2009 Playoffs: (3) Spurs vs. (6) Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have closed the season with a flourish, or so I'm told, I don't follow them all that closely. The Spurs have limped to the finish, which stands in stark contrast to how they usually finish the season, playing their best basketball. Both of these teams have will have a chance to extend their window by at least a week, a the expense of slamming the other's shut.

For the last few years, the hierarchy in the West has always been Spurs, Mavs, Suns. The Suns are stuck in third place as far as that goes, and now the Mavs have a chance to climb to the top, possibly for the last time.

Ginobili has always been a Mavs killer, and with his absence and Duncan's knees, the Spurs are as ripe for the plucking as they have always been.

PG: Tony Parker vs. Jason Kidd

Old-school vs. new school. For two people who play the same position, the two couldn't have more opposite games. With Manu out, Parker must be the first or second option on offense, while Kidd is often fourth or fifth.

We all know that Parker will probably have a field day on Kidd on the offensive end. His speed can't be matched by Kidd, and any help the Mavs will give Kidd will only open the window for another shooter to bomb the Mavs from long range.

Kidd needs to do exactly what he has been doing. Push the ball in transition, set up Dirk, Terry and Howard, and make the open three when given the space. If the Mavs can find a way to slow down Parker, the Spurs simply don't have enough firepower.

Winner: Tony Parker

SG: Roger Mason Jr. vs. Antoine Wright

While Roger Mason's late game heroics have made SportsCenter all year long, what he does in the other 47 minutes can't be overlooked as well. Simply put, he's a smart player. I had the privilege of watching him go overlooked on the Wizards last year, and his play this year hasn't been surprising.

Mason's strength lies in the fact that he doesn't try to overstep his bounds. He doesn't take shots he has no business taking, which is more than can be said of a lot of NBA player. Unfortunately, most of those other players aren't on the Spurs.

Antoine Wright is at his best when he is acting as foil to Josh Howard. When Howard is hot in the first, Wright needs to be lockdown defensively. As Howard cools off, Wright needs to be driving to the cup, drawing fouls.

Wright shouldn't have many defensive problems with Mason himself, but he needs to be careful about shifting to Parker and leaving Mason open. The Spurs have won four rings on the drive-and-kick offense, and this is no time to let them take advantage.

I think Wright is much more capable of leaving his mark on the series than Mason.

Winner: Antoine Wright

SF: Michael Finley vs. Josh Howard

Ah, how fitting. The Mavs' small forward of the past against the small forward of the present (and hopefully, future). Josh Howard has been playing on a leg and a wrist that will go under the knife after the season (hopefully not until late June).

It's been said ad nauseum, but Josh Howard is the X-Factor. His return and subsequent stellar play have everything to do with the Mavericks hot finish.

Michael Finley's role is far more reduced, but no less important. He needs to hit jumpers. Plain and simple. When the defense collapses on Duncan or Parker, he's one of the few that will be taking that shot.

But no one on this postseason, save maybe Kobe, has more riding on this postseason than Howard. Short of an admission that he is a cokehead, Howard has hit the bottom, and has nowhere to go but up. Not that it's going to be easy, but it's possible.

Winner: Josh Howard

PF: Tim Duncan vs. Dirk Nowitzki

As far as star power goes, this is it for first-round matchups. Besides LeBron and Pierce, there isn't another matchup that features two sure hall-of-famers going at it.

At this point in their careers, Duncan is slowing down fast, and Dirk is still plugging along. Of course, Timmy can still relax on a mattress of championship rings (at least, that's how it feels) when he's done. Dirk still has work to do.

Dirk's offensive game is still unparalleled, his one-legged Euro fadeaway is near unguardable (though Carl Landry managed to block one last night), and he can still get to the rim. Duncan, on the other hand, will break you down with his arsenal of low-post moves, and he can hit the elbow jumper and rebound better than anyone.

During this series, Tony Parker can take up most of Duncan's slack on offense, but Dirk's 20-plus points are going to be hard to replace, even with their depth. Dirk needs to have a strong series, otherwise next year's Mavericks are going to look very different, maybe not in a good way.

Winner: Dirk Nowitzki

C: Matt Bonner vs. Erick Dampier

There's not many centers in the league that I would pick Dampier over, but Matt Bonner is one of them. While he is a good outside shooter, he doesn't have the low-post presence to compete with Dampier, and that speaks more to his shortcomings (read: he's a whitey with red hair) than to Dampier's strengths.

This hasn't killed the Spurs because of Duncan's low-post dominance, and his ability to play a passable center.

Dampier needs to show up for every other game as opposed to every four or five, and Dallas should be okay at the center. Dampier does tend to get in foul trouble, and if Parker is particularly aggressive it may come down to that, but that's where Dallas' bench comes in.

