The Dallas Mavericks improved to a 4-5 record as they delivered the New Orleans Hornets their fourth consecutive loss to take their record to 2-6. If the Mavs want to make the postseason this year, teams like the Hornets are teams that they need to beat on a regular basis. A good crowd was at the American Airlines Center to watch the reigning champions take on an average Hornets outfit.

With veteran Jason Kidd out due to injury, new additions Delonte West and Vince Carter needed to step up in the starting line-up for the Mavs. The Hornets started well and earned themselves an early 15-13 lead with Chris Kaman playing well but Dallas started to click and lead after 1 quarter 26-20. The first quarter ended with a great alley-oop with Ian Mahinmi latching on to a pass from Jason Terry to slam it down.

It was crucial for the Hornets to stay in touching distance with the Mavs and not to let the game drift away from them. The second quarter was very similar to the first and the Mavs bench continued to excel, with Ian Mahinmi and Rodrigue Beauboi, the two Frenchman, giving Dallas big scoring threats. The second quarter again ended with a highlight reel moment as Vince Carter put up a huge dunk, which will definitely be one of the best you will see all season. Dallas were definitely the better team in the first half and deservedly took a 52-41 lead into the locker rooms.

The Hornets were going to need to play a big second half if they wanted to take the win away from the American Airlines Center. To be fair to New Orleans they shut Dirk Nowitzki out of the game very well, as he shot just 2 for 11 from the field with 10 points on the night. It was quite a scrappy third quarter from both sides, allowing several turnovers each. The Hornets edged the scoring by 1 in the third but still trailed by 10 going into the final quarter.

Jason Terry, who is a pivotal part of the Mavs, yet again played a massive part coming off the bench for Dallas. The Mavs experience showed over the course of the game to pull away from an injury-hit Hornets side as they comprehensively won the game by 15 points.

For the Mavs, it was very pleasing to see new recruits Delonte West and Vince Carter both starting and playing very well with the absence of Jason Kidd. With Nowitzki not firing at all, the Mavs still managed to win with ease as Ian Mahinmi and Jason Terry both had solid games as well. The Hornets are in trouble now, with a 2-6 record and a long list of injuries, but there were a few positives to take from the game, with Al-Farouq Aminu recording his first career double-double.

Dallas will travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons in their next game on Tuesday night as they look to kick-start their season and gain momentum.

For a city characterized by supposedly soft superstars, 2011 has been an eye opener in the Big D.

It is the year of herculean effort among Dallas pro sports stars. We all remember Dirk Nowitzki playing through the flu and hitting the last minute shot in the NBA Finals to put Dallas back in the series.

We all felt the outrage and the insult of Dwayne Wade and LeBron James mocking Dirk and making light of his illness.

This week we have another local hero.

Tony Romo left Sunday’s game before the half with a rib injury that turned out to be much more. We heard announced yesterday that Romo also suffered a punctured lung.

These injuries make Romo’s return to the field and stunning play execution all the more heroic. You may have noticed that Tony had trouble fielding questions after the game due to the level of discomfort cracked ribs and punctured lung can cause.

Who Had the More Legendary Performance?

It’s a toss up which performance is more legendary.You have at least two deciding factors: difficulty of challenge and importance of game.

On the one hand,

You have Tony Romo enduring more pain and mobility problems. Many players would sit for the rest of the week, if not two. Meanwhile, Dirk took over and won the game against Miami while fighting to stay vertical with 105ish degree fever.

On the other hand,

Dirk was playing in the NBA Finals, and that win kept their championship hopes alive. That performance cemented Dirk into Dallas sports lore for the rest of his life.

Tony Romo, though perhaps overcoming an even greater obstacle, won on a much smaller stage. Game two, though a critical game for the progress of the season, was no playoff game and certainly no Super Bowl victory.

So I’ll leave it to you. Whose performance was more legendary? Dirk’s dagger mid-flu or Tony Romo’s overtime win with punctured lung?

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XZso4MnXTA]

Curious. I wonder how they decided which Mavericks would attend the ESPYs. No Brendan Haywood. No Peja Stojakovic. No DeShawn Stevenson. Maybe they were just on vacation and couldn’t attend. Or maybe they weren’t invited.

In Arlington, Dirk Nowitzki throws the first pitch as the Rangers battle the Mets.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76rZyVbM7YI]

This is awesome.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVHl05Lz8Ms&NR=1]

I know it’s Super Bowl Week and you could care less about Mavs talk. So sad. We haven’t talked some Mavs here in a while, so it’s time to give one of Dallas’ last two sports franchises it’s due.

We were all amazed when the Mavericks dominated everyone at the beginning of the year. We held our collective breaths, at first, expecting such stellar levels of awesome to wear off. But they didn’t. Dallas pwned every major market it played. Only San Antonio and Boston held competitive records.

Then the inevitable happened. INJURY. In one fell swoop, Caron Butler was out for the season and Dirk was out for at least a week. And the stars plummeted toward the earth.

Dallas fell to a very sub-par looking record and the “strongest bench in the league” looked more like the lamest.

