duncan228
05-11-2009, 02:42 PM
Impossible? Probably, but first thing for Mavericks is winning once (http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1171483&srvc=sports&position=recent)
By Gil LeBreton / McClatchy Newspapers
DALLAS — Now comes the math. The hard math, as in, "No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 0-3 playoff deficit."
That’s zero, as in none.
And at this point, can’t we all hear the immortal words of former NFL coach Jim Mora, saying incredulously, "Playoffs?! Playoffs?! We’re just trying to win a game!"
The Dallas Mavericks are just trying to win a game.
But let’s be Mora-listic here, they just blew their best chance. They played Saturday before a noisy, Nuggets-hating home crowd. The Denver Nuggets obliged by shooting 6-of-24 in the first quarter. The Nuggets were waist-deep in foul trouble. The Mavericks had a four-point lead with 30 seconds to play.
And they still couldn’t win Game 3.
As Dirk Nowitzki put it so succinctly, "That’s a game we’ve got to have."
His simple lament spoke volumes.
If you’re scoring along at home, the Nuggets have now beaten the Mavericks seven times this season without losing once.
Worse, the Mavericks seem no closer to figuring out how to thwart the size, speed and sheer athletic advantage that the Nuggets enjoy over them. How often can the Mavericks expect to shoot 49 free throws?
It sounds trite, but this is a bad matchup, as Denver would be for most NBA teams.
For the Mavericks, the Manu Ginobili-less San Antonio Spurs were almost the ideal first-round opponent. Even center Erick Dampier was a positive factor against the tired Spurs.
Against the Nuggets, Dampier’s contributions have been close to nil. In Game 3, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle tried Dampier, tried Gerald Green and eventually tried 7-footer Ryan Hollins, the would-be Nene-buster.
None of it made a difference Saturday, leaving the Mavericks staring back from the bottom of a seemingly impossible 0-3 hole.
Playoffs?! They’re just trying to win a game.
"At this point," Nowitzki said, "you just try to win the next one and then you go from there. That’s the only thing you can do."
Dirk used the phrase "gut it out" for Monday night’s Game 4.
But he sounded like an inmate waiting on a phone call from the governor.
Maybe the Mavericks will surprise us all. Maybe the Nuggets will show up bored and disinterested Monday night, with thoughts of wrapping up the best-of-seven series Wednesday at home.
Right. And maybe Green will turn into LeBron James on Monday night.
Revisit, if you will, the frantic moments at the end of Saturday’s Game 3. Knocked off-balance by the contact with Antoine Wright, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony recovered and calmly swished the game-winning 3-point basket.
The Mavericks responded like crash victims. Josh Howard began berating the game officials and then resisted attempts to restrain him. TV cameramen were, uh, urged to get out of the way.
The Mavericks lost their composure. They knew what Saturday’s stakes had been.
Under normal circumstances, after playoff games with normal finishes, Howard’s frenzied exit would have been met by an NBA suspension. Players have been suspended in the past for doing far less.
My guess is that Howard knew that. The game had been lost in stunning fashion, and Josh could do the math. If he got suspended, so what?
The ensuing NBA admission that Wright had, indeed, fouled Anthony in the dying seconds seems little, if any, consolation. Nowitzki himself questioned the wisdom Sunday of the league’s admitting that its officials had blown the call.
Whatever’s done is done. To me, the Mavericks were out of gas, physically and emotionally, when they walked bewilderingly off the court at the end Saturday night.
The opening minutes Monday night should tell us. At the first sign of adversity, the easy thing Monday night would be for the Mavericks to roll over and sigh, "What’s the use?"
Seven losses in a row this season to Denver, remember?
Howard with his injured ankles probably won’t be any healthier in Game 4. He played nearly 29 minutes Saturday, made only 5 of 15 field goal tries, but clearly wasn’t himself.
Monday night’s Game 4 can’t be any easier. Too much went too right for the Mavericks on Saturday, and with too few positive results, for them to be optimistic.
