The Dallas Mavericks were the darlings of the NBA last season. Say what you will about owner Mark Cuban, but he fielded a winner, the first time in 11 years that the franchise made the playoffs. Not only that, the Mavs managed to recover from a 2-0 deficit against Utah to win their best-of-five series, with Calvin Booth of all people hitting the winning shot. Storybook? Definitely. But will there be more of the same in the Mavs' future?

	Dirk led the Mavs in scoring and might get better.

So as we begin our 2001 Summer Spotlight Series, here's the deal with the Mavs.

The good: This team is young and hungry, and they showed it last season. But can the Mavs continue to play with the same intensity this year? No more can you say the team wants to make the playoffs for the first time in decades. Sure, Mark Cuban will make sure his people are happy, but it's still up to coach Don Nelson.

Nellie, who rushed back from cancer to lead the team to the No. 5 seed (tied with Utah, really) gets bad press about a lot of the moves he's made over the years, but nobody will question his draft-day acquisition of Dirk Nowitzki a few years back. Dirk had a breakout season offensively, leading the team in scoring and rebounding, and teamed with Michael Finley and Steve Nash for a high-scoring trio that led the team to the fourth-most points in the league. Nowitzki could be an annual All-Star with his game, which he can take inside or out. And better yet, he's going to be here awhile, just like Finley, who was a free agent but got about 100 million reasons to stick around. Plus, the sideline chairs are massage ready. Think they do that in Chicago?

Nash seemed like a bad move before the season, but he broke out as well and certainly wasn't a fluke. In a league where three-point shooting is about to become a lot more critical, Nash has another decade or so left in him. And while the best part of this team remains its young threesome, Cuban's pretty good, too. With all the attention he brings on himself for criticizing officials, or seeking out Dennis Rodman or for even sitting in the wrong place and getting fined, his team won games and he played a major role. There's plenty of good here.

	THE FACTS
	2000-01 record: 53-29, tied for second in Midwest, fifth in West Playoffs: Lost in second round 4-1 to Spurs Team leaders: Nowitzki, 21.8 ppg; Nowitzki, 9.2 rpg; Nash, 7.3 apg Team stats (NBA rank): Points, 100.5 (4th); Rebs, 41.5 (21st); FG %, .459 (5th) Current rotation: Bradley C; Howard PF; Nowitzki SF; Finley SG; Nash PG; Howard Eisley 6th man Spot in Summer Power Rankings: No. 7

The bad: Alas, not all is perfect in Dallas. Perpetual underachiever Shawn Bradley might look as tall as the Sears Tower, but he doesn't play like it. He's soft, despite the 2.78 blocks per game, and the team's power forward, one Juwan Howard, doesn't exactly have much in common with Charles Oakley either. Other than the borderline cheap hit that ruined San Antonio's Derek Anderson's postseason, the Mavs didn't show the toughness that Finals-ready teams need. Wang Zhi-Zhi is back for another year and like Bradley, he's got the size, but not the beef. As a result, the Mavs, for all the splendid offense they boast, will give up a lot as well. In the series against the Spurs, Dallas had no answer for Tim Duncan. That could be a problem again. Still, the Mavs will be exciting again this year.

The ugly: Few NBA teams -- if any -- have a better feel-good story than the Mavs. Cuban made it clear to players and fans that Finley could opt for free agency and look around, but that the swingman was staying put in the long run. The only potential problem here remains the lack of a center who can push guys around, grab the big rebound, post up, little things like that. Teams can survive without a center, but Nowitzki's first priority has never been defense, either. But 20 other teams would like to have this roster.

The future: We ranked the Mavs No. 7 in our summer Power Rankings, and a lot of the mail we're getting says that the team is better than that. Well, as you might have guessed, we're not big fans of Bradley, or playoff hero Booth, who despite his follow-shot against the Jazz brings little offense to the table. He's threatening to leave town anyway. Cuban is the one guy who could care less about paying a luxury tax, so he's signing whomever he can and worrying what it costs later. Adrian Griffin, for example, might be the 11th or 12th guy on the team, and he's better than that. He started for Boston some last year. But Cuban wants players, he's going to get players. Maybe Tim Hardaway comes aboard to back up Nash, you never know. Still, this team is talented, has stars and depth, and good ownership.

Cuban wants to win, and he has a team with 50-win potential easy. In the West, where Shaq and Duncan roam, the Mavs will have problems in the playoffs. But it should be a lot of fun getting to that point.

So we asked you this question about the Mavs: Has this team gone about as far as it can with this personnel, or can things get better?

Check the right side of this file for your responses.

Eric Karabell is ESPN.com's NBA editor.