Bring on the Dubs!

[Findog]

From today's edition of Slam:

http://slamonline.com/online/2007/04...night-awesome/

I really want to commend Avery Johnson for this psychological ploy. You can tell that he has learned well from Gregg Popovich. Two seasons ago when the Suns and Spurs were the best in the West, they met up in a late regular season game. The Suns would have proven that they are on the Spurs level with a win. The Spurs would have proven hey we’re still the Spurs and we are invincible. But, if the Suns were to win that game, then it could have given them confidence and maybe planted a little doubt in the Spurs minds. So, Pop had Duncan and Ginobili sit out, and Amare scored 50 in a win that revealed nothing. In the playoffs that year, San Antonio won their Western Conference Finals showdown, in part due to their psychological edge.

Last night, by going with the B or C team, Avery prevented the Warriors from gaining what must already be a staggering amount of confidence against his team. If Dallas played Dirk, Howard, etc. and won, it would have been nice but the Warriors already know they can beat them. By holding out his two best players among others, Avery refused to let Golden State enjoy the feeling of “We OWN those guys.” Well played, Mr. Johnson. Also, by going hard to win the game, the Mavs would have been seen as panicking, feeling the need to knock a team out of the playoffs to control their own match-up. Which could be interpreted as fear. 66 win teams should fear having to play no one.

This is the best and most rational take I've heard so far. If you're a le team, you aren't going to be derailed by Golden State or anybody else. They're on a 15-5 tear to end the season, and there are some impressive wins in that stretch, beating us, Phoenix, the Pistons in Detroit, Utah, Washington twice, but they've also beaten a lot of crap teams tanking for Oden/Durant or playing out the string.

As for matchups, I think we're going to have our hands full trying to cover Davis, Richardson and Ellis since they're just as quick as our guards. But playoff basketball is different -- games are called tighter and there's a premium on who can get stops and execute better in the halfcourt. Nellie's smallball doesn't work against elite teams in the tournament. The Warriors can run and score but they can't guard an empty gym. Small ball is also hard to prepare for when you're on the 2nd night of a back to back and the Warriors coaches and players are up for you because you're the defending conference champs. Dallas lost the first game against Phoenix last year partly because they weren't quite ready for the Sun's speed in the open court and the transition D was horrible in the first game.

I'm calling it now, if we don't get one of the LA teams: Mavs in 6.

[monosylab1k]

it's just incredible that going into the playoffs, the big story is how "Golden State might upset Dallas!" and how Dallas needs a psychological edge....how about this for a psychological edge, Dallas is the 1 seed and the Warriors are barely scraping into the playoffs...

But no, the 8 seed that barely makes it into the playoffs is going to take the 1 seed to 7 games and "just might win it!" because "Don Nelson knows the Mavericks so well" and whatever other BS is getting thrown out there.

So now that they have become 1-seed underdogs to the 8-seed, are the Mavericks still the overrated team that gets way too much hype and respect from the media?

[phyzik]

Spurs have to deal with this crap pretty much every year, including this one with the "surging" nuggets... get used to it.

[monosylab1k]

Spurs have to deal with this crap pretty much every year, including this one with the "surging" nuggets... get used to it.

yeah that's true, last year there was alot of "surging kings" talk....even I got sucked into thinking "the kings just might beat the spurs"....ah well...

[spursfan09]

it's just incredible that going into the playoffs, the big story is how "Golden State might upset Dallas!" and how Dallas needs a psychological edge....how about this for a psychological edge, Dallas is the 1 seed and the Warriors are barely scraping into the playoffs...

But no, the 8 seed that barely makes it into the playoffs is going to take the 1 seed to 7 games and "just might win it!" because "Don Nelson knows the Mavericks so well" and whatever other BS is getting thrown out there.

So now that they have become 1-seed underdogs to the 8-seed, are the Mavericks still the overrated team that gets way too much hype and respect from the media?

This is like what the Spurs would go through when they were number 1. you know KG told everyone they were gonna shock the world, ron Artest was convinced they would beat us and win the championship last year... So don't worry about it, the media is always gonna talk about an upset, even though we all know it won't happen. Mavs wouldn't choke that bad. Hopefully they wait to choke until the conf. finals against us...

[Supergirl]

Hahahahahaha. I think it's hysterical that GS has Mavs fans scrambling to justify their team. But, they should. Because the reality is, GS won the series, and in 2 of those games, the Mavs brought their A game and all their players. They have no answer for the Warriors, who are able to match up well enough to find the Mavs weaknesses, better than any other team.

