As I said, the Mavs were a versitile group in 2010-2011. They had defense and scoring, size and speed. But what all the Mavericks had in common was one things: experience. And they all were in need of the same thing: their first title. So let's break down all the key members of this team and what they brought to the table.
PG Jason Kidd
Jason Kidd was drafted in 1994, second overall, to bring the Dallas Mavericks a championship. And 16 years later, he did. Sure, it took way longer than expected, and it required two decent detours to Phoenix and New Jersey...but it happened.
Now, I'll admit that I don't remember much about Jason Kidd's first tenure in Dallas. I know about the three Js, and I know about an old song from the Ticket called "The Finley Fascination" by the Fake Jason Kidd. But by the time I'd reached my own Mavericks' maturation, he was gone. And when he came back, it was a disaster. The Mavericks lost their young/promising point guard, and they lost two draft picks. In the first playoff series with Kidd, Chris Paul made him look a thousand years old. And later playoff trips weren't any better.
The Mavs had become an old team, and Kidd was the most aged. But, slowly and surely, Kidd started to adapt. He'd lost a step, but he was getting smarter. And what he'd lost in speed, he started making up in his shot. A guy whose nickname had been "ason Kidd" (because he had no "J") had become a three-point threat for the Mavericks when left open. And no matter how many 3s Kidd hit, he always seemed to be left wide open.
And Kidd stopped guarding fast point guards and started being a lockdown defender on shooting guards and small forwards. He'd found a way to turn weaknesses into strengths, and he started looking like a younger version of himself.
And this season, he was phenomenal. There were times when he still looked all 38 years of his, but there were more times when I'd wished he was on the court than times I'd wished he was off. And he kept hitting shot after shot in the playoffs. He picked his spots and took advantage of most of them.
And I was really happy that he got his ring. The guy's one of the best point guards in the history of the NBA, and he needed a title to legitimize his career. As far as guys I was rooting for, Jason Kidd was number two. He finally got it done.
SG - Jason Terry
I've been really hard on Jason Terry. Really hard. I'd come to the conclusion that no team was ever going to win a championship with Jason Terry. He took too many shots and was way too hot/cold to ever help a team win.
But Terry was also an extremely likable guy. The guy was a crowdpleaser with his "JET" nickname and wings after hitting a big shot. When my Terry hatred would hits its peak, he'd do something great and win me back. And when I got a chance to meet JET, I took it. He was a great guy and really nice, and it was really cool to meet him. And when we were leaving, he told us to look out for the Mavs in the playoffs...they were going to make some noise.
And when the Mavs blew the 4th quarter lead in game four in Portland, I put a lot of blame on JET. His style of basketball is not what wins in the playoffs. When you're blowing a big lead in the playoffs, you need to get to the basket. And Terry's wings didn't bring him close to the basket very often.
And this playoffs, JET was a microcosm of himself. He was hot, and he was cold. He was great against the Lakers and just decent against Oklahoma City. And in the first three games against Miami, he was awful. I started to worry that JET had hit all his three-pointers in one game against the Lakers and had nothing left.
But while JET's shooting is up and down, his mouth is always running at full speed. After being shut down in the first three games, JET started to dare LeBron James and the Miami defense to shut him down. And when Dirk was sick in game four, Terry came to life. In game five, he put the game on ice. And in game six, he saved the day.
I still don't love the way JET plays basketball, but I like him as a person. I'm glad he's a champion, and I'm glad he won here. Like it or not, he's a Dallas Maverick, and he was a huge reason this team won.
SF - Shawn Marion
When Marion was added to this roster, I was excited. While many people saw an aging dinosaur, I remembered the way Marion played when he was on the Phoenix Suns. He was a clutch offensive player and a heck of a defensive presence. I knew that adding him to the Mavs was going to make a difference, and I ended up being right.
When the Mavs needed offense, Marion showed up. But if they didn't, he was more-than-happy to focus his attention on the defensive side of the court. And, boy, did he. Marion was always put on the other team's best player, and that meant stopping Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James. And, series after series, Marion impressed as those stars came up dimmer than ever before.
Marion has the ugliest shot in the world, but he's beautiful to watch on defense. The guy is long and athletic, and he can still move around a bit. And he's the type of defender that can cover anyone. One of the few people in the Finals to slow down Dwayne Wade was Marion, who's length and size gave the smaller guard issues.
