We did enough tonite to convince me that we COULD'VE beaten them in a series. I honestly believe that because of how well we played in stretches tonite, like we finally seemed to be getting them and how to attack them. As it is, three games in a row to win is a tough hole to climb. Not out of the realm of possibility, but not likely.
It seems like we finally had adjusted to the speed and the athleticism of the Warriors whereas we were sluggish in the first three games. We did a lot of things right tonite that we hadn't done in the first three. If we could've pulled this out, we would've been in a pretty good position to move on with HCA restored. I honestly believe that if we could start this series over tomorrow, we wouldn't be in this situtation. Too little, too late.
You can talk about defensive schemes and strategy all you want, and how the Warriors employed tactics to force Dirk to pass and be more of a facilitator, but instead of planting himself on the low blocks and demanding an entry pass, posting guys up, there was too much standing around on the wings and not bothering to call for the ball. What I loved about Dirk's breakthrough last year was his willingness to attack the basket whenever he didn't get the spots and looks he wanted when forced to shoot from the perimeter. The versatility in his game was great to see. When he can't or won't go inside, he's just a slightly taller Peja Stojakovic.
There's been too much of receiving the pass out on the wing and then quickly passing back out without attacking. Even when he did get a favorable matchup in terms of a smaller guy taking him one on one, he failed to always exploit it quickly, either backing him down and going to the rim or just simply shooting over him. He did some good things for his team in terms of rebounds and blocked shots, but he has basically been a role player in this series, and they need him to be Dirk. Only part of his problems and lack of production can be blamed on the way the Warriors are playing him. He's played this series with a puzzling lack of assertiveness. The Warriors had a plan to keep him from exploding, but he's come up small, given what he's still capable of, no matter how they have tried to guard him. This series is pretty much on Dirk. Terry is another guy who hasn't done much.
Our best chance of disrupting what the Warriors try to do is with Diop in the game, but he often gets into foul trouble and we can't get 40 minutes from him.
I think bottom line Dirk as a franchise stud peaked last year, and the chances of winning a le with him as your main guy are over. His ceiling is Malone, Barkley, Ewing territory. He can share alpha dog status, he can be an awesome #2 guy, but Dallas seriously needs some sort of consistent low post scoring threat in order to get back to the Finals...which is why Phoenix, San Antonio and Houston would have no problem with the Warriors. Going forward, they have a hard decision to make about whether or not they can retool around Dirk in a #2 role, if they need to seriously contemplate moving him, whether they want to bring back Stack given how much he brings to the team in mental toughness, and what kind of upside Diop has since he'll get a ridiculous offer from some big-man starved team.
It's going to be an interesting offseason. I guess the big picture is whether or not Cuban sells. Who knows what the next ownership group might bring, for good or bad. For all of Cuban's faults, his day to day passion sustained and resurrected this franchise, and he's shown a commitment to winning and contending. I think there will probably be a week-long bender, but he is too big of a fan to walk away from this, and I think he doesn't want to give his gleeful critics the satisfaction of seeing him walk away in a huff.
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