Big Al Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Can't really blame Dallas, Sure you can. This was supposed to be the team that could dominate, could adjust to any game situation, could figure out a way to beat anyone, anytime. Nellie got the Mavs to play right into his hands. When all is said & done, the Mavs respond more to Nellie than Avery. They're still convinced they can play Nellie-ball. They'll never learn. i really dug the enthusiasm of the fans in oakland last night And therein lies the difference between Dallas and Oakland (as well as the reason why GS is in it and we're not): GS wanted this series. Dallas thought it was already theirs. Dallas, the Mavs and the fans, grossly underestimated the W's, thinking they could just phone in their performance while getting ready for the next round. The fact that urgency never showed up shows how either lazy, gutless, or careless the Mavs are/were. Maybe all three, for all I know. I love the Mavs, but it's gonna be a helluva long time before I start talking about what a good team they are. Quote
Noj Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 (edited) Jon Abbey over at JC just brought up that the Mavs could have beaten the Warriors in their last regular season game and gotten the Clippers instead. D'oh! Condolences, Al. Edited May 4, 2007 by Noj Quote
Big Al Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 I have lost so much respect for Dirk Nogutzki, it ain't funny. They've been replaying his speech all morning about how he feels bad for the Mavs fans. Fuck you, Dirk. Maybe if you'd showed up at some point during the series, or even PRETENDED to care, we wouldn't have to be listening to your worthless ass giving yet another concession speech. Time to trade his ass. Quote
Noj Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 The blame is shared with the Pacers and that lame trade they made for the worthless Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. On top of Dirk's rotten play, Jason Terry had a poor series, too. Howard was inconsistent. Croshere wasn't the spark of the bench in game six which he was in game five. Matchups, matchups. Baron and SJax were lights out from three. Monta Ellis continued his stellar play from the bench. Matt Barnes made hustle plays and good decisions. JRich was moving well without the ball. I didn't think the Warriors would suddenly look this good, but I can't wait to see how they match up against the next opponent. They look a hell of lot better than Utah or Houston. Quote
Soulstation1 Posted May 4, 2007 Author Report Posted May 4, 2007 i like that cuban can't buy the championship Quote
Jim R Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Jon Abbey over at JC just brought up that the Mavs could have beaten the Warriors in their last regular season game and gotten the Clippers instead. D'oh! Uh... does he realize that the game was in Oakland? Does he realize that the Warriors were already on a roll at that point? Does he realize the the Warriors had beaten the Mavs something like 80% (or more?) of the time in the last couple of years? I said it in the previous thread, and I'll say it again- I think Avery was giving that game to the Warriors because he wanted us to finish in the 7 spot, so the Mavs could play the Lakers in the first round. In other news, I saw Stephen A. Smith interviewed on Sportscenter this morning, and he said that Avery wasn't out-coached by Nellie; and as he was wrapping up his trashing of Dirk (I still say all of that is exaggerated and unfair to some degree), he stated that the Warriors had "limped into the playoffs". WTF??? I HOPE he was just having a brain cramp, and doesn't really believe that. Al my friend, I know why you're frustrated, and you have every right to be. But I agree with Noj. Total buzzsaw job. I've been watching this team closely ever since they got Baron, and this thing has just been building and building. A bomb waiting to go off. Everybody's shocked because everybody's in bed when the Warriors play, and the media is conservative when it comes to recognizing streaking teams who deserved little attention or respect until fairly recently. The fact that we had a natural matchup advantage with Dallas was only the icing on the cake (we've now beaten them something like 18 of the last 22 meetings). I mean, what team would have beaten us in that building last night? Dallas is still a great team, Dirk is still a great player. Quote
Noj Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 The Mavs sat Nowitzki and Howard in the game, Jim. Quote
Guy Berger Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Monta Ellis continued his stellar play from the bench. Monta Ellis was nonexistent after game 3. Guy Quote
Jim R Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 The Mavs sat Nowitzki and Howard in the game, Jim. Um, Noj, what did I say that would make you think I didn't know that? I'm saying that Avery sat those guys because he wanted us to win and advance all the way up to the #7 spot in the standings. It nearly happened. If Sacto had beaten the Lakers in that last game, Dallas would have played L.A. Avery didn't want to play the Warriors, for obvious reasons. Quote
