Full-Court Press

Dirk still stands tallest among Euros...by far

The Lakers remain the unquestioned best team in the Western
Conference and right now, it’s not even close.
 
That’s the most pressing issue for the Mavericks to
deal with. But one that they don’t have to worry about is whether Dirk
Nowitzki is the best player in history from the European continent.
 
He is. And that debate is not even close – just like
Laker superiority can’t be argued – despite what Pau Gasol did in
the playoffs and the fact that he has two rings now.
 
The Spaniard is good. No doubts there. Anybody who had him
in a playoff fantasy league knows that he had a better overall point production
(points, rebounds, assists subtracting missed shots and missed free throws)
than Kobe Bryant.
 
But does that mean he’s the best player the Lakers
have? Of course not. And he’s not better than Dirk.
 
For those without any sense of history, consider what Gasol
did when he was the lead dog in Memphis. Not only did he never win a playoff
series, he never won a playoff game. Went 0-for-12 in three swept-out seasons.
 
The bottom line is this: If Dirk were the No. 2 option on
his team, that team would be heavy favorites to win a championship, just like
the Lakers are with Gasol as the No. 2 option behind Kobe. And if Dirk were
with Kobe? Let’s just guess that there would be at least as many rings on
Nowitzki’s fingers as there are on Gasol’s now.
 
Which brings us to free agency. It’s a rare
opportunity to add a No. 1 option…or at least create a 1-A and 1-B set of
options with Dirk being one or the other.
 
The Mavericks continue to work through possible scenarios
that might land them one of this summer’s A-list free agents. It’s
all legwork at this stage. They certainly wouldn’t risk tampering (again)
by making any contact with anybody. But come July 1, it’s going to be an
absolute free-for-all and I keep hearing that the Mavericks will be squarely in
the middle of it, even though that guarantees them absolutely nothing.
 

Lakers still favored

Courtesy of our good friends at Bodog.com, we know now why
the Lakers are still favored to win the series in seven games.
 
Here’s a quote from Bodog sportsbook manager, Richard
Gardner: “The Celtics showed grit and resolution, winning two of three
at home and taking a 3-2 series lead as they head back to LA with hopes of
winning their 18th championship banner. As Lee Corso would say though,
"Not so fast, my friend!" Bodog currently has the Lakers as a -130
favorite to win it all with the Celtics as slight underdogs at even money as
Phil Jackson looks to improve on his 47-0 playoff record when winning the first
game of a series and the Lakers defend their playoff best 9-1 home
record.”

Funny, but there’s no mention of whether that optimism
for a Game 7 means that the Lakers are going to cover 6 ½ points in Game 6
Tuesday night.
 

Kidd as sixth man? Believe it

            Jason Kidd said today that he’d be OK with
coming off the bench at least some of the time if it helps expedite the growth
of young point guard Roddy Beaubois.
            Speaking on a conference call for the American
Century Championship golf tournament at Lake Tahoe next month, Kidd said
he’s got no problem with a substantial reduction in his playing time,
presuming Beaubois continues to develop like the Mavericks expect.
            “I hope that’s what we’re
shooting for, to develop Roddy and to give him more minutes,’’ Kidd
said. “I wouldn’t be against coming off the bench some nights if it
means Roddy continues to grow.
            “The more minutes he can get now, the
better it is for us, not only in the long term, but in the short term,
too.’’
            Kidd piled up about 36 minutes per game last
season and he also was hampered by several ailments in the playoffs against San
Antonio, although there’s no evidence that the physical problems were
connected to an abundance of minutes during the 82-game regular-season grind.
            Coach Rick Carlisle has said he’s hoping
to get Kidd’s minutes down by at least two or three per game, if not more.

Strong support for Roddy this summer

The interesting thing about the first week or so of Roddy
Beaubois’ summer school is that the main teacher has been Rick Carlisle.
 
