Dallas's Demise

Last night, I received an email from my good friend Dan Rose, requesting that I write about the tragic defeat his beloved Mavs recently suffered. He referred to Denver as the "Thuggets," which I thought was hilarious.

So why was Dallas completely obliterated in the series?

Well, first off, they were undersized. Any time you are forced to play a 5'5'' shooting guard for 20+ minutes a game, it creates a significant matchup problem... but not in a good way. And while we're on the topic of matchup problems, Erick Dampier's awful defense caused a mediocre Nene to put up ungodly numbers in games 1 and 2 (24.5 points per game on almost 80% shooting). And of course there is Jason Kidd, who couldn't guard a ball rack at this point of his career. With the exception of game 1, Chauncey Billups scored at will on Kidd.

Hypothetical situation: you are the owner of a team that's down 3-1 in a series and looking for any advantage you can get. It's probably not the best idea to start insulting the mother of the most psychotic member on the opposing team. That's not exactly going to give you the psychological edge. In fact, it may actually get you killed. I'm half serious here.

Early in the series, Denver set the tone in terms of toughness. Kenyon Martin shoulder checks Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks' franchise player, to the ground. Nowitzki doesn't confront him, approach him or even raise his voice. More importantly, Dirk's teammates don't stick up for him either. Could you imagine if the opposite scenario had occurred, if Martin was knocked to the floor instead? Not only would Dirk have been pummeled, but we probably would have witnessed the reincarnation of the Artest melee. I think this Nuggets team is almost as crazy as that 2004 Pacers team. Anyways, my point is, don't you need toughness to a certain degree? Doesn't it seem like Dallas would easily buckle under the pressure, especially if the Nuggets' players got in their heads? I thought the Mavs looked intimidated in every game.

I think Dallas's biggest issue was depth, specifically that they don't have any. While the Nuggets have a very reliable bench, headlined by J.R. Smith and "The Birdman," Dallas's bench is Jason Terry and a bunch of nobodys. Antoine Wright? James Singleton? Ryan Hollins? The Mavs' starters were forced to play 44 minutes a game, likely the reason why their losses were almost
all blowouts.