After years of Mavs taking shots, it's good

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After years of Mavs taking shots, it's good

[By David Moore / The Dallas Morning News]

My mind began to drift as I watched the Mavericks celebrate their conference championship.

It was impossible to imagine this moment 13 years ago when the Mavericks avoided the worst record in NBA history by scurrying to win their final two games.

It didn't seem any closer four years later when the team scored just two points in a quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Even Jack Nicholson had to feel sorry for the Mavericks back then.

Not now.

After 26 long and often comical years, the Mavericks have made it to the Finals. The journey isn't done. But for a franchise that has endured so many miserable moments, reaching this stage is monumental.

Dirk Nowitzki has done what Mark Aguirre, Roy Tarpley and the Three Js – Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn – couldn't. Avery Johnson has gone where no Mavericks coach has gone before.

Now, he must beat Pat Riley, the coach who kept the Mavericks from reaching the Finals in 1988. Well, Riley along with Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and the rest of the Showtime Lakers.

I haven't been present for everything that has happened to the Mavericks through the years. But I've been around long enough to remember Brad Davis' bell bottoms and Jay Vincent's lime green leisure suit. I was in training camp the day coach Dick Motta cut a player during stretching exercises.

This is a franchise that has seen Keith Grant rise from equipment manager to general manager and coach Quinn Buckner alienate everyone around him. There was Derek Harper dribbling out the clock against the Lakers, then handling his mistake with enough class to win everyone's admiration. There was Rolando Blackman's pure jump shot and Sam Perkins' smooth style.

It's a franchise that has tried Uwe Blab, Wallace Bryant, Terry Davis, Darren Morningstar and a cast of thousands at center. It's a franchise that passed on Karl Malone, then came back several years later to draft Randy White because he reminded them of Malone.

Big mistake.

So was Doug Smith.

So was Bill Garnett.

There was the game that Pat Cummings, another one of those centers, hurled the ball as hard as he could overhand and splattered Bill Walton's nose. There was Kurt Nimphius and his trips to a haunted house in Louisiana, and the free spirit of Cherokee Parks. It's the franchise of James Donaldson and Donald Hodge, of Oliver Miller and Mike Iuzzolino, of Popeye Jones and George McCloud, of Elston Turner and Dale Ellis.

The gracious ownership of Don Carter is a thing of the past. The face of this franchise is the in-your-face Mark Cuban.

The Mavericks have moved beyond Aguirre's moods – minor swings in retrospect – Tarpley's arrests and suspensions and a decade of indifference. Don Nelson's creativity, which helped revive this moribund franchise, has given way to Johnson's discipline and intensity.

Moody Madness is out. MFFL (Mavs Fan For Life) is in, along with fat guys dancing and a female dance team that would have made former general manager Norm Sonju blush.

All of these thoughts came rushing back Saturday night as I watched the Mavericks hug and don their championship caps. And there was one more.

More than 20 years ago, I sat with Motta in an empty arena before a game in Atlanta. Motta let his guard down and began to talk about how he had a special feeling about that team. He knew it was only December. He knew a lot could go wrong. But the only other time he had such a feeling was the season he won a championship with Washington.

Once the game started, Aguirre was clearly disinterested. The Hawks missed a shot, and the Mavericks went the other way on a fast break. Aguirre stayed behind to help lift Atlanta's Dominique Wilkins off the court and chat as action continued on the other end.

Motta was fuming after the game. Aguirre was singing in the shower. After the media was done, I found Motta alone in the hallway outside the locker room. I asked him about that special feeling.

"It must have been gas," Motta said as he turned and walked to the team bus.

This isn't gas.

This is something special.

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Time for Mavs fans to receive big payoff

[By Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News]

Winford Boynes tossed in 21 points, Tom LaGarde grabbed 14 boards, and the Mavericks beat San Antonio by 11. I was in a half-full Reunion Arena that night 25 years and nearly eight months ago when Dallas joined the world of big-time pro basketball.

