'Blackman says Mavericks will bounce back from upset'

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Blackman says Mavericks will bounce back from upset
May 9, 2007

By Jeff Taylor Special to PA SportsTicker

ATHENS, Greece (Ticker) - It's not often an NBA team wins 67 games and looks back on the campaign with regret. But that is this season's Dallas Mavericks.

Having matched the fourth-best record in history, the Mavericks were considered the favorites to win the title. However, they were sent packing in a first-round defeat to the Golden State Warriors, who became the first eighth seed to defeat a top seed in a best-of-seven series.

Rolando Blackman, a long-time Maverick and four-time NBA All-Star who now serves as director of basketball development for the club, fully expects the team to bounce back with a vengeance.

"We're going to be able to recover," Blackman said. "Anytime you have a team that's won 67 games, it's not a fluke situation, it's not fooling around.

"We ran into a buzzsaw that we could not stop. And all of a sudden, we're out of the playoffs. It's a hurtful, hurtful situation. We're deeply hurt, but the important factor for us is that we need to bounce back and move forward again."

The Mavericks supposedly were a team on a mission this season. Behind the superlative play of MVP favorite Dirk Nowitzki, they reached the 2006 Finals and won the first two games from the Miami Heat, who rallied behind Dwyane Wade to win the next four games and the title.

"It hurt last year, losing in the finals to Miami, and we're hurt this year in the first round losing to Golden State," Blackman said. "But we do know that we have a great team, a great program led by (coach) Avery Johnson and we'll be back again.

"That's the thing about sports, you have to keep digging, keep toiling, and we do still have a great membership as far as the players are concerned."

Blackman was at the Euroleague Final Four over the weekend. Born in Panama and raised in New York, he has international basketball on his resume, having been a member of the 1980 United States team that boycotted the Olympics.

He visits his homeland often, trying to help the country build its national programs for both men and women. Panama qualified for the 2006 World Championships but lost all five games and let go former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson.

Blackman has concerns about that decision.

"I think the downside to that is not retaining him and making sure he can continue the program, continue to build because with that, you also build the essence of the players and understand how they play together," he said. "You also build the essence of the kids in the country who start to see and realize the commitment necessary to understand what's going on.

"Panama is just starting over all the time. It looks like they start over, start over, start over. At some point in time, the board members, also everyone would like to see some commitment be made to the program.

Blackman also urged national federations and international basketball fans to be more understanding when leading players such Manu Ginobili of Argentina decide to rest instead of playing for the national team.

"You want to play for your national teams and you want to get out there and do well, but people have to really understand that it's an 82-game season," he said. "You're getting into a situation where you need to get some rest sometimes. It does impact your season next season.

"The important thing is that you need to find the leeway that you can give and how much time commitment you're going to make."

Blackman admires the changes made by USA Basketball, which installed Jerry Colangelo as managing director. Colangelo asked for a three-year commitment from all players lasting through - hopefully - the 2008 Olympics.

"Guys have to understand what you've got to do and they build it into their program to be able to be a part of it, because you won't beat anybody if you don't have that commitment as we've already seen," Blackman said.

"The other way is play for two weeks, play against the world and lose, or give the commitment to prepare and have an opportunity to play at the highest level, and we'll see what happens then because that's still not guaranteed."