It won't be long now

The Mavericks start two-a-days a week from today. That's right. The season is just around the corner. The players gather for physicals on Saturday and Monday is media day which is a day Josh Howard might want to avoid. The first preseason game is Oct. 7 here against Washington.

All workouts will be held at the new Crum Basketball Center at SMU.

And what are the title chances for the Mavs this year? Not good, says I. But the real experts are the Vegas oddsmakers which lists the Mavs chances at 20-1 (ouch!). Houston is 6-1 and the Spurs are 5-1. The betting favorites, incidentally, are not the Celtics, which I would have expected (them being the defending champions and all), but the Lakers at 5-2. The Celtics are next at 7-2.