It seems the development process of Gerald Green has hit something of a snag. For the first time this season, Green was inactive [against the Raptors], meaning he wasn’t one of the 12 players in uniform.
Green has played a total of eight minutes in the Mavs’ last eight games. He did not play at all in four straight games before logging one minute at the end of Monday’s loss to the Nuggets.
Interesting, especially when I made note of that on Tuesday.Play exactly like J.J. Barea has been playing.
It's not as ludicrous as it sounds. Barea has been incredibly aggressive, only resorting to the jump shot when he has tons of space around him.
There's no way Barea is as athletic as Howard, so there's no reason he can't do the same things. Howard has eight inches on Barea, so he shouldn't have as much trouble scoring in the paint.
Howard also has a better jumper, though Barea might be better with the three-ball.
If Josh Howard can play like Barea, the Mavs will be a real force.
Brilliant stuff when you think about it.Josh Howard explained to reporters that he didn't think he'd have a problem fitting in with a team that went 9-2 while he sat out with a sprained ankle. His reasoning: Recent star J.J. Barea and him "bring the same thing to the table."
Howard was referring to their ability to drive to the basket. Never mind the fact that he's eight inches taller than Barea and plays a different position.
Sounds like they got their stuff together over there at the MavsBlog.
Oh, and also here at Dirk is my Homeboy.
Because, you know, I wrote my post on Wednesday, Dec. 10, but the Mavs Blog didn't come out with it Tuesday, Dec. 16.
Is that Raja Bell standing by you with an equally bad haircut?It's funny how things work. If you had told me that Josh Howard would have one the the best starts of his career, but the Mavs would start 4-7, then he would be hurt while the Mavs go 7-2 in his absence I would have called you crazy.
But that's the situation we find ourselves in.
Now, after a week or so of toying with the idea of Howard playing the Mavericks have come out and said that Jo-Ho will be out indefinitely.
Given the record Dallas has compiled in his absence, I'm not too broken up about that. While I'm a huge Howard fan, I'd rather he get all the way healthy, especially with the Mavs winning without him.
We've all seen (Arenas and Wade) what can happen if an athletic player rushes back too quick.
But unlike Agent Zero, the Mavs will surely benefit from getting their most athletic player back on the floor.
But how exactly? After all, the Mavs have had pretty good success with their three-PG lineup, and that leaves Howard as the odd man out.
So how will Josh Howard fit into the way the Mavs are playing?
First of all, his defense will be crucial. We all saw last night how Kidd/Barea/Terry were decimated by Tony Parker last night, even after he started slow.
In the playoffs, you're going to have Parker, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, an underrated Rafer Alston, as well as people like Fisher and Roy.
Howard should be able to guard those guys. Luckily, there aren't many teams with both a quick, penetrating PG and a long, athletic two-guard.
Kobe has Fisher, who is good, but isn't known for his penetration. The closest thing the Mavs should see is the Alston/McGrady combo, and that depends on McGrady's health.
So if Howard gets put on the other teams best athlete, that leaves Terry or even Barea to go after the person Howard is giving up. I love the way Kidd plays, and I think he plays better defense than ge gets credit for, but I just don't trust him.
So then what happens to the three-PG lineup when Howard returns?
You can't lose Kidd. His ball movement and ability to hit the open shot can't be lost.
It's tough to lose Barea. His heart, defense, speed and ability to penetrate are something that the Mavs have lacked for a while.
It's also tough to lose Terry. While he is a streaky shooter, he is great about hitting the open looks (which he is getting more and more of, thanks to the Mavs' vastly improved ball movement), and he's no slouch on the defensive end.
But you can't sacrifice any more size by taking Bass or Dirk out of there, so gun to my head, I think you have to drop Barea.
I love the way Barea has been playing as of late, but he tends to push things too far, often getting facialed by a forward when he tries to go over him. In a close game against a good team, you can't give away possessions like that.
But the problem is this: The lineup of Kidd, Terry, Howard, Dirk and Bass is nothing new, and it hasn't done all that much.
But it really hasn't been around too much with Carlisle, and not after they've had some time to get familiar with his offense.
The way Dallas is moving the ball now, Howard should be able to get looks. The Spurs game highlighted the ability to get out of the double team, and with Howard in there, the Mavs are way too dangerous to double team.
Here's what I would like to see from Josh Howard on his return:
Play exactly like J.J. Barea has been playing.
It's not as ludicrous as it sounds. Barea has been incredibly aggressive, only resorting to the jump shot when he has tons of space around him.
