What Happened to the Mavs????

[NeedlesKane]

I enjoy watching a young team like the Hornets fight and make it into the playoffs like last year, grabbing that 8th spot. They still have a fast round exit against a team like the Warriors, but at least they're playing with a certain level of excitement that I feel lacks from an old team that just barely hangs on for 8th place. I'd prefer for the Mavericks to start a rebuild mode, and while they're doing that I'd like it if Dirk plays his 20 seasons. It's up to him where he finishes that career though. Being a Mav for life would be awesome, but I would rather see him him 1 last deep playoff run.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I have no problem with the record or the fact that the Mavs are what they are. I have more of an issue with the fact that team started playing progressively worse from the mid point of the season on. That's very curious as it doesn't usually happen that way...especially with an experienced coach like Rick.

But let's face it, the season ended when Jordan reneged. There was no way to construct a truly competitive roster at that point.

Two things: 1) Jordan--I wonder how much better this team would've been with Jordan instead of Zaza. 50 wins? Maybe, maybe not. No guarantees.

2) The Fade--For me, it wasn't a difficult calculation to make to see this team regress as the season wore on. The combination of new players, older players, injury-recovering players, injury-prone players, and low-quality depth is actually a pretty good recipe for running out of gas in March.

It's an honest difference of perspective, I guess.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr

2) The Fade--For me, it wasn't a difficult calculation to make to see this team regress as the season wore on. The combination of new players, older players, injury-recovering players, injury-prone players, and low-quality depth is actually a pretty good recipe for running out of gas in March.

It's an honest difference of perspective, I guess.

I think what what happened is that the Mavs were probably planning to ease Matthews back until later season and play the young guys early on. The hot start might have put a false sense of how good the team was, and suddenly the FO thinks we're a 55 win team. So they pushed the veterans hard and now we have Zaza hurt, Parsons knee surgery, and Deron Williams with 20 or more injuries over the course of the season.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I think what what happened is that the Mavs were probably planning to ease Matthews back until later season and play the young guys early on. The hot start might have put a false sense of how good the team was, and suddenly the FO thinks we're a 55 win team. So they pushed the veterans hard and now we have Zaza hurt, Parsons knee surgery, and Deron Williams with 20 or more injuries over the course of the season.

Sounds about right... I think we all bit hard at the early start.

[BigDog63]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I have no problem with the record or the fact that the Mavs are what they are. I have more of an issue with the fact that team started playing progressively worse from the mid point of the season on. That's very curious as it doesn't usually happen that way...especially with an experienced coach like Rick.

Agree, hence the thread title. :-) It isn't so much where they are, but how they got there, with a late season fade, at home, against mediocre teams.

But let's face it, the season ended when Jordan reneged. There was no way to construct a truly competitive roster at that point.

Up until recently, it looked like they had in fact done just that.

[MavzMan]

Like so many players and commentators say at this point in the season, "You are what you are." Reasons are numerous and across the board, not just one person. I try to continue watching Dirk while I can.