Marion to Mavs

Does this make Dallas a threat? Not to just my Spurs, but to win the title? Well, chalking up that 4-1 stomping of San Antonio as a match up/no Ginobili problem and considering the ass kicking that Denver gave them last year, it is a needed improvement. That team they had last year wasn't going to do much of anything this year.

I think everyone knows that Marion is not a great player, and definitely was a product of the system he was in. But he does have some skills. He can defend and is still fairly athletic. Put him with a savvy PG like Kidd and he might have a resurgence. Its a good fit for both sides. If I am Marion, with no handles and lots of athleticism, I am looking to find someone to get me easy baskets and open looks. If I am the Mavs, I want an upgrade over Stack in a suit.

But we already know all that.

Really though. As an NBA fan I don't consider the Mavericks a contender. Sure they got some pieces that can win some games, and definitely score some points if they play hard--which isn't a given with the Matrix.

Eh. I am not sold. Although to be fair, I had no clue the Magic were good enough to go to the Finals. Rashard Lewis and Hedo always seemed like softies to me. Glorified jump shooters. But it turns out Turk is a beast in the clutch and 'Shard likes to do Big Shot Rob impressions.

Who knew?


If I were a Mavs fan I would want Kidd and Terry at the guards, J-Howard at the three, Marion at the four and Dirk at five. That probably will be their small-ball lineup and its a dangerous one. Its reminds me of the Nellie-Mavs that didn't play defense. The hope here is that Shawn still can defend the four and the three ( and Parker and Paul ) while Quinton Ross is the designated stopper.They lack size and athleticism to play with the likes of Denver and Orlando, though. Dampier is a scrub. Hollins is a twig. Gortat is not that good. Dirk is a softie.

The solution to that problem is the hope that Dampier gets traded. I hear people talking about it: "And don't forget about Damp. We can bring in that final piece so don't even worry about matching up right now dude we are so gonna win the title next year."

I don't buy it, though. I think for the Mavs to make the leap they would need a force of personality type. Someone with cache and talent and a fire. Boston had that with KG but how many other dudes like that are there in the league? That dude (plus Thibodeau) got Ray Allen to play D, and lit a fire under all the scrub bench guys to hustle their asses off. I think the Mavs have talent enough to make a run because realistically, every team in the NBA has the talent to win a title or at least make a hell of a run at it . A lot of times it comes down to things like hustle, leadership, experience and all that other good shit. I mean, the Spurs outside of Tim and Dave had just barely decent talent the years they won.

The thing is I don't think Dirk has the talent to defend like KG or Duncan or Shaq. It isn't in him. He is a scorer. That is cool. You can win with a scorer, still. You have two choices in that situation: you either compliment the hell out of him and try to outscore everyone (a la Nellieball) or you plug the gaps. That 2006 Finals team did the best job of both. They still could score like those early 2000s teams but they had a fresh commitment to defense. I don't know if you could say that they had any elite defenders on that team but Avery got them to play D hard. Those years post-Nelson were the sweet spot. They choked and then it was hard to get non-defense-oriented dudes to play that hard again. I don't know if Marion is enough to get them to defend like that again and I don't know if the thirty year old versions of Marion and JKidd are enough firepower to outscore the Lakers.

Prediction: 50 wins or so and another second round ouster. Marion with 15 ppg 8 to 10 rpg. Lots of rave 'resurgence' stories.