mabber
04-11-2007, 09:16 AM
I'd say this is a fair assessment of the Mavs in regards to how their regular season stacks up (or doesn't stack up) to other great regular seasons and teams. I believe this is from a Los Angeles publication.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
NBA's best
KEVIN DING
Register columnist
NBA
[email protected] High-pitched, high-energy Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson would have made a brilliant trial lawyer. He is convincing in everything he says and does, and the Mavericks' case to be considered among the greatest regular-season teams in NBA history is a pretty strong one.
Too bad Johnson's team offered a flimsy closing argument in the form of two losses last week. That makes it easier to hand down this verdict: There's no way the Mavericks rank with the best ever.
This isn't about them falling shy of the magical 70-victory plateau. This is about real supremacy measured as much in intimidation and swagger as won-loss record. The regular season is and always will be just a warmup, but it's usually a telling one.
And the true test when you contemplate just how great the Mavericks are is this: Yeah, they should win the championship this year and probably will … but would you be really be shocked — like Sasha Vujacic is whenever he's called for a foul, truly floored like a flopping Raja Bell and thoroughly boggled to the point you'd become some Rasheed Wallace nutcase — if they didn't?
The Mavericks haven't been that convincing. They've been professional and versatile and awesome, but so were the Detroit Pistons last season when they were 37-5 and prompting Phil Jackson to field questions about whether a team running ahead of the 1995-96 Bulls' 72-10 pace might be worthy of history.
Here's what Jackson should've said: "Are you a Rasheed Wallace nutcase?! We had Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman at their greatest peaks and Michael Friggin' Jordan at his very best, totally motivated from falling short in his comeback the previous year and with his most perfect blend of athleticism and experience."
In the light of that comparison, how golden do Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry look?
The Pistons rested guys the last two games last season, or they would have finished with 66 victories and ranked among the top 10 teams in regular-season winning percentage. Whoopee. They never were a transcendent team, which was proved when they fell to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Here's what those Pistons were: a really skilled and cohesive team that was determined to rock the regular season after barely losing in the NBA Finals the previous season.
Sound like any Dallas Mavericks you know?
These Mavericks also bring to mind the 1999-2000 Lakers, who had somewhat historic success (67-15), but marched into the postseason without any certainty. Those Lakers wound up successful only after surviving do-or-die playoff games against Sacramento and Portland, with the latter requiring a fourth-quarter collapse by the Trail Blazers (lucky for the Lakers that down the stretch Portland leading scorer Rasheed Wallace played like a nutcase).
Being untitled and therefore unrelenting, the Mavericks have likewise torn up the regular season. Congrats. Here comes the hard part.
Round 1:The only way an upset happens is if there's a major Dallas injury. Howard has been fighting ankle problems all season, and Nowitzki did miss a game last week in Sacramento because of food poisoning (that wily Kings fan who got Kobe Bryant strikes again!). But Nowitzki doesn't get enough credit for being an ironman. He has never missed more than six games in his first eight NBA seasons and has missed just two this season.
Maybe it's the "manscaping" that Dirk does. He shaves his armpits. Seriously. Perhaps keeping everything clean does a body good?
Round 2: The Rockets will beat the inexperienced Jazz, leading to a Houston-Dallas series that will spotlight Dallas' tendency to settle for jumpers when Houston packs in that league-best defense.
Dallas beat Houston three times in January and February by using the Mavericks' Kobe Bryant Rules and sending two defenders at Tracy McGrady out on the perimeter — because Yao Ming was hurt for those games. In the other Dallas-Houston game, Dallas gave up 36 points to Yao and got Rocket-launched by 31. Hmm.
Round 3:Phoenix has beat Dallas in their past two meetings. Shawn Marion is the NBA's best defender on Nowitzki, who still has a lot to prove in the clutch department. And the Suns are considerably better this season with Amare Stoudemire's inside power, although he is so mistake-prone that one of these days he's going to hit his dunce cap on the rim.
Round 4:Miami hopes to capture Flash in a bottle again with a miraculous postseason from a one-armed Dwyane Wade. More likely, Detroit will win the East. And not only are the Pistons solid, who knows when that Rasheed Wallace nutcase is going to bank in another 60-foot buzzer-beater?
Speaking of head cases, what will be going on in Nowitzki's? Flashback to NBA Finals Game 3: killer missed foul shot. Game 4: 2 for 14 from the field. Game 5: fouling Wade with the game on the line. Game 6: The Heat celebrates on Dallas' home court.