It’s not his assistant coaches or player-development
staff that’s doing the daily work on the court with the young
guard. It’s been Carlisle, who has spent the maximum allowable time on
the court with Beaubois, according to NBA off-season guidelines.
 
“He’s made incredible strides since last summer,’’
Carlisle said. “What we have to make sure he understands is the focus and
intensity that has to be there all the time on every single play.’’
 
The sessions will continue with Beaubois until after the
draft, when Beaubois and whoever the Mavericks select in the draft will head to
the summer league.
 
Asked just how big this summer is for the sophomore-to-be
is, Carlisle said: “Huge.’’
 

Barea is getting a pick-me-up

Though it’s more of a formality than anything else, the
Mavericks will pick up their option year on guard J.J. Barea.
 
President Donnie Nelson said the Mavericks will make it
official soon. The deadline is the end of the month for teams (or players) to
pick up their option years.
 
Barea, who has become a solid contributor the last two
seasons, was signed to a three year deal in 2008 with the third season at the
club’s option. At $1.8 million next season, he remains one of the best
bargains on the roster.
 
When Barea’s option is exercised, it will leave Dirk
Nowitzki, Brendan Haywood and Tim Thomas as the Mavericks’ free agents.
Nowitzki decided not to exercise his option for next season. The Mavericks have
made retaining him their No. 1 priority going into the free agent season, which
starts July 1.

The summer has begun

The Mavericks will have summer league duties in a month. At
least, some of them will.
 
Roddy Beaubois is back in town and was working out Monday at
AAC and others like Eduardo Najera and Erick Dampier, who had minor knee
surgery after the season, are hanging around to keep their conditioning up and
get ready for next season.
 
The interesting angle in this is Beaubois, who will be
getting a long, hard look at point guard in the Las Vegas Summer League, where
he was like a lost pup last year.
 
This time, he’ll be expected to show that he can
handle running a team after spending most of his time this season at shooting
guard.
 
There’s no substitute for this time of year when it
comes to young players developing. It won’t happen during the season, for
the most part. Winning overrides development when that part of the year
arrives. So for Beaubois, this is his most important six weeks. And after that,
he’ll have world championship duties with France.
 
He should enjoy this summer, not to mention make the most of
it in his professional development.

Mavs jettison second-round pick

The Mavericks have elected to convey their second-round draft choice, the 57th overall, to the Indiana Pacers.

The Mavericks had the option of sending either this year's or next year's second-round pick to the Pacers to satisfy the terms of the Shawne Williams trade.

That deal was for Eddie Jones and a pair of second rounders.

President Donnie Nelson confirmed that the Mavericks had decided to send this year's pick since only three teams will choose below the Mavericks this year.

The Mavericks now are left with no draft picks in the June 24 draft, although the possibility exists that they will trade their way into the draft.

Kobe vs. Michael? The wise guys say Michael

As we sometimes do here, we would like to provide (as a public service only, of course) some interesting odds about the NBA Finals, including who will end up with the most rings, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.

Courtesy of Bodog.com, here's a look at the odds on the NBA Finals that start on Thursday.

Odds to win the title:
Celtics: +160.
Lakers: -180.

Total Games in series: Over/under 5 1/2.

Exact number of games:
4: 13-2
5: 3-1
6: 9-5
7: 2-1

(As a personal aside, how could you like any of those odds?)

Exact finish of the series.

Celtics 4-0: 22-1.
Celtics 4-1: 7-1.
Celtics 4-2: 13-2.
Celtics 4-3: 7-1.
Lakers 4-0: 9-1.
Lakers 4-1: 6-1.
Lakers 4-2: 3-1.
Lakers 4-3: 3-1.

How many road games will be won?
Over 1.5: -230
Under 1.5: +190

Will Kobe Bryant win more NBA championships than Michael Jordan?
Yes (more than six): 4-1.
No (less than six): 2-7.
Tied (exactly six): 2-1.

There are plenty of other odds, including total number of technical fouls for each team. For more, visit the bodog website.