2009 Playoffs: (3) Spurs vs. (6) Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have closed the season with a flourish, or so I'm told, I don't follow them all that closely. The Spurs have limped to the finish, which stands in stark contrast to how they usually finish the season, playing their best basketball. Both of these teams have will have a chance to extend their window by at least a week, a the expense of slamming the other's shut.

For the last few years, the hierarchy in the West has always been Spurs, Mavs, Suns. The Suns are stuck in third place as far as that goes, and now the Mavs have a chance to climb to the top, possibly for the last time.

Ginobili has always been a Mavs killer, and with his absence and Duncan's knees, the Spurs are as ripe for the plucking as they have always been.

PG: Tony Parker vs. Jason Kidd

Old-school vs. new school. For two people who play the same position, the two couldn't have more opposite games. With Manu out, Parker must be the first or second option on offense, while Kidd is often fourth or fifth.

We all know that Parker will probably have a field day on Kidd on the offensive end. His speed can't be matched by Kidd, and any help the Mavs will give Kidd will only open the window for another shooter to bomb the Mavs from long range.

Kidd needs to do exactly what he has been doing. Push the ball in transition, set up Dirk, Terry and Howard, and make the open three when given the space. If the Mavs can find a way to slow down Parker, the Spurs simply don't have enough firepower.

Winner: Tony Parker

SG: Roger Mason Jr. vs. Antoine Wright

While Roger Mason's late game heroics have made SportsCenter all year long, what he does in the other 47 minutes can't be overlooked as well. Simply put, he's a smart player. I had the privilege of watching him go overlooked on the Wizards last year, and his play this year hasn't been surprising.

Mason's strength lies in the fact that he doesn't try to overstep his bounds. He doesn't take shots he has no business taking, which is more than can be said of a lot of NBA player. Unfortunately, most of those other players aren't on the Spurs.

Antoine Wright is at his best when he is acting as foil to Josh Howard. When Howard is hot in the first, Wright needs to be lockdown defensively. As Howard cools off, Wright needs to be driving to the cup, drawing fouls.

Wright shouldn't have many defensive problems with Mason himself, but he needs to be careful about shifting to Parker and leaving Mason open. The Spurs have won four rings on the drive-and-kick offense, and this is no time to let them take advantage.

I think Wright is much more capable of leaving his mark on the series than Mason.

Winner: Antoine Wright

SF: Michael Finley vs. Josh Howard

Ah, how fitting. The Mavs' small forward of the past against the small forward of the present (and hopefully, future). Josh Howard has been playing on a leg and a wrist that will go under the knife after the season (hopefully not until late June).

It's been said ad nauseum, but Josh Howard is the X-Factor. His return and subsequent stellar play have everything to do with the Mavericks hot finish.

Michael Finley's role is far more reduced, but no less important. He needs to hit jumpers. Plain and simple. When the defense collapses on Duncan or Parker, he's one of the few that will be taking that shot.

But no one on this postseason, save maybe Kobe, has more riding on this postseason than Howard. Short of an admission that he is a cokehead, Howard has hit the bottom, and has nowhere to go but up. Not that it's going to be easy, but it's possible.

Winner: Josh Howard

PF: Tim Duncan vs. Dirk Nowitzki

As far as star power goes, this is it for first-round matchups. Besides LeBron and Pierce, there isn't another matchup that features two sure hall-of-famers going at it.

At this point in their careers, Duncan is slowing down fast, and Dirk is still plugging along. Of course, Timmy can still relax on a mattress of championship rings (at least, that's how it feels) when he's done. Dirk still has work to do.

Dirk's offensive game is still unparalleled, his one-legged Euro fadeaway is near unguardable (though Carl Landry managed to block one last night), and he can still get to the rim. Duncan, on the other hand, will break you down with his arsenal of low-post moves, and he can hit the elbow jumper and rebound better than anyone.

During this series, Tony Parker can take up most of Duncan's slack on offense, but Dirk's 20-plus points are going to be hard to replace, even with their depth. Dirk needs to have a strong series, otherwise next year's Mavericks are going to look very different, maybe not in a good way.

