HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Eddie Johnson

The Dallas Mavericks have now joined the party that the Lakers and Suns started a few weeks ago. Although I love Jason Kidd and he will undoubtedly make the Mavericks a more focused and tougher team, I don’t think it will put them in the rarified air of Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Antonio and for one specific reason only… They still have no interior offensive threat that will get them consistent inside points and force teams to double team, thus allowing Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard to flourish.

Kidd will definitely get them better shots, but the question is… Will he still allow them to get more possessions? Yes, he is probably the best rebounding pure point guard in the history of the NBA and a walking triple-double threat every time he hits the floor, but losing DeSagana Diop in the deal has effectively taken away a long defender and a rebounding asset the Mavericks will need against the Lakers, Suns and Spurs.

Erick Dampier will have to really step his game up to levels we have not seen and that scenario must have Avery Johnson worried. Brandon Bass has been a nice surprise, but they cannot count on an unproven player come playoff time – especially against Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol.

The Mavericks have now become the Phoenix Suns pre-Shaq. They will have to up-tempo the game to crazy levels to stay out of half-court situations.

Case in point… Who will Dirk Nowitzki guard on the Suns? They use to hide him on Shawn Marion, but that will not work on Grant Hill or Boris Diaw because both can take him away from the basket and make him defend against dribble penetration. Plus it effectively takes him off the defensive glass, thus making them vulnerable with only Dampier to rebound. Avery will have no choice but to put Dirk on Amare or Shaq and that scenario spells trouble for the Mavericks.

The same applies to the Lakers with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol with Lamar Odom at small forward. Avery will have to guard Bynum with Dirk because there’s no way can he defend Odom. The Spurs don’t create that much of a problem with only Duncan in the interior, but San Antonio will offset it with the great defense Bruce Bowen plays on Dirk.

Dallas will now have to rely on fast pace and quick shots to have any chance against not only the three teams I mentioned, but the New Orleans Hornets and Utah Jazz as well.

The Mavericks and the Warriors are now like mirror images and I don’t think either has the edge against the height and strength of the top teams in a seven-game series. But any given night, when they catch fire, they are going to look awfully good.

If the Suns have admitted that form of ball is pretty but not conducive to a championship. Why would the Mavericks take the same approach?

I must admit that it will be fun watching it all develop because Jason Kidd is the real deal on both ends of the court.

Welcome to the Wild Wild West.

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Please look no further than Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups and Deron Williams if you are trying to find some reasons why the USA is treating the Vegas tournament like they are playing high school kids. I wrote an article last year complaining about lack of perimeter shooting, but more importantly about Coach K being forced to allow the three youngsters – LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade – to dominate the ball and force the other players to stand and watch them play.

The USA needed some players that would not be afraid to take the ball out of their hands and would not hesitate to get in their face if they became selfish – but most importantly players that those three respected.

Last year, Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich were intimidated by the trio and could not run the offense because they did not have the ball. The key to any All-Star team is point guard play and the USA has three extremely unselfish players that are making the game easy and giving the plethora of scorers high-percentage shots consistently.

Jason Kidd has attempted three shots in four games while dishing out a total of 14 assists. Kidd once boasted that he could dominate a game without attempting a shot. Well, I think he along with Billups and Williams have given the USA the key to winning in China next year.

I continue to be extremely impressed with Carmelo. He has played third fiddle to Wade and LeBron, but before it’s all said and done Anthony might become the better player of the three. He undoubtedly will be the most prolific scorer of the bunch.

Mike Miller and Michael Redd were great additions and I want to see a few more catch-and-shoot guys like Joe Johnson and maybe Kevin Durant on the roster in China.

Kobe Bryant, whom I have not mentioned, has probably been the glue to it all. Bryant understands what it takes to win and his defense on players like Leandro Barbosa and anyone else the USA faces will definitely make the difference.

Kobe is the best player on this team, but yet he too has allowed LeBron and Anthony to be the focal points. That is all fine and dandy, but understand Coach K knows the ball will be in Kobe’s hands come crunch time and every player on that team knows it too.

It really will not matter because as long as Jason Kidd has the ball, Kobe can rest assured he will touch it first when it comes to winning time and that’s why we will bring the gold back to the USA in 2008.

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