What is wrong with the Mavericks?
Aside from the fact that their fans boo the returning players who were the face and heart of their franchise for a number of years including the terrible years, the transition years, and the playoff years (read Michael Finley, who was there long before any fo the current regime), they have done too many things to shake up their roster year after year. Now, it’s killing them.
At the end of last season, that team found something special. They played great basketball all year, but once Devin Harris got healthy, it was near impossible to stop them. Harris was a monster on the high pick-and-roll because he could turn the corner in a gear that most players didn’t have. Funny, because that was exactly what Tony Parker had done all year. Josh Howard found another level and his game was eerily close to a very young Scottie Pippen. He was on the ball, he was slashing, he was helping, and occasionally he was knocking down distant jumpers. Don’t think for a minute that Howard’s game didn’t improve because he was working against Marquis Daniels and Johnny Newman in practice everyday. Jason Terry was relishing the fact that he wasn’t a Hawk. Dirk started killing guys from the high post and drawing more fouls instead of relying on his great 3-point stroke. Jerry Stackhouse was doing quality things (which really pains me to say). Keith Van Horn got healthy and hit an occasional big three as well. Diop completely shut down the paint, and when he did, the Mavs would turn and burn on transition defenses. During timeouts, players would get pumped up by Avery Johnson. And when Johnson wasn’t talking to them, Darrell Armstrong. Armstrong’s contributions were bigger off the court than they were on the court. Do you know why? Because these guys meshed early, after having closed out the previous season together. This wasn’t a team with a Shaq and Wade that were so one-guy reliant that they could get by without each other.
Now. Well, several of those aforementioned names are gone. Swapped out for older, bigger, slower, and worse shooters. The addition of Anthony Johnson should have helped, but it forced Devin Harris back to the bench, hindering his development once again. He still can’t hit the broad side of a barn with his jumper, but neither could Tony Parker two years into his NBA career and he’s doing just fine. (note: Tony is still inconsistent with a jumper, but his massive minutes have allowed his confidence to grow to the point that he thinks he’s getting to the hoop on every play). Keith Van Horn is spending time with his family, which I commend. But Austin Croshere doesn’t even qualify as a bootleg version of Van Horn. He rebounds better, but he doesn’t do anything else better. Armstrong’s heart and soul is in Indianapolis, replaced by Devean George’s tendency to pull up lame. If George were a horse, he would have been put to rest LONG ago. Daniels and the other sparkplugs are also gone. Johnny Newman was replaced by a more physical, less likeable and less effective Greg Buckner.
That comes down to a lot of changes. Too many to count. Separately, they appear like upgrades in several spots, but when they come together it just doesn’t work. Johnson’s an individual upgrade, and Croshere was supposed to be a cheaper Van Horn (but I’m sure Van Horn could have been had in Dallas at quite a discount). Sure, it’s not as extreme as the New York Knicks’ situation, but it is moderately comparable. You cannot make changes to always bring in better individual players. Sometimes you’ve got to go with what works. Last year’s crew worked, and should still be together.
Anthony Johnson has slowed down the pace. Jason Terry has the ball in his hands early in sets too often, and he hasn’t run the high pick-and-roll nearly as effective as Devin Harris did last year. Terry can’t run around to get open for jumpers while running the point, and the stagnant offense has pushed Dirk back out beyond the arc.
Now Josh Howard is injured, forcing Avery to start Jerry Stackhouse. This, of course, has led Stackhouse back into the me-first zone he spent most of his career. If they still had Daniels, Avery could have plugged Daniels into the starting rotation for Howard, and kept Stackhouse at the sixth man role where he has been the best in his career. We may never see Devean George play a game healthy again, and he’s nowhere the leader that Armstrong was, while sitting on the pine.
Will this team mesh in time to make a postseason surge? I’m sure they will; the season is still young. I just don’t expect them to be as good and tough as they were last season. Do I hope all of this is right? Yes. I am a Spurs fan after all.
Sidebar on Jason Terry: He was awesomely tough in college. He played excellent for Team USA before their first collapse. But, he goes to the Atlanta Hawks, and his entire history goes up in smoke turning him into the classic point-per-game-stat-junkey (read Glenn Robinson or Stephon Marbury). Once he hit Dallas, everyone started to realize that this guy was a tough player, who thrived on winning and was not afraid to take some big shots, whether they went down or not. Against San Antonio last year in the postseason, I’m willing to say that Jason Terry was just as deadly, if not more of a killer, than Dirk was in the series. It’s true. Doubt me? Go back and look at the fourth quarter of all of Dallas’ wins and see who it was that knocked down clutch shots.
Note: I seriously misjudged the change and charge that Avery put into the Mavs last year. I knew he was going to be good, I just didn’t think he was going to be that good and smart. I hope Avery will consider returning home in about 6 years when Coach Pop decides to hang ‘em up at the same time as Tim Duncan (after about 5-6 more rings of course).
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