NBA Playoffs = Fantastic

There have been years when the NBA Playoffs were not very good.

This would not be one of them.

The last 3 nights have provided some of the best NBA Playoff basketball that we have seen in recent years, and I hope you are watching. The Nuggets vs. Lakers in the West have played 2 instant classics in the first two contests of that series, and the largely anonymous Orlando Magic gave Cleveland its first loss of the post-season on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Finals.

After 2 rounds of weeding out the weaklings, we are now officially ready to rumble.

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Ask Sports Sturm – Elvis, Baron, and Boston

We have not done this in a while online, even though we do it every Friday at 12:50pm on the radio (Sportsradio 1310 the Ticket – The Bob and Dan show ), so let’s answer a few sports questions and concerns:

1) – Is Elvis Andrus the Youngest Player in Major League Baseball?

This one has been asked of me plenty in the last six weeks, and sometimes answering your question is as easy as heading to Google and entering “youngest players in MLB 2009″. But, until I finish this entry, that search doesn’t get you much information. But, as of last Friday morning, when I combed all 30 franchises’ 25-man rosters, here are the 6 youngest players in the big leagues (I used 6 because #5 and #6 are seperated by 1 day, and all 6 are 1988 babies).

Table Tutorial

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The Mavs’ Achilles Heel Remains The Same

24 hours after the end of the Mavericks season, and I cannot quite move on just yet.  I understand why the season ended, but one thing that I don’t understand is why the Mavericks have been committed to the same strategy year after year on offense.

They built a team around Dirk.  That makes sense on a number of levels, because for all of his flaws, he may just be one of the most unique talents in NBA history.  A 7-foot perimeter sniper who can also perform some McHale-like post moves when he is interested.

The problem, to me, comes back to the way they build the rest of the team.  If you are going to build around a perimeter shooter, you must vary the rest of your 5.  You should have a penetrating guard and you would prefer to find a post presence.  If you did, then a Dirk-team would be more dangerous.  But building a team is a little more difficult than simply realizing what you need. You have to figure out a way to get it.

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Game 5: Denver 124, Mavs 110 (Series Won, 4-1)

8 preseason games, 82 regular season games and 10 playoff games later – 100 in all – the 2008-09 Dallas Mavericks are nothing but a memory.

59 of those 100 games were wins this year, so you certainly enjoyed some reasonable quality along the way.  But, it is now over.

It feels a bit different this year than the previous few.  2006 was a heartbreak that will never heal.  2007 was an ambush to the senses that resembled an assassination.  No warning, just quick and lethal – the so called best team in the NBA was not.  2008 was the realization of reality.  The team’s window might have closed, and Avery Johnson was the one thing that dysfunctional team could agree on:  He had to go.

But here in 2009, it seems different altogether.  Perhaps it is because the bar was lowered down to more realistic levels, but given that many didn’t expect them to make the playoffs 60 days ago, a season that contained a series win over the hated San Antonio Spurs doesn’t seem that painful.  Maybe it was the long death of the Nuggets series – one that you kind of knew was coming 9 days ago when Game 2′s route was on – but for whatever the reasons, it is hard to imagine too many shed tears last night after Denver finished off Dallas in Game 5.  Like a relative dying after a long battle with a disease, we certainly had a chance to come to terms.

Denver was better.  And not by just a little bit.

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Game 4: Mavs 119, Nuggets 117 (3-1, Denver)

For the second consecutive home game, it was 48 minutes of high tension playoff basketball for the Dallas Mavericks.  And, for the second consecutive home game, it came down to the final 30 seconds.  And while it was not with any degree of ease, the Mavericks figured out a way to close the deal, get a win, and extend their 2008-09 season for at least another 48 hours and another flight to Denver, Colorado for game 5 on Wednesday.