Dirk was the obvious playoff MVP, but Marion should be in the running. He may not be the Matrix anymore, but he's still a heck of a basketball player.
C - Tyson Chandler
What else is there to say about Tyson Chandler? This guy is a beast, and I absolutely love him. In one season, he became one of my favorite Mavericks of all time, giving the team a swagger that it never had before.
He plays defense, he gets the team going, and he became the heart and soul of a team that has been lost dozens of times before. And, for the first time in my entire Mavs existence, he was a guy who could finish an ally-oop.
Need to know more? Watch this, and you'll understand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwn8QeV3hcY
Mark Cuban, Chandler is a free agent. Give the man his money.
PG - JJ Barea
JJ Barea is listed at 6'0. That is a lie. The man is my size or smaller, and there are dozens of reports to back me up.
What isn't a lie is Barea's basketball ability. And the guy is fearless. A guy that small shouldn't be able to do what he does, but Barea does it anyway. During the Laker series, Barea was able to get to the lane at will. And, in doing so, he was the only guy on the Mavericks' roster that was capable of slashing. Barea's offense opened things up for Dirk, Terry, and Kidd.
There's still a part of me that doesn't believe that Barea will ever be anything more than just a role player on any team in the NBA. But Barea made a name for himself this year, and as a free agent, I'm sure some team will be calling him up.
But I hope Barea stays. I was impressed by the way he was bullied this playoffs (no time more than when Andrew Bynum hit him in the ribs with his elbow), and he ended up coming up huge in the Finals after struggling the first three games.
Plus, the dude is dating Miss Universe, a woman who is in a bikini in every picture on google images. How cool is that?
SG - DeShawn Stevenson
When Brendan Haywood was brought to the Mavericks, DeShawn Stevenson was thrown in as a salary dump. The Wizards didn't want to put up with him, and the Mavericks were willing to take him.
But Stevenson brought more to the Mavericks than a big contract. Like Chandler, Stevenson brought a toughness that the Mavericks needed. With a guy like Stevenson on your team, you're not going to be called soft. And you're not going to get picked on.
Stevenson also brought a defensive attitude that cannot be measured. When the Mavericks were trying to bring a defensive intensity to the team, they went to Rick Carlisle and insisted that Stevenson be in the starting lineup to set a defensive tone. And when he was in the starting lineup, the Mavericks won more times than not.
And what really helped was the fact that Stevenson was able to re-discover his offensive game. Like Kidd, teams would leave DeShawn open to help double Dirk Nowitzki. But when they did, Stevenson wasn't afraid to shoot. In fact, one of the fears about Stevenson was that, if he made a couple shots, the ball movement would die when the ball came to him.
But the guy was a key member of the team. When Marion was playing too many minutes, Stevenson came off the bench to fill in for him with very few complaints. The guy said he wanted to do what it took to win the championship, and it helped the team win its final four games.
Teams need a guy like DeShawn Stevenson. He'll never be a superstar, but the guy can fill a role.
C - Brendan Haywood
When the Mavericks traded for Haywood last year, he instantly became one of the best centers in Mavericks' history. That didn't say much, but it was certainly true. Haywood made Erick Dampier look slow and old, and it was refreshing to see someone like that in a Mavericks' uniform.
And when the season ended, one of the top priorities for the Mavs was resigning Haywood. They ended up giving him a monster contract, but it was all nullified when the Mavs ended up getting Tyson Chandler.
Now they had a problem - too many centers. And when Chandler started to play great, the Mavs' new max-contract man became a bench player. And, early in the season, Haywood complained. He said he wasn't used to coming off the bench, and that he didn't want to. But the Mavs couldn't bench Chandler, either.
But Haywood eventually came around. When Chandler missed some time with injury, Haywood played like the man the Mavs signed to a max contract. And, in the playoffs, Haywood was even better. When Chandler went out, Haywood filled in very well.
The Mavericks never really had a true center. And now they had two. And while Haywood missed the last three games of the Finals with an injury, he was still huge in the playoffs.
