Hail To The Dallas Mavericks

Slow clap.

Similar to you Scip I grew up in ATX. I know the drill in picking pro teams. I gradually sided with the Spurs, and in that process became increasingly annoyed with the Mavs Fan. While I’m not thrilled at the prospect of living in a world in which Jason Terry can now claim his tatoo was indeed prophetic, I’m genuinely happy for Dirk and Cuban. I’ve always loved that German’s signature fist-pump and sneer. He’s truly an all timer. Very few NBA players in history with his unique skill set on offense. Maybe zero.

Thanks, BOW.
 
We’re of the same mind. I’m really happy for Dirk, Cuban, and the game of basketball itself. I hope it leads to an offseason of soul-searching for some teams and coaches. Even in the NBA, coaching and scheme can matter if you’ll commit to doing things differently from your peers.
 
As for Dirk, no one in the history of the league has his shooting platform paired with his touch.
tjarks wrote an amazing article on this that I was very much persuaded by.
 
I’m not sure where Zee German fits as an all-time player, but it has to be in the Top 25. He’s a true 7 footer who is one of the purest shooters ever. As he’s gotten stronger and more tough-minded, his offensive game has become one of the most efficient in basketball history.

“Too talentless to score within the context of the dreary default basketball-killing NBA isolation game, they surround the most unstoppable shotmaker in the league with a crew of savvy veterans committed to spacing, screening, team play, the ability to actually knock down an open jump shot, and ball movement that looks like something out of a coaching video.

In short, the Mavericks decided to play "basketball" while the rest of the league was still playing "athlete." "

This goes a long way towards explaining why our Dream Teamers no longer dominate the Olympics and World Championships against countries whose teams have one or two good to middling NBA players. It also explains why I say “not so fast, my friend” when someone says that today’s NBA teams with their superior “ath-a-letes” would wipe up the floor with the Laker, Celtic and Piston teams of the ’80s and the Bulls teams of the ’90s.

Marcus -
 
Well said.
 
I was definitely thinking of some of those Dream Teams that were getting their clocks cleaned by Puerto Rico and Lithuania as I wrote this. The average NBA fan forgets how much the league’s accepted style of play can create such a skewed view of what basketball really is. Then those guys run into teams playing basketball and it’s almost inexplicable to the average NBA fan when we don’t win by 50+.
 
The Mavericks basically decided not to play by the rules. Fitting.

“Then they topped it off with the most emotionally tough basketball seen in years.”

Long time Mavs fan, and this is what I’m most proud of. Still can’t believe all those fourth quarter comebacks. Usually those are fueled by a star taking over the game – not necessarily sound team play. The Mav’s comebacks this postseason happened b/c the team collectively grabbed its nuts, stuck to the game plan, ratcheted up the intensity, did not blink. No “fold” in the vocabulary. Steel nerves. Cliches. All true! Sweet victory!

Solid post, Scip.

Dues-paying is a reality in the NBA at the highest level and we just saw the latest iteration. It reminded me a lot of an aging Boston team defeating the Lakers’ Big Three (Wilt, West and Baylor) or Portland beating Philly’s Erving, McGinnis, et al. Those Laker and Sixer teams later won their titles but first they failed just as spectacularly as the Heatles just did. Everyone piled on their stars just like LeBron is getting pounded now.

The common element is that the newly thrown together “talented” team runs into an opponent with enough talent to stay with them but cohesive, smart and tough enough to beat them. The cohesion, smarts and toughness usually result from enduring previous failure. Dallas failed repeatedly but most memorably in 2006 to D-Wade’s and Shaq’s Heat.

Going forward, Miami’s current core group are all under contract for a while. If not derailed by labor issues, they are a good bet to build on this failure if they respond the right way. Another inside presence and a coherent half-court offense would help too.

The Aguirre, Blackmon, Perkins team convinced me to be a Mavs fan in 1988. It has been a long time coming. 2006 was extremely painful, and I never thought the Mavs would make it back. Then when they did it was a more talented Heat team. But this Mavs team played so well. I identify with them because this is how I play basketball, just good enough athleticism coupled with great shooting, ball movement and moving without the basketball. I was very entertained.

I’d watch the shit out of a competitive donkey punch tournament.

