Gina Miller

I am so excited that the NBA season is here am thrilled a part of the Mavs Hoops and Heels campaign! I know first hand how passionate so many of you are and I understand why the Mavs are your favorite team. I can say definitively that we are lucky in Dallas/Fort Worth to have a great group of players who appreciate their fans and love to play the game. Trust me, some cities aren’t so lucky.

There are a lot of new yet veteran faces on this Mavericks team. From 13-year veteran Elton Brand to 9-year veteran Chris Kaman they have seen a lot of basketball. But Dallas also has a young, hungry new point guard in Darren Collison. He’s one you need to watch.

This is his fourth year in the NBA after a rookie season in New Orleans and two years in Indiana. Collison scored 17 points in the season opener against the Lakers and another 17 the next night against the Jazz. That’s two more than Jason Kidd’s season high of 15 all of last year.

Nothing against Kidd, but with Dirk Nowitzki recovering from a knee injury, Dallas needs that offensive threat. I also liked the way both LA’s Steve Nash (that still feels weird typing that!) and Utah’s Mo Williams had to worry about defending Collison. It probably won’t be as easy to score against Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook or the Clipper’s Chris Paul but it’s a great start for a player who is getting a bit of a second chance to lead a team.

And let’s focus on that start in LA on Tuesday night. Dallas’ win over the Lakers was just one victory but it was proof that the Mavericks are capable of beating a quality playoff team. This is important. Yes, the Lakers went 0-8 in the preseason and went on to lose to the Blazers the following evening but LA will be a good team with the talent they have. The Mavs played well and are capable of doing it consistently. So why didn’t they do it against the Jazz on Wednesday? I’m not one for excuses but (you knew that was coming) that game against Utah was going to be tough any way you sliced it. A number of factors went into to the loss but consider these two:

1. Dallas historically hasn’t played well in Salt Lake City. After the loss the Mavs are now 18-57 all-time on Utah’s home court where the Jazz are very good. It’s a tough road game for any NBA team.

2. They arrived in Salt Lake City from LA well after 2am. You saw those tired legs lose their life on Wednesday in the third quarter of the loss to the Jazz when Dallas made just 5 of 22 shots and turned the ball over six times. Again, not an excuse but any coach or player, in just about any sport, will tell you that playing on the second night of a back to back in a different city is one of the toughest things to do. So just what are these Mavericks after two games? It’s still too early to tell. But I do think they’re a bunch of players who are full of pride and will battle every night.

Here’s a reason to be optimistic about Saturday’s home opener against Bobcats: Dallas has owned Charlotte. The Mavericks have never lost to the Bobcats during the regular season, going 15-0 since they came into the league in 2004. It’s the Mavs longest active win streak against any team. They should keep it going on Saturday.

You can talk Mavs, new motherhood (Jordan just turned a year old and she is already a big sports fan) or anything else with me at any time on Twitter @thatsportsgirl or on Facebook at Facebook.com/thatsportsgirl or on my blog at Thatsportsgirl.blogspot.com. You can usually catch me Monday-Friday on TXA21 hosting “The Fan Sports Show” from 6:30-7:30.