freelance dogs

It’s not often that a #1 seed finds itself in a must-win situation vs a #8.  According to Dirk Nowitzki that’s what we had in Game 4 vs. Golden State.

“I wouldn’t say we’re worried, but our backs are against the wall. If we lose [today], this season is pretty much over.”

Dallas was down 2-1 to the Warriors, and needed to even out the series and reclaim home-court advantage.  They proved once again that they couldn’t handle the pressure.  There were several Dallas leads throughout, but in the end Dallas was unable to close out either the 2nd, 3rd, or most importantly, the 4th quarter.

Dirk Nowitzki once again showed his inability to perform under pressure.  He did make a couple of 3 pointers in the final minute, but those were the types of shots you just shoot without thinking.  I’m beginning to doubt whether he can take his game (much less his team) to that next level.

Avery Johnson must be at a loss for words.  His superstar doesn’t seem hungry, and does show leadership on the court.  The only players that show any real aggressiveness are Josh Howard and DeSagana Diop.  What can Avery do to motivate the rest of the team?  If last year’s choke in the NBA finals doesn’t motivate them, I don’t know what will.

Winning the series still seems feasible.  All the Mavs have to do is hold home court, and steal game 6 at Golden State.  They just don’t seem to have the focus to get it done.

I hope I eat these words, but the Mavs are about to surpass the the 2004 Yankees as the biggest choke job in major sports history.

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Hopefully the Dallas Mavericks have righted the ship against Golden State, beating Nellie’s Warriors by a score of 112-99. Once the Mavs started to extend their lead in the 3rd quarter, Golden State quickly unraveled. Baron Davis was ejected at the end of the 3rd quarter, and Stephen Jackson was later ejected with 4:34 left in the game. Lets hope Dallas can keep it going in game 3.

Avery again made the right adjustments by starting the traditional lineup, rather than falling into the trap of playing small-ball. In game 1, Diop and Dampier played a combined 18:22. In game 2, it was 41:22. Dallas also decided that they would go ahead and run with Golden State. It worked with Dallas and Golden state each notching 38 fast break points.

On a disappointing note, Dirk was again off to a slow start. Avery actually sat him for about 7 minutes early. The result was a 23 point, 7 rebound outing. Not quite an MVP game, but better than 14 points on 4/16 shooting. I was just happy to see him play aggressive, rather than the tentativeness he had in game 1.

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I suppose the good news for the Dallas Mavericks is that they really can’t play any worse than they did in their disappointing 97-85 Loss to the Warriors. I’m just worried that Don Nelson and the Warriors are in their heads now. Nellie’s mind games have been working their magic against Dallas, as he is now 4-0 against the Mavs.

Watching the game, the Mavs seemed tight throughout, most notably Dirk Nowitzki (4/16 from the field). Stack was also disappointing with 5 turnovers and no points. Pointing out two players hardly seems fair, however, when the team as a whole shot only 35% from the field. Offensively they were completely out of sync and seemed to press.

On the defensive side, there is no shame in holding Golden State to 95 points. However, it didn’t help that they allowed Baron Davis to score 19 points in the 3rd quarter (Thats 1.1 points less than his average per game).

Avery needs to get this team to loosen up a bit. I know they are on a mission, but if they continue to play like this, it could be over before it even gets started.

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The search to replace Billy Gillispie may shortly reach a conclusion, according to ESPN.com. Texas A&M is close to offering its vacant head coaching position to Wichita State Shockers head coach Mark Turgeon.

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A couple of quick hits…

1) If the postseason started today, San Antonio wins the West. In the past few weeks, the Mavs have been dismantled by the Suns, struggled to defeat mediocre Atlanta, New York, Milwaukee and Sacramento, and bottomed-out by scoring only 71 points against Denver last night. The Suns only seem to be capable of playing well against the Mavericks. In the meantime, the Spurs have been quietly kicking everyone’s ass. I didn’t want to believe it, and I have been angry at ESPN’s John Hollinger for consistently putting the Spurs at #1 in his Power Rankings since mid-season, but I’m afraid it’s true. If you watched San Antonio dismantle Phoenix on Thursday night, you know that game was not nearly as close as the Spurs’ seven-point margin of victory. Duncan owned Stoudemire. Nash turned it over at a JV-point-guard rate against the Spurs’ defensive pressure. The good news for the Mavericks is that San Antonio must now be viewed as the favorite to knock off Phoenix in the second round. Assuming the Mavericks can beat the 8th seed and then survive Houston, they would much rather see the Spurs than the Suns in the Western Conference Finals. Stoudemire is a matchup nightmare for Dallas, and even as great as Duncan is, the Mavs have a chance at containing him. Stoudemire is in their heads, and I don’t want to see Frightening Amare roll into town on a mission in late May. Hate to say it, but Go Spurs Go, at least until the second round. The Mavs have two weeks to get it in gear. Earn your money, Avery.

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After a week of calm on the Texas A&M Basketball front, it appears that Billy Gillispie is headed to Kentucky.

Kentucky will hold a press conference this morning at 11:45 CST to introduce Gillispie as the new head coach of the Wildcats. A prep rally for fans will kickoff the announcement at 11:15 at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.

As an Aggie, I am truly saddened by this (I honestly felt sick when I read that Bill Byrne had granted permission for Kentucky to talk to Gillispie last night). I truly don’t fault him for leaving, as I do understand that Gillispie is moving on to a more storied tradition. However, maybe he shouldn’t have been so adamant about staying just a week ago:

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The Suns blew out the Mavs in Phoenix yesterday. Is it an indicator of bigger problems, or just one of eighty-two? My observations on the game:

* Devean George does not look good. He either needs to get better soon, or the Mavs need to be prepared to play without him.
* I’d really like to know what Devin Harris did to piss Avery off yesterday. I know he had some foul trouble, but he only played 16 minutes.
* It seemed like the Suns could not miss yesterday…turns out they posted the highest one-game field goal percentage of any team ever to play a game in US Airways Arena.
* The Mavs looked lazy and slow.
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