With the 3-0 deficit to the Thunder, the inevitable end to the unlikely title defense is imminent.

None of this changes the amazing and inspired run of 2011, and what the team was able to achieve - rebounding from the terrible loss to Portland, sweeping LA, surviving an incredibly talented OKC, and getting in the heads of Miami - essentially returning the favor for '06.

The '95 Rockets play-off team was the only one I remember to ever play that inspired for the play-offs.

They were good champions, Carlisle is a great coach, and here's to hoping they can put a few pieces around Dirk for one or two more runs at it.

Im really torn on this.

I realize you would sacrifice the future....but I truly believe that if you brought last years Mavs team back they would have as good a chance as any to win it all this year.

If the Mavs pull a 2003 Florida Marlins and make the Finals a few more times....Cuban and the MBT will look like geniuses for tanking this season.

All of the playoff heartache over the years vindicated in a single, wild playoff run.

No love given in the first round, and the choke at the Rose Garden - usually a sign of the same old Mavs - served as a springboard. Exorcised some demons there.

Swept the defending champs. The wild comeback against OKC and Dirk out-gunning the young guns in OKC.

And of course, it had to be Miami. The improved Miami superfriends, and vengeance for 2006.

It really was a perfect playoffs.

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It really was a perfect playoffs.

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It really was.

You forgot that our arch nemesis the Spurs pulled a Mavs 2007 and got knocked out of the 1st round by an 8 seed.

on The RealGM NBa board there were NBAfans of opposing teams saying the 2011 Mavs would make a great movie.

Old, underappreciated vets who are all very accomplished in their NBA careers but had all had some excruciating playoff defeats. Players many people had written off as guys that would never be champions.

After a shaky 2nd half of the season they rise up and beat the 3x defending Western Conference Champion Lakers, and then do everyone a favor beating the team everyone loved to hate in the Miami Heat.


[This message has been edited by Kellso (edited 5/4/2012 10:36a).]

I don't like the Mavs much, but their run last year was awesome.

I really thought they were going to give OKC a tough series. And if that KD shot in game one doesn't go down, it might be a completely different story.

In before someone craps on the thread.

Hope we make some splashes this offseason and get Dirk some weapons.

I'm still scratching my head over the offseason moves. As if losing Chandler and Barea wasn't enough, you're going to bring in a couple of team cancers (Carter, West) and a guy who has only ever been motivated to show up and play when the stars are aligned perfectly (Odom)?

I think the Mavs just got hot at the right time last year. But they probably could have capitalized on the confidence of winning it all last year, and at least made a good run of it this year. Probably would have been among the favorites, if not THE favorite in the west. Also, it would have been interesting to potentially see a finals rematch.

Oh, and Tyson Chandler is one of the most underrated players in the league. It isn't mere coincidence that his teams are usually in the playoffs.

Cuban tried to bring the band back together to rty and repeat for a year. The problem was that he was offering 1 year deals and the players wanted more than that. Can't really blame them.

Nothing that happened this year will take anything away from last year for me.

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Old, underappreciated vets who are all very accomplished in their NBA careers but had all had some excruciating playoff defeats. Players many people had written off as guys that would never be champions.

After a shaky 2nd half of the season they rise up and beat the 3x defending Western Conference Champion Lakers, and then do everyone a favor beating the team everyone loved to hate in the Miami Heat.

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Definitely some story lines I forgot. There were so many, both internal and external for the team. So many angles... it was a special post-season without a doubt.

Even Spurs fans realize that Cuban (the most hated man in San Antonio) should have done everything in his power (including sacrificing the future) to at least give this team a chance to defend its title. What if Deron Williams is a cancer like he was in Utah (if he does sign with Dallas)? What if Dirk is no longer Dirk? You have a really small window with Dirk. Who is Cuban bringing in to take over Chandler's role? So many questions.

As some others have said, if it works out for Cuban, he's a genius. However, this is a huge gamble on his part and I don't like his odds.

Absolutely should have resigned Chandler. No problems letting Barea and the others move on. Cuban outsmarted himself. Such a shame. But we'll always have last year's title. It took the 71 Cowboys 4 years to reload and go back to the Super Bowl. Dirk=Bob Lilly

I wish those guys were back, but let's not pretend like it wouldn't have been a huge gamble to resign those guys:

Chandler - Has a long history of injury problems
Barrea - Loved the guy, but he is the 7th/8th guy off a bench? Sign him to big money and your felxibilty is shot
Stevenson - He is a little insane

It sounds like the 2 options were:
1. Mortgage the future for 1, and only 1, more run at the title
2. Mortgage the 2012 season for flexibilty to build a better future.

