So are people taking the Mavs seriously as top title contender yet?

I can see why a lot of folks would be skeptical given the Mavs' lack of playoffs success recently. But if you really follow the team, you'd see how huge of a difference an active, above-teh-rim center in Chandler can be versus a stiff like Dampier. It allows everyone else to gamble and be more aggressive on defense. And the only guy on the team who gets to the rim at will is still yet to play. Not only that, the Mavs point differential is much stronger than it's ever been and guys are playing fewer minutes. Last season they limped into the playoffs and it showed against a fully rested and healthy Spurs team. I'd be shocked if this team does anything less than the WCF this season.

[QUOTE=All Net]Lets face it they are playing great, 24-5 record, beaten Miami twice, Spurs, great record against 500 above teams

Chandler inside has made a real difference inside for them.

You believe they have a great shot to be champs come end of the season? or still not sure?[/QUOTE]

WC Champ barring injury.

No, we've seen this intro of this movie before. Time will tell if the ending is the same result. (Choking in the playoffs)

[QUOTE=thomaspynchon]Except Dirk is a good defender and guarded Bosh most in the 4th[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't necessarily say "good", but he's not as bad as a lot of people make him out to be. Still soft as tissue though...

Anyway, to answer the OPs question, no. I don't consider them contenders YET. They are playing like contenders, but IMO after the AS break is when I like to make predictions on who will do what. Until then, they are a great basketball team that has improved since last year. They are definitely the #1 team in the league right now and have a lot of impressive wins on their resume. I want to see them crush teams though. Dominate the good teams. Even against Miami, they didn't dominate. It was a close game that they should have lost. If it hadn't had been for my boy JTerry, this thread probably wouldn't have been made. Like they said on 1st and Take, if Terry is your closer, then you are not a title contender. Period.

[QUOTE=Faberg]No, we've seen this intro of this movie before. Time will tell if the ending is the same result. (Choking in the playoffs)[/QUOTE]

It's very different this season. Their record is commanding against all the top teams, most of whom they have already beat on the road. if you looked at their stats last season, they were

2-2 vs LAL
2-2 vs OKC
3-1 vs SAS
2-1 vs DEN
2-1 vs PHX
1-3 vs PORT
1-2 vs UTA

Which is decent but what it really means is they sort of took care of business AND they had a record for most wins by 1 point during a season which means they weren't really winning convincingly. This season it's quite different.

[QUOTE=thejumpa]I wouldn't necessarily say "good", but he's not as bad as a lot of people make him out to be. Still soft as tissue though...

Anyway, to answer the OPs question, no. I don't consider them contenders YET. They are playing like contenders, but IMO after the AS break is when I like to make predictions on who will do what. Until then, they are a great basketball team that has improved since last year. They are definitely the #1 team in the league right now and have a lot of impressive wins on their resume. I want to see them crush teams though. Dominate the good teams. Even against Miami, they didn't dominate. It was a close game that they should have lost. If it hadn't had been for my boy JTerry, this thread probably wouldn't have been made. Like they said on 1st and Take, if Terry is your closer, then you are not a title contender. Period.[/QUOTE]

Dirk is the closer, always has been, always will be...it was another distorted and misanalyzed comment taken by the (racist against white) media to take Dirk down. Also, their schedule after the ASG is VERY soft.

I want to see them against the Lakers and Spurs again.
I'm leaning strongly towards yes.
...the addition of Chandler, and much better defensive effort and positioning from their scorers (Terry, Butler, Nowitzki) has made them a top 5 defensive team in the NBA. It's hard to accept for most people, but they are an elite defensive team right now, meaning they don't need to rely on consistent jumpshooting to win games late.

For instance, this recent back to back away game wins vs Miami and Orlando Dirk had 2 of his worst 3 games this year, and they still own with defense. And if anyone remembers, the first time they beat Miami this year, Dirk stole the ball from Dwyane Wade TWICE in the last 2 minutes, in addition to a tipped ball that started a successful break. He defensively won that first game in Miami for his team. Their defense won them games against the Spurs, OKC, Utah, and ORL & Miami. THE MAVS ARE A DEFENSIVE POWERHOUSE. Sounds strange right?

This is the best and most complete Mavericks team we've ever seen, and it puts them very close to the Lakers, Spurs, and Boston, if not neck and neck with all of them....and at worst they are a noticable step above Orlando, Utah, & Miami, and two steps above OKC, CHI, ATL, DEN, NOLA, etc.

Can't wait for the OKC & Spurs games next week. Both should be great games.

Two steps over Chicago...I don't know Chicago took care of them in Dallas. One step, sure but not two. Not with a healthy Noah.

[QUOTE=thomaspynchon]Dirk is the closer, always has been, always will be...it was another distorted and misanalyzed comment taken by the (racist against white) media to take Dirk down. Also, their schedule after the ASG is VERY soft.[/QUOTE]

Racist against what? Get out of here with that. Dirk clearly said "He's our finisher. He's our closer." What got misanalyzed?

The point is, it's great to have multiple offensive weapons down the stretch, but the best player should be the closer 99% of the time.

[QUOTE=thejumpa]Racist against what? Get out of here with that. Dirk clearly said "He's our finisher. He's our closer." What got misanalyzed?
[/QUOTE]

Didn't he say "he was our closer today"? Or was that crappy german translation?

[QUOTE=thejumpa]Racist against what? Get out of here with that. Dirk clearly said "He's our finisher. He's our closer." What got misanalyzed?

The point is, it's great to have multiple offensive weapons down the stretch, but the best player should be the closer 99% of the time.[/QUOTE]

If you watch the Mavs you'd know that Dirk is their closer, 99 times out of 100. If terry gets the last shot it's because Dirk is being doubled off the pick and roll and trusts terry to hit the shit in a game in which he's hot. Terry's not going to have the ball in his hands and creating his own shot to win.

Racist in that it's obvious that Dirk was trying to instill trust with the comment and the media spun it, predictably, to mean that he doesn't want the ball in his hands and that Terry is their closer, which anyone who follows the Mavs can tell you is false. Media is racist against whites because it does anything it can to put down great white players while constantly elevating blacks. You'd think Kobe is the clutchest ever and Dirk is the worst ever in the clutch, when it's really the opposite.

[QUOTE=eppelp]Didn't he say "he was our closer today"? Or was that crappy german translation?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Dirk Nowitzki]"He's our finisher," Nowitzki said. "He's our closer. He got hot."[/QUOTE]

[url]http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nba/2013726645_nba21.html?syndication=rss[/url]

That's the same quote I'm seeing on multiple sites.

:oldlol: Media racist against whites. Funniest yet dumbest comment I've read. Wow.

[QUOTE=thejumpa][url]http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nba/2013726645_nba21.html?syndication=rss[/url]

That's the same quote I'm seeing on multiple sites.[/QUOTE]

I suppose you don't see what Dirk is trying to say here...maybe he should have said, "he had a good game tonight so I passed him the ball, but when the playoffs roll around he's nowhere to be found"

[QUOTE=GOBB]:oldlol: Media racist against whites. Funniest yet dumbest comment I've read. Wow.[/QUOTE]

Hey whatever man, entitled to my opinion as well. A lot of people see through it but many don't.