# My Mavericks Season Preview



## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

*This the year?*

In a first for the Dallas Mavericks, Donn Nelson and Mark Cuban had an extremely quiet offseason compared to standards. It all started offseason, when Nash (part of the big three) left for Phoenix, little did _anyone _know that it was the start of the end for that era. Midway through last season, long-standing coach Don Nelson stepped down and handed over the reigns to rookie coach Avery Johnson. Avery got the Mavericks to play like they never have before, going 16-2 at the end of the season before their playoff meltdown. The Dallas Mavericks finally started playing defense, and took a step in the right direction this offseason with a few signings.

After a somewhat disappointing end to the offseason, with Nowitzki yelling at Terry and losing to the Suns (of all teams), the Mavericks, for the first time in this era, stayed quiet. The longtime guard Michael Finley was waived under the new CBA amnesty rule, which created headwaves through the Mavericks organization. Screw _To Be or Not to Be _the real question was whether to pay him 51 million dollars to play for another team, or 102 million to be on your team. He was replaced by former King Doug Christie, but get your TiVo’s ready because on November the 5th, there will be one hell of a showdown with Finley vs Dallas.

*Speaking of the offseason...*

*Off Season Player Movement*
Re-Signed G Darrell Armstrong
Signed G Doug Christie
Signed G/F Rawle Marshall
Signed F Josh Powell
Signed C DeSagna Diop

*Departing Players*
F/C Alan Henderson (Cleveland)
G Michael Finley (San Antonio) 


*STARTING LINEUP*​








*#25 Erick Dampier*
Age: 30
Height 6’11”
Weight: 265 lbs.
Projected Statistics, 2005-06: 9 ppg, 10 rpg, 1 apg, 1.7 bpg 

After a somewhat disappointing season by Erick Dampier, the Mavericks need Dampier to step up this season. When he rolled, the Mavericks rolled. No surprise that Nowitzki and the rest of the Mavs have one of their best ever season when they finally get a “force” in the middle. If Dampier can remain a defensive anchor, and stay out of foul trouble then the Mavericks have a good chance to win the title this season.









*#41 Dirk Nowitzki*
Age: 28
Height 6’11”
Weight: 243 lbs.
Projected Statistics, 2005-06: 27 ppg, 10 rpg, 3 apg, 1.3 spg, 2 bpg

After his best ever season, Dirk Nowitzki had a meltdown in the playoffs. This offseason, he has worked hard and has lead his German team further then they have ever been before. He has publicly stated they _He knows he is the leader and has to be the main man on this team, _as one Mavericks fan stated _The Jason Terry screw-up may be the best thing to ever happen to Dirk_. Look for Dirk to come out of the gates on fire, with a passion. Without him, Dallas is nothing.









*#5 Josh Howard*
Age: 25
Height 6’7
Weight: 210 lbs.
Projected Statistics, 2005-06: 14 ppg, 7 rpg, 2 apg, 2 spg, 1 bpg

Josh Howard, the super sophomore. This guy just keeps getting better and better, and I’m sure when he was picked at #29, no-one had any idea that this guy would become one of the best players on one of the best teams in the league. His defense is amazing, and he is their every single night of the week to pester the Kobe Bryant’s and Tracy McGrady’s of the league. Josh is also becoming more of a leader, he just needs to work on holding in his frustratison. but then again, a technical can be the best of things for a team. His rebounding has also improved vastly









*#6 Marquis Daniels*

Age: 24
Height 6’6
Weight: 200 lbs.
Projected Statistics, 2005-06: 11 ppg, 3.8 apg, 4 rpg, 1.5 spg

Marquis Daniels might not necessarily be the starting Shooting guard for Dallas, but for this article’s purpose, he is. The undrafted rookie who had an amazing first season and then drained out in his sophomore season, he went from second highest scorer in the playoffs to an injured player who got no playing time. His versatile defense gives him a good opportunity to start and clock up minutes to show his game, the same game which earned him a 6 year 38 million dollar contract









