2009 Playoffs: (2) Nuggets vs. (7) Hornets

This should be a doozy. A transcendent point guard and an All-Star forward vs. an All-Star point guard and a transcendent forward. A former first round doorman vs. a team trying to prove last year wasn't a fluke.

One team pulled off a monster trade, one didn't and you could argue both came out better because of it.

For the last two seasons, the Western conference champion has started their run against the Denver Nuggets. The "I shoot then you shoot" of the Iverson-Anthony combo didn't do justice to either one's talents, and it got them nowhere. Now, the game's most selfish player has been replaced by one of the most unselfish, and Denver seems poised to advance for the first time in 'Melo's career. Denver also lost a defensive rock in the paint, but added one of the game's most mercurial talents in Chris Andersen.

New Orleans is another low-seeded team still coping with the disappointments of a season in which they were picked to be a sleeper, but Chris Paul has spent the season redefining his position.

PG: Chauncey Billups vs. Chris Paul

What Billups has done to this Denver team has gone largely unnoticed, yet people are not taking them seriously to come out of the West. Partly because of the Lakers, but partly because people are ready to see if Carmelo can join his other All-Star draftmates and finally advance. Billups figures to play a big part in this because of the nature of his game.

He can distribute, he can shoot, he can play defense, in roughly that order.

Unfortunately, the man on the other end of the ball could end up as the best to play his position. It's a case of "everything you can do I can do better," because Chris Paul does everything Billups can do to an amazing level.

Winner: Chauncey Billups

SG: Dahntay Jones vs. Rasual Butler

I would consider J.R. Smith the official shooting guard for the Nuggs, but according to their depth chart, Jones is number one. I don't know too much about him, but I know Rasual Butler can be a threat. He's not a game changer by any means, but wth Chris Paul giving him great looks, and with the attention given to Paul and West, he should have some room to operate.

If the Hornets are going to advance, Butler needs to make his mark on the series.

Winner: Rasual Butler

SF: Carmelo Anthony vs. Peja Stojakavic

Peja is without question on the downside of his career, and 'Melo is still finding exactly what his peak is. This is make or break time for 'Melo. Without Iverson, he needs to take control of the offense, and he needs to show the team that he is the superstar he's billed to be.

He's got the talents to do it, and he talks like he's motivated to do it, but if the Hornets advance, the blame will be on no one but Anthony, and the Nuggets might start preparing for a future without him if he can't deliver.

Peja has much lower expectations, and if he can hit the corner three, and stay out of his own way on defense, he should add to the Hornets nd not take anything away.

Winner: Carmelo Anthony

PF: Kenyon Martin vs. David West

Another intriguing matchup. Martin has shown flashes in his career, but is far from a given at his position. David West, on the other hand, is a bona fide All-Star, and a physical low-post presence combined with a sweet shoooting stroke.

The offense runs through him and Paul, so the two of them need to keep producing for the entire series. West is more than capable, but the question is, can he sustain it for an entire series?

He did well against the Mavericks last year, but during the Spurs series, he shot .565, .182, .526, .267, .640, .286, and .421 across the seven games, not exactly a model of consistency.

He's going to do better than that, especially with the Hornets situation at center.

Winner: David West

C: Nene vs. Tyson Chandler

This is where the series will be made for the Nuggets. You know what you're getting from 'Melo and Billups, but Nene needs to work hard on both ends of the floor.

With Chandler banged up, suddenly Chris Paul's favorite alley-oop target isn't there, and suddenly the paint isn't locked down on defense. A less-than-100% Chandler, combined with Melvin Ely and Hilton Armstrong, means that Nene needs to make a difference down low, which he is more than capable of, given his performance over the last month of the season.

In April, Nene is shooting better than 60 percent from the field , better than 70 percent from the free throw line, and averaging 7.4 rebounds and a block per game. If he can keep it up, the Nuggets should advance.