Of course, that wasn't the biggest news of the day in Dallas, certainly not to a reporter for the Daily Oklahoman. The University of Texas beat the Sooners, 20-13, at the Cotton Bowl that afternoon in 1980. This would be one of many Dallas events to overshadow the city's new basketball franchise for years to come.

It took two decades and the arrival of Don Nelson and Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki and Avery Johnson to finally get this thing right. It's not Red Sox or White Sox in terms of waiting 80-plus years for redemption, but 26 years is a good test of faith in itself.

By that alone, the Mavericks should beat the Miami Heat in this intriguing matchup of teams that arrived in the league after Magic Johnson. Miami fans had only to wait 18 years to see their team win a conference title.

Those extra eight years should count for something in terms of courting destiny, especially considering the lean times that Mavericks fans endured.

In the decade of the '90s, Dallas had the lowest winning percentage of any team in the NBA. Or NFL. Or NHL. Or Major League Baseball.

From 1990 through 1999, the Mavericks never made the playoffs and won 30 games once in that dismal stretch. The Heat has had some down times, too, but nothing compared to the Mavericks' wander through the wilderness.

Nowitzki could not recite all those numbers in the wake of his team's 102-93 victory over Phoenix. But he made it clear that he understood where this team had come from.

"When we first got here, it was rough," he said. "I mean, we were in that old arena. It stunk. It was bad.

"When I first got to Dallas, nobody really knew us and you could go out anywhere. Nobody was paying attention to the Mavericks really."

That was eight years ago. Everyone's paying attention now. Everyone in Dallas. Everyone who follows the NBA.

The Mavericks – this still seems startling when you think about it in the grand scheme of things – are actually favored to win the NBA title.

Dallas won more games than the Heat this season. They beat the Heat twice, one of them so bad that Pat Riley questioned whether his team had what it took to become an elite team equal to the Mavericks.

That was a long time ago, and Riley has the Heat playing much better now, and the team does have Shaquille O'Neal, who loves to beat up on Erick Dampier in particular and Dallas in general. So this is no cakewalk to a trophy presentation for the Mavericks.

But this is a team that understands where winning comes from. It started under Nelson, and the team almost overachieved its way into the Finals three years ago before losing to the Spurs in six games.

Nowitzki was the star of that team, too, but that's where the similarities to the 2003 team end. The 2006 edition is a team that went to San Antonio and won a Game 7 in overtime against a team as formidable and as championship-worthy of any team in the league.

This is a team that could speed up the Spurs when it needed to, could slow down the Suns when it had to.

This is a team that has believed it when Avery Johnson started talking about winning championships from the first day he was hired to replace Nelson.

This is a team four wins removed from joining the Cowboys and the Stars as Dallas teams to celebrate championships. Those four victories won't be easily obtained, but beating Miami four times with the home-court advantage won't be more difficult than beating San Antonio four times without it.

It has been a long wait. Since the Mavericks came to life 26 years ago, 15 franchises have been to the Finals.

Two new names will be added to the list later this week. If longer waits and humble roots count for anything, then Dallas fans deserve to be the ones cheering at the end.

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Taxing times made Mavs better

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

A crisis. An embarrassment. A delicate decision. A losing streak. A breakthrough.

These are the moments that made the Mavericks, galvanizing points in the best season in franchise history. If ever a team proved the theory that anything worth attaining comes only after surviving some serious growing pains, this is it.

Tough times, they've had a few.

And they needed them. Adversity fires a steel will, hardens it to the point where a group of talented players become as tough-minded as their coach. So the Mavericks faced every obstacle with a can-do attitude. That resolve has landed them in the NBA Finals. It's a reward for a long, hard season.

Rest assured, however, that the Mavericks won't forget the five things that molded them into Western Conference champions.

A crisis (Nov. 25)

It can be told now that Avery Johnson never really wanted Doug Christie to be part of the Mavericks' organization.

