Dallas Mavs Previews

Dirk, Cuban, Kidd, Marion, Gooden, shake, serve.

Dallas Mavericks - 2009 NBA Blog Preview - NBAMate

The exciting news for Mavs fans was obviously the sign-and-trade that landed them Shawn Marion, and far more importantly, the big Aussie Nathan Jawai (ok, there may be some bias in there). Marion gives the Mavs a versatile forward to fit alongside the versatile Josh Howard, and of course Dirk Nowitzki (who is versatile). I’d love to say they traded for Jawai with the intent of giving him minutes, but in reality this isn’t the case. In the off-season Dallas also signed Drew Gooden (who you’d think will back up Damp) and Tim Thomas, almost completely erasing any chance Jawai had of making the rotation (that’s not to say he won’t pop back into the side later).

The 2009-2010 Season, One Itty Bitty Nutshell " The Two Man Game

Will Shawn Marion be able to play effectively alongside Josh Howard? This is another argument based on the somewhat arbitrary positional designations, but one that seems to be getting a lot of buzz in Mavs-land. Howard and Marion are, at their core, small forwards. I would agree with that. But both players are more than capable of manning multiple positions, meaning the capital letters next to their name and number in the program are a bit arbitrary. The real question is: do Shawn Marion’s talents create too many redundancies with Josh Howard’s, and leave too many flaws exposed? I have a hard time believing that to be the case.

Mavs Moneyball - In Awe of Dirk's Hair

What's the window of opportunity for this veteran team? This Mavericks team is officially in the final two minutes of the game! With each passing year they become closer and closer to the day when they will have to completely reconstruct this team. The Mavericks have been a perennial contender for many years now and have not been able to accomplish the ultimate goal of bringing a championship to Dallas (Thanks largely in part to the phantom fouls on Dwayne Wade, Damn you David Stern!). The Mavericks have maybe two years to get the job done, the time is now!