The Dallas Mavericks will need more than a breakfast burrito and a gallon of water to cure their championship hangover. The Mavericks look lost while slurring their passes and are still unable to find their keys to victory early this season.
I’ve postponed writing a Mavs article for over a week because I wanted to see how the lineup shook out before offering up more analysis. Unfortunately, Coach Carlisle has yet to find his characteristic steady rotation, and I’m left trying to pick up the pieces for y’all. Full Story…
Now that the banner has been raised, it’s time for fan expectations to come down. Still high on last year’s spectacular playoff run, Mavs fans entered the season expecting another title or at least sure-fire dominance of the Western Conference.
With a gutted roster that only vaguely resembles last year’s championship squad, the Mavericks have sputtered out the gate. Between two preseason games and two regular season games, the Mavericks have managed to fall behind by at least 23 points in all four games. Regardless of how misleading final scores can be, all of these games were blowouts. Full Story…
Dallas, TX – Booed loudly today by Mavs fans, NBA Commissioner David Stern’s on-court presentation of the Larry O’Brien trophy to team owner Mark Cuban was rendered inaudible. One would have literally needed noise-canceling headphones and a line to jack into at American Airlines Center to be able to hear anything Stern said on the intercom. Full Story…
Vince Carter arrives in Dallas this season facing both the largest and smallest set of expectations he’s ever faced. Paradoxical? Not really.
The high expectations are reserved for his new squad, the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks. The smaller set of expectations surrounds the individual play of Vince Carter personally. This larger than life character is finally transitioning into a role player on a great team rather than demanding to be a centerpiece of a mediocre team.
This shift in personal attitudes for Vinsanity has allowed Donnie Nelson to become the first GM to sign Carter to a sane contract. His mini mid-level exception contract is so modest and flexible that the Mavs are still able to go after two top-level free agents next summer (Deron Williams and Dwight Howard), while remaining a title contender this season. In other words, Vince Carter fits perfectly into the win-now/win-later strategy of Mark Cuban.
At $3 million a year with only one year guaranteed, Vince’s three-year deal with the Mavs can’t be about the money for him. Coming into this season, Vince ranked number 19 on the list all-time of top earners in NBA history (purely salary, no endorsements or personal revenue) with just under $135 million.
Clearly the man has made enough money to retire several times over. Unlike many players, Carter’s not known to have financial problems or lavish spending habits like his former teammate Gilbert Arenas. Phoenix just paid him more money ($4 million) to go away than the Mavericks are paying him this season to play basketball.
Carter came to Dallas understanding that if he wants to win it all, he has to expect less for himself in terms of minutes by playing on the most competitive roster available to him. By choosing Dallas over fellow suitor Chicago, he chose a championship pedigree over more minutes and more shot opportunities.
Though VC undoubtedly begins the season as the Mavericks starter at Shooting Guard, everyone knows that Jason Terry plays SG for Dallas in crunch time. This is not expected to change in Dallas this season. The change is more related to VC himself. Vince Carter for the first time in his career will not be over-paid, over-played, or over-hyped. Half-Man, Half-Amazing is now Half-Starter, Half-Benchwarmer. This is unchartered territory for Vince Carter and I expect him to thrive in this new reduced role.
Carter likely will play the least of all the Mavericks starters this season, given the aforementioned Jason Terry situation going on in the fourth quarter. Besides Terry, Lamar Odom also figures to get a lot of minutes off the bench. Though Vince ranks higher in the depth chart than Roddy Beaubois, Delonte West, and Dominique Jones, it’ s not by much.
Assuming that he’ll probably rank 7th or lower on the team in minutes this season, Carter will be hitting 7th in my baseball lineup analogy. By my scorekeeping, Vince was asked to bat high in the lineup everywhere he’s ever played, including Phoenix last season. He may have played second fiddle to Dwight Howard in Orlando or Steve Nash on the Suns, but VC was still featured heavily in both rotations as no worse than the third player on the team.
Though still a liability on defense, I expect Vince to surprise us with a few 25 point games and maybe even a 30 or 40 point game if we’re lucky. Those games featuring flashes of pure brilliance will be the aberration. My guess is that VC averages around 12 PPG in 22 minutes or less. If he can deliver that kind of production in limited minutes, he’ll play a sizable role on a contending team for the first time rather than Vince versa (see what I did there?).
We can look forward to a healthy amount of dunks from the 2000 Slam Dunk Champion. He’ll frequently land on “Top 10 Plays” this season, converting lob after lob from PG Jason Kidd into two points at a time. The Mavs are counting on the reunion of former running mates Carter and Kidd to go smoothly. Carter and Kidd first played together on the New Jersey Nets from 2004-08, before Kidd was traded back to the Mavs.
Despite the mesmerizing effect of monster dunks on the fans, Carter’s true contribution will come in his excellent low post game. At 6’6″, Carter is a formidable threat with his back to the basket no matter who is guarding him. His problem has always been settling for the fade-away jumpers. If Vince plays his #7 role properly, he’ll know to pass up those types of shots to the better shooters on the team and focus on high percentage shots for himself.
If Vince can settle into his role and embrace the team approach the Mavericks perfected last post-season, Vince could have the most efficient season of his career. A deep guard-heavy roster will limit his minutes, which is why the 2011-12 season will demand that Vince Carter do more with less. He already took less money and presumably less minutes, now the question becomes: can VC help bring Dallas one more NBA title?
I don’t know about y’all, but I’m excited to see the artist formerly known as Air Canada in his debut at American Airlines Center on Christmas Day.
Can’t see it in the link? It’s because it’s buried under a story about the Big Three hosting a charity game in Miami. Healthy NBA players playing pick up ball because they’re locked out? Boring cry for attention. Not exciting, give us real NBA action.
But wait, Caron Butler being healthy? That’s big news! That’s something we have not seen since January 1, 2011. That’s something the Dallas Mavericks played through to win the 2011 NBA Championship, but it is not something to be discounted. This has a huge impact on the 2011 free agency market (or soonest free agency market in our future, maybe as late as 2013 at this pace).
Unlike Rudy Gay or Rajon Rondo, other perennial super-star coming off injury being featured in this charity game, Caron Butler does not have a contract with an NBA team. Despite the affection of MFFL’s, Butler is among Dallas’ group of free agents, which also includes Tyson Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson. Any or all of the three players may have played his last game as a Maverick.
Butler’s return to basketball is much bigger news than the Big Three hosting a party with their other Super Best Friends like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Amare Stoudemire. Though this game will likely feature 90% of the next Dream Team for London 2012, it’s nothing more than a talent showcase. Expect high scoring and no defense, not competitive basketball.
This game is an All-Star game with the best offensive players in the world not playing defense and playing not to get hurt. The real story is the return of marquee NBA players to health so that they can make big contributions at the start of the next competitive NBA season.
Disclosure: This is obviously a Mavs article written by a Mavs fan. More emphasis should probably be placed on Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay’s return to their respective teams because they’re under 25 and they are the superstars of the future. ESPN Dallas ran an article that focused on Caron Butler appearing in this game before me, but I only realized this after seeing the Y! Sports piece.
