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[QUOTE=miles berg]Dallas will be badass this year. Monta has never played with anyone close to Dirk Nowitzki, the spacing will blow his mind. Remember how effective Barea was playing off of Dirk? Ellis will be a Cadillac version of that.[/QUOTE]
If healthy, this should be a very good and dangerous regular season team.
[QUOTE=DMAVS41]If healthy, this should be a very good and dangerous regular season team.[/QUOTE]
Wow, I guess I haven't really paid attention to the Mavericks' offseason but it looks like they've acquired some nice players.
I know Dirk was injured a lot last season, but he was healthy towards the end right? How did he look? Do you expect that he still has some gas left in the tank to play at a superstar level next year?
[QUOTE=Rowe]I actually like the Calderon-Ellis backcourt.
But with the way the team is structured, its management who is banking heavily on Dirk returning to a Top 10 player in the league type level to get them into the Playoffs. At best they're a 7th seed.
A lot of people are sleeping on this team because they haven't played together but I like how all these pieces fit together, espescially with the bench depth they looked for. The biggest glaring weakness is a 3rd scoring option because Dirk and Monta are both going to get you 20 per game, its just getting consistent scoring production out Calderon/Marion/Harris/Wright that will be the problem.
Worst case scenario is Dirk continues to decline, they finish with a record that's good for 10th or 11th in the West and end up with a good lottery pick(9 or 10) in a deep draft. No bad contracts on the books and you can slowly blow things up after the 2014-2015 season for a rebuild.[/QUOTE]
I gotta say best case is higher then 7th, they were 9th last season with an OJ Mayo who had just given up. Vince Carter on the ohter hand was giving it his all, playing some suprisingly nice pick and roll with Wright, hitting the boards hard and scoring efficiently wth in the team. I, a long time VC fanboy was surprised to see this level of play and I think he is your third.
I think Dallas will be a formidable team this year. Great coach, great franchise player, and a solid supporting cast. 5th- 6th seed, possibly 2nd rd.
[QUOTE=Doranku]Wow, I guess I haven't really paid attention to the Mavericks' offseason but it looks like they've acquired some nice players.
I know Dirk was injured a lot last season, but he was healthy towards the end right? How did he look? Do you expect that he still has some gas left in the tank to play at a superstar level next year?[/QUOTE]
Depends on how you define superstar I think.
Was Duncan a superstar this year?
Dirk averaged 17/7/3 56% TS in 31 minutes last year overall. He was much better as he got healthier...the Mavs went 28-18 over their last 46 games once Dirk got going.
Anything could happen, but with a healthy Dirk and improved roster...I see no reason why this team wouldn't win between 50 and 55 games.
[B]1. GROUP MAYO: Mayo, Kaman, Collison, Brand, D.Jones, M.James or GROUP MONTA: Ellis, Dalembert, Calderon, Blair, Ellington, D.Harris. Which group you got?[/B]
Well, the two best players from those groups are probably Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon, so I'd definitely have to go with Group Monta. I don't however expect there to be too much of a difference between the two teams in the end though.
[B]2. TRUE or FALSE: Dirk Nowitzki will have a Tim Duncan-like resurgence this season.[/B]
True. Dirk was hurt last year and that's it. If he's healthy, Dirk is still a bad man and could still be arguably the best power forward in the league. There won't be a trip to the Finals for Dirk this year like Duncan had last season, but he should definitely be back playing in the All-Star game.
[B]3. The Backcourt of Monta and Jose: Surprisingly Effective? Or Surprisingly Ineffective?[/B]
Meh. Both should play well with Dirk in the pick and roll, but I wouldn't expect miracles. If I have to pick I'd say surprisingly effective considering Dallas has a good track record of guards performing better there than they have elsewhere.
[B]4. Not including Dirk, which Maverick is poised for a career resurgence?[/B]
DeJuan Blair. I still think Blair is a pretty good player and could be a great energy guy to have coming off your bench. He didn't really fit with what Spurs have evolved into in terms of style, but I look for him to do well in Dallas.
[B]5. TRUE or FALSE: The Dallas Mavericks will make the playoffs this season.[/B]
False. I think they finish 9th and barely miss the playoffs. I've got OKC, Clippers, Spurs, Warriors, Grizzlies, Rockets, Nuggets and the Timberwolves ahead of them, with the Blazers and Pelicans looming.
and two BONUS Questions:
[B]BONUS 1: Better NBA Career: Shane Larkin or Gal Mekel?[/B]
Shane Larkin. Going to go with youth. Mekel is already 25 and that's pretty late to be starting an NBA career. If Mekel doesn't fit in Dallas he may just go back to Europe. If Larkin doesn't work out in Dallas he'd probably catch on with some other team and get another shot.
[B]BONUS 2:
Mark Cuban: ""We basically saw the 2011-12 season as a throw away no matter who we signed," "With out the time to prepare and get their bodies ready, throwing a team with with an older starting lineup right into the fire was going to be tough. Young guys can walk into an NBA game any day of the year. Get to your mid 30s, not so much. So to bring the gang back , we would basically be losing a year. When you look at keeping together an older team and the first year after your championship is a lost year, it's hard to justify keeping an older team together."
Do you agree with Mark Cuban's rationale?[/B]
It's easy to say no now, but I do think Cuban drastically overestimated Dallas as a free agent landing spot. It was always going to be a long shot getting Deron Williams, Chris Paul or Dwight Howard to come. They were always going to have better cities and younger talent to pick from ahead of the Mavs. Looking back though, rolling that older team ahead another two or three years certainly would've be preferable to what Dallas has had.