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<< Phil Jackson will tell you that 15 is far more important than 60 or even 70. >>



Hmmm, of cource winning 15 post season games is much easier when you have a Shaq or MJ on your team also. But looks like Shaq won't do the trick this year. Yeah Nellie has never won a title. Nellie has never had a team good enough to get the best regular season record. Hmmmm. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. There sure are some things I would like Nellie to change about his coaching. But if you made me the head coach of the Mavs I would probably make Quinn Buckner look good, seriously. Yeah I would improve on a hand full of things. But there would be 100's of things that Nellie does and does great that I would be totally clueless. Don't think Jr. would be totally clueless, but is he ready to perform solo at the master's level. One way to find out, but we can't stuff the genie back in the bottle once its out.

When Nellie was at Golden State he didn't have the talent to get as deep into the playoffs as he did. They overachieved. When he was at Milwaukee he had the likes of Dr. J, Moses Malone, Darrly Dawkins, Maurice Cheeks, Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, and Robert Parish to get past to even get to the finals. Then he would have most likely had to fend off Magic, Worthey, and Kareem. He didn't have near the talent of the 76ers or the Celtics but he competed with them very well. I remember him taking Philly to many 7 game series that could have went either way. Keep in mind that no coach has won an NBA championship in the past 12 seasons without a serious contender for the MVP on his team. This is the 1st year Nellie has had one on his team, but even then Dirk's is only marginly serious at best (except in the Mavs faithful eyes). I think that will change big time next year. Of cource I'm sure if Phil Jackson was still in Chicago with the talent they have they would be bringing the trophy home, right? A good coach gets the maximum results out of his talents, a great coach gets his team to over achieve. Nellie has been consitently a very good coach and many times a great coach. This team has gone from lottery to talking about 60+ wins and the best record in the NBA in less than 3 seasons.

But we haven't made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. How long did it take Sacramento to make it past the 2nd round? There were many failure until they broke through last year, and almost won it all. How long did it take the Lakers to make it past the 2nd round? At least a couple of years after the Shaq and Kobe additions. It's not just the coach, but the team has to grow. No coach is perfect. Keep that in mind. If Jr. was installed we would be having the same type of discussions when the team slumped slightly. Jr. has flaws too, many that we don't know about. He is after all the grass that is on the other side of the fence. Nellie may need to be replaced as coach for the Mavs to win a title. But unless this team hits a serious slump where it looks as if me probably won't get home court advantage for the 2nd round, I don't think that is any valid reason to make a coaching change before next summer. BTW this team is on pace to win 68 games this year. How many teams have won that many games in the regular season and failed to win the NBA title? 0. Every team to win 68 or more has gone on to win a title. Why? Because to win that much you have to be so damn good that its almost impossible to beat you in the playoffs barring major injury. The homecourt advantage also helps a little. So think about that streak when you bring up the fact Nellie never won a title.