It was a game that was impossible to feel good about until the very end.  The Mavericks could never reel in the Nuggets for the entire game.  In fact, for what must have been a dozen times, the Mavs would mount a surge only to  be pounded over the head with an answer for Denver.  Make no mistake, Denver was trying to drive a dagger.  They were ready to relax and let Houston and the Lakers fight it out.  But, in a game where it would have been easy to tap out and quit, the Mavs showed some real fight and determination not to let their season end in front of the home fans.

Is it delaying the inevitable?  Almost certainly.  But, is there ever a bad reason to fight and show pride?  I can’t think of one in the playoffs.

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Game 3: Nuggets 106, Mavs 105 (3-0)

That’s an ender.

As valiant an effort as it was, the 2008-09 Dallas Mavericks season basically came to a close on Saturday night as the Mavs were trying to take a foul they had to give, but the officials allowed the play to continue and Carmelo made them play by sticking a 3 in the face of Dallas and bringing this series to the brink.

There are a million ways to look at this game, but I suppose the easiest way is to say that when you are up 4 points at 105-101 with :31 to play, you have go to close that deal. The Mavs then went 0-2 on defensive attempts and 0-2 on offensive attempts and that is why you lost. Why the officials did not recognize Antoine Wright’s clear foul on Carmelo is certainly worth discussing, but you cannot take a collective 0-4 on possessions in the final 30 seconds and then do anything but take your medicine. The call was blown, but nonetheless, you also have to help yourself.

For the Mavs, that medicine will include a summer that will begin this week.

What a shame. The arena was nuts and Dirk Nowitzki delivered with 33 points and 16 rebounds. But, he would tell you his 0-4 in the final 3 minutes are what matters most, and he would be correct.

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Game 2: Nuggets 117, Mavs 105 (2-0)

Same song, different verse.

Was the big winner of the first round series really the Spurs?  If by losing that series you could avoid suffering the public humiliation of being routed in consecutive 4th quarters, you have to wonder.

I am speaking with tongue in cheek, but with regards to Games 1 and 2, I am hearing so many people rationalize these throttlings as “hey we were right there at 82-80 (Game 1) and 86-83 (Game 2)”.  Andwhile that is true, from where I sat it seemed a lot more like watching an animal play with its food for a while to battle the boredom of the day, and then when the mood struck, it was time to turn up the seriousness of the situation and go in for the kill.

Denver is better.  And not just by a little bit like we thought before the series began.  And while we can all wonder what difference Josh Howard would have made on 2 ankles, I think it would be terribly optimistic to assume that he could have changed the final outcome of these two games in Denver.  Loss, Loss. 

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The Way-Back Machine Looks At The Birdman

Some optional reading in advance of the Mavericks’ return to Pepsi Center tonight. Back in DMN days, I got the opportunity to visit with Chris Andersen during his time with the displaced Hornets in Oklahoma City. Also met Mom, from whom he got his taste in tattoos.

He’s from the small Central Texas town of Iola and, because of family issues, spent his junior high years at the Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home in Denton. His time with the Hornets ended early in 2006, when he violated the league’s drug policy and was suspended for two years. Soon after reinstatement in 2008, he signed with Denver, where he started his unlikely NBA career. After being reunited with his mother and graduating Iola High, he’d played only one season at Blinn College before setting out for a pro career that included pick-up games in Houston that featured Avery Johnson. Played for teams like the Nangang Dragons and the Fargo-Moorhead Beez before his first stint with the Nuggets.

Six blocks, six rebounds and 11 points in 28 minutes on Sunday. Doubt he can duplicate that tonight. But the enigmatic and energetic (if not graceful) Birdman has proved difficult to peg throughout his basketball career.

Game 1: Nuggets 109, Mavericks 95 (1-0)

Welcome to Denver.

You are not playing the Spurs anymore, now are you?  The Mavericks are playing a team in the Denver Nuggets that seem to have about as much in common with the Spurs as JJ Barea has in common with Dwight Howard.  Not much.