They needed a hard-nosed defender to anchor Johnson's defensive principles. No doubt there. But they didn't need a player who at the airport had to check his mental baggage because it wouldn't fit into his carry-on. He was a bit eccentric at best, flaky at worst. His wife, Jackie, was a constant companion on the road and at home games. Christie was not close to anybody in the locker room.

All of which could have been overlooked if he could still play. But an ankle injury limited his mobility, and his once-sticky defense never materialized. After only seven games, it was obvious to all that the Mavericks had to move forward without Christie.

"It was important for our team's chemistry," Johnson says.

Suffice it to say that Johnson was willing to do anything to end the Christie experiment. Had Christie stayed, it would have put stress on the entire basketball staff.

The byproduct of Christie's departure was that it opened up a spot for the Mavericks to sign Adrian Griffin. There has been no better stabilizing influence in the locker room than Griffin, who wound up starting most of the season.

Another residual benefit: It cemented Johnson's position as a shot-caller in the organization. His opinion on future signings will have considerable clout.

An embarrassment (Dec. 20)

62-61.

It's not a bad score after three quarters in Johnson's defensive-minded scheme.

Unless it's Kobe Bryant that has the 62 and all of the Mavericks who have 61.

Bryant's remarkable evening at the Staples Center on Dec. 20 left a lasting image in the Mavericks' memory banks. They had the longest one-hour flight in franchise history that night going from Los Angeles to Sacramento.

"Not many words were said on that flight," says Jason Terry.

Instead, the Mavericks thought about the shame they had just endured. The Lakers' guard had just rolled up 62 points in three quarters. On the humiliation scale, there's not much left beyond that.

But the Mavericks found out soon enough that Bryant's wild night really was an early Christmas present.

Two nights later, they won against the Kings. All the things Johnson was preaching about defense seemed to make more sense to the Mavericks. And they were certainly easier to point out in the aftermath of a 62-point individual effort.

"If something like that doesn't get your attention, then I don't think anything will," said assistant coach Del Harris. "That was a useful teaching tool, no question."

From then on, the Mavericks knew defense was no longer optional.

A delicate decision (Jan. 14)

The Mavericks had just given up 28 offensive rebounds in a single game. In Madison Square Garden. To the New York Knicks, who would give new meaning to the phrase "dog ugly" before the season was over.

The coaching staff had been toying with the idea of moving Erick Dampier out of the starting lineup for several weeks. But the timing never seemed right.

Then came the debacle in New York, when the Knicks humiliated the Mavericks, and Johnson could no longer tolerate the situation at center.

It wasn't a hard decision. It had become clear that a change was needed. Still, it was a situation that had to be handled with care.

DeSagana Diop was the starter in the next game. Dampier was the first center coming off the bench. It was a risky move in some respects.

"The job Gana did was important," Johnson said. "But the way Damp handled it was just as important. He responded the way we knew he would."

Dampier averaged eight rebounds over the last 46 games, all of them in a reserve role. He transformed from an erratic starter into a useful backup.

A losing streak (March 31)

The longest skid of the season ended with an all-too-public blowup by Johnson.

The Mavericks had lost to Detroit and Cleveland on the road. No disgrace there. Both teams would prove their mettle in the playoffs. But when they were dropkicked, 108-99, by the Orlando Magic on March 31, Johnson reached the boiling point.

Dirk Nowitzki had 38 points and 15 rebounds and still, the Mavericks were backhanded by the Magic. Jameer Nelson – a good young guard, but not a great one – had dropped 27 points on Jason Terry, who received a lengthy tongue-lashing from Johnson in the postgame shower area, within easy earshot of reporters and team personnel.

Johnson screamed at Terry, but his frustration was with the whole team.

It wasn't the first time Johnson had unloaded on an individual or on the team collectively. It was just heard by more people. Reporters were talking to Jerry Stackhouse when the rant began. A couple of seconds later, Stackhouse said: "I'm done."

But the Mavs weren't. They won their next five games.

"You learn more sometimes when you go through hard times like that," Johnson says. "We needed that as a team."

