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| Scratching our heads |
There wasn't room for a win. It as 4-0 sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder. There wasn't room for, "Man, if we can just win one, winning three straight will be no problem!"
I don't know the mindset of the Thunder. They may not care about the Mavericks. They might have seen the Mavericks as a disposable first-round opponent. A seventh seed. If I were the Thunder, I'd be pissed. Despite the 2-0 lead they built and the second seed and the season they've had, no one in Dallas gave them much respect.
Fans and media acted like it was only a matter of time before the 2011 world-champion Mavericks came out and won four straight.
That's the thing: The fans and media are living in 2011. Yes, a brilliant year capped off with the most remarkable of playoff runs this city's ever seen.
For eight months, you could argue the team was living in 2011. Out of shape and unfocused, they dilly-dallied all year and never seemed to take too much too seriously.
Of course, it starts at the top. Mark Cuban and the braintrust had their heart in 2011 and their mind on 2013. They considered 2011-12 a sacrifice, a year to make money. Without the pressure of winning with Dirk Nowitzki, they felt no need to have an acceptable team to make a back-to-back run when a lot of teams were susceptible to not being ready. The fans were fat and sated. They'd still buy jerseys and $10 beer.
It was one of the worst defenses to a title in NBA history.
It's over. Cuban was on Twitter reassuring everyone that the Mavericks would be back. If I were Cuban, I'd stick to my vow of silence. What he turned this franchise into for a year was a travesty and embarrassment.
I would like to know what everyone was watching throughout this year and the playoffs that made them feel the Mavericks had a shot.
Do you realize the Mavericks got zero consistent guard play in this series? Especially offensively? Kidd was alright early, being active. In general, Jason Terry failed his audition (the best sixth man in the league, James Harden, shot 11-16, 29 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals). Delonte West finished his career as a Maverick (he'll wind up with two or three years and decent money elsewhere) very inconsistent and ineffective. Kidd was OK, but still a gigantic defensive liability (yes, it's true) who was abused frequently. Vince Carter's terrible. Roddy Beaubois couldn't even get off the bench.
Name me the defensive stoppers on this team. Dirk, JET and Kidd are self-admitted poor defenders. Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi are bad. Carter hasn't played defense ... well, ever. Maybe his sophomore year of high school. Shawn Marion is the only good defender on the team, and I felt so bad watching him because he knows he's the only good defender and he tried to defend everyone.
I would say that this team resembled Mavericks squads from the mid-2000s. That's not true. Those teams could score.
As much as Marion was trying to defend five OKC guys, Dirk Nowitzki was trying to score for eight. The Thunder were OK with that. The Thunder knew that Kidd, Terry, Tyson Chandler (oops!), Marion, J.J. Barea (oops!) and DeShawn Stevenson (oops!) were what beat you. Watching Dirk play offense was like watching a stray dog dodge in and out of traffic on a busy highway. He looked supple and athletic, but you knew the semi barreling down the right-hand lane was going to finish him off.
The 4-0 proves that the Mavericks had zero shot against the Thunder. Those of us who watched them the previous 66 games (with zero guard play, zero defense, zero post presence, zero edge) knew this was coming.
It was a thankful quick end to a regretful season.
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