You know, I’ve put a LOT of energy, time and even sweat into this year for the Dallas Mavericks and I will agree that in return, I was rewarded with the 6th best regular season record by any NBA team. 67 wins and only 15 losses. This after making it to the finals the previous year and having one of the biggest chokes in NBA finals history, so things couldn’t have been going better. . .until the end of the season, when the team was playing meaningless games and getting completely out of rhythm, but most importantly, they appeared to be aligning themselves to play Golden State for the 1st round of the playoffs. The same team they had not beat for almost TWO years.
Well, one of the last games for the Mavs was against the Golden State Warriors who, if lost, were probably out of the playoffs and the Mavs get an easier opponent in the Clippers, but Avery chose to sit most of the players and let the Warriors whip our asses. It also gave them confidence going into the playoffs.
I think the game is about over as I’m typing this and I think we’re probably down 25-35 points. They won game 1 on our home court, we won game 2. Then we go to Golden State and they beat us the first game and then embarrass us on the 2nd game. So they’re up 3-1, Mavs have to basically win 3 in a row, which is very possible for any team to do, but our fearless leader in Dirk Imisski tells the press “If we lose game 4, the season is pretty much over”!! 
Why would any of his teammates want to hear that shit!! Hell, it killed MY spirits and I don’t play.
The Mavs go into elimination game back in Dallas and come storming out and go up 21 points in the 2nd quarter. Ohh, by the end of the 3rd quarter, it was tied up. Then with THREE minutes left in the game, Warriors are up by NINE POINTS! Out of nowhere, the alleged MVP comes wakes up making a 15-0 run happen to win the game! WOW. I’m excited now, Dirk found his game finally by game FIVE!!
Then tonight, we go back to the loudest arena in the league to play them on their home court for another elimination game. The game starts with us making a 3 pointer, then GS going on a 13-0 run. Place is going crazy. Then Stackhouse makes 4 straight 3’s and keeps us in the game. Meanwhile, Dirk can’t buy a fucking shot, even open shots. (Did I say he was supposedly the MVP?) Somehow by the half it was Golden State 50, Mavs 48. Then the next half the Mavs never came out of the locker room. I’ve never seen a team give up for so long. It was sickening and looking at the final stats, our STAR player, Dirk Suckski, went 2-13 and 0-6 on 3’s, for a whopping EIGHT POINTS! No one showed up. But Dirk only played for 3 minutes in all 6 games of this series.
Sure, they played Dirk tight and tough, making shots tough, but didn’t we do that same thing to Baron Davis? The same Baron Davis that had a knee surgery early in the season and it was swelling up, then tweaked his hamstring the 1st quarter and had to get it taped up. Then he basically played on one leg and was running circles around our able bodied guys. Baron Davis made Dirk Nowitzki look like a child playing a man’s game. Pitiful..Worthless..heartless.
I can’t say I hate the Mavs and will never watch them again, but they’ve become the Buffalo Bills of the NBA and it’s way too emotional for me to put this much time and energy into another basketball season. They completely gave up and it’s a shame. I can show you a crew of stick people that have more rhythm than the Mavs do!
May 4th, 2007 at 8:19 am
Doanwanna,
I know you’re upset and you have definitely put more shin & foot sweat into this Mavs season than anyone I know. But don’t give up, little camper. Yeah, that was embarassing. I agree, it was gutless. You couldn’t be more correct in saying it was pitiful.
But, that’s what makes you a great fan. And being a great fan sucks when you lose. Especially the way we just lost. On the flip-side, nothing gives you more wood than when your team wins.
They’re the Dallas Mavericks and come next year I fully expect your support. Don’t be a typical Dallas fan. You know who I’m talking about…we make fun of them all the time. The guys that jump off the bandwagon. Don’t be what I hate about this city.
Granted, I’m a football guy first and I’ve been in a mad love affair with our Cowboys ever since my mother decided to launch me out of her most private of places. And every time the going gets tough, half of this fuckin town slams the boys.
