http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/169220.html
NBA Beat: Mavs fail to meet the burden of proof
By Scott Howard-Cooper - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:38 am PDT Sunday, May 6, 2007
OK, now they're motivated.
The 2006 NBA Finals meltdown was supposed to drive the Dallas Mavericks to redemption and an avenging title. Instead, it gave way to a greater embarrassment, a calamitous 2007 first round that leaves them to plot the next great reinvention with a purpose. Everyone else just wants to know where to run under them with the fire net.
In truth, nothing can save the Mavericks' legacy at this point. Losing to the impassioned Warriors would have been an all-time upset, anyway, with Golden State having finished 25 games behind in the Western Conference. But Dallas already was trying to live down last June's surrender of a 2-0 series lead over the Miami Heat and 13-point fourth-quarter cushion in Game 3, compounding the debacle of the past two weeks.
The Mavericks became a team for the ages, all right. The Dark Ages.
Things likely will get worse before they get better. Still to come, probably, is the announcement of Dirk Nowitzki as MVP soon after being badly exposed by a Warriors defense that reduced him to passive and ineffective, sending him to some podium to accept the award as a walking piñata.
Then, there's the real unsettling development: having to show up again in the fall.
" 'Disappointing' can't even describe it," Nowitzki said from behind a blank stare after the 4-2 series loss was completed Thursday night in Oakland. "You play your heart out for six, seven months. We win 67 games, and it really means nothing at this point. All the hard work. I feel sorry for the whole organization."
All along, the Mavericks had been playing for something greater than a 2007 title. This was supposed to be about their reputation, and, in the final turn, that is exactly how it turned out.
As if by Magic
When making it to the end of the season once would have been a goal, Hedo Turkoglu made it as one of the few things that went right in the final month of the season for the Orlando Magic, an aching team that might not be done with pain.
A nosedive of a second half and a four-game sweep by the Detroit Pistons had management whirling around on coach Brian Hill, going from saying that his job was safe to president Bob Vander Weide ominously noting to the Orlando Sentinel that "sometimes there are no guarantees in life."
Hill's dismissal would bring further complication to a Magic offseason that already includes a potential Grant Hill retirement, Darko Milicic as a free agent and the expectation of signing franchise foundation Dwight Howard to a maximum contract extension of about $80 million. At least it will have the relief of knowing Turkoglu finally recovered, or responded, or just snapped out of it.
He spent so much of the season's first half battling what were vaguely described as ongoing flu-like symptoms that coach Hill admitted concern about the potential of a serious illness. Not only did Turkoglu avoid any such bad news, he averaged 16.8 points in the 13 regular-season and playoff games in April, and he shot 50 percent in the first-round loss.
Image consultant
Logic might tip toward Jerry West rejoining the Lakers as a consultant, especially with Kobe Bryant openly anxious about the future in the wake of a third consecutive early offseason, but the reality is that many West confidants would be surprised at a reunion after he breaks with the Memphis Grizzlies on July 1.
Although a reduced front-office job has long appealed to West -- allowing him to remain in the game without handling the grind of daily decisions, and he still has a home about 20 miles from Staples Center -- working in Los Angeles again would come with issues. Most notably, he is very sensitive to what such a move would mean to the image of general manager Mitch Kupchak, West's former protégé who would now be his boss.
West wouldn't have a concern about that working arrangement as much as a concern about infringing on the perception of Kupchak as the man in charge, a challenge with a popular front-office legend nearby and everyone knowing the impatient Bryant uncharacteristically holds West in a high regard. Similar worries contributed to West staying away from job options with the Clippers, because he knew it would mean the end for longtime friend Elgin Baylor as personnel boss there.
And in the end
For all the attention given early in the season to the crackdown on conduct, leading to a spate of technical fouls, the issue faded in the final months as coaches and players adjusted to the new expectations and referees appeared to show greater latitude. The final tally of 2,290 technicals in the regular season was 233 more than in 2005-06, or 7.8 more per team over 82 games.
Close quote
Golden State's Jason Richardson, after the Warriors became the third No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 in NBA history: "I don't know if I have to pinch myself or wake up from this dream, but this is everything I wanted."
About the writer: The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard-cooper@sacbee.com.
