Magic Johnson has AIDS!

[Findog]

Gotta beat the Seattle SloppySeconds on Saturday.

[Findog]

Eagerly awaiting the angry mono rant about how this gutless bunch of pussies doesn't have what it takes

[Findog]

Oh well

got bukkaked from 3-PT line

That's how Orlando wins games. They got too many easy looks from behind the arc.

[Fpoonsie]

Still think the scheduling was bull ...

[Findog]

Still think the scheduling was bull ...

I think that only partly explains it. The Mavs were too timid in shooting in the paint with Howard.

[Budkin]

CROFL KROFL Cubans.

[Fpoonsie]

I think that only partly explains it. The Mavs were too timid in shooting in the paint with Howard.

Strangely, with the lone exception being Bar(r)ea...

[Ghazi]

That's how Orlando wins games. They got too many easy looks from behind the arc.

true but 42-12


Mavs only had 7 assists tonight as well... i guess this is what happens when a slgihtly above average offensive team on a b2b plays the best defensive team in the NBA well rested.

[Findog]

Howard's low-post moves have improved, but you are not going to beat Orlando when the ratio of Dwight Howard field-goal attempts to Magic three-point field goal attempts is 11/24.

Pietrus shooting 6/6 is fluky, but the ing scouting report on Orlando is stay home on their shooters, don't help out on Howard too much and let him do his damage on single coverage. GODDAMNIT - tired legs are part of the story, but so is piss-poor strategy and execution. We can't afford to drop games if we want to avoid having to play Utah in the semis w/o HCA.

[Ghazi]

I see 2 losses in Utah's remaining schedule. @ LAL and @GS/NO/HOU (3 mediocre teams, but seems like theyd be "due" to drop one just like to Indiana last week)

This gives the Mavs cushion for 1 more loss in the final 6... I hope!

[Findog]

Well who knows what the situation is going to be the final game of the year, if teams are locked into a seed/first-round matchup. Useless to predict the game against the Spurs when neither team might not have anything to play for.

vs the SloppySeconds, vs Memphis, @ Portland, @ Sacto and @ the Clip Show. SloppySeconds and the Blazers will be the toughest of those, but I agree we only can afford one more loss. Just for confidence purposes, we really need that game against the Blazers, the confidence of knowing we can get a game in the Rose Garden if we need it.

[monosylab1k]

Eagerly awaiting the angry mono rant about how this gutless bunch of pussies doesn't have what it takes

I'm not saying anything for the rest of the season about it. I'll just wait to say "I told you so" when the time comes.

[Dr. Gonzo]

April Fools!

He bought the cure from the government after he killed Eazy-E.

Oh, and this is your Mavs-Magic gameday thread. Sorry, Fin.

Eazy E. Overrated bas deserved every AIDS cell he got.

[Findog]

I'm not saying anything for the rest of the season about it. I'll just wait to say "I told you so" when the time comes.

What are you going to tell me? That this team at worst goes out in the first round and at best wins a series? Maybe if God/Buddha/Allah smiles on us then they go as far as the conference finals? Is that what you're going to tell me?

[Findog]

God, Pietrus' 3 fingered salute thing is annoying.

He shot 6/6, he can do the shocker after he releases it when he's that in the zone.

[JoeTait75]

That's how Orlando wins games. They got too many easy looks from behind the arc.

It's difficult to keep them from getting those looks. It's very difficult. They're tall and they just swing that ing ball until SOMEONE is open. All you can do is single up on Dewey (if possible, and sometimes it isn't), stay home on their shooters as best you can, and pray that they miss.

Oh, BTW, they're also a great defensive team too. They're just a load, plain and simple.

[JoeTait75]

Well how come we made them look so bad? Last year and this year.

And of course here you are to pump the Lake Show's nads.

Just because you had a better team than them last year doesn't make them NOT good. They're plenty good.

