NBA Playoffs 2008 2.Hornets vs 7.Mavs

[deihatein]

Since its official that this 2 teams will met at the playoffs now time to have their official playoff thread. It really a hard choice for me on who will win this series but i have to go to the Hornets cause they are really good all season long

[Lamrock]

all season all

lol

I have Mavs in 6, pulling off the upset. They have much more playoff experience (and only what, 4 less wins?) and I think they will be especially hungry after last year. I see Mavs winning game 1, then taking all their home games en route to a 4-2 series win.

[Chaser7]

I think Mavs will win too, honestly, most people will find it hard to believe since I am a die-hard Warriors fan, the Mavs are probably my 4th favorite team, so I'm definitely rooting for them against the Hornets. However, in the Western Conference I don't think there is going to be anything that can be considered an "upset". The teams (in the West [for you Lamrock, haha jk]) are separated by like 7 games total. The teams are just so extremely competitively matched in terms of talent.

[Lamrock]

New Orleans is only 5 wins better than Dallas. Factor in the aftermath of the Kidd trade and the Dirk injury and they are almost even. Contrary to the media's spin, the Mavericks are arguably the favorite here.

[Chaser7]

*Sigh* I was referring to that fact that all the teams in the Western Conference were separated by like 7 games (from Denver to LA). Not specifically the Hornets and Mavs.. and I agree I think Dallas is the favorite.

[Lamrock]

I was only have referring to your somewhat misleading 7 games comment. I'm sorry. Forum sigh all you want.

On another note, the season series was 2-2, though I'm not sure the Hornets gave it their all tonight.

[deihatein]

If the Mavs dont win this series, better for Mark Cuban to retire of his duties

[Chaser7]

If the Mavs dont win this series, better for Mark Cuban to retire of his duties

Lol, really? You blame Mark Cuban? The man who basically turned the franchise around (kinda). Before Cuban, in the past 20 years they had only won 40% of their games and had gone 21-32 in the playoffs. With him they have won 70% of their games and gone 39-40. Lol +deidei+ you have no idea what you are talking about. If they lose, the blame should be more focused on Avery Johnson, if anything, and then Dirk. Definitely not Mark Cuban... He's opened up his bank account for the team and made some very smart decisions. His players have just choked the last 2 seasons.

[benji]

How do you retire from owning a team?

[Lamrock]

Come on +deidei+, its bad enough you don't speak fluent English. At least think before you make statements like that. Mark Cuban, eccentric as he may be, is arguable the best thing to ever happen to the Mavericks.

[L10]

Mavs will win it in 7 games. With Kidd and Dirk they have enough experience to beat this hornets-

[deihatein]

Yeah your right about Cuban there but definitely they should blame Dirk because he is just following his coach decision when playing so the blame should be in Avery Johnson

[Lamrock]

Yeah your right about Cuban there but definitely they should blame Dirk because he is just following his coach decision when playing so the blame should be in Avery Johnson

What are you trying to say? Should the blame be on Avery and not Dirk; or both Avery and Dirk?

[Chaser7]

Not quite. i know you meant to say that the blame shouldn't be placed on Dirk, and instead should only be placed on Avery, but that's not true either. Was it Avery's fault that Dirk basically shot his team out of the playoffs last year? Avery, definitely hasn't done quite as well the last 2 years, but Dirk has to blamed just as much for the Mavs playoff failures..

[Lamrock]

Not quite. i know you meant to say that the blame shouldn't be placed on Dirk, and instead should only be placed on Avery, but that's not true either. Was it Avery's fault that Dirk basically shot his team out of the playoffs last year? Avery, definitely hasn't done quite as well the last 2 years, but Dirk has to blamed just as much for the Mavs playoff failures..

Well, whose decision was it to have the offense run through Dirk? Avery. Who was unable to adjust to the Warriors gameplan, despite having arguably a far more talented roster? Avery.

Sure, Dirk choked, but I would place more blame on Avery. (Who I still think is a great coach; just inexperienced)

[Chaser7]

Still you have to blame Dirk for some of the problems, as an MVP he should have been able to take over no matter what. There's no reason to place all of Dirk's inability to score against the Warriors on Avery.

[Lamrock]

But Dirk shouldn't have won MVP. His team was just really good, and having the best stats on the best team, he won MVP.

[Cartar]

And again I pick 6 game series, Hornets take it this time, but I´m not sure on this, cuz NO don´t have that much PO experience compared to Dallas, but still.