Your Popeye pic with him throwing an uppercut only makes that visual better.

Nice piece, Scip.

The Mavs method this post season reminds me, ironically enough, of why I am a Spurs fan (and why I tilt at the Maurice Cheeks HOF windmill). This version plays basketball the way the game was drawn up—with extra large stones from almost the entire roster. The Chandler acquisition was brilliant.

Great show, Mavs. This was a great validation of the unfairly maligned Dirk Nowitzki and a well-deserved title. Scoreboard.

Please note that I will return to despising you next season.

“it was fun to watch a city associated with choking, humidity, and choking humidity”
“I generally reviled the post-Earl Oilers while the Texans tend to skew more towards exasperation and pity”
“Hail to the Dallas Mavericks”

And you wonder why LoopingStarship never posts here anymore.

…enjoy the lock-out.

Anyone who has met Mark Cuban(self incuded) will tell you what a genuine, down-to-earth guy he is, media antics notwithstanding. That persona permeates the entire Mavericks’ organization, which is kind of ironic in such a pretentious place as Dallas, and even moreso when compared to the style-over-substance world of the NBA.

Score one for the good guys, and nice write-up per usual.

Of the guys in the post-MJ era, the only ones I’d take over Dirk are Shaq, Duncan and KG and the only young player who I think will definitely pass him is LeBron — if he develops a post-game. The lock-out might be the best thing to happen to him; if I was Pat Riley I’d lock him in a gym and demand he come out with a hook shot, a drop-step and a turn-around J.

Bill Simmons had him at #37 on his “Pyramid” — curious as to how NBA fans of the ’70’s-90’s would rank him against other power forwards like McHale, Barkley, Karl Malone and Dave Cowens. Is he a good enough scorer that people would take him over centers like Robinson, Ewing and Moses Malone?

“and the only young player who I think will definitely pass him is LeBron "

KD?

KD has a lot of room to improve his game — especially as a defender, rebounder and passer. Right now, he’s pretty much a less efficient version of Dirk. He certainly could pass him but there’s no guarantee he does.

And there’s always an element of luck with a player his age — just look at McGrady. His age-23 stats in Orlando are pretty insane: 32/6.5/5.5 on 46% shooting. He actually had a decent year running point for Detroit; he’d be a great fit on a team like Miami or the Lakers as a role player.

Similar experience regarding pro basketball allegiance, as I grew up in East Texas. As a kid I idolized the Iceman and pulled for the Spurs, who were very good but never quite good enough to take that last step and get to the Finals. Those losses to the Bullets and Lakers in the late 70s-early 80s still eat at me. But when the Spurs traded the aging Gervin to the Bulls, I washed my hands of the team. (I was still young and naive enough that when the Spurs said Ice burned his hand while “frying some fish,” I believed them.

This was the mid-80s, and the Mavs were starting to become respectable, so I started rooting for them, and sometimes went to games at Reunion (God rest its soul). I also took on a dual allegiance to the Rockets when they got Olajuwon, whom I idolized during his days at UH, and I was never happier to see an athlete win a title than when Houston won it all in ’94 and ’95.

The Mavs were indeed a frustrating team to pull for. They got really good in the late ‘80s, pushing L.A. to the limit in ’88, then flaming out spectacularly (thank you, Roy Tarpley!) The ’90s were a lost decade (anybody remember Jason Kidd’s first tour of duty in Big D, as part of the “3 J’s”? Quinn Buckner as head coach?) Then Cuban bought the team, brought in Don Nelson, and while they’ve won 50+ a year the past 11 seasons, postseason success has been elusive. 2006 was an absolute gut wrencher, as was the ’07 collapse against the Warriors after winning 67 in the regular season. But Dirk just continued putting in the work, and Cuban continued bringing in the right pieces (Chandler being the last, most important one), and with a new mental toughness and attitude and a roster full of guys who understand their roles and play them perfectly, this became a team that refused to conform to the standard M.O. of past Mavs teams. The complete lack of egos on this team, especially when placed in stark contrast to the Heat, is amazing.