NBA Beat: Mavs fail to meet the burden of proof
By Scott Howard-Cooper - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:38 am PDT Sunday, May 6, 2007
OK, now they're motivated.
The 2006 NBA Finals meltdown was supposed to drive the Dallas Mavericks to redemption and an avenging title. Instead, it gave way to a greater embarrassment, a calamitous 2007 first round that leaves them to plot the next great reinvention with a purpose. Everyone else just wants to know where to run under them with the fire net.
In truth, nothing can save the Mavericks' legacy at this point. Losing to the impassioned Warriors would have been an all-time upset, anyway, with Golden State having finished 25 games behind in the Western Conference. But Dallas already was trying to live down last June's surrender of a 2-0 series lead over the Miami Heat and 13-point fourth-quarter cushion in Game 3, compounding the debacle of the past two weeks.
The Mavericks became a team for the ages, all right. The Dark Ages.
Things likely will get worse before they get better. Still to come, probably, is the announcement of Dirk Nowitzki as MVP soon after being badly exposed by a Warriors defense that reduced him to passive and ineffective, sending him to some podium to accept the award as a walking piñata.
Then, there's the real unsettling development: having to show up again in the fall.
" 'Disappointing' can't even describe it," Nowitzki said from behind a blank stare after the 4-2 series loss was completed Thursday night in Oakland. "You play your heart out for six, seven months. We win 67 games, and it really means nothing at this point. All the hard work. I feel sorry for the whole organization."
All along, the Mavericks had been playing for something greater than a 2007 title. This was supposed to be about their reputation, and, in the final turn, that is exactly how it turned out.
As if by Magic
When making it to the end of the season once would have been a goal, Hedo Turkoglu made it as one of the few things that went right in the final month of the season for the Orlando Magic, an aching team that might not be done with pain.
A nosedive of a second half and a four-game sweep by the Detroit Pistons had management whirling around on coach Brian Hill, going from saying that his job was safe to president Bob Vander Weide ominously noting to the Orlando Sentinel that "sometimes there are no guarantees in life."
Hill's dismissal would bring further complication to a Magic offseason that already includes a potential Grant Hill retirement, Darko Milicic as a free agent and the expectation of signing franchise foundation Dwight Howard to a maximum contract extension of about $80 million. At least it will have the relief of knowing Turkoglu finally recovered, or responded, or just snapped out of it.
He spent so much of the season's first half battling what were vaguely described as ongoing flu-like symptoms that coach Hill admitted concern about the potential of a serious illness. Not only did Turkoglu avoid any such bad news, he averaged 16.8 points in the 13 regular-season and playoff games in April, and he shot 50 percent in the first-round loss.
Image consultant
Logic might tip toward Jerry West rejoining the Lakers as a consultant, especially with Kobe Bryant openly anxious about the future in the wake of a third consecutive early offseason, but the reality is that many West confidants would be surprised at a reunion after he breaks with the Memphis Grizzlies on July 1.
Although a reduced front-office job has long appealed to West -- allowing him to remain in the game without handling the grind of daily decisions, and he still has a home about 20 miles from Staples Center -- working in Los Angeles again would come with issues. Most notably, he is very sensitive to what such a move would mean to the image of general manager Mitch Kupchak, West's former protégé who would now be his boss.
West wouldn't have a concern about that working arrangement as much as a concern about infringing on the perception of Kupchak as the man in charge, a challenge with a popular front-office legend nearby and everyone knowing the impatient Bryant uncharacteristically holds West in a high regard. Similar worries contributed to West staying away from job options with the Clippers, because he knew it would mean the end for longtime friend Elgin Baylor as personnel boss there.
And in the end
For all the attention given early in the season to the crackdown on conduct, leading to a spate of technical fouls, the issue faded in the final months as coaches and players adjusted to the new expectations and referees appeared to show greater latitude. The final tally of 2,290 technicals in the regular season was 233 more than in 2005-06, or 7.8 more per team over 82 games.
Close quote
Golden State's Jason Richardson, after the Warriors became the third No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 in NBA history: "I don't know if I have to pinch myself or wake up from this dream, but this is everything I wanted."
About the writer: The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard-cooper@sacbee.com.
