The Daily Nickel

1. George Karl wants to face the Mavericks in the 1st round: Can you blame him? Who else would he want to play....the Lakers?....the Spurs?.....the Thunder? No way, not with the talent those teams have and the lack of backbone the Mavs are displaying to close out the season. The Mavs have been so terrible of late that I've been clamoring for more playing time for JJ Barea because he'll actually drive to the hole....I know, I know, that's an extreme sign of desperation, but at least the Little 'Rican is fearless and he refuses to settle for only jumpshots.

2. The Mavs Greatest Strength is their Greatest Weakness?: This is the quote from Karl's intevirew with ESPN 103.3's Ian Fitzsimmons- "In a lot of ways, I think their strength is their weakness," Karl said. "Their strength is they have tremendous ability to score by making jump shots. They are the best jump-shooting team in the NBA by far. [Coach Rick] Carlisle is a very good offensive guy in getting good shots and tricking teams into open shots. They're very unselfish in finding the open man and getting open jump shots. In some sense, the jump shot doesn't go in as much as scoring in the paint. The two things I would say is I wish Dallas would get to the free throw line more and I wish they would score more around the basket."

Is this revolutionary? Does Carlisle see this? How can all Mavs fans and even the Nuggets coach see this as a fundamental flaw in the Mavs' game and they refuse to change?

Dirk is allowed to shoot mostly jumpers because he's awesome and he shoots an amazing percentage from the field (52% from 2 point range and a sizzling 40% from behind the arc), but everyone else has to take it to the hole. The only way the Mavs fix what's wrong is if Carlisle starts benching anyone who refuses to take it the the rim. Drive consistenly, or have a seat on the bench...that should be our new moto.

3. The Cowboys are drafting a Prince?: Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara is scheduled to meet with the Cowboys next week in Dallas. I hate the idea of drafting another stinking cornerback in the 1st round, but I also hate the idea of our secondary getting beat repeatedly like a rented mule more, so I guess I'll entertain the thought. Still, I can't help but believe a real safety is more of a need than a cornerback since T.New and Mike Jenkins are pretty decent. Maybe drafting Prince leads us to put Newman at free saftey? I'm not in love with that idea because Newman is so small (5'10'), but maybe it's the slightly taller Prince (6'0") that they'll try out at safety.

4. The Rangers are set to face the current American League East Heavy Weight: No, it's not the Yankees (4-2), and no, it's not the Red Sox (0-6), but it's the 5- 1 Baltimore Orioles that are leading the American League East right now. The Orioles' are the perennial bottom dwellers of that division, but manager Buck Showalter has got them playing great baseball to start the 2011 season. I actually like Buck, who was run out of town after a brief stint as the Rangers skipper, and his micro-managing style...I just don't like him or the Orioles for the next three games. The D-Fdub predicts an easy sweep for the Rangers as they press on to complete their 162-0 perfect season.

Ian Kinsler

5. Is Ian still the best option as the Rangers' leadoff man?: Count me as one who was skeptical of Ian leading off because he has a classic uppercut swing that results in too many pop-ups. In 2011, he is still displaying that same swing that means either a homerun (3 out of 5 hits are homeruns) or a pop-out, but it's the fact that he's walked five times already that makes him a potent leadoff man. I'll suffer through the pop-outs as long as Ian keeps getting on base at a high clip (.423 on base %) and creating havoc on opposing pitchers while he's on the base paths.