Dallas Mavericks 2010-11 Preview

Believe it or not, the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks season is here.

With all the ink currently being spilled on the mind-blowing playoff run of the Texas Rangers and the illimitably frustrating turd that the Dallas Cowboys have become, the Mavericks – far and away the most successful Dallas sports franchise over the past decade – are flying far under the radar. Hey, at least they're not the Dallas Stars, who despite starting their season 4-0 have barely registered a blip.

The 2009-10 regular season was a rousing success. The squad won 50+ games for the 10^th straight season – only the Spurs currently possess such a streak, they have 11 straight seasons – and won the Southwest Division and were the second seed in the Western Conference. They had home-court advantage over everyone but the Lakers in the West and looked like they would put their playoff demons to rest with a deep run.

Nope. One and done again.

The Mavericks' disappointing flop against the San Antonio Spurs in 6 games became yet another chapter in the lengthy tome of playoff disappointments. Head coach Rick Carlisle was roundly criticized during and after the series for some of his decisions, particularly his benching of Caron Butler in the second half of game 3 and his reluctance to throw rookie guard Roddy Beaubois in to the fray until game 6. The young Frenchman erupted for 16 quick points and was a key in erasing a 21-point deficit, but Carlisle sat him again for most of the fourth quarter and by then, the game and season were lost.

Entering the new season, there is reason for optimism and many NBA pundits are picking the Mavericks to win their division again over Houston (with Yao back) and the Spurs. While another division banner hanging from the rafters in the American Airlines Center would be nice, the Mavericks are judged solely by how they do in the post-season. Another first-round exit might spell doom for just about everyone involved as Mark Cuban would be forced to make sweeping changes.

With the climate now set, let's look at how this year's club sets up.

FORWARDS

The Dallas front court begins and ends with superstar Dirk Nowitzki. The 32-year-old power forward is as reliable a scorer and rebounder as there is in the league and last year averaged 25.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg. He is a matchup nightmare for opposing coaches and when he's on, is as close to unstoppable as they come, and well worth every penny of his recently-inked four-year $80 million contract. There has been one constant in the Mavericks' 10-year, 50+ wins streak, and that is Nowitzki. He practically never misses a game and unlike most of his Dallas teammates, Dirk takes his game to another level in the playoffs. His career playoff averages of 25.5 ppg and 11 rpg make him one of only three players in NBA history – the others being Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettite – to post 25/11's for their playoff careers. And Dirk will join them in the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible.

Shawn Marion, while maddening on the offensive end at times with his frequent point-blank misses, put up respectable numbers last year of 12.0 ppg and 6.4 rpg and is most effective when running the court with Jason Kidd. He's somewhat of a Swiss Army knife on defense as his size and athleticism allow him to guard anyone from point guards to power forwards. Veterans Brian Cardinal and Steve Novak will add toughness and outside shooting in limited minutes as the Mavs will most likely utilize guard Caron Butler at the three when Marion is out.

GUARDS

We've heard it repeatedly going in to this season: Caron Butler is the key to the Mavs' success this campaign. His arrival last season provided Dallas with what it hoped would be a highly talented sidekick to Nowitzki and a matchup problem for other teams due to his size, strength and ability to drive to the hoop. Instead, Butler settled for too many jumpers and averaged just 15.2 ppg as a Mav while shooting 44%. This is a contract year for Butler and he has slimmed down over the summer to make himself more explosive.

The seemingly ageless Jason Kidd is best known as one of the premier assist men in NBA history, yet he has quietly become one of the league's all-time great three-point shooters as well. He nailed a career-best 42.3% clip last year and was often called on to make big shots. Jason Terry had his worst season in a Dallas uniform, averaging 16.6 ppg on .438 shooting and .365 from three. While he is looking to reclaim his 2009 crown as NBA Sixth Man of the Year, it's likely that his minutes will be cut in to by Caron Butler (16.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg) seeing more time at two-guard when the Mavs go big, and predominantly by the young duo of Roddy Beaubois and rookie Dominique Jones. Both Beaubois and Jones have the athleticism and shot-creating abilities that the Mavericks have been looking for for years. While Beaubois won't be ready for the start of the season after suffering a broken foot at the World Championships last summer, all Dallas fans are eager to see if he can build on his memorable performance in last year's limited playoff minutes. Beaubois is the key to the season – if he can become a dependable scorer, the Mavs will excel.

