Well, I woke up this morning ...

…And there was more on my mind than just my son, my granddaughter and My Hero.

1. Experienced that wrenching Mavericks loss this evening up close and personal. All through the fourth quarter I kept thinking if the Mavericks could play defense like Chicago, they would be unbeatable. Unfortunately, they can’t play defense as well as most of the teams I saw this past weekend at the Special Olympics tournament in Grand Prairie. Giving up 100 points at home to the Bulls, a team that averages 93.1 points a game, is abysmal. It also means Dallas is tied with Phoenix for the eighth and final playoff spot (as I write this, however, Phoenix’s home game with New Orleans is still in progress), and the Mavs are only one game ahead of Memphis in the all-important loss column from being shut out of the playoffs. To make matters worse, Dallas begins a grueling seven-game stretch beginning Sunday at San Antonio. The six games following the Spurs are: at Denver (I know Denver is not that good, but playing them in the Mile High City can be problematic), at home against Portland and Indiana, at Golden State, at Utah (another lottery team but a tough out at their place), and at Oklahoma City. That’s brutal, but at the end of that stretch we should know if the Mavericks are a playoff or a lottery team.

2. Pete Sessions is a disgrace. In his latest television campaign ads, he is promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Doesn’t he remember that Republicans tried and failed 47 times to repeal the ACA before it went into effect? And now that it is working legislation and helping hundreds of thousands of Americans to purchase health insurance they couldn’t afford before the ACA, even the most conservative of Republicans willingly admit the have given up on any repeal effort. So either Sessions is a demagogue of the rankest order or completely delusional. However, neither of those aforementioned attributes are ones someone representing us in Congress should possess. But then most Texas voters don’t think for themselves anyway. They are Stepford voters – acting the way Fox News tells them to. However, that’s slowly changing for the better. I just hope I’m still alive when Texas finally enters the Political 19^th Century.

3. So there’s cracks in Eagle Stadium. The pride and joy of the City of Allen has fissures. And they’re getting bigger. These crevices, however, apparently were noticed right after the joint was completed. But I guess back then the powers-that-be said "That’s OK. The walls need room to breathe and stretch out, especially during the Texas summer." I guess no one seemed to pay any attention to the fact that the stadium — the only building that gives Allen a skyline — was finished during the summer. Personally speaking, I thought the fine folks in Allen had their priorities way out of whack when they approved spending $60 million to construct this 18,000-seat behemoth at a time when public school spending was being slashed by the State of Texas. So now, while I imagine there is much moaning, wailing and gnashing of teeth going on among my neighbors to the north, I kinda have to just sit back and chuckle at this turn of events.

Now, here’s some sweet, soul music to help you into the weekend. I’ll be pack tomorrow with my Oscar predictions.

Problems with my favorite basketball teams

My two favorite basketball teams are the Texas Longhorns, because I’m a UT graduate and I bleed burnt orange, and the Dallas Mavericks, because I live in Dallas and I really quit caring for my hometown New York Knicks after the Willis Reed era.

Both of my favorites, however, have problems and they’re not easily solvable.

For the Horns, the problem is not how they are playing; in fact, they are performing a lot better than I expected this season — almost well enough for me to silence my pleas to replace coach Rick Barnes. I’m watching them right now and they are demolishing Oklahoma State, 78-55. OK, I know it’s early in the game and the Cowboys are playing without Marcus Smart, suspended for three games, but Texas is also without its leading scorer, Hollis Williams, in this game.

My problem with the Texas basketball program is simply this: Texas vs. Oklahoma State is a game between two top-25 teams and, from what I can gather from watching the game on television, the Erwin Center, Texas’s home court, is, at best, 10 percent full. That’s criminal, especially when the University is known to be sports-obsessed, and there is really no other competition for the sports dollar within 80 miles.

The Erwin Center is that big round building
 

So why are Texas home basketball games so poorly attended? I’m betting it’s because of the location of the Erwin Center, bounded on the north by Martin Luther King Boulevard., on the south by 15^th Street, on the west by Red River Street and on the East by Interstate 35. That is on property owned by UT obviously, but the reality is Texas students consider MLK the southern border of the campus. But the main problem is traffic. I saw a study yesterday of the 10 U.S. cities with the worst traffic problems and Austin was No. 8, the only Texas city to make the list. And having spent a lot of time in Austin (my son and granddaughter — my only living blood relatives — live there) and I know firsthand driving around Austin, especially on I-35 between 7 and 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 and 8 p.m. is living hell. To make matters worse, no convenient parking is located near the center.

Austin’s mass transit system is a hit-or-miss situation although it is improving. There is one rail line that runs from Leander along the high tech corridor of Highway 183 to the Austin Convention Center downtown. You could take the bus from three-tenths of a mile from my son’s house in Southwest Austin to within six-tenths of a mile from the Erwin Center in 27 minutes, according to Capital Metro’s website. That’s not all that bad.

Relocating the Erwin Center (hopefully, a new coliseum would bear a different name) is problematic in the already dense area on or near the campus. One possible location would be immediately north of East Dean Keeton between San Jacinto and Red River. There could be room there for a nice arena and surrounding parking and Deen Keeton would make for a convenient access and egress (although accessibility from any direction except to the south would appear to be nearly impossible). And there would still be the problem of the traffic snarls on I35 to get to the site by auto. The only other solution would be to move it way off campus, perhaps east across Manor Road from the recently renovated Morris Williams Golf Course, which once served as the home course for the University of Texas' golf team. But I hate to think of a university team playing way off campus — to me, the current location is already off campus.

The other major solution would be a major reconstruction of I35 through Austin, similar to what transformed Dallas’s North Central Expressway from downtown to McKinney. But, oh, the headaches Austinites would suffer while that reconstruction was taking place.

Now to the Mavericks. There the problem is the way the team is playing. As currently constituted, the Mavericks have absolutely no shot at an NBA title now or at any time in the foreseeable future. Major changes are needed on that roster. (Leave the coaching staff intact. Can’t do much better than Rick Carlisle.)

One thing the Mavericks have proved over the last couple of seasons: They are not going to attract premium free agents. Look at all the players Dallas has talked about going after — from Darren Williams to Dwight Howard — and look how many of them are currently on the Dallas roster. Plus, being mediocre, like the Mavericks are, means you’re not going to sink low enough to nail a good draft pick.

Is it time to trade this guy?

So the only way the Mavs stand a chance to improve is through a trade and it’s now time to think the unthinkable: The only asset the Mavs have to trade is Dirk Nowitzki. It’s time to let the Big German go, the way former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson began fashioning his Super Bowl run in 1989 by trading arguably the team’s No. 1 asset, running back Herschel Walker, to the Minnesota Vikings for players and draft picks that were used to draft such standouts as Emmitt Smith, Alvin Harper and Darren Woodson, among others.

I wouldn’t want to deal Nowitzki to a non-contender in return for multi draft picks. I would rather send him to a good team who, with the addition of Nowitzki could make a title run and have enough young players who could become outstanding members of future Maverick teams, especially on defense. I was looking at two teams in particular: the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers.

I would definitely consider a trade with the Warriors that would send small forward Harrison Barnes, power forward David Lee (who would become expendable with the addition of Nowitzki) and a draft choice to the Mavericks. But the trade I would really like to make is to send Nowitzki, Shawn Marion and a first-round draft pick to the Clippers in return for Blake Griffin, Matt Barnes and a No. 1 pick (or J.J. Riddick, in lieu of that pick, but Riddick may be too much for the Clippers to surrender).

Don’t know if either deal would work, but I would like to explore the possibilities.

The Mavericks could actually be really good next season

I really believe the Mavericks have a better team heading into the 2012-2013 season than they did last year and possibly as good as the team that won the NBA title two years ago. Now for those with short memories, that title run involved almost as much luck as it did skill. Remember, the Mavs entered the playoffs two years as the No. 4 seed in the West and I think this coming year’s team has an excellent shot at finishing fourth as well. You know the Thunder will finish ahead of the Mavs as will the Lakers. I can’t see both the Spurs and the Clippers having a better record than Dallas, however, although one of them will. Also remember that if Labron James had played against us as he played against OKC in the most recent finals, Dallas would still be looking for its first NBA title.

Darren Collison is a major upgrade over Jason Kidd. Not, Kidd in his prime, but then Kidd has been past his prime for the last three or four years now. Collison brings Russell Westbrook-like speed and agility to the Mavericks at point guard (Kidd was never known for his speed) and he’s a far better defender.

If he can remain injury free (and that’s a big "if"), Chris Kamen could be the best center ever to wear a Mavericks uniform with the exception of ol’ What’s-His-Name who left Dallas for New York last year at this time. But there were injury concerns surrounding ol’ W-H-N as well and Kamen is more of an offensive threat than the dear departed Olympian ever hoped to be.

But the kicker is the addition of Elton Brand. He may not be the pure shooter that Jason Terry was (but then the Mavs aren’t asking him to play two guard either). He does, however, possess far more basketball smarts than Terry and the addition of Brand is going to allow coach Rick Carlisle to let Dirk have a lot more much-needed rest during games.

And if either rookie Jared Cunningham or Jae Crowder begin performing like a lottery pick (I’m not expecting that kind of miracle) than this team could go the distance.

But at the least, they will finish better than last year’s squad that ended the season seventh in the West.

It’s not Cuban’s fault

You won't ever see these guys playing together again

Tonight was a memorable one in the history of the Dallas Mavericks. No, not because the defending NBA champs were swept out of playoffs in the first round, but because it was the last time Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry shared a basketball court in the same team uniform. Dirk ain’t going nowhere, but I’m betting neither Kidd nor Terry will be in a Mavericks uniform next year and, frankly, that’s a good thing.

The prevailing opinion from the sports "experts" around here is the reason the Mavericks went from champs to chumps in one year is because owner Mark Cuban refused to do what it took to keep Tyson Chandler and J.J.Barea on the team. This myth has been repeated so often, the average Maverick fan is beginning to buy into it and even repeat it. So once again, I guess, it’s up to yours truly to set the record straight.

Sure, Chandler was named Defensive Player of the Year, but look where his current employers, the New York Knicks, wound up. They barely made the playoffs in the weaker Eastern Division, which used to contain only two good teams, but now (because of Derrick Rose’s season-ending injury) only has one. And that one team is flat out embarrassing the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. The Thunder beat the Mavericks four games to nil, but it only embarrassed Dallas in Game 3. The Mavs played competitively for three quarters in the other three and had their biggest lead of the series, 13 points, going into the fourth quarter of this final game. Chandler and the Knicks, however, are offering no opposition to the Heat.

Look, when all is said and done, basketball is really a very simple game. It comes down to one thing and one thing only: How effectively can you put the biscuit in the basket. Last year the Mavs were good enough shooting the ball in the regular season to finish fourth in the Western Conference and became phenomenal in the playoffs, which is the reason they won the title. Look at the numbers: Last season the Mavs converted 46.1 percent of their field goal attempts during the playoffs. This season that number plummeted to 39.9 percent. Only four of the 16 teams in the playoffs have a lower percentage. Even more important, last season the Mavs hit on 39.4 percent of their three-point attempts and averaged 8.8 three-pointers per playoff game, the highest number in the history of the NBA. This season during the playoffs, they only made 32.8 percent of their shots from behind the arc.

Why the drop? The Mavericks have never had a good transition offense. And their half court offense, for the most part, consists of a couple passes before someone tries a comparatively long-range jump shot. Even when the Mavs do break free in transition, the lead player won’t drive to the basket; more often than not he’ll pull up just short of the three-point line and hoist one. To be an effective jump shooter night after night after night after night, you need strong, healthy legs to give you the required lift. The Mavs have too many old, tired legs, which is the reason they faded in the second half of the season and were outplayed in fourth quarter of every game in the Oklahoma City series. Kidd is 39, for crying out loud. Both Vince Carter and Brian Cardinal are 35 years old and Jason Terry is 34. Even Dirk and Shawn Marion are 33 and it’s questionable how many good years each of them have left.

The word is Cuban is going "all-in" during the upcoming free agency period to bring the 27-year-old Deron Williams back to Dallas, where he played his high school ball.Williams would be a major upgrade over Kidd at the point. Williams shot 40.7 percent from the field this season compared to 36.3 for Kidd. Kidd has the reputation of being the "assist master," but Williams averaged 8.7 assists per game this season compared to Kidd’s 5.5. I would also like for Cuban to see if he could make a deal with unrestricted free agent Landry Fields, a two-guard with the New York Knicks who is only 23 and had a field goal percentage this past season of 46 percent. This kid could really blossom playing alongside Dirk and Deron. And finally, if there’s any money left, I would like for Cuban to try to sign 7-1 Philadelphia unrestricted free agent center Spencer Hawes, who is just 24. Those moves give the Mavs the much-needed youth they need to improve on that one thing and one thing only.

Then there’s the draft. At the very worst, the Mavs should draft no later than 18^th this year, unless they choose to give up this year’s first round pick to Houston, which the the Rockets received from the Mavericks as part of the convoluted Lamar Odom deal. As long as that pick is in the Top 20, however, the Mavs could elect to keep it and then give the Rockets a first-rounder anytime between the 2013 draft and the one in 2017. At 18, there’s an excellent chance that Baylor strong forward Quincy Miller, Kentucky point guard Marquis Teague or even Duke shooting guard Austin Rivers (Doc’s son) would be available. In the second round, I’m betting Xavier point guard Tu Holloway would be on the board.

These additions make the Mavs a power in the West once again; in fact, I’m betting this would make them a better team than they were last year.

Killer stat of the night

The Utah Jazz average 3.9 three-pointers a game and shoot them with a 31.1 percent success rate. Last night against the Mavs, the Jazz converted on 12 of 28 three-point attempts, 42.9 percent. Dallas, as you probably know by now, lost the game by two points, 123-121, in triple overtime, a loss that could have been averted if the Mavs had just defended slightly better from beyond the arc.

"Mother of Mercy! Is this the end of Rico?"

The end of Kidd?

As movie buffs know, the above words were spoken by Caesar Enrico Bandello, the character memorably brought to life by Edward G. Robinson in that great 1930s gangster film Little Caesar. The line just seemed appropriate after reading this article which convincingly argues that Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd, a certain hall-of-famer, has come to the end of his playing career.

Celebrating the Mavericks’ title

Unfortunately, all the highlights of the Mavericks Sunday took place before the opening tipoff. Fortunately, they were some special highlights.

Even more reasons to love Dirk

According to this story, not only is Dirk Nowitzki leaving “tens of millions of dollars” on the table by refusing to jump on the Labron-Wade-Tiger-Peyton bandwagon, endorsing every product raised in front of him, the man doesn’t even have an agent,. For heavens sake, who’s going to introduce him into the Hall of Fame?

Random thoughts on one of the momentous events of my life

• I haven’t written until now about the Dallas Mavericks’ playoff run because (1) I didn’t want to jinx them like I usually do when I open my yap too early and (2) immediately after Sunday night’s finals-clinching game I was too overwhelmed by the emotion winning the title stirred in me. Translated: I wept unabashedly for about 10 minutes after the game was over and my stomach was still churning until around midday Monday.
• I can now also say I unashamedly wept. The great Chuck Cooperstein said Monday that with about a minute left to play in Sunday’s game, Dirk (the greatest Maverick ever) Nowitzki looked at Tyson Chandler and, in realization of what they had accomplished, their eyes watered up. That’s all I’ll ever have in common with Nowitzki and Chandler, but now I do have that.
• Before the finals began, my son, his best friend and I were having a discussion in my kitchen about (1) whether Labron James is as great as Michael Jordan (My answer: “Absolutely not. Not even close. In fact, the subject should not even be broached until Labron has led a team to seven NBA titles.”) and (2) whether the Mavs had a chance against the Heat and, if so, what miracles must they perform to win it all. I finally said: “Look. The Mavericks, like it or not — and I don’t — have conditioned us with years and years of disappointments. Now we are programed that they will disappoint us again. Because of this, we may not truly realize just how super this team is. The Mavs swept the defending champions. They beat really good Portland and Oklahoma City teams in five games. Any one of those three teams could give the Heat a run for their money. I say the Mavericks in 6, if, for no other reason, they beat us in six last time. It’s revenge time.”
• Chuck Carlisle was the best coach in the entire NBA playoffs.
• Labron didn’t fade away in the finals — to be honest, he had a couple of fairly good games. But, overall, the Mavericks simply shut him down.
• Think of all the other teams in these playoffs and then think of them playing without their second best player — the Lakers without Gasol or Bynum, the Thunder without Westbrook, the Celtics without Allen or Garnett, the Heat without Bosh (sorry, couldn’t help myself), etc. — and imagine how they might have fared without those players. Then remember the Mavs played the entire NBA playoffs without Caron Butler.
• Was the Mavericks coming back from 15 points down in Game 2 the turning point of the finals? Perhaps. But I just think that comeback proved once and for all — especially to the Heat — who was the superior team in this series.
• Another shout-out to the aforementioned Cooperstein. He also revealed Monday that after a particularly Heat-centered interview Sports Center had with him on Friday, he called the show’s producer and basically had a word or two or three or four to say about how ESPN has been drinking at the Heat’s trough all season long. Why, he wondered to this executive, couldn’t he have been asked some questions about the Mavericks. I have found ESPN’s coverage of this NBA season embarrassing and a major blemish on this once-respected network. Of course, that’s easy for me to say. Not so easy for Cooperstein because he works for ESPN. He was honestly and deservingly criticizing the very folks who sign his paychecks. Perhaps the only person showing more courage in this series was Jason Terry when he shot that three over the outstretched arms of Labron in the closing moments of Game 5.
• Coop also said the reality of the Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA title hit him in the locker room after the game when he saw what he described as the happiest group of men he had ever seen. That comment filled me with unadulterated joy.
• People can say all they want about the Heat’s stifling D, but it was the Mavs’ zone that totally confused the Heat and was a major contributing factor to the victory.
• Wear this with pride MFFLs: For the next year (perhaps longer, depending on the upcoming labor negotiations) the words “Dallas Mavericks” should be preceded by “defending NBA Champions.”
• Owner Mark Cuban handled the trophy presentation with the utmost in class. Having Donald Carter be the first person to place his hands on the Larry O’Brien Trophy was a masterstroke.
• Can anyone, in their wildest imagination, ever conceive of Jerry Jones saying on national television immediately after his team won a world title: “Don’t interview me. Interview the coach.”? This Manhattan’s for you, Mark.
• The only sports events in my lifetime that rivals this one are three football victories by my Texas Longhorns: 15-13 over Texas A&M in 1963, 15-14 over Arkansas in 1969 and 41-28 over USC in 2006.
• I have a son, of whom I am immensely proud, about to become a doctor; a beautiful, talented, smart and creative granddaughter who lights up my life; an extremely loyal and loveable 8-month-old Golden Retriever puppy that has filled my household with joy; and a girlfriend of almost nine years who is My Hero, my muse, my partner, my best friend, my inspiration and simply so much fun to spend time with, as well as being the most intelligent and the most gorgeous creature on this planet. Now, add to all that, the Dallas Mavericks are the Champions of the National Basketball Association. Life doesn’t get any better than this.

Cavs for Mavs

What a great game tonight! One of the greatest if not the gratest in Mavs history to date. Mavs 95-Miami 93. And what made it even better was that I got to watch it and celebrate with My Hero. I mention this because after the game I ran across the above variation on the Mavs logo which proves those folks in Cleveland don't forget all that easily. Thanks to the bloggers at D magazine for leading me to the logo.