There's no way Barea is as athletic as Howard, so there's no reason he can't do the same things. Howard has eight inches on Barea, so he shouldn't have as much trouble scoring in the paint.
Howard also has a better jumper, though Barea might be better with the three-ball.
If Josh Howard can play like Barea, the Mavs will be a real force.
In crunch time, you can put out Dirk, Terry, Kidd, Howard and Bass/Damp (depending on the size of the opponents).
That gives you four legit shooters (five if Bass is there), plus an inside presence. You've got speed and passing with Terry and Kidd.
Most importantly, you've got that combo that has helped the Spurs so much: people who can penetrate and kick it out to shooters on the perimeter.
The Spurs bread and butter has been setting up Parker in the halfcourt offense, then when he drives, he can score, give it to a low post threat in Duncan, or kick it out to a perimeter threat like Mason, Ginobili, Bowen, Finley or Bonner.
Now the Mavs have a setup like that. With Barea in at the PG, and Howard at the three, you have two legit guys who can get into the paint. With Damp/Diop/Bass as your low post threat, and Dirk, Terry, George (whose outside shooting is picking up), or Wright in there, those are legit threats.
Sure, Damp/Diop/Bass is no Tim Duncan. Sure, Devin Harris can penetrate better. And you can argue that Ginobili, Bowen and Finley are more lights out than Terry, Dirk and Devean George.
But if the looks are there, good shooters will get them. That's why Jason Terry has had such a resurgence as of late. Due to the Mavs' good ball movements, he has gotten great looks, and he's too good of a shooter not to capitalize on those.
I just hope that Mavs fans aren't using the latest streak as a "We can win with out Howard" platform.
While the Mavs have looked good, they have played some pretty dreadful teams (and barely escaped, mind you), but there's no reason that inserting someone as athletic and talented as Josh Howard in the mix won't push them to another level.
As a Mavericks fan, the Phoenix Suns have always represented a complex set of emotions for me.
I became a Mavs fan while watching Dirk and Nash bloom into the Hall-of-famers they are today.
When the separation happened, I was upset, but I know that the NBA is a business, and I think both sides handled it as well as it could have been handled (besides Dampier getting the money Nash could've gotten, but that's besides the point).
So I started to root for the Suns a little bit. I have always liked Arizona as a state, my parents went to U of A, and my uncle lives outside of Phoenix, so it wasn't exactly a stretch.
I liked watching the Suns, they were never boring, and the tandem of Nash, Marion and Stoudemire never failed to disappoint.
When the Mavs and Suns met in the playoffs, I would of course root for the Mavs, but should the Suns have won, I would have pulled for them.
Then the 2006 NBA Finals came. The series that changed me as a basketball fan forever.
Dirk, who had been the most dominant player in the playoffs, suddenly was overshadowed by D-Wade and the force field that surrounded him.
That's when the bitterness started, and that's when my feelings towards the Suns shifted.
In a way, I take a sick pleasure in their failings, because they echo the Mavs to a T.
Take a look:
Really it's uncanny how these teams are linked.
The Mavs were undone by the calls going against them against the Heat, and the Suns have been undone by so many calls going against them against the Spurs.
The Suns' fatal flaw during their hayday was their lack of commitment on the defensive end.
This led to several things, which eventually led to the end of the seven seconds-or-less era.
When you're team is based around offense and nothing else, players like Amare and Marion get greedy. With a distributor like Nash at the helm, both players wanted to be the person who got the ball from him.
Whether it was Nash feeding it inside to a Stoudemire who was breaking to the rack, or Nash was kicking it out to Marion for a wide open jumper, the system worked.
Except for the two players who always wanted to be the No. 1 option in a high-octane offense.
So they got rid of one of the players, and got Shaq, the antithesis of the running game. After the playoffs, Terry Porter got the job, and he has slowed down the offense, to the point that Nash, usually a great floor general, looks lost for the first time in his career.
Now let's look at the Mavs.
They were never an offensive powerhouse, but they were a complete team. Almost too complete.
You've heard the saying, "A Jack of All Trades is a master of none." That describes the 2005-2007 Dallas Mavericks.
They were good at everything, but not dominant in any aspect of the game.
Jump shots? They could hit them. Getting to the basket? Jet and Stack could do that. Defense? Sure, Terry is quick, and Diop was a good backup center when you needed stops.
But their lack of dominance had a fatal flaw: they couldn't force teams to play their way.
