I wrote this essayto sum up the NBA season of my favorite team the Dallas Mavericks, i feel sorry for them for their first round exit. Congratulations, Golden State you indubitably deserved to win the series. Mavericks were low on confidence and rusty and you out played them on everything including defense and even rebounds in the last match. I do not know if GS can win the championship or not but who can deny their staus as ex-"X factor" team turned "team to beat"
Thanks Saha!!!
Following is the essay
WRAPPING DALLAS'S SEASON
When the season was about to start, the buzz at least here in Dallas was, “Can the same Mavericks team who lost a bizarre NBA finals with Miami make a comeback?†Some doubted, and others were pretty sure that they would come out as tougher individuals having got the taste and experience of actually playing the Finals.
The season gets underway as they lose their first match against Spurs. Not a surprise, considering the usual rust after a break .Then, they go on to lose three more matches in the trot. No wonder, all sort of questions were being asked as the Mavericks had lost eight straight NBA games. Forget about their chances of bouncing back, many struck them off their list as possible Western Conference contenders.
However, Mavericks Coach Avery Johnson was least apprehensive. He knew his guys very well, what they were capable as a team and the body language in many of his interviews seemed astonishingly positive. After their loss with Rockets, they went on a hot winning streak of eleven, as Johnson/Cuban and team began the process of eliminating doubters.
There was no looking back after that. A championship loss was soon forgotten while Dallas’ premium basketball team kept on piling wins after wins, streaks after streaks. Power Forward Dirk Nowitzki rose to be a good leader and a serious MVP candidate. Although his statistical numbers went down (a bit), he made sure that his surrounding team mates namely Howard, Terry, Dampier, Harris and Stackhouse came out as better performers.
However, a month away from the playoffs, on March 12, they meet a familiar foe. Am I talking about Heat? Not even close. Then, it surely must be Suns! It still isn’t. For sure, it must then be Spurs. Heck no, I am talking about the Golden State Warriors. A ‘familiar foe’ because they had a winning streak of three against the Mavericks that stretched back to the previous season and also because of the feud between Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Warriors coach Don Nelson.( ex Mavs coach before Johnson).
Personally, I see this game which Mavericks eventually go on to lose by a margin of 17 as the turning point in their regular season which otherwise looked flawless. Soon after this loss Maverick’s does something that they had not done for quite sometime. They lose a match in the American Airlines Center after a span as long as 96 days and stretching 25 games. This time it is Phoenix Suns that nails them in a game difficult to forget; a double over time thriller decided by just two points.
After that Mavericks win nine straight again. But I dare say that the manner in which they won these games was highly unconvincing and most of them were very close games that could go either way. These wins were followed by ten very bad games which saw them win just six.
Most would argue saying that Mavs lost these because of their need to give their primary players rest. But I see these ten games as another turn in the wrong direction. I am incredibly critical of Avery’s decision to actually rest stars heading towards injury. He did not want to take chances with his major players headed to the playoffs but in the meantime Dallas Mavericks was slowly losing confidence and team chemistry which is quintessential headed into the playoffs. On the other hand number two seed Phoenix Suns played their full squad every match and they carried their momentum into the playoffs.
When playing Golden State in the penultimate game of the series in Oakland, Avery should have played the full squad so that they would gain valuable road practice, an opportunity to get momentum with a team(lost 4 consecutive then) they could possibly be meeting in the playoffs or eliminating Warriors to earn an easier opponent as LA Clippers. But that did not happen as Dirk, Howard, Dampier and Stackhouse did show up in Oracle Arena but as a mere spectator dressed in cool suits that would could make Brad Pitt proud or Kate Hudson leave Owen Wilson. Meanwhile, Mavericks predictably were hammered at all ends throughout the match and lost by 29 points. That was not at all an ideal way to lose to a team which they would meet in the First round itself.
As expected when the playoff started the Mavericks top players, instead of getting fresh after their “rest†seemed rusty and slow. They hardly looked like the team that lost just 15 games in a period of 5 months. On their very own AA Center they somehow did lose the match comprehensively through Baron Davis hands. Home court advantage lost and it was highly unlikely that a city that saw playoff basketball return to their soil after 13 years would let Johnson’s team sneak away with a victory. Mavericks got away with another home loss as Warriors lost their cool but as expected Warriors held serve to come as close as a game to give the number one seed an early exit.
Game 5 in Dallas saw Mavericks blow out a 21 point lead to a 9 point deficit with just 3 minutes remaining in the game clock. Dirk Nowitzki spearheaded a comeback that saved them from consecutive home court exits in playoffs and were headed to Golden State for the 6th game. However, Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki (8 points) choked in the third quarter in a 24-3 run rallied by Stephen Jackson’s 13 consecutive points to unofficially seal the deal at the end of the 3rd quarter itself and send Mavs to a long summer break. Although this loss did not do Mavericks any good they infamously did at least manage to put their franchise name in history books for being the first 1st seeded team since the 7 series playoff started to lose a first round playoff match-up with the 8th seeded team.
I along with so many Maverick and NBA fans will always remember 2006-2007 as an NBA season wherein a team that lost first four games season finds a way to win 67 games and then lose its first round series. I will also not forget how Johnson’s tactics in final few matches of the regular season and Dirk’s fall wasted a 67-15 regular season.
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