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10-31-2006, 07:15 AM
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Platinum Member
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Mavs don't think they can win it all, they know it
Beyond belief
Mavs don't think they can win it all, they know it By ART GARCIA STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER The text messages were sent. E-mails, too. Dirk Nowitzki received them. So did Josh Howard. Everyone, actually. The Mavericks' fiery and emboldened point guard wanted to make sure all his teammates were on the same page. There would be no confusion for the defending Western Conference champions. Jason Terry's written words were direct: We've got to get our trophy back. "I wanted to let them know we weren't going to let that go easy," Terry said. "That was our trophy. We still feel that way to this day." Never before has the ultimate prize seemed so reachable. Sure, two other teams in franchise history reached the Western Conference finals (1988 and 2003) and went into the following season as one of the favorites. This team is more than just one of the favorites. What they did last season made sure of that. They were on the stage. They touched the trophy. They were six minutes away in Game 3 from taking a Larry O'Brien death grip. And they let it slip away. "Guys understand we're here for a reason, we're on a mission and there is no uncertainty," owner Mark Cuban said. "In the past guys could say, 'This is our year to win a championship.' Now everybody knows we can get there." There's a difference between believing and knowing they can finish the job. Mavs coach Avery Johnson preached a belief system last season that sunk in, willing the Mavs past San Antonio and Phoenix and into the Finals. Johnson no longer has to convince his team of what they can accomplish. His team is sharp enough to know they can't shortchange the process. "It's great to have a big goal, and that's the championship, but you've got to take all the little steps to get there," said Nowitzki, an MVP candidate the last two seasons. "We can't forget about the regular-season games that made us better as a team. We can't forget about all the little film sessions, all the defensive drills we've been doing since last year. "We need that as a team to come together and get us to that spot. It's going to be a long year and we're going to hopefully work hard again." Johnson begins work on the new season with another stacked deck. A quartet of hardened veterans -- Devean George, Anthony Johnson, Austin Croshere and Greg Buckner -- came on board to support the Mavs' latest version of a "Large Trio" in Nowitzki, Terry and Howard. The center rotation of DeSagana Diop and Erick Dampier brought stability to the position and both head into the season trying to earn a starting spot. Dampier seems motivated and Diop has added to his limited offensive repertoire. Buckner appears to have the edge over George to start at off guard opposite Terry. The bench remains loaded with Jerry Stackhouse, Devin Harris and electrifying-but-raw rookie Maurice Ager. "We should be an even deeper team than we were last year," Nowitzki said. It should stay that way. Cuban committed nearly $180 million this summer to lock up Nowitzki, Terry, Howard and Avery Johnson for at least the next five years. Stackhouse and Croshere are the only two scheduled to be free agents after the season. The Mavs are saying they would have made the roster changes even without the June setback. The four vets share many of the same qualities. They're accomplished role players with a defensive focus and own 252 games of combined playoff experience, with three -- Anthony Johnson, George and Croshere -- having competed in the Finals. "More experience of playing in big games," Avery Johnson said of the new group. "More experience of playing in the Finals. You can't teach it. That's why we deliberately added the guys that we have. "We're not on a 10-year plan here. It's year-to-year. We think these guys give us our best chance to maximize ourselves this year." Stackhouse pointed out the additions don't take into account the subtractions. Adrian Griffin, Keith Van Horn, Marquis Daniels and Darrell Armstrong were integral pieces in 2005-06. "I like this group. I wouldn't say I like it better than last year," Stackhouse said. "You obviously got guys with some experience and have been to the Finals, but now we've lost some guys that have been to the Finals. We lost the guys with the most recent Finals experience. "It's give-and-take either way. Definitely the character of the guys we brought in mesh well with who we are and the identity we try to present as a hard-nosed, physical team." Johnson has talked about the Mavs being a "hit-first" team defensively. Nothing dirty, just aggressive. Mental toughness is another prerequisite in Johnson's system. There were plenty of whispers during the Finals that Miami's nightlife led to the Mavs' unraveling. The late-night parties that kept several players -- but not all -- out certainly didn't help, and the move north to Fort Lauderdale was Johnson's obvious attempt to regain focus. "Our guys hadn't had any problems the whole playoffs," Johnson said. Distractions of any kind usually aren't useful, and the Mavs were clearly more distracted than at any time during the season. Nowitzki admitted they weren't ready for the circus environment, the constant media obligations, photo shoots and just the general hoopla. One fact, however, is just as clear: South Beach didn't beat the Mavs. Dwyane Wade and the Heat did. What could the Mavs have done differently? "Maybe had a better scheme to slow Wade down," Stackhouse said. "He became a nemesis to us. Our focus was to try to contain [Shaquille O'Neal] and we did a good job of that. As well as Dwyane Wade played before the Finals, we just didn't anticipate him having that type of series." Buckner, George and Anthony Johnson offer more size and athleticism on the perimeter, in theory better equipping the Mavs to face the likes of Wade, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Manu Ginobili. For all the changes and all that remained the same, there is no substitute for coming up two wins shy of a title. Or losing four in a row. "Experience is the greatest teacher," Avery Johnson said. "You understand how to handle your team better, how to handle situations, not knowing that you're going