It’s been a long time coming for Mavs fans. Seeing Dirk hoist the trophy last night in Victory Plaza was one of my all-time feel-good sports fuzzies. Also love the fact that, in true German fashion, he hustled to the lockerroom at the end of the game because he didn’t want anybody to see him break down and cry, a la MJ in ‘91 — although nobody would’ve minded. You earned those tears, Herr Nowitzki.

tjarks -
 
You just had to put a pro-Lebron comment in there to incite the masses, didn’t you?
 
Post MJ, I take Kobe in his prime along with Duncan, Shaq, KG over Dirk.
 
Bill Simmons did a pretty good job on his Pyramid, notwithstanding his overrating of Iverson and the hilarious/bizarre inclusion of Robert Horry. I imagine his next edition would have Dirk in the 20s.
 
Nowitzki is such a different level of athlete from a guy like Cowens. The early 1970s NBA was a talent poor garbage league. There’s a reason Kareem averaged a bored 30 and 15 during those years.
 
McHale. Man. That’s tough. Kevin really sublimated his offensive game for the team and he was a good defender. People don’t remember how fucking good he was. The pinnacle of offensive efficiency. My favorite McHale stat? A 56% lifetime field goal percentage IN THE PLAYOFFS.
 
I prefer Dirk over Karl.
 
Barkley – just a different creature. Hard to compare him to anyone. He played the position of basketball player and he was simultaneously one of the most dominant and flawed good players in NBA history.

Great post, Scipio.

My NBA loyalties are loosely tethered to a few teams, usually ones prominently featuring a former Longhorn. Recently it’s been OKC but it was hard not to pull for the Mavs in this series after they dispatched the Thunder.

Dirk went Technoviking against all comers and in the end they all marched to his beat.

Top 20 all-time no doubt.

The concept that Lebron might spend the offseason working on fundamentals is amusing. Maybe if it’s somewhere in the Seychelles…

I really didn’t have a favorite NBA team. Jerry West was the individual player I followed as a kid. The ABA in the mid and late 70’s was chock full of individuals who caught your attention.

The most spectacular player I saw in person was David Thompson. There was one year when Gervin and Thompson were dueling for the ABA scoring title. I was working for KTBC at the time and we would go down to San Antonio for some games. Thompson came down on the break, left he feet at the free throw line and somehow twisted his body between two defenders to throw it down. The crowd just sat there in stunned silence.

That year Gervin had the slimmest lead possible over Thomspon going into the last day of the regular season. Thompson scored 73 points in an early evening game. Gervin responded with 63 points against New Orleans that night to clinch the scoring title.

Thompson became the NBA personification of the 70’s and 80’s pro athlete (alcohol & drugs) and never attained his maximum potential. But when Jordan came along and hit stride, I would remember Thompson and think, “Been There, Seen That.”

Great write-up and I couldn’t agree more. I know way too many Maverick fans, so I’ve never liked the team, but I was damn happy for them Sunday night.

There was a lot to dislike on even this Mavs team (Stevenson, Barea, Terry and Shawn Marion’s jumpshot), but how they all played together made it all go away. For basketball junkies, it really was a thing to watch.

And I agree with you that all of us – Simmons included – will have Dirk no lower than twenties. And really, he’s inching toward an argument in the teens if he can play anywhere near this level for another few years.

“This goes a long way towards explaining why our Dream Teamers no longer dominate the Olympics and World Championships against countries whose teams have one or two good to middling NBA players.

Catch the last Olympics? We stopped winning the gold ONLY because our top pros stopped playing. When they returned with Coach K, the winning resumed.

I have a tarnished Zales Dallas Mavericks commemorative coin buried somewhere from the inaugural franchise home game I attended as a kid. For various reasons, some of which are mentioned up top, the Mavs teams never inspired me much, and for the past 15+ years I’ve had no investment in them whatsoever. I’m not going to join the bandwagon, but I will always appreciate and be a fan of inspired team play regardless of who it is. I’m genuinely happy for the Mavs right now.

It makes me wonder what the Mavs have in coach Rick Carlisle. He can claim some association as a player to Red Auerbach and has a haircut that isn’t listed under ego driven. I’m interested to see if he’s elevated them to a new plateau with his method of team play going forward.

to all the LeBron haters, I say hail to the King & his Posse for invoking in grand style the nWo to the NBA. Like great villians, they disposed of the Celtics & Bulls. And they looked to destroy the upstart Mavs before bowing in the end like all great villans.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/Nwologo.jpg

“…it was fun to watch a city associated with choking, humidity, and choking humidity transform itself into Big Shot Rob clutch. It was the plainest girl in your high school coming back to the ten year reunion with laser eye surgery, a new rack, and ten years of CrossFit.”