SF - Peja Stojakovic
I used to hate Peja. As a Maverick, I liked him. Instead of killing my team with dagger 3s, he was helping us. In the first few rounds of the playoffs, Peja was huge and hit a bunch of big shots.
In the Finals, Peja was terrible. And I could say that I hate him now, but that wouldn't be true. I'm glad that Carlisle didn't stick with him, but Peja did help fill an offensive void when Caron Butler went down. So I do appreciate what he was able to do, whether it was big or not.
PF - Brian Cardinal
Mark Cuban calls Brian Cardinal "Dad." On the Ticket, one of the hosts said that Cardinal looks like a guy who stole a jersey and ran onto the court. Brian Cardinal is hilarious because he doesn't look like a basketball player. He looks like Ashley if Ashley was a foot taller.
But Cardinal's other nickname is "The Custodian." And while he had very few memorable moments in the regular season, he came up gigantic in the playoffs...doing the dirty work he's known for.
With Peja struggling, Cardinal took his place in the rotation. And Cardinal came in and "gooned it up" (as Ashley said). He took charges and played physical defense. In game five, he tried to take a charge that ended up sending Dwayne Wade to the locker room for a great deal of the game. In game six, he had two really hard fouls, and he filled minutes. He even made a couple of threes, providing offense the Mavs needed.
Cardinal for Peja was an underrated move, but it was still huge.
SG - Corey Brewer
I thought Corey Brewer was going to be big down the stretch, but Carlisle refused to play him. Brewer is known for his defensive play, and he was a huge spark for the team when they went down big in game one against LA. But despite that, he didn't get any real minutes after that game.
Brewer is signed for two more years, is a former first-round pick, and is one of the youngest players on the team. I'm hoping, with a full season as a Maverick, he can find more playing time because I really like the kid.
C - Ian Mahimni
Mahimni didn't play much, trapped behind both Chandler and Haywood. But when he did play, Mahimni showed a lot of skill. Like Brewer, he's young, but unlike Brewer, Mahimni found a way to play some critical minutes in the Finals. With Haywood's injury, Mahimni came in and played pretty well. He made some mistakes that young players will make, but I think he learned a lot in the time he played.
I hope Mahimni stays. I'm not sure what role he fills on this team behind Chandler and Haywood, but I like his intensity and skills.
PG Rodrigue Beaubois
Beaubois came back from an injury late in the season, but he never really regained the form that he'd found in his rookie year. In fact, Roddy was pretty terrible in the games he played, despite getting pretty decent minutes (and almost immediately being thrown into the starting lineup).
I'm not ready to give up on him yet, but he's going to have to show us something in his third year. Otherwise, I really don't think much will happen in his career.
SG Caron Butler
Butler was a beast in the first half of the season. As Dirk's first legitimate Robin, he was filling the basket and playing solid defense. But at the beginning of 2011, Butler went down.
And despite stories of miraculous healing and a hard work ethic, Butler never returned. And, amazingly, the Mavs found a way to win without him. And, maybe more surprisingly, the Mavs decided to hang on to Butler's contract at the trade deadline.
Butler is a free agent, and the Mavs have already proven they can win without him. But Butler's a hard worker, a solid player, and seemingly, a good teammate. I hope the Mavs can re-sign him and that they can make a solid run at defending their title with Butler on board. The guy deserves a chance to run with this team, and I'd like to see what happens if he gets that chance.
Head Coach Rick Carlisle
Lost in the shuffle of getting rings for Kidd and Marion and Terry and Peja...was the fact that Rick Carlisle was a great coach that had also never won a championship. There's nothing flashy about Carlisle because he has very little personality on the court or in the press room.
But Carlisle is a great coach...and like Kidd's ring legitimizes his Hall of Fame career, I think this championship legitimizes Rick Carlisle as a top coach in this league. I was really happy that all the work Rick did this season paid off, and I loved that he was able to outduel some of the top coaches in the league (and Erik Spoelstra, one of the top videographers in the league).
A lot of guys did it for Dirk. Or Kidd. But I'm guessing a lot of guys also tried to win it for Rick. He's a quiet guy and a heck of a ping pong player (I'm a witness to the latter). And now, he's a champion.
And that brings us to Dirk Nowitzki. But I can't just tack Dirk on to the end of a blog post. Dirk needs his own. So....
To Be Continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment