FROM THE FILES: Dirk Nowitzki is Unlockable

**Around this time last year, the NBA was speeding towards the black hole that was the NBA Lockout. With no end, at the time, in sight, it was hard to be happy as a diehard follower of the league. But, as an equally-diehard supporter of Dirk Nowitzki, fresh off his first world championship, it was easy to see why he wasn't seemingly taking it too hard.

This piece never really saw the light of day, but now more than a season removed from Nowitzki and the Mavericks' title, and with news of a possible surgery continuing to hover on the forward's horizon as the season revs up, I couldn't help but think of it and grin. The piece, after the jump.**

A look at the upcoming 2010 NBA playoff picture

The NBA playoffs start this weekend; here are some musings on both conferences, somewhat-respectively.

Eastern Conference
-I have to start with what could have been for the Milwaukee Bucks. I still think they will make a series out of whoever they play, if they can stay close in the rebounding battle, but replacing Andrew Bogut’s all around impact will be impossible. What’s worse is that Dan Gadzuric probably had a pretty dapper lineup of suits to wear on the bench for the playoffs that will now go wasted. Sigh.

-The most detestable team in the playoffs? For me it’s the Celtics, who have taken over the spot held in previous years by the likes of the Spurs and Lakers as the team I cheer against with most zeal. The difference is, though, those San Antonio and Los Angeles teams were usually title contenders. Other than that, unless you don’t like Kobe Bryant, there weren’t many logical reasons to dislike them. This aging Celtic team is different. After floating through a season of bad losses and closed-door team meetings, Boston is clearly a second-tier team in the East, but you wouldn’t know it watching someone like Kevin Garnett. Garnett, for no longer being able to hit open 15 footers on a consistent basis, looks convinced he can make up for this loss of a step by continuing his tired act as most intense mock-enforcer on the court. Problem is, I don’t think anyone is too worried about him anymore. All of that yelling, at this point, may be more of an attempt at convincing himself that he is still relevant more than anything else. I look forward to them losing and blaming Rajon Rondo.

-Somewhat under the radar, or as much as a defending conference champion can be, are the Orlando Magic. Watching Dwight Howard work offensively in the Finals last summer was an exercise in frustration, but this year he looks comfortable in the post, making the outside shooters surrounding him that much more of a threat. It will be most interesting to watch Vince Carter, a member of this talented supporting cast, back on a contending team in the playoffs. Can he stay within the boundaries of the offense, or become the shot-chucking wrench to the system that he at times insists on being? This could decide the fate of the current Eastern conference champions.

-Lastly, inevitably, you have to look at LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Obviously this postseason is a special version of LeBron’s Quest for the Title because of the upcoming summer, but it’s also important because this is the best version of the Cavaliers put together since James was drafted. Rest assured, whether they win it all or not, the where-is-LeBron-going? can of worms will be ripped open, it’s unavoidable. But for now, I think it’s best to focus on the present.

Western Conference
-Many in the NBA community have not been too amused with the Lakers’ aversion to effort towards the end of the regular season. No doubt, they are the favorites out West, assuming they flip that switch you always seem to hear about concerning Los Angeles this time of year, but there’s a feeling to the Lakers right now that they know something the rest of us don’t about these playoffs. Because it seems the talent level of the eight teams in the West bracket is strong enough to not only challenge but beat the Lakers at some point in the postseason, which I don’t think many people believed last year. They don’t appear too concerned about this. I still have my doubts as well, but it’s hard to argue that at the least, other teams look more interested than Los Angeles does at the moment.

-A team many believe has equipped itself to contend for the Western conference crown are my Dirk Nowitzki-led Dallas Mavericks. Honestly, I don’t know what to make of them yet. This “new” team, with Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood in the mix, has been together for about half a season, which I guess will have to be enough in the on-court chemistry department. And although I believe they are one of the most complete teams that Dallas has gone with into the playoffs, I’m trying not to put too much thought into it. The playoffs are a stressful enough affair with low expectations; so I’ll probably wait until at least the middle of the first quarter in game one to start freaking out.

-Going back to the rest of the Western field, almost every one of the eight qualifiers have been the Team No One Wants To Face at some point this season, starting with the aforementioned Lakers and Mavericks and also including Phoenix, Utah, San Antonio and Denver. Throw in the offensive freak that is Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City and boy, someone will supposedly survive and make it out of this mess, but that’s about all I know for certain. It’s the playoffs; I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Bucks, Dirk Nowitzki and me: The past and future

It has been a few years since I made the fateful decision to obsessively follow the NBA in all its wonderful glory; I don’t follow any sport closer and can usually find an excuse to watch any game that happens to be playing on my League Pass Broadband account. To me, there is always a player or team worth watching (Memphis at Utah? Wes Matthews plays for Utah, I’m in!). The problem is I still feel like a lost soul in the NBA world, a man without a home, here’s why.

My favorite player is Dirk Nowitzki; therefore the Dallas Mavericks are the team I have hitched my wagon to. Anyone with a short-term NBA memory knows this means I should have probably stopped following this league a long time ago. It’s not that I don’t root for them anymore, I still want Nowitzki to win a championship more than anything; it’s just that I know if he ever left Dallas (and he is a free agent after this season) or when he eventually retires, I will have no attachment towards the Mavericks whatsoever. It never feels right to cheer for a team from Dallas anyway. Hence, I feel as though I do not have a solid foundation of fandom to lean against, and seeing that this is my favorite sport in the universe, it’s not an ideal situation.

