Dallas Mavericks 2009-2010 Preview

By General
for NBA-Basketball.org

Published: October 11, 2009

Background of 2009-2010 Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs have come awfully close to an NBA championship on several occasions over the last several years, but in the 2009 season they seemed to have dropped off a level. They did beat an undermanned Spurs team in the first round, but never looked like true championship contenders. It was coach Rick Carlisle’s first year in charge, and this year he will have more time to shape the team as he sees it. The major addition is Shawn Marion, who has proven in his career that he can be a fantastic asset to a contending team. Mark Cuban has decided that he wants his team run by the 36 year old Jason Kidd and by resigning him decided it wasn’t time yet to start a rebuilding process. The Western elite teams have all made substantial changes this year and it will be interesting to see if Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki can play like the superstars that they are and make a trip to the NBA finals for another crack at their first ring.

Mavericks additions in 2010

Shawn Marion

Quinton Ross

Kris Humphries

Tim Thomas

Nathan Jawai

Drew Gooden

Mavericks departures in 2010

Brandon Bass

Jerry Stackhouse

Devean George

Antoine Wright

Probably Starting Lineup for the 2009 2010 Dallas Mavericks

PG – Jason Kidd
SG – Josh Howard
SF – Shawn Marion
PF – Dirk Nowitzki
C – Erick Dampier

Dallas Mavericks Guards

Jason Kidd is old, but he’s not done. At least that’s what the Mavericks organization believes. Despite only scoring 9 points per game last season, Mr. Ason Kidd as he was once known for a lack of a J in his game, shot 40% from beyond the arc. Jose Barea played some good basketball last season and if Jason Kidd’s body starts to break down, he will be a fine person to fill his shoes and contain somewhat the point guard stars that the Western Conference is known for. Josh Howard despite being 6-7 can fit in the shooting guard spot no problem, and his length combined with his agility will be a nightmare for opposing 2 guards. Off the bench Jason Terry will continue to light it up and provide a much needed offensive support to a trio of Kidd,Howard,Marion that aren’t exactly known to be heavy scorers.

Dallas Mavericks Forwards

Dirk Nowitzki has had a turbulent past year with his embarrassing off court life making headlines across the world. The Mavericks organization will hope that Nowitzki means it when he says that he feels alright about it all and is ready to focus on basketball this season. He will have perhaps the best rebounding small forward in Shawn Marion supporting him in the front court and try to provide the intangibles that this Dallas team is desperately looking for. Drew Gooden and Tim Thomas will be veteran backups at the forward positions along with young players such as Shawne Williams, Kris Humphries, and James Singleton. To be honest there won’t be much minutes to go around at the 2-3-4 spots when you have a trio of Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, and Dirk Nowitzki along with top 6th man Jason Terry playing big minutes of the bench.

Dallas Mavericks Centers

The center position remains Dallas’ big weakness with long time Mav Erick Dampier being the only real presence. Centers Jake Voshkul and young Aussie Nathan Jawai can’t really be considered championship level reserves, especially when Dampier is 34 years old and not exactly a monster in the paint. Don’t blame Cuban for this though, he was close to acquiring capable NBA center Marcin Gortat until the Magic decided to match his offer. Perhaps coach Carlisle will get creative and elect to run with a versatile lineup of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry,Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, and Dirk Nowitzki – 5 All-Star caliber players who would cause headaches for any opponents they might face.

Best Case Scenario for the Dallas Mavericks

Talent wise the Mavs are right there with the best of them. Sure they don’t have such a deep bench anymore, but they have a solid base of players to succeed in the playoffs given that coach Rick can find a way to make Shawn Marion and Josh Howard play well together. If things start clicking, then as Cuban has said, this could be a better team than the 2006 Mavs that did so well. This should be a make or break season for this team and will probably be the last chance for this Nowitzki led team to win a championship – they will make a decent playoff run.

Worst Case Scenario for the Dallas Mavericks

The average age of the starting 5 is around 33 – so this isn’t exactly a young team. To make matters worse, Jason Terry and maybe Barea are probably the only solid reserves. Exactly who will guard the big duo’s of Duncan/McDyess, Gasol/Brynum are unclear and really a cause for concern. Unless they run an unorthodox lineup and manage to surprise teams, they won’t make it past those 2 teams mentioned above.

Mavericks 2010 Outlook

I can’t help but feel that the Dallas Mavericks have dug their own grave by putting their hopes in the hands of Jason Kidd. Younger and quicker guards will always find a way to light up Kidd and the Lakers will be happy to face a slow guard like Kidd, who’s only real liability is at that PG position. The only saving grace is if Kidd manages to revitalize Marion back into one of the most efficient players in the NBA. If Kidd somehow manages to make Howard and Marion play like All-Stars and Nowitzki like an MVP, then I’ll be wrong and Dallas will be a title contender, if not then a second round appearance is the best they can hope for.

Dallas Mavericks 2010 Predictions

Record: 50-32

Surprise Player: Drew Gooden filling that all important ‘big man’ role and playing large minutes at the PF/center spots

Key Player: Shawn Marion and whether he can be that elite all-around player that fixes all of the Mavs’ problems.

That wraps up the Dallas Mavericks 2009-2010 season preview and our detailed look at the Mavericks in the 2010 NBA season.

Author:General

General has written 32 articles for us.

Tagged with: Dallas Mavericks 2009 2010, Dallas Mavericks preview 2010, Mavericks 2009 2010, Mavericks 2010, Mavericks 2010 nba, mavs 2010