Enter the Peja

Trade talks began circling. Toronto was looking to trade Peja Stojakovic, but no takers. So they opted to dump him and make salary cap space. Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson swooped in, arranging a “you let Peja go and we’ll trade our 3rd string Center” deal.

And now here we are. Dirk is back and returning to his former self. Peja hasn’t played a game yet, but morale has improved, partly due to the trade movement and partly because Roddy Beaubois is weeks if not days away from returning to the lineup.

What Dallas loses in penetration and mental toughness it will make up for with raw shooting power and kick ass speed.

Maybe this should be the Peja and Roddy Story. But as Dallas heads out on the road again, sources say Peja and Roddy B will remain in Dallas to train, strengthen, and heal. The way it was presented leads me to believe that one or both will see playing time soon after the team returns home.

So get your popcorn ready. They may not be the toughest team in the NBA, but they’re about to be one of the flashiest.

I hadn’t thought about it until recently after seeing various articles across these here Internets, but the parallels between the careers of Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James are downright creepy at the moment. Granted, Dirk has nowhere near the talent and starpower LeBron has, but consider:

- both are considered revolutionary in the evolution of the game
- both are singularly connected to their home cities
- both have been “the man” for their respective teams for some time now
- both have taken what are considered to be subpar teams to the NBA Finals
- both of those teams were essentially swept aside (the Cavs literally, the Mavs losing the last 4 after winning the first 2)
- both have seen their teams exit the playoffs way earlier than expected
- both carry the bulk of the blame for their teams’ inability to advance in the playoffs
- both are pending free agents this summer (Dirk would have to opt out of his current deal)
- both could be playing elsewhere next season

I’m sure there’s more I missed but you should be getting the idea at this point. This summer is going to be a crucial one for both of these players as they decided what is more important to them: their legacy in their current city or winning an NBA championship.

With Dirk, you could say his legacy in Dallas is important to him. He currently owns and, if he stays, will own nearly every important offensive record in the Mavericks’ record book. Dallas is the only city in America he really knows after coming here from Germany as a teenager. He may just be too comfortable in his own skin to want to leave here.

On the other hand, Dirk has said in past interviews that winning a championship is very important to him and while he wants to bring a title to the city of Dallas, if he feels that isn’t possible he would think about going elsewhere to achieve that goal. As disconcerting as it would be to see Dirk in another team’s uniform, if he feels that’s the only option he has to win a title, then that’s the path he should go down. As good as Dirk is, I think he is part of the problem for the Mavs. More on that later.

LeBron has an even more interesting summer ahead as he is a free agent, rumored to be headed to any number of cities including Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Miami and the darkhorse, Dallas. Or he could stay in Cleveland. Who knows?

James has a pull that a singular player hasn’t had in quite some time. Another rumor floating is that he and current Kentucky head coach John Calipari (who are good friends) would be a package deal to whatever city LeBron decided to go to, with Calipari taking over as head coach. While unlikely, it is an interesting scenario to ponder while realizing how much power LeBron has in this decision.

LeBron is from the Cleveland area (Akron to be exact), but will that hometown loyalty be shown once the free agent process is over. Based on his performance in the Celtics series, I would be surprised if he returned to the Cavs. He played like he had one foot out the door and wanted to get the season over with so he could contemplate his next move, the biggest of his career so far.

I think LeBron moves on from Cleveland for one reason: a chance to rewrite his “legacy”. He was unable to bring a championship to his home team despite being surrounded by players of varying All-Star status. Now, LeBron can have more control over who he plays with.

Could one of those players be Dirk? While LeBron coming to Dallas would be a longshot, it is possible. And if it happens, what a frontcourt the Mavs would have with Dirk, LeBron and…Haywood? We’ll work on center, but those other two would work pretty well together. We know them working alone hasn’t amounted to much of anything.

One of the issues both players have is that they are both forwards, not traditionally thought of as an offensive position. Yet, they are the best offensive players on their teams. If they had a backcourt player who was a consistent threat on the offensive end, I probably wouldn’t be writing this story, but the Cavs and Mavs both keep going through backcourt players trying to find the right ones to work with there respective superstars. It hasn’t worked to this point.

I think the biggest equalizer in this summer’s free agency bonanza is Dwyane Wade. He is the kind of slashing guard that all teams would die to have and a team with Wade and Dirk or LeBron would be a very tough matchup. I would be able to forgive Wade for what he did in 2006 if he decided to join the Mavs.

Wade could also entice LeBron to go to Miami, who has a ton of cap space and , well, it’s Miami. LeBron, Wade and other top free agents are rumored to have a meeting to discuss the direction of the league and where guys could be headed in free agency. This just shows me how much power the players have in the NBA.

Would Mark Cuban break the bank to get LeBron or Wade in Dallas? I doubt it, since the Mavs are already over the cap and are rumored to be having financial issues. The only way either player is coming here is via sign and trade. The only question is, who do you give up to get either player? I would think anyone on the roster is fair game, outside of Dirk.

Careers at a crossroads. Many different ways those careers could end up. Let’s get ready for a wild and crazy summer!

