THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LETTERS 'D' AND 'J'

While at the Hawks-Mavericks game on March 25th (a 104-97 Mavs victory, their 58th of the year), something struck me. Look at the Mavs roster, and tell me if you can see something many of the players and personnel share. Besides being a part of a future-championship-winning team.

Almost everyone has either the letter 'J' or 'D' in as the first letter of one of their names. Just take a look:

C Erick Dampier
PF Dirk Nowitzki
SF Josh Howard
SG Jason Terry
PG Devin Harris
SG Jerry Stackhouse
C DeSagana Diop
SF Devean George

...it goes all the way down the bench, too:

PG Juan Jose Barea
C D.J. Mbenga
Head Coach Avery Johnson
Assistant Coach Del Harris

...so pretty much everyone, except maybe Austin Croshere and Greg Buckner. But I'm fairly sure Cro's middle name must be 'Joe' and Buck's 'Doug', so it's all good.

Clearly, this is the secret to Dallas's success this year. I mean, it wouldn't be the defense Avery Johnson has taught, would it? Or Dirk's silly-stupid jumper, which looks so bad at release yet so good as it goes through? And the key here couldn't possibly be just plain old determination after getting snubbed last June, could it?

No, couldn't be any of those mundane things. It must be something magical about these two letters and the way they weave through the lineup, instilling some special energy in players who would normally be plain.

Yeah, just overlook the fact that Dirk barely even looks for his own offense anymore, and passively attribute J-Ho's All-Star status to myriad injuries to 'better' players. After all, Jet will never be a real point, Devin will never mature, and Stack should be in an old-folks home by now. Dampier only plays for contracts, Diop will never get in shape, and...oh, wait.

They've beaten Phoenix twice, San Antonio twice, and Houston three times. They've had three double-digit win streaks. They've got 4 players averaging double figures, 3 with 7+ RPG, 4 with .8+ BPG, and 3 with 1+ SPG. They shoot 81% from the line as a team, they're healthy, and they signed Pops Mensah-Bonsu. POPS!

Not that the Mavs need more people on their bandwagon, but I thought I'd let you know what you're looking at right now. A team that wins 84% of their games, a team that is charging to 70 wins, a team that is on a freight train to the Finals. Yep, it's March 27th, and you have my Champs.

STATE OF UGA BASKETBALL

Ok ok, I admit....my attention span is much shorter than I expected. I know I promised a weekly NBA top 10, but come on, its really not that interesting. let us explore some other facets of the world of sports, to put it a little bit more eloquently. ok, but seriously, I do guarantee I'll update as much as possible during March Madness, and then when the basketball season Peaks in early may. And of course, let's not forget the start of the baseball season (april 1st!)

For now, let us content ourselves by talking of the georgia Bulldogs' basketball team. After seeing their "seeing red tour" fall short of the NCAA tourney against defending champions Florida, I think it's a perfect time to reflect and predict. Not that I'm psychic or anything, seeing as to how I completely called Tennessee and Kentucky going deep.

Personally, I think Georgia is headed in the right direction. I'm not saying that the team is a great team, but it seriously has potential. Don't believe me? try this, this year was the first time since 2004, and only the third time in over six years that UGA made the Quarterfinals at the SEC tournament. Georgia's final record this year? a respectable (though it could have been better) 18-13. An improvement over last year's 15-15, and 2004's miserable 8-20. Its the first time since 2003 that Georgia has a winning record. By this time last season, Georgia wasn't even being talked about for the NIT, let alone the NCAA tournament. This year Georgia managed to stay on the bubble down to the last to games of the season, even receiving a few votes for the AP polls at one point or another during the season (albeit never resulting in an actual ranking).

This year, Georgia ranked in the top five in scoring offense, rebounds, 3-pointers, and field-goal percentage. It's the first time since the 2002 season (and we all remember what happened in 2002) that Georgia's been ranked in the top five of any of those categories.

Georgia still has a ways to go, but they're getting there. The team is very young, with only 2 seniors leaving this year (Stukes and Newman). Should Takais Brown stay for his senior year, and there's no reason why he shouldn't, Georgia could retain its new inside presence. Rashard Singleton is starting to come around and live up to hype, although he is still very streaky, and has trouble on offense. What this team lacks is experience, and i think that they gained alot of if this season, with wins over quality opponents and very close losses against others.

All i'm saying is, give them a chance. Keep filling up stegeman, 'cause it feels good to know that your student body supports you. We should fare well in the NIT, and with Mike Mercer returning next season, it should make for one helluva run for the big dance.

Until then, I'll keep hoping that Dennis Felton has some recruiting magic under his sleeves.