Winner: Nene

Bench:

New Orleans is frightfully thin, with the exception of James Posey. Antonio Daniels and Ely/Armstrong are far apart from their starter counterparts. Julian Wright is talented, but he won't be able to do much this series.

Denver on the other hand, has sharpshooting J.R. Smith coming off of the bench, not to mention a sparkplug defensive player in Chris Andersen, and Linas Kleiza provides a multi-faceted attack as well.

Denver's depth should give them the edge, because West and Paul can't play all 48 minutes.

Winner: Denver

Pick: Nuggets in five

Hornets @ Mavs: Preview

Tonight's game is huge. Sunday's game is huge. Monday's game is big. Wednesday's game could be huge.

The Mavericks are in position to climb up the Western Conference ladder, to not only avoid the Lakers, but to have some shot at home court for at least one series.

A win tonight ties them for 6th place, which may or may not involve Utah, depending on how their game at San Antonio shakes out.

So what do the Mavs need to do?

First, they need to take advantage of Tyson Chandler's absence. They haven't fared too well against teams with missing stars as of late, but they need to tonight.

His absence will be felt on the offensive side for the Hornets, as they don't have an alley-oop receptacle to throw to.

On offense, the Mavs need to attack down low. They need to exploit Hilton Armstrong, whether it be Dampier, Bass or Hollins. Since Dampier played well for this month, it will probably fall on Hollins.

He needs to stay out of foul trouble, and he needs to use his quickness and athleticism to pound the ball inside.

Jason Kidd needs to shoot like he did against the Suns. The last time the Hornets and Mavs played, they left Jason Kidd in his own area code, and he couldn't make them pay by hitting threes.

If he can knock down a few early ones, then he will change the defense right away, forcing them to take him into account. Barea could also help with this if he chooses his shots well, like he did against Phoenix.

Chris Paul. He's going to have himself a game. But if Wright and Kidd can help take him out a little bit, then the Hornets place their offense on Rasual Butler, an ailing Peja, and David West.

I would like to see Bass and West matchup. Both physical forwards who can shoot the J, if Bass can outplay West, the Mavs should have a much easier time.

This is a winnable game for the Mavs, but they've lost winnable games to worse teams.

If the Mavs are serious about being taken seriously, then this is a good start, and it takes a lot of pressure off of them playing Sunday on the road.

Been a while, crocodile, and summer trades

Wow, more than two months without an update. But it's not like anything important has happened.

It's not like the Mavs have taken some beatdowns on Sunday afternoon, dished out one of their own, clinched a playoff sport, are active on the summer trade front, and are poised to move up in the Western conference standings.

Right?

Apologies to the dozen (if I'm lucky) readers of there here blog, other writing duties, several hangovers and missing quite a few Mavs games of late have all contributed to the lack of updates.

But I'm back with an empty promise that updates will be more regular.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's take a look at where we are.

After a gutsy win over Miami, in which they were able to take Wade out of the latter half of the fourth quarter, they responded with yet another letdown game against the Grizz.

Then the Mavs took part on yet another Sunday afternoon beatdown, but lo and behold, they were the ones dishing out the punishment.

And now the Mavs are red-hot heading into the last four games, three of which against playoff teams, two of which against the New Orleans Hornets.

If you're like me, you're waiting for the Mavs collapse tonight or Sunday, and the eventual slide back to the 8th seed, followed by a swift dispatch from the Lakers.

But as Andy Dufresne told us, "hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things."

Before we take a look at tonight's game, let's take a look at some of the hot rumors that have been sweeping MavsLand.

Shaq

Shaq and Tony Cubes have been carrying on a twitter romance, and if it weren't for Mark's wife, maybe the two of them could have been something more.

Shaq has wanted to go to the Mavs for a while now. Do the Mavs want/need Shaq next year?

Do they need him? Maybe. Dampier is inconsistent, but if he has a game like he did against the Jazz, he would be tough to lose.