Which leads me to the Milwaukee Bucks. I have always considered them my “second favorite team,” for what that’s worth (nothing), but I never really took them too seriously. I followed them last year, but mainly because basketball was on and as I said, I will basically watch any game that’s put in front of me. They seemed different last year though; different in the sense that the Bucks might actually have been slowly, quietly, improving. Based on recent seasons before last year, this was weird.

So then the offseason happened; general manager John Hammond made sound roster moves, sliced team salary, and drafted Brandon Jennings, who looks like he should have been a top three pick in the NBA Draft instead of tenth. I was ready for the season to start with the hope that maybe the Bucks would be, at the least, an interesting watch.

Well, I’m not sure of the exact moment -they’ve already been playing for about a month- but at some point I started to genuinely root for the Milwaukee Bucks. I think I just woke up one day with a message from my brain saying, “Hey, the Bucks play tonight,” and realized that I have never had that stream of thought run through my head before. I love planning my nights around shows or sporting events, and the Bucks have reached that relatively lame stratosphere in my life. So I guess I’m hooked.

Obviously the early success has crowded the Bucks bandwagon (or at least as crowded as I’ve ever seen it) with more people than me, but I’ll be around for the long haul. I needed another Wisconsin team to cheer for other than the Packers, and this just feels right. Plus, I don’t think the Bucks are going to be too choosy when it comes to fan support, good start or not.
It does feel strange to be starting a new sports relationship at this point in my life. I feel as though all of my allegiances should have been determined by now. But I’m ready to accept the Bucks into my sports life; I’m ready for the work-in-progress that they are and I’m ready for the disappointments that will come along the way. The good thing is that with an 82-game schedule, there will always be another game to look forward to. That’s what makes being a pro basketball fan, or just a fan in general, fun. So, it’s the Bucks and whoever Dirk Nowitzki plays for. I feel better already.

Of course, if the Bucks wouldn’t have traded Dirk right after they drafted him back in 1998, I would’ve never had this problem in the first place. Oh, what could have been.

Player Profile: Rodrigue Beaubois

I remember watching the 2009 NBA Draft in my friend’s living room. The one player I did not want the Mavericks to draft was B.J. Mullens from Ohio State. I watch a lot of Big Ten games, and I don’t recall ever seeing Mullens do much of anything; plus, I don’t like his mustache. Naturally, as the way things seem to work out, the Mavs took him. A few minutes later, I was still deciding on the best way to trick my brain into supporting this draft pick when I heard the Mavs had been involved in a trade with the team directly behind them in the draft order, the Thunder, for a guy that was not B.J. Mullens. Obviously, this meant pretty much any name I heard would have been an upgrade, but this particular name struck absolutely zero chords in my head. The name was Rodrigue Beaubois, and it is safe to say that the name means a bit more to me now than it did back in June.

By now, we’ve all heard the physical specs: 6’2”, athletic, lanky, and quick, quick and more quick. During the summer and preseason, he has shown signs of being a terrific on-ball defender, and someone who could possibly have the Devin Harris-esque ability of getting into the lane whenever he so pleases. I miss that.

This brings me to Jason Kidd. After watching a full season with Kidd leading this team, he has grown on me. He is easily the smartest player on the court in any given game, and always seems to be in the middle of game-deciding plays late in the fourth quarter. But for all of his craftiness, there is little denying that Kidd simply doesn’t have the athletic ability that the new generation of point guards possess nowadays. Not that I blame him, it’s just that these guys have less years and mileage in the league; they should be able to beat Kidd off the dribble, and most of the time, they do.

Now, finally, I arrive at my point: If Rodrigue Beaubois can learn the nuances of the league and emerge as the clear back-up point guard to Kidd, he could end up being the most important Maverick of the season.

On the surface this may seem to be a little bit of reach. Beaubois has never played against the talent he will face in the NBA, and there will certainly be an adjustment period. What is just as certain, however, is that he has the raw ability to compete at this level. He also has Jason Kidd, one the smartest point guards in the history of the NBA, to guide him through the mental aspects of running a team. This doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything, Beaubois still needs to have his ears open, but it sure can’t hurt, can it?

So, is it possible that Beaubois can gather the smarts, and let his talent do the rest? I don’t see why not. The Mavericks could almost wipe out the Devin Harris trade if this worked out the way I see it in my optimistic mind. They would still have the leader, Kidd, but they would gain the young, athletic guard who can get by anybody and has the makings of a premier perimeter defender. A couple of the Mavericks’ biggest problems of recent years; sieve-like backcourt defense (which, after watching Gilbert Arenas torch us, I think can still be considered a “weak spot”) and a lack of penetration from the point guard position could be turned into strengths if Beaubois can find minutes and take advantage of them.

This, however, could be the problem. The backcourt is pretty crowded as it is, but in my opinion, even with the addition of Ross and the possibility of Howard at the 2, no one represents more potential for the Mavs to truly ascend in the West than Beaubois. Let’s be honest here: If they’re using Barea, Terry and Kidd as the on-ball defenders, Dallas simply will not get the stops that the best teams can get. They will be good, sure, because we’ve seen this formula before. It works, but not against the NBA’s upper echelon, not when it counts; we have seen that too.

Roddy Beaubois, to me, represents the Mavericks with a new, higher glass ceiling, an extra gear we may not even know about yet. This could all render itself moot, of course, if he doesn’t earn minutes, doesn’t respond to coaching, and mentally checks himself out on the end of the bench. But here’s hoping the Mavs throw him in the mix, and like the rest of us, see what happens next.

I wrote this for a contest for the blog Mavs Moneyball. I think I came in third or something. Out of around six.