A whole lot of reasons (as if I needed any more) to pull for the Mavs to beat the Heat

Rick Reilly

I have always admired Rick Reilly. It used to be, when my weekly copy of Sports Illustrated came in the mail, I immediately flipped to the end of the mag to red Rick’s weekly column. He no longer writes for SI. Now he’s a scribe for ESPN.com. That just means he’s more difficult find, but still a pleasure to read.

Especially when he lists all these wonderfully valid reasons America should be pulling for the Mavericks to win this NBA title.

I’ve got a bigger bet on the Mavs than the guv

What’s this? Gov. Hair is betting a case of barbecue sauce on the Mavs? (Of course, the cheapskate governor of Florida Rick Scott is only putting up a measly key lime pie.) C’mon, guys? What kind of chicken-hearted bet is this? At least I’m wagering a steak dinner with my South Florida correspondent. Well, not exactly. You see, we wagered a steak dinner in 2006 and I have yet to pay up — I’m using the excuse that he refuses to come back to Texas where one can get a much better steak than in Florida (which considers Outback as the top of the class). As I understand our bet this time around (I was heavily sedated because of my excitement over the Oklahoma City series when I made the bet) we’re still having the steak dinner, but we’ll be going dutch. Or something like that.

But, the devil with the details, at least there’s a steak involved and we’re talking about a 3 Forks or a Bob’s or a Al Biernat’s-level steak here and not some rinky-dink barbecue sauce.

Of course, even our steak bet doesn’t measure up to this one.

The Mavericks’ chip

Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki hits another one over the Laker's Pau Gasol

The Dallas Mavericks can’t get any respect and that is perfectly fine with me.

I have refrained from talking about the Mavericks’ playoff run before now because I was afraid I would jinx them. With the marvelous exception of the last NFL season (when I predicted Green Bay over Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl before the start of the season), if I pick a team or an individual to win a sporting event, it is the kiss of death. Counting that last season’s NFL prediction I think my total is something like one correct and 387,423 wrong. So even though I felt the Mavericks would sweep the Lakers after winning the first two games in Los Angeles, I didn’t want to say so publicly. And even if I did want to, my son — the hardest of hard-core MFFLs — would have cut my tongue out before I could have finished uttering the words. He really believes in jinxes.

The Mavericks have now won six playoff games in a row.Their last lost was that miserable game in Portland when they blew a 23-point third quarter lead. The Mavericks claim, and I believe the claim, that the Portland loss did not galvanize the team. But I do believe that the lack of respect paid to the Mavericks after that loss put a chip on their collective shoulders and since then they have been defying teams to knock it off.

After that loss, all I read, saw or heard in the national media was “Here we go again, another Mavericks el foldo, just as we witnessed in the NBA finals against the Heat.”

Entering the Lakers series, all the so-called experts said the Mavs would provide little resistance on the defending champions’ trek to another three-peat. Even after the teams left L.A. with Dallas up 2 games to nil, the Lakers were still predicted to come back. (“Remember,” said one of them Friday morning on ESPN’s First Take, ”the Mavericks were up 2-0 against Miami and lost that series.” Not one of the commentators on ESPN picked Dallas to win two games before the Lakers won four. Then Friday night, after the Mavs took a 3-0 series lead, folks were saying that L.A. would be the only team of 99 to ever come back from that big of a deficit.

Now comes the coverage from the national folks after the Sunday’s marvelous clincher. And was it about how Dallas Genghis Khanned the Lakers? No, it was about how this was Phil Jackson’s last game as a head coach and whether this series would damage his legacy (the consensus was it would not).

But that’s OK. That type of talk should keep that chip sitting securely on the Mavericks shoulder and I’m really liking the way they play when they realize they are not getting the respect they’ve earned and deserve. So bring on Oklahoma City or Memphis. I know before that series starts all the talk will be about the changing of the guard in the NBA and the emergence of new, younger teams with new, younger superstars. Let ‘em talk. The Mavs will simply play as if they’ve got something to prove. And you know what? They do.

