Mavs repeating tough, even as runner-upMavs still want title, but first they have to find way back to Finals01:55 AM CDT on Sunday, September 3, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning NewsThe Mavericks open training camp one month from today, armed with new talent after a summer of smart ? but not necessarily splashy ? personnel moves.It will guarantee them nothing in 2006-07.Coach Avery Johnson's team is in an interesting position after losing in the NBA Finals in June. When Miami won the last four games after falling behind 2-0, it proved that the Mavericks still have weaknesses, even if they have become an annual threat to win the title.Based on recent history, teams that lose in the Finals have a tough time making it back. Since 2000, only New Jersey in 2002-03 has managed a return to the Finals after losing them the previous year.Not since Detroit in 1988 and '89 has a team lost in the NBA Finals and then won the title the following season.Indiana and Philadelphia reached the Finals once, lost and still are waiting to return.The Los Angeles Lakers (three times) and Detroit (once) won the title, but then followed up with a lost attempt in the Finals and haven't returned to the championship series since.Obviously, the Mavericks hope to avoid that fate.At least one person who has been in their position before believes they have a decent shot at getting back to the Finals again. But one of the same forces that stopped the Nets twice earlier this decade ended up foiling the Mavs ? Shaquille O'Neal."The bottom line is that, to win it all, you have to have really good players, you have to play well and you need a little luck along the way," says Rod Thorn, the Nets' president who put together their Finals-worthy teams. "Dallas could have won that Miami series 4-1, or even swept it if they close out Game 3. It's just hard to win it. And unless you have that one tremendous player, it can come down to a lot of luck."The Nets made a big trade after their first trip to the Finals, exchanging Keith Van Horn for the defense of Dikembe Mutombo in 2002. Then Mutombo sat out most of the season with injuries.""What you find out as you go through a bunch of rounds in the playoffs is exactly what your weaknesses are, because they will show up," Thorn says. "Ours was depth, lack of shooting and Shaq."O'Neal is still there. His team has won four of the last seven championships. If he isn't there already, one more ring would put O'Neal squarely on the short list with Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell for overall greatness, regardless of the yardstick.For the Mavericks, getting to the Finals means they are an elite team. You don't blow up elite teams.But when you fall short of the title, you also realize you are less than perfect. That's why the Mavericks reached out for role players Anthony Johnson, Greg Buckner and Austin Croshere and drafted an athletic guard who has a defensive attitude in Maurice Ager.Not a single one of their top seven players was touched to acquire the incoming talent.The Nets jettisoning Van Horn ? at the time their second-leading scorer ? for Mutombo qualified as a significant move.Similarly, other teams that have lost in the Finals have added (and subtracted) major pieces on their roster before the following seasons. That may or may not have something to do with their less-than-stellar track record after reaching the Finals."It's going to be even harder to get back," Avery Johnson says. "But that's OK. It's not supposed to be easy. It wasn't the first time, and it won't be the next time."As assistant coach Del Harris so eloquently said during the Finals, the Mavericks would love to repeat, but they wanted to peat first.But falling short last year doesn't diminish what they have as they move forward."This is a good team that has a chance to be quite good if the nucleus stays together for a three- or four-year period," Harris says. "Just add the easy deals. You don't overreach."It's not likely in our situation that we'll get a LeBron James, a first-round draft pick that's going to make a big impact. It's more likely for us to get a sensible trade or a free-agent acquisition."Which is exactly what the Mavericks did this summer.Whether it will be enough is anybody's guess.E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...de.318e2f7.html