Winner: Erick Dampier

Bench:

Dallas has emerged as having a very deep bench. Jason Terry aside, J.J. Barea, Brandon Bass, James Singleton, Ryan Hollins and Gerald Green are capable of making their own marks on the game.

What to say about Jason Terry that hasn't been said already? Your Sixth Man of the Year, instant offense, instant energy and a cold-bloodedshooter to boot. With Terry in at crunch time, the Mavs are looking pretty good in close games.

Let's go back to Brandon Bass. His ferocity and athleticism should play a huge part for the Mavs during this series. Big, athletic guys have always given the Spurs trouble, and that's Bass to a T.

If he can lock down Duncan for a few minutes, throw some crowd-pleasing dunks, and make the occasional elbow or baseline jumper, he could be a huge part of the Mavs living to fight again in the second round.

The Spurs have George Hill (who might be ready in a few years), Ime Udoka (who isn't ready after a few years), and Fabricio Oberto (who lost his starting gig to a big, red-deaded 7-footer who can't rebound). 'Nuff said.

Winner: Dallas

Pick: Mavericks in 6

Mavs @ Magic: Preview

Unfortunately, circumstances compsired against me, and I wasn't able to watch more than 20 mins of the last two Mavs games.

I call this unfortunate because they happened to win those games, both in convincing fashion.

You usually can't watch every game (I think I'm at about 36 games this season), but these two seem to be especially significant.

Two things have happened in the last week, which was also the least strenuous (game wise) for the Mavs in a number of months.

• Rick Carlisle has given control of the offense to Jason Kidd.
• Dirk's mentor is being allowed to travel with the team.

These two things represent a complete break from the Avery way of doing things, and so far it has paid off dividends.

Carlisle has acquiesced to personal needs of his two Hall-of-Famers, in a way that ostensibly reduces his own impact.

Jason Kidd was never able to run his own game with Avery. Now, Carlisle gave Kidd a CD with every play on it, as well as stats for what has been working.

For a player like Kidd, this shows him that his coach believes that he can do what is best for the team.

In Dirk's case, Avery would never let Herger Geschwinder travel with Dirk, fearing it would serve as a distraction for the rest of the team. Or was it because Gescheinder represented someone that Dirk would tend to listen to over his coach, even if Avery and Herger differed?

By allowing his mentor to be around Dirk, Carlisle is acknowledging that maybe Dirk needs to find inspiration somewhere else, and Carlisle is okay with that, which is a good sign.

Competitors like Dirk and Kidd are the type to recognize this, and will return the favor by playing at the peak of their abilities.

Which brings us to tonight's game.

The Magic are trying their hardest to convince the Sporting World At-Large that they are not giving the East to Boston/Cleveland without a fight, and tonight would be a step in that direction.

The Orlando Magic are like bookends, most of their substance on the far ends of the spectrum, nothing in the middle.

The Magic can shoot the lights out from three-point land, which is something that the Mavericks have struggled in defending in recent weeks.

They also have the future of the NBA center in Dwight Howard, who doesn't bring perfection to the table, but is without question, the most complete frontcourt force in the league at both ends of the floor.

The Magic's weekness lies in their forwards. Rashard Lewis, despite the money he earns, only plays with effort when he feels like it. While he can always score, his rebounding and defense come and go with the tides, and that's something you can't do against Dirk.

If Antoine Wright is able to play hard defense against Turkoglu, this should take a decent amount of firepower away from the Magic.

Jameer Nelson is a good scorer, and I fully expect him to break the 20-point mark and shoot more than 50% from the field, but I don't think he can win you the game.

The real battle will be down low. The Mavericks need to earn every one of the 12 fouls that Hollins and Dampier are allotted, since that is how you neutralize Howard.

I think the game will come down to who's jump shot is falling the most. If the Mavericks were smart, they would push it into the paint, and get to the line.

If Lewis and especially Howard get into foul trouble, the Mavericks should be able to take advantage. If the game comes down to whose jump shot is falling (which is what the Magic are no doubt hoping), then the Mavs might be in trouble.

The Mavericks have a lot more to gain by getting a win in Orlando, and let's hope they play like it.

How about some love?

I admit it completely, I love Dirk.

I love him more than one heterosexual male should ever admit when regarding another heterosexual male.

But I don't think I'm letting my man-love for the Dirkster cloud my judgement when I'm saying that he is being vastly ignored for what he is doing this year.

He is third in the NBA in scoring, only behind D-Wade and LeBron James.

Take Wade out since his team lives and dies by him, and even then, they have lost when he scores 30, 36, 40. He has scored 21, 17, 15 in the last few games, and they have lost to Atlanta, Memphis and Milwaukee by an average of 15 points.