[monosylab1k]

What are you going to tell me? That this team at worst goes out in the first round and at best wins a series? Maybe if God/Buddha/Allah smiles on us then they go as far as the conference finals? Is that what you're going to tell me?

a week ago you scoffed the notion that this team would lose to Portland or OKC in the first round. Now you're treating it like a possibility? Pick a lane. Are the Mavs advancing past the first round or not? I say without a doubt no.

And we all know the Butler/Haywood trade was made with the purpose of pushing this team past the 2nd round. Don't try to sugar-coat it any other way. You know, I know, Cuban knows, the trade was made to propel the Mavs past Denver and get the 2 seed and have a shot at the Lakers in the WCF. Anything less than a WCF visit and the trade and the season is a complete failure, end of story.

[monosylab1k]

We blew them out this year in LA, and they had to turn the game into a circus to win barely win one at home this year. Look man, were not losing to teams we've already owned, no ing way!!!

Lakers will not win the le, I can guarantee you that.

[Ghazi]

a week ago you scoffed the notion that this team would lose to Portland or OKC in the first round. Now you're treating it like a possibility? Pick a lane. Are the Mavs advancing past the first round or not? I say without a doubt no.

And we all know the Butler/Haywood trade was made with the purpose of pushing this team past the 2nd round. Don't try to sugar-coat it any other way. You know, I know, Cuban knows, the trade was made to propel the Mavs past Denver and get the 2 seed and have a shot at the Lakers in the WCF. Anything less than a WCF visit and the trade and the season is a complete failure, end of story.

I agree.

But you said they'd be a 1st round exit. So can you really say "I told you so" if they win in the 1st round at least?

As inconsistent as the Mavs look, it's not as if anyone in the West (Lakers withstanding) looks that much better... that's why we're tied for 2nd IMO!

[NZ Spurs]

Mutha en Jaren Jackson, no?

[monosylab1k]

But you said they'd be a 1st round exit. So can you really say "I told you so" if they win in the 1st round at least?

No, there wouldn't be an "i told you so" if they made it to the 2nd round. Even though a 2nd round defeat is technically still a failed season, I feel pretty strongly this team won't get that far.

[Findog]

a week ago you scoffed the notion that this team would lose to Portland or OKC in the first round. Now you're treating it like a possibility? Pick a lane. Are the Mavs advancing past the first round or not? I say without a doubt no.

I feel pretty good about their ability to win a series, but I don't recall making one of those iron-clad "The Mavs will win a series or I won't post on Spurstalk for x amount of time" guarantees. Given how little separation there is between 2-8, no it would not shock me if the Mavs lost in the first round.

And how can you say that they will be one and done with such utter conviction when you don't even know who their opponent would be? Portland and San Antonio would be tough, but we'd have HCA. If we get the SloppySeconds, I feel pretty damn confident about advancing. They're just too green this year. You forget that outside of the Celtics, Dallas is the only team in the league that has a winning record on the road against +.500 teams. We get all this commentary about Portland or San Antonio or whomever being the "team you don't want to play." I guarantee you those teams don't view Dallas as a pushover.

If I understand your position correctly, Dallas is the eighth-best team in the Western Conference, and would lose to the Lakers, Jazz, Nuggets, Suns, SloppySeconds, Blazers and Spurs in a series, with or without HCA.

And we all know the Butler/Haywood trade was made with the purpose of pushing this team past the 2nd round.

What should they have done? Keep Howard and Gooden? Trade JJ Barea to the Cavs for LeBron James? What magical trade was out there that is better than what they did? Are you mad that they didn't stand pat, or are you mad that they didn't make some sort of hypothetical trade that you as an Armchair GM are certain was a possibility?

You know, I know, Cuban knows, the trade was made to propel the Mavs past Denver

Mission Accomplished

and get the 2 seed

A very strong possibility

and have a shot at the Lakers in the WCF.

We will see. If we get the two seed, I like our chances at that. We both agree that the Conference Finals is as far as they possibly go.

First-Round Anything less than a WCF visit and the trade and the season is a complete failure, end of story.

