Don't Look Now, But Mavs' Defense Has Familiar Bling To It
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM)- After flirting with the notion of something unique – a Rolex, necklace pendant or perhaps even 24-carat gold mouse pad – Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will tonight present his 2011 NBA Champions with traditional title rings. That is, if you consider ordinary to be diamond-encrusted jewelry valued at $40,000 a pop.
Before the Mavs go for their 8th consecutive home win against the Timberwolves tonight at American Airlines Center comes the ring ceremony for the current Mavs, Minnesota guard J.J. Barea and the retired Peja Stojakovic. Cuban's cost for the rings and exact replica awarded to support staff – which were modeled after the Chicago Blackhawks' rings from 2010 – is about $1.5 million. The rings include the Mavs' logo, players' names and numbers and the 2010-11 motto: "The Time Is Now!"
Gotta admit, the things are so gorgeous I wanted everyone to get a peek so I Tweeted a pic this morning. Haven't heard back yet from the punks who mocked Dirk Nowitzki's flu during The Finals, but I'm sure Dwyane Wade and LeBron James love it. Right?
Jason Terry is so moved by the bling bling that he's buying an extra one, raffling it off on his Facebook and donating the proceeds to his charity. Nice.
Banner raised. White House visited. Rings adorned. Finally, it's time to transition from last season to this season.
And, whatdya know, a funny thing has happened on Dallas' way to lamenting the departure of Tyson Chandler.
Despite losing the third-best defensive player in the NBA and expert perimeter stopper DeShawn Stevenson, the Mavs are a better defensive team than in 2011.
With Barea sidelined with a hamstring injury, I don't expect the 7-10 Timberwolves to break 100 points against the Mavs (they've topped 100 just once in their last seven games). When they don't, it will up Dallas' franchise-record streak of holding opponents under the century mark to 16 games.
The credit goes to Shawn Marion, who's playing at an All-Star level at both ends of the court. To Ian Mahinmi, who is one of the most improved players in the NBA. And, of course, to head coach Rick Carlisle, who has introduced "ass" into his vocabulary while mixing and matching zone looks with new faces to keep the Mavs afloat during the sluggish emotional start and physical limitations of stars Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter.
The Mavs are 11-7 because of their defense, which is the NBA's fourth-best, allowing only 88 points per game and not a 100-point game since the calendar flipped to 2012. It isn't pretty right now without Dirk. But it's effective. And if the Mavs play this type of defense into April, May and June, we just might be designing more rings next winter.
