Disclaimer: I'm not a basketball guru.

I'm just wondering why everyone on TV is saying this.

Perhaps I'm partial because I'm a Dallas fan, but this team seems to have something special. It even feels different from the 2006 team.

I feel like I'm watching those veteren Spurs teams who everyone would say is old yada yada. The bottom line I see from this Mavs team, like those Spurs teams, is they just win. Period.

The Blazers, Lakers and Thunder were all supposed to present these crazy matchup problems for the Mavs but we always seem to cater our own game to defeat those matchups. And sure, we have struggled at times against those matchups but you know what? We won. Just like those Spurs teams did.

So please, someone enlighten me as to why the Mavs (assuming the win the west) will just be meat for the East winner.

i'm not sure people are saying a foregone conclusion.

if the heat come out of the east, i expect them to win, but it's like 51/49. biggest thing going in their favor is 2 legit superstars, as opposed to just dirk for the mavs.

if the bulls come out of the east, i expect the mavs to win. i think the bulls are being exposed as having only one dependable weapon on offense.

Because it is a star driven league, and even though Dirk is a star, he isn't a marketable superstar in the same way Wade, Bron and Rose are.

probably because when miami beats chicago they will poo on dirk and the mavs. over in 4.

it's all to do with the SAT's really.

marion:stevenson :: lebron:wade

The Miami-Dallas series should be a good one.

I've been saying the Heat would win it since the summer. I'm changing my tune. I think Dallas will win it, and it will be a heck of a series.

Probably because it a 1 v. 2 in the East, with the #2 being a team people expected to be there, and the 1 a team with the overall best record.


In the West, expectations were heavy on the Lakers, and then the Spurs with an outside shot. I don't think people expected either of these West teams to be there.

I don't know about the Bulls right this moment, but as far as Miami, it's just hard, when you get right down to it, to pick against their stars in what is a star driven game, despite all their other glaring deficiencies. The Mavs have handeled superstars, but you can't really say the Lakers or the Thunder have their D-Wade to go with their LeBron.

I'm looking forward to Mavs-Heat. I think it'll be a terrific series. From a Mavericks standpoint, I'm looking at how well they can exploit the likes of Bibby and Jones as a decisive factor.

Westbrook and Durant, Kobe and Gasol.

They were all considered to be stars in this Star driven league. The Mavs don't seem to care up to this point.

none of those people are playing like they're in their prime.

lebron and wade are.

Westbrook isn't a superstar. Gasol isn't a superstar. Kobe is a super star on the wrong side of 1300 games. Durant isn't good enough to make up for Westbrook being a ball hog and for a James Harden off night.

Westbrook has big holes in his game. He does a lot of stuff very well, he does some things very poorly.

Gasol and Kobe? Maybe, but I'd easily take LeBron and Wade right now. And we havn't even discussed Bosh. On the flipside, I'd take most of the rest of the Lakers' roster over what the Heat can offer up.

You're right that the Mavs havn't seemed to care who they're playing. I hope it continues.

All I know is there were threads on this board about how people would take Gasol over Dirk.

He was a superstar before he got his ticket home.

Pau Gasol was never a super star. He is Robin to Kobe. Before that he never averaged 20 and 10.

True. I'm certainly using some of that well known 20/20 hindsight vision as I type, (although I wasn't one of those people who would have taken Gasol-Kobe over Wade-LeBron.)

Just to be clear, I'm not in the camp that it's a forgone conclusion the Heat will win. I'm just saying the star power is something the Mavericks havn't quite seen yet, imo.

so mavs' fans....who do you want to win in the east?

The Heat was 19-10 against the West, 39-14 against the East.

As a Mavs fan, I'm pulling for the Bulls for matchup reasons.

The absolute last thing I think anyone here in Dallas wants to see in the Finals is Miami, especially after the officiating debacle that was the '06 Mavs-Heat series. Because of how it went last time, I think we all expect DeShawn Stevenson to be whistled for a foul when he shakes Dwyane Wade's hand right before the opening tip-off.

Plus, as previous posters have already alluded to, the superstar effect is magnified in the Finals, and it's tough to compete with a team that has LeBron and Wade driving into the lane every possession and throwing up prayers knowing that they'll get bailed out every time by a foul call.

The Bulls are the new Cavs, riding on Rose and really a bunch of nobody's around him beside Boozer. So far in the playoffs, Noah is great at being emotional and can be good on defense at times


Whoever faces Miami (don't blow it Mavs D:< ), I think it will depend on their bench getting a lot more production than Miami's bench. That and we'll have to try and take on the Pistons and Spurs mentality and hope the refs call it square.

I don't know who is saying whoever wins the East will win it because I promise you the Bulls will be underdogs.

[This message has been edited by MSCAg (edited 5/24/2011 2:59p).]

I wouldn't count the Mavs out of the Heat series. The Mavs are different than anyone the Heat faces. The Heat haven't faced anyone like the Mavs this postseason. There has been no offense to threaten the Heat like the Mavs have. Nor has Miami had to face the bench the Mavs have. The Mavs will likely try to pick their poison and let Lebron or Wade go off and try and take the other one out as much as possible with double teams.

I think the NBA has gotten a lot better in recent years about giving the stars all the calls. That's why there will never be another MJ.

This is prolly due to a combination of the LAL-SAC debacle, the Donaghy incident, and the effect of the internet (youtube/bloggers) bringing the hypocrisy more to light.

I think a lot of Spurs/Rockets fans are selling the Mavs short because they hope the Mavs don't win a championship. I think that accounts for 95% or more of the "Mavs have no chance" talk.

I think the Mavs-Heat would be a good series to watch. I think the Mavs-Bulls would be a short series, since I think the Mavs can defend Rose enough right now that Chicago can't outscore them.

Miami has two stars and the Mavs only have an unguardable forward and the deepest team in the league that has three players coming off the bench able to put up 20 points any given night.