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.