It’s over.

Yeah, the series is at 3-1, but who are we kidding? It’s over.

Another 50+ win season, wasted.

How much longer do we as Mavs fans wait until we say “Enough!”

I’m done waiting and I’m saying it right now.

“Enough!”

Enough of the “we’re a veteran ballclub” B.S. How many times have we heard this the past few seasons, and especially this season? One thing (among many others) I’ve learned over the course of this series is that veteran experience doesn’t count for jack when compared to championship experience. Take a look at the Mavericks roster. Yes, that’s a lot of veteran experience, with all but two players with six or more years in the league. But take a closer look behind those numbers. How many championships are among those years of experience? That’s right, ZERO. Not a ring to be seen on the fingers of any players on the roster. In fact, as a franchise, the Mavericks have only been to the Western Conference Finals twice and the NBA Finals once since beginning their streak of 10 consecutive playoff appearances in 2000-2001.

Meanwhile, the Spurs have won three of their four titles over that same time frame. The constants for those Spurs teams are still on display in this series: Duncan, Parker Ginobili and Popovich. They know what it takes to win a title, as they have displayed three times over the past eight seasons. The Mavericks are still trying to figure it out, ten years later.

Enough with all of the jump shots. If you could point to a big reason why the Mavericks are still looking for their first title despite all of the regular season success of the past decade, look no further than the fact that this team still doesn’t have a dominant big man in the middle, even after ten years. Dirk is great, Hall-of-Fame caliber player, but if you’re asking him to play in the post, you’ve got bigger problems. Please don’t get me started on Erick Dampier, please let me know when he’s gone. Brendan Haywood was acquired in the mid-season trade, looked like the best center in Mavericks history for about a month then fell off a cliff, never to return to that level of play.

Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan have won seven of the last ten NBA championships. Any coincidence that they are also two of the most dominant big men to ever play the game as well? To even give yourself a chance you need a big man you can feed the ball to in crucial moments of big games. Instead, the Mavericks decided to run-and-gun their way to glory, a philosophy that hasn’t changed all that much over the course of ten years, despite falling short of a title year after year. I’m tired of this team being “what it is.” I want to see this team become a serious contender to win a title, which will not happen if the offensive philosophy doesn’t change.

Enough with keeping the core guys here. This is the hardest thing for me to say, but it’s time for Mark Cuban to take a long, hard look at things and consider blowing it all up. It’s becoming more and more obvious with each passing season that this team is built to win in the regular season and not in the playoffs. Sunday’s Game 4 was an excellent example of this, as the Mavericks built an 11 point lead at the half, then were promptly outscored by 18 in the 3rd quarter, only scoring 11 points in those 12 minutes. During that frustrating stretch, the soon-to-be-patented Maverick loss of composure we all come to expect at some point of a highly contested game reared its ugly head as they went about 7 minutes without scoring, giving up a 14 point lead in the process. Along the way, several Mavs players lost their cool, including Dirk who picked up a technical foul and ended less than a minute into the 4th quarter when Eduardo Najera picked up a Flagrant-2 on Ginobili and was ejected.

If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed and, dare I say has actually gotten worse over the years, is how easily this team falls apart when they are expected to do big things. It’s like a virus that infects the whole club when the spotlight shines on them. About the only way to change that is to completely overhaul the roster and get some fresh bodies in here. Since the possibility of that happening is less than zero, let’s hope the guys that are here next season take a good, long look in the mirror come playoff time and decide how serious they are about bringing a title to the Metroplex.

There’s so much more I want to go off about:

• Meaningless 50 win seasons.
• Inconsistency on defense.
• Coaching philosophy.
• So much more.

But I’m going to stop for now. Need to save something for when the Spurs make it official.

If this rant didn’t make any sense, that’s why it’s called a rant. It was in the heat of the moment. If you want to discuss further, leave a comment below or hit me up at anthony at dallasprosports.com.

When Dirk dropped his 20,000th point this week against the Lakers, the crowd rose to their feet and cheered. Once on the bench for a timeout, Dirk stood up and applauded the crowd and thanked them for their support. It was a sentimental moment.

Dallas loves its big German. No doubt. But in the end, do we REALLY care about his personal achievements? The Mavericks lost the game in embarrassing fashion as Dirk and several other players wasted 10+ seconds passing the ball when they needed a three pointer to tie.

But a single game doesn’t matter… much. What matters is that the Mavericks have NEVER won a championship, and until they do, Dirk will have to break the top 10 all-time scorers before we make a big deal about it.

However, I WILL say that this is the most intriguing Mavs team since Nash and Finley were on the roster. They have some unexpected chemistry and ability. Of course, nothing makes up for the missed acquisition of Marcin Gortat. NOTHING. Dallas would be a force to be reckoned with for years to come with Gortat instead of Damp. Sure, Damp is having a good year, but his only good years come in contract years.

This city loves Dirk because he’s a likeable guy and the most reliable scorer in a decade. But if Dirk doesn’t lead one of these Mavericks teams to a Championship victory, all the stats in the world won’t make up for the sense of lost potential.