Mavs to get Erick Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse back..

[Ray Allen34]

this week iss the latest report

that will be a huge boost for them

 

[iheartBrad]

yup

 

[Padrino]

i believe 6th seed would be best for the kings. seattle is stalling out a bit, while dallas seems to be gettin back into the swing of things, despite losing to the kings last week. obviously, the kings will play the best they can the rest of the way, and will end up where they end up, but i think 6th seed is more appealing than 5th right now.

 

[AriesMar27]

but if we fall to 6th and beat the sonics we get the spurs in the 2nd round..... do we really want that or is duncan out for good.... if hes coming back, i'd rather take my chances with dallas and phoenix.....

 

[VF21]

I would rather we face Dallas in the first round. I would always rather face Dallas in the first round. But, right now, I just want US to make it to the first round with as many healthy or close-to-healthy players as possible. Anything else is a bonus.

 

[iheartBrad]

we have to clinch a spot first

 

[mavsman]

clinching a spot for the Kings is money in the bank

 

[Padrino]

but if we fall to 6th and beat the sonics we get the spurs in the 2nd round..... do we really want that or is duncan out for good.... if hes coming back, i'd rather take my chances with dallas and phoenix.....

this is also a very good point. i disike the kings chances against SA and phoenix equally, actually. we'd probably have a better chance against phoenix just because we can keep up with their scoring and they, like us, play little defense. but both are good teams, and both will be difficult to play in any round, so it really just depends on how healthy all of these teams are come second round. not sure when TD will be back, but brad will be back by the secdond round, so there's at least one positive (assuming the kings make it to the second round, of course )

 

[miles berg]

Brad really won't be back until round #2?

 

[6th]

Brad really won't be back until round #2?

That is a real possibility. He is having an xray today (to have a look at the extent of the healing-I imagine). We may know more after that.

 

[Evilmav2]

Here's what Dirk had to say about possible first round playoff opponents in this morning's Dallas Morning News:

"We're looking a lot better now than we did earlier," Nowitzki said. "Keith is fitting in well. He's actually a lot better rebounder and defender than I thought he would be. Once we're healthy, I really like our chances against anybody in the playoffs."

And he means anybody, regardless of who the Mavericks see in the early rounds. He believes San Antonio still has a firm grip on the Southwest Division title. But he expects the Mavericks to be a force from the No. 4 seed.

"San Antonio still does all the little things to win and they don't have a really tough schedule left," he said. "So I think they're going to finish first. For us, it's about staying in fourth. I don't know who we'll play, probably Houston or Sacramento. But that really shouldn't matter. When we're healthy, we can beat them both. We shouldn't be afraid of anybody."

If I didn't agree with Dirk that this year's Mavs are far, far more formidable than the ones y'alls Kings dispatched in the playoffs last year, than I would be afraid that Dirk's above statement might provide some possibly harmful bulletin board material for our foes, but as it is, I'm actually happy to hear Dirk express confidence that my Mavs are looking very good before the beginning of the playoffs, and that he's not afraid to say so...

 

[captain bill]

since when did we get happy losing position in the playoffs and playing matchups? if we start losing games and falling to a lower seed, that's an indication that, well, we're losing games. and if we keep losing games in the regular season we will probably lose in the post season, too. a miracle first round win and quick second round exit wouldn't change the fact that we've been losing, and will probably lose the next year. i'd rather see solid improvement and winning games now, maybe put up a fight and lose in the playoffs, and then keep building into next year rather than happily losing games and assuming our right to an upset of a seattle team that people manage to consistently underrate.

 

[Webber4tHREE]

the kings haven't beaten them once this season so you can't really underestimate them