to get it perfect the next time because you're depending on five guys to play well." That experience led to what the Mavs are now. This is who they would be even if they were celebrating on the American Airlines Center hardwood five months ago. "It would have been the same thing," Cuban said simply. "Had we won the championship would we have done anything different? "No." POINTS TO RETURN How the Mavs improved this off-season. Perimeter defense is better: You can't slow Dwyane Wade with Adrian Griffin, so Josh Howard got some needed help with Devean George, above, Greg Buckner and Anthony Johnson. The window's been extended: Mark Cuban, above, opened up the wallet, locking up Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and coach Avery Johnson through 2011, and Jason Terry a year beyond that. On common ground: The Mavs' off-season additions are true professionals, and the holdovers are determined to win it all. Avery Johnson, above, shouldn't have any motivation issues. |
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10-31-2006, 09:08 AM
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#2 |
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Rooting for the laundry
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 21,342
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I dont like all this June talk in October. I'm afraid for this team to lose focus. Worry about May in May and worry about winning 60 games now. I'm sure Avery will get them on the right track, but the media sure doesn't seem to be helping.
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10-31-2006, 09:25 AM
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London, UK
Posts: 771
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The Mavs played like a lottery team in the preseason. They better stop talking like a contending and start playing like one.
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10-31-2006, 10:40 AM
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Rooting for the laundry
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 21,342
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Peter Schrager / FOXSports.com
Posted: 38 minutes ago http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6117612 . . . Eight playoff squads: 1. San Antonio Spurs 2. Phoenix Suns 3. Utah Jazz 4. Houston Rockets 5. Dallas Mavericks 6. Denver Nuggets 7. Golden State Warriors 8. Los Angeles Clippers First round: Spurs beat Clippers in 4; Suns beat Warriors in 4; Jazz beat Nuggets in 7; Rockets beats Mavericks in 6 Second round: Spurs beat Rockets in 5; Suns beat Jazz in 5 Western Conference finals: Suns beat Spurs in 5 NBA Finals: Suns beat Pistons in 7 ------------------------------------------------------ WOW
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10-31-2006, 11:00 AM
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#5 |
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 7,031
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Peter Schrager is clearly an idiot
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10-31-2006, 12:23 PM
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Golden Member
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Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 1,230
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Quote:
Last edited by VivaNajera; 10-31-2006 at 12:24 PM. |
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10-31-2006, 12:42 PM
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moderately impressed
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Home of the thirteenth colony
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10-31-2006, 12:46 PM
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Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 982
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I really feel bad for the Mavs.
I'm serious--serious as a heart attack. As the resident Spurs fan who writes here with any regular basis, I have contended all along--the Mavs clearly were screwed in the play-offs with the worst officiating that any team in any sport has ever encountered. The refs were so bad it merits a congressional investigation. I can understand why they feel that they were robbed--because they were--and this would be great incentive to get the trophy. |
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10-31-2006, 01:40 PM
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#9 | |
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Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
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Quote:
One series going 7? Double wow..
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"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’ |
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10-31-2006, 01:51 PM
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#10 |
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Guru
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 15,241
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haha, clearly foxsports is in desperate need for some sports writers...
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 Contact Me Twitter: www.twitter.com/alnguyen84 Facebook: www.facebook.com/alnguyen84 |
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10-31-2006, 05:41 PM
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#11 |
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 9,224
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Everyone overrates the Suns, it's ridiculous. Dallas, San Antonio, and even f***ing Miami have at least proved something. What have the Suns recently accomplished? Nothing. Even their trips to the conference finals were pretty easy (Dallas wasn't nearly as good in '05 as they are now), and they still find a way to drag those series out to six or seven games.
And forget Amare. He hasn't proven he's recovered either, and it doesn't matter anyway. The Spurs disposed of him effortlessly in five games two years ago, back when he was his explosive self. |
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10-31-2006, 06:00 PM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Laredo
Posts: 7,995
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Exactly. I hate it how everyone sucks off Phoenix so much.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. Phoenix is allergic to Defense.
