Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Long overdue Mavericks rant


I have held my ire with the little Mavericks all season. I figured they just weren't worth the effort, and I still feel that way. However, last night's 93-76 debacle in San Antonio was so bad, so disheartening, so indicative of what this team has become, that I just can't help myself.

The Spurs were without Ginobilli and, at the last minute, Duncan. So, if you're the opposition, you look at the Spurs without two of their Big Three and you ask yourself, "Who do we have to stop?"

Need a minute to answer that one? Of course you don't! And neither does Rick Carlisle or anyone in a Maverick uni. You clamp down on Tony Parker and dare the spares to beat you. Elementary, right?

Except Parker goes off for 37. He could have had 50 with no problem except he started passing before shooting and got the spares some buckets.

If you're going to make any sort of run in the West, you HAVE to POUNCE on teams like the Spurs when they are depleted. You cannot get whacked by 17.

The window is closed. Everything the organization has done since Don Nelson left is open to second-guessing. It was a heck of a run, but the errors have all come home to roost. The Mavs had the championship won in Miami, then let it slip away. The emergency alarm rang the next year, when the Mavs had a super-human regular season then got swept by Golden State - that's when major changes should have been made. Nothing was done, and the fun has been pretty much over since then.

So, now what? I don't know. The options all stink, as this team doesn't have a draft pick worth a damn for the next few years. Free agency, esp the vaunted class of 2010? I suppose something can be done there, but what big-time free agent has signed here? I mean, I thought Cuban's largess with the players was supposed to have everyone lining up to be a Maverick. Sure doesn't seem like it's worked out that way, does it?

I am disappointed, disheartened, and disillusioned. I'm a Dallas sports fan, so I'm getting used to it.

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