San Antonio, 3.5 games back

[sturm und drang]

I know we all want to belittle NBA scribes like Charley Rosen as know-nothing Mav haters, but I'm afraid his below synopsis is true. What's the opinion-- can we hold off the hard-charging Spurs, who have won 16 of their last 17? I don't know... juxtaposing the way they've been playing of late with the way we've been playing of late, my guess is that they overtake us and win the Midwest.

If that happens, we drop down to #3. And-- barring a miraculous Jazz turn-around-- we'll play the Lakers in the first round.

Thoughts? I would love for someone to convince me that we can hold off SA. That said, I'd really like some group participation on the Spurs voodoo curse for tonight's game against the 'Wolves.

From ESPN.com's Charley Rosen:

After losing to the Kings last Christmas, the Lakers fell to 11-19, and even the possibility of qualifying for the playoffs seemed like a pipe dream.

"We've lost our aura of invincibility," Kobe Bryant moaned. "Nobody's afraid of us anymore." Since then, the Lakers have gone 24-7, and are back in the hunt for a four-peat.

Most recently, Shaq has regained much of the mobility he'd lost to his preseason surgery, and Kobe has been playing with patience and discipline. But has the Lakers' recent volte-face been sufficient to restore their aura and once more strike fear in the hearts of the pretenders to their crown? Let's take a look at their chief rivals:

Dallas Mavericks
Even though the Mavs have the NBA's best record, bet your bottom dollar that the thought of playing the Lakers early in the postseason has them quaking in their hand-tooled Neiman-Marcus boots. With all of their quickness, their skills and their defensive gimmicks, the Mavs are simply too soft in the middle to overcome the Lakers.

The Mavs' still lead the Midwest Division by four games (edit: 3.5 as of 3/12) over San Antonio, with only about 20 games left in the regular season. Should the Spurs gallop past them, Dallas would fall to the No. 3 seed -- and if the Lakers can hold off Utah, the Mavs would face off against the defending champs in the very first round of the playoffs. If this scenario comes to pass, the Mavs will be hog-tied and branded as losers by the end of April.

Dallas can't beat the LAL with a stick, and both teams know this to be true.

[jayC]

The jazz are ahead of the lake show as of know. People don't expect much of the mavs and rosen is known for his unoriginal opinions. But i wouldn't want to make the finals and then just get jobbed by the big three of san antonio, sacramento or LA any way. So I don't want to get to the conference finals only to figure out we are only pretenders. Ric Flair says to be the best you have to beat the best. Cuban thinks the mavs are the best well its time for them to prove it.

San Antonio is what 24-4 over the last 28 they have to cool off sooner or later, and the mavs have been the model of consistency beating teams they are supposed to beat. And they aren't going to be down 3-1, to the kings, spurs and Lakers. Bradley played his best ball of the season against san antonio and if we beat the spurs in the season series we will win the conference number one seed.

I say bring em on.

[ariosto]

Last year after the same number of games, we had the exact same lead: we were at 45-18, they were at 41-21. We ended up losing the division by a game. However, we basically gave up and rested our starters in the last game with Phoenix, because the Spurs held the tie-breaker.

I think the key is head-to-head matchups. If we can win those, the division is ours.

[ames7]

<< The jazz are ahead of the lake show as of know. >>


Actually, when WE beat the Jazz, we allowed the Lakers to pass them. Yea, us. [stabs self in eye w/metal rod]

It's not that we CAN'T beat the Lakers, it's that it would take a LOT of effort. Effort we really can't afford to be wasting in the first round. Even if we do beat them, we'll be a lot more tired in the second round than, say, if we played Houston or Phoenix.

The Spurs are scary. I was really hoping the Phoenix loss would send them reeling a little, but they just kept right on rolling. See? Why can't we do that?

[FilthyFinMavs]

I say bring'em on also. I want Mavs to defeat last years champions. Last season Kings had problems with the Jazz and it took them to 5 games to settle that series. Next round they come out and sweep us. So I don't mind facing the Lakers. I do believe the number 1 seed is important because of homecourt though. I don't care if we play the Kings in the first round we are just going to have to play better ball then we currently are.

