Courtesy of orchestrator Jeff Clark of Celticsblog.com, the NBA Carousel of Team Previews continues with the Dallas Mavericks. They are an improved team roster-wise with Jason Kidd back and the Shawn Marion and Drew Gooden acquisitions.
Here are the breakdowns and lowdowns…
2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?
The Dallas Mavericks now have the players to fully integrate Rick Carlisle’s offense and at the same time get after people on the defensive end. This team will be extremely difficult to handle if they are able to get out and run. Transition offense is going to be a huge plus for them this season. The Mavericks should also be able to matchup with just about anyone 8 or 9 deep. This should be a very active and athletic team, while they may be a little older team now, the athleticism is there and even more so than the last few years.
1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?
The Mavs made significant strides this off-season by turning a lot of nothing into something. Jerry Stackhouse barely laced up in 2008-2009, and yet a money-saving provision in his contract made him valuable enough to net Shawn Marion via trade. They added Quinton Ross to fill the void of the departed Antoine Wright. Drew Gooden and Tim Thomas were picked up for pennies on the dollar, and Kris Humphries may hold unexpected value after being considered a throw-in in the Marion deal. That’s quite a catch of players, even if it doesn’t quite heal the burns Otis Smith was kind enough to leave with the Marcin Gortat ordeal.
2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?
The three-headed forward line of Nowitzki-Howard-Marion gives the Mavericks a heap of fire power, flexibility, and the potential to cause a lot of match up nightmares. The challenge is obviously going to be fitting all their minutes in, and I suspect they’ll do this by sliding Josh to the two-guard a lot more. I also expect the Mavericks transition game to pick up in leaps and bounds. Marion still loves to run the floor and gets a lot of his points on opportunistic plays, and Jason Kidd, while old, can still run the floor with the best of them. I’ve read some stuff saying the Mavs are too old, and while some of their key players certainly are, I don’t see it slowing their game down one bit. Barea plays at light speed and Terry is never afraid to fire away early in the possession. It all adds up to an already exciting team to watch possibly becoming even more exciting.
I’d say the Mavs “bench” is a strength, but when I think about it, I really mean Jason Terry.
Pull up a chair and get reading. Impress all your friends with your vast NBA knowledge. Call your friends in Dallas and speak intelligently about their team in just three quick reads.
