Originally Posted by
Pauulzcappin
Also putting 1U at +696 on them making out of the West. Everybody is talking a lot about the Spurs as being a TOP team in the West mostly due to their regular season. Dallas is only 6 games behind the Spurs but not everyone remembers they had a 8 game losing streak when they lost both Nowitzki and Butler, had they gone 4-4, the advantage on the standings would be only 2 games. Mavs are usually fast in transition but they are still on the bottom at off possessions/48 min because it usually takes time to set up their halfcourt offense which is very good. They are a bit over avg on the defensive category but they have a very interesting matchup zone that can give trouble to their opponents. Now on to the roster... This Dallas Mavericks team is IMO the deepest in the league. Their set of guards with Kidd, Stevenson, Terry, Barea and Beaubois is VERY good. Good 3-pt shooters, drivers, a defensive specialist and one of the best closers in the game on Jet. They have a good SF on Stojakovic who is a very good shooter, even though he lacks of defense. Marion can play the 3-4 positions with no problem. I'm pretty sure I don't have to talk about Nowitzki here, awesome closer and very good scorer. They are very good at the Center position. Tyson Chandler is having a career year, playing very tough on D and outdealing most of the centers that came his way, including an outstanding performance against the Celtics on TD Garden where he went for 15-15 I think, against arguably the best defensive center on Perkins. His substitute is Brandon Haywood who would be a starter on most teams around the league, despite his poor FT shooting, he's a very good defender and also explosive in the offensive end. 3rd guy is Ian Mahinmi, who's a young promising center that has done a good job so far. That's why I think there's a lot of value on picking the Dallas Mavericks to win the West and get to the NBA finals.