I’ve already commented on this, but, I think it deserves a fresh look. Here’s Rick Carlisle’s response to Scotty Brooks’ remarks that Rick is “posturing” when he complains about how Dirk is defended:
“When I was asked about that, I was asked about my opinion, and I made two statements of fact. It’s not posturing or positioning. They were two statements of fact. You’re talking about a guy who has been very difficult to officiate because of his unusual skill set, and he gets played very physically, and we’ve seen it for four years. That’s a fact. That’s not an attempt to lobby the league. That’s a fact of life we have to deal with, and Dirk does a great job with it.”
Jason Terry can say whatever he wants, but I don’t think falling off in the fourth quarter is the only problem that he has. LeBron James has an issue with that because he’s a superstar. He wants the ball–he wants to be the man–so he has to step up and score when it counts. Jason Terry, yeah, we’d like to see more of him, but I don’t think we can say that him not being fully there in the fourth quarter is a problem that is causing the Mavs to not succeed.
Listen to the vow:
The Mavs have a pretty good shot at handling the Thunder if they do a couple things right over the next couple of games. At first, I was skeptical because I just didn’t think that the Mavs would be able to stick to it. I mean, yes, they forced the Thunder to take and make a game-winning shot, but, that was game one, right?
Well, if you look at the way the Mavs play basketball, they can win this series if they:
Kevin Durant is quickly becoming the Mavs biggest enemy. Not only did he hurt them in the regular season by hitting an impossible game-winning 3, but he also sank a late jumper last night to give OKC the 99-98 win over Dallas.
Getting off to a fast start was crucial for Dallas, especially as they were away from home. They failed to do that though as Dirk missed his first 4 attempts, but Russell Westbrook was on fire early doors and Dallas struggled to contain him. The Mavs fought back though, and ended up leading after the first quarter by 26 points to 22.
So, the time has come for the NBA playoffs to kick off again. The Mavs have made it into the post-season for the 12th straight season and face a tough task as they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC racked up a very impressive 47-19 record to clinch the second seed in the West. The reigning champions Dallas could only manage the seventh seed.
Many people have written the Mavs off already, saying they will fall to a heavy series loss. However, will Dallas’ experience count for more than the skill that OKC possess through youth?
The Mavs had a chance to improve their seeding in the West, but they fell to the Atlanta Hawks who secured home court advantage with a convinving106-89 win.
Dallas looked as if they were happy with their 7th seed in the Western Conference, as they gave Jason Kidd the night off and limited the minutes of some of their bigger players. The 7th seed means that they face the Oklahoma City Thunder, a very tough match up indeed.
San Antonio Spurs
The Mavs could take on the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of Western Conference playoffs. TheirTexasrivals have a phenomenal record of 48-16, and with home advantage, it is going to be a very tough series. The Spurs have clinched the number 1 spot in the West, thanks to some of their experienced stars, with Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli all averaging double figure points. With a home record of 28-5 and home advantage, the Mavs won’t fancy taking on the Spurs. However, the Mavs are currently enjoying a 4 day break before their last regular season game, whilst the Spurs play 4 games in 5 days to end their season.
After a season of inconsistency, the Mavs have limped to a record of 36-29 to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season, the longest active streak in the NBA.
After adding several new recruits after winning the title, it was always going to take the team a while to gel and get positive results. Delonte West and Vince Carter have proven decent signings, with Carter starting to show glimpses of his old self. Lamar Odom, however, has severely struggled since arriving inDallasfrom LA and never gained any sort of consistency to his game.
Lamar Odom had already been late to a game and a team meeting. The team started discussions with Odom that would lead him to be deactivated. Oh, and Mark Cuban went to talk to Odom in the locker room. Then, it got heated as Cuban, apparently, wanted a commitment from Odom.
It rubbed Cuban the wrong way:
“Just his response to it. Everybody goes through ups and downs. Every player does. We tried to put him in a position to succeed. You guys saw it, saw what we did. It didn’t work.”
No. We should not. I said this yesterday, but I want to say it again. We should not be upset with Lamar Odom because this thing didn’t work out. The Mavs have enough money to give him a buyout and move on. Not only do you need to have a way to move on when you are in a bad situation, but you also must have a way to be happy. Lamar was very unhappy, and he was a square peg that was being fit, unsuccessfully, into a round hole. So, now both sides have decided it’s over, and that’s ok.
