I have to admit to liking Dirk after last year's finals. So, it makes it harder for me to bask in the glow of the Mavericks getting swept in the first round. Bummer.
OKC showed a lot with this sweep. They're going to destroy the Lakers in the next round. Everyone knows Mavs are a fluke. No way they would repeat the ridiculous hot shooting last year that bailed them out many games in the playoffs.
Lakers are going to give them a much harder time in round 2. Artest is gonna cause some more trouble, and Bynum is gonna be hard to stop. Kobe's going to go off like usual. I think the Lakers are gonna take OKC down most likely.
the mavs championship was all luck. they faced the heat during their first season together, met the worst coach in the finals, received what was probably the most one sided officiating i've ever seen throughout the playoffs, and for some reason they were able to get away with playing playoff defense against lebron and wade. all of their players peaked at just the right time and the caron butler injury probably helped more than it hurt them. you have marion on the floor instead and he doesnt take away shots from dirk. kobe was injured, okc was inexperienced, and the spurs were taking a year off..
Kobe has had some horrendous shooting v. OKC. Don't let that 2nd half in the last game fool you. And Bynum doesn't shoot enough to kill the Thunder. Look for the Thunder to beat them in 5. It was one of those rare runs. There's a reason nobody is scared of the Mavs coming into this season, or even bother talking about them. A rational fan would understand that was simply a team that hit a hot streak shooting the ball, and it carried over for a little over a month. I mean, a TEAM shot 40% from 3 as a whole in the playoffs. That's simply just unheard of. But another reason why Dallas went down is Dirk's decline. He may still score, but he's as one-dimensional as any star right now. As their PF, he doesn't rebound for jack.
Theres no such thing as a fluke championship. If you win the championship your the best team. So what if Kobe was injured? Because Rose is injured does that mean if the Heat win the championship is a fluke? I hate the Mavs as much as anyone, but give me a break... A championship is a championship and if you win it your the best team.
so much had to go right in order for them to get one. people put an asterick next to the rockets championships when many legends were still in the league including jordan, so they get one for what i said above.
I hear Barkley continue to say that Dallas missed Tyson Chandler and Deshawn Stevenson. To me it's more like they missed Tyson Chandler and JJ Barea. Barea is the one that gave them a huge boost last year.
The only thing that went right for the Mavs last year was that they didn't buy into Miami and their "Super Friends" hype and they came to play real basketball in the Finals while Miami thought their coronation as NBA champs was a mere formality. They took it to the Heat and they won that title. That's the same thing the Rockets did when they were the 6th seed 94-95 when nearly everyone wrote them off except Rudy T who showed the world the heart of a champion. And another thing: if you are soooo damned sensitive to what all those other a**holes have to say about the Rockets' two championships, you need to go to Toyota Center and take a long hard look at those two Larry O'Brien trophies and see if there are any astericks on them because the last time I looked there were NONE on the trophies or the championship rings so why should you give a damn what some Jordan a** kisser has to say?
Barea's +/- in the series last year: -2, -12, 0, -7, -8 But, he was another player that could make his own shot, so who knows how bad the +/- for their 2nd squad if he wasn't playing.
