Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd has done a marvelous job of turning back the clock. He was the oldest player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to start in an NBA Finals game, and his play was pivotal in the Mavs winning the first championship in franchise history. Much has been written (and deservedly so) about his three-point shooting, but scoring is just one of the ways Kidd helped Dallas win it all. What the Mavericks miss when Kidd isn’t on the floor is his on-court savvy, basketball IQ and his defense.

Kidd is no longer the amazing defender he once was, but he still understands how to get into the passing lanes, as well as how to outsmart bigger players and force them out of their comfort zones. Very often this season we saw Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle use Kidd at the two-guard spot on defense, which allowed him to spend less time trying to stop the plethora of smaller, quicker point guards who have taken the NBA by storm. That was the first key to helping Kidd remain an effective starter for the Mavs. The second key will be finding ways to reduce his minutes.

Kidd was clearly picking his spots as the Mavericks got deeper and deeper into the playoffs. He came out of the gates strong against Portland in the first round, averaging 11.7 points and shooting 48% from the field, but as the Mavericks advanced Kidd’s numbers dropped off. His least efficient series came against the Miami HEAT in the Finals, in which Kidd played 38 minutes per game but averaged just 7.7 points and 6.3 assists while shooting 39% from the field.

After winning the championship, Kidd said he hopes to play two or three more years with this Mavericks group, and we wouldn’t put it past him to do just that. The only way it’s going to happen, however, is if the Mavericks start to reduce his role next season.

Originally, the plan was for second-year guard Roddy Beaubois to take over the starting point guard role, allowing Kidd to spend more time at the two, but also to play fewer overall minutes. That hasn’t panned out. Beaubois spent much of the 2010-11 campaign rehabbing a foot injury, and even when he was healthy Carlisle was loathe to play him. Then, of course, there’s the issue that Beaubois doesn’t look like a point guard at all, beyond his size. He’s one of the many tweeners in the NBA whose game is really suited to playing the two, but whose size dictates a necessity to play more as a one. If Beaubois has a future with the Mavericks, it won’t be as Kidd’s replacement at the point position.

The good news is that the Mavericks may already have Kidd’s true replacement on the roster. JJ Barea has been a factor for Dallas since joining the team in 2006-07, but he has gotten better with each passing year. This season he averaged career-bests of 9.5 points and 3.9 assists per game, and it was Carlisle’s decision to start Barea in the last three games of the NBA Finals that propelled Dallas to the championship. Barea adds an injection of speed, quickness, and unpredictability to a Mavericks’ offense that is otherwise extremely predictable. Just when it seemed like Miami was ready to counter every move the Mavs made, Barea would check in and mix things up. In the last two games, when the pressure was truly on for Dallas, Barea averaged 16.0 points and 5.0 assists in 28.0 minutes per game.

Jason Kidd’s ability to continue his NBA career will be based largely on how many minutes he has to play. No matter what kind of shape he’s in or how conservatively he plays, he simply can’t continue to play 30+ minutes per game and still extend his career. The Mavericks are going to re-sign Barea prior to the July 1st lock-out, and that move, as much as any other, may be the key to Kidd’s long-term viability, as well as to Dallas successfully defending their championship.

2011 Finals A Huge Success

The 2011 NBA Finals on ABC – with the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Miami Heat for the franchise’s first NBA championship – averaged 17,280,000 viewers, 11,725,000 household impressions and a 10.1 rating for six broadcasts to become the second most-viewed Finals since 2004, based on fast national data provided by Nielsen.

Based on fast nationals, last night’s decisive Game 6 delivered an average of 23,511,000 viewers, 15,190,000 households and a 13.1 rating to become the most-viewed Game 6 ever on ABC, and the most-viewed in 13 years. It is the 25th consecutive time The Finals have generated the highest-rated program of the night and also led ABC to win the night. The broadcast peaked with a 20.9 rating from 10:30-10:45 p.m. EST.

This year’s six-game series is up 33 percent in viewership (vs. 12,972,000), 27 percent in households (vs. 9,332,000) and 20 percent in rating (vs. 8.5) compared to the 2006 Finals, when these same two teams met in a six-game series.

While down slightly versus last year’s seven-game series between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers (10.6 rating; 12,152,000 households; 18,144,000 viewers), the 2011 Finals is up five percent in viewership (vs. 16,433,000 viewers and 11,167,000 households), and four percent in rating (vs. 9.7) over the first six games of the Celtics/Lakers series. The NBA Finals in 2004 between the Lakers/Pistons, a five-game series, averaged 17,942,000 viewers, 12,451,000 households and an 11.5 rating.

Difficult Decision For Casey?

Winning an NBA Championship is a nice way to fill out a résumé, and being the defensive mastermind behind stopping Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh doesn’t hurt, either. That’s the situation where Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey finds himself as he looks to fill one of the last head coaching vacancies.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Casey has been in the mix for several jobs already, having been in the final mix for the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors, and is now said to be the frontrunner for the open Detroit Pistons job. Now that the Mavs are finished with their impressive postseason run, the Pistons have received permission to talk to Rick Carlisle’s prized defensive mastermind.

Former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Woodson was believed to be the front runner for the Pistons, who have also interviewed Bill Laimbeer, Kelvin Sampson, and Lawrence Frank, but Casey seems to have moved to the head of the class after his defensive schemes were so pivotal in helping Dallas win the championship.

Of course, winning the championship might also give Casey pause as he considers whether or not to leave Dallas. Is it better to be a key assistant for a championship team, or to be the head coach of a struggling franchise that didn’t even make the playoffs? That’s a question Dwane Casey will have to answer for himself as he goes through the interview process with Detroit, and possibly even Toronto.

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