Sports talk
Maverick fans facing disappointment
by Rawly Bransom, Sports Editor

   For most Maverick fans, this is supposed to be the year.
  After getting so close last year, how could our favorite team not possibly go all the way this year?
   Easy, they don’t keep up.
   Like many American families, the Mavericks just couldn’t keep up with the Joneses or, in this case, the rest of the Western Conference.
   Last year, the Mavs were just one player away from probably winning the NBA championship.
   They had all the shooters, a little bit of depth but, unfortunately, no one who could pull down rebounds or consistently take control of the middle of the court.
  Now, it looks like they took a step backward.
  The Mavericks spent most of the off-season courting Alonzo Mourning.
  Mourning, when healthy, is possibly the best center in the game; however, he was considered suspect because of injury problems over the last few years.
  After most of the off-season had passed and any chance of a deal with Mourning fell through, the Mavericks were left without a dominating presence in the middle.
  So much time and energy was used on getting Zo to Dallas that all the other quality options were gone.
  No center means that Raef Lafrentz and Shawn Bradley, who have not been able to perform at the levels needed to secure a championship, must step up.
  With no center to fall on, it goes back to big scoring and depth.
  In a multi-player deal last season, the Mavs traded their best off-the-bench player, Nick Van Axel, for a little bit of speed and youth.
  The Mavs seemed to be afraid that Nick the Quick might not be so quick anymore.
  Never mind that he led all Mavericks in points in the post season while coming off the bench in most games.
  They also traded away Evan Eschmier. Although Eschmier was never going to be a great center, the loss does hurt the depth of the team’s worst position.
  Also, last season the Maver-icks developed a strategy using Eschmier to beat the Lakers.
  The media called it “Hack a Shaq,” which came from using Eschmier and Bradley to pound on Shaquile O’Neil every time he did anything. It even seemed to work some.
  The Mavericks may have lost any chance of picking up a dominating middle presence and did lose Van Axel, but they gained a couple of quality younger players who could keep the team moving forward after the Big Three are no more.
  How then have they lost a step?
  The step loss comes from the rest of the teams in the Western Conference, but mostly from the Lakers.
  Kobe Bryant may or may not come back. Whether or not Bryant returns, the Lakers went out this season and grabbed enough depth and experience to have two starting teams and a few back ups.
  Their loss in last year’s playoffs seems to have spurned them on to total domination.
  I doubt anyone can compete with this super Lakers team, especially the depleted and undersized Mavericks.
  Sorry, Mavs fans, you’ll have to wait another year for that title.