You know I always have to throw in a few more comments after I say I'm done the 1st time Seriously though, now I'm done.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Mavs win anywhere from 66-69 games. No ones stopping them.It also wouldn't surprise me if they sweep the entire playoffs to get a ring.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ Mar 4 2007, 05:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I looked at both posters responses in this thread and neither of them are saying Mavs are perfect. The only one is Saint Baller, but he's a homer. And if they are not on this board, why should I care. I don't hear their opinion, I'm looking at posters on here. And I don't see many calling the Mavs perfect without flaws.I hate when people say this. They both mean the same thing. I don't give a sh*t if one supposedly has a stronger meaning behind it. If you dislike something, you don't like it. Period. If I go up to you and say I dislike you. Your going to register that and be like well, least he didn't say hate, so he has some good fortune towards me.</div>Lol, I don't think the Mavs are perfect... All I think is we are a huge favorite to win it and we are a step above the Suns. Is that being a homer?
I'm thinking between 65-70 wins for the Mavs. I think the Mavs will be back in the finals this year again, it's hard to say no. The Suns are playing great but when it comes down to the playoffs I think the Mavs will prevail. They have the big bodies to bang underneath that Phoenix just doesn't have. Phoenix will have to shoot the lights out to beat a team like the Mavs because if the shots aren't falling I don't think Marion and Amare have the capabilities to muscle out Dallas.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Lol, I don't think the Mavs are perfect... All I think is we are a huge favorite to win it and we are a step above the Suns. Is that being a homer?</div>Yes.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Fact is the Mavs are on another level that no body in the NBA is up too. And until someone gets to that level us Mavs fans will continue to say we are on another level.</div>This is your basis off the regular season. That's naive.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ Mar 5 2007, 03:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yes.This is your basis off the regular season. That's naive.</div>I also said gave an explanation to how close PHX wasHere's a model.Level 4.2 MavsLevel 4Level 3.9999 SunsLevel 3Thats what I was saying...
:HAHAHA: Very scientific.Until the playoffs start and they can win a ring, you can't say they are on a totally different level than anyone else in the league.
You can say that RIGHT NOW they are on another level...but once the playoffs start, your right, the Suns and Spurs are right there with them.
If the playoffs start tomorrow, then why are the Suns and Spurs not on the same level today, yet on the same level tomorrow?Bottom line is as great as the Mavs seaosn has been, 70 wins or more means little to me until they can prove things in the playoffs. Only 2 teams since the start of the new millennium have won a title after having the best record in basketball, so that means little to me. Last year the Spurs series was decided by a game 7OT, the Suns didn't have any inside presence whatssoever and didn't have best shooter and perimeter defender, and then they collapsed vs the Heat. So until they can prove things in the playoffs, I don't think they are head and shoulders above any of the top 5 teams in the West.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Mar 6 2007, 04:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>If the playoffs start tomorrow, then why are the Suns and Spurs not on the same level today, yet on the same level tomorrow?Bottom line is as great as the Mavs seaosn has been, 70 wins or more means little to me until they can prove things in the playoffs. Only 2 teams since the start of the new millennium have won a title after having the best record in basketball, so that means little to me. Last year the Spurs series was decided by a game 7OT, the Suns didn't have any inside presence whatssoever and didn't have best shooter and perimeter defender, and then they collapsed vs the Heat. So until they can prove things in the playoffs, I don't think they are head and shoulders above any of the top 5 teams in the West.</div>Until they can prove that they can win in the playoffs? I think last year they swept a pretty good Grizzlies team, beat a very great Spurs team in 7, and beat a very great Suns team in 6. Just because they didnt beat the Heat in the finals doesn't mean that the whole season was a failure. They only lost 5 games before the finals. I think they proved last year that they could make it to the big show. They basically have the same team as last year at the important positions. They upgraded at backup postions as well.Greg Buckner>Adrian GriffinAustin Croshere>Keith Van HornDevean George>Marquis DanielsNot only did we upgrade our bench, but our best players also got better. In a lot of years, Josh Howard would be the front runner for Most Improved. Harris, Howard, Dirk, and Damp have all played better this season. Not only this, but other teams didnt improve as much as the Mavericks. The only team that improved was the Suns. Yes, I respect the Suns just as much as a Sun fan, but I still know that the Mavericks can beat them and should be the favourites. Phoenix and San Antonio do have a chance to beat the Mavericks, but that doesn't mean they are the favourites. I dont understand how they are the defending Western Conference Champs, but yet still they get no respect.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pjcolpitts? @ Mar 6 2007, 05:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Until they can prove that they can win in the playoffs? I think last year they swept a pretty good Grizzlies team, beat a very great Spurs team in 7, and beat a very great Suns team in 6. Just because they didnt beat the Heat in the finals doesn't mean that the whole season was a failure. They only lost 5 games before the finals. I think they proved last year that they could make it to the big show. They basically have the same team as last year at the important positions. They upgraded at backup postions as well.Greg Buckner>Adrian GriffinAustin Croshere>Keith Van HornDevean George>Marquis DanielsNot only did we upgrade our bench, but our best players also got better. In a lot of years, Josh Howard would be the front runner for Most Improved. Harris, Howard, Dirk, and Damp have all played better this season. Not only this, but other teams didnt improve as much as the Mavericks. The only team that improved was the Suns. Yes, I respect the Suns just as much as a Sun fan, but I still know that the Mavericks can beat them and should be the favourites. Phoenix and San Antonio do have a chance to beat the Mavericks, but that doesn't mean they are the favourites. I dont understand how they are the defending Western Conference Champs, but yet still they get no respect.