Temporary Shift of Focus...

Since the Mavericks' shocking and untimely exit from the NBA playoffs, I have been in mourning. However, I have decided to root for the Detroit Pistons. I can not and will not cheer for the Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, or the 'dirty' Golden State Warriors.

I'm tired of everyone dissing Dirk. So is he.

"That's the kind of person I am. I always take things very, very hard on myself," Dirk said. "I don't need media people to tell me that I did bad. I know I didn't play my best in the playoffs.

And can I hear an "Amen Brother!" for the non-traitor Nelson, Donnie?

"You can't put it on one guy's shoulders," Nelson said. "We won 67 games this year. That's no fluke. We didn't all of a sudden become stupid and poor performers overnight. I think the easy thing to do in this is pile it on Dirk or Avery. But you can't do that. If you actually open up the hood and look into things, you'll see there's a lot more reasons."

Work on that MVP acceptance speech, Dirk! :)

Hail to the Chief!

ESPN and the great Marcel Mutoni are reporting that Dirk Nowitzki will accept the MVP award next week - Tuesday to be exact. The League has delayed the trophy presentation to put some distance between the award and the shocking way in which the Dallas Mavericks exited stage left courtesy of the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the Playoffs.

The MVP-to-be said, "I'm sure 20 years from now or whatever, to see that in the [record] books, it's an amazing achievement. But right now, it's hard. Obviously, you can't feel good about the way our season ended."

"I thought this was such an incredible year. We won 67 games and then to lose in the first round, it just feels so empty right now," he adds.

Dirk will be the first European-born player to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player award.

He averaged 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and shot over 50% from the field during the regular season.

As for the disappearing act in the playoffs, I hope the big German gets the help of a sports psychologist in the off-season.

Congratulations on the award, Dirk. I never stopped believing.

Dirk Earns All-NBA First Team Honors

The NBA has announced that Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was named All-NBA First Team. It is the seventh consecutive season Nowitzki has been named All-NBA and third consecutive year he has garnered First Team honors.

Nowitzki is joined on the First Team by his pal Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns), Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers), Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) and Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns).

He is the only Maverick in franchise history to be named to the All-NBA First Team. Congrats Dirk!

Diop Gets the Option

The Dallas Mavericks have announced that they have exercised the team option on the contract of center DeSagana Diop. The option better be to keep him right where he is - in Dallas as a Maverick.

Enough Already...

Stop with the Dirk bashing!

Yes, he's been off kilter. Yes, he hasn't been his MVP self lately. There are 14 other members of the Dallas Mavericks squad that were signed for reasons other than benchwarming. If Dirk is off, the others should step it up.

But...answer me this....

Name 1 NBA player (past or present) that is 24/7/365 hot and NEVER has a cold spell. One that never misses a shot. One that is never mishandling the ball. One that never makes a mistake.

And one last thing to say: At your job, do you perform 110% 24/7/365 with extreme flawlessness? I think N-O-T. So, get off your @$$ and play NBA bball and see what it's like to get knocked around. Then perhaps you'll stop your whining, b!tching, and complaining about #41.

Rise and Shine Dirk!

Game 4 was a wake-up call for the Dallas Mavericks....win or stay home. They came, they fought, they conquered. In Golden State fashion, it was a fight to the end. Baron Davis fouled out in the last minute. Stephen Jackson got his 5th foul and was happy to clap it out. He was T'ed for the 2nd time in the game - sending him to the shower before the others.

The Mavs were down 112-103. They went on a 15-0 run, including Dirk raining down 2 very important 3-pointers. Devin Harris contributed a 3-pointer and the Warriors helped by fouling. It was Golden State that went scoreless in the last 3:14 of the game. The final score: 118-112.

Perhaps Dirk's self-bashing was all a mind game (ala Nellie-style) to get him into game-mode. It worked.

Rise and Shine Dirk! You played like an MVP.

Get Nellie some Scotch...

Game 4 is very loud, very interesting, very crazy, and very dramatic! The Mavs are clingin'. The Warriors are believin'. Nellie's drinkin'. Avery's cussin'. I'm not carin'.

That was a pretty impressive almost-half-court shot by Baron "Abe Lincoln" Davis at the halftime buzzer.

At least we've got the "round mound of rebound" (Chuck Barkley) on OUR side! :)

Do We Believe?

Do we believe in anything - like, say, moving on to Round 2? Do we believe we can beat the Warriors? Do we believe we can win it all? Do we believe that we can believe? What do we believe? The Mavs don't care, so why should I?

RIP Miami Heat (swept in 4). Poor dickwade and fish-eyed shaq. Perhaps the Mavs will get the big e in Round 1, too and that'll be a first since 1957 or something. They are S-U-C-K-i-n-g.

Thanks MToddL for the A-W-E-S-O-M-E pic!

Get those refs some glasses!

Are the refs in dire need of some coke-bottle glasses? Someone send Baron Davis a razor to eliminate that Abe Lincoln thing he's got kickin'.

Speedy Gonzalez was burning up the hardwood and the Jet was definitely on the runway in last night's 112-99 win over Golden State. The win tied the series 1-1.

The Mavs were a little careless in handling and holding onto the ball. However, their fast pace wore the Warriors down and caused them to make many more mistakes.