When the Celtics beat a Lakers team that was on paper more talented, it was because they made the Lakers play their game. They made the Lakers play a game where they had to get physical on the boards, devote most of your energy on defense, and the looks on the offensive end would come.
The Spurs are the kings of making people play their way. With Parker, Ginobili and Duncan, they are one of the best halfcourt offenses in the history of the game.
Give Parker the ball, he uses his quickness to get inside. From there, he can kick it out to Manu or Finley, or if the forwards come after him, give it over to Duncan, one of the game's best in the low post. Or, if they keep the point guard on him, Parker would just break to the basket.
And they forced teams to play that way. Teams like the 2007 Cavs, who couldn't play that way, and were swept. Teams like the Suns who thrive on speed to make their offense work.
The Mavericks didn't have a clear identity to shove down teams' throat, so they were forced to adapt. They tried to play small-ball against the Warriors, and look what they got.
They tried to play the iso game in the 2006 Finals, and look what they got.
And now we've come to this. Dallas and Phoenix, Nash and Nowitzki, fighting for a playoff spot.
In the West, the Lakers, Hornets, Rockets and Jazz are in the playoffs. You figure the Spurs will turn it on and be just fine, and the Blazers are young enough to keep up the pace throughout the season.
That's six team. The Nuggets are benefiting immensely from Billups' leadership, so we'll give them a spot.
Now you're down to Dallas and Phoenix. Once again.
Homerism aside, I think the nod goes to Dallas. They are starting to come together without Josh Howard, and when he comes back, he should keep up his hot start.
Phoenix, on the other hand, seems lost. It's easy to skip that when they started 11-5, but four straight losses have the spotlight on them.
While I think Dallas now has a higher ceiling currently than the Suns, I don't necessarily think either one can win a championship in 2009.
And therein lies the rub.
To quote the late, great Harvey Dent, "The night is always darkest just before dawn."
On Sunday night, I was going through the darkest part of the night.
My beloved Mavericks were getting manhandled by the New York Knicks. It wasn't just that Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhan were having career games.
It was that nothing was going right for the Mavs. They were missing layups and getting in foul trouble.
Get an offensive rebound? They would turn it over on a pass to halfcourt.
Get a defensive stop? They would follow it by an offensive foul or a brick.
Bring the lead to within four points? The Knicks would bury a three, or get the and-one.
They couldn't get a key stop or a key shot, two things that are essential in close games.
With 2:30 to go in the fourth quarter, I was considering becoming a Portland fan. I couldn't go through 74 more games of this, not to mention the rest of my life.
It was like I was married to the Dallas Mavericks, and the 2006 Finals collapse was like the death of our child.
We had moved on, but we would always be reminded of how close we came. And no matter how deluded I was, the magic could never be recaptured.
The Blazers on the other hand, were a chance for a fresh start. They were young, they gave me thrilling, buzzer beating endings. Brandon Roy's complete skill set seduced me the way a curvy college-aged chick would seduce any man going through a mid-life crisis.
The fact that I am 25, and thinking about mid-life crises should show you how distraught I was.
The amount of times I came oh so close to clicking the red X on the top right hand corner of my computer monitor, forever closing my NBA League pass window, would fill you with shame.
But you know what stopped me? The Red Sox-Devil Rays game five. I didn't want to miss anything.
That's why you watch sports, on the off chance that something that defies logic, defies reason, hell, defies the very laws of physics that govern the physical world in which we occupy, happens.
So that's why, with 2:26 left in the game (or so I thought), when Jamal Crawford assisted Richardson for a jumper to put the Knicks up by seven, I held little hope.
And redemption started not with a bang, but with a whimper. Josh Howard hit a runner and was fouled, making the three-point play.
Then Dirk nailed a 12-footer after a David Lee miss. Then Dallas gets an offensive rebound and Terry ties the game.
The rest, as they say, is history. Dirk turned it on during OT, nailing several jumpers, foul shots and a dagger three-ball.
And suddenly, the sun was rising.
The five-game win streak was over. Dallas finally pulled out out in the clutch. They got the stops, they hit the shots.
Does it mean that the season is saved? Not necessarily. But you've got to start somewhere.
Melodrama aside, let's take a look at some of the positives and negatives from what can only be termed a disappointing start.
The Good
There doesn't seem to be a specific flaw in the Mavericks. Their defense hasn't been as bad as advertised, people like Ben Gordon and Zach Randolph are just hitting their contested shots.
They are finding ways to lose, rather than finding ways to win.