Jose Juan Barea has carved out a useful niche as Dallas' backup point guard and at times ignites the team offensively. It's on the defensive end though where he gets victimized nightly by bigger opponents. Ideally, his minutes will decrease this season as Carlisle gains confidence in Beaubois. DeShawn Stevenson had a dreadful season in 09-10 and will likely be nothing more than a garbage-time minute eater.

CENTERS

Longtime fixture – literally and figuratively – Erick Dampier is finally gone. After Mavericks' tag team duo of Brendan Haywood and Tyson Chandler, acquired in the off-season from the Charlotte Bobcats, give the Mavs 14 feet of athleticism that few teams outside of the Lakers can match up with. Haywood's arrival in a mid-season trade last season was one of the factors in a 13-game winning streak as his improved offensive abilities (9.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg) over Dampier allowed Jason Kidd to actually look to the post from time-to-time and opposing defenses had to pay more attention to the paint. Here's a surprise stat for you: Haywood was actually second in the entire league in “and-one” bucket percentage; 6.9% of his attempts ended in a hoop and a free throw. Only Orlando's Dwight Howard had a higher frequency.

Haywood was an upgrade defensively as well, averaging 2.1 blocks per game. Throw in Chandler's average output of 6.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 1.1 bpg, and the Mavericks have their most promising pivot duo ever.

Health is a concern as Chandler has missed an average of 34 games the past two seasons so newcomer Ian Mahinmi, a 23-year-old from France, may get some burn.

COACHING

Head coach Rick Carlisle is regarded as a brilliant basketball mind and a coach who demands accountability from his players. In Carlisle's two years here, the team has a .640 winning percentage in the regular season, but that dips to just .438 in the playoffs. In his eight years as a head coach, Carlisle has won 50+ games five times, which is impressive, yet none of his teams have made it to the Finals. Still, he is one of the top coaches in the league and hopefully his recent collapse during practice isn't a metaphor for the Mavs' season.

PREDICTION

It is brought up ad nauseam that the Mavericks are one of the oldest teams in the NBA, yet with the potential emergence of Beaubois and Jones, and the arrival of Chandler, Dallas could dramatically decrease the average age of its rotation. The Dallas bench is regarded as one of the strongest in the league and they will have to use depth to overwhelm opponents. Bottom line, you know what you're going to get from Nowitzki, but in order for the Mavericks to make any serious noise this season – and that means success in the playoffs – Butler and Beaubois will have to contribute heavily.

I see them holding off San Antonio to win the Southwest division, gain the second seed in the playoffs again and making a run to the Western conference finals, eventually losing to the Lakers.

Uniwatch Meets Rachel Maddow

For years we have had the annual unveiling of whatever disaster the Oregon Ducks were sporting to lead the way in vomit-inducing college football apparel. Remember the corrugated steel pattern on the Ducks uniforms in the past? How about the time the names and numbers have been the same color as the jersey? Stupid and a complete failure, right? In a recent Sports Illustrated.com pictorial of college football's Ten Worst Uniforms, 7 of the 10 bore the Nike swoosh, with Oregon taking top prize.

Just when you think the apparently color-blind and cross-eyed designers who dream up ways to make college athletes look more and more grotesque have taken it as far as they can, they've managed to completely outdo themselves. This season, Nike has unleashed the Pro Combat Series of Dress, a completely superfluous collection of underwear, padded undershirts, jerseys, pants and helmets that is “the lightest ever” and will be used during selected “rivalry” games this season.

The University of Texas is one of the torch bearers for this complex uniform system, one in which Nike has apparently even made the D-ring on the players belts out of titanium to make it 66 percent lighter than previous D-rings, according to their press releases.

Unfortunately for the Horns, the ounce or two that they've shaved off of their belts won't be an exclusive advantage that will give them an inside track to a national championship. The Pro Combat designers have created identical technological super hero threads for Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Louisiana State University, Miami, Virginia Tech, Missouri, The Ohio State University, Boise State, Oklahoma, and TCU.

You may have seen the Horned Frogs debut their new regalia during their recent win against Oregon State at Cowboys Stadium and asked yourself, “Wait a minute, they didn't finish painting their helmets,” or “Are those scales on their pants?” Yep. They were. Real frogs don't have scales, but your gridiron warriors are wearing patterned pants that would make Shakira blush.

To make the unis even more super cool, Nike embroidered slogans inside the collar that only can be seen when the player is putting the jersey on. For Virginia Tech, it reads “Beamerball,” for Texas, simply”Pride.” Apparently the TCU players are big Tom Petty fans as their jerseys read “Don't Back Down.”