These Nuggets are quite formidable.  I do like how they compete.  I really like how they defend.  And I did not care much for how the Mavericks responded to that “in your jock” defense that Denver rolled out there.   In case you are looking for elaboration, here is how Dallas responded to the Nuggets defense:  They settled.  They shot from further and further out.  They passed with hope, but not conviction.  They drove looking for fouls, not dunks.  And, then they changed their shots because they were concerned about getting their shots blocked.

It is just one game, but we surely saw many of the signs that this is a match-up that will make the Mavericks uncomfortable.  And if they respond like they did in previous series over the years where their comfort was in doubt, well, this season will be over in a real hurry.

The NBA is such a league of match-ups.  It is not how good you are sometimes, but for many, it is more of a question of who do you get to play.  Styles make fights.  Well, after playing a series where they seemed to find many match-ups that worked;  Erick Dampier looked like he could cause Tim Duncan ’09 some issues, Michael Finley was trying to guard Josh Howard, etc – the Nuggets seem to have fewer difficult questions to answer.  For instance, despite not having a real great plan for stopping Dirk (although if the Birdman is going to play like that…), the Mavericks are having far greater headaches wondering what they can possibly do to slow down Nene with Dampier and with Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith performing as wings who look to score, the Mavs seem short at least 1 and probably 2 players who can both defend and at least make you consider guarding them on the other end. 

And what gives you most pause?  Being blown out in the 4th Quarter, and Carmelo and Chauncey were not terribly huge factors.  Oh dear.

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Mavericks – Nuggets: A Closer Look At The Season Sweep

The number we keep hearing is that Denver is 4-0 against Dallas in the regular season. What does that mean? Is it as one-sided as that number indicates?

Yes and No.

Yes, because the Nuggets built leads in most of the games, and figured out ways to win the close games. They beat the Mavs in a game without Carmelo, and they beat the Mavs in a game without Nene.

No, because the Mavericks team we see now has nothing to do with a Mavs team that had Devean George, Gerald Green, and James Singleton all start games in this season series. Josh Howard did not play at all in a 2 of the games, and played hurt in the other 2.

The question in this series is who will help Dirk score. He gets big production in pretty much every game against Denver so this idea that Kenyon is going to give him grief is not really based on past results. Jet will score, too. But beyond that, the Mavs could not count on much. That will have to change.

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Game 5: Mavs 106, Spurs 93 (4-1, Series Won)

Even though I knew the Spurs were not right going into the series, and even though I thought the Mavericks would eventually win this series…I didn’t think that the series would end like this.  In front of their fans, and in their house.  Sweet.

The Mavs won Game 5 in San Antonio with great poise and great execution. So much so that they never trailed and although the game was not without drama, the only mystery on display on Tuesday night was wondering how the Mavs would answer each Spurs surge with a surge of their own. Many moments with many fist pumps from many couches across North Texas. And if anyone in South Texas forgot why the Spurs spent so much of the series double teaming Dirk, they were reminded tonight.

All 6 of the Mavericks who get most of the minutes (Dirk, Jet, Josh, Damp, JJB, and Kidd) all played solid games or better. You weren’t sure how tough the Spurs were going to make closing out the series for the Mavs, but they left no doubt in the 2nd and 3rd Quarters when they threw everything they could at Dallas. But each time the Spurs knocked the Mavs out of rhythm, they were answered. The most memorable rally might have been when the Tim Duncan show cut the lead to 63-59. The Mavs get a timeout, and Dirk takes over with back to back hoops, followed by Josh Howard’s 3 pointer and the lead goes back to 11 only 90 seconds after the time out.

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Carlisle ’09 > Avery ’08

Yes, I said it. I said it Sunday at this very blog and then I had the audacity to say it again on the radio on Monday. Let me repeat for emphasis for anyone not sure if I mean it.

Rick Carlisle is coaching this team better than Avery Johnson could.

This, of course, will send some people to their emails to fire me back a retort about “Avery got them to the NBA Finals”, and that is true. He did. He got the mentally strong Dallas Mavericks of 2006 to the NBA Finals, and for that, Avery Johnson should be credited heavily.  As for the mentally weak Dallas Mavericks of 2007 and 2008?  Not so much.

