Don't get too cocky, the mavs still have a good team and they can turn it around very fast. People think its the Jason Kidd trade that screwed them, but if you watch their team they play GREAT with Kidd on the court. Their problems start when Kidd goes on the bench, its as if the rest of the team is not playing or trying like they used to.
The Mavs are done as far as being a championship contender. They'll still win like 50 games but they look past their primes already and they are really weak on the inside.
The Mavs real problem is their defense. Until they shore that up, they are going to continue to blow leads and lose games.
This Mavs loss tonight was a beauty to watch. They blew a lead and Josh Howard made the most bone-headed inbounds base I ever saw. Totally demoralizing for them. They are 2-7, 0-4 at home and have lost 5 in a row. (Yes, it was worse than the Spurs game tonight. The Rockets will be OK. The Mavs probably will not).
They need to trade Dirk right now. Cuban needs to get over his dirk man crush and trade him. Its hilarious that like a year ago they could have had kobe or AI for dirk and then the mavs would be a totally different team. Dirk still has value, trade him to portland for young talent. There is no point in rebuilding with dirk. He will never be the go to superstar and by the time you can rebuild and surround him with good players, he will be in his late 30s.
It WAS the Kidd trade that killed them. Kidd himself is still an elite point guard, but he's an aging elite point guard who has never won a championship. And the Mavs mortgaged their future to get him.<BR>
It's too bad we'll never get the chance to pay back the Mavs team that cheated us out of the 2005 playoffs.
But we'll be the extreme favorites this time: everything's for us to lose - not exactly the scenario for a team seeking vengeance. I would've liked to beat them when they were at the top, then rub salt in their eyes by winning the one thing they've never had, a championship. Oh well, there's still the Jazz.
in my view, where Cuban messed up was when he didn't want to pay Phil Jackson top $$$ for coaching the Mavs. if history is any indication, Phil Jax gets playoff teams over the hump, to win the ring. instead, Cuban opted to get a coach on the cheap, Nelson and then Avery Johnson. He got what he paid for.
