The Texas Triangle--will three rivalries bud this NBA season?
As Texas pro basketball fans congest arenas in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, title hopes abound, the pride will be unleased and it will seem like the gloves have never been on.Though Texans from the three different cities will argue its team achieved the best retooling of the offseason, a championship isn't a sure thing for anyone--not the white hot Heat and certainly not the Mavs. Dirk and Dwyane should not gamble on a re-match.
There is one bet I would wager in any Vegas casino--that a Texas team will reach the finals and have a clear title shot.
Will it be Timmy Duncan and his San Antonio Spurs? Will it the Hasselhoff singin' Dirk and his Dallas Mavericks? Or will T-Mac and Yao finally pull the strings together for their Houston Rockets?
All three teams can go 10-deep, relying on substantial bench production and the scoring threats are numerous. The talent is packed like cigar smoke in the Bellagio poker rounds. If you sniff too early, you'll pay with a violent cough.
Spurs, Mavs and Rockets fans may believe their respective teams have all but locked up a trip to the NBA's biggest stage.
The hard-broiled truth is you know nothing and your prediction will fare as good as molded bread.
Come April, the Mavs will not be 0-3. The Hornets will not be undefeated. The Rockets will have found their season rhythm. The Spurs will need to continue developing its big men, garnering consistent offensive production from Fransisco Elson, Bruce Bowen and Jacque Vaughn. The Bulls will be tamed. Miami won't be losing by 40 points on its home floor. And Phoenix fans will still be chanting the greatest oxymoron of them all - "Defense! Defense!" Yes that's right Mr. D'antoni, get some!
While my predictions could prove sillier than an Elmo rap album, I can promise you NBA fans that what's happening now in November will mean nothing in April.
As for Texans, my best advice is to enjoy the next few seasons. Rarely will all three Texas teams be this competitively mature and rigorously solid.
DALLAS MAVERICKS
The defending Western Conference champs have begun their repeat season in fine skunk form. The Mavs lost by six to the Spurs in its season opener. The Mavs then absorbed the kind of beating it administered the Rockets in a playoff game 7 two seasons ago. Losing by 30 points, the Jet had no fuel, Desegana Diop embodied a slop-ballhandler and Dirk barely mustered 22 points--a shadow of the unstoppable jumpshooter and layup grinder that pistol-whipped all of his Western Conference opponents.
The Mavs managed a gracefully ugly loss again Monday night against Don Nelson and the laughable Golden State Warriors.
At 0-3, the Mavs need help. Avery cannot follow a "coach of the year" season with a "most technical fouls on the court" season. AJ has lost control of his team ...
MORE TO COME TONIGHT ... KEEP POSTED
posted by Robert Kleeman @ 9:32 AM
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