In hindsight.... The Mavs should've signed all those guys back and given them market deals. If Dallas signs Deron then what else are they going to put around him? The Mavs have to have a decent center to be a legit threat. Cuban wet the bed on this one and the Mavs have officially returned to that limbo stage of being an average playoff team with no chance at contending like they were in from 2008-2010.

I know Chandler would have been overpaid and an injury risk but it would have been worth it. His leadership presence alone was almost worth it. Dirk always goes out of his way to credit Chandler as the main difference last year. In order to sign Deron they'll have to amnesty Haywood. Mahinmi is a free agent. It's likely the centers next year will all be league minimum caliber or rookies.

[This message has been edited by Internetfan02 (edited 5/4/2012 11:32a).]

I don't mind Cuban's approach. It's all about player market value - how is it going to change under the new CBA? Are guys that would make 8-9mm per year only going to make 5-6?

Chandler, Barea, Caron - those guys were going to get paid, and under the old way of thinking. Personally I would have paid Chandler and only Chandler, but I understand why we decided to let him walk.

Cuban is ahead of the curve on this, and that will only benefit the Mavs in the short (maybe not 2012, but 2013?) and long term.

[This message has been edited by Judge (edited 5/4/2012 11:30a).]

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Dirk always goes out of his way to credit Chandler as the main difference last year.

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This. What does every great playoff team have? A solid or great PG and a solid defensive big man.

Tyson Chandler is about as solid defensively as they come, and from what I hear, he is an excellent "locker room" guy.

Teams now are so intent on bringing in as many people as they can who are great offensive players. IMO Chandler is every bit as valuable on the defensive end as Deron Williams will ever be on the offensive end.

mass, i agree with you, but from everything we've heard, west and carter were more than model citizens this year, great locker room guys. Only cancer was lamar odom.

chemistry with not having a set rotation n a short season and more than anything, getting NOTHING from the small forward and center spot hurt the mavs. they look, old, slow and disgruntled with the refs last night. Tyson would have helped and so would have JJ for THIS YEAR, but the thunder are just entering their prime, grizz and clips reloaded with young guns, lakers still have bynum and kobe.

i dont mind leveraging this season, if that means we are in contention next year. What i dont want is what the cowboys went through after 1998, slow, losing seasons for the last decade

Everybody else you let walk, but Chandler was THE REASON that team went from choke artists to NBA champions. You don't let him walk, for any reason. Good NBA centers don't come along often, especailly defensive anchors. Hell, Cuban had been giving huge contracts out to stiffs for a long time and then suddenly draws the line? WTF?

Cubans been great for Dallas, but I can't help but think they had at least a 25% chance at repeating. You don't just piss that away for Deron Williams. Sorry. Stupid move

chandler is the one person i wish we had found a way to resign. first true center in dallas in over 25 years..

Cuban wasn't only hedging on getting Deron, but Dwight Howard as well, no? So he didn't want to get locked in with Chandler if Howard was going to be available after a year (this is before last season)...

I see that as the main reason he let Chandler walk. Huge gamble that didn't end up working out...(of course there's always NEXT summer as a possibility, if he even wants Howard at this point and Howard doesn't sign an extension before then).

Lock into Chandler long term and I doubt you have much money to replace Terry, Kidd, etc... after this year. Not to mention you're tying your entire future to a guy that has averaged 57 games a year the last 3 years (Not including this season due to the shortened schedule).

That gif is priceless.

Dont underestimate the lockout. That handcuffed Cuban.

Chandler is also older than you think. I loved him on the team, but big money and 4 years was too much. If you pay him market, you are all in for this year only. 2013 is terrible with basically Dirk and Chandler.

Mavs rolled the dice to win multiple chances instead of bringing back most of squad to defend.

I thought it was right move then and still do. If you get Deron W it was
worth it.

Put Chandler on this team and they still lose to OKC.

If Odom doesnt lose his mind, this is salty team.

I think Chandler this year gets us a solid #3 seed and a fun matchup against the Clippers before going to battle against OKC in round 2, in which we probably win.

We could have easily signed both Chandler and then Deron Williams. Just need to trade Marion's reasonable contract for cap space and amnesty Haywood.

Letting Chandler walk was all about the pipe dream of signing both Dwight Howard and Williams.

that cuban image is exactly what every mavs fan was doing in their own livingrooms...myself included.

Last year was magical. This year is when reality set in.

I think we can re-tool. I just hope we can sign DWill. If not it will be a lot less likely we can get back before Dirk retires.

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Put Chandler on this team and they still lose to OKC.

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I just dont think so.

The Mavs have had trouble in close games all year long.....and why?

