If Dirk Nowitzki wins MVP no one should complain. The MVP is for the regular season. Not the play-offs. Nash is probably going to get it anyway.
I know there's going to be plenty of posts about this upset, but lets talk about Dirk and all the criticism he's going to get for this game and series.
The first point I'd like to make is if it wasn't for Dirk Golden State would have been celebrating on Dallas' home court the other night. He sparked that 15-0 run that ended the game. The block, the threes, the huge offensive rebound on a freethrow that got knocked out of his hands, but went out of bounds so Dallas held possession. Blame Dirk ALL you want, but he was part of the reason Dallas kept pace in this series.
Ok so last night he had an AWFUL game. Even though Dallas won the game before it was evident Golden State had the momentum from that home crowd in Oakland. Barkley ripped Dirk for not driving, but Dirk is a jumpshot first drive second type player. I doubt Dirk driving to the basket really would have changed how the Warriors played. Dirk may have choked in some people's minds, but Golden State actually played defense on him. He couldn't get open ANYWHERE inside. He had to lurk at the perimeter. Who knows Dirk better then Don Nelson? He coached him since he was in the NBA before he left Dallas. He made the adjustments to stop Dirk.
Even though he's probably my favorite coach in the league, Avery Johnson is partially to blame for the Mavericks early exit. He got outcoached. I wonder what he tells this team in the locker room at halftime? In Games 5 and 6 they played AWFUL in the third quarter.
Let alone Dirk's teammates. Harris, Howard, and Stackhouse stepped it up, but then again they were hit and miss. Sometimes they were hitting a lot, other times they were missing a lot. I don't think they got Dirk the ball enough. Harris drove A LOT more then usual, and last night after Stackhouse hit those four threes he decided to just heave them up all night. I don't think Dirk had that many touches because of these guys trying to step it up instead of giving it to their super star.
The only criticism I have of Dirk is he said if they didn't win Game 4 their season was over. I don't know if that was some kind of motivational comment, but it backfired. AND he didn't seem to ask for the ball. If I was in Dirk's position last night being still in the game in the first half and only scoring two points I would be begging Avery Johnson to run plays for me and for my team to feed me the ball.
Ah bandwagons. In sports, EVERY one has jumped on a team's bandwagon in his or her lifetime. If you haven't, you're not a true fan or you're so biased to your team that you can't stand any other team. The BIGGEST bandwagon right now is the Golden State Warriors. I almost want to jump it because Dallas seems like the underdog now. That's how crazy this series is when the 1 seed becomes the underdog. I'll give credit a lot of people said this was a possible upset over Dallas in the first round, but NO ONE has been talking about the Warriors prior to April. People have assumed I'm a Warriors fan due to the fact I jumped on the bandwagon. I'm a KNICKS fan. You know why I like the Warriors? Even though it doesn't seem like it now, or atleast before last night, they're the underdog. If this was a 4-5 series I would still be routing for the Warriors because I'm a Baron Davis fan, but I wouldn't make such a big deal out of it. This is HISTORY if the Warriors win Game Six tomorrow night or if it goes seven and they pull out a win. I think even Dallas fans should understand what's going on here. This is as rare as a 16 seed beating a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. NEITHER has ever happened. An 8th seed has NEVER beaten a 1 seed in a seven game series.
I'm just wondering where all the fans of the Golden State Warriors who's been routing for this team their whole lives are I would like to hear some of their opinions on this series. I'm excited for Golden State, but if this was the Knicks being an 8th seed and upsetting a 1 I'd probably be going crazier then I was when Albany was given a chance against Virginia in the NCAA tourney.
If the Cinderella slipper doesn't fit you can always put on the flip-flops. If Dallas pulls out the series comeback I wonder how many sports analysts are going to flip flop and get back on the Mavs bandwagon. Other then Dallas fans and Charles Barkley, I think every analyst and blogger for that matter has buried this team. I still don't think Dallas is going to pull through, but it would be funny to see how many analysts will have Dallas winning the next series after counting them out against an 8th seed. If the Mavs end up winning the series I think I'll do an experiment and see how many analysts flip flop back to the Mavs.
I write my opinion like I'm chatting with my friends .I'm a college student. I go to the University at Albany. I'm a Psychology major as of now, and I'm not looking to spark a career off this blog. I just want to have some fun with this. I'm 20 years old. I'm from New York but I've only been a homer for the Giants during my life. Not too big on any other New York team except I'll jump on the Knicks bandwagon if they're doing good. I'm a big fan of the Lakers and Chargers. Other then UAlbany sports I'm a big fan of USC football and basketball. I'm a sucker for players though. I'll route for teams based on their superstars alone, especially when my teams aren't doing well. I try my best not to be bias with my opinion and I hope you enjoy my writing.