</div>As I said before, what the Mavs have done this year automatically makes them favorites. But their run last year definately leaves a lot of questions to be answered, and they can only be answered in the playoffs. The Spurs series could have gone either way, the Suns were literally about half strength they are now, and then the Mavs collapsed. For them to prove they can win a ring and truly be head and shoulders above everyone else and clearly best team in the league, they have to answer these questions in the playoffs. They can win all the games they want in the regular season, but it has to be done in the playoffs for a ring. Last year this didn't happen, and most importantly they didn't have to face a Suns team at full force (a team that they will likely have to face this year).Nothing they did last year in playoffs warrants them to be on a different level than every other team.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Mar 5 2007, 06:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>:HAHAHA: Very scientific.Until the playoffs start and they can win a ring, you can't say they are on a totally different level than anyone else in the league.</div>Ok then. The Mavericks made it to the finals last year, including beating the Suns in a 7 game series. AND, this year they have a better record than them. That is why they are on a different level than the Suns.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ballerman2112 @ Mar 6 2007, 06:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ok then. The Mavericks made it to the finals last year, including beating the Suns in a 7 game series. AND, this year they have a better record than them. That is why they are on a different level than the Suns.</div>They beat them without their 2nd best player in Amare Stoudemire and their only other big man, Kurt Thomas. They were without Raja Bell, their best perimeter defender and best spotup shooter, for a game and he wasn't healthy all series. That means that the Suns had no chance for easy baskets outside of fastbreaks, no player to go to when they went on a cold streak, no one to do anything about Dallas penetration, no solid perimter defense outside of Marion, and outsid eof Bell there really is no great, consistent spotup shooter for the Suns.Those are HUGE parts of their offense and defense that weren't there last year in the playoffs.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ballerman2112 @ Mar 6 2007, 05:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ok then. The Mavericks made it to the finals last year, including beating the Suns in a 7 game series. AND, this year they have a better record than them. That is why they are on a different level than the Suns.</div>Thank you!
Dude, try not to use injuries for EVERYTHING. Look at the records....Its not that much of a difference without Amare. And as for Kurt Thomas, he isnt even playing a great load right now, and u are acting like he is the mesiah on defense. He isnt a bad defender, but its not like he can guard Dirk. So the Suns had injury problems last year, they have a worse record this year. But hey, that is because of injuries right? OR, it might be because the Mavs have gone on 3 different streaks where they have won 12 games in a row, and have currently won 14 in a row. The Mavs are the best team in basketball right now. And the Suns are not. Therefore, they are on a different level.
^Pretty much right on there Ballerman.And Nitro...like I said before, RIGHT NOW, during the Regular season, the Mavs are on a completely different level than all other teams.But, like everyone should be able to admit, when the playoffs start, there are 3 teams that could win the title, and those are the Suns, Mavs, and Spurs...possibly Detroit could come out of left feild as well...
[quote name='ballerman2112' post='303525' date='Mar 6 2007, 06:28 PM']Dude, try not to use injuries for EVERYTHING. Look at the records....Its not that much of a difference without Amare.[/quote]The Suns started off 1-4, Amare was struggling to come back from injury, Diaw was out of shape, etc... Nash was out for 3-4 games, and they went like 1-3. That is 1-7 right there, so using their record last season and this seaosn is pointless. Ask any person who watches the Suns on a daily basis and they will tell you they are a much better team than last year (who was one dimensional offensively and defensively). He helps bring some presence defensively when other players pentrate the paint. He also won't allow Kwame Brown to go for the kind of series he did last year. He is SOMETHING down low, and helps compliment the presence of Amare. Last year in the playoffs they had NO presence down low. The Suns have gone on a 17 game win streak, 15 game win streak, and 14-1 on road vs the East. So showing me all of those streaks the Mavs have gone on isn't doing much. Nash was out for a few games, and at beginning of the year they had out of shape players and the intial akwardness of fitting Amare back in. They are a MUCH better team now than they were when the Mavs played them in the playoffs last year.As I said before, 2 teams in this millennium have held best record of regular season and then went on to win a title. Having a great record means nothing until you can prove thing sin the playoffs, and to be head and shoulders and on a totally different level than anyone else they have to do that. Last year they squeeked by Spurs, faced Suns at 3/4 strength, and totally collapsed in Finals. They aren't a championship team yet, and until they can reach that level, no matter the record, they aren't on a totally different level than the top teams in the West IMO. If you disagree, then go ahead, but that is my feeling on that subject. AGAIN, what the hell is the point of saying they are on a different level in regular season, then on same level in playoffs? That makes no sense whatsoever. As anyone will tell you, the regular season means nothing without a title. They haven't proven they can win one yet, therefor they are still on same level as the other top teams in the West (one of which has won 2 rings in the past 4 years).