PUSSIES!! We won 5 rings…WHAT ELSE??
As for the Mavs, they’ll get back. I believe in Avery and hopefully some personnel adjustments can right the ship. Maybe not. BUT….I’ll always support the Mavericks and so will you.
I know it hurts, DP. What you need to do is concentrate on the things that make you happy right now. Focus on the kids you babysit everyday. Focus on your country music. Make it a point to clean a few extra public restrooms everyday. YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS.
Wanna hug it out?
May 4th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Yeah JJ, I’ll be black next year. I just hope the Mavs are MORE black, because white don’t get you shit in the NBA. I say we trade for Kevin Garnett and lets see if him and Duck can get it done. Maybe Cuban can buy this team:
Dwayne Wade
Dirk Nowitzki
Yao Ming
LeBron James
Chris Bosh
Come on Mark Cuban !
May 4th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Sit tight….I’ll make it happen…
May 8th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Well, this is just a case of the stars and planets aligning to blow some ill wind the Mavericks way. They ran into a team that’s got their number like no one else does. Over the last 2 years, Golden State has owned the Mavericks with better play and in some cases, some flucky-ass-crazy plays. I think it was last year that Richardson sunk a mid-court 3-pointer after a freaking spin move in traffic to either win or tie the w/ no time on the clock. Baron Davis and those lucky 3-pointers with the shot clock about to expire. Now, I’m not saying that it was all luck that helped GS upset the Mavs, but it was just another brick in the wall.
#1 reason the mavs lost begins and starts with… no, not Dirk, but Avery Johnson! Even without taking into account the way he had the Mavs finish the season, he just plain got out coached by Nelson. Going to small ball on game 1? Panic move! They should’ve given GS a steady diet of Dampier and Diop all throughout the series. If they had been able to get the ball down to Dampier on the block, GS had no-one that could keep him off the basket without fouling. Results? Foul trouble for GS and it opens up the outside shot when the defense collapses inside.
Avery needed to find a way to get Dirk better shots and he never found a scheme that could do that for the Mavs. His inability to solve the GS freakin’ zone defense is laughable. Which brings me to the second reason they lost…
#2 Who else showed up? I know Dirk didn’t have a good series. I do give GS and Nelson a lot of credit for that. Stephen Jackson played some serious defense on Dirk and GS pretty much had 2 other guys flanking Jackson and ready for Dirk every time he got the ball. This should’ve given the rest of the team easy opportunities to score. Yet, Devin George, Jason Terry, Devin Harris, and to a degree Josh Howard couldn’t pick up the slack. Of course, there’s also the issue of the GS players going off on the Mavs. We all know Dirk can’t play defense (or is not very good), but where in the hell were our defense stoppers? Buckner and George were supposed to be those guys but they got abused out there.
#3 reason… mavs got cold. i think Avery will seriously re-think his plan of “coasting” thru the last week of the season next year. The mavs didn’t look ready to play when the series started. That game 1 loss may prove to be the difference since they were going to have a really hard time of winning at Oakland w/ those crazy fans. GS had been in playoff mode the last month of the season and they were basically playing playoff ball while our starter were playing grab-ass at the end of the bench the last week and a half. Avery needs to work on getting the mavs to peak when the playoffs start, not to peak w/ a month left in the season and then go back and forth changing gears.
Yeah… it’s a big disappointment, but the mavs will be back. And all you bitches who are saying you won’t be fans anymore or can’t stomach another season…??? shut the fuck up! it took this freaking team about 4 years to add up 67 wins back about 10 years ago when they were a freaking joke. Yeah, they blew last year finals and got their asses handed to ‘em on this upset… but this kind of adversity and heart-break will make this team stronger. Avery is a great coach and he’ll get better. Devin Harris will become one of the top point guards in the league in the next couple of years. They need a low post player and a couple of more athletic guys and they are in business. This team needs some help, but if Little Nelson is being truthful, they will not blow this up and they WILL win a championship within the next 3 years.