Like a wall that has sprung a leak, every time one gets plugged, another one starts to leak.
But sooner or later, the wall is stronger than before, because most of it has been repaired. Either that, or is just collapses, but for the sake of my sanity and my fandom, let's throw that option out.
Jason Kidd is having a pretty good year. He's hitting open threes, he's running a good halfcourt offense, and he's doing good on the break.
They are also moving the ball pretty well, sometimes their shots aren't falling. Those shots will fall eventually.
I've also been impressed with James Singleton over the last few games. He brings breath of fresh air off the bench, and he's pretty good on the boards.
The Bad
Rick Carlisle is showing signs of Avery.
The beginning of the end for Avery was when he decided to abandon the lineup that won Dallas 67 games in 2007, to matchup with a Warriors team that got into the playoffs on the last day of the season.
Carlisle did the same thing against the Knicks last night. Dampier played four minutes, and Diop didn't play at all.
Why? The Knicks didn't look particularly run-and-gun to me. The Mavs were running pretty good with those two playing normal minutes, and having a Dampier in the game should give the Mavs a big advantage on the boards.
Then we get to the last play of regulation. What did Carlisle call? Oh, I don't know, maybe the Avery special? An iso to Jason Terry that ended with him taking a low-percentage elbow jumper.
With the jump shooters on the Mavs team, as well as the people who can penetrate, why settle for a jumper. Why not give it to Jo-Ho and see if he can get to the line? Or Dirk? Or swing the ball around and give Kidd an open three?
So could this be the start of something beautiful for the Mavs? Probably not, but you never know...
After an incredibly disappointing weekend of Dallas Mavericks basketball, I think I've finally figured out why Dallas has seemed like a doomed team since Game Three of the 2006 Finals.
Before Game Three, the world was Dallas' oyster. They were halfway towards a sweep and an NBA championship, Dirk Nowitzki was playing better than any forward since Larry Bird, and all was right with the world.
So what happened? Was it owner Mark Cuban's arrogance, going on late-night television talking about his soon-to-be-championship? Was it the city of Dallas, already planning their parade route?
I have always been a big believer in karma, especially sports karma, but I don't think that's the reason.
The reason is that Dallas is missing two key ingredients—things that every championship team of recent memory has possessed.
Problem No. 1: Lack of a Dominant Big Man
Did you know that last year's Lakers-Celtics Finals was the first Finals since the Jordan years not to feature Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal? Think about that.
The two best big men of this generation have been in a position to win the Finals every year since 1999. You could argue that Kobe Bryant has been the most dominant guard of this generation, and LeBron James has been and will be the most dominant forward of this generation, but, both have missed the Finals multiple years.
Of course, LeBron is much younger—but just for the sake of argument, hear me out.
The two big men have taken their teams to the Finals, most of the time with one other piece. Tim Duncan was able to team with David Robinson, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. Shaq had Kobe and D-Wade. It could be argued that Wade did more than Shaq, but Shaq was there.
Now, bring this back to the Mavs. They have Dirk, who is a big man in terms of height, but he doesn't play the big man's game. He's a decent rebounder (8.6 per game for his career), but he isn't a dominant low-post player.
He's got a guard's game. He can hit a jumper, a three, and drive to the basket to draw fouls. His skill at the fadeaway shot and the match-up problem his height presents are what have made him the player he is today.
For the past few years, the Mavericks have had Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop anchoring the frontcourt.
Dampier is not the type of center that is going to win you a championship. I like him, but that's the truth.
He makes the money the Mavericks could have given to Steve Nash. Here's Dampier's basic five-game stat line:
That's not going to win you a championship—especially over a long playoff run.
Diop is great as a backup center. He provides decent defense (although not much to speak of this year), good rebounding presence, and he can knock down three to five shots a game.
Jamal Magliore had a chance to return to form last year, and I was really hoping he was the last piece of the puzzle. Whether it was former coach Avery Johnson not playing him (3.9 minutes per game) or just general "suckitude" (1.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg), he wasn't the answer.
This year, we have the Damp-Diop combo, except they're two years older than they were during their Finals run, and Diop isn't looking like himself.
So what are the options? The best answer would be Chris Kaman of the LA Clippers. He's friends with Dirk, he hates LA, and he is the most underrated center in the game (possibly because of his bald spot). He plays good defense, he's only 26, plus he's ambidextrous. A Damp-Diop trade for Kaman would be great, especially if the Clips could take Jerry Stackhouse also.
