It's time for the Mavs to start over

Sorry Mavs fans, but it's time to blow it up and start over. Whether you choose to accept it or not is up to you, but it's been clear for a while now the Mavs window as a legitimate championship contender is closed. When I say closed I'm not talking about the sign on the front door of your favorite hole in the wall that reads, "Closed for lunch, be back in 30 minutes." I mean closed like the doors to Texas Stadium closed. I know Rick Carlisle probably sold Mark Cuban on the notion the Mavs were still a championship caliber team, but after 62 games worth of inconsistency, even Carlisle has to know this team is looking a third straight first round playoff exit square in the face.

And that's if they make the playoffs!

Winning in the playoffs is simple. The teams that control the paint and have a guy who can create with the shot clock running out usually do well in May and June. Throw in timely bench play, a wealth of mental toughness and some physicality that is normally seen on the gridiron and you can pretty much identify the teams that have a legitimate shot at taking home the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

The Mavericks do not fit this description.

Can they control the paint? I doubt even the most loyal Maverick fan can make that argument seeing as how Erick Dampier shows up once every four or five games. Jason Kidd, for all of the great basketball plays he makes, struggles to keep guards like Tony Parker, Deron Williams and Chris Paul out of the lane on a consistent basis.

Do they have a guy who can create at the end of a possession? Sure they do, but he's the second option and has a nasty habit of disappearing in the 4th quarter. We know Dirk Nowitzki can shoot with anybody on the planet, but the "Big German" relies more on predictable pick and rolls and timely passes from Kidd to score his points more that he does the ability to beat guys off the dribble.

Do they get timely bench play? Sometimes. Jason Terry was on his way to being 6th man of the year before he broke a bone in his hand. Brandon Bass looks the part, but he has stretches where he turns into the invisible man. J.J. Barea has come out of nowhere this season, but will anybody really take him serious in the playoffs until he actually does something. I love how journeyman James Singleton plays, but how much time will he really get to leave his stamp on the game as long as Erick Dampier and that ridiculous contract are on the roster.

Other than beating the Spurs on the road in Western Conference Finals three years ago, has there ever been a time when the adjectives physically and mentally tough were used to describe the Mavericks?

I thought not.

After Dwayne Wade turned the 2006 NBA Finals into his personal playground the Mavs were mentally shook. After former coach Don Nelson and Baron Davis cast the Mavericks as helpless victims in a gruesome horror film disguised as a playoff series a year later, this group of Mavs was permanently scarred. Throw in the coming out party Chris Paul threw at the Mavericks expense in last year's playoffs and they are on the verge of joining the Sooners and Buckeyes in the same therapy sessions for post season failures.

The bottom line is the Mavs are no longer contenders in the meat grinder that is the Western Conference. Dirk is nearing the end of his prime. Josh Howard can be one of the better swingman in the league, but nobody knows where he is mentally on a consistent basis. Jason Kidd, as good as he still is, can't play forever. There hasn't been a legitimate scoring threat at shooting guard since Michael Finley headed south on I-35 and Erick Dampier is stealing money every time he steps on the court. (11.5 million for 5 points and 7 boards a game!)

I know Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson keep telling fans they can compete for a title, but who are they fooling? Every Maverick fan (along with Cuban) should have seen the writing on the wall the minute Donnie Nelson said he didn't want to coach the very team he helped to put together. Would you trust an architect who won't sleep in the very house he sketched the blueprints for?

I thought not.

The Mavs better do something if they plan on being more than just a 45 win team every year. Trade Dirk to a bottom feeder for their lotery pick if you must. Package some of your secondary players to get somebody in here to help Dirk if you can, but do something before you turn into the Sacarmento Kings.

One of my high school coaches used to tell me, "You gotta know when to hold 'em and you gotta know when to fold 'em!"

Hopefully, for the sake of Mavs fans, Cuban and Carlisle realize they need to do the latter of the two sooner rather than later.