Even though I am a Jazz fan, I live in Austin and like the Dallas Mavericks. Nowitzke is coming on strong with a finesse game. Finley is underated and a potential triple double every time he goes out on the court. If they had a better center, they could probably go places. Bradley is a big man in the middle and at least he can score better than Greg Ostertag.
Nellie gets dogged out and takes a lot of heat. Part of it is the nepotism involving his son, Donnie, as an assistant. Part of it is ineffectiveness.
But, he still runs one of the best practices in pro basketball. His players publicly support him. And Sidney Moncrief will take over as coach shortly. Maybe even before the three year timeframe is up.
They have the potential to make the playoffs. Maybe at the expense of Sacramento, Phoenix, or Seattle.
If San Antonio can find a replacement for Sean Elliott, or if Elliott regains his old form, the Spurs will beat the Lakers (mark my words on this one). The argument here is no one can stop Shaq one on one. But other teams find it extremely difficult to stop Duncan and Robinson together. Had Duncan not been hurt, the Lakers may have had much more to contend with than a depleted Phoenix team and a scare from Portland.
Portland will continue to give the Lakers their toughest competition, along with a complete San Antonio team.