Refreshed and Refocused
Art Garcia | Mavs.com
Posted: Oct. 1, 2007
The Mavericks could have used another month off entering training camp a year ago. Playing into late June, tacking another 23 games to an 82-game regular season, took a toll on the body and, perhaps more importantly, the psyche.
Though they resisted copping to the “hangover” theory – as in starting 0-4 was the mental byproduct of the Finals collapse – there was something to it. More than anyone would admit at the time. The Mavs opened the season sluggish and generally uninterested.
No such excuses exist this time around. These Mavs have had too much time to think. Too much time to sit on and their hands and wonder where it went wrong. The 2007 playoffs lasted all of 12 days and six games. Forget late June. Dallas was done three days into May.
The Mavericks reconvened Monday for Media Day at American Airlines Center – the first official get-together for 2007-08. The core built around MVP Dirk Nowitzki, All-Star Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Devin Harris remains intact. Avery Johnson is entering his third full season as coach. A few new pieces, namely Eddie Jones and Trenton Hassell, were added to the mix.
There’s also something new in the air.
“I feel more refreshed,” Howard said. “That 0-4 start really was a hangover. We turned around it real quick. Coach jumped on our butts and let us know that we can’t sulk about the Finals. I think this year really is a fresh start.”
The expectations haven’t changed. Though the Mavs lost in the first round to Golden State, their 67-15 regular-season record can’t be brushed aside. Dallas is still belongs in the Western Conference elite.
“We’re still going to be in the same breath as San Antonio and Phoenix,” Jerry Stackhouse said. “We’re still in the top three in the West, but it’s good not to have worry about being the No. 1 seed. We’ve seen that’s fool’s gold.
“We’ve also seen a team that’s put all its energy to get in the playoffs as the eighth seed and feel they don’t have anything to lose, and what happened. We should have beat them, but at the same time we realized you can’t underestimate teams like that.”
The decision not to tweak the nucleus did lead to criticism in some parts. Some viewed it as complacency. Others cite lack of nerve.
Internally, the temptations were there to shake it up. Ultimately, staying with the group that’s won 127 regular-season games over the last years won out over blowing it up.
“We were so close the last couple of years,” said Nowitzki, set to begin his 10th season. “Two years ago we made it all the way to the Finals, and we have a great regular season last year and then lost to a hot team. We all agree that we were pretty close, but you just can’t plan a championship.
“It takes time, it takes work and you need a lot of luck. As a team we fit together well. I thought we added some nice pieces and we’ll go from there.”
Johnson presided over the offseason of stability confident in the team’s direction. Tired of apologizing for 2005 and ’06, he heads into training camp sounding . . . refreshed.
“I’m really excited and enthusiastic about this year,” he said. “We have another good group. We have a group that has a chance to be pretty special. A group that if they play at a high level, we think that we can compete with anybody.”