In the playoffs last season, the eventual NBA champion Dallas Mavericks were near unstoppable. With an offense that could score inside and out without much trouble and a formidable defense despite their aging stars like Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, the Mavs were able to get to the NBA Finals and pull off the upset over the revamped Miami Heat led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
This season the same can’t be said for the Dallas Mavericks as they have lost key players to free agency like J.J. Barea, Caron Bulter and Tyson Chandler. Even though the Mavs were able to bring in talented veteran players like Lamar Odom, Vince Carter and Delonte West, Dallas isn’t the same team they were last year and might struggle just to make the playoffs this time around.
With an 11-8 record (2nd place in Southwest division) and a banged up Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks are going through the same thing that the Los Angeles Lakers are with younger and faster teams getting the best of them on a nightly basis. Both the Lakers and Mavs are still very talented basketball teams with great players like Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki that could lead these squads deep in the playoffs, but the fact is both of these storied franchises could be headed towards an inevitable rebuilding process.
Despite this most likely being the case for the Mavericks in the near future, Dirk Nowitzki remains confident that the path to the NBA Finals in the Western Conference still goes through Dallas:
“I haven’t seen one team in the West that I’m scared of.” Nowitzki said via ESPN. “I really haven’t. I think we can compete with all of them.
“Oklahoma City has probably the best record, but I think we’ve played them well every time we’ve seen them and everybody else has been up and down.”
Personally, I think the Mavs are done unless they make a trade for Dwight Howard or Deron Williams. There is still a slight chance that they can compete with a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it is doubtful in my opinion.
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Comments- frank: please bring manning and thetop running back in the draft maybe abig time left tackel and all jet fans will...
- Alexis: theres no way that rondo can get traded we need him the rest of the season AND IM GOING TO THE CELTICS GAME...
- And1: Damn the Suns if they do trade Nash. Retire Nash as a Sun, resign him next year, and spend money in getting...
- CLNS_Nick: Great read. Very interesting. Do you have any link/sources to Bird’s quotes?
- sid: OKC is overrated they are still the same exact team that only won one game last year in the playoffs against the...
- baltimore 34-32: Baltimore will carve them up no problem winning here
- Ravens Fan: YES They can!
- Ravens Fan: Tottally agreed Baltimore will win but it will be tough.
OKC is overrated they are still the same exact team that only won one game last year in the playoffs against the Mavs, and the Mavs would be 2-0 against them this year if it wasnt for a miracle 3 made by KD with 1 second left in regulation