A Mavs dream team or a nightmare?

I have been hearing this rumor for a couple of weeks now, but recently I've been hearing it from more credible sources so I decided to pass it on. The rumor is this: Denver Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony will become, before this season is over, a Dallas Maverick.

Everyone who follows the NBA knows that Anthony wants out of Denver, but I have always heard the only team he is willing to be traded to is his hometown New York Knicks. Now, however, I'm hearing that Anthony is receptive to a deal that would bring him and his 22.8 points-per-game abverage to Dallas and send Caron Butler and Rodrigue Beaubois to Denver.

The upside of such a trade is obvious. Dallas not only becomes the favorite to win the Western Conference, but also one of the leading contenders to win the NBA title. I would put Dallas' starting lineup of Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler against the starting five of any other team in the league.

The downside, however, is just as obvious. The Mavs would only have Anthony for this season and then he would become a free agent, when he definitely would sign with the Knicks. And the team would be giving up on the notion that Beaubois would have eventually become their Tony Parker.

However, I say get Anthony here, even though I have never forgiven him for single-handedly costing my beloved Texas Longhorns their best shot at an NCAA basketball championship. That starting five presents matchup nightmares for everyone.

SI and the Mavs

In its NBA preview edition, Sports Illustrated is picking the Lakers to cool the Heat in the NBA finals this season and the Mvaericks to finish fourth in the Western Conference behind the Lakers, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Why the Spurs over the Mavs? It seems SI likes San Antonio's import, 6-11 center and Spanish League MVP Tiago Splitter, and believes the Spurs have more depth behind their aging trio of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan than we do behind Jasons Terry and Kidd. We'll see.

Could Rangers Wednesday win prove prophetic?

The Texas Rangers came from behind Wednesday night to beat Cleveland 4-3. Now I would like another area team to take something from Cleveland, much to the delight of this gentleman. Although most prognosticators are now predicting LaBron James will join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach, I'm hoping that when James makes his announcement on live television Thursday night, he announces he will stay in Cleveland. I say that because the only chance the Dallas Mavericks have of landing James is via a sign-and-trade with the Cavaliers. They certainly don't have the cap space to sign James as a free agent and, in fact, haven't been among the active suitors for James's services.

Mark Cuban promised Dirk Nowitzki, when the Big German agreed to contract terms with the Mavs this past weekend, that he would go out and find another marquee name to play alongside him. Bosh and Wade, however, are out of the picture. Carlos Boozer has signed with Chicago, Amare Stoudemaire is now a New York Knick and Joe Johnson is apparently staying put in Atlanta. Except for James, those signings have wiped the marquee clean. If Cuban is going to fulfill his promise to Nowitzki, it all hinges on James announcing he re-sign with the Cavs.

Actually this makes sense for LaBron. Sign a three-year deal, come to Dallas to play in what is probably going to be the final three years of Nowitzki's prime (plus having the opportunity to play alongside a Hall-of-Fame-bound point guard), and then, three years hence, have the opportunity to sign an even bigger free agent deal. Plus, he will be playing for the most player-friendly owner in the NBA. Meanwhile, my beloved Mavericks become the pre-eminent team in the NBA and the most likely choice for at least one NBA title, which is one more than they have ever won.

It would also do my heart good to see the Mavericks put one over on Wade after what the Miami guard did to us in our only trip to the NBA finals.

Could LaBron become a Maverick?

Dallas Morning News Mavericks beat writer Eddie Sefko certainly thinks so. He ranks James' three options after this year as 1. Miami, 2. Cleveland and 3. Dallas.

After the local fans booed him following Tuesday night's blowout loss to the Boston Celtics, I can't see James remaining in Cleveland. Just look what he has done for that franchise. Booing LaBron James in Cleveland is nothing more than a sign of complete ignorance and proves that the folks around Lake Erie don't deserve him. So I think you can eliminate Sefko's second option.

What can Miami offer than Dallas can't? Plenty. There's this. And this. Plus this. And, of course, there's this guy.