[sturm und drang]

Ames, agreed. I'm more concerned about the effort we would expend in playing the Lakers than actually losing to them; in fact, I think we have a better chance of beating the Lakers than the Kings. However, it's a no-win proposition: even if we win, it will have been an excruciating, hard-fought 6 or 7 game series. And, for all our strengths and merits, I question our ability to re-energize after such an exhausting, physical set of games.

San Antonio, by the way, was down by 8 going into the 4th quarter last night. !&amp;^^&amp;%$ Bucks!

[Evilmav2]

Bring on the Lakers. I'll take our odds of beating those guys over the Spurs or (much as it pains me to say this) the stupid Kings. I don't think the purple and gold have an earthly chance of being able to defend us, and as long as our offense is rolling, Shaq and Kobe can only try to keep them in the game. The Lakers supporting cast of broken down old has-beens, and journeyman never-will-be's can't hang with our deep and potent team, and should consequently be torched throughout such a series...

I KNOW Nick Van Exel would be chomping at the bit to be involved in such a series (A Mavs dethroning of the defending champs would be a bright stage indeed for the old Laker-killer), and I can envisage a devastating role for our bench in that same said contest. Just thinking about lineups of Bradley/Najera/Dirk/Griff/Van Exel feasting upon the likes of Mark Madsen and Samaki Walker makes me a very happy man...

We have good models of such a series from the past. When I think of a potential Laker's series this year, I can't help but remember that game late last Spring where we cruised to a victory over a full strength Lakers' squad that produced 30+ scoring games from both Kobe and Shaq. We took the best shot that Shaq and Kobe could give us, and we still cruised to a victory on the strength of our own up-tempo offense. Getting in a gunnery contest with the Kings might not work so well, but against the Lakers such a strategy will have a bad, bad effect on the tired old legs of the defending champs. I think that the game I referred to should be a strong indicator of how many of this year's games against the Lakers will go...

A Laker's- Mav's series should command no fear in the hearts of the Mavs' faithful... As I said earlier, Bring em' on...

[LRB]

In all honesty I think we have to wait until next year to win the division. Unless Nellie significantly changes his coaching tactics, I just don't think we have what it takes to hold the Spurs off. I hope I'm wrong, but I really believe it'll take a new coach to win the division or a significant injury to Tim Duncan.

[FilthyFinMavs]

<< In all honesty I think we have to wait until next year to win the division. Unless Nellie significantly changes his coaching tactics, I just don't think we have what it takes to hold the Spurs off. I hope I'm wrong, but I really believe it'll take a new coach to win the division or a significant injury to Tim Duncan. >>




Yep your wrong. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]


I thought i'd show the homer in me. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[Hitman]

I'd like to think they can do it.

It would be a huge letdown to have the best record in the league for the whole year only to blow it the last 10 games or so.

Nellie has shown some improvement lately, and maybe he will make some changes as we enter the home stretch.

We can only hope (and pray)

Hitman

[MavKikiNYC]

Hey. They could easily have taken the Midwest title last year, but they bascially choked away a couple of games down the stretch.'

Mavs are still running on the after-fumes over their 14-0 start. I'm predicting that SA will overtake them again this year. Mavericks have a nice team, but Nellie is having to resort to his various and sundry gimmickry to try to disguise personnel deficiencies, and they simply don't have any significant momentum right now--certainly not enough to hold off a team like the Spurs.

[dude1394]

Comparison to last year. Looks like we started off slow again in the last 20. That's probably what nellie was looking at and trying to get the teams focus for this last 20. We really need to go at least 15-5. I don't think the spurs can do much better than 17-3.

Left 20 15 10 5 Final Last 20
2001-2 W L W L W L W L W L
Dallas 44-18 47-20 50-22 54-23 57-25 13-7
Spurs 41-21 46-21 49-23 53-24 58-24 17-3

Left 20
2002-3 W L
Dallas 48-14
Spurs 44-18

Current( Added tonights Minn. win for spurs) Mavs up by 3 again.
Dallas 48-15
Spurs 45-18

[MavsFanFinley]

<< I think the key is head-to-head matchups. If we can win those, the division is ours. >>



Just like last year, it looks like it's going to come down to our matchups against each other. Last year, the Mavs couldn't do it.

