Thanks to Utah’s loss to Golden State(?!), the Dallas Mavericks are tied for 1st place in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference. Go Mavericks!!
Since I have only recently moved to Dallas, I am a brand new fan of the Mavs. Thankfully, I did not have to suffer through their many seasons of ineptitude. In fact, I was sorta looking forward to the fact that they sucked, thereby making tickets easy to attain. Imagine my surprise when some of the locals suggested the Mavs might make the playoffs this year. Yeah, right.
But lo and behold, the Mavs do have a decent team, and likely will sneak into the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed, even though they play in the Western Conference, which IMO is much stronger than the East. This has the downside of making tickets more difficult to obtain, but I have already been to 3 home games, and I plan to attend a few more.
If you live in any NBA city, I advise you to go see a game in person. You get a much better feel for the size, speed and skill of these athletes up close rather than simply watching it on TV. The league may no longer be Michael Jordan’s playground, but there is a lot of young talent in action and it is exciting to watch.
Well, apparently the strain of 1st place was more than the Mavs could bear, and they fell hard to the Rockets yesterday.
bump, I am also a Rocket fan because I spent the last 15 years in Houston. But it is fun to cheer for a new team now in Dallas, plus it is more convenient to see the Mavs play in person. Mrs. hardcore enjoys going to the games with me, and I am lucky to be seen with her. Happy anniversary, gorgeous!!!
Well, hardcore, it looks like you underestimated the Mavs… they finished in 5th (on the second tiebreaker) instead of 7th or 8th, then pull off the 1st-round playoff miracle upset of Utah!! What were you smoking?
This team just keeps playing hard. It has been a lot of fun watching them grow up this year, and I think the new rules will favor them next year. If Don Nelson doesn’t win Coach of the Year, then the judges are the ones smokin’ crack. He’s beaten both cancer and the Jazz – what more do you want?
So what if they don’t stand a chance against the Spurs? They are going to learn a lot in the 2nd round. Mostly they will learn of the need to have players like Tim Duncan and David Robinson on their team. Still, you gotta like the future of this exciting young team.
Of course, I was rooting for Utah to lose (can’t stand them–yech), but I didn’t really expect them to. Well, that just puts a capper on a pretty darn good day.
Oh, and I’m a Rockets fan too; lived in Houston from 1991-1995 (two championships while I was there! Woohoo!). Nowadays, though, I also quite like Sacramento. Exciting team to watch (although Dallas is pretty exciting these days)!
The weekend’s almost here; hopefully some serious playoff-watchin’!
I like Sacramento also, just not in a game against Dallas My wife was born there, and they use to have Corliss Williamson, so I have watched them a lot. Very similar teams – run-and-gun, with a bunch of international players. But the Mavs win in the owner department. Cuban is a typical guy who just happened to get rich, then bought his favorite team.
By the way, my wife was at the 7th game vs. the Knicks in '94. I met her a couple of months later, and I think I fell in love with her when she told me.
Totally cool! Yeah, that series was out of hand. And yeah, you’re right, Mark Cuban is the grooviest owner in the NBA (although Philadelphia’s Pat Croce is pretty cool his ownself…).
Cuban has been doing some pretty cool things. For example, if you could get yourself to Salt Lake, he’d buy you a ticket, provided you were a Mavs fan, of course. There’s also a rumour going round that he’s going to take 1000 Mavs fans to San Antonio. Sure, he can be childish, but he’s definately the coolest team owner out there.
Let’s not forget the beauty of a previoiusly bottom-dwelling basketball team kicking Karl Malone out of the playoffs in the first round.
Now if only the Knicks and get rid of the Knicks Jr, all will be right in the basketball universe.
Since my Celtics suck ass, I’ve been quietly following the Mavs. It’s nice to see a team develop like they have, and that Mark Cuban is a pisser. I think he’s racked up over half a mil in fines.
Tommy the Cat, Cuban has done many things to endear himself to the average fan. For one thing, he picks up all Ticketmaster fees and taxes, making tickets more affordable all season long. Playoff tickets for the 1st round started at $5, and for the 2nd round start at $9. That is not a misprint folks – he even shows up himself at 8 am when the tickets go on sale to hang out with the crowd.
Biggirl, Malone and Co. can sit home all summer, with plenty of time to flop and whine while golfing and fishing. They are two of the all-time greats, but their style of rough and physical game is on the way out in the NBA. Teams like the Mavs are much more exciting.
Are you calling the Raptors the Knicks Jr.?
Dire Wolf, the Celtics might suck, but Paul Pierce is an outstanding player with a bright future. There was a lot of moaning in Dallas when the Mavs chose Dirk instead of Pierce, but now it seems to have worked out fine. The Celtics are just one or two players away from contending in the East, and the Mavs are in the 2nd round!! Yeah, baby!!
I don’t see the Raptors beating the Knicks in game 5 in the Garden. But who da thunk the Mavs could beat the Jazz? Historically though, the 5th seed beats the 4th seed in the 1st round, so who knows? That stat really surprised me.
John Starks will always have a warm place in my heart since he went 0 for 300 in the 7th game of the 94 Finals
My wife was born there, and they use to have Corliss Williamson, so I have watched them a lot. Very similar teams – run-and-gun, with a bunch of international players. But the Mavs win in the owner department. Cuban is a typical guy who just happened to get rich, then bought his favorite team.