Dirk

For a team sitting in the basement of the Southwest division at 2-7 - yes, below Memphis - the Mavericks’ locker room is surprisingly positive.

Jason Terry, who was keeping a close eye on the Tennessee/Jacksonville NFL game because of the Mavs’ team football pool, gave some great insight into why his squad isn’t getting down on themselves.

“See, there are three seasons. There’s a beginning, then there’s a time after the All-Star break, and then there’s the playoffs. And every team - I don’t care who you are - will struggle at some point. We’re just struggling right now. I’d rather struggle now than later. Don’t be fooled - we’re a very good team.”

(And more details on the Mavs’ pool - everyone puts in $20 a week and picks the games. Whoever has the best record at the end of the season wins it all. And ironically, Dirk has a proven record of success, because he has no idea what he’s talking about - he just guesses right.)

We couldn’t ask Dirk about his secrets to success, though, because he was taking hundreds of pre-game jumpers. That extensive routine is done while he wears capri sweatpants. If you went around the League to every team, I doubt that you’d find a more bizarre piece of warm-up attire than Dirk’s floodpants. It’s like the basketball equivalent to Rafael Nadal’s tennis gear, except this isn’t going to start any sort of trend.

It worked for Nowitzki last year, who torched Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry - who both stepped out and tried to check him - for 36 points on 14-23 shooting. After a five-game skid, Dallas needs more of the same from the German tonight.