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Do not mess with the 'King of the Whale Killers'.

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I can't believe the season starts in two days...

SI.com previewed the Mavs player-by-player.
"Tim Thomas will give them 10 good games a year."

Jason Kidd is rested and ready for another season.
“I feel great, he said. “I felt great last season, too, even after the Olympics. But this was the first summer I’ve really gotten some rest. It was something new to me and my body, but I invited it and welcomed it and did get that rest this summer.  Until I can’t be competitive, or help, I’m going to continue (playing). I love the competition. I still feel I can help a team win. It might not be by scoring 20 points a night. It might not be by having 15 assists a night, but just my will and my smarts and my experience can help us get some victories down the road.”

Sefko has a good mult-part season preview.
The Mavericks have no excuses for not being one of the best rebounding teams in the league this season. They have four of the top 15 rebounders in the league among active players.

7. Jason Kidd Mavericks 7,408
8. Shawn Marion Mavericks 7,384
9. Dirk Nowitzki Mavericks 7,182
15. Erick Dampier Mavericks 6,403

Kidd and Dirk don't mess around.
Kidd’s fortitude was on display in, of all places, Pittsburgh last week. When Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki found out they weren’t playing in the preseason game against Cleveland, they went to the arena three hours early to get in a rigorous workout. Shooting and wind sprints ensued for more than 90 minutes. And people wonder why they are a pair of first-ballot Hall of Famers.

NOLA.com has their predictions, and puts Dallas just ahead of the Hornets at 51-31.

Eddie Sefko predicts 52-30 and goes all out by guessing the Mavs record month by month.

The final preseason game against Houston gavea good indication of the initial rotation.
Though nothing is in stone regarding the rotation, it seems likely Quinton Ross will start until Josh Howard returns, and Jason Terry, J.J. Barea, James Singleton and Kris Humphries will be the primary producers off the bench. "Obviously, you saw a good chunk of it tonight," coach Rick Carlisle said of the rotation.

Josh Howard is out for the season opener... and longer.  Rick Carlisle says "it may be a while before Josh plays."

Marc Stein has a good write-up on the surprise of the preseason for the Mavs - Kris Humphries.
As one veteran scout said recently after watching Humphries beat up on second-unit (and sometimes third-unit) opposition: "He's always been good for shock and awe in short stretches, but when he is depended on to produce he has always left teams wanting." The Mavs remain hopeful anyway.

John Hollinger points out that Humphries per minutes stats in Toronto were pretty good.

The life of a Rockets fan.
Dirk Nowitzki has played 236 out of a possible 246 games the last three seasons. Yao Ming has played 180 out of 246.... Consider that with Yao on the shelf and Tracy McGrady out (again) for an undetermined amount of time, the Rockets go from playoff-dangerous to lottery-bound. As hard as Rick Adelman has his players play, they just aren’t as good. Not even close.

Antoine Walker fail.
Walker earned over $110 million dollars ove the course of his 12-year NBA career. Now he is being pursued by multiple credit agencies seeking to collect over $4 million dollars in debt.