Finishing

[92bDad]

Again, a thread that is only basketball...no conspiracy here.

Last nights game was frustrating. They did well to compete due to the jump shots going in...they kept it close due to taking it inside and forcing the foul calls.

The Lakers did the same thing...and in the finail minute...the Mavs crumbled. They finished weak, like they were shocked to even be in a position to maybe sneak in a win.

The Mavs simply fell apart.

They build up these leads and then piss them away. Still after however many years of being extremely competitive have not learned how to kick a team when they are down.

When push came to shove and the Lakers needed to man up and play physical, the mavs simply gave in.

I truly question the character of these players? Do they have any fight in them that can carry them over the elite teams...so far they have NOT shown it.

For as inspiring as Dirk was...he blew it when it counted. His turnover cost the Mavs the game at the end.

Why can't our guys do a bit of what Odom did? He used his body, his arms...everything he had with no-calls and simply out muscled the Mavs...meanwhile our Mavs simply backed down.

This team and these players need to learn how to finish STRONG or they will be finished period.

This loss falls squarely on the Players!!!

[dude1394]

But they have been able to finish in the past, these same players so why not now? Also to think you are going to just crush a quality opponent like this on their floor is irrational to me.

Thirdly...they HAVE been crushing teams who they are clearly better than but just not finishing off quality teams.

There's something wrong here as well, but your intimation that it's somehow related to the "character" of the players blows imo.

[Caseman]

On defense, the Mavericks were vunerable. It came down to in the last minutes, everyone knew the Lakers were going to score, the question was if the Mavericks could retaliate. When they didn't, they lost the game.

[Movie Phone]

it's very frustrating. you can just tell we are on the verge. i know you can't say that everytime. but gosh. we are sooooo close. do you guys know what i'm saying? i'm trying to take some solace from the loss. i know it was another close loss...but whatever. 2 things---better execution down the stretch and more contribution from the bench. we get those two things, we win this game. SO CLOSE. but i like where we stand. lets get in the playoffs..

[Popeye]

Avery makes stupid decisions. The team unravels. I'd like to get rid of Avery and his stupid decisions, and then see if the team still unravels. Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't. I'd like to find out though.

[me770706]

it's more difficult to finish now because all our key opponents are much better than they used to be. we're just not a step up on everyone like we used to be.

[purplefrog]

I wonder if the Mavs failing to attack the basket at the end of games is because they are convinced they will not get the call. If true, that's a bad mindset to have during crunch time.

[ribosoma]

They actually did get the call last night. I thought that that was about the best-officiated game I have seen in a while. For the most part, the refs let them play. Down the stretch, the officials actually called some fouls on the Lakers when they were too aggressive defensively. The Mavs just failed to execute offensively and had a few players who looked really tired due to heavy minutes (Josh looked exhausted). I am very proud of their effort. They controlled the tempo, but the Lakers stepped up defensively in the second half. Odom was out of his mind. He shows up competitively in about 10% of their games, so I feel good that we were able to keep it close with one of their marginal players playing so far above his head. I saw no problems in relation to coaching decisions last night, but I am sure that there are those who do, as they always seem to.

[destroy ALL]

mavs suck. they know the season is already on the line and they still cant win. what makes us think they can win in the playoffs. that it, if they can even make it.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by ribosoma

They actually did get the call last night. I thought that that was about the best-officiated game I have seen in a while. For the most part, the refs let them play. Down the stretch, the officials actually called some fouls on the Lakers when they were too aggressive defensively. The Mavs just failed to execute offensively and had a few players who looked really tired due to heavy minutes (Josh looked exhausted). I am very proud of their effort. They controlled the tempo, but the Lakers stepped up defensively in the second half. Odom was out of his mind. He shows up competitively in about 10% of their games, so I feel good that we were able to keep it close with one of their marginal players playing so far above his head. I saw no problems in relation to coaching decisions last night, but I am sure that there are those who do, as they always seem to.

I agree, I thought the officials were really solid last night.

[Movie Phone]

kobe still got some lame calls with the game on the line...its ridiculous..its like we were helpless. we knew exactly what he was going to do and he'd still get the call

[AxdemxO]

LOL..for some reason this made me think it said "FISHING"....i dont think the Mavs will be doin that anytime soon ; )

[Caseman]

Originally Posted by AxdemxO

LOL..for some reason this made me think it said "FISHING"....i dont think the Mavs will be doin that anytime soon ; )

Same here

[horse900703]

always 2nd half!!!!

[DirkFTW]

BUMP

[ShaggyDirk]

FACIAL!!