Aniston, Bush And Your Mavs

   Jen says this while granting an interview with EW in order to promote. … “Marley & Me.’’ Which is a rom-com. Oh, and to mention that opening soon is “He’s Just Not That Into You.’’ Another rom-com.

   But, you know, she’s done with romantic comedies. Not counting all the romantic comedies she’s got coming up.

   Now to W. He’s coming to town, returning to our warm Southern bosom, and I look forward to hanging out with him at Wild About Harry’s. (Dead-lock cinch: George either will or already does love ol’ Harry and his hot dogs and his frozen custard.) And as My President shifts from White House resident to private citizen, he is promising he will remain extremely busy.

   Says George:

   “I'm a Type A personality, you know. I just, I just can't envision myself, you know, the big straw hat and Hawaiian shirt sitting on some beach. Particularly since I quit drinking.’’

   Is George W. Bush a Type-A personality? His ascension to that incredibly demanding job would suggest that it is possible. But then there is this: Over the course of his eight years in office, he spent 500 of the days “vacationing’’ at his Crawford ranch. Granted, they were likely “working vacations,’’ but really, there may be no possible way to misunderestimate this man.

   And finally, to the Mavs, and to their self-definition.

   Are the Mavs one big romantic comedy (“We love our team’’)? Are they Type-A personalities? ("We'll keep fighting.'') Do they have an identity?

   Schedule-wise, we’re at the halfway mark of this NBA season, the Mavs having played 41 games on the way to their only-good-for-the-bottom-of-the-West-playoff-food-chain record. At different points over the course of coach Rick Carlisle’s non-hostile takeover, the Mavs have proclaimed themselves to be:

   *A happy team thanks to Avery Johnson’s ouster

   *A motion-offense team with some Princeton principles

   *A defense-first team with Carlisle adding to Avery’s foundation

   *A premier rebounding team with time for traditional center play

   *A transition/up-tempo team with Kidd flanked by athletic wings

   *A Kidd-focused attack that leads to more easy baskets

   * A championship-contending team with a Big Three that ranks among the game’s elite

   That’s a lot of identities for one team to foist on itself in just half-a-season’s time.

   Are the Mavs “happier’’? Well, I know they are not satisfied and I know that right around this time a year ago they were 26-12 and leading the West and then came a couple of road losses and then a trade.

   So they shouldn’t be too much happier. ... though even Gran Torino owner Walt Kowalski would've smiled while watching the Mavs celebrate this last-second win in Philly.

   (Three things here: 1. My Fish Podcast discusses the win in audio detail. 2. Here are some quickie Evening Bite-Sized Donettes that pose some questions about the victory. 3. We want to be careful, as we analyze where Dallas is going, to not get too high on the boozy Kool-Aid of a buzzer-beating success.)

   The Princeton Offense? Scrapped last summer. Dallas’ bread-and-butter in the halfcourt is now all about pick-and-rolls/pops and two-man games featuring Dirk and Jet. When it's not working for Nowitzki, as it wasn't for most of the afternoon at the Wachovia Center, a third wheel is required. A mentally and physically healthy Josh? Maybe. Kidd hitting eight of his 11 shots and 6-of-8 from the arc, as he did against the Sixers? Maybe.

   But both seem a lot to ask.

   Defense-first? Carlisle keeps harping on this, but personnel-wise, it's really been a grab-bag. One example: Devean George starts one game for his defense, and then the next game doesn't dress, as was the case against the Sixers. (Antoine Wright earned his eighth consecutive start.) Another example comes at center, where Ryan Hollins has gone from Bobcats scrapheap to Mavericks savior.

   Hollins' active, athletic performance in his 19 minutes is enough to make the Mavs natives salivate. But ... I thought Larry Brown acquired Diop because HE wanted an active, athletic 7-footer? So why'd he give this one up? Taking that question a step beyond: The Mavs just acquired two Bobcats (Hollins and Carroll) after almost acquiring three others (Felton, May and Nazr) after examining the idea of acquiring another (Gerald Wallace) while some fans wondered why we didn't get Jason Richardson.

   The Mavs flirt with the idea of Hollins AND Carroll AND Felton AND May AND Nazr AND Wallace AND maybe Richardson? Seven Bobcats? That's where the Dallas roster is at right now? It could be bettered by reshaping itself in the form of the Bobcats roster?

      Premier rebounding and traditional center play? We saw a hint of how this is supposed to work against the Sixers, with each center getting almost 20 minutes. But this hasn't been consistent, and for whatever reason -- the lack of development of Diop or the sudden development of JJB or however anybody'd like to spin it -- playing SmallBall and therefore giving up a supposed strength is more of a fun gimmick than it is a playoff strategy.

   Transition offense with athletic wings? My head is still spinning from that 28-point loss in Phoenix in which Dallas scored FOUR fast-break points. Athletic wings? They are on the team (Gerald Green and Shawne Williams among them) but they are on the bench. Instead, Devean George gets respect and Matt Carroll gets a trade and what we're seeing is a transition-style offense but WITHOUT the finishers on the wings. So it's a plan only half-hatched.

   More easy baskets? Last time I gave this a league-wide look, the Mavs ranked 27^th in the NBA in dunks. That’s the easiest basket of all, and Dallas doesn’t get ‘em. Now, sometimes Dirk and Jet make 3-pointers look easy. Sometimes Gerald Green gets a sniff and makes getting to the hole look easy. And the interior springboards belonging to Bass and Hollins offer some hope.

   But right now, this is not an easy-basket team.

   I will say this: To hell with the NBA's Slam-Dunk Contest. I can see just as good a contest at Mavs practice. All we need is a prize for the winner between Bass, Hollins, G-Money and Shawne Williams, and it's on.

   A championship-contending team with a Big Three that ranks among the game’s elite? Subject to interpretation. An MVP candidate and a Sixth-Man leader and a HOF point guard and a bunch of smart vets and some promising LIBBs and an able coach and supportive ownership. ... Dallas has all that, and it's certainly a start.

    Is it also a finish?

    I don’t believe the Mavs are deluding themselves regarding where they are in comparison to the Lakers, and I feel quite certain the organization is dissatisfied with being a second-tier contender. (And hanging on by their fingernails even to that dubious categorization.) I’m more talking about the team itself, the day-to-day performance of the Mavs and the identity they bring into games and the identity they bring out of games. Judgment of all this is a fluid thing, and judgments can change quickly. Don't you feel much better about the Mavs today -- after gritty wins over a good Jazz team and a hot Sixers team -- than you did three days ago? What if they beat Milwaukee? Why can't they win in Detroit? And then Boston?

   It's time for some of those wins, time for some true definition, time -- as we sit at that midway point -- for some answers.

   Motion offense. Defense first. Traditional rebounding. Easy baskets. Athletic wings. Happier moods. Championship contenders. No more romantic comedies. Type-A personalities. Doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs. Butchers, bakers, candlestick makers.

   What are they? One of the above? All of the above?

   At some point, the self-labeling announcements are supposed to be overcome by results that speak for themselves.