...NBA... Players and their ratings, etc

Top Offensive Player: Dirk Nowitzki. The 2007 NBA Most Valuable Player is a lethal weapon, able to score from anywhere on the court. Avery Johnson made him much more of a mid-range player, allowing him to take advantage of his height to score on high percentage shots, but he's still a threat from three-point land. It will be interesting to see what Rick Carlisle challenges Dirk to become.

Top Defensive Player: Josh Howard. Though he had a lapse in mental capacity late last season, Josh is expected to be a huge part of the Mavericks' success in 2008-09. He'll need to regain his scoring touch, but the other thing he brings is a tenacious attitude on the defensive end. He plays the passing lanes, mans up, and provides help defense. He's not a shot-blocker like Erick Dampier is at times, but from end to end he's the best defender the Mavericks have.

Top Playmaker: Jason Kidd. In baseball fans like to hang the letter "K" from the railings to show how many strikeouts a pitcher has. In Dallas they hand the letter "A" for the number of assists Kidd has. The Mavericks didn't truly adjust to his presence after a mid-season trade changed their point guard position entirely, but with a new head coach and a full training camp we should see plenty of eye-popping dishes from Kidd in 2008-09.

Top Clutch Player: Dirk Nowitzki. The defining moment of his career may have come in the playoffs three years ago against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference second round. Manu Ginobili hit a three to give the Spurs what seemed to be an insurmountable lead. Dirk simply brought the ball down, drilled an impossible two, got the foul, and made the FT. The Mavs would win that game in OT, and ever since then Dirk has been money at the buzzer.

The Unheralded Player: Jason Terry. Sure, he's undersized to play the two, but he can score too well to be restricted to simply a passing guard. That's why he kept working his way back into the starting lineup at the shooting guard even though the Mavs kept making moves to add a true two. He simply shot better than anyone, and wasn't bad as a defender even when giving up 3-4 inches. He's smart, he's a spot-on shooter, and he gets the crowd excited. Something good's going to happen when The Jet's on the runway.

Best New Addition: The best new addition to this team is actually an old addition. When the Mavericks took a chance on DeSagana Diop in 2004 no one could have predicted that he's become a staple of their defense. When he was traded away as part of the Jason Kidd deal the Mavs quickly became one of the worst defensive teams in the league after being one of the best. Much of that credit has to go to Devin Harris, of course, but Diop's low post defense is better than most and he gives Rick Carlisle some options at the center position.
Who We Like
1. Jerry Stackhouse: Stack may not be the scoring machine that he was earlier in his career, but even when his shot is off he provides the Mavericks with something they desperately need: FIRE! He's the one who stands up for his teammates when someone's getting rough; he's the one who takes charge in the locker room when coach's voice is falling on deaf ears. Stack is still a good player on the court, but his best contribution comes in the many ways he keeps the competitive fire burning for the Mavs.

2. Dirk Nowitzki. No one benefited from Avery Johnson's tenure as head coach of the Mavericks more than Dirk Nowitzki. When the Little General took the reins Dirk was a good scorer who didn't even think about the defensive end. After three full years under Avery's guidance Dirk is a better-than-average defender who knows how to use his height to get easy baskets. No matter what Avery asked of Dirk, the MVP was up for the challenge. He works harder than anyone in the NBA (Avery had to kick him out of the practice facility a few times because he refused to rest) and his game reflects that.

3. Jason Terry. It's amazing to see what NBA players go through in their day-to-day, and Jet is certainly a gifted player. He's not one of the naturals, though. He's had to work for everything he's ever gotten. Through it all he remains a committed family man (his wife and three adorable daughters regularly attend games) and is a constant source of inspiration for his teammates and his fans.

4. Brandon Bass. Talk about coming out of nowhere, Brandon Bass played his way into a roster spot through the 2007 NBA Summer League and made himself indispensable when the regular season started. After riding the bench for two seasons in New Orleans he stormed onto the scene in Dallas with a monster appetite for dunks and an insatiable desire to rebound. Consistency is the only thing he lacks, and if he can find that this season he'll be a solid double-double guy off the bench.

5. Gerald Green. He's never been as special during games as he is during slam dunk competitions, but this season Gerald's looking to show he's more than just a dunker. He's already put in hours upon hours of workouts for Rick Carlisle and staff, and the Mavericks hope that providing some strict guidance and a little consistency for the oft-traded Green will help him realize his full potential. The Mavericks could certainly use a solid scorer and defender at the two, as Stackhouse and Eddie Jones aren't getting any younger.
Strengths
We didn't see it after the trade, but expect offense to be the strong suit of this Mavericks team. Avery Johnson made some nice adjustments, but at the end of the day this is essentially the team that Don Nelson built with his offense-first mindset. The acquisition of Kidd made this even more the case, as Kidd's best defensive days are far behind him and his lone remaining strength is his ability to push the ball and find open teammates. Expect Nowitzki, Howard, and Terry to all have banner years offensively with Kidd finding them in their favorite spots.
Weaknesses
Defensively this team was horrible after the Harris trade. Devin had really evolved into the player Avery Johnson envisioned him to be, and his ability to stop the ball at the initial point of attack was the foundation of this team's defense. Kidd doesn't have that ability any more, so the weight of the defense will now fall squarely on the center position's shoulders. With that in mind, the re-acquisition of Gana Diop was huge for this team. Still, they're not a great defensive team, and they're getting a little old as well. In two years there will have to be major changes in Dallas, as fans face the reality that their championship window closed when Devin Harris left town.
The Coach's Take

Don't write us off just yet. We have some scars from the last two years, but I have inherited a talented, veteran team that can win. Dirk, Jason and Josh are as good a scoring combo as there is out there, and I have a good combination of youth, size and athleticism everywhere else on the front line. I have a Hall of Fame point guard who now knows our team, and we will have a defensive grittiness that all of my teams have had in the past.

With expectations not being quite so high, I can mold this team as the season progresses, fine tune as we go along, and be in position to make a deeper than expected playoff run. --- Mike Moreau
The Burning Question
Was a coaching change enough? The Mavericks have approached the summer like a championship team that just needs a tweak here and there. Maybe it's because for the previous two summers they were considered to be one. Well, they were a far cry from title contenders when the curtain went down on 2007-08, and aside from a coaching change the roster is basically the same. The big trade rendered Avery Johnson's system useless, as it was based entirely around the point guard position. He built Devin Harris from the ground up, and when Devin was out of the picture the Mavs fell like a house of cards. Can Rick Carlisle and his staff take this team from also-rans back to being serious playoff contenders? At this point the general consensus is they'll struggle to make the playoffs.