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Dallas Mavericks – Fantasy Basketball Analysis

Stephen Kersey — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:17:30 +0000

The Dallas Mavericks have roughly the same team that they had last season, but with a new coach at the helm, expect big changes. Rick Carlisle is promising to let the offense be faster paced than it was under Avery Johnson. He’s also going to make the defense more of a gambling unit than a bend-but-don’t-break unit.

All told, these changes should have positive effects on may of the players on the roster in terms of their fantasy basketball status. Dirk Nowitzki should see his scoring average rise and should also see more three-pointers. If his numbers would go down anywhere, it might be rebounding because Carlisle doesn’t have him crashing the boards as much as Johnson did.

The player who this new offense should really help is Jason Kidd. Under Johnson, Kidd looked totally uncomfortable playing for Dallas. But now with the offense basically under his guidance, expect Kidd to put up a lot of triple doubles and a lot of nights with a big amount of assists. The only thing that could stop Kidd this season is age or injury.

Josh Howard and Jason Terry should both see their numbers go up a bit. If Howard is used more at power forward, his rebounding and blocked shot numbers could rise. Terry may start at shooting guard for Carlisle, which would be good for his scoring numbers and his overall consistency.

Other than these four players, there doesn’t seem to be much potential for quality fantasy basketball players to emerge from this roster. Erick Dampier might be a surprise if he plays big minutes, but foul trouble usually limits that from happening.

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Mark Cuban and Marijuana – Josh Howard Impact

Stephen Kersey — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:34:46 +0000

During the first round of the playoffs, Josh Howard admitted to smoking marijuana during the offseason when he was on Michael Irvin’s radio show. In a recent interview with Dan Patrick, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban admitted he has tried marijuana in the past.

While Cuban didn’t give Howard a clean pass, he did make it seem like the Mavs weren’t going to punish Howard. It also doesn’t sound like Dallas will look to trade Howard in the offseason.

Howard’s play struggled down the stretch of the season and especially into the playoffs. Some rumors around the team point to ex-coach Avery Johnson partially being at fault. Supposedly Johnson and Howard didn’t see eye to eye at the end of Johnson’s tenure as coach of the Mavs.

Under new coach Rick Carlisle, Howard should be able to regain his All-Star status. His fantasy basketball stock is a bit down due to his poor showing in the playoffs, but expect Howard to make a full fantasy recovery for the 2008-09 season. That is especially true now that Cuban seems to have come to his defense.

Photo: Newscom

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Mavs New Coach – Rick Carlisle to Mavericks

Stephen Kersey — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:29:59 +0000

Rick Carlisle has been hired by Mark Cuban to coach the Dallas Mavericks and was signed to a four-year contract. Carlisle replaces the fired Avery Johnson and comes to the Mavs after coaching stops with the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers.

In terms of fantasy basketball, this news doesn’t immediately affect the fantasy value of the Mavs players one way or another. Carlisle has at times in his coaching career gone with a slow-paced offense, which would hurt fantasy value. However, Carlisle has talked about changing that philosophy. Basically, we’ll have to wait and see how Carlisle decides to run Dallas’ offense before making any judgment.

This season, the Mavs finished the regular season with 51-31 record. In the first round of the playoffs, they took on the New Orleans Hornets. After losing the first two games in New Orleans, the Mavs won Game 3 but then lost Game 4 and Game 5. After being eliminated, Cuban was quick to fire Johnson and begin his coaching search.

While some media reports indicated that Mike D’Antoni could get into the mix, Carlisle ended up being the first and last serious candidate.

Photo: Newscom

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