2009-2010 Season

It looks like most teams' rosters out west are set for the time being (unless AI or sessions joins one of them, but I dont see them going to contenders)

where do teams end up this season?

this is my vote

1. lakers - with artest instead of ariza, I think they take a step back in the future though are just as good this season, but with Odom back and Bynum one year older and more experienced, they make up for that. Fisher is a year older, they need a new PG soon...

2. spurs - Jefferson puts them back in contention and assuming this old team stays healthy I can see them close to the lakers when its all said and done.

3. nuggets - losing Kleiza will hurt them, but I dont see anybody in their division better than them, maybe portland if Oden suddenly becomes a good player, but I don't see it. Billups is too good a pg to make that happen.

4. portland - This is a crapshoot for who ends up here, I give the edge to portland, Aldridge is a year older, Roy is a year older, they are a team that has experience after last year losing in 7 to Houston. I can see this team winning 55+ games

5. mavs - they will run, Kidd will push the ball, Marion will be improved over the last season and a half, though will never return to what he was before he left phoenix (I'll be impressed if he does) Howard might be healthy, but he's still dumb. Dirk will do everything on his own again, though Marion should help with that. the Center position still needs help, though Damp/Gooden should help *a little*. Biggest question mark is still SG... I don't see howard/marion combo being successful for the long run. and Terry is still undersized.

6. jazz - One injury to the mavs and move the Jazz up to 5th spot. Good team, but they just aren't convincing to me. I don't see them lasting past the 1st round (unless the matchup is against an injured or depleted team)

7. hornets - Another team that could be in the mix for the 4th seed, don't see them having that magical season like they did 2 years ago, but they'll be a competitor, though likely an also-ran. Okafor vs Chandler isn't that much of a difference. And since ownership is in sell! sell! sell! mode, I can foresee some drops in talent mid season just to save a dollar or 10 million.

8. suns - they take this spot by default, one year older and with amare back after eye surgery. Not to mention they will run again now that shaq isn't there. But they wont be winning more than 45 games this year.

9. warriors - they suck, and nellie is gonna try to screw the warriors for a 10 million extension then go hang out in Maui for the last 6 months of his life.

10. clippers - griffin will get them out of the cellar, but they'll win 32-36 games. maybe in the east that could get them in the playoffs...

11. thunder - this team will be good in a few years, I think they might be a sleeper and beat some good teams catching them off guard, but they won't really warrant much more than that this season.

12. wolves - upside, but not much will show this year, I can see them surprising some and being in playoff sights around the all star break, but they will break down in the home stretch.

13. rockets - without yao and tmac and no more artest might as well tank the season. vy for a top draft pick

14. grizzlies - this team has no direction and ownership is cutting costs. not to mention they traded for randolph after already shedding less in salary a season ago in the gasol trade, then turning around getting a worse player... fucktards.

15. kings - believe it or not, in worse shape than the grizzlies, I dont see where this team is going, or what the Maloofs are trying to do, somebody help explain this to me, please.

Why the regular season matters.

The Dallas mavericks have accumulated the 8th best record in history after 50 games. And with a record of 41-9, the Mavericks can't possibly be in any better position with less than a week before the all-star break.

lets analyze this for a second:

• They have a whopping 8.5 game lead over the Spurs in the race for the Southwest division. In retrospect, the last time the spurs trailed a division opponent by that large a margin, it was back in the 1996-1997 season when San Antonio finished with one of the worse records in the league and won the lottery to get Tim Duncan on board and being their current run of eliteness in this league.
• The team has a spectacular record of 10-1 when Dirk scores 20 or less points. more proof that it hasn't been relying on Dirk for their wins.
  
• The team has yet to lose in the second night of back to backs!!! with an astonishing record of 10-0, this is unprecedented in NBA history. the second night of back-to-back is important because the team is usually at a disadvantage because of fatigue, and travel.
• The team now has a two game lead over the Phoenix Suns for the best record in the nba.
• Josh Howard just joined Dirk Nowitzki as the second maverick at the All Star game next weekend in Vegas. Albeit, after injuries to Carlos Boozer and Yao Ming allowed the commish to select Howard along with Carmelo Anthony to both players' first all star game.
  
• This team is proving that it has grown leaps and bounds over last season's finals loser to Miami. Recently in the news, Dwyane Wade responded to a comment made by Dirk over 3 months ago about Dirk's opinion that the mavs lost the finals, and the heat didn't win it. Wade responds by questioning Dirks' leadership when the series was on the line last June. Dirk refused to trade banter back and forth, rendering Wade as the "dumber" of the two players.
• Dallas also now owns the best home record in the nba, 24-3, including a 17 game win streak which is a new team record.
  

Entering this season, the mavs were facing a tough situation, the front office had chosen to stick with the core of the team that lost last season's finals, and instead give them a chance to try again for a championship. This team was a question mark, would they rebound from a tough finals loss? or would they be disinterested in the season and fail to recover.

In reality, the regular season would seem to mean very little to a team which knows that they won't shed the ghosts until the playoffs where they can repent for their horrible showing in the finals. But the mavs made it a mission, they always find mistakes in their play, and are never satisfied with what they accomplished.

now all they have to do is not go in a slump when the playoffs start. Here's to hoping.