We're Raising a Banner This Year

Ya, it's only 4 games into the year but I'm going to tell you right now: the NBA championship comes to Dallas this season. Put the champagne on ice, print the t-shirts and hats, plan the parade route (okay, not that, since that's what jinxed us in 06), and engrave "2008 Dallas Mavericks" on the trophy. This thing is done.

The Houston Rockets are everyone's "It" team this year. Lots of people are picking San Antonio and Phoenix to win it all but on a lot of "expert" ballots, the Rockets are often picked to finish ahead of the Mavs during the regular season and advance farther than the Mavs in the playoffs. McGrady is supposed to be smarter now. Yao has turned into a superstar. They've added some capable veterans. And they have a new coach, Rick Adelman, who is a great offensive mind and will supposedly allow for Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, and a host of point guards run wild in ways that would have made Jeff Van Gundy want to punch a baby were he still coach. (Shout out to Dane Cook for the punch a baby line of jokes.)

Truth is, they're an easy pick over the Mavs. The Mavs have completely blown two championship chances in two years and at some point their window of opportunity will close. Houston is exciting and has a traditional base of power, with an inside force (Yao) and an outside scoring freak (McGrady).

But here's the thing: The Mavs just knocked the Rockets out tonight playing at nowhere near full strength. They were missing 2 starters and 2 extremely valuable bench players. 4 very important players missing and yet as the game progressed, the Mavs just wore the Rockets down. Houston stayed close early but the Mavs kept pressuring them from every angle and watched as they cracked. Yao was exhausted and was truly outplayed by Gana Diop, a guy who makes about 10 percent of what he does. Jason Terry was absolutely on fire and seemed like he never missed a shot. Dirk struggled all game long but in true MVP fashion, stepped it up when it counted and made two huge shots. And in true un-MVP fashion, Tracy McGrady was once again taken out of the game when it counted and barely scored in the last 8 minutes.

This team is darn good and will only get better when they have everyone back healthy. They are still the only team that is built to outslug the Spurs, exhaust Yao and the Rockets, and out shoot the Suns. They have what is unquestionably the deepest roster in the league. And more importantly, they are a team that is DRIVEN to make up for the mistakes that they seem to have learned so much for. This thing is done. The National writers should do themselves a favor and write the headline right now. Dallas Mavericks, 2008 NBA Champions.

Disclaimer: Should the Mavs fail to live up to their potential or have yet another historic collapse down the stretch, this author will immediately distance from any championship predictions and this post will mysteriously disappear. In the event that they do win out, I will of course compare myself to Nostradamus. Just fair warning.