How does Dallas do it?

[WayOutWest]

I look at their roster and I'm not impressed.  I look at the year Dirk is having and I get depressed, he's the cornerstone of my FNBA team.  I look at their record and I wonder how they do it?

[westkoast]

How they do what?  Play so well in the regular aseason?

[WayOutWest]

How they do what?  Play so well in the regular aseason?

LOL.  Basically yes, how do they play so well.  After losing 2 of their big 3 they are just as good if not better.

[Skandery]

Dirk Nowitzki -- MVP calibre
Josh Howard -- Top Flight Next Generation Player
Jason Terry -- Top Flight Sub All-Star turned Super 6th man
Devin Harris -- Solid Starter quality Point
Stackhouse -- Former scoring machine, now solid starter

. . . and a nice mix of young and veteran rotation players good for defense and intangibles:

Erick Dampier
Desagana Diop -- who really is a talented defender
Eddie Jones
Brandon Bass

. . . and a nice mix of young and veteran end of the bench guys for towel-waving and an occasional 3.

Devean George
Trenton Hassell -- still a quality defender
J.J.  Barea
Maurice Ager

. . . and I didn't mention Nick Fazekas (a rookie I like) and Juwan Howard (solid vet).

===================

Looks great at the top and solid through-out.  Why do you think they should be losing?

[westkoast]

How they do what?  Play so well in the regular aseason?

LOL.  Basically yes, how do they play so well.  After losing 2 of their big 3 they are just as good if not better.

Skandery about said it all but I'd also like to throw in their coach.  AJ is a no bs, play hard type guy.  I think the team follows him in that regard.  No matter what they play hard.  Now why the heck did they lose to GS?  Who knows.  That will be solved before they figure out who shot Tupac.

I disagree Josh Howard is a next generation player.  He's been in the league just as long (or longer) as some of the true next generation players like Bron, Wade, Dwight Howard,etc

[Skandery]

I disagree Josh Howard is a next generation player.  He's been in the league just as long (or longer) as some of the true next generation players like Bron, Wade, Dwight Howard,etc

I know what you mean. 

It's just I've tended to call all these guys the next generation because I didn't grow up with them.  Really, they're the current one.  I think Josh Howard has a shot to become an every year All-Star type guy.

[Laker Fan]

Avery Johnson blew it when he layed down on the last game of the year to get to Golden State, a team that had beaten Dallas I think 7 out of their last 8 meetings, the Warriors OWNED Dallas and AJ set Dallas up for to face them, IMO he is an average coach with a lot of talent on the team and this year they are not exactly burning down the house with their play, Utah whaled on them and LA is only 1/2 game back of them in the standings, San Antonio is waaaay more impressive at this point in the season than the Mavericks, who, btw, are under .500 on the road and tied with LA in the conference.

[Reality]

Could also this season be taking page out of Spurs notebook and downplaying 1st half of regular season.  We had a thread on how many Champions of past 12 years had best record.  It wasn't many.
Last year at this time LeBron dunked on Duncans face as the start of a three game losing streak culminating with Dallas beating the Spurs to go up like 8 games.  We saw how 2007 Playoffs turned out for LeBron and Dallas.  Props to LeBron for Cleveland even making the Finals but I mean see how much the superdunk and reg season wins meant when Timmy Duncar and Co turned it on in the playoffs.

Nothing new either.  76ers of '80-82 posted best or near best record a couple times.  After the two huge Finals upsets, they regrouped and put emphasis on preparing for playoffs instead of regular season.  Of course getting Mo Malone helped too.  Result, 1983 a challenger for GOAT team and a Finals sweep of whomever that Western Conference fodder team was.

[WayOutWest]

Dirk Nowitzki -- MVP calibre
Josh Howard -- Top Flight Next Generation Player
Jason Terry -- Top Flight Sub All-Star turned Super 6th man
Devin Harris -- Solid Starter quality Point
Stackhouse -- Former scoring machine, now solid starter

. . . and a nice mix of young and veteran rotation players good for defense and intangibles:

Erick Dampier
Desagana Diop -- who really is a talented defender
Eddie Jones
Brandon Bass

. . . and a nice mix of young and veteran end of the bench guys for towel-waving and an occasional 3.

Devean George
Trenton Hassell -- still a quality defender
J.J.  Barea
Maurice Ager

. . . and I didn't mention Nick Fazekas (a rookie I like) and Juwan Howard (solid vet).

