While our chemistry is good, we are not that much better than Dallas and while I believe we can win a series against them, we shouldn't be too confident and not act like our team is all that.
Dallas is obviously our best hope, but if they get hot and Rondo hits FTs for a series they can beat us.
Any team can beat any team if they get hot and all the stuff that typically didn't work in the regular season starts to work. What team can't we beat if Ariza and Beverly start making 3's?
Can they afford to keep Rondo in the playoffs in crunch time? Rajon Rondo is shooting essentially the same percentage from three (31.6%) as he is from the free throw line (31.7%). That's insane
You can say a lot of things about Cuban, but he is not a crappy owner. He made Dallas relevant again and if nothing else is an excellent "heel" (like in wrestling) that you love to hate. Very few owners in the league are out there routing for their teams nearly every night. This isn't just an investment to him - he wants to win. You can argue, he has made some questionable moves playing the role of GM, but honestly I wish more owners in the league were as invested as he is in the day to day success of his team.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Mavs' Amar'e Stoudemire has been fined $15k for verbally abusing an official & failing to leave the court in a timely manner upon ejection.</p>— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo/status/579410814580338688">March 21, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
No mavs fan but that is bs I hate the refs can do that crap... It's totally ruined the entire sport for me.
Carlisle rips the team for not playing hard. http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story...le-rips-dallas-mavericks-not-playing-hard-all
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Last five games: Monta Ellis is shooting 38.8 percent from the field, 15.4 percent from 3-point range.</p>— Bryan Gutierrez (@BallinWithBryan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallinWithBryan/status/579850411085078528">March 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Dallas is shooting a less than stellar 68.1 percent from the free throw line over their last 7 games (128-of-188).</p>— Bryan Gutierrez (@BallinWithBryan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallinWithBryan/status/579852487563321344">March 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Rick Carlisle on if it’s hard to keep going back to Monta Ellis since he’s been struggling for a while: <a href="http://t.co/X7iRHzUROQ">pic.twitter.com/X7iRHzUROQ</a></p>— Bryan Gutierrez (@BallinWithBryan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallinWithBryan/status/579855347067813889">March 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Rick Carlisle on why he thinks it has been an issue in regards to the team playing hard on a consistent basis: <a href="http://t.co/rfSeOh2yVu">pic.twitter.com/rfSeOh2yVu</a></p>— Bryan Gutierrez (@BallinWithBryan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallinWithBryan/status/579855781044056065">March 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Its disgusiting really..when are the refs going to be held accountable? I hate Dallas and all but geesh
Too Much Monta? By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com PHOENIX -- The Dallas Mavericks have a major problem with Monta Ellis. Actually, the Mavs have multiple Monta problems, both short term and long term. To put it bluntly, he’s a pain in the butt who isn’t producing. The Mavs have no hope of making it out of the first round, regardless of their draw in the deep Western Conference, if Ellis doesn’t heat up. Then, assuming that Ellis opts out of the final year of his contract as expected, the Dallas front office has to figure out how much they’re willing to pay to keep an undersized shooting guard who will be 30 next season and has a history of rubbing his teammates the wrong way. [+] EnlargeEllis Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Let’s start with the immediate issue. Ellis is awful right now, hitting rock bottom in Sunday’s 92-86 loss to the Phoenix Suns, when he finished with 11 points on 4-of-22 shooting. Talk about too much Monta. Yet coach Rick Carlisle called play after play for him during crunch time. Ellis responded by missing all eight of his shots from the floor in the fourth quarter. He had seven bricks and a turnover in the final 5:04, as the Mavs blew a six-point lead. Regardless of whether anyone will admit it on the record, Ellis is a big part of that problem. Folks in the Mavs organization have been fretting for weeks about the impact Ellis’ moodiness has on the team’s soul. That, of course, isn’t a first for Ellis. He had trouble getting along with teammates during his tenure with the Golden State Warriors, who never won anything of note with Ellis as the go-to guy and made an addition-by-subtraction deal by shipping him off. The same was true with the Milwaukee Bucks. (Quick aside: Too bad the Mavs don’t have a Stephen Curry type ready to take over as the go-to guy or a Klay Thompson clone to plug in Ellis’ spot in the lineup. That’s another issue: If the Mavs let Ellis go, they have to find another go-to guy.) Those issues, along with Ellis’ offensive inefficiency, partially explain why he didn’t find much of a market for his services in the summer of 2013, when he opted out of the final year of his contract with the Bucks and turned down an offer to stay in Milwaukee. Remember, the Mavs weren’t willing to offer Ellis much more than the midlevel exception until the team got desperate, tearing up the contract they agreed on with Devin Harris after discovering he needed complicated toe surgery. If Harris was healthy, the Mavs wouldn’t have had the cap space to give Ellis the three-year, $25 million deal that was still far below his asking price. That contract was a bargain for the Mavs for Ellis’ first season and a half in Dallas. As recently as the All-Star break, it’d have been an easy decision for Dallas to re-sign Ellis with a handsome raise. Owner Mark Cuban would have gladly coughed up as much as the Mavs are allowed to give Ellis while owning only his early Bird rights. That would mean Ellis would be paid $47 million over the first three years of his new deal -- which, of course, is $1 million more than what Chandler Parsons is making. And you better believe that matters to Ellis. But Ellis’ value is dipping by the day. If you’re going to be high maintenance like Ellis is, you’d better be worth the headaches. Ellis sure as heck hasn’t been for the last couple of months. http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4704919/too-much-monta-mavs-might-have-to-move-on
McMahon: Monta's act isn't playing well with teammates. The issues with Monta, blowing off the media ranks way down the list. Major Monta problems. Short term: Going nowhere unless he heats up. Long term: What are you paying to keep this guy? An undersized SG based on athleticism turning 30 in October and is a pain in the butt to deal with. Monta is not worth the headaches right now. Bidding for Monta, you cannot go less than 46 over 3 years. He is jealous of Chandler's contract. You can't pay him less than Chandler. Chemistry would only get worse. Ellis and Parsons? Rondo and Ellis are friends but bad fit on the court. Parsons and Ellis, it won't work. Not about fit, it's personality. Monta, the second he saw the contract, didn't like it one bit. All-star break, easy decision for Mark. He's our go to guy, we got to re-up him. You can be a pain in the butt if you produce. At this point, difficult decision for the Mavs. If not Monta, then who? You're looking at going in a different position at PG. Lakers will throw money at Rondo that the Mavs won't match. They do not believe Parsons is a primary initiator on offense. Monta was ice cold last night, why keep calling his number? "We gotta get shots, he can create clean shots." Not a great vote of confidence in Parsons play making. 11 games to go. This team right now is falling apart at the seams. They had a nice 3 game win streak but look at the big picture, they're a .500 team the last two months & since the all-star break. Never ever count out a Rick Carlisle coached team in the playoffs but boy, I have a hard time seeing this team getting past the first round.