This time, the Mavericks should be the ones celebrating. But will they be?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
NBA's best
KEVIN DING
Register columnist
NBA
[email protected] High-pitched, high-energy Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson would have made a brilliant trial lawyer. He is convincing in everything he says and does, and the Mavericks' case to be considered among the greatest regular-season teams in NBA history is a pretty strong one.
Too bad Johnson's team offered a flimsy closing argument in the form of two losses last week. That makes it easier to hand down this verdict: There's no way the Mavericks rank with the best ever.
This isn't about them falling shy of the magical 70-victory plateau. This is about real supremacy measured as much in intimidation and swagger as won-loss record. The regular season is and always will be just a warmup, but it's usually a telling one.
And the true test when you contemplate just how great the Mavericks are is this: Yeah, they should win the championship this year and probably will … but would you be really be shocked — like Sasha Vujacic is whenever he's called for a foul, truly floored like a flopping Raja Bell and thoroughly boggled to the point you'd become some Rasheed Wallace nutcase — if they didn't?
The Mavericks haven't been that convincing. They've been professional and versatile and awesome, but so were the Detroit Pistons last season when they were 37-5 and prompting Phil Jackson to field questions about whether a team running ahead of the 1995-96 Bulls' 72-10 pace might be worthy of history.
Here's what Jackson should've said: "Are you a Rasheed Wallace nutcase?! We had Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman at their greatest peaks and Michael Friggin' Jordan at his very best, totally motivated from falling short in his comeback the previous year and with his most perfect blend of athleticism and experience."
In the light of that comparison, how golden do Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry look?
The Pistons rested guys the last two games last season, or they would have finished with 66 victories and ranked among the top 10 teams in regular-season winning percentage. Whoopee. They never were a transcendent team, which was proved when they fell to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Here's what those Pistons were: a really skilled and cohesive team that was determined to rock the regular season after barely losing in the NBA Finals the previous season.
Sound like any Dallas Mavericks you know?
These Mavericks also bring to mind the 1999-2000 Lakers, who had somewhat historic success (67-15), but marched into the postseason without any certainty. Those Lakers wound up successful only after surviving do-or-die playoff games against Sacramento and Portland, with the latter requiring a fourth-quarter collapse by the Trail Blazers (lucky for the Lakers that down the stretch Portland leading scorer Rasheed Wallace played like a nutcase).
Being untitled and therefore unrelenting, the Mavericks have likewise torn up the regular season. Congrats. Here comes the hard part.
Round 1:The only way an upset happens is if there's a major Dallas injury. Howard has been fighting ankle problems all season, and Nowitzki did miss a game last week in Sacramento because of food poisoning (that wily Kings fan who got Kobe Bryant strikes again!). But Nowitzki doesn't get enough credit for being an ironman. He has never missed more than six games in his first eight NBA seasons and has missed just two this season.
Maybe it's the "manscaping" that Dirk does. He shaves his armpits. Seriously. Perhaps keeping everything clean does a body good?
Round 2: The Rockets will beat the inexperienced Jazz, leading to a Houston-Dallas series that will spotlight Dallas' tendency to settle for jumpers when Houston packs in that league-best defense.
Dallas beat Houston three times in January and February by using the Mavericks' Kobe Bryant Rules and sending two defenders at Tracy McGrady out on the perimeter — because Yao Ming was hurt for those games. In the other Dallas-Houston game, Dallas gave up 36 points to Yao and got Rocket-launched by 31. Hmm.
Round 3:Phoenix has beat Dallas in their past two meetings. Shawn Marion is the NBA's best defender on Nowitzki, who still has a lot to prove in the clutch department. And the Suns are considerably better this season with Amare Stoudemire's inside power, although he is so mistake-prone that one of these days he's going to hit his dunce cap on the rim.
Round 4:Miami hopes to capture Flash in a bottle again with a miraculous postseason from a one-armed Dwyane Wade. More likely, Detroit will win the East. And not only are the Pistons solid, who knows when that Rasheed Wallace nutcase is going to bank in another 60-foot buzzer-beater?
Speaking of head cases, what will be going on in Nowitzki's? Flashback to NBA Finals Game 3: killer missed foul shot. Game 4: 2 for 14 from the field. Game 5: fouling Wade with the game on the line. Game 6: The Heat celebrates on Dallas' home court.
This time, the Mavericks should be the ones celebrating. But will they be?