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Damn, imagine if the first round was a best of 5 like it used to be?
score? por favor
Damn, imagine if the first round was a best of 5 like it used to be?
GS needs to close the half with a run and try to get the lead down to single digits or they can call it a night.
This game is like a Golden State blooper reel.
Mavs by 18
this game is really painful to watch, I guess the Warriors really wanted to win their first playoffs series in front of their fans!!
Yep.
The Official Dallas Mavericks Recipe for Shutting Down GS:
1. Hit 10 of your first 12 shots.
2. Get a huge amount of favorable calls.
3. Have Golden State miss 10+ layups in the first quarter and a half.
4. DIRK. FALL. DOWN. RAAAAR.
5. Profit.
We're headed for the most awkward moment in NBA history within the next 10 days. Here's how it will play out:
(We see Jim Gray, David Stern and Dirk Nowitzki standing awkwardly in front of a single camera at halftime of a Round 2 playoff game.)
--Gray: "I'm here with NBA commissioner David Stern. David--"
--Stern: "Don't talk to me. Seriously. You're lucky I haven't had you killed yet."
--Gray: "Gotcha. Um ... and now to present the 2006-07 Most Valuable Player Award, NBA commissioner David Stern."
--Stern: "Leave."
--Gray: "What?"
--Stern: "Leave. Now."
(Gray slinks off.)
--Stern: "Well, Dirk, maybe the playoffs didn't turn out the way you planned, but for 82 meaningless games during one of the worst seasons of my 23-year tenure, you were the best player in a terrible league. Unfortunately, voting for the award happens right after the regular season, so voters weren't able to factor in your complete meltdown in Round 1 against Golden State. You didn't just fail to step up like an MVP should, you whined and complained the entire series, disgraced your teammates and embarrassed your fans. Not since David Hasselhoff has America been so embarrassed by a German. I don't know whether to hand you this trophy or smash it over your head. Lucky for you, this is being televised, so I can only hand you the trophy and congratulate you on the 2006-07 Most Valuable Player Award. I'm going to leave now so I can throw up."
--Dirk Nowitzki (taking the trophy): "Thank you, Mr. Commissioner."
(Stern waves disgustedly at him and walks away.)
And ... scene!
Has Nowitzki been that bad in the first four games against Golden State? Actually, yeah. You can't kill him for struggling in a playoff series because, admittedly, it happens to the best from time to time. For instance, the Basketball Jesus stunk out the joint against the '85 Lakers and '88 Pistons. MJ submitted a stinkbomb against the '95 Magic. Magic choked in three different losses to the '84 Celtics. Bring up an NBA legend and I could point you to a crummy playoff performance within three seconds.
The difference between Dirk and the others: He's having a complete breakdown as a basketball player. Mentally, he's a mess. You can see it on his face. From a leadership standpoint, he's shown nothing other than a couple of front-running fist pumps and a few "Die Hard" sneers. Every time Dallas needed him to come through in Games 1, 3 and 4, he disappeared. And he made crucial mental mistakes after Game 3 (saying the series hinged on Game 4 for Dallas, which was just dumb) and Game 4 (doing the whole "woe is me, I can't get it going, I'll just have to help us in other ways" routine). For historical purposes, he's edging dangerously close to Karl Malone territory here.
As you know, I didn't have an MVP vote this season because it makes too much sense for the league to give votes to younger writers who obsessively follow the NBA over older writers who secretly despise the league, can't identify with it and would never dream of spending their own money on NBA League Pass. This is how we end up with a system in which Isiah Thomas gets a "Coach of the Year" vote. (By the way, that's a whole other column.) But here's how I explained my decision not to give Dirk the MVP vote that I didn't actually have:
"He can't affect games unless he's scoring, doesn't make his teammates better and plays decent defense at best. If you're giving the MVP to someone because of his offense, he'd better be a killer offensive player. You can't say that about the 2007 Dirk Nowitzki."
One week later, the Golden State series starts. Dirk can't get it going because the Warriors smartly throw Stephen Jackson (a legitimate pit bull) on him -- a smaller player who gets right in his face and keeps trying to poke the ball every time Dirk puts it on the ground. Now, everyone thought Dirk solved the whole "smaller/quicker guys can shut me down" thing against San Antonio and Phoenix last season, but that wasn't necessarily true -- he could shoot over Bruce Bowen and Raja Bell and put the ball on the floor against Shawn Marion. He can't do either of these things against Jackson (or Jason Richardson, for that matter). And if that's not enough, Nellie keeps throwing second guys at him from odd angles, so he never knows when the double team is coming. Believe me, there are legitimate reasons why Nowitzki is struggling against the Warriors. It's not just a shooting slump.
But that's why Dirk shouldn't be the MVP: Take away his scoring and there's not a lot left. Yeah, he'll grab some rebounds and create a couple of easy shots for teammates, but he's not putting his imprint on the game, right? I can see someone winning an MVP award with those limitations, but again, you better be a KILLER offensive player. And he wasn't. As I described his credentials in that MVP column, "(He had a) well-done and thoroughly efficient season. I enjoyed it. He took the Fist Pump/Sneer to new heights. I just don't think he was the MVP."
For example, if you watched T-Mac in Monday night's hard-fought win over the Jazz (16 assists!), that was the quintessential example of a great player beating a good team on a night when his shot wasn't falling. Tim Duncan has those games all the time; he doesn't need to score 25 points to control a game. Same for Jason Kidd. Same for Steve Nash. On the flip side, Kobe needs to score to control games and manages to do it on an astonishingly consistent basis. He's a dominant offensive player, whereas Nowitzki is an efficient offensive player. Big difference. Teams can turn Dirk into a complementary player if they try hard enough. Does that sound like an MVP? Didn't think so. When Kobe's team loses a playoff game, you still know he's there. Same for Nash. Same for Wade. Same for Duncan. Same for LeBron. I thought Nowitzki had reached that point last season -- remember this column?http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/060602 -- but now he's taken an enormous step backward and if the Mavs gets knocked out this week (which I think they will) he becomes the worst MVP choice since Karl Malone in 1997.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...x?name=simmons
freaking goaltending!
Josh Howard with the offensive goal tend, not called
Harrington for three??? Wow, he really pulled that out of his ass.
That was bull by Howard... his hand came up underneath.
didnt expect that to happen...thanks
Even Croshere getting the bailouts by the refs tonight.
refs decided this game beforehand
Whoooooooooooo Lets Go Mavs. Show Those ing Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!
How the can you miss a call like that?? NBA refs are ing horrible.
We can't have Croshere making those shots. I saw a goal tend there.
Come on Warriors, get it under 10 at half.
no weakside help defense
Dallas is playing with fire by going with this tempo.
Buckets!
GS is on fire...
WOW! 14 points!
At this point, the Warriors have to feel like they're as responsible for the Mavs success as the Mavs are. If they get this thing around 10 before the half, they're actually in decent shape.
3 on Dirk.
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