misleading, as they are capable of great ball movement, but play a certain style of game that isn't conducive to the Steve Nash type of assist machine--and hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and this machine can run. They average more points in every quarter VS their opponents this year, and you don't need a statistician to tell you that when that happens, wins happen.

It's easy to see the Mavericks are going to go far this year, the only question is how far, and a Suns-Mavericks best of seven will be one for the ages--but hey, you don't need me to tell you that. You know this team is quality.

The next team I plan on covering is the Pistons, as they are quite the interesting team. Look for that in a week or so. Stay sharp, play smart.