A Dream Deferred

Now that the only thing left for the Cowboys is an autopsy of this season, we can turn our attention to the Dallas Mavericks who-quietly and somewhat surprisingly-have gone 10-4 in the month of December (with one game remaining in 2008) and have won 16 of their last 21 games, and have slipped into the number seven spot in the Western Conference at six games over .500, after a thoroughly horrible 2-7 beginning that had some (ahem, me) calling for the dismantling of this team. Dallas let one get away from them in Utah (and lost Nowitzki in the process, who has been playing like a monster) but they've also dispatched a strong Portland team, and handled low-hanging fruit like the Clippers and the Grizzlies (they also were blasted by a New Jersey team piloted by Devin Harris and failed to contend in a game against Denver, but still.) They're next six games are against sub-par teams, meaning they can improve their position in the Western Conference. I still can't change my fundamental assessment that this team should not be considered title-worthy, but they sure are more entertaining then they were promising to be in early November.