So getting Dampier's long-term replacement at center, getting another attractive contract (Butler, who has on-court value if you decide to keep him) to pair with Damp this summer makes the trade a failure? Uhh, okay. They're not winning a le this year no matter what, and they can't make adjustments to the roster until July 1st. This team is in great position to do something big this summer. In the meantime, I'm going to try and enjoy the rest of the season, however long that will be.

[monosylab1k]

I feel pretty good about their ability to win a series, but I don't recall making one of those iron-clad "The Mavs will win a series or I won't post on Spurstalk for x amount of time" guarantees. Given how little separation there is between 2-8, no it would not shock me if the Mavs lost in the first round.

And how can you say that they will be one and done with such utter conviction when you don't even know who their opponent would be? Portland and San Antonio would be tough, but we'd have HCA. If we get the SloppySeconds, I feel pretty damn confident about advancing. They're just too green this year. You forget that outside of the Celtics, Dallas is the only team in the league that has a winning record on the road against +.500 teams. We get all this commentary about Portland or San Antonio or whomever being the "team you don't want to play." I guarantee you those teams don't view Dallas as a pushover.

If I understand your position correctly, Dallas is the eighth-best team in the Western Conference, and would lose to the Lakers, Jazz, Nuggets, Suns, SloppySeconds, Blazers and Spurs in a series, with or without HCA.

I don't see Dallas winning a 1st round series against anybody except possibly San Antonio. Even then it seems dicey to me. As far as OKC being too "green", everybody said the exact same thing about New Orleans two seasons ago. That worked out well.

What should they have done? Keep Howard and Gooden? Trade JJ Barea to the Cavs for LeBron James? What magical trade was out there that is better than what they did? Are you mad that they didn't stand pat, or are you mad that they didn't make some sort of hypothetical trade that you as an Armchair GM are certain was a possibility?

I agreed with the trade and liked it. I still like the trade, but I just won't sugar-coat things like you. The trade was made with one purpose - to solidify the Mavs as the #1 contender to take down Los Angeles. And that absolutely has not happened.

As far as my Armchair GM skills, I've already posted a complete record of confirmed trade offers that Dallas turned down that I would have taken. Offers that, if I were GM, would have Dallas sitting at the #1 seed right now and making plans for the Finals.

Mission Accomplished

Yeah at the time of the trade, Cuban was banking on George Karl getting cancer

A very strong possibility

At this point it's a very strong possibility they get the 5 seed too. Suddenly taking nights off against New York and New Orleans don't seem like such a trifling matter, do they?

We will see. If we get the two seed, I like our chances at that. We both agree that the Conference Finals is as far as they possibly go.

I say the first round is as far as they go. You say Conference Finals. After the trade, the organization set the Conference Finals as the cellar and a championship as the ceiling. Everybody associated with the Mavs or rooting for the Mavs knows this. Anything less than a WCF appearance is abject failure. This team was supposed to challenge the Lakers and have a shot at beating them.

So getting Dampier's long-term replacement at center, getting another attractive contract (Butler, who has on-court value if you decide to keep him) to pair with Damp this summer makes the trade a failure? Uhh, okay. They're not winning a le this year no matter what, and they can't make adjustments to the roster until July 1st. This team is in great position to do something big this summer. In the meantime, I'm going to try and enjoy the rest of the season, however long that will be.

Is Haywood really that replacement? He's shown flashes of greatness and equal amounts of flashes of Dampier 2.0. I don't want Dampier 2.0, not in a million ing years.

And who are we targeting to do "something big"? LeBron/Wade/Bosh/Amare aren't coming to Dallas. Just forget about it. And anybody less than that isn't "something big" as far as I'm concerned. Is Butler/Damp for Joe Johnson enough to push this team over the top? It would be an upgrade but I don't see them being significantly better.

[Findog]

I don't see Dallas winning a 1st round series against anybody except possibly San Antonio. Even then it seems dicey to me. As far as OKC being too "green", everybody said the exact same thing about New Orleans two seasons ago. That worked out well.

