Their record suggests that at the half-way point of the NBA season, this is head coach Rick Carlisle’s best Mavericks team.
Our eyeballs suggest otherwise.
The Mavs are 28-13, the best 41-game record in Carlisle’s seven years in Dallas. (They were 27-14 midway through their championship season in 2011.) But they are only 9-5 since the trade for Rajon Rondo, just 1-8 against Western Conference playoff teams (the lone win against the Spurs' jayvee) and light years from being a legit championship contender. Not they can’t be by April. But, considering their mid-December facelift, the new-look Mavs are more like a team just leaving training camp.
“The trade made us better,” Dirk Nowitzki told reporters after a weekend workout. “We have a lot of weapons out there. We've got a point guard that has a lot of experience and has a championship and is a great player for us, but I also think we have some work to do on both ends of the floor. I can certainly see the potential that's there, but the problem is the West is so tough. It's loaded.”
Given Rondo’s offensive limitations in perimeter and free-throw shooting, the Mavs aren’t as good at that end of the floor as they were when they began the season as the NBA’s highest-scoring team. But defensively, his ability to create havoc, disrupt rhythm and keep opposing point guards from penetrating the lane greatly improves Dallas at that end.
The 28-13 record, therefore, is misleading. The Mavs have the pieces in place to be a contender. But the ultimate answer isn’t available in mid-January, mid-season or not.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