===================

Looks great at the top and solid through-out.  Why do you think they should be losing?

Dirk Nowitzki -- Having an off year, believe me I KNOW!!!

Josh Howard -- He's very good and under rated but he's no Finely.

Jason Terry -- Lost his starting job to Harris cause he really doesn't do anything well, just competent and extreemly streaky.

Devin Harris -- Agreed, he's an up and comer but dont' think much of his shot or defense and he's nowhere near Nash.

Stackhouse -- Pretty one demensional and again not as good as Finley.

Erick Dampier - Useless underachiever.

Desagana Diop -- Underutilized cause he's sooooooooo one demensional.

Eddie Jones - Does he still have a pulse?

Brandon Bass - eh......

Devean George - UTTERLY useless fragile meat head.

Trenton Hassell, J.J.  Barea & Maurice Ager - WHO?

[Skandery]

Dirk Nowitzki -- Having an off year, believe me I KNOW!!!

It ain't that OFF of a year.  Really he's shooting less three's (which everyone was clamoring for anyway) and scoring a bit less because Josh Howard has arrived.  He's still MVP-calibre

Josh Howard -- He's very good and under rated but he's no Finely.

No, he's not Finley, Finley's a guard, Howard's a forward.  Howard rebounds more and passes less.  Other than that, there is not much difference between them.

Jason Terry -- Lost his starting job to Harris cause he really doesn't do anything well, just competent and extreemly streaky.

He shoots well and is averaging 1 less point in 4 less minutes off the bench.

Devin Harris -- Agreed, he's an up and comer but dont' think much of his shot or defense and he's nowhere near Nash.

Agreed, he's not Nash.  Neither is Tony Parker but the Spurs are pretty good.

Stackhouse -- Pretty one demensional and again not as good as Finley.

Agreed very one-dimensional, he only scores.  But he doesn't really need to defend because . . .

Erick Dampier - Useless underachiever.

He defends

Desagana Diop -- Underutilized cause he's sooooooooo one demensional.

He defends

Brandon Bass - eh......

He defends

Eddie Jones - Does he still have a pulse?

and He defends.  (and yes he's still alive, barely)

Devean George - UTTERLY useless fragile meat head.

Man, you're cruel to defectors.

Trenton Hassell, J.J.  Barea & Maurice Ager - WHO?

I told you.  They wave towels and hit an occasional 3.  You know, think Sasha.

[WayOutWest]

You know, think Sasha.

Then they are screwed! 

Based on your reply I guess the big improvement is defense, which is what Dallas has always lacked and would explain why they are doing better despite losing two all stars, including a two time MVP PG.

[Laker Fan]

You know, think Sasha.

Then they are screwed! 

Based on your reply I guess the big improvement is defense, which is what Dallas has always lacked and would explain why they are doing better despite losing two all stars, including a two time MVP PG.

OK WOW, tell me where they are doing better than they were at this same point in the season because I fail to see where 21-11 is better than 25-7. Dallas looks and plays vulnerable in many area's, especially off the bench and in what was their strong suit last year, transition offense, they have dropped statistically in both offensive and defensive categories and they are getting beat by teams that they owned last year (Utah).

I guess I just fail to see where record or stats indicate this team is anywhere near the level they were last year at this point in the season, they scare no one and are under .500 on the road.

[WayOutWest]

OK WOW, tell me where they are doing better than they were at this same point in the season because I fail to see where 21-11 is better than 25-7. Dallas looks and plays vulnerable in many area's, especially off the bench and in what was their strong suit last year, transition offense, they have dropped statistically in both offensive and defensive categories and they are getting beat by teams that they owned last year (Utah).

I guess I just fail to see where record or stats indicate this team is anywhere near the level they were last year at this point in the season, they scare no one and are under .500 on the road.

They are still and elite team and I guess it was not obvious enough from my posts that my comments are based on them breaking up the big 3 and replacing them with average players and still getting the same, if not better results, then when they were stacked with talent.

[Reality]

breaking up the big 3 and replacing them with average players

Who is the 3rd member of this *Big 3* you allude to?
Dirk, your media MVP darling Nash and ?

[WayOutWest]

breaking up the big 3 and replacing them with average players

Who is the 3rd member of this *Big 3* you allude to?
Dirk, your media MVP darling Nash and ?

Findawg.  I hope it doesn't go over your head.