They win, win and win some more

George, a dude I work with and with whom I bounce off a lot of back-and-forth NBA talk, sent me a YouTube of Draft Day 1998, when the Mavs traded Robert "Tractor" Traylor to the Bucks for Dirk. Seeing as how one can become lost in that website as if rediscovering the internet, I perused some other Mavs stuff, most notably anything having to do with the Western Conference Semis against the local team last year.

I started thinking I hope the way they are playing is just one of those inevitable marches to the O'Brien trophy. Win streaks of 12, 13 and 14, with one of 8 thrown in since opening 0-4. Huge wins over the Spurs, Suns and Jazz, 4 of the 6 on the road. Etc. Etc. Just when I think 'Yep, this would be the prime place for the win-streak to end (San Antonio, Houston, Denver, Minnesota),' they win. And this pace that they are on I see as distinctly different from the pace the Pistons set early on last year. I believe they faded in part they had a new coach and were adjusting to playing a different style. Ben Wallace didn't seem happy because they started giving more attention to the offense, though not necessarily at the expense of their superb defense. The Mavs do not have that problem. They have been learning and building Avery's system for almost two years now. They are committed to it because they believe it can work.

And why shouldn't they believe, given the results thus far.