Round 1: Dallas Mavericks vs Golden State Warriors

also the stars in the nhl playoffs. coming back from a big deficit only to completely fizzle out in the 3rd period of game 7.

 

bandwagon hopper. two years ago you were rooting FOR the Rockets vs. the Mavs. you jumped ship. you'll jump ship again when the mavs being to bore you.

 

That was among the most gutless performances I've ever seen in any sport, on any level. Dirk was beyond absent. Oh, they're harassing you, Dirk?? Yeah..that's what they do to guys who call themselves superstars. The greats ones rise above it. You sunk so so far below it, it's silly.

And Cuban on the sidelines was priceless.

Thank you, Golden State. You are a franchise I didn't give two craps about before this series. But thanks for that moment delivered. Thanks for a thorough ass-whipping of Dallas. Now stop shooting out of your minds.

 

I'm streaming Dallas sports talk right now.

http://www.theticket.com/listen.htm

 

Yall have to listen to this.

 

Great job Warriors now the Rox gotta take care of business..

Whose going to be the Stephen Jackson of the Rox?

 

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I don't think the Rockets would struggle as much against the Warriors as the Mavs have. Not saying I know who will win or lose, but every game the Rockets have played against the Warriors this year has been competitive. Yao has either dominated, or been tripple teamed (cause T-Mac was injured twice I think) and the shooters couldn't come through when wide open.

But this is jumping the gun. Rockets offense has sucked mightily vs Utah, and Saturday's game is far from a sure win. I'm torn in my feelings. I want a championship for sure, but I fear the best the Rockets can do is the Western Conference Finals, and that's only if the stars align. And if the Rockets lose to Utah, at least I can take solice in JVG being let go. He's a defensive genius, but overrated, and offensively challenged...underrated, but definitely stubborn and totally uncreative on the offensive side. And it's not all JVG's fault either...Dawson and the front office lucked into a #1 pick in Yao (instead of #5), and lucked into the T-Mac trade b/c of Yao. Constantly failing to turn the MLE into anything productive is a massive failure (Stromile, VSpan, Bonzi, JL3).

 

This guy is funny.

 

LOL!!

I watched this game in its entirety last night and all I have to say is that the Warriors sure are a fun team to watch! I have serious doubts that we will even be able to face them, but if we do, I don't know how we are going to be able to beat them. They are so much like Phoenix, it's scary and the Suns have owned us over the years. Personally, if we can't make it to the WC Finals, I would love to see a Suns and Warriors WC Finals. That would be one helluva series. And Dirk showed us what we already knew - he is a choker, and incredibly soft. For him to get the MVP is a colossal joke.

 

Pretty funny, thanks for the link.

 

can we say that avery as a coach has been extremely overrated?

 

does this mean redefined is a bonafide Warriors fan now?

 

Wow, that guy just did a 360 with the topic, all of a sudden making fun of the Astro dome.

 

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Hey Dallas, I think the Warriors came out to play.

 

what where they saying?

 

Dirk won't take Mavs all the way
Make sure to read the very last paragraph...in bold.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...taylor/stories/050407dnspotaylor.3dda6d5.html
12:53 PM CDT on Friday, May 4, 2007

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Mavs will never win a championship as long as Dirk Nowitzki remains their best player.

He proved it Thursday night when Baron Davis, Golden State's one-legged star, turned in a performance for the ages, while Nowitzki did nothing as the Mavericks became the first No. 1 seed in NBA history to lose to a No. 8 seed in a best-of-7 series.

Can you say total embarrassment. Blame it on Nowitzki.

Avery Johnson and Mark Cuban disagree.

Too bad.

It's the truth. You know it is. Like spanking your kids, it hurts.

Sometimes, though, you need abject failure to spark change. The worst thing Johnson and Cuban can do is return the core of this team intact and believe its issues with mental toughness will fix themselves over a long, depressing summer.

They have two choices: continue to trust their meek superstar or do whatever it takes to get a tough-minded leader who's still at the top of his game in the locker room. And if they must trade Nowitzki, Josh Howard or Jason Terry to make it happen, then so be it.

This team, as it's currently constructed, doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to win a championship.

It starts with Nowitzki.

"No, not at all. Not even a little bit," said Cuban, when asked if he had any questions about Nowitzki's ability to lead the Mavericks.

"Anyone who suggests otherwise is a moron. You can print that."

Consider it done, but the question is legitimate.

With the Mavericks on the verge of elimination, Nowitzki needed to put the Mavericks on his back and carry them to victory. Instead, he had six points with 8:46 left in the game; the Mavericks trailed by 23.


LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN
Dirk Nowitzki couldn't lift the Mavericks out of the first round. Nowitzki missed his first nine shots and didn't score his first basket until the final minute of the first half when Stephen Jackson fell down, giving him a wide-open shot.

He finished the first half with four points – eight players scored more – and showed none of the aggression he displayed in the Mavericks' Game 5 victory when he continually attacked the basket.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform," Nowitzki said. "My expectations for myself are very high, and when I don't meet them, I'm going to be disappointed. I couldn't put my stamp on (this series) the way I wanted."

Meanwhile, Davis inspired his teammates after straining his right hamstring midway through the first quarter and heading to the locker room to get it treated. He returned in the second quarter with a noticeable limp that essentially stopped him from running or playing defense.

