Dallas Mavericks 09-10 NBA Season Preview

Since the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat in 2006, the Mavs have never been the same. The Mavs have suffered disappointing playoff losses and are yet to win a championship despite the best efforts of owner Mark Cuban. The 06-07 season turned out to be one of the most disappointing seasons for a team that went 67-15 in the regular season. The Mavs lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors.

The Mavs finished third in the Southwest division in 08-09 with a 50-32 record. The Mavs were in the top 10 in scoring in the NBA averaging 102 points per game. Dirk Nowitzki had another stellar season averaging nearly 26 points per game. While Dirk has been criticized for his leadership in the past, he is still one of the best players in the game.

The Western Conference is full of very good teams and winning the West will be very difficult for the Mavs. Dirk can’t win games by himself all the time and he’ll need even more help from the likes of Jason Terry, Josh Howard and newly acquired Shawn Marion.

It looks like the Mavs can score a lot of points now, but can they stop anyone on defense? To win games in the playoffs, teams have to stop opposing teams in critical situations, the Mavs don’t have a player of the closed type. The opposing teams’ scoring average was in the middle of the league at 15th.

The Mavs have won 50 or more games each season since the 00′-01′ season, which shows great consistency. Dirk Nowitzki is not getting any younger and he may only have 2 or 3 more seasons where he is an elite player with a chance at a championship. The Mavs would like another shot at the NBA Finals, and this time finish off their opponents.