Although he did miss four easy shots, and drop a number of easy passes from Kidd.

The problem Shaq had in Phoenix was that he slowed down their fast break too much, he was taking the place of Stoudemire or Marion.

The Mavs don't have that problem because Dampier isn't a part of their fast break, so you wouldn't lose anything on that front.

Shaq also tends to show up a little more often than Damp, although you never know what another year does to a player, especially one who's been carrying around as much bulk as Shaq.

But tell me a lineup of Kidd, Wright, Howard, Dirk and Shaq doesn't sound good. Three hall-of-famers right there, even if two are past their prime.

I would be all for getting Shaq is we didn't have to give up Howard. Howard has proved in the last few games that he is one tough M.F.er, as well as a defensive X-factor, and the man to set the scoring pace early.

Sure, he might be held together with little more than twine an chewing gum right now, but that doesn't mean he's not helping. A career-high seven steals against the Jazz show that, and he had a beaten-in face.

If the Mavs could trade Damp (now an expiring contract) and Stack (essentially an expiring contract with a $2 million buyout) for Shaq, I am all in.

I think it would help Kidd want to stay, and I think it would fire up the fans without giving up too much.

Chris Bosh

A Dallas native, Chris Bosh has rapidly become disenchanted with what was, a year ago, a promising Raptors squad. It appears Jose Calderon isn't the franchise PG we (or at least I) thought he was.

The rumors have been that he will is excited to come and play for the home team. What would the Mavs have to give up if they were to snag him before his contract expires?

Probably Howard, probably Bass, and probably one more player. Is is worth it?

To be honest, I'm not sure. Bass and Howard are becoming the glue that keeps this team together, and to jettison them as they are blossoming and finding their roles would be a shame.

But Bosh could provide a big jump shooter, which would make it very tough to double-team Dirk, he can rebound, he can hit free-throws, and he's not too shabby on the defensive end.

I think Bosh would be more effective in the 4-spot, with a true center there, but then Dirk has to move to the three, and if you think he'll be stopping the likes of Odom, Pierce or LeBron, you're crazy. So I'm not sure how that would work out. I think there are better options out there, such as:

Chris Paul (!!)

Apparently Cuban went after Paul pretty hard at the trade deadline,and he's ready to make another run.

Always a business man, Cuban's proposal is aimed at saving Hornets owner George Shinn (who seems to have gone to the Robert Sarver school of sports ownership) close to $100 million. In these tough times, it's hard to turn that down, even when it virtually destroys your team from a basketball standpoint.

A scenario could be Howard, Stackhouse and Dampier for Paul, Peja and Chandler, or maybe James Posey. Which, despite my newfound respect and love for Josh Howard, is pretty hard to turn down for the Mavericks.

They get the polar opposite of Dampier, a guy who has trouble staying healthy, but can handle the alley-oop, play great defense, and is very athletic.

They get Peja, one of the best three-point shooters out there, but who also has health problems and is on the downside of his career, not to mention an awful contract.

But you also get some guy named Chris Paul, who is apparently pretty good.

A point guard who has spent the last few months redefining his position, still two years away from his prime, and carried a mediocre (and that's being generous) supporting cast to a seventh game against the Spurs in the Western Conferene semifinals in his first trip to the playoffs.

Having Chandler there to take those alley-oops is huge, and if you think players like Dirk, Terry and Bass aren't going to benefit from better looks, you don't know much about basketball. Bass is like a younger version of West, and that similarity can't hurt either.

I'm sorry, I think I just drooled all over my keyboard.

That is a deal that could be entirely possible in these times, and it may even lead to a scenario like the Celtics has last season, where ring-hungry veterans sign on for one last run.

If the Mavs can keep Gerald Green and Ryan Hollins around, that gives them an incredible mix of superstars, veterans and youngsters that will shoot them right back to the top of the mix in the West.

There's something to chew on for the summer, but let's take a look at tonight's game. In the next post of course.