Would I give up Brandon Bass for Kaman? It pains me, but yes. Would I give up Josh Howard for Kaman? Probably not. Would I give up guard Jason Kidd, who's expiring contract might be attractive to the Clips?
Then they could run with Jason Terry at point guard and Gerald Green at shooting guard, which is close to the lineup that took them to the Finals.
Problem No. 2: A Distinct Lack of Clutch
Yeah, I know what you're saying—that's what every one says. But it's true. Besides Dirk, there is no player that can be counted on in the clutch. This leads to double teams on Dirk on key possessions, which in turn lead to one of three things:
There have been way too many possessions late in the game when Dallas is still in it, but they just choke away a golden opportunity.
(If you think Dirk isn't clutch, you don't watch basketball. The aforementioned play in Game Seven in 2006, and the buzzer-beating three-pointer against the Jazz to send the Mavs to the playoffs last year are just two of the most dramatic examples.)
Take the Mavs-Nugs game from Friday night (a liveblog can be found on my blog). The Mavs spent all night clawing their way back into the game—and finally got there, thanks to Green (another article for another day).
With twenty-one seconds left, Kidd gets the and-one off a Brandon Bass block, giving him a chance to tie the game. He bricks the free throw, forcing Dallas to play the foul game.
With seventeen seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Mavs are down two, with the ball and a golden opportunity (since Chauncey Billups missed one of his free throws). For some reason, Bass gets the ball, twenty-five feet from the basket, and immediately has the ball stolen.
It's been the same old thing with these Mavericks, and it's incredibly frustrating. They claw their way back into the game, and it comes down to a few key possessions, which always end up with:
People always harp on the Mavs' "lack of toughness," but it's their clutch performance that is lacking.
I don't know if it's that coach Rick Carlisle hasn't drawn up a play for the situation, or if it's the execution, but it is ridiculous. In playoff basketball, wins come down to who can execute down the stretch.
The Spurs and Lakers do that better than anyone else, and that's why they have seven championships in the last nine years.
And when the Mavs have only one clutch shooter in Dirk, he can easily be negated.
But the Lakers had Kobe, Shaq, and Big Shot Robert Horry—none of whom you want to leave open.
The Spurs have Duncan and Ginobili, and to a lesser extent Michael Finley, none of which you want open on a final possession.
How can this be fixed? I don't know. You can't teach clutch, but it's hard to get clutch. Green might be in the running. Terry, not so much. Kidd, as lights out from three-land as he was on Friday night, shouldn't be trusted in a clutch three-ball situation.
Josh Howard remains a viable solution, but I don't see him hitting a three-ball when needed, and often times only a three-ball will do.
What I can see Jo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Rum doing is driving to the rack, but he doesn't have that Tony Parker or D-Wade skill of the bank shot, where he can make the shot after the foul as he's headed to the floor.
I don't know if this provides viable answers to the questions I've asked. But, those are the two flaws that need to be fixed if the Mavericks are to win a championship in the Dirk years.
I' m not gonna lie to you, it felt great.
Dallas Mavericks. American Airlines Center. Home opener. I've been waiting for this day since April 29.
And there was lots to love, despite the loss. There was lots to improve on also. So let's take a look at what we learned.
The Good:
The Bad:
The Ugly:
Reggie Miller defending Ron Artest, and blatantly ignoring what was put in front of him. Look, I'm a big Artest fan, and I hate the negative publicity that outweighs his amazing skill at most areas of basketball.
But Artest clearly made first contact in that little skirmish between him, Yao and Howard.
If you didn't see it, here's what happened: Jo-Ho gave Yao a hard foul, which is a given in a close division game. Yao did the thing where he looks away from Howard, but walks into him shoulder first, which Howard did a good job by not responding.
Then Artest comes in and give Howard a shove, then he walks to usher Yao away from the whole group.
Do I think Artest should have been given a T? Probably not. But refs call by reputation in this league, for better or worse, and Artest did instigate contact.
What made me mad was that Reggie Miller kept insisting that, "Ron didn't do anything, he just came to help Yao get away."
Marv Albert was respectfully trying to point out how wrong Miller was, but he wouldn't listen to reason. Then, when the replays started pouring in, Miller stayed completely silent while Artest came in and shoved Howard, then as Artest went to Yao, Miller would scream, "See! He didn't do anything except help his teammate."
While I enjoyed the awkwardness of Marv trying to tell Reggie, "Look, you're wrong, and making yourself sound more ignorant by the second," in a professional way, Reggie Miller needs to shut his mouth, especially when confronted with the video.
