I usually don't use two blogs a week to talk sports, but today I return to the Mavs. They had a great year! Hey, beating San Antonio in a game 7 in San Antonio made a great year!
I am a Mavs fan. Not fanatical. I used to be pretty fanatical about sports. But my interest doesn't run that deep any more. But I am a Mavs fan. I say that because I will probably catch some flack from the Mavs fanatics out there. I think this team was spent by the time they got to the finals. I wish they could have gone out with a fight rather than with a whimper.
And listen: No whining about the officiating. If we take care of business in game 3 -- the series is over. If our "superstars" sink a couple of freethrows in game 5 -- Mavs win.
Now, here is where someone may really get mad at me. I can see more clearly now why Dirk has not caught the attention of the national media. How I wish in these finals that we had a superstar who said, "Get on my back, boys. We're gonna win an NBA championship." Instead, that superstar was Dwayne Wade. He was incredible! Dirk? Hopefully he learned from this, and will be a different player next time he finds himself in a similar role. If he would have been as aggressive against the Heat as he was against an exercise bike on his way out of the arena, perhaps we might have faired better.
How about Avery Johnson? What a class act! I love this guy. He deserves more credit than perhaps anybody. Don't even begin to blame him or question him for this team's embarrassing collapse. They shot poorly from the field and the freethrow line. They were timid -- even with him yelling at them to take it to the hoop. I love Avery!
And Cuban? Give him props for having a championship mentality. He has brought a winning attitude to Dallas, and helped build a solid team that should have won. But someone has to convince the guy to shut up! His constant whining about the officiating has to hurt his team. It is human nature that those officials who are constantly being criticized by him are not going to be as favorable towards his team.
Well, that's my observations this morning. Congratulations to the Heat -- particularly Dwayne Wade. Without him, they probably don't even make it out of the 1st round. And congratulations, Mavs, on a good year. Maybe next year.
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7 comments:
Thank you so much for your Father's Day blog. It was so touching. I appreciate that you are so sharing and open. I cannot imagine the hurt but your willingness to help other's with your story is such a blessing. I praise God because of you!
The Mavs definitely had a great ride this season. They are a young team and they will be back. But this die hard Mavs fan has to make one comment... I still agree with Josh. D-Wade had way to many calls go his way. It's disheartening. I know the Mavs should have played a lot better and the series was theirs for the taking. And yes, even though Cuban is right, he has to learn to be quite. It's gotten to the point that no one in the league wants the Mavs to win and that hurts them. But I get so frustrated when if your name is D-Wade, Shaq, Duncan or numerous others, you get the call your way no matter what you are doing. I think the Mavs have showed that if the refs are going to call games that way, it's time for Dirk, Terry and the rest of the guys to get that same kind of respect as well. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth. And I agree, there is no one who is more of a class act than Avery Johnson!
I say this - but don't read it as disagreeing with anything that's been said, because we all want to give a pass to the teams we follow. About Mark Cuban ... how well would he be liked by Mav fans if he coached, let's say .... Miami? Would we extend the same liberty? Hmmmmmm
Shalom
Well, the Mavs did have a fantastic season. Maybe their lackluster finish in the finals will make them a much better team in 06-07. Hopefully, this will just make them more hungry for a championship next season.
Dirk does have to get the "go to" mentality. He cannot fizzle when he is most needed like he did in the finals. He needs to spend less time kicking basketballs in the seats and knocking over innocent exercise bikes in frustation and get the "give me the ball, let me win, Michael Jordan type" mindset. He must learn how to shine in the clutch for him to reach greatness as a professional basketball athlete. He's got the talent, he must get the mental toughness. Nevertheless, basketball is a team sport and some of the others could have come through for the team in the finals, but they didn't. Like I said, maybe this will make the fire burn even hotter for next season.
The Heat played like the championship team when they needed to. Remenber when the media started talking about a sweep after game 2? The Heat rose to the occasion. The Mavs got mentally lazy, in my opinion.
And I second the motion: Mark Cuban- shut your mouth. He does need to take lessons from Avery Johnson. But what do you think the chances of that are???
Anyway, great season for the Mavs.
Poor, poor Mavs. I think it was over after the 4th game. The Mavs spirit seemed weak in game 4 and game 5 showed even less heart. I think game 6 was a foregone conclusion but couldn't find it on Brazilian TV.
What was worse was Tony Stewart getting wrecked out early in the race Sunday. That was a tragedy.
I think of myself as a person who sees the glass half-full but often look at things in a negative perspective so I can prepare for all the options I might need. I usually find things much easier to deal with than what I can imagine.
I know I speak for many of our group when I say we miss our families and home. Keep us in your prayers. Things are going good in Aracaju.
I am not ready for closure on the Mavs! It has been so much fun this season!
Jeff, great to hear from you in the blog world! Blessings on your trip! Praying for you all!
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