A breakthrough (April 7)

For anybody who believes that regular-season NBA games don't mean anything, we give you April 7.

The Mavericks went to San Antonio and rode Nowitkzi's awesome showing to a 92-86 victory over the Spurs. It did wonders for the Mavericks' emotional health.

"That game showed us that we could win down there when both teams were pretty much full strength," Harris said. "We were still in the fight for the best record at the time, but we knew then that even if we didn't get that, we could still get it done at their place."

And a month later, they did, beating the Spurs twice at AT&T Center during the Western Conference semifinals, including Game 7.

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Mavs originals feel peace at last

From Davis to Carter to Sonju, old-timers cheer Finals berth

By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News

While the Mavericks celebrated in the visitors' locker room late Saturday night in Phoenix, three franchise originals shared a special moment in the adjoining trainer's room.

Brad Davis, Keith Grant and Dr. J.R. Zamorano were alone with the Western Conference title trophy and a flood of emotions.

They used Mr. Davis' phone camera to e-mail photos home.

"Twenty-six years of waiting for us three guys," said Mr. Davis, who played for the Mavericks from 1980 to 1992 and is now one of the franchise's player development coaches. "We've seen the ups. We've seen the downs."

Mr. Grant, 48, the franchise's first equipment manager and now the assistant general manager, said he thought about current and former longtime employees. He wished they could have been in Phoenix to celebrate the Mavericks' first NBA Finals berth.

Not to worry. Across the country, many with deep Mavericks roots had their eyes glued to televisions. As Dallas prepares to host Miami in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday, they have watched with varying degrees of delight, disbelief and admiration.

"I'm so happy for Dallas, for Mark Cuban and everyone involved in the organization," said franchise co-founder Norm Sonju, who was president and general manager from 1980 to 1996. "It's a joy to see them play at this level.

"Now I basically will enjoy it vicariously."

Sonju, 67, watched the decisive Game 6 from an inn in Fredonia, N.Y., after son David's wedding.

While Mr. Sonju splits time between New York and Dallas, fellow Mavericks co-founder and original owner Donald Carter has been a front-row witness to the Mavericks' ascent.

Mr. Carter sold his majority interest in the team to Ross Perot Jr. in 1996. Mr. Cuban purchased the franchise in January 2000. Mr. Carter and wife Linda maintain a 4.13 percent stake in the team and have season tickets near midcourt at American Airlines Center.

Saturday night, however, they watched the final seconds tick away from their Highland Park home, as Mrs. Carter continues recovery from knee surgery.

"We looked at each other, and it was kind of like the quietness you have after a storm," Mr. Carter said. "Just a really peaceful, wonderful feeling."

Former Mavericks guard Derek Harper was in Phoenix, waiting to work the postgame broadcast in his role as analyst for KTVT-TV (Channel 11).

During the game, he sat with 15-year-old daughter Dana, reassuring her that the Mavericks would win even when the Suns took an 18-point lead.

As someone who starred for the Mavericks from 1983 to 1994 and 1996-97, Mr. Harper said he shared in the emotion of the postgame celebration. But as a TV reporter, he decided to simply extend congratulations and allow the team to enjoy its moment.

"It's very special," he said. "When you think about the '90s and the hard times, you kind of understand when people say losing builds character. It makes you appreciate what these guys have been able to do.

"It's a special time for Maverick fans, ex-players, new players. It's something that will have this city on edge for a long time."

Unlike most of his former Mavericks teammates, at least Mr. Harper can say he played in an NBA Finals – as a starter for the New York Knicks, who lost to Houston in Game 7 of the 1994 Finals.

Mr. Carter, Mr. Sonju, Mr. Grant and Mr. Davis said that as the Mavericks fell behind Saturday, they had unpleasant flashbacks to June 4, 1988.

That was the only other time Dallas was one victory from an NBA Finals berth. It was Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. The visiting Mavericks trailed by six points with 5:34 left to play but lost, 117-102.