I am not comparing Carlisle ’09 to Avery ’06. In fact, I was a huge fan of Avery ’06. But, then he lost his head – and in doing so, the Mavs lost their nerve.  He seemed to alienate many of his assistant coaches and many more of his players between June ’06 and April ’08. He forgot what made this team special 24 months prior and seemed to go somewhat crazy in his efforts to find a solution that he could never locate. The premise of firing Avery Johnson was an easy conclusion . He lost the team. So, therefore, he lost his job.

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Game 4: Mavs 99, Spurs 90 (3-1)

First off, sorry for the tardiness on getting this post up, but sometimes stuff like the NFL Draft and church get in the way. I’ll try not to let it happen too often, because this was a game worth writing about.

Now, on to the Game 4 victory that was very enjoyable to ponder for the last several hours. Sometimes, when you are really close to something, you do not see the full reality. I wonder if that is the case with the Mavericks and many of us (including me) as I consider what happened Saturday afternoon.

Let me explain: There are a few beliefs many of us subscribe to. They are, 1) This team is as good as Dirk makes it on offense. And if Dirk doesn’t carry this team to a big win, then this team is as good as Jason Terry makes it. The reason we say that is that those are two guys who can score on this team. Everyone else needs transition or a loose ball or a wide open shot. But, in the half-court offense, only two guys can consistently get a hoop and the opposition cannot stop them: Dirk and Jet. Those two must be better than the best two on the team the Mavs are playing. The other belief is 2) The Dallas Mavericks are the same team that we have seen in 2007 and 2008.

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Game 3: Mavs 88, Spurs 67 (2-1)

The bad news is that if you were looking for the normal ice-cream headaches and adrenaline rushes that accompany playoff basketball, you may have had to find another fix for that.  The good news is that the stress-free Game 3 at the American Airlines Center was the equivalent of a 1st round TKO in a prize fight.  From the moment the game started, it appeared the Mavs were committed to pushing the tempo and running the ball.  They were committed to staying after the glass aggressively.  They were committed to getting the ball to Dirk in different spots to keep the double teams from being so easily applied.  And they were committed to defense. 

No complacency tonight, my friends.  How could that possibly be the same team we saw in Game 2?  And the beauty of a 7 game series is that across Texas right now, the Spurs are asking the same thing for entirely different reasons in their city.  How could they possibly be the same team their city saw in Game 2?  Ah, the drama builds.

So what worked?  Everything.  They decided to play the JJB card again by sending Barea into the starting line-up to guard Mason initially.  But, the actual idea of switching out Antoine Wright for JJB was a simple tempo move.  And since it worked with such precision and decisive authority, the Spurs were on their heels from the opening tip.  A couple Barea lay-ups and a couple Josh Howard floating shots and the Mavs were up 10-2.  The Spurs would get the lead down to 7 at 23-16, but according to my memory that was as close as they would get. 

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Game 2: Spurs 105, Mavs 84 (1-1)

Complacent – Adj pleased, especially with oneself or one’s merits, advantages, situation, etc., often without awareness of some potential danger or defect; self-satisfied.

Used in a sentence? The Mavericks seemed that they might have been a tad complacent on Monday night.

Here is today’s question as we look back at a Game 2 effort that would have to be labeled as extremely poor: were the Mavs complacent? Or, were they simply the team that played road games like this all season? In 2006, if they would lose a game like this, it would be considered out of character, and perhaps complacency had set in on a road trip where they wanted to get a win, and since they got it on Saturday they felt quite satisfied with themselves heading into Monday. But, in a season where they went 18-23 on the road — and where the Mavs have had losses of 19 or more at: New Jersey, Memphis, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Boston, Utah, Golden State, and Cleveland — it is tough say with certainty that it was complacency. It might just be the 2009 Mavs being the 2009 Mavs.

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