Because they cant get stops at the end of the game. Not like they could last year when Chandler was on the floor for crunch time.

Chandler by himself (brining no other Mavs back) I think would have been worth 8-10 more wins this season.
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One more thing in regards to the magic of last season.

I hate the Spurs. I take that back.

I dont really hate the spurs team, but their fans are annoying and obnoxious.

That being said, one of the things that really irks me is how little respect the Spurs are given on a national basis.

Its rather disgusting. Simmons had an article where he disses every single of the Spurs titles, and thats just a subset of the East Coast bias that goes on in the NBA.

After game 6 I was on the Lakers message board, the RealGM NBA board, and a bunch of other teams and in all of them there was universal praise for the Mavs.

I was expecting a bunch of "This is the weakest champion of the past 20 years" type of post, but Lakers fans in general where like The 2011 Mavs are a worthy, legit NBA champion. Thank You for beating Lebron and Wade.

And I can tell you that none of these guys respected the Mavs before the Sweep.

Nothing is over until we say it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Over now - an dthey were still great champs, and I still get a little smile when I think about it...it helps balance that feeling from Game 6 (you know which one) that will never go away completely.

The CBA kicks in two years from now so that's why Cuban was offering short term deals. Tyson Chandler is being overpaid right now. 11ppg/10rbg. Great player and was in a great situation with Dallas which made him look awesome. Great reason why we won the ship but still being overpaid. He's not worthy of earning Dirk's kind of money.

But in two years you have to PAY TRIPLE for every dollar over the cap. Not really worth it in my opinion. And lets be honest, Barea and Chandler wanted TO GET PAID. Barea went to the ******* Timberwolves.

People really seem to forget how Marion, Kidd and Terry played above their heads in last year's playoffs. The offense was the problem. Not the defense.

Mavs got screwed in trying to defend their title due to the shortened season, lock out and CBA. There was no training camp to get players accustomed. Players were getting injured every day for the Mavs so no chemistry was ever created. I think there was maybe 5 games where all the players were healthy. And don't discount Lamar Odom being a dud. He could've filled in for Chandler. Look who we lost because of him. Rudy Fernandez and Corey Brewer. It was just a totally different team.

It sucks but I'm at peace with it and I really only watched one game of the playoffs because I was working or partying during the three games.

My friend that is a lakers fan was talking so much mess. Dude was still butthurt from being swept last year. Also said that Dirk would never win a title as the #1 option.

[This message has been edited by TheMasterplan (edited 5/9/2012 1:27a).]

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Lock into Chandler long term and I doubt you have much money to replace Terry, Kidd

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I disagree. Those guys are like Bruce Bowen now. Much more valuable to the Mavs than they are to anyone else. I think Kidd and Terry will get smaller deals because their market value just isn't that high anymore. And I think they are both "team" oriented guys who will work to structure their contracts to bring in as much talent as possible.

There is no reason to think a GM worth his salt couldn't keep Chandler, Kidd and Terry around and still have enough money to sign a FA. And hell, if you are planning on signing Deron Williams, are you really also planning on keeping Kidd around?

Terry has been saying all year that he is playing for a big contract and I think the Mavs are ready to let him walk. Let's say you signed Chandler and then you sign Deron this offseason. That gives you:

Chandler
Dirk
Marion
West?(Not sure of his contract status)
Deron

You have no one coming off the bench and no money to go get anybody.

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I dont really hate the spurs team, but their fans are annoying and obnoxious.

That being said, one of the things that really irks me is how little respect the Spurs are given on a national basis.

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It doesn't necessarily give us a free pass but this is precisely why some Spurs fans are the way they are. Year in and year out there is a perceived lack of respect nationally, yet the Spurs have fielded contenders almost every year over the last decade.

As much as I hate the Mavs, last year's title was a great run and I was glad to see Dirk get a title. For the sake your owner and some of your fans though, I'd love nothing more than seeing the Spurs to take the title back this year.

The problem is the Spurs are a victim of their own success. When a team is a contender for 10 years in a row, the national media really just stops noticing/caring. Unless of course that team is the Lakers or Celtics. If the Celtics had had the exact same run the Spurs have since 99, they'd be considered a dynasty for the ages, no question.

And the trouble is, now that the Spurs are a high-powered offensive team, no one is noticing outside of San Antonio because everyone still sees us a boring, defensive-minded team. That's simply not the case anymore, and even another championship wouldn't change that perception.

Remember how last year everyone was cheering for the Mavs over the Heat? I honestly feel like there is such apathy towards San Antonio that those roles would be reversed in a Spurs Heat finals this year. And frankly, it's kind of disappointing. But I'd much rather be a fan of a winning team that no one notices, than a losing team that people love.