Winner: Dirk Nowitzki

C: Matt Bonner vs. Erick Dampier

There's not many centers in the league that I would pick Dampier over, but Matt Bonner is one of them. While he is a good outside shooter, he doesn't have the low-post presence to compete with Dampier, and that speaks more to his shortcomings (read: he's a whitey with red hair) than to Dampier's strengths.

This hasn't killed the Spurs because of Duncan's low-post dominance, and his ability to play a passable center.

Dampier needs to show up for every other game as opposed to every four or five, and Dallas should be okay at the center. Dampier does tend to get in foul trouble, and if Parker is particularly aggressive it may come down to that, but that's where Dallas' bench comes in.

Winner: Erick Dampier

Bench:

Dallas has emerged as having a very deep bench. Jason Terry aside, J.J. Barea, Brandon Bass, James Singleton, Ryan Hollins and Gerald Green are capable of making their own marks on the game.

What to say about Jason Terry that hasn't been said already? Your Sixth Man of the Year, instant offense, instant energy and a cold-bloodedshooter to boot. With Terry in at crunch time, the Mavs are looking pretty good in close games.

Let's go back to Brandon Bass. His ferocity and athleticism should play a huge part for the Mavs during this series. Big, athletic guys have always given the Spurs trouble, and that's Bass to a T.

If he can lock down Duncan for a few minutes, throw some crowd-pleasing dunks, and make the occasional elbow or baseline jumper, he could be a huge part of the Mavs living to fight again in the second round.

The Spurs have George Hill (who might be ready in a few years), Ime Udoka (who isn't ready after a few years), and Fabricio Oberto (who lost his starting gig to a big, red-deaded 7-footer who can't rebound). 'Nuff said.

Winner: Dallas

Pick: Mavericks in 6

Now I've gone and done it

I really have.

I came up with a trade that could address some major needs, shake things up, and dump some dead weight.

Check it out.

In case you can't see it, or are too lazy and/or infatuated with this blog (in which case, I like your moxie) to click, here it is:

• Brandon Bass
• Jerry Stackhouse
• Devean George
• Erick Dampier

FOR

• Brad Miller
• John Salmons
• Kenny Thomas

Good stuff right?

Let's break it down.

John Salmons is rumored to be on the market. I've always been a fan of his, ever since he hit a game-winner against the Mavs last season. On second thought, never mind. Fuck him.

He can play the 2, which means he could help ease the size woes presented by Jason Terry and J.J. Barea. He can also move into the 3, providing something new if the Mavs decide to go small or give Jo-Ho a rest.

He's a decent defender, a good passer and he attacks the basket, which is something the Mavs desperately need.

Replacing Damp with Brad Miller is almost a no-brainer. His contract has one less year on it, Miller can shoot a little bit, and he seems to show up more regularly than Damp.

Kenny Thomas? Supposedly the Kings want someone to take his awful contract, so toss him in. Like Brad Miller, his contract expires before Twenty-Ten, and he and Singleton could back up Dirk.

I don't particularly mind losing George, I don't care about Stack and I say good riddance to Dampier.

I don't relish the thought of losing Bass, but it's a tough world we live in. Knowing the Mavs' luck, he'll probably be moved to the three by someone, where he'll become the next LeBron James.

Okay, maybe that's far fetched, but if I told you a year ago that Devin Harris would be looking like Tony Parker, you would have laughed at me.

The only flaw I see is that Dampier has a worse contract than Kenny Thomas does. But he can play center when he decides to, and hey, when was the last time the Kings made a shrewd move?

Stranger things have happened (cough..GasoltotheLakers..cough).

Of course, George would have to waive his Bird rights (and we all know how that worked out last time).

But a man can dream can't he?

A blueprint for Brandon Bass

After a slow start, Brandon Bass is returning to the form that made him a free-agent steal last year.

And as much as I like to watch him play, here's what I would like to see him become:

Amare Stoudemire.

Hold your applause, please.

After watching Bass throw down three of the most vicious dunks I've seen in a long time in the Hawks game, two of which ended up being the difference in the game.

And that got the wheels turning in the ol' noodle.