Jim R Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 (edited) Jon Abbey over at JC just brought up that the Mavs could have beaten the Warriors in their last regular season game and gotten the Clippers instead. D'oh! Uh... does he realize that the game was in Oakland? Does he realize that the Warriors were already on a roll at that point? Does he realize the the Warriors had beaten the Mavs something like 80% (or more?) of the time in the last couple of years? In other words, does Jon Abbey realize that would NOT have been an easy task? Does Jon Abbey know anything about the Warriors? Another angle: a lot of people have said that besides resting those stars, Avery wanted to avoid the psychological damage that might have occurred if he went all out to win that game, lost it, and had to face the Warriors (ohbytheway THE ONLY TEAM DALLAS COULDN'T DEFEAT THIS YEAR IN THE REGULAR SEASON) in the first round. It all makes sense to me, but I like the theory that he wanted the Warriors to get all the wins they could and move up to the 7 spot. Edited May 4, 2007 by Jim R Quote
Big Al Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Al my friend, I know why you're frustrated, and you have every right to be. But I agree with Noj. Total buzzsaw job. I've been watching this team closely ever since they got Baron, and this thing has just been building and building. A bomb waiting to go off. Everybody's shocked because everybody's in bed when the Warriors play, and the media is conservative when it comes to recognizing streaking teams who deserved little attention or respect until fairly recently. The fact that we had a natural matchup advantage with Dallas was only the icing on the cake (we've now beaten them something like 18 of the last 22 meetings). I mean, what team would have beaten us in that building last night? Dallas is still a great team, Dirk is still a great player. By all means, all props to the W's; I hope that what I've said hasn't taken away from the fantastic job they did these past two weeks. Obviously, I haven't been watching the W's as closely as you have; I'll tell ya, even I still don't know what hit us. Here's what I do know, and again not to take anything away from the W's fantastic effort: if last night's game had been a close game, I might have taken some solace in that. It still would've hurt like hell, and it still would've been the biggest upset in NBA history; but at least I'll have known that the Mavs gave it their all. Simply put, they caved in the 3rd quarter. Their superstar never showed any killer instinct. Their deep bench came up short in every way possible. Some of it was due to the Warriors spectacular defense, but I think they just never had that gleam in their eye. I'll say it again: the W's wanted it far more than the Mavs did, and the Mavs thought this was gonna be a cakewalk (or at least, that's how they played). Again, major props to the W's. If they can keep up this intensity, who knows how far they could go? At this point, I'll be happy if the Suns (Nash) or the W's (Nellie) go all the way this year! Quote
Guy Berger Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Another angle: a lot of people have said that besides resting those stars, Avery wanted to avoid the psychological damage that might have occurred if he went all out to win that game, lost it, and had to face the Warriors (ohbytheway THE ONLY TEAM DALLAS COULDN'T DEFEAT THIS YEAR IN THE REGULAR SEASON) in the first round. I find this to be mildly plausible. It all makes sense to me, but I like the theory that he wanted the Warriors to get all the wins they could and move up to the 7 spot. I find this to be highly implausible. I'm surprised nobody has suggested the theory that Avery threw that game near the end of the season as a favor to Nellie. Guy Quote
Jim R Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 It all makes sense to me, but I like the theory that he wanted the Warriors to get all the wins they could and move up to the 7 spot. I find this to be highly implausible. Why? Like I said, it almost played out that way. Wasn't that Kings/Lakers game in Sacramento? (yes) Weren't the Lakers slumping? (yes) Wouldn't Avery have preferred to play L.A.? (yes). I think he knew how hot the Warriors were (we had just won 7 of our last 8, including wins against Phoenix, Utah, and Houston at Houston), and believed we'd take care of Portland. The Lakers winning at Sacto was the only thing that screwed it up. Quote