So what did Davis do? He scored 11 consecutive points during one stretch as the Warriors took a two-point halftime lead and finished with 20 points and six assists in 38 minutes.

Johnson praised Davis effusively. He talked about the way the point guard's toughness, confidence and desire impacted the Warriors. In this series, Davis was everything Johnson hoped Nowitzki would be, but wasn't.

Still, the Mavericks had an opportunity to regroup at halftime and get Nowitzki more involved. It never happened.

Nowitzki missed his only shot of the third quarter, and the Warriors started the half with a dominating burst that ended any hope of Dallas forcing a Game 7 and rallying from a 3-1 series deficit.

Let's be clear: This is one of the most embarrassing losses NBA history. See, it's one thing to lose, but it's quite another when a club that wins 67 games – tied for sixth most in league history - fails to compete in an elimination game.

Perhaps, we should not have been surprised.

The Mavericks talk about handling adversity and displaying mental toughness, but they lost four consecutive games in the NBA Finals last year after blowing a 13-point fourth quarter lead to Miami in Game 3.

And they never really recovered after losing Game 1 to Golden State. The Mavericks never seized control of the series.

You can talk about their Game 5 win, but the reality is they blew a 21-point first-half lead and needed a miracle finish to keep the Warriors from celebrating at American Airlines Center.

Again, it starts with Nowitzki.

The nine-year veteran, who averaged 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists in the regular season, is expected to win the league's MVP.

It will be a complete embarrassment.

No, it doesn't matter that the MVP is based on his superlative regular-season performance. The MVP is supposed to be a player who performs his best when the games matter most. True MVP's don't vanish with the season on the line.

Nowitzki will never live this down.

In six games against Golden State, Nowitzki imposed his will on the series once – a three-minute burst at the end of Game 5.

Now, he must live with this monumental failure. Trust me, the shame will never dissipate unless the Mavs win a championship.

Maybe.

Until the end of time, the 2007 Mavericks will be known as one of the softest teams in professional sports. A team devoid of character and heart, when it mattered most. It's a fitting moniker that starts with their best player.

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon.../dmoore/stories/050407dnspomoore.3dd651a.html

Mavericks exposed as pretenders

Dallas lacks mental toughness to be considered elite team


01:16 AM CDT on Friday, May 4, 2007

OAKLAND, Calif. – Never have I been this wrong.

Sure, there was the vote for John Anderson in my first presidential election. And who in the world thought putting water in a bottle and selling it for a premium price would ever work?

But have I ever been this wrong about a sports team?

Never. Not even close.

I thought the Mavericks were special.

It turns out they were tragically flawed.

I thought this team had what it took to win the title.

It turns out they couldn't even hang with a No. 8 seed when its best player was hopping around on one leg.

The Mavericks have been exposed as pretenders. The ramifications of this will stretch into what should be an active off-season.

This is not a knee-jerk reaction. Go back to the NBA Finals, when the Mavericks held a 13-point fourth quarter lead and were minutes away from a 3-0 lead Miami would not have been able to overcome.

The Mavericks have lost eight of 10 playoff games since that moment. They weren't competitive in three of them.

How do you keep that nucleus together going forward? How do you sell yourself – and your fans – that next season will be different?

You can't. That's why owner Mark Cuban and coach Avery Johnson have some difficult decisions ahead.

This is not an elite team. Elite teams aren't humiliated in the first round. A team that has touted its mental toughness all season doesn't crack at the first sign of adversity.

The Mavericks entered these playoffs as if a return to the Finals was their inalienable right. Sure, they worked hard. But there is more to winning a title than hard work.

Golden State did the Mavericks a favor. Say this team had advanced to the Western Conference finals as everyone expected it to do. If the Mavericks had lost in the conference finals, Cuban and Johnson could have rationalized the defeat. Losing to San Antonio or Phoenix is no disgrace.

But no one can rationalize a loss to the Warriors in the first round. No one can say all this team needs is a little more time together.

This team has had time together. We've seen what it can do. It's not enough for a championship.

In the hours leading up to Thursday's colossal flop, Johnson used the word weird to describe his team.

Weird is not the word that leaps to mind in the wake of this 25-point loss.

Dismal. That's one word. Dreadful is another.

You can go down the alphabet from there.

The loss isn't a mortal blow to Dirk Nowitzki's stature in this league but it's close. He deserves the blame and criticism that will be hurled his way. But he wasn't alone in this epic meltdown.

Jason Terry didn't distinguish himself. Josh Howard played well in the first five games but not in Game 6.

The Mavericks three best players combined to shoot 34.7 percent from the field and turned the ball over 10 times in the most important game of the season.

Nowitzki had one good game in the series. Terry had one good game. Otherwise, the two players the Mavericks rely on to step up night in and night out didn't.

Is it a case or bad timing, or a case of the team's top players not having the temperament or mentality to handle the pressure that goes with being No. 1?

Remember how much excitement and good will the Mavericks generated with their playoff run last season? That makes what they did this season all the more crushing. A city gave its trust, its hopes to the Mavericks and this is how they repaid them.

Fans don't get over that sort of abuse quickly.

I'm not wrong about that.

 

Beautiful.

 

well said Dirk!