"I remember thinking, 'We go out and have a good fourth quarter, we're going to the NBA Finals,' " Mr. Davis said. "I remember how exciting it was to be that close. And how disappointed everyone was when it didn't happen."

Mr. Sonju said that along with the joy he feels for the current Mavericks, there is "a twinge of 'I just wish we could have done it.' Because I thought we had our moment."

Mr. Carter, 72, wonders how differently things might have turned out had star forward Mark Aguirre not suffered an injured finger in the fourth quarter of that '88 game against the Lakers.

Or if the franchise's original coach, Dick Motta, hadn't resigned before that season, leading the franchise to hire John MacLeod.

He has long maintained that Mr. Motta would have taken a hard line with Mr. Aguirre and insisted that he not leave the game.

"I believe you only get so many chances in life to reach out and grab something," Mr. Carter said. "You miss one chance to grab on that opportunity, you go through different tumbles afterward.

"This team grabbed the opportunity, and I'm proud of them."

All these franchise originals reserved special praise for forward Dirk Nowitzki, coach Avery Johnson and Mr. Cuban.

"I don't know Dirk, never talked to him in my life," Mr. Sonju said. "But I find myself watching with admiration, cheering."

Because of her knee surgery, Mrs. Carter hasn't attended recent playoff games, but the Carters plan not only to be at Game 1 Thursday, but will travel to Miami next week.

"In regards to Mark [Cuban], the man loves this game," Mr. Carter said. "I couldn't find anybody that I would rather have the team and carry it on, because there's not enough owners that love the game like he does.

"He and this team have done us proud."

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City ready to applaud the Mavs

If team captures title, Dallas plans to party like it hasn't since 1999

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

Mayor Laura Miller cashed in on her bet with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon on Monday, sending him a Dallas Mavericks jersey signed by Dirk Nowitzki to wear in reverence to her home team's victory Saturday that clinched the Western Conference championship.

"I'm just glad I'm not wearing their shirt," said Ms. Miller, who would've been dressed in a Suns jersey signed by standout Steve Nash had the Suns won. "This feels much better."

The mayors had also agreed that the loser would buy breakfast for selected firefighters and police officers in the winning city.

And Ms. Miller said she's already working on a bet with Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, as the Mavericks and the Heat prepare to play in each team's first NBA Finals.

She's not the only city official anticipating a Dallas championship. Event planners say they're better prepared than ever for a Mavericks championship parade, in which up to 1 million fans could descend on downtown.

And Police Chief David Kunkle said his department would declare an emergency if necessary to curb spontaneous street celebrations, particularly if it looks as if the Mavericks are going to win the title.

"I'm far more concerned about those" than pre-scheduled events, Chief Kunkle said. "We're worn out with planning."

Dallas Special Events Manager Celia Barshop said that if the Mavericks beat the Heat, the Dallas team will ride around a mile-long loop in the city center, a promenade that would be celebratory – but also emphasize public safety.

During a 1993 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl victory parade attended by perhaps 250,000 people, the crowd became unruly, resulting in 50 injuries and 75 arrests.

Ms. Barshop said the earliest possible parade date is June 20, and that would be if the Mavericks win the first four games to sweep the best-of-seven series.

"We all – the Police Department, the Fire Department – feel pretty good about this plan, and the team feels good about it as well," Ms. Barshop said. "We've learned a lot of lessons. We are ready."

The parade would be the first of its kind since the Dallas Stars won hockey's Stanley Cup in 1999. Ms. Barshop said specifics on the route would be included in a full-page newspaper ad before the parade. But she declined to comment on what public safety measures would be in place, citing homeland security risks.

The parade – funded by the team, not the city – gets planned every year in case of a team championship. "We haven't had to deal with it for a long time, unfortunately," Ms. Miller said.

But she said Dallas is well prepared to manage what could be record-breaking crowds, considering its response to citywide immigration protests this spring.

And she said being in the Finals is a great boon for the city – for the economy, for tourism, and maybe even for bringing a political convention to the city.

