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.

Amazing Article

As you can see from the links below, Hardwood Paroxysm is one of my favorite basketball blogs.

But this time, they've really outdone themselves. Fantastic article about both the Mike D'Antoni Suns and The Dark Knight.

And yes, I'm stalling. Updates soon.

Both alike in dignity

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:

• Both teams have an MVP who people say cannot win a championship by themselves.
  
• Both took a major gamble on a trade in late 2008, the Suns filling a need in the middle, Dallas filling a need at point.
  
• Both were ousted after five games in the 2008 playoffs, leading to the firing of their coaches, and the end of their respective eras.
  

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.