I am resigned to reading the Dallas Morning News during lunch. Before the playoffs started, when GS was still trying to make the playoffs, an article was written by a highly educated writer, who writes about what he knows: Basketball.
I thought it hilarious at the time, but now, after the events that have transpirted, I am at a loss for words. Check it out.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...n.2cc21dc.html
Loss could be gain for Mavs' fans
02:22 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Tanking is a sensitive term in the NBA these days. Especially if you're say, Danny Ainge, and the league has already fined you $30,000 for excessive elbow-rubbing with Kevin Durant's extended family.
Tanking is not what I'm suggesting. Not exactly. Not in the lottery sense, anyway.
But, really, would it hurt if the Mavericks lost to Golden State tonight?
Would it be so bad if it helped guarantee a Mavs-Warriors matchup in the first round of the playoffs?
Would it offend sensibilities if it allowed us to write about Don Nelson and his former team? The wily old coach and his protégé, Avery Johnson?
Nellie vs. Cuban?
Nothing against the Clippers, the Mavs' other first-round prospects. Elton Brand is a fine player. Corey Maggette, too.
Maybe if brassy Sam Cassell were completely healthy, a matchup with the Clips might be more appealing.
But Mike Dunleavy? The guy doesn't look like he's having much fun coaching the Clippers as it is.
Nellie?
Here's what he told the media Sunday after the Warriors took control of their playoff destiny and reporters asked him how he'd prepare for his old team:
"I'll smoke a cigar, drink scotch and form my game plan," he said. "The more scotch I drink, the better the game plan gets."
Think how much fun the first round could be. (!!!!!!!!!!)
If the Mavs draw the Clippers, what do we talk about? Matchups? Strategy?
They get the Warriors, and it's not basketball. It's theater.
Did you catch Nellie's concession speech a while back? The Warriors had just suffered their fourth straight loss, a 30-point pasting by the Bulls in Chicago, dropping their season record seven games under .500.
"I thought I could get this team in the playoffs," he said on Feb. 28, "and it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to do it."
He called it disappointing. A personal failure.
"But that's the way it is," he said at the time. "You can't get blood out of a turnip. You can't beat a dead horse.
"I'm not blaming anybody but myself."
Awfully valiant of him to fall on his sword like that, too. He could have blamed the fact that they only suited up nine players. No Baron Davis. No Stephen Jackson. They'd have been lucky to beat a good rec team without them, much less the Bulls on the road.
They get Davis and Jackson back, and what happens? The Warriors win 14 of their next 21 and Nellie looks like MacArthur hitting the beach.
Johnson was so amused, he called up Gregg Popovich, the Spurs' coach.
"That was a straight Nellie move," Johnson said of Nellie's speech, "and you guys fell for it.
"Pop and I were laughing."
And that's the point. Let's have some fun, Avery. Loosen up a little tonight.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu for the opening tip, maybe?
It's not as if Johnson has been protecting the sanc y of the game since he clinched the No. 1 seed.
He says his only goal this week is to be healthy and rested for the playoffs.
Suggestion: If David Stern asks after a loss tonight, stick to that explanation.
AP
Mavericks coach Avery Johnson (left) and former Mavs coach Don Nelson could meet again in the playoffs. Hey, it's not as if any su ions would be raised by another loss. The Mavs have lost twice to the Warriors this season. After Monday's practice, the Mavs stopped just short of calling them flukes.
A good thing, too, because the one in March was by 17 points.
The players blamed scheduling and an impatient offense. They're not used to the Warriors' offensive approach during the regular season, and they fell into Nellie's trap:
Take quick shots and allow the Warriors to put up 3s.
Are you sure you didn't let Nellie get into your heads?
"No," Jason Terry said, curtly.
Never hurts to ask.
Not with Nellie.
You know he's loving this. He's got the Warriors on the verge of the playoffs for the first time in a dozen years, and he's got a chance to upset his old team.
No one expects him to win. He knows this, too.
He's counting on it.
"I'm worried," he told reporters who asked about the Mavs. "I know how good they are. I know we've beaten them twice.
"I just hope we didn't make them angry."
Johnson's response? He's not talking about Nellie. Not if you want to make it personal.
"It's the Mavericks against the Warriors," he said, and you can only hope so.
Mavericks at Golden State, 9:30 p.m. today (Ch. 21; ESPN-FM 103.3, KFZO-FM 99.1 in Spanish)
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Mavericks later lost this game 111-82, playing their 2nd and 3rd team only. Nice.
yeah and if things played out like they did but instead of the mavs going for their franchise record 61st win against the clippers, they probably should have tanked that game...that way the mavs would be ready for a tired jazz team after a 4 game sweep of the clipps
How did noone else find this amusing? Was it really already posted?
You know what else was funny about the DMN?
The "Parade Tracker" at the top of the Basketball section. Have they learned nothing from last year's lesson in Parade Karma???
warriors have had the mavs' number all season. they were the only team i wanted the mavs to play in the first round.
you think kevin sherrington regrets wishing the same thing?
Nice article.
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