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 "Dirk Nowitzki is now a household name in every locker room in this world. You say it in Brazil, you say Dirk, they know Nowitzki. You say it in China, they know Nowitzki. Kobe, Michael, DIRK." - Jeff Van Gundy Last edited by Rick41; 10-31-2006 at 06:00 PM. |
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10-31-2006, 06:29 PM
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Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 982
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Why is everyone in love with the Suns?
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10-31-2006, 06:29 PM
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: hogwarts - school of witchcraft and wizardry
Posts: 2,301
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i hope amare does well since he is on two of my fantasy teams q=))
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i bleed burnt orange. Hook 'Em Horns \m/ |
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10-31-2006, 07:26 PM
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#15 |
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Guru
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 23,256
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Clippers at 8 is almost as shockingas the Mavs at 5.....b ut this is how we love it. Underdogs for life.....thats my Mavs motto.
Underrate us.....then look at the score board.
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"Cream of the crop gon' rise to the top." -Jaden Hardy 
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10-31-2006, 07:41 PM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 9,224
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But the Suns? No way. Last edited by Dirkadirkastan; 10-31-2006 at 07:42 PM. |
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10-31-2006, 07:56 PM
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#17 |
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Golden Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 1,355
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Looking at this Miami ceremony right now is tough..tough.
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10-31-2006, 08:01 PM
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#18 |
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,305
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Yeah Foxsport is easily the worst place to get basketball analysis. The Clips at 8? Behind The Nuggets and Golden State? Wait... what the hell is Golden state doing in the playoffs anyway? I hate those guys.
Anyway on topic... they sound focused, they just need to walk the walk. We shouldn't be nervous that they haven't, hell we haven't even played a season game yet. We all know the preseason means nothing, the Raps were like 7-1. |
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10-31-2006, 08:30 PM
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Diamond Member
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Posts: 9,224
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11-01-2006, 12:20 AM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 4,627
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What a way to celebrate their ring ceremony, a blowout from the Bulls afterwards. Yeah...
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11-01-2006, 04:25 AM
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#21 | |
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Mexico Mountains
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Quote:
Bitter? Me? Really?
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"He got dimes." Harrison Barnes on Luca Doncic during his 1st NBA training camp. |
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11-01-2006, 07:25 AM
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#22 |
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Germany
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Being the West's best isn't enough for Mavs
By ART GARCIA Star-Telegram Staff Writer The Mavericks are the defending Western Conference champions. There's no debating it, even if they initially didn't want to celebrate it. Mark Cuban didn't want the phrase "Western Conference champion" used in any ad campaign or printed in any official team publication when planning for the 2006-07 season. The logic, he thought, was sound. "Our goal is a championship," he said. No sense in reminding everyone that his team finished second. Just wipe the slate clean for the new campaign and don't look back. "But everyone talked me out of that, and I went with it," he admitted. So there it is, printed on the cover of the team's media guide: "2006 Western Conference Champions." The Mavs aren't hiding from their breakthrough season, even if the last few breaks didn't go their way. "It's an unspoken word. It's understood," Jason Terry said of the team's frame of mind. "Everybody knows what's at stake here. The new guys know why they were brought in." Resting on their laurels or status as one of the title favorites isn't in the cards. Coach Avery Johnson's crew also doesn't need daily reminders of what's on the line. It's about swapping "Western Conference" in favor of "NBA" on the cover of next season's media guide. "Avery puts that stamp on the team," Terry said. "You don't even have to say anything. You know it from his film sessions. You know it from every time he says something in practice." Even with coming up two wins short in the NBA Finals, that trust in Johnson hasn't waned. "When we work on the system like we did all season long, and we believe in the system and our teammates and the coaching staff," Dirk Nowitzki said, "we're able to pull through." Though the season officially tipped off Tuesday, the Mavs don't begin defense of their trophy until Thursday against rival San Antonio at American Airlines Center. The Mavs are taking pride in being the team everyone else in the West, including the Spurs, is aiming to overthrow. There is something to the moniker Cuban didn't embrace at first. "Oh, yeah, beating out all the other Western Conference teams [means something]," Josh Howard said. "I know winning the championship means a whole lot more, but for us to be top dog [in the West] last year is a big accomplishment for us as a team." The journey to do it again is about to begin. It's one they hope to cherish. "You've got to enjoy the process. You enjoy the time on the road with the guys," Jerry Stackhouse said. "That's the part of basketball you'll miss when it's all over. That's what this is all about. "Just building that time together. Learning the quirks of all the new guys coming in. Just having a good time on the road. Going out. All those things. Those are the things that make the drive worth it." |
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11-01-2006, 09:45 AM
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Banned
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Location: London, UK
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11-01-2006, 10:10 AM
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Rooting for the laundry
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 21,342
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Quote:
I didnt see a second of it, and I avoided all sports TV for weeks after, and didnt see any photos of it. It's bad enough I have to think of them in our building with their trophy* every time Im there this season.