On the Nike website, all of the Pro Combat-wearing schools' uniforms are revealed in a slide show where a faceless caricature (think Marvin the Martian, but with muscles) flexes imposingly in a dangerous looking environment: the Florida player is emerging from a gator-infested swamp, the Pitt player is pounding his chest in a steel refinery surrounded by flames, etc. The most ridiculous is the red-helmeted Ohio State player standing on a bombed-out playing field with soldiers barely visible behind him through all of the smoke of battle and with World War II fighter planes overhead. It's one the most histrionic and utterly ridiculous images I've ever seen - as if college football is somehow equated with actual warfare.

Oh wait, Nike thinks it is. In the top left corner of all of the team's slides, Nike has included the tagline “Prepare for Combat.”

Is this really the time for Nike to use the term “combat” to describe their bombastic garments while using artwork that places football players in battlefield settings to promote their product? The uniforms are clearly a shout out to current shooter video games like Halo, and will appeal to young consumers and fans for this reason, but tying their identity to war at a time when over 4000 Americans have lost their lives and more than 30,000 have been wounded in combat comes off as disrespectful and garish to me.

In the artwork that Nike created for the West Virginia uniform, the faceless model is depicted as being in the middle of a mountaintop mine, donning threads that sport dull colors to create the illusion of being covered in coal dust and will have “29” stickers attached to the helmets as a tribute to the 29 miners that died in the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster this year. It may have been well-intentioned, but Nike's attempt to salute those that died didn't go over so well.

In a recent commentary on The Huffington Post, activist Jeff Biggers accused Nike and WVU of dishonoring the hundreds of thousands of miners who have died while either on the job or from black lung.

“In an act of total disrespect, Nike claims the West Virginia University football players put their lives on the line every day, just like coal miners,” he wrote.

Luckily the suits at Nike were saved from sure embarrassment when USC was placed on probation, and thus not selected to be one of the Pro Combat schools as their marketing image would surely be a Trojan player menacingly standing in the middle of the L.A. Riots with the Watts Tower crumbling in the background.

Another event that confoundedly escaped Nike's consciousness is the 2007 campus shootings that left 33 people, including the shooter, dead. They thought it would be OK to put the “Prepare for Combat” tag on a black military vehicle and park it on campus. Nice.

Longhorn coach Mack Brown, after a visit to the troops in the Middle East put things in the proper perspective. “I learned that war is different. We shouldn’t compare football games to war,” Brown said. “We say ‘battles’ and ‘war,’ and it’s not. These young people are getting into helicopters and going out to work every day, but may not come back.”

Unfortunately, Brown didn't convey these thoughts to Nike.

I don't mean to come off like a tree-hugging, bunny-eyed liberal pansy, but Nike is a bunch of schlong-jammers. Thankfully, UCLA is still an adidas school, and adidas schools will be donning red, white and blue colors this weekend to commemorate the 9th anniversary of 9/11.

NFL Mt. Rushmores

Alright football heads, time for a little debatin'!

It's 1:30am. You've just had your beer refreshed and one of your boys throws out, “OK. Name the four players that would make up each NFL team's Mount Rushmore.” A perfect way to navigate your way to last call.

“Just players? Or are coaches and owners eligible.”

“Just players. What do we care about the suits? Just give me the best players in each franchise's history.”

“Can we have two players that played the same position but in different eras?”

“Dude. I said THE FOUR FACESOF EACH FRANCHISE! I don't care what position they played or when they played.”

This actually happened to me the other night, and within minutes several other bar patrons jumped in to throw in their two cents, and it dawned on me that it might make a good column and argument starter. It's my list, so I don't feel the need to actually spending time defending each selection (and I'm too lazy too). But hey, if you want to call me out, I'm open for a little email tête-a-tête.

Arizona/St. Louis Cardinals: Jim Hart, Dan Dierdorf, Conrad Dobler, Jim Bakken. I considered my favorite player from when I was about 9-years-old, Terry Metcalf, but alas, he didn't make it.

Atlanta Falcons: Steve Bartkowski, Deion Sanders, Brett Favre, Tommy Nobis, Jeff Van Note.

Baltimore Ravens: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Matt Stover, Jonathan Ogden.

Buffalo Bills: Jim Kelly, O.J Simpson, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas (narrowly edging out Joe DeLamielleure).

Carolina Panthers: Steve Smith, Jake Delhomme, Kevin Greene, John Kasay.

Chicago Bears: Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary. And yes, I did consider “Red” Grange.

Cincinnati Bengals: Anthony Munoz, Boomer Esiason, Cris Collinsworth, Ken Anderson.

