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Dallas Mavericks kick off the season against the Washington Wizards
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Tonight, October 27th, the Dallas Mavericks play the Washington Wizards to begin the 2009-2010 NBA Season.
Wizards star Gilbert Arenas will make his return from a serious injury that sunk the Wizards chances last year. Antawn Jamison, one of the only Wizards players to make it through most of last season healthy, will be out with a subluxated shoulder. Josh Howard is out for the Mavericks.
With a healthy squad, the Wizards expect to compete in a fairly thin Eastern Conference. The Mavericks have slightly higher aspirations.
Coming off a year in which they started slow and suffered major injuries, but rebounded to win a surprise playoff series and breathe new life into the franchise, the Mavericks have a very interesting year ahead of them. Talent-wise, they have one of their best teams in years--Mark Cuban has called it the best team he's ever had. Age, however, is an issue with essentially every player.
The core of the team is entirely in their thirties. If the team can push age away for another year, they're as close to a legitimate title contender as they've had since 2006. If they can't--unless, as is widely expected--they can trade Erick Dampier's contract for an impact player-- this may be their last year of relevance. The stakes are very high.
The Mavericks' future may--or may not--be represented by Rodrigue Beaubois, a player who was a considerable surprise on draft night but has continued, pleasantly, to surprise in Summer League and Preseason. He's blindingly fast, and seems to have a great three point shot. Nick Calathes, another point guard drafted by the Mavs this year, and currently overseas playing in Italy is another player who could provide something for the Mavericks down the road. There is at least an outside chance that Kris Humphries, only 24, will turn his career around and give Dallas the interior banger they've never actually had.
For now, however, it's about the same players it was about last year-Dirk, Kidd, Howard, Terry, Dampier, Barea-- with the none-too-minor addition of Shawn Marion. While Marion's full impact on the team is unlikely to be felt until the return of Josh Howard, for which there is no time table beyond ominous pronouncements from coach Rick Carlisle, Marion in many ways embodies the team's hopes for this year. An abundantly talented impact player for all of his career, Marion has struggled to find his place for the last two seasons and has apparently lost a step. Surrounded by an abundance of other talent for the first time since he left the Suns, how much he has left in the tank will be the limiting factor for the Mavs' ceiling, this year--and in years to come.
Drew Gooden, Humphries, and Beaubois also hope to make an impact for the team.
Tonight, expect Quinton Ross to start in place of the injured Howard. Obviously, this will be somewhat reminiscent of last year's experiment with Antoine Wright. Wright, always a coach's favorite far more than with the fans, apparently had good metrics, and it's not unreasonable to suppose they expect the same from Ross, in many ways a similar player.
Ross, unlike Wright, is a hometown favorite--having played his college ball at SMU--and has theoretically been developing a three-point shot. With the addition of Marion, the Mavericks' three-guard lineup is unlikely to get nearly as much playing time as last year, however, so look for Ross to play short minutes, in between stints by Jason Terry and JJ Barea.
While the Mavs won't know what they have until Howard comes back, and until the new players start to find their place in the system, a strong start would be a great first step towards achieving the dreams of Mavericks fans, for this team, for a decade now. Coach Carlisle will have to carefully weigh the value of regular season success for morale against the effects of wear and tear on his aging team. He has, however, shown himself adept at lineup management--winning fifty games and a playoff series, with the three-guard lineup and so on--and this year's team should give him a lot to work with.
The Wizards look to be a far more difficult opponent than they were last year, even with Jamison, and the Mavericks, as a team, will certainly need time to find a rhythm. Nowitzki, the heart and soul of this franchise, especially will have an adjustment to make--finding a way to defer more than he had to last year, while maintaining his positon at the center of Maverick universe-.
Even healthy, however, the Wizards do not look to be challengers for better than the fourth spot in the East and to achieve their goals, these are the kinds of teams the Mavericks must handle. The Mavs also have upcoming games against the Lakers, Jazz, and Hornets. It's important to them to get off to a strong start and gain confidence in their ability to execute. Although it's the first game of the season, Carlisle will certainly be pulling out all the stops, and the players, hopefully, will be eager to show what they can do.
A big win tonight could mean a lot for the Mavericks' season. The new-look team tips off tonight at 8:30 at eastern, at the AAC. Look for it on local channels.