Do the math.
The Mavericks, the numbers say here, have already blown their best chance.
By Gil LeBreton / McClatchy Newspapers
DALLAS — Now comes the math. The hard math, as in, "No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 0-3 playoff deficit."
That’s zero, as in none.
And at this point, can’t we all hear the immortal words of former NFL coach Jim Mora, saying incredulously, "Playoffs?! Playoffs?! We’re just trying to win a game!"
The Dallas Mavericks are just trying to win a game.
But let’s be Mora-listic here, they just blew their best chance. They played Saturday before a noisy, Nuggets-hating home crowd. The Denver Nuggets obliged by shooting 6-of-24 in the first quarter. The Nuggets were waist-deep in foul trouble. The Mavericks had a four-point lead with 30 seconds to play.
And they still couldn’t win Game 3.
As Dirk Nowitzki put it so succinctly, "That’s a game we’ve got to have."
His simple lament spoke volumes.
If you’re scoring along at home, the Nuggets have now beaten the Mavericks seven times this season without losing once.
Worse, the Mavericks seem no closer to figuring out how to thwart the size, speed and sheer athletic advantage that the Nuggets enjoy over them. How often can the Mavericks expect to shoot 49 free throws?
It sounds trite, but this is a bad matchup, as Denver would be for most NBA teams.
For the Mavericks, the Manu Ginobili-less San Antonio Spurs were almost the ideal first-round opponent. Even center Erick Dampier was a positive factor against the tired Spurs.
Against the Nuggets, Dampier’s contributions have been close to nil. In Game 3, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle tried Dampier, tried Gerald Green and eventually tried 7-footer Ryan Hollins, the would-be Nene-buster.
None of it made a difference Saturday, leaving the Mavericks staring back from the bottom of a seemingly impossible 0-3 hole.
Playoffs?! They’re just trying to win a game.
"At this point," Nowitzki said, "you just try to win the next one and then you go from there. That’s the only thing you can do."
Dirk used the phrase "gut it out" for Monday night’s Game 4.
But he sounded like an inmate waiting on a phone call from the governor.
Maybe the Mavericks will surprise us all. Maybe the Nuggets will show up bored and disinterested Monday night, with thoughts of wrapping up the best-of-seven series Wednesday at home.
Right. And maybe Green will turn into LeBron James on Monday night.
Revisit, if you will, the frantic moments at the end of Saturday’s Game 3. Knocked off-balance by the contact with Antoine Wright, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony recovered and calmly swished the game-winning 3-point basket.
The Mavericks responded like crash victims. Josh Howard began berating the game officials and then resisted attempts to restrain him. TV cameramen were, uh, urged to get out of the way.
The Mavericks lost their composure. They knew what Saturday’s stakes had been.
Under normal circumstances, after playoff games with normal finishes, Howard’s frenzied exit would have been met by an NBA suspension. Players have been suspended in the past for doing far less.
My guess is that Howard knew that. The game had been lost in stunning fashion, and Josh could do the math. If he got suspended, so what?
The ensuing NBA admission that Wright had, indeed, fouled Anthony in the dying seconds seems little, if any, consolation. Nowitzki himself questioned the wisdom Sunday of the league’s admitting that its officials had blown the call.
Whatever’s done is done. To me, the Mavericks were out of gas, physically and emotionally, when they walked bewilderingly off the court at the end Saturday night.
The opening minutes Monday night should tell us. At the first sign of adversity, the easy thing Monday night would be for the Mavericks to roll over and sigh, "What’s the use?"
Seven losses in a row this season to Denver, remember?
Howard with his injured ankles probably won’t be any healthier in Game 4. He played nearly 29 minutes Saturday, made only 5 of 15 field goal tries, but clearly wasn’t himself.
Monday night’s Game 4 can’t be any easier. Too much went too right for the Mavericks on Saturday, and with too few positive results, for them to be optimistic.
Do the math.
The Mavericks, the numbers say here, have already blown their best chance.