Darrell Armstrong (Indiana Pacers, former Mav) was sitting front row at the AAC, cheering on his former team.

Game 3 is Friday @ GS. Stay tuned...

Let the Battle Begin...

The Mavericks take on the Golden State Warriors in Round 1 of the NBA Western Conference playoffs. After a neck and neck battle, the Mavs are down 1-0 to the Warriors, losing 97-85. Game 2 is Wednesday, 8:30, on TNT.

P.S. The Spurs lost to the Nuggets, 95-89.

Spurs @ Mavericks

Holger's in town!

After all the drama in the 3rd quarter, both teams needed to make like Ari with a little "Let's hug it out, guys!"

Tim Duncan made a hasty exit in the 3rd quarter, with two quick T's while sitting on the bench. Devin Harris (aka Gingerbread Man, aka Speedy Gonzalez) did his usual best to leave us all dizzy. There was a lot of shot-blocking - but we all know that block by Elson was a GOAL TEND! Jerry Stackhouse paid tribute to class act Jackie Robinson by writing his (Robinson's) name on his shoes. The NBA denied his request to replace his name on his jersey with Robinson's.

The Mavericks fought back in the 4th quarter to beat SA, 91-86. Is it just me or should the MVP trophy go to the best player from the best team?

Clip, Clip, Clip

The Mavs did a lot more than just beat the LA Clippers, 96 - 86, at the American Airlines Center last night. The victory ensured Dallas of the Western Conference's best record and of home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Let's hug it out guys!

Welcome back J-Ho....and get well FAST Big Bear (E. Dampier)! :)

Redemption

Am I imagining things or are the Mavericks playing a little sloppy/lazy down the stretch? Last night's game v. the Jail Blazers was about redemption - holding on to seal the deal. Mavs won 86 - 74. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall (nevermind, Dirk might squash me) in the locker room after the Denver loss.

The Mavs were without Josh Howard, who suffered a nasty ankle sprain v. Denver the night before. Rest up J-Ho...WE NEED YOU! :)

What the Mavs Have to Look Forward to...

Look - it's Dumb and Dumber. Mutt and Jeff. Paris and Britney. They're probably laughing because they just saw how silly they looked dressed like mirror images of one another.

Sacramento is the Capital of Toxic

This has happened before on more than one occasion. I'm talking about Dirk being stricken with food poisoning, while on the road. If my memory serves me correctly, it happened in the same city or area as before. Perhaps Dirk should NEVER order room service. There's something about Sacramento and it's food. Kind of like Mexico and it's water. Toxic!

Mavs @ Kings

The Sacramento Kings used to be such a competitive, high-caliber, playoff-bound team - back in the Bibby, Bobby, Vlade, Doug, Peja, and C-Webb era. I feared the Kings when they matched up v. the Mavericks. I was always thankful when the Mavs squeaked out a miraculous win. Then everybody, but Bibby, left. They got Abdul-Rahim and anger-management-bound Ron Artest. Big deal. The Kings don't bring the venom to the bball court like they used to.

So....the Mavericks play @ the Kings tonight. I'm not fearful. I just hope Dirk listens to his ankle. I hope to see the Gingerbread Man back to his silly, crazy footwork.

UPDATE: Jerry Stackhouse nailed the jumper with 20.1 seconds left to ice the victory, 97-93. The Mavs were without their MVP (aka Dirk), who was out with an upset stomach. I'd be upset, too, if I lost by 22 to the Suns on Sunday.

The BFFL Showdown

Such a beautiful disaster is the game that went down in Phoenix on Sunday afternoon. The Mavericks dazzled beyond the arc in the first half. They went absolutely frigid after that period - and couldn't make their shots fall in the basket. The Suns put on a shot party and Steve Nash was totally amazing with his non-selfish passes. Phenomenal, but no pixie dust.

The WWE would be proud - Jet's knee whacked Stoudamire in the arm, J-Ho got b-slapped in the left eye, and Dirk re-tweaked his left ankle. We didn't get much out of the Gingerbread Man (Devin Harris) either. It was a very physical, tense game. Suns won 126 - 104.

This game meant more to the Suns - with the surging Spurs on their heels. They want to stay atop S.A.

Don't forget - the playoffs are best of 7.

In the Knick of Time...

Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points to become the fourth European-born player in NBA history to surpass 15,000 points. The Mavericks survived the visiting Knicks, 105-103, on Friday. Josh Howard, who blocked a shot attempt in the final seconds, had 20 points.

Mavs buck the Bucks

The Mavericks notched win #60 with about 29 seconds left and without Dirk Nowitzki, who injured his ankle at the end of the first half. His injury was described as "two bone spurs rubbing together."

He left one point shy of 15,000 for his career.

"I don't check stuff like that," Nowitzki said. "That's something you think about when your career is over."

NOKC get stung by Mavs

The Mavs rolled over the Hornets last night, at Oklahoma City, 105 - 89. In fact, the top three (Dirk, Jet, and J-Ho) were spectators in the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks became the first NBA team to notch three winning streaks of 12 games or more in a season. They're past halfway on their way to another one.

Dallas needs one more win to match the franchise record of 60, set in 2002-03 and matched last season.