Why can't Bass be like Amare? That out-of-control freight train that gets feeds from Nash down the middle of the lane, and no force can stop him without fouling him.

Sure, Stoudemire has two inches and about ten pounds on Bass, but that doesn't mean Bass can't get a head of steam and take a pass into a wide open lane.

There's a reason the Mavs got Kidd: his passing. You're telling me that Carlisle can't draw up some plays to clear out the lane, and Kidd can't thread a pass the a streaking Bass, who happens to be great in that same situation?

A little-discussed consequence of settling for jumpers is the lack of fouls for the other team.

If you can get the other team's frontcourt into foul trouble, nothing but good things happen. The starting 4 and 5 get their minutes cut back, which leaves the paint more vulnerable to attack, which in turn leads to higher percentage shots, less turnovers and more points.

During the current stretch of wins, Dallas has done very well getting points in the paint, something they used to struggle to get.

Talkin' Trades

While Dallas hasn't joined in the Nuggets/Warriors/Clippers/76ers level of making big offseason moves, things are starting to heat up.

Josh Howard seems to be the best trade chip Dallas has to offer right now. His athleticism, as well as his good jumper and penetration ability seems to make for a good fit with a number of teams.

His downside is: his inconsistency could serve to make him a project. At 27, Jo-Ho is a little too old to be taught how to play again.

Ron Artest seems to have a spotlight on him, but the Mavs and Kings are having difficulty deciding what he's worth.

The Mavs offered Brandon Bass and the Stack-attack for Artest. While I hate to lose someone like Bass, I would definitely be on board with this trade.

Artest gives the Mavs some toughness, both emotionally and defensively, which would be a good thing. The Mavs have been missing a lock-down defender who can take the Ginobilis, McGradys, Kobes and others.

Plus he can score, which was starting to be a problem in the last days of Avery's administration. There were times that the halfcourt offense just looked plain uncomfortable.

With Jason Kidd on your team, a stagnant offense shouldn't be an issue.

As much as I like Bass, he plays Dirk's position, and if you move him to the 5, he's too small, and he also plays Jo-Ho's position, so he can't go to the three. And he's almost too good to be Dirk's backup, so I would be willing to trade him for a better fit like Artest.

Then Sacramento countered with a Josh Howard for Ron Artest trade. That's over the line though. As many problems as Josh Howard has had, I don't see any reason that he can't return to All-Star form this year. Especially when he's not running only isos.

I don't think that Artest is worth losing Jo-Ho. With the problems the Mavs have had of late, chemistry is the last thing that needs to be messed with.

So the question becomes, who would you trade Josh Howard for, if at all?

The Dallas Morning News' MavsBlog talks about a Josh-for-Josh trade with the Hawks' Josh Smith.

An intriguing possibility. J-Smoove is younger, an athletic freak, and apparently doesn't want to stay a hawk.

But, with the signing of Gerald Green, we've already got a great athlete. Though it would be interesting to see a lineup of Diop/Dampier, Dirk, Josh Smith, Gerald Green and Jason Kidd.

That lineup has two monster athletes who can penetrate at the 2 and 3, a lights-out shooter who has been known to break an ankle or two at the 4, and the game's best passer at the point.

Given that Green and Smith are both only 22, suddenly a Dallas team that got a lot older with the Kidd trade becomes younger again.

Add that to the cap space created by Kidd's expiring deal next year, and that could put the Mavs in position to go higher as teams like the Spurs inevitably slow down.

But what kind of commitment can Smith offer defensively? The problem with phenomenal athletes like Green and Smith is that they can often seem content with their gifts, and not commit to playing the hard-nosed D that wins titles.

But Smith averages about 3 blocks per game, as well as a steal and a half. If Carlisle can beat some defense into Gerald Green, and with the addition of Diop, all of a sudden the Mavs are no slouches on interior defense.

The only weakness they would have is the same one that plagued them in the Hornets series. A young, quick point guard can beat J-Kidd off the dribble, which can cause the defense to compensate leading to open looks for other players.

Teams like the Hornets, Spurs, Suns, Celtics and now the Clippers can be dangerous if you allow this to happen.

Bottom line: would I trade Jo-Ho for J-Smoove?

Yes.