Not a Good Start to the Playoffs

I know I'm a day late on posting my thoughts on the Mavs first playoff game but better late than never. I actually only got to watch the first half of the game and then went to dinner with some friends. At the half, Dallas was up 12 points, they had held Chris Paul to only 11 points, held New Orleans to only 38% shooting and they were playing a solid game. That is where I left thinking that Dallas was picking back up where they left off last Wednesday when they played New Orleans and would go on to win. However, then came the second half...

I've read about it and heard all day people calling in to the radio station I listen to ranting and raving about the Mavs sucky second half performance. The amount of knee jerking around this town today would stun a mastodon. But from what has happened around here the past two post seasons, with the Mavs being subject of the two biggest post season collapses in NBA history, I don't know if I blame the fans for pushing the panic button so quickly. The Mavs were up by 12 at halftime and ended up losing by 12. That 24 point swing is also what is making people want Avery's head under the guillotine.

Without rehashing the game, here are my thoughts. From the looks and sounds of things, Dallas played a dreadful 2nd half. They shot 9-36 (25%), had 8 turnovers, allowed the Hornets to shoot 56% and allowed Chris Paul to dominate...again. However, that was one bad half of basketball. And basically, you can interchange the second half of Saturday's game with the second half of last Wednesday, except last Wednesday the Mavs were on the positive side rather than N.O. (last Wednesday, Dallas beat the Hornets by 13 points and went on a 30-6 second half run). And even thought the second half of Saturday's game was awful, teams run into that. I still think Dallas is going to win the series in 7 but they've got a lot of work to do in order to get there.

And all this business about Dirk "backing down from David West" and that "Dirk wears a skirt instead of a jock"...I've heard it all day and you know what, it's freaking hogwash. David West (when is the last time he was even in the playoffs?) bowed up to Dirk and people are criticizing Dirk for not giving it right back to West. Dirk did the right thing in my opinion, in blowing it off, because had he made an issue of it there is a good chance he could have gotten tossed out of the game and suspended for game #2...and then where the would the Mavs be? Quite often in sports, the refs penalize the guy that retaliates and not the instigator. Dirk just needs to be mindful that West will try to pull him offsides again but he needs to just fight through that and play his game.

Dirk IS NOT the reason the team lost the other night as he poured in 31 points (most of the game) and 10 rebounds. The problem with this team is not their William Wallace, it's the role players around him. Josh Howard had 2 second half points. What?!?!?! He could only muster 2 points in the second half? And Jason Terry only had 8 points for the whole game. And for a player whose ENTIRE game is shooting, that is laying an egg. Stackhouse didn't play well, Devon George (when he played) didn't bring anything to the table and how in the name of Zeus' butt hole did Juwan Howard even get into the game?!?!?!? That guy is a bigger zero that Shawn Bradley (did I just write that?).

Dallas will be fine this series. They just need to get back to what they were doing the final half dozen games of the season. I'm sticking by that but they need to pull this thing out of the ditch quick or it's going to be another "Golden State series"...and I don't know if I can take that again.