For more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks, including more poignant insights on what's to come from this team, see my blog.
It's almost here....
Can you hear it? The rhythmic thud of the roundball and the squeak of brand-new sneakers on the freshly polished hardwood?
Hoops season is upon us.
For basketball junkies such as myself, it's an exciting time. The Summer Olympics provided a brief respite from the basketball-less desert of the summer, but it was only a taste.
Speaking of Olympic basketball, their is one word that was used for the American men, and will be used for the Dallas Mavericks:
Redemption.
Redemption for the Jason Kidd Trade. Redemption for the Avery Johnson era. Redemption for the loss to the Warriors. Redemption for the loss to the Heat.
Redemption.
It's the theme of the Dallas Mavericks season, and more for reasons than I've stated above.
It's time for Dirk to show people that his MVP wasn't his peak. A Finals MVP will be. It's time for the people that says that Dallas' window has closed to have their eyes opened.
It's time for a one-time All-Star who has a a rough calendar year, with things within and beyond his control, to put himself back at the top of the game.
It's time for high-upside players like Antoine Wright and Gerald Green to make their mark on the NBA, and lend Dallas some much needed youth, swagger, and athleticism.
It's not going to be easy. With Dallas fighting for recognition in their own division, it won't come easy.
But you know what?
That's just how I like it. I've never bee comfortable with being the favorite. For the last few years, the Suns, Spurs and Mavs have entered the season as favorites to represent the West in the Finals.
Now? Seven Seconds or Less is gone, along with Nash and Shaq's youth.
Manu is out for the first few months, and besides signing Roger Mason Jr., the Spurs have done little to combat Father Time.
Instead we've got a Lakers team coming off a finals performance, and hungry for competition.
We've got a Hornets team with another year of experience, and the best playmaker in the game back for another year.
We've got a possibly rejuvenated Ron Artest trying to help the Rockets gets over the first-round hump for the first time in ten years, and for the first time since they've had two legitimate superstars.
You couldn't write it any better.
So what does Dallas have? A new coach, ready to take advantage of his weapons, even if it means relinquishing controls to his players.
Two hall-of-famers, one in the twilight, one in the afternoon, of their respective careers, both of whom want a title to complete their legacy.
Stay tuned for a more complete preview, of both the Mavericks, and the NBA season.
For now? Well, it just feels good to be writing about basketball again.
And it will feel pretty good to watch it again.
At approximately 9:57 p.m. on Tuesday, July 29, 2008, the Western Conference's Southwest division became the most competitive division in the NBA. Ron Artest was traded to to Houston Rockets for Bobby Jackson, a No. 1 draft pick and a player to be named later.
What does this mean? Simply this: a trio of Big Three's triangled around Texas. Duncan/Parker/Ginobili. Dirk/J-Kidd/Josh Howard. Now Yao/McGrady/Artest.
Or how about Paul/West/Peja?
But unlike the other squads, Houston now has a dominant center, and two smothering defensive presences (Artest and Battier). Houston also has two All-Star caliber forwards in Scola and Carl Landry.
They could plug in a homeless man in the Point Guard slot and still win close to 60 games.
While it's good news for Rockets faithful, New Orleans, San Antonio, Dallas and Memphis have got their work cut out for them.
The Rockets could be poised to become the Mavericks of 2005-07. Good at everything. Solid defenders, solid jump-shooters, solid on the offensive glass.
But could they meet the same fate as those Mavericks? They were a Jack of All Trades, but a master of none. They couldn't dominate one aspect of the game, so when teams adapted, they didn't have anything new to throw out.
If anything Houston will make for an interesting case study. Provided they don't get Igoudala, they won't be very relevant at the PG. They will now have to compete with two hall-of-famers (Kidd and Paul) and a rookie who threatens to redefine the position (Mayo).
It should prove once and for all just how important a PG is. Can a team run a decent offense with firepower at every position, but no distributor? Can a big man, a lock down defender and one of the best all-around players in the game duplicate the chemistry and commitment that brought the 2007-08 Celtics the title?
Some things I know for sure:
—If T-Mac can't get out of the first round this year, he should hang up his spikes, he never will.
—Imagine the penetration of Artest and T-Mac with the inside presence of Yao and the outside shooting of Battier. I bet Jeff Van Gundy wishes he could come back and coach.
—Unless Dallas can pick up J-Smoove and San Antonio pulls off a whopper, Houston and New Orleans will be duking it out for the No. 1 or No. 2 seed come April 2009.
