Will Dallas Mavericks win the NBA title??

scorer · #1 03-10-2007, 01:08 AM

im not convinced they can beat san antonio and especially Phoenix. Post who you think will win this year and how dallas will do.

tuq · #2 03-10-2007, 01:20 AM

Mavs lose in first round to Lakers obv.

Suns in five over the Pistons. D'Antoni rests starters the first three series.

Artdogg · #3 03-10-2007, 02:06 AM

I really hope the suns are just bored with the regular season like I am. They are somehow 9-1 since the all-star break but have looked like garbage. They better get it together soon. As for the Mavs, Ive been trying to find a correlation between them and last years Pistons who had a great regular season as a result of being pissed about losing the championship, but I cant find any. They are deeper and more importantly have a coach who can get it done in the playoffs.

I dont see the Spurs knocking off the Mavs at all honestly. Last years series would have ended in 6 had Terry not been suspended, and the Mavs are clearly better than last year and the Spurs are clearly worse. I'm not just being a homer when I say I think the Suns are the only team that can knock off the Mavs, unless they choke against Miami again or something. The Rockets probably have the tools to do it but they choked away the last series against them and the Lakers seem to match up well with the Mavs but have pretty much no chance of being fully healthy.

ZBTHorton · #4 03-10-2007, 03:54 AM

I don't think there is really anyway that San Antonio beats Dallas. It has finally gotten to the point that I would rather have Dirk on my team than Duncan, and their supporting casts are not even reasonably close.

The Mavs vs Suns Series should be one giant crapshoot. I'd say the Mavs win 60% of the time, maybe.

Colt McCoy · #5 03-10-2007, 11:55 AM

Yes. The Heat got lucky last year, and the East is even weaker this year. Defense matters too much in the playoffs for Phoenix to win it.

MoreWineII · #6 03-10-2007, 12:03 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think there is really anyway that San Antonio beats Dallas. It has finally gotten to the point that I would rather have Dirk on my team than Duncan, and their supporting casts are not even reasonably close.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't agree with the bolded part at all.

tdarko · #7 03-10-2007, 12:11 PM

Who actually knows who will win, it was certain a west team would win last year eh? But I do think it is utterly insane that Dallas is consistently never a favorite to win on this board even though as my first sentence of this post points out it doesn't matter.

SA has one nice streak and now they are the favorites in the west when two teams have dominated the entire league for an entire season minus the first 4 games is a concept I still can't wrap my mind around. I think maybe some are holding on to the image of a Spurs team that is deteriorating each year. I still think they are one of the 3 best teams in the year and obviously when you are in that category you have a legitimate chance at winning the title but when deciding favorites I just can't see how SA is anything but 3 on this list.

iggymcfly · #8 03-10-2007, 12:14 PM

I think the Mavs are far and away the frontrunners at this point. I'd give them a 45-50% chance to win the title, and I wouldn't give any other team more than about 15% at this point. They've got the playoff experience, and they're more talented than anyone in the league. They really don't have a weakness.

The Suns are clearly the 2nd best team, but they'll also have one of the toughest roads as they'll have to get through the Spurs in the semis and then go to Dallas just to get to the Finals. I really don't think they match up well with Dallas at all, as the Mavs are fast and fit enough that Phoenix just can't tire them out. It's going to come down to shooting and defense, and Dallas is better in both of those categories. I see them beating the Suns about 65-70% of the time.

The one wildcard's Miami. Shaq's been playing like he's 25 again ever since D-Wade went down, and if they're both performing at peak capacity, I think Miami's the most talented team in the East. If they were in the West, they'd still be in danger of missing the playoffs altogether or would have to go through four tough series while they were trying to gell again, but given their easy road, I can see them coasting into the Finals and stealing a 7 game series from Dallas.

The only other legitimate contenders at this point are Detroit and San Antonio. The Pistons actually still have most of their championship nucleus intact and could get hot for a series if they get out of the East, much like Miami. The Spurs are just about as good as the Pistons, but they'd have to beat superior teams three times, not just once.

tdarko · #9 03-10-2007, 12:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
and their supporting casts are not even reasonably close.

[/ QUOTE ]

"I don't agree with the bolded part at all."

Bummer b/c its true, and not even remotely close.

guilt_trip · #10 03-10-2007, 12:33 PM

I dont think there is a team that isnt a 2-1 dog to the Mavs in a 7 game series

Of course no-one knows for sure if they'll win but they have to be at least going to win 50% of the time IMO.

Only real challegnes will be Spurs or Pistons. But as I say, they'll still be nice dogs to the Mavs

PHO are in a bad spot to win the West because to win they'll have to most likely go throught Spurs and Mavs, two teams they match up horribly with