Jim R Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Al my friend, I know why you're frustrated, and you have every right to be. But I agree with Noj. Total buzzsaw job. I've been watching this team closely ever since they got Baron, and this thing has just been building and building. A bomb waiting to go off. Everybody's shocked because everybody's in bed when the Warriors play, and the media is conservative when it comes to recognizing streaking teams who deserved little attention or respect until fairly recently. The fact that we had a natural matchup advantage with Dallas was only the icing on the cake (we've now beaten them something like 18 of the last 22 meetings). I mean, what team would have beaten us in that building last night? Dallas is still a great team, Dirk is still a great player. By all means, all props to the W's; I hope that what I've said hasn't taken away from the fantastic job they did these past two weeks. Obviously, I haven't been watching the W's as closely as you have; I'll tell ya, even I still don't know what hit us. Here's what I do know, and again not to take anything away from the W's fantastic effort: if last night's game had been a close game, I might have taken some solace in that. It still would've hurt like hell, and it still would've been the biggest upset in NBA history; but at least I'll have known that the Mavs gave it their all. Simply put, they caved in the 3rd quarter. Their superstar never showed any killer instinct. Their deep bench came up short in every way possible. Some of it was due to the Warriors spectacular defense, but I think they just never had that gleam in their eye. I'll say it again: the W's wanted it far more than the Mavs did, and the Mavs thought this was gonna be a cakewalk (or at least, that's how they played). I think your reasoning is much more on target here. It's not ALL about Dirk. Quote
Guy Berger Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 It all makes sense to me, but I like the theory that he wanted the Warriors to get all the wins they could and move up to the 7 spot. I find this to be highly implausible. Why? Like I said, it almost played out that way. Wasn't that Kings/Lakers game in Sacramento? (yes) Weren't the Lakers slumping? (yes) Wouldn't Avery have preferred to play L.A.? (yes). I think he knew how hot the Warriors were (we had just won 7 of our last 8, including wins against Phoenix, Utah, and Houston at Houston), and believed we'd take care of Portland. The Lakers winning at Sacto was the only thing that screwed it up. But the Clippers were also on the mix for that 8th spot, and I'm sure the Mavs would've played great against them. I think the odds of the Clips capturing the 8th spot given a Mavs victory against the Ws were better than the odds of the Ws capturing the 7th spot given a Mavs loss. Guy Quote
Jim R Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Hey Guy, all this speculating is fun. I'll just disagree based on the notion that with the Warriors being at home, and hot as a firecracker, it would have been really tough for Dallas to have beaten them (for the first time this year) in that game. I think the results of the playoff series kind of supports that. Quote
Guy Berger Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Hey Guy, all this speculating is fun. I'll just disagree based on the notion that with the Warriors being at home, and hot as a firecracker, it would have been really tough for Dallas to have beaten them (for the first time this year) in that game. I think the results of the playoff series kind of supports that. Won't disagree with you there. Anyway, let's savor this moment. Guy Quote
Guy Berger Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 David Stern must be terrified about playoff TV ratings -- Wade, Shaq, Kobe, Dirk are all out already. The only thing that scares him more than a Spurs-Pistons finals is a Spurs-Bulls finals. Guy Quote
Guy Berger Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 BTW, Stephen Jackson's trial starts May 10. Guy Quote
JSngry Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Oh, I blame Dallas plenty. Not for getting beat, but for getting beat like the pussies that some of us hoped they weren't but kinda had a sneaking suspicion they were. A lot of people had forgotten about the choke in last year's finals, or were at least convinced that the regular season proved that a Corner Of Character had been turned. But some of us (and I'm not the only one) wanted to see if the Good Boys of the regular season would become the Real Men of the playoffs. We had our doubts, and they were confirmed. Fullest props to the Warriors, though. The better, not just the "hottest", team won, no doubt, and I'd not be truthful if I didn't say that against any other team, watching that bunch play like that would be a gas-and-three-quarters. Right now, I might even be pulling for them to go all the way, although much residual love for Nash The Circus Boy resides in this heart. Dirk is a good player. Hell, he's a great player doing what it is that he does. But what he is not is a leader. Never has been. I don't think he really wants to be, and I don't think he has what it takes mentally or physically to ever be one. Ok, every championship team needs a Scottie Pippen. We've got ours in Dirk. So where's our Jordan? Quote
Big Al Posted May 4, 2007 Report Posted May 4, 2007 Dirk is a good player. Hell, he's a great player doing what it is that he does. But what he is not is a leader. Never has been. I don't think he really wants to be, and I don't think he has what it takes mentally or physically to ever be one. Ok, every championship team needs a Scottie Pippen. We've got ours in Dirk. So where's our Jordan? A-frickin-men!!! Quote
Guy Berger Posted May 5, 2007 Report Posted May 5, 2007 (edited) JRich sticks a fork in Dallas Something strange about Marv Albert saying 'facial' Edited May 5, 2007 by Guy Quote
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