LBJ's average is actually a little lower than his career average, but his team is dominating everyone they meet.

But guess what? All you've been hearing about is the return of Wade, the dominance of James, James in 2010, Kobe becoming less selfish, and the like.

No one is talking about the amazing season Dirk is having. In addition to his scoring being the second-highest it's ever been, his rebounding is the second highest ever, a full RPG above his career average.

Always great from the charity stripe, he's currently at 91.4%, a full percent point than his best season ever.

His percentage from the field is down to the lowest since 04-05, but barely. He is also taking more of the offensive load with Howard being out and Terry coming in off the bench.

The NBA is giving him love, with Dirk being named the Western Conference Player of the Week twice.

But you would never know if you were just reading ESPN. I read the Dallas News Mavericks Blog, and that's the only way I found out.

So please, NBA fans and media alike, give Dirk some love. He's having an incredible season, and while the Mavs can't be called contenders, Dirk is doing more than his part, and if the team comes together, they could be very dangerous.

Jealousmuch?

Well, it's official.

After long years of fandom, I finally have tickets to go see the Mavs in person.

Yes, I've seen them live before, at a preseason game against the Wizards, who happen to be my hometown team.

But Dirk never even got out of his warmups. Although the occasional is now notable, since it was my first experience watching J.J. Barea, who would soon (14 months) emerge out of nowhere to become the baby-faced assassin.

I had tickets to last year's Mavs-Wiz games, it was on MLK day, at one in the afternoon.

But alas, previous travel committments took me to the other side of the country, so I missed it.

But Sunday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m., I will be eight rows from the Mavericks' bench. EIGHT ROWS!!!

If I get hit by some of Dirk's sweat, I might just spontaneously combust with sheer pleasure.

Of course, I will be wearing my Dirk Nowitzki #14 jersey from the German Olympic team.






Here's how it will all go down, at least in my mind.

Dirk (walking back to the bench after hitting a three-pointer to tie the game with 10 seconds left): Hey, you! Up there, eight rows from our bench! Is that my Olympic jersey from the Fatherland?

Me: Yes it is Dirk, I love you!

Dirk: Well son, that sure is something. Tell you what, I'm gonna hit this game winner for you.

Dirk then steals the inbounds pass, dribbles to the three-point line, and nails the game winner while staring at me.

Dirk: Thanks a lot man. You gave me the lift I need. Tell you what, I could use a strikingly attractive man with a clean, musky odor to sit behind us and inspire me to sink trizzles all day long, you up for the challenge?

Me: Uh.....

Dirk: Don't worry, it pays 1,000 bucks a week, plus you can help me ghost write my biography, and run the official blog for my website. Hey, maybe we'll even shower together once or twice.

....And that's when I wake up, often stuck to my sheets.

Delusions of grandeur aside, I am looking forward to seeing a great game.

Maybe I'll be able to get even closer, seeing as the Wiz might only have five wins at that point.

How the Mavs can win the title and Dirk can win the Finals MVP

I consider myself a student of history. I enjoy watching trends, and I enjoy using those trends to predict what could happen in the future.

Given that propensity, I did some looking back on the last few professional sports championships (hockey excluded), and found out that all the champions and Finals MVPs had something in common.

This lead me to a foolproof way that the Dallas Mavericks can win a title and Dirk can win a Finals MVP: Dirk needs to get engaged.

Sound foolish? Of course it does, but hear me out.

Let us start with the 2007 NBA Champion Spurs. Tony Parker, your MVP, was engaged to Eva Longoria, and got married a month or two after the Finals.

Then we'll move on to the 2007 Boston Red Sox. While Mike Lowell is already married, Kevin Youkilis was engaged to some hot lady, and he was a crucial part of the World Series win.

Super Bowl XLII MVP Eli Manning was also engaged, and got married within a few months of the Super Bowl.

Fast forward to this year's Finals: Paul Pierce is engaged to some hottie, and he got Finals MVP. He'll probably be married by the end of summer, and he's got a ring and a trophy as a wedding gift, much like Parker, Youkilis, Eli.

Now it's Dirk's turn.

Obviously, I don't know his relationship status, but with Tony Romo unavailable, Dirk should be the No. 1 bachelor in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

You're telling me the Dirkster can't find some floozy to get engaged to, then break it off after they win the Finals?

The sporting gods would never know until its too late, because after all, you can't take away a championship.

Why I like the Mavericks

Well, it's 4:00 p.m., EST on a Tuesday, and I could be doing work for my noon deadline tomorrow, but I think I'd rather explain to you, the loyal fan (I'm still not entirely sure if anyone other than me has read this blog, but hey, I'm as loyal to myself as they come) why exactly I like the Dallas Mavericks.