Well played. As a Houston sports fan, this is exactly what the Rocket’s championships were like.

There was a flash of what these Mavs were about earlier in the year when Kidd killed the Celtics in Boston with a 3-point walkoff shot. He’s got a post-NBA future at the Hold-em tournaments.

And the defining impression of the playoff run was of Cuban not talking. It won’t last long. As much as you’d like to not dislike the guy, he’s always off doing silly things like trying to outbid Nolan Ryan.

Big if. If they can keep Chandler, Butler and the runt from signing elsewhere next year, then don’t be too surprised to see them back at the show next year. Or perhaps figure out a way to meld Terry and Stephenson into one person.

Go Mavs!

case in point:
On ESPN, after the 15 point come-back in game 2, they showed the top 5 plays of the night… 3 of the top plays were dunks by Lebron, Wade and Bosh – rim-hanging, legs flying, legitimate highlights. I’m sure ESPN was not happy that the Mavs won because they had to choose the #1 top play as Dirk’s now famous left handed layup around Bosh. A simple layup won the top play that night over those monstrous slam-dunks. ESPN loves slam dunks.

it also has to be said… Dirk > KG, Malone and Barkley. I’ll allow that Malone and Barkley can stay in the argument because (bad) memories seem to inflate their value. but KG? not a chance.

Being a Mavs fan from Dallas, then moving to Austin… I have to disagree with you about your opinion on Mavs fans of the past, basically referring to them as whiny pussies. While Cuban has always been a whiny pussy (and I’m sure there are plenty of Mavs fans that fit the bill), I have watched the Mavs play the Spurs at Shoal Creek Saloon in Austin over at least 20 games. This is a spurs bar, and I have seen them beat us FAR more times there than I have watched us win. Through countless drunken hours of Crawfish and Lone Star addled observation, I must say that Austin based Spurs fans are the whiniest collection of pussy fans I have come across. This, of course, is entireley my personal opinion… and not at all a disclaimer for San Antonio based Spurs fans, which I have come to know and therefore fear. However, while Dallas is a city full of pussies (In my opnion it’s an LA that votes Republican, harbors the notorious 30,000 millionaires)…

You know what, scratch this whole blurb, while I was writing it I just had an epiphany.

After living in Chicago for 4 years, I have realized one certainty: Chicago sports fans of any franchise, not Austin based Spurs fans, are the biggest collection of whiny Pussies this side of Paris.

"Then they topped it off with the most emotionally tough basketball seen in years."

Long time Mavs fan, and this is what I’m most proud of. Still can’t believe all those fourth quarter comebacks. Usually those are fueled by a star taking over the game – not necessarily sound team play. The Mav’s comebacks this postseason happened b/c the team collectively grabbed its nuts, stuck to the game plan, ratcheted up the intensity, did not blink. No "fold" in the vocabulary. Steel nerves. Cliches. All true! Sweet victory!

Texas Tough: How freaking awesome were these playoffs????!!!!!! I am still in shock. Unbelievable guys, go MAVS!!!!!!!!!!

So the plainest girl in your high school lost games on purpose and got lucky bounces with ping pong balls? (I type this with a blank look and a head bob).

The blanket stereotyping of Mavericks fans and the city of Dallas is a little lazy don’t you think?

As someone whose family had Mavs season tickets for a few years starting with their inaugural season I’m clearly a homer. I’m also willing to admit I didn’t pick the Mavs to beat the Blazers much less win it all. When the light came on for me was in game 1 of the Lakers series. I was in a Santa Monica sports bar with a couple of Dallas guys on business (along with 200 Laker fans) and I turned to my customers in the middle of the game and said "this is the worst freaking BBQ I’ve ever had" and then I said "the Mavericks are the better team… I can’t believe I’m saying this but they are better than the Lakers".

Folks tend to forget that before Caron Butler went down the Mavs were arguably the best team in the league. After he went down it seemed crazy to think they would make a deep run. But that is one of the reasons sports are so compelling. Sometimes the unexpected happens and your team in your favorite sport surprises everyone (except seemingly themselves) and wins it all.