So what can Dallas counter with? A team owner who really cares about the well-being of his players. A better shot at an NBA title (I've always maintained that the only way the Mavs will win it all is when Dirk Nowitzki, as great as he is, is the second best player on the team). Possibly more disposable income. (Because Texas doesn't have a state income tax, even a salary less than what Miami could offer could mean more money to James.) Less serious crime. And, of course, there's Dallas' main attractions.

Go get him, Mark. No, not her. Him.

It's time to let Nowitzki go

Dirk Nowitzki is the greatest basketball player to ever wear a Mavericks uniform. Case closed. And he has done everything one single player could do to elevate a slightly above average team to greater heights than it has earned, such as 50-wins in each of the last 10 seasons. Dirk is a lock for the NBA Hall of Fame. All he needs now is a ring, signifying an NBA title.

The problem is he is never going to earn one wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform and right now I am rooting for Dirk to win an NBA championship far more than I am hoping the Mavericks win one.

That's why I really hope the Big German tests the free agent waters this off-season. Of course, no team is going to offer him the moohlah that the Mavericks can. But I've never pictured Nowitzki as an extravagant free-spender so I'm figuring he has sufficient bucks in the bank to play for a little less than the $21 million the Mavericks will pay him in return for a shot at the eliusive jewelry,

Kevin Garnett served his time in purgatory with Minnesota, then was traded to Boston where he won a title. Now it's Dirk's turn. Can you imagine how the face of professional basketball would be altered if either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic offered Dirk a deal? Any team on which Dirk Nowitzky is the second best player is a lock for an NBA title.

The Cavaliers would he a natural choice. Cleveland is going to do everything it can to keep LeBron James from leaving and adding Nowitzki, I'm convinced, would do just that. And the one missing element from the Mavericks has always been a force in the middle. Can you imagine how Dirk and Orlando would be elevated with Dwight Howard pulling some coverage away from the perimeter, leaving Dirk more room to roam?

I would love to see Dirk on the same team with either James or Howard and playing for an NBA title. He's earned the right.

Where have these Mavericks been?

As a former sports writer, I have had the opportunity to cover more than my share of college and pro basketball post-season play and I heard on numerous occasions that a single basketball season is, like Gaul, divided into three parts. In college, it's the pre-conference season, the conference season and the NCAA tournament. In the NBA, it's the pre-season, the regular season and the playoffs. Each succeeding season requires a little more intensity.

That is something I never thought the Mavericks understood. They seemed to think they could take their level of play that took them to a successful regular season into post-season play. Teams like the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat know better, which is why the Spurs and the Heat have NBA titles and the Mavericks don't.

Last night, however, the Mavericks finally seemed to play as though they finally understood what it takes to win in the playoff season. Or as that fine basketball writer Eddie Sefko put it:

"The Mavericks' education in this series continues by the game, and like college kids who don't get what their professor sometimes says, it appeared that a light bulb went off Tuesday."

Now the question is whether they'll remember the course material and pass the final two exams in this series tomorrow and Saturday.

Which brings up another point. Everyone's been talking about how it's almost impossible to come back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series. My response is: The Spurs won three consecutive games in this series so why can't the Mavs do the same thing? If they continue to play like they did last night, they shouldn't have any trouble doing just that.

Six signs the good guys are in trouble

1.  When J.J. Barea gets more court time than the two major players you traded to get -- Shawn Marion and Caron Butler -- combined.

2. When two players off the bench -- Barea and Jason Terry -- outscore 80 percent of your starting lineup 31-16.

3. When your team plays well for only two quarters -- the second and the third -- and begin to act like who they are -- the oldest team in the NBA -- the other two quarters.

4. When the bad guys' starting team outscores your starting team, 69-51.

5. When you're known as an outstanding free-throw team yet let the bad guys go to the line 11 more times than you do.

6. When you ask one player -- in this case, Dirk Nowitzki -- to carry the entire team. (Nowitzki accounted for 69 percent of the points scored by the Mavericks starting five Friday night.)