DeSagana Diop will probably start for the Mavericks. Diop is a good rebounder and shot-blocker, but that’s the extent of his skill set. Diop has averaged 1.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in only 13.1 minutes per game over his career. The Mavericks think they can carry Diop’s poor offense as long as he provides the defense and rebounding that they need.

Erick Dampier will be the back-up, even though he’s a better player than Diop. Even though Shaq deemed him “Ericka”, he’s not a soft player. Dampier has averaged 8.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game over his career. Dampier sometimes doesn’t give a 100%, and that drives Avery Johnson crazy.

D.J. Mbenga will be the #3 center for the Mavs and he really doesn’t have many skills at all. Mbenga has averged 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game over his career.

The starting small forward for the Mavericks will be young Josh Howard. Howard really stepped up his game in his third season last year. Howard averaged 15.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists last year. Howard is a very athletic player that will probably be the #3 option on the offense. The thought here is that Howard will improve on his numbers from last season as he is a player on the rise. For his career, Howard has averaged 12.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Jerry Stackhouse will be Howard’s back-up and he’ll also be the reserve shooting guard also. Stackhouse is starting to slow down but he can still score with the best of them in short spurts. Stackhouse averaged 13.0 points per game off of the bench last year for the Mavericks. For his career, Stackhouse has averaged 19.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

The Mavericks are set up well at this position.

The Mavericks beat the Suns at their own game last night. The Mavericks shot 54.8% from the floor and out-rebounded the Suns 37-25. Dirk Nowitzki had a great game with 35 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Jason Terry was on fire and added 30 points. Jerry Stackhouse, getting extended playing time due to Josh Howard’s injury, scored 23 points. Devin Harris chipped in with 10 points.

The Mavericks finally got their first win and are now 1-4.

Things were looking really good at halftime as the Mavericks were leading the Clippers 50-43. Mike Dunleavy must have really said something that fired up the troops in the locker room at halftime, because the Clippers thrashed the Mavericks 60-35 in the second half of the game. The Mavericks didn’t shoot the ball well (39% from floor) and they got out-rebounded 48-38…and you can’t win too many games when you combine those factors!

Jason Terry led the Mavericks with 23 points. Dirk Nowitzki had a decent game with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots. Jerry Stackhouse pitched in with 12 points.

The Mavericks better wake up soon as they now stand 0-4 on the season.

Starting small forward Josh Howard is going to miss two weeks with a sprained ankle. This hurts the Mavericks as Howard was averaging 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game so far this season. Look for Jerry Stackhouse to try to pick up the slack in the scoring department to cover for Howard.

No one can probably wipe the smile of Don Nelson’s face after beating his old team in Dallas last night. The Mavericks just couldn’t play any defense and it hurt them last night. Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Devin Harris really filled up the boxscore with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. Jason Terry was real active with 15 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. Josh Howard (13 points) & Greg Buckner (13 points) each pitched in on offense.

The Mavericks need to snap out of it and start playing basketball like they can.

The Mavericks looked completely horrible on Saurday night in Houston. The Mavs couldn’t stop Yao, who put 36 points on them and was scoring at will. The Rockets shot a blistering 53.6% from the field. Dirk Nowitzki (24 points), Josh Howard (16 points) and Anthony Johnson (11 points) were the only players that came to play on offense.

The Mavericks need to forget this game and move on.

Dirk Nowitzki is the most versatile power forward in the NBA. Dirk averaged 26.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists last season as he led his team to the NBA Finals. The thing that makes Nowitzki so tough is that he can shoot well from anywhere on the court. Nowitzki is a career shooter of 37.9% from three-point range, but yet, he’s tough enough to play around the basket also. Nowitzki has averaged 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game for his career. Nowitzki is quite simply, the best player on the Mavericks and one of the best players in the whole NBA. His skill set reminds me of Larry Bird.

Austin Croshere will be the back-up. Croshere is a tough player that can also shoot well for a big guy. Croshere has averaged 7.5 points & 4.3 rebounds per game over his career despite only averaging 18.9 minutes per game.

The Mavericks were leading the game 75-72 heading into the 4th quarter, but the Spurs outscored the Mavs 25-16 in the 4th quarter. The Mavericks need to be more aggressive on offense as the Spurs shot 21 more free-throws than the Mavs, and that hurt. Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Josh Howard had a good all-around game scoring 20 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Jason Terry (14 points) and Austin Croshere (12 points) helped out on offense.

Not a good way to start there defense of the Western Conference Crown.