After all, I have lived most of my life in the Washington D.C. metro area, I hate the other major team based in Dallas (the Cowboys, sorry NHL, you still have some work to do, like getting your playoffs on national TV), and I've never been to see them play, aside from a preseason game against the Wiz this year.

Let's start at the beginning. I really liked watching Larry Bird in my formative years. I started really paying attention to him around 1991 or so, so I caught him on the down part of the hill. But he was still fun to watch, and he still got me interested in the sports where big guys throw a rubber ball through a circle.

Then Bird left, and MJ began dominating the game. And let me tell you about MJ. I hated him. I hated the Bulls, and when they both kept winning, I stopped watching basketball.

I've always been like that as a sports fan, and I don't think I'm unique. Nobody wants to see a dynasty, unless the ruling team is their team.

So while Chicago was being whipped in a frenzy unlike anything this side of Russell's Celtics, I couldn't have cared less. After all, all my loser friends loved Jordan, loved the Bulls, so I had to be different.

After the Bulls came the strike, then a Lakers three-peat. Boooooooring! But it was around 2002 that I started watching the playoffs again, and I did like watching Kobe and Shaq play together, even thought they became basketball versions of the Yankees (who were fresh off of four rings of their own). So I told myself I would only watch the playoffs, because it guaranteed the best games.

What did I miss by this logic? A few things. Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd, Dirk, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, allen and Pau Gasol for one thing. Since they didn't even sniff the playoffs, I didn't know who they were.

I wasn't an ESPN.com junkie like i am now (thank you 28.8k modems) so I couldn't get that deep in the league.

And during the 2003 playoffs, guess who was the most fun to watch. Not the three-time defending champions, but the Sacramento Kings and the Dallas Mavericks.

The Kings had Mike Bibby (great name, also helped me like Chauncey Billups), Doug Christie, the shell of Vlade Divac and C-Webb, still in his prime (or as close to it as he ever got). They were fun to watch, plus since they had been in the shadow of the Lakers for so long that they even had my sympathy vote.

The Mavericks had the troika of Steve Nash, Michael Finley and the Dirkinator. While I loved Finley's jump shooting and Nashie's passing, there was something incredibly fascinating about this 7 foot German guy who reminded me of Alan Rickman from Die Hard.

He had a wicked jumper (probably should be 'jumpah', just to be safe), could hit the three, could rebound, and though it often was overshadowed by Nash's skills, he was a pretty good passer.

I rented a video game after the Finals that year, and I ended up playing mostly has the Kings (as I have been known to choose sports teams, see: Gretzky's Kings in 1992 NHLPA Hockey for the SNES).

Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat, wondering what my life would have been like if I'd been a Kings fan. As much hell as the Mavs have put me through in the past few years, it beats the cold indifference of mediocrity that the Kings, T-Wolves, Heat (except for the dreaded '05-06 season) and Clippers have been through.

Okay, I don't really wake up in a cold sweat, but you get it.

Tomorrow, the story continues. Why did I stick by the Mavs as the trio I loved gradually went away?

Until manana.

This Could Be The Start Of Something Beautiful

Well, here we are. More accurately, here you are. Reading my first ever blog entry. Ever.

I never wanted to start a blog before. I never considered events in my life to be worth noting for public consumption, and I never had a topic that was worthy of constant dissection.

Well, the latter has changed. As I watched my beloved Dallas Mavericks get bounced from the playoffs in the first round for the second straight year, I realized something. That something was this: I need to see the Dallas Mavericks win a championship. I need to see Dirk win a championship.

I am a Red Sox and New York Giants fan, and I saw both of them win within the past year, and that has only whetted my appetite for what I cannot have.

The Giants won a thrilling Super Bowl, and the Red Sox won a second World Series, after four generations of New Englanders lived without seeing won.

The effect of this is twofold, only one of which has any relevance here. I am now consumed with the idea of the Dallas Mavericks winning a championship.

What will follow in this blog are my Mavericks related thoughts, including how me (a native Washington D.C.-er) became so infatuated with the Mavericks, why I love Dirk Nowitzki with every heterosexual (and possibly some homosexual) bone in my body, where I was during the disatrous collapse in the 2006 Finals, and much, much more.

I think it will be good for me. I still can't read those 2006 Finals Boxscores without getting upset, and I can barely stand to look at D-Wade, Shaq, Riles, Baron Davis, Nellie or Stephen Jackson without the rage bubbling to the surface.

That should about do it for this first entry. Stay tuned for much more as I delve into a modern case of tragic fandom, and stay with me as one day, maybe, just maybe, Mark Cuban and co. lead us into the promised land.