[jonthefon]

Hmm, time for me to make my Mavs rant on Cuban and Avery.

Cuban was awesome at re-energizing the franchise, but he takes things a bit too far. In the early 2000's, he'd make blockbuster trade-deadline deals just for the hell of it. The offseason trades for Jamison and Fatoine Walker were idiotic for a team who had won 60 games and were two injuries away from the NBA Finals. He's calmed down a little recently, but somebody obviously flicked that same panic switch recently. I had faith in Harris, who would've developed faster (IMO) if Avery hadn't been such a control freak.

And so leading to the Little General. He's a bit too stubborn. He was great as a coach in 04-06, since he was easing the team out of Nellie ball, but recently he seems to refuse to change the team style even when they're visibly overmatched (i.e. Golden State series.) Kidd is much better in a running game, where he can pick the gaps apart. Instead, it was iso after iso.

Anyway, to this series. If Dallas can shut down Chris Paul like they did tonight, they've got a great chance to win this thing. Of course, Dirk needs to continue playing the way he is rather than revert to last year.

[benji]

he seems to refuse to change the team style even when they're visibly overmatched (i.e. Golden State series.)

Who was unable to adjust to the Warriors gameplan

The problem with that series was that the Mavericks didn't try to play their game, they tried to play the Warriors. They went small from the start of the first game, and also upped the pace despite being 28th during the season. They weren't playing the game that got them 67 wins, they tried to match the Warriors. In the Mavs four losses, Diop/Dampier played 18, 28, 29 (4 point loss), 29 (only Diop) minutes. In the Mavs two wins they played 41 and 31 minutes. The Mavs were convinced they couldn't keep Dampier on the floor and lost one of their best players. And as good as Diop was, he wasn't as good offensively as Dampier.

Kidd is much better in a running game, where he can pick the gaps apart. Instead, it was iso after iso.

The Mavericks upped the pace quite a bit after getting Kidd, last I checked their post-Kidd pace would've ranked 9th on the season.

Still you have to blame Dirk for some of the problems, as an MVP he should have been able to take over no matter what.

I'll never understand why people want to blame the best player on a team for everything good or bad. If his team loses "he didn't step up" and if his team wins "he made everyone better."

Incase nobody noticed, last year was the first time Dirk legitimately "choked" in his playoff performance. In 05-06 he shot better than he had during the season and averaged 27/12.

If Dallas can shut down Chris Paul like they did tonight

What does it mean when we consider 20 and 10 on 68% shooting (63% from the floor) to be "shut down"?

[huddy187]

i cant wait until my hornets whip some marc cubo mavs ass
can we say ass in this forum?

[JT_55]

can we say ass in this forum?

If you don't get banned within 24 hours, I would dare say that you are allowed.

[benji]

Another thought on this...

Still you have to blame Dirk for some of the problems, as an MVP he should have been able to take over no matter what.

His three worst games were the three blowouts in the series. And his absolute worst game was the worst blowout. So wouldn't that legitimize his MVP status? That "without" him, or the Dirk we expected, the 67 win Mavericks were absolutely crushed by a 42 win team?

Dirk's career playoff averages are 25/11 on 57% shooting. His career 42 min numbers are 26/10 on 58% shooting. Considering the normal drop for all players in the playoffs, I'd say he's a great playoff player. Everyone has their bad games/series at some point.

[Chaser7]

No because an MVP or near MVP-type player (if we accept Lamrock's position that he shouldn't have won MVP), should have 4 bad games within a 6 game span that carry so much importance. Not to mention Game 1 was close, but Nowitkzki still played awful.

BTW I've never seen Benji agree with anyone.

[benji]

Again, one bad series does not make him a "choker" or the person to blame for the Mavericks continued failure to win a title. Dirk is a great playoff player who had a bad series. He was a blatant MVP level player because that is based on the regular season and nobody was a better player last season except maybe Tim Duncan (and that might be too much of a stretch...Dirk wasn't just the best player on the best team. He was the best player in the league, easily.), and the playoffs only confirmed his importance to the team.

Maybe I just don't see what your point is? Other than repeating the silly "blame the best player" meme or harping on the exceptional playoff performance.

BTW I've never seen Benji agree with anyone.

Why would I bother posting just to say "I agree" or "you're right"? That's just a waste of everyone's time and the server's bandwidth.