"It's huge for Dallas; we love it," she said. "Out-of-town reporters will come in and cover the city. We'll get lots of coverage internationally."

Ms. Miller said she was manning the Blackberry at her son's baseball game on Saturday night, checking the Mavericks-Suns score every five minutes. When the baseball game ended, there were two minutes left in the Mavericks game, and Ms. Miller said she hurried home so they could catch the end.

"I'm full of the fever," she said.

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The air here sure is fresh

Mavs' first trip to Finals delivering new wonders to Dallas' doorstep

[By Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News]

When the Mavericks came into the league in 1980, they were light years removed from the big stage of the NBA Finals. And to tell the truth, 26 years ago, the NBA Finals were performed on a pretty rundown stage.

Magic Johnson had just begun to rescue the Finals from its tape-delayed, after-prime-time status that had seemed perfectly adequate for back-to-back years of Seattle-Washington finals.

Things changed over the next quarter of a century. You can debate whether Magic or Bird or Michael or David Stern is most responsible for that. But the NBA Finals are big-time, prime-time fare, and that's why the Mavericks' first Finals trip is the biggest sporting experience the city of Dallas will enjoy this decade.

It's true. The Mavericks playing Miami in the Finals is bigger than the next Cowboys' Super Bowl, which may or may not take place in this decade. That doesn't mean more people will watch the NBA, doesn't mean basketball can replace football as king in Texas.

But the next Cowboys Super Bowl will be their ninth. It will be huge, but it will be something we have seen before.

The Mavericks taking on Shaquille O'Neal and Pat Riley in the NBA Finals? Was that something you were even thinking about as recently as last spring, even as good as this team was becoming?

But there was Riley on Wednesday afternoon, just a few feet from where he had called out his team following a 36-point loss to the Mavericks in January, discussing his ninth trip with his third franchise to the Finals.

"I'm back in the Finals with a team. I've been trying to get there since '94," Riley said. "It's hard to get there, but that's what it's all about."

And then there was larger-than-life Shaq, seated but commanding the stage as he poked fun at a question about Dwyane Wade's health and made strange noises trying to trip up the stenographer, but all the while showing that he means business in his sixth Finals appearance.

"This is what you play for, this right here," O'Neal said. "Now we've just got to be the first to win four games."

Nothing easy about getting here, nothing easy about winning here. That's what makes the NBA Finals appearance for the Mavericks so large.

The NBA is the least democratic of the major sports leagues. Since the Mavericks hit the floor in 1980, only seven franchises have won NBA crowns. Either Dallas or Miami will be the eighth.

Contrast that with baseball, the sport that allegedly tilts too far in favor of big markets and big money. Count them up. Eighteen franchises have won a World Series since 1980. Imagine what people would say about the Yankees' dominance if it actually were real.

There have been 13 different Super Bowl and 11 Stanley Cup winners since then, too.

That's why you enjoy the ride when your team gets to the NBA Finals. For most, it doesn't come around too often. For many, it never does. Flukes do not spring up on the horizon and claim NBA titles.

"This is an event which really makes the Mavericks Dallas' team," said owner Mark Cuban.

It does it in a way that a Super Bowl can't. When the Cowboys go to the Super Bowl, they go to Pasadena or Miami or someplace else. Unless they strike gold the year that Jerry Jones' new palace in Arlington hosts a Super Bowl, the parties and the hype and the game itself take place far away.

The NBA Finals will unfold over two weeks in two cities. Half of the drama will be played out right here as the storylines change, new stars emerge, adjustments are made. And, oh, yes, there might be a party or two in Dallas to go with it.

That's the real question for the young Mavericks who lack the Finals experience that Riley and O'Neal and even back-up guard Gary Payton bring to the Heat. Does the big stage swallow them up?

That answer should have been revealed two weeks ago in San Antonio when the Mavericks won the biggest game in franchise history in overtime.

That kept the Finals dream alive. It's not a dream any longer.

Embrace it. It doesn't get any bigger than this.