| Now Or Never Authored by Jonathan Wall - March 16, 2005 - 2:12 am
If the last 20 games of the Dallas Mavericks season resembled anything it would probably be a car race. The Mavericks, with 20 games remaining, find themselves in the middle of the pack jockeying for position. Crunch time is upon us and the question still remains – does this team have the guts and grit left in the tank to make one final push for a higher seed?
After last night's pathetic loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team has left much to be desired after looking like a team that was going to make to make legitimate run after reeling off 5 straight road wins. However, the Mavericks have left us face down on the floor wondering what the heck just happened.
There is a great saying in life that says “the proof is in the pudding,” and for the most part, the Mavericks were proving all skeptics wrong with tenacious defense and an offense that finally looked like it was clicking on all cylinders. But the pudding has now gone from great tasting to just plain disgusting.
Maybe it’s the fact the Mavericks have resembled a MASH unit over the past month, or maybe it’s the fact that this teams scoring output has reminded many of a great roller coaster ride where you never know when the bottom is going to fallout. Whatever the reason, the Mavericks are on the verge of something, and that something could be bad.
If you look back at the last two teams that have won the NBA Championships, they have two things in common: Defense and Tempo.
Let’s look at the Mavericks for a second. The word defense has been almost non-existent over the last couple of weeks as the Mavericks have been forced to play catch-up against some of the top scoring teams in the league. While it hasn’t made it easier for the Mavericks to not have Erick Dampier, Michael Finley, Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels for extend periods of time; the team can’t simply use that as an excuse.
The Mavericks have also had other problems controlling the tempo of basketball games since the second half of the season started. The team continually allows high scoring teams the chance to run up and down the court at will, while also allowing themselves to play down to some of the lowest scoring teams in the league. This is something you cannot do on a nightly basis if you expect to play consistent basketball.
The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs won titles because the controlled the tempo of games and forced others to play at their level – the Mavericks simply don’t do that.
Frustration is mounting in Big D, and many wonder if this season might be a wash all together. But if there is still a bright spot under this entire mess, it might be from Dallas All-Star Dirk Nowitzki.
In a recent Dallas Morning News article, Nowitzki and others were asked by Dallas coach Don Nelson who the team thought they would play in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Many players answered with the common Sacramento and Houston answers – except for one player.
Dallas Maverick forward Dirk Nowitzki spoke up and said that it was probably going to be the Lakers, or whoever was in the eighth spot. Now Nowitzki may be crazy, but sometimes one player’s optimism is all it takes to jumpstart a team. The fact that Nowitzki had the guts to speak up speaks volumes about his new leadership role, and if there is one person who can make one last push before the playoffs its Nowitzki.
This is the time for the Mavericks to put the pedal to the metal and find out just what this group is made of. All season long people have been making excuses for this team, and with 19 games left its time to see if they can make a move through the pack. It’s now or never.
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