*#31 Jason Terry*
Age: 28
Height 6’2
Weight: 180 lbs.
Projected Statistics, 2005-06: 15 ppg, 6 apg, 3 rpg, 1.5 spg

Jason Terry had a season beyond belief last year, no-one expected him to come close to Steve Nash’ value, but he did and if it weren’t for him, we would have been bounced in the first round to the Houston Rockets. No-one thought he could be a pass first PG, but he showed them, whilst he was no Jason Kidd he still racked up assists and was our playmaker. His scoring and defense also improved last season, as he proved to be an invaluable asset to the team. The main goal of next offseason will be re-signing Jason Terry


*BENCH*​ The Dallas Mavericks have on the best benches in the league, varying from the dashing Devin Harris to the deadly duo of DeSagna and Didier. 


Backing up the center position, is the newest Maverick in DeSagna Diop. I know what you’re thinking, that waste of space who shouldn’t of been drafted? Well, if it was any other team I would agree, but it’s the Mavericks so I think he has potential . He provides defense, and more importantly he creates minutes where Dampier can save energy and fouls. He partners with African import, DJ MBenga, everyone’s favourite potential-boy. DJ had a huge summer league leading the VSL in Blocks, and whilst he still needs to work on his timing, look for him to be either dominating NBDL or helping the Mavericks.

Dirk Nowitzki needs a good backup, last season he was leading the league in +/- rating’s but eventually came 3rd due to the fact that the Mavericks acquired Keith Van Horn to back him up and score some points. Summer league star Josh Powell was given also given a contract this offseason. He dominated the SL grabbing double-doubles left and right, his hustle will earn him playing time, he is a very-Avery type player

Jerry Stackhouse has a good chance to start at Shooting Guard, but I believe that he is best fitted coming off the bench as a sparkplug. If he can stay healthy, he has a good chance to win 6th Man of the Year. He provides instant offense, but can occasionally bog down the offense and try to do too much iso work 

Another new Maverick is Jacki…err, Doug Christie. Fresh off a sour season in Orlando (due to his attitude), look for Christie to make a splash in Dallas. After saying that he wants to come here, I have no problem believing he will fit right in and add to the wonderful chemistry of the team. Like Jerry, Doug has the chance to start but I believe his old age will inhibit him from doing so. He will be our #2 defender, defending the second best offensive players (the Desmond Masons, Ricky Davis’, Larry Hughes’ etc)

And last, but certainly not least is #5 pick Devin Harris. After a strong start to the season, Devin had a shaky finish after his confidence was shattered by Don Nelson midseason. He is an Avery type player (AJ even said himself) and has the opportunity to become a poor-mans Kevin Johnson in Dallas, he has the athletic tools to become a superstar in the league, once JT is gone. He will be getting more and more minutes as not only the season progresses, but as he progresses himself

This isn’t even including Darrell “Hustle” Armstrong, Rawle Marshall and Pavel Podkolzin (the last two, likely to be in the NBDL) who will likely make solid contributions throughout the season (excluding Pavel)


*The Final Word?*

People say that the Mavericks should stop blowing up every offseason, well they finally did. Except, no-one considers them serious title contenders except for their own fans. The media’s perception of Dallas will always be a no-defense/all offense team, but with Avery Johnson at the helm look for the Mavs to be _serious title contenders. _With what I believe Phoenix’s terrible offseason, the Mavericks only have the San Antonio Spurs in their way in the West, and usually the Mavs beat their Eastern opponents (except Indiana, an imminent threat)


My keys for the Mavericks to win the title

-A healthy season, last season Dampier, Nowitzki, Howard, Daniels, Stackhouse and Van Horn all missed a significant amount of game time. If they can stay healthy and be tip-top for the playoffs, watch out

-Erick Dampier needs to get close to his form from his final season in Golden State, he needs to stay out of foul trouble and grab the boards

-The signings need to somewhat pan out. Christie needs to replace Finley’s input and add defense, while the rooks must provide hustle. Diop needs to be able to play solid defense when he checks in

-Nowitzki needs to play like he wants it


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## *SNAP* (Sep 24, 2005)

Yeah thats completely true!


