NBA Preview: The Dallas Mavericks

This is going to be without a doubt the toughest preview to write.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big-time Dallas Maverick fan, so theoretically this should take about five minutes to write. I know this team inside and out, having played with this team constantly on NBA Live and watching more than half of their games with my girlfriend/fiancee the previous two seasons. So why the difficulty, you ask?

Well, if I'm going to succeed in the world of sports journalism, I have to learn how to be an objective reporter. For me, writing this blog is going to be like going to therapy and telling my psychiatrist all the things that I like about myself and hate about myself.

Wish me luck...

Fondest Maverick Memory: Everybody accuses me of being a fair-weather fan when it comes to the Mavs. I assure you I'm not (after all, I'm an Oakland Raiders fan, too). The reason I like the Mavs has nothing to do with wins or losses. I fell in love with them sometime during my freshman year at College Park six years ago. It was a couple of seasons after the lockout, and I had become almost disenchanted with the NBA game. Watching an NBA game back then was the most boring thing in the world to do other than twiddling your thumbs. Sure, every now and then there'd be a Kobe or Vince highlight that would make you jump, but for the most part the low scoring games ate away at me. Then, the Mavericks showed up. They were the first team I'd seen in a long time that would run after a made basket. Granted, they were absolutely atrocious defensively, but they played basketball just the way I liked it: up and down with a gunslinger's mentality. And, I also feel I've grown with them. They're definitely a more complete team now, just as I am a more complete person than I was as an 18-year-old.

Last Year: (Throwing objectivity out of the window for a quick second, read this article from NBADraft.net writer Nick Prevenas. I'm glad someone out there agreed with me about last year's NBA Finals). The Mavericks had a great year and seemed to be on the verge of winning it all, coasting to a 2-0 lead over the Miami Heat before performing one of the biggest choke jobs in finals' history. It's sad that despite all of the progress they made last season, they will forever be the team that blew a 2-0 lead in the finals. Everything leading up to the finals, however, was spectacular. They finished with the 3rd best record in the NBA last season, and shocked basketball experts by playing on both ends of the court. Offense was the first thing that came to mind, of course, and the first name that comes to mind offensively is Dirk Nowitzki. He had a career year last year and is as close to a mismatch as there is in the NBA. However, as good as Nowitzki was, Jason Terry was the reason the Mavs got as far as they did. He shot incredibly well from the field all season long and was Dallas' best player at crunch time in the playoffs. Josh Howard took a huge step forward to help offset the overrated loss of Michael Finley. DeSagana Diop was a pleasant surprise, and if it wasn't for his defense against Tim Duncan in overtime of Game 7 in the second round of the playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs might have got screwed in the finals instead (sorry, objectivity, objectivity). Together he and Erick Dampier formed a tough one-two tandem inside. Jerry Stackhouse would have won 6th Man of the Year if he hadn't missed the first part of the season. All that was missing from this team last season was a championship.

This Year: The entire core group is back for the Mavs, plus they added veteran depth to a team that was already pretty deep. A Devin Harris and Terry back-court will be an impossible match-up for opposing teams to contain, at least offensively. When either of them need a spell, the Mavs have the luxury of bringing newly acquired guards Anthony Johnson and Greg Buckner off the bench. I'd argue that the Mavs second team would make the playoffs in the East. They're going to be just as good as they were last year, if not better.

Player on the Rise: Harris gets the keys to run the team this year after coming off the bench mostly for his first two seasons. Statistically I don't see a huge jump from what he did last year, but I think he will play less erratically than he has in the past. The starting point guard spot is his to lose. I think he's the quickest guard in the NBA.

Player on the Decline: I thought the Mavs had a solid off-season, and that they didn't need to make any major pick-ups. However, signing Devean George was almost pointless. I hope he proves me wrong, but, other than finals experience, I just don't see what he brings to the team. I remember when ESPN reported that he had been signed. I think it was Alex Van Pelt who said, "It must be nice to score six points a game and make two million a year." I hate to say it, but if you put my five-foot-ten-inch frame on the court for 22 minutes a game, I would score six points a game.

Justin's Take: I feel that the Mavs are definitely among the league's elite. Getting back to the finals this year will be tougher, however, as a healthy Phoenix team and a San Antonio team out for redemption stand in the way. That being said, this team won 60 games last year, and I feel like while they didn't do anything drastic, they're definitely better than they were last year. The only obstacle I see is themselves. Anything less than a trip back to the finals would be a disappointment.

Projected Record: 81-1

OK, REAL Projected Record: 62-20