Dallas & Denver still have playoff hopes

A quick rant, before I get to the good stuff:

On Tuesday night, the Mavericks got a much-needed victory at home after losing three straight. Erick Dampier had a monster game, with a 19-17. Josh Howard scored thirty-two points and went fifteen for fifteen at the free throw line. And Jason Kidd had a Jason Kidd-like night, with 10 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds as the Mavericks won 103-90.

Of course, this was against the Clippers. L.A. started Smush Parker (who, despite rumors, is still alive) and Josh Powell (the former 12 th man on the 67-win Mavericks!). They were without Chris Kaman (their best player this year), Elton Brand (still out with injury), Shaun Livingston (his knee was in my Ramen this afternoon), and Quinton Ross (their best defender).

Now, any win as long as Dirk is out with that nasty knee injury from should be counted as gold, especially with the Mavs clinging to their playoff lives. But they were playing the Clippers, who were without said players and started Josh Powell and Smush Parker. I can’t stress that enough. When Powell and Nick Fazekas are the centers playing opposite you, you SHOULD get 19 and 17, Erick Dampier. When Smush Parker is guarding you, Jason Kidd, you should have a triple double before halftime.

So it’s come to this, in case you can’t tell. Until the Mavericks beat a team with a winning record (0-9 since the Kidd deal), they will forever be in a lose-lose situation. Beat a bad team and, well, they were supposed to. Lose again to the Spurs, or the Suns, or the Celtics, and, well, Kidd isn’t the leader they thought they were getting when they traded for him.

Speaking of the trade…

Devin Harris had 22 points and 15 assists in the Nets 124-117 victory over the Pacers, and his opposition featured Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavy, and Flip Murray, who look like Sam Cassell-Ray Allen-Glenn Robinson of the late-90’s Bucks compared to the guys the Clippers put on the floor against the Mavs. Also, as a side note, in the last five games counting the one against the Pacers, Harris’s numbers have been as follows: 22-15 (points-assists), 8-4(a blowout vs. the Knicks), 14-5, 16-13, 26-9. I will now go blow my brains out.

But I digress. As this season has gone on and the Mavericks have notably declined, I’ve observed something amazing. I was around when Don Nelson turned the Steve Nash-Dirk-Michael Finley threesome into the highest scoring team in the league. Now, about eight years later, the Mavs struggle to get buckets (especially against good teams) but have racked up their defense significantly. Avery Johnson took over from Nelson with the goal of turning the mindset of the Mavericks into a defensive-minded team.

He succeeded, for crying out loud. And it was just what the Mavericks needed to reach their peak, which was in 2006 when they reached the NBA Finals—and lost. But the nasty cycle of the NBA is upon Dallas, the nasty cycle of good teams not being able to stay good for long periods of time, what with free agency, the lottery, and idiot GM’s.

With all this in mind, I propose an immediate change in Dallas. Why wait for the team to suck, which it will for the next two seasons? My solution comes down to three words: run and gun! Why not? The Mavs aren’t going anywhere. They have no assets left after the Kidd deal. Unless something Houston Rocket-esque happens in the final 15 games of the year and Dallas goes on a huge winning streak, the Mavs will either miss the playoffs or get the 7 or 8 seed and lose in the first round. Heck, they weren’t going to win the Finals even WITH Harris on the team, so why would they win it with less inside depth and a 35-year-old point guard who can’t guard anyone? Run-and-gun! Run-and-gun! Oh man, I miss it so much. I loved, LOVED watching Nash and Nowitzki run the pick-and-pop 2349723849 times a game, while playing absolutely zero defense in the process. Why play defense? It only tires you out on the offensive end!

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So, what do the Mavs need? A trade. Another trade.

Enter: the Denver Nuggets.