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## The Future7 (Feb 24, 2005)

Excellent preview. The Mavs need a healthy season and Dampier to play well for us to succeed. I'm looking forward to see what Avery can do with this team.


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## DaUnbreakableKinG (Jun 28, 2003)

:clap: :greatjob: 


Looking good Theo. Looking good.


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## Mavericks_Fan (Apr 19, 2005)

Good preview, Theo.



> After a somewhat disappointing season by Erick Dampier, the Mavericks need Dampier to step up this season. When he rolled, the Mavericks rolled. No surprise that Nowitzki and the rest of the Mavs have one of their best ever season when they finally get a “force” in the middle. If Dampier can remain a defensive anchor, and stay out of foul trouble then the Mavericks have a good chance to win the title this season.


He just needs to get his head right. He seems to be a really "emotional" guy from what I hear. Combine that with getting yanked every time he made a mistake by the coaching staff and it's not hard to figure out why his confidence needs work.



> He has publicly stated they _He knows he is the leader and has to be the main man on this team, _as one Mavericks fan stated _The Jason Terry screw-up may be the best thing to ever happen to Dirk_. Look for Dirk to come out of the gates on fire, with a passion. Without him, Dallas is nothing.


I wonder who said that  And I still believe it. And as far as fire, look what he's been doing in Euroball. Holy lord, he's tearing up the place. If he can do on the Mavericks what he's been doing on that German team then watch out. His fire is lit.



> Josh is also becoming more of a leader, he just needs to work on holding in his frustratison. but then again, a technical can be the best of things for a team. His rebounding has also improved vastly


Having guys like Doug Christie and DA should help with his attitude and improving on his already excellent defensive game. He's already a good offensive rebounder and should be even better this year.



> Marquis Daniels might not necessarily be the starting Shooting guard for Dallas, but for this article’s purpose, he is.


Chances of him starting at the beginning of the year are about a billion to one, but he hasn't earned it to be honest. Hopefully he'll get back to what he did two years ago, and hopefully his off season shooting practice has made a difference. If he develops a shot and gets his head on straight he'll be an outstanding 2 guard.



> the deadly duo of DeSagna and Didier


Haha, I'm going to have to assume tongue-in-cheek on that one 

Diop must be at least competent in order to keep Dirk out of the center spot as much as possible. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm cautiously optomistic. The Doug Christie signing made me very happy from the beginning. He can teach these swingmen how to play some defense and he can free up Terry to take his shots. This is an underrated signing.

We have 3 "projects" at center. They need to start showing some (lots of) improvement or it's time to start dumping the dead weight. Diop, DJ, P-Pod, Marshall, Powell....that's a lot of really raw lumber.


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## mff4l (Dec 31, 2004)

great post theo


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## tmac41 (Sep 9, 2005)

nice and detailed preview Theo, i agree wif u 100% on everything u say. Im jsut wondering this year how far we can go if Dampier has a good season and everybody stays fit. If we lose Dirk to injury that would be a massive blow


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## mavsmania41 (Mar 27, 2005)




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## mavsman (Jun 11, 2003)

mavsmania41 said:


> I cant already belieave Dirk is 30 seems like yesterday he was only 23 and playing in his first All Star game with him and Nash in Philidelphia.


What are you talking about? Dirk is not 30. He won't even be 28 until after this season ends. He was born 6/19/1978.


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## mavsmania41 (Mar 27, 2005)

Sorry about that I meant to say about to be 30 in afew years I didnt mean it that way.


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## Amareca (Oct 21, 2002)

Phoenix terrible offseason. LOL

We will kick your *** again if the playoffs if we even have to bother.


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

Amareca said:


> Phoenix terrible offseason. LOL
> 
> We will kick your *** again if the playoffs if we even have to bother.


You


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