C's and Mavs - similar problems, different severity?

[Francis Hsu <francis@ai.mit.edu>]

I was reading an article in the Dallas Morning News Website on their
preseason game against Orlando, where Adrian Griffin had 22 points and
9 rebounds.  I found the following comment in the article to be interesting:

  The Mavericks new focus on rebounding even paid off. They outrebounded
  an opponent (50-47) for just the second time in the preseason.
  It was losses to Boston and the LA Clippers that were most eye-opening
  for the Mavericks in the preseason, ones that exposed the Mavericks'
  weaknesses at rebounding and defense and even inconsistency with shooting.
  "We had a reality check," Finley said.

I thought it was ironic that the loss to the Celtics, who have emphasized
their weaknesses in rebounding and defense as needing the most improvement,
ended up exposing the same weaknesses in the Mavericks.  Also, I think
inconsistent shooting has been a big problem for the C's.

Although both teams may indeed have the same weaknesses, I wonder if it's
just that ours are on a more severe level or if it's that we just simply
have no real strengths.

Francis