With the NBA season ending last night, a few final thoughts on the Mavs and Heat (with some Lakers mixed in too…) First off, congrats to the Mavericks for winning their first championship in franchise history. They played fantastic basketball, not only against the Heat but the entire playoffs. What I found most impressive about […]
NBA Playoffs
NBA Finals: Game 6 Chat
The NBA championship could be decided tonight. No, the Lakers aren’t involved. There are no crucial moments to fret over; no stomach churning lead up to this contest. Instead, it’s two teams – the Mavs and the Heat – that will take center stage while we all watch. I know many have a desired outcome […]
Cerebral Play, Passiveness, & The Critiques That Come With
The other day I found myself in a discussion about LeBron James. Game 4 had just ended and LeBron had just turned in a baffling performance. He’d scored only 8 points in an NBA Finals game and was routinely being skewered for his play in one of the most important games in his (relatively) young […]
Lakers/Mavs Game 4: A Premature End
Well, it’s all over now. The Lakers season. Phil Jackson pacing the Laker sidelines. The hope of another three-peat. All of it. The Mavs completed what seemed improbable a week ago, sweeping the Lakers out of the playoffs with a dominant performance. 122-86 was the final count and that 36 point margin actually does sum […]
When There’s Nothing Else, There’s Hope
Yesterday, in recapping the Lakers’ most recent gut wrenching loss our closing thoughts were on supporting this team until the very end. The thinking goes that while this series certainly has the look and feel (and historical precedence) of one that’s all but over, fans turn their focus to “all but” portion of that phrase […]
Game 3 Preview & Chat: Lakers vs. Mavericks
It’s better if this is no longer thought of as a 7 game series. In the big picture, I know that a series comeback is on all of our minds but this series is now a one game affair. A Laker loss tonight puts them down 3-0 and unless you want to cite hockey or […]
Circling The Wagons
The Lakers are in a hole. Few envisioned this series unfolding the way that it has and it’s a credit to the Mavericks for turning the perceptions of their team – and thus their match up with the Lakers – upside down. Not that people didn’t recognize how great a player Dirk is nor the […]
Don’t Expect These Mavs To Fold
Better than most fan bases, we who root for the Lakers understand how long a strong and persuasive narrative can survive. For example, even when Kobe was accepting double teams, hitting the open man, and generally sharing the ball expertly in the playoff run of 2009 (and beyond), the “Kobe’s selfish” meme was alive and well […]
Lakers/Mavericks Game 1: Sunk Down The Stretch
Game 1’s don’t seem to agree with the Lakers so far these playoffs. Just as with the Hornets series, the Lakers find themselves trailing after the first contest, with the Mavs winning 96-94 and stealing away home court in a game with so many twists and turns it should have been played on Lombard St. in […]
Game 1 Preview & Chat: Lakers vs. Mavericks
The wait for the games to come back is finally over as the Lakers’ second round series starts tonight. We’ve covered a lot of ground already – looking at the when the Lakers and the Mavs have the ball – but there’s still some things to look out for tonight in this all important game one. […]