Really, there’s no reason why the Nuggets shouldn’t win 55-60 games a season. They have two superstars, Iverson and ‘Melo, who are in the top-three at their position in the NBA. Easy. They have the best defensive center in the league in Marcus Camby and to top it off, they have the deepest frontcourt (Kenyon Martin, Nene, Eduardo Najera, Steven Hunter) behind him. They have experience at the point, when you throw in Anthony Carter, a healthy Chucky Atkins, and occasionally Iverson. And they have catch-and-shoot threats in Lineas Klezia and J.R. Smith that take the double-teams away from ‘Melo and force defenses to stay honest when Iverson drives to the basket. To top it off, they play in the Northwest division, which is like class 2A to the NBA.

So, why do the Nuggets currently sit in 9 th place in the West? Well, two things. One, they have a decent record, but the West is so ridiculously tough, one team is going to win 50 games and not make the playoffs. That might be the Nuggets this year.

Two, they have George Karl.

For whatever reason, Karl sucks at managing this particular Nuggets team, which is odd to me considering he handled three volatile personalities in Milwaukee—Sam Cassell, Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson—and that team was always in the playoffs (yes, that was my second late-90’s Bucks reference in one column. I’m as shocked as you are). Sure, Iverson is a trip, but he’s also nearing the ‘I just want to win a title’ stage of his career, and with ‘Melo more than happy to do the brunt of the scoring, AI shouldn’t be an issue.

Is it Kenyon Martin, another known head-case? Probably not; he’s had too many injuries since signing that ridiculous contract four years ago to have any say in the locker room. J.R. Smith? He doesn’t have the necessary brain power to talk trash and cause bad chemistry.

No, the problem is Karl. See, the Nuggets are at the same place the Mavs were at when Don Nelson retired and put Avery in charge—a lot of offense, less-than-impressive chemistry, terrible defense. Avery came in, demanded accountability and defense, and boom, the Mavs make the Finals.

The solution? Duh. Trade Avery Johnson for George Karl.

The Mavs are a defensive juggernaut. Honestly, this is the best defensive team I’ve ever seen in Dallas, even better than the team that went to the Finals, and even better than the team that won 67 games. They just can’t score anymore. Yes, losing Dirk doesn’t help, but even before he went down, they had become an iso-only, jump-shooting team. The worst part is, Avery seemed to LIKE that. It was no secret he was hated Devin Harris, the Mavs ONLY source of drive-to-the-basket offense. When he got traded, the Dallas offense suffered even more.

Denver sorely, SORELY needs a Mavs-like makeover a la Avery Johnson. He would come in, demand that the Nuggets play defense (and they would be good at it, too. ‘Melo has the potential to be the next Kobe, in terms of lock-down defense while still posting high-scoring marks. And AI is still one of the quickest guys in the league—remember when used to draw all those charges in Philly?), immediately improve their chemistry—no coach is better than caring about his players than Avery Johnson—and, most importantly, transform Marcus Camby into a nightly 20-rebounds, 5-blocks guy. I love Marcus Camby. The dude can flat out guard the rim. He just needs a coach that will put emphasis on his talents and use them to their full advantage. If this Denver team could play any defense whatsoever, they would make the Finals every year. I believe they are that good.

On the other side, Dallas sorely, SORELY needs some offensive freedom, of which George Karl would only be too happy to provide. Johnson has done exactly nothing to adjust the offense to fit Jason Kidd’s strengths, which basically makes the Harris-for-Kidd trade worthless. Karl would open up the playbook, stress that the Mavs run more, and get rid of those God-awful isolation plays in the halfcourt. He would reinstate the pick-and-roll and the pick-and-pop with two guys that would be the best in the league at it in Kidd and Dirk. He would stress that Kidd drive to the basket off the screen, with a defender always pulled off him to guard against the kick-out to Jason Terry or Josh Howard, allowing Kidd to go one-on-one to the basket. If the defense collapses on Kidd, he passes to Dirk, Terry, or Howard who would either be open, or be one-on-one for a swing to the wide-open guy for the three point shot. Really, is this too hard? Because I’m pretty sure it would work every time.

So, Dallas gets the offensive freedom it desires, while Denver gets the defensive discipline it sorely needs. Of course, this would never happen, because it makes too much sense. I love the NBA.

by Tim Glaze
Pro Basketball Fans Staff Writer

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