And Dallas beat Utah in 2001. Most of the time, however, the experienced veteran team wins. I want the Zombies over any other first-round opponent.

I agreed with the trade and liked it. I still like the trade, but I just won't sugar-coat things like you. The trade was made with one purpose - to solidify the Mavs as the #1 contender to take down Los Angeles. And that absolutely has not happened.

So who is the bigger threat to LA?

Utah, the team 1/2 a game ahead of us in the standings? The team that is 8-14 on the road against winning teams, compared to our 12-10? Who is more likely to steal a game at Staples?

Phoenix? A team that can get hot shooting-wise and win a series or two but doesn't have the defensive chops to beat the Lakers?

Denver? A team missing their coach and one of their key bigs? I'm curious who you think is a bigger threat to the Lakers.

The Zombie Sonics? A team where only Nick Collison has relevant playoff experience?

Portland? San Antonio? Who is the #1 challenger to LA?

As far as my Armchair GM skills, I've already posted a complete record of confirmed trade offers that Dallas turned down that I would have taken. Offers that, if I were GM, would have Dallas sitting at the #1 seed right now and making plans for the Finals.

What confirmed trade offers were those? Getting Kaman and Baron Davis? And don't tell me Dirk for Kobe, because that was never a possibility without Kobe waiving his no-trade clause, which he wasn't going to do to play with Josh Howard and Jason Terry.

At this point it's a very strong possibility they get the 5 seed too. Suddenly taking nights off against New York and New Orleans don't seem like such a trifling matter, do they?

Tell that to Utah. They just got drilled by Indiana. Tell that to Denver. They have losses to some pretty ty teams on their resume too. Tell that to Phoenix. They got beat the down at home by Memphis by 25 points. If you're expecting a really good team to win 100% of their games against the dreck of the league, you're going to be awfully disappointed.

I say the first round is as far as they go. You say Conference Finals. After the trade, the organization set the Conference Finals as the cellar and a championship as the ceiling. Everybody associated with the Mavs or rooting for the Mavs knows this. Anything less than a WCF appearance is abject failure. This team was supposed to challenge the Lakers and have a shot at beating them.

I thought the goal of the trade was to give us a shot to beat the Lakers in a series. I still think that has a chance of happening. What other Western team right now is heads and shoulders above us in terms of being that top challenger to LA?

I don't know of anybody in their right mind who thinks even the post-trade Mavs have a chance in of beating the Cavs in the Finals if we were lucky to get that far. I know Cuban says "Our goal is to win a championship every year" and he means it, which is why he spends the money and hasn't been shy about trading for Jason Kidd and Haywood/Butler when the opportunity presents itself. But I don't see it as an underwhelming failure if we lose to the Cavs, Lakers or Jazz this year.

Is Haywood really that replacement? He's shown flashes of greatness and equal amounts of flashes of Dampier 2.0. I don't want Dampier 2.0, not in a million ing years.

Uh, what should we do? Trade for Dwight Howard? Yao Ming? Haywood is a clear upgrade over Dampier. I'd like another quality big to complement Haywood, but you can forget about getting a franchise center.

And who are we targeting to do "something big"? LeBron/Wade/Bosh/Amare aren't coming to Dallas. Just forget about it.

Yeah, I know.

And anybody less than that isn't "something big" as far as I'm concerned. Is Butler/Damp for Joe Johnson enough to push this team over the top? It would be an upgrade but I don't see them being significantly better.

So what are you mad about then? On the one hand you want to punish and castigate them for not assembling a championship-winning roster, and then on the other hand you acknowledge that the biggest free agent targets are not coming here, for cir stances that are largely out of Cuban and Donnie's control. Just be happy that you have an owner that bleeds blue and green and spends plenty of that green to try and win a le. You're not owed a championship as a Mavs fan. You know that Cuban will not hesitate to pull the trigger when it comes to improving the roster, or take the hit to his wallet. What more can you ask for? And failing to trade for Baron Davis and Chris Kaman is not some unforgivable sin in my opinion.