Mavs v Spares

Now that playoff time has rolled around again I think its time to talk Mavs. I don't have the will to look up if I ever wrote about the debacle against Golden State in '07 or the ass-whooping by the Hornets last year, so I will include that here. All in all, it may be better that I am am looking at the long term finished product of those series rather than providing knee-jerk reactions after those series were completed.

Obviously, the Heat series did something to this team, or at least the Golden State series. Ever since then, and while under Avery, the Mavs would get this look on their face once the game was getting out of control. They would just look around at each other looking for someone who could stop their opponent. I was rummaging through old posts and found that I pondered this question the day after the Mavs blew game 7 of the NBA finals. I wrote, "That must be resonating in their heads. You have to wonder what kind of mental damage this might have on the team because, you know, deep down, they are asking themselves, "How in the world, did we lose this series?""

That was one thing I wish I wasn't right about. However, the Mavs decided to mortgage the future and trade for Jason Kidd last season. I will reserve my opinions on this because the trade was more of an impulse buy. I think people have given more deliberation on whether to buy a Shamwow! than Cuban did on the Jason Kidd move. It hasn't paid any dividends, but the trade cannot be considered a bust because this Mavs team wasn't winning the Finals last year with Devin Harris either. The team needed a shake up, and shake it up they did. For better or worse.

Either way, its 2009 and the playoffs are back. The Mavs have gone from possibly missing the playoffs to eeking into the 6th seed and drawing the Ginobli-less Spurs. At first glance this seems like the ideal match up for the Mavs because the Spurs are not the same without Manu, and the Mavs did split their series 2-2 this season. However, it should be noted the Mavs lost their last game with the Spurs while Duncan and Ginobli were out. Moreover, the game wasn't even that close. All that aside, I like the odds. I will reserve predictions as my predictions are about as reliable as the pull-out method.

So you know what i will be doing on Saturday night, I will be geared up for some Mavs basketball. So grab your Dirk juice, put on some Lazer, and head to Pluckers. Its 06 again. Go Mavs!