<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">So what will the Mavs look like next season? "It will be a combination of the old Mavericks on offense and the Spurs on defense," owner Mark Cuban said. "We're going to try to do the best of both and have a deep team. We're looking for the guys to do it. "Defense and running will be the focus. We want to score 100 to 105 and give up 45." Exaggeration aside, point taken. A massive overhaul, however, isn't in the works. Former coach and general manager Don Nelson did that eight years ago and the tinkering never ended. Changes will come again this off-season and in the years to come. Finley's expected loss, coupled with Steve Nash leaving last year, represents a quantum shift in what was considered the heart of the team. "It's not like Avery doesn't like our roster," Cuban said. "When Nellie came to the Mavericks, he turned everything upside down. We're not going to have that. We like the roster. It's more about adding pieces where we have a need and making sure we have young guys that can continue to develop." And having the financial wherewithal to be proactive. If the Mavs can trade Finley, it's actually possible for the team to get near the permanent luxury-tax threshold. Cuban has seldom been shy about spending money, but he wants to be in a position where future deals won't send the payroll spiraling out of control. "It's not about making money, it's flexibility," he said. "We can make trades. We can do things. We're not saddled with guys on the roster who don't want to come to practice. That's a problem. That's a disadvantage." The new core group will be built around Nowitzki, Dampier and Josh Howard. Varying degrees of uncertainty surround the rest of the roster. Starting point guard Jason Terry is entering the last year of his contract, though the Mavs may enter in talks for an extension before the start of the season. Nowitzki's backup, Keith Van Horn, is also in his last year. Sixth man Jerry Stackhouse has two seasons left and could vie for starting shooting guard. Last season's trio of rookies -- point guard Devin Harris and centers DJ Mbenga and Pavel Podkolzin -- are little more than promise so far, though Harris is easily the furthest along. "A team that wants to win the championship needs to play together for more than just one season," Nowitzki said last week in Germany. "So far we have always changed a lot in between the seasons and had to start all over again every year. "If you look at the best teams in the league, like the Spurs, you can see how important it is to know each other well." Johnson is a firm believer of getting better from within. He left his players with specific instructions for the summer. Johnson and his assistants also plan to meet with players in the coming months to monitor their progress. "Everybody has something I want them to work on," Johnson said. "Whether it's Dirk on his post-up game and even getting on his perimeter defense because I want him to play some [small forward] next year. "Josh has to be more consistent playing on the road, that's more mental, continue to work on his shot and ballhandling. I want to use Josh at the point forward so I can get Terry off the ball a little bit. Jason has marching orders. Devin has stuff to do. We won't rest."</div> Source
The Mavs have a lot of work to do to get that Chemistry, plus Nowitzki needs to become a better leader, then they can think of winning a title.
I agree with da pimp1 they need some team chemistry and Nowitzki needs to improve his leadership, one example is him with dampier in the playoffs when he told him to improve(i tottally agree) but the way he did it was wrong. You could tell in games he had an attitude with him and because of that i doubt theyre close now