I think this year is different. Or maybe I just don't want to believe the Mavs will blow it now after leading the whole season.

It would help if the Mavs could win 3 of their next 4 games before facing the Spurs next Thursday at home. Seattle, Golden State, and Cleveland SHOULD be wins, but if they're not playing smart, well anything goes I guess. I'm not real hopeful about the Kings game, but maybe the Mavs surprise us.

Should be interesting.

[ames7]

Well SA did what we didn't: finished off Minnesota. They are now only 3 back. This is as close as they've ever gotten, isn't it?

[MavsFanFinley]

From the DMN:

Hitting 60 could be Midwest magic for Mavs

03/13/2003

By MIKE McALLISTER / The Dallas Morning News

Don Nelson sees it from a pragmatic standpoint. Son Donnie, on the other hand, offers a slightly more sentimental tone.

No matter the viewpoint, winning 60 games is a major accomplishment for any NBA team. The Mavericks, on pace to win 62 games this season, could knock down that barrier for the first time in their 23 years of existence.

First, of course, they need to reach the 50-win mark. That could happen in the next two days, as the 48-15 Mavericks begin a three-game road trip Thursday in Seattle.

After that, the goal will be 60 wins. Achieve it, and the Mavericks not only will make franchise history, they'll greatly improve their odds of fending off San Antonio in the Midwest Division race.

&quot;I would say 60 wins is the magical number,&quot; head coach Don Nelson said. &quot;If you go below that, then you're very vulnerable.&quot;

Since 1980 when the Mavericks entered the league, 36 teams have reached the 60-win mark. Just one time – the 1994-95 Utah Jazz – did a team fail to win its division outright. On two other occasions, teams posted the same record as the division winner but lost the tiebreaker.

Nelson is emphasizing winning the division in order to secure at least one of the top two seeds in the West. The Mavericks want to avoid falling to the third seed and a potential first-round pairing with the three-time defending champion Lakers.

While Nelson downplays the actual achievement of winning 60 games – something he's done just one time in his previous 24 years as an NBA head coach – he does recognize the value of the mark.

&quot;The number doesn't matter,&quot; he said. &quot;It's winning the division or not. ... It would be an overachievement to do that, to get the best record in the league. I think it's worthy and worthwhile to pursue that, so I'm going to continue to put the pedal to the metal.&quot;

Breaking through to 60 wins, though, will be significant.

Should the Mavericks do it this season, 11 other NBA franchises would be left still seeking their first 60-win season.

Four of those franchises are recent expansion teams: Minnesota, Toronto, New Orleans and Memphis.

The other seven are Atlanta, Cleveland, Golden State, Houston, Indiana, the LA Clippers and New Jersey. Combined, those seven teams have 278 seasons of professional basketball experience.

None of those seven veteran clubs can reach the 60-win plateau this season. So consider it 285 seasons of 60-win futility.

That's why Mavericks assistant coach/president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson thinks 60 wins is noteworthy.

&quot;It's probably akin to pitching a shutout,&quot; the younger Nelson said. &quot;It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen.

&quot;If we accomplish something like that, with the kind of competition we face in the West, it would be a pretty special achievement. It would be a sign that we're doing things the right way.&quot;

Last season, the Kings recorded their first 60-win season in the club's 54th season. The Mavericks, having knocked on the door with a club-record 57 wins last season, can reach the mark in less than half the time.

But as the Kings found out a year ago, winning 60 regular-season games leaves an empty feeling if you can't follow it up by winning four rounds in the playoffs.

That's why 16 wins in the postseason will be a much more difficult accomplishment. And, of course, much more satisfying.

[sturm und drang]

Our next three games: Sonics, Warriors, Kings.

San Antonio's next three games: Clippers, Bulls, Knicks

Ruh-roh.