Does persistence pay off?

It reasons to think the Mavs will win at least one title before Dirk Nowitski retires. Just ask the best baseball team of the 1990s. Not the New York Yankees. It was the Atlanta Braves, who won one World Series compared to the Yanks 4 running to 2000. The "best", or rather most consistently good, teams don't always play their best in crunch time and don't end up with the glory.

Over the last three years, the Dallas Mavericks have five more wins than the next best team. But that team is the defending world champ and winner of 3 titles since 1999. Those San Antonio Spurs have been more consistent than the Mavs. You always know what to expect out of the Spurs. Duncan will get his 20 low- to mid-range. Parker will penetrate the defense. The bench will sacrifice itself and at least one guy will light it up at key moments from downtown. Oh ya, and their defense is phenomenal.

The Mavs are a different story. They have tried to incorporate defense more. Albeit successfully, it was a learned trait, not a natural one. And of course they rely too much on the jump shot. If the Mavs are hot, nobody can beat them, but if cold, it's anybody's game. With little pressure in the regular season, the Mavs have rarely gone cold over the last 3 years…until the playoffs. They have melted down in each of the past two regular seasons when they were heavily favored.

So, how is this 2007-08 team different? I wonder that quite often. Still have Damps and Diop on the blocks. Still playing solid but not spectaular 2-guard. Still have Jason Terry. Still waiting for Devin Harris to emerge as the next Tony Parker. Yes they still have the best forwards in the league, bar none, in Dirk and Josh Howard. But it's just like their defense. Those guys have to be more physical inside and dominating from anywhere. They have to be creative and consistent enough to force themselves out of cold streaks.

That's the key just like every year for the Mavs. But the Spurs have already perfected that. Makes it tough to beat them. The Mavs have been persistent in patterning themselves after the Spurs with slightly different pieces, but also younger main pieces. I truly wonder if this formula will eventually pay off. And if it does, how long will it last? How old will the corps of the team be when it hits its stride? Will it be able to reel off 3 in a row a la the 2000s Lakers or will it spread it out like the Spurs franchise it has followed? I doubt the 2000s Mavs will go down as pure greatness because I think they will end up being vastly overshadowed by the Spurs in lore.