Cleveland Browns: Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Ozzie Newsome, Lou Groza.

Dallas Cowboys: Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith, Bob Lilly, Randy White. I know you Cows fans think that your Mt. Rushmore should have ten heads, but we have to keep things even. I decided to only take one QB, so no Troy.

Denver Broncos: John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Steve Atwater.

Detroit Lions: Barry Sanders, Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Billy Sims.

Green Bay Packers: Brett Favre, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Willie Davis, Forrest Gregg.

Indianapolis/Baltimore Colts: Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, John Mackey.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Mark Brunell, Tony Boselli, Jimmy Smith, Fred Taylor.

Kansas City Chiefs: Len Dawson, Willie Lanier, Jan Stenerud, Derrick Thomas.

Miami Dolphins: Dan Marino, Larry Csonka, Larry Little, Nick Buoniconti.

Minnesota Vikings: Alan Page, Fran Tarkenton, Brett Favre, Paul Krause, Cris Carter.

New England Patriots: John Hannah, Tom Brady, Adam Vinatieri, Sam Cunningham.

New Orleans Saints: Archie Manning, Sam Mills, Ricky Jackson, Drew Brees.

New York Giants: Sam Huff, Y.A. Tittle, Frank Gifford, Lawrence Taylor.

New York Jets: Joe Namath, Don Maynard, Brett Favre, Mark Gastineau, Curtis Martin.

Oakland/L.A. Raiders: Marcus Allen, Art Shell, Fred Biletnikoff, George Blanda. Honestly, the Raiders were the toughest team to narrow to four players – they have a truckload of Hall of Famers and memorable characters.

Philadelphia Eagles: Reggie White, Chuck Bednarik, Donovan McNabb, Tommy McDonald.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster, Lynn Swann.

St. Louis/L.A. Rams: Eric Dickerson, Kurt Warner, Jackie Slater, Deacon Jones.

San Diego Chargers: LaDainian Tomlinson, Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow, Lance Alworth.

San Francisco 49ers: Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Hugh McElhenny.

Seattle Seahwks: Jim Zorn, Steve Largent, Walter Jones, Cortez Kennedy.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Lee Roy Selmon, Mike Alstott, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks.

Washington Redskins: Sammy Baugh, Art Monk, Joe Theismann, Darrell Green.

So there you have it. A little NFL talk while we anxiously wait for the season to start never hurts. Let me know if I left anyone out or if you have an argument against any of my selections – we can discuss it over a few beers sometime.

Greatness in our midst

Do you realize we have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time among us? Last season, Tony Romo attempted his 1,500th pass. That qualifies him to be on the list of the most efficient passers in the history of the game. And he came in at third; ahead of names like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner and Drew Brees.

We sure do like to bitch about it when Romo throws an interception or fumbles at a critical moment in a game. And yes, he has a resounding one playoff victory on his resume. But sometimes you need to step back and appreciate talent when you're lucky enough to have it. Count me among those who'll be yelling the loudest if Romo screws the pooch in an important game this season. But at the same time, I'll try and remember that, even when he makes a mistake, Romo is still one of the very best in the game.

Ac/Dc - Walk All Over You(With Bon)(High Quality!)

I wanted to share this with all AC/DC fans. The greatness of Bon Scott what was probably 1979. I saw these guys 3 times with Bon Scott - 1977, 1978 and 1979. Awesome is the only way to describe it. I strongly suggest you catch Behind the Music on this band. It takes you back to the early days, very entertaining.

Slim pickin's

If I heard correctly, I believe yesterday and tomorrow are the only two nights of the entire year where none of the four major sports leagues (and yes, I still count the NHL as one of the Big 4) have any games scheduled. It's not quite enough time to get true sports withdrawals, but it's definitely an annoyance. And I don't really get that fired up about the Major League All-Star Game, either. So for me, that's basically three straight days of nothing. At least there's a two-hour Deadliest Catch I can watch.

RIP Yankee

Word just came down that long time Yankee owner George Steinbrenner passed away this morning from an apparent heart attack. Steinbrenner was at his home in Florida when the heart attack occurred last evening. He was 80. Steibrenner had owned the team since 1973 but turned the operations over to his two sons in 2007 as his health was failing. Just last week he was had visited the Yankees traing grounds in Florida and said he feeling "pretty good".

Yankee fans have now the second leg of the trifecta in place. Just last week long time, legendary stadium announcer Bob Sheppard passed away at the age of 99.

More to follow on this story.