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11-01-2006, 10:31 AM
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#25 | |
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Guru
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Posts: 40,410
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Quote:
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"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’ |
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11-01-2006, 10:33 AM
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#26 | |
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Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
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Quote:
__________________
"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’ |
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11-02-2006, 02:35 AM
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#27 |
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Germany
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History says Mavs can't take Finals step
01:04 AM CST on Thursday, November 2, 2006 [By Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News] Now that the Mavericks have done something historic, history is solidly against them. Avery Johnson did what Dick Motta and Don Nelson never could. He put a Western Conference Champions banner in the rafters over the Mavericks' home floor. The fact that Dallas lost to Miami in something close to an historic collapse is not as relevant as the fact that it got there. The Mavericks conquered the West after 25 years of failure. Now what? History does not suggest that the Mavericks' next step is an NBA title. Most Finals losers do not make it back the next year. The last Finals loser to win a championship the next year was the 1989 Detroit Pistons. It's been awhile. Losing takes a toll on a team in the NBA but so does winning. The Mavericks played 105 games last season. Dirk Nowitzki played in 104, logging more than 4,000 minutes. Fatigue isn't so much the issue as is hunger. A year ago, these Mavericks players had never been to the Finals. Beating the Spurs was a huge hurdle. Beating Phoenix was another huge hurdle. How does Johnson instill the hunger in this team once it has been (at least partially) satisfied? "You can't do this by osmosis," Johnson said. "We can't all of a sudden just get to June 20 of '07. We can't skip a step. "These players know that every film session, every practice, every shootaround, all the adversity that you go through is part of the process. At the same time, we have experienced it now." Meaning the Mavericks no longer have to be riddled with self-doubt. Can they beat Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili? Maybe not tonight, given the way the two teams finished the preseason. But the knowledge that they can win a Game 7 in San Antonio is invaluable. Still, I think there are too many fans who just expect the Mavericks to return to the Finals. They were better than the Spurs and Suns last year, so why shouldn't they be better again? Well, I think they are better than Phoenix. I think the Suns would have been better served by losing to the Lakers in the first round and re-examining their entertaining but deeply flawed basketball philosophy. But better than the Spurs? That's a tough one. Was last season a changing of the guard or more a case of the Spurs as defending champions being a bit run down? A team that's already been together for two titles (Duncan has been part of three) is going to take a year off now and then. And surely the Manu Ginobili that we saw last year was nothing like the player we had seen in those championship years. Not winning last year will make the Spurs a more formidable foe this year. How do the Mavericks counter? Winning no longer will be a novelty for this team. The doubters from around the nation that remembered the Mavericks from the years of Nellie and No Defense understand that this team does play at both ends of the floor now. The core of a team that should have beaten Miami but didn't returns. The good news is that Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry, the team's three premier players, are locked into long-term contracts. The bad news is that Nowitzki, Howard and Terry are locked into long-term contracts. A year ago, these players were doing more than taking a franchise where it had never been. They were playing for contracts that they have now received. It's always good for a team to have a star or two with that contract carrot still dangling out there, but Johnson said he's not worried about satisfaction settling in. "Jason Terry has made good money in this league before," he said. "Dirk has made good money before. Josh Howard is so young that he would play this game for free. What I'm saying is I don't think it's going to change the way we work." But winning changes things, even if they fell short of the ultimate goal. "You've really got about six teams capable of winning the championship," Jerry Stackhouse said. "The other teams are trying to figure out where they are. And they figure out where they are by beating Dallas or beating San Antonio." It's a new journey for the Mavericks, different from anything they have encountered in the past. In that way, tonight begins another opportunity to make history. |
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11-02-2006, 03:43 AM
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#28 |
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 9,224
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That's a good point about last year's series against San Antonio. The Mavs victory had nothing to do with anything on the court; it was because the Spurs decided to take the year off. Why had I never thought of this before?
Enough with the sarcasm. It just pisses me off that everyone's always like "Ooh, the Spurs lost so they're going to fight with cold fire in their souls and kick everyone's ass," but then they say, "Ooh, the Mavs lost so they're just going to whittle away..." Last edited by Dirkadirkastan; 11-02-2006 at 03:43 AM. |
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11-02-2006, 04:53 AM
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#29 |
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Mexico Mountains
Posts: 2,399
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Clip and save that Colishaw column. It will be a fun read this time next year, nuch like looking back at last year's pre-season ESPN predictions.
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"He got dimes." Harrison Barnes on Luca Doncic during his 1st NBA training camp. |
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