Congrats to the Mavs organization!! Loyalty and hard work (and Cuban’s $$) finally paid off.

Despite KG’s defense, I’d take Dirk’s body of work over his any day of the week and twice on Sundays. And Pat in Chicago is absolutely correct. One of the most shocking things to me upon arriving at UT was the venom that my friends from Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and virtually every area of the state outside of the metroplex had for Dallas in general, but particularly their sports teams. Most Dallas fans that I knew then and know now will root for other Texas teams if they advance farther than we do in the playoffs, but that’s never been true on the other side. A wise college friend once told me that Dallas better hope that the rest of the state never decides to declare war against it.

The unexpected championships are extra special. Go Mavs!

Excellent article Scipio.

As always the national media misses the forest for the trees. If you look back on the entire season, but particularly the playoffs, there has been a real team basketball v individual player dynamic that made this season fascinating. It started with the Carmelo Anthony drama and the failure of the Nicks v the success of the post Anthony Nuggets. Then the thunder played like a talented young likable team with a great future.

Dallas really came together and perfected the team concept in the playoffs. It was fun to watch and great for the NBA. Unfortunately, they are going to lock everyone out. I’m sure by the time they come back they will have forgotten what made this year so great and will go back to promoting Lebron as the face of the NBA, with no regard for what the marketing is doing to the game.

As a Mavs fan, I reserve(d) the right to whine.

I grew up thinking Chris Gatling and Gary Trent were legit bball players because they were the best Dallas had to offer in certain seasons. I thought Jim Jackson was an elite level talent. Then I actually got to experience sustained success and the ascent of a legit star only to have that period of success coincide with 2 dynasties in the same conference. Then we actually break through with Dirk toppling SA and we get out FT’d by Miami? Oh hell nah!

So have I whined? Yeah, almost certainly. But I needed to and I wouldn’t change how it went down because I probably appreciate the championship that much more some 17 or so years after going to my first Mavs game.

Good post, max. You captured the Mav zeitgeist well.

Dallas whining phonically sounds better than Philly whining. There are many worse cities to live in as a tortured sports fan. Chicago says, hey! fuck you!

But whatever you do, Mavs fan, please don’t do this.

Looks like a crude map of Possum Kingdom.

Excellent article, I think maybe we are underselling the talent on the Mavs’ team though. Granted their style, intelligence, and deployment by Carlisle was phenomenal but Kidd, Barea, Marion, Terry, and Chandler played exceptionally well in the roles asked of them. Those are really good players if not at the level of Wade, or James….few players are near that level.

I don’t think the Mavs window to contend is closing all that much. Realistically, the only two players who matter are Dirk and Chandler. Everyone else can be replaced, especially with Nelson’s ability to find guys in the draft and Cuban’s willingness to spend money. Keep in mind this is the third different team built around Dirk — there was the Nash/Finley group in ’03 and the Howard/Dampier/Harris outfit in ’06.

Malone, another jump-shooting power forward, was an elite player till he was 37. Marcus Camby, another athletic but injury-plagued shot-blocking center, won a DPOY at 32. That would put the Mavs window at 2016!

http://basketball.realgm.com/blog/213914/Old_Team_Big_Title_Window

Now that’s obviously a best-case scenario, and the new CBA could change the dynamics of roster construction completely … but even the possibility of a run from 2000-2016 is mind-boggling. There was a 13-year old playing basketball at the gym today, and me and my friend were laughing talking to him because … this kid has lived his entire life with Dirk in the playoffs! He was in diapers when Calvin Booth knocked Utah out of the playoffs and now he’s going through puberty. It’s preposterous.

Scip…while I will agree with you that Mavs fans can be labeled as whiny, it is not hard to understand why. Anyone who watched the 2006 finals should have some sympathy for Mavs fans, and Longhorn fans should have empathy.

Randy Galloway here in DFW calls us the “Whiney Orange” because of, among other things, our behavior in 2009 with the whole 45-35 thing. But who could blame us, that was such a screw job, much like the 2006 NBA finals. Cuban does not help the perception as well. But, I think to label all Mavs fans as such is a bit too sweeping, and lacking in empathy.

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