The only real ? is, can they win on the road. Because that's about poise and experience, not talent. Which is what the Mavs have, and GS lacks. But the excitement about being in the playoffs might give them that poise to at least upset the Mavs in round 1. Which would be very, very good for all 7 of the other teams.

[mavsfan1000]

Hahahahahaha. I think it's hysterical that GS has Mavs fans scrambling to justify their team. But, they should. Because the reality is, GS won the series, and in 2 of those games, the Mavs brought their A game and all their players. They have no answer for the Warriors, who are able to match up well enough to find the Mavs weaknesses, better than any other team.

The only real ? is, can they win on the road. Because that's about poise and experience, not talent. Which is what the Mavs have, and GS lacks. But the excitement about being in the playoffs might give them that poise to at least upset the Mavs in round 1. Which would be very, very good for all 7 of the other teams.

Oh yeah since the regular season always decides a playoff series.

[u2sarajevo]

I got a good strong giggle out of Avery's post game comments where he said something to the effect of:

"They have to be considered the favorites in that series (Mavs vs. GS), right?"

Avery isn't scared of the Warriors and neither should any of the fans.

[LB7]

Hahahahahaha. I think it's hysterical that GS has Mavs fans scrambling to justify their team. But, they should. Because the reality is, GS won the series, and in 2 of those games, the Mavs brought their A game and all their players. They have no answer for the Warriors, who are able to match up well enough to find the Mavs weaknesses, better than any other team.

The only real ? is, can they win on the road. Because that's about poise and experience, not talent. Which is what the Mavs have, and GS lacks. But the excitement about being in the playoffs might give them that poise to at least upset the Mavs in round 1. Which would be very, very good for all 7 of the other teams.

This is whats hilarious. The Mavs brought their A game and lost bigtime after a 17 game win streak?? You think that was the Mavs A game...now thats hysterical. And the win that came during the 0-4 start...the Mavs didn't bring their A game for a long time to start the season. Its amazing we even had a chance to win and the game was so close considering how awful we were playing. If the Mavs actually bring their A game during this series, they will win. They have more talent and more experience. No excuse to lose if you play the way you're supposed to. If you're telling me they will still lose after doing that, then you're out of your mind.

[Mr. Body]

I don't get why Mavs fans need to spend so much time about how this is a psychological win for their team. Why do they need a psychological edge over the #8 seed? They should just beat them outright.

[leemajors]

i think the way golden state has been playing lately they'd be a tough match for anyone. they may push the mavs a bit, but won't win the series.

[boutons_]

"golden state has been playing lately"

Typical for an 8th seed, Warriors are 11 - 29 on the road, fully 5L behind Lakers at 16 - 24. , even Orlando, EC 8th seed, is 15 - 26 on the road.

I expect Mavs to go 2-0, split in Oakland, finish 4-1, like the Spurs.

[leemajors]

"golden state has been playing lately"

Typical for an 8th seed, Warriors are 11 - 29 on the road, fully 5L behind Lakers at 16 - 24. , even Orlando, EC 8th seed, is 15 - 26 on the road.

I expect Mavs to go 2-0, split in Oakland, finish 4-1, like the Spurs.

they played much better in march and april than december and january

[Bruno]

All this psycholigical thing is highly overrated.

Dallas will and should win the serie against GS and it won't be because of a psychological factor but because they are a better BB team than GS. AFAIK BB isn't a mind game but a physical game where you need to have some skills. And nba players aren't 10 years old kid : they have played BB at a high level for years and won't be confused because they have been sweep in the regular season against a team.

Bottomline is that it will be harder for Mavs to beat Warriors than Clippers because Warriors are a more difficult matchup but Mavs are simply better than them and should win in 5 or 6 games. (6 is my bet)

[AFBlue]

The reason it's a storyline is because the Warriors had success against the Mavs and they do present some matchup problems.

I don't know if it will propel them to winning the series or even making it interesting, but when the Warriors are clicking they are a scary offensive team.

[Extra Stout]

Hahahahahaha. I think it's hysterical that PHX has Spurs fans scrambling to justify their team. But, they should. Because the reality is, PHX won the series, and in 2 of those games, the Spurs brought their A game and all their players. They have no answer for the Suns, who are able to match up well enough to find the Spurs' weaknesses, better than any other team.

The only real ? is, can they win on the road. Because that's about poise and experience, not talent. Which is what the Spurs have, and PHX lacks. But the excitement about being in the playoffs might give them that poise to at least upset the Spurs in round 1. Which would be very, very good for all 7 of the other teams.