2011 NBA Finals: The Dallas Mavericks Are Champions

The Dallas Mavericks exercised the demons that had been hanging around since 2006. They did something most of the basketball world didn't think they could do.



Photo courtesy: Associated Press



They got past the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in sweeping fashion and they took down the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder to get one more shot at a team who had shocked them in the finals just five years ago.

When you're facing a team which boasts the likes of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, there aren't a lot of people who will pick against them. Especially not in the NBA Finals.

But leave it to Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, DeShawn Stevenson, Jason Kidd, and others to come into this series with the biggest chip on their shoulder. No one outside of their own fans expected them to hang around. There were even some who expected a Miami Heat sweep.

The two teams would split the first four games, the margin of victory never getting more than eight points. But when Dallas pulled out a nine point win in game five at home in Dallas, there was a feeling around the metroplex that the momentum the Mavericks had would be too much for the Miami Heat to overcome.

It didn't matter the series was shifting back to South Beach and the American Airlines Center. It didn't matter LeBron James and Dwayne Wade were returning to their home court and their home fans to try and win back-to-back games to, once again, steal the series from the Mavericks.

 

The way this Dallas team was playing, the doubters were even beginning to change their minds.


Photo courtesy: Getty Images



Game six was unlike any game of the series so far. Dirk came out ice cold, hitting one of his first 12 shot attempts and sitting most of the first quarter with two quick fouls.

But even though their star couldn't hit the broad side of the barn, another Mavs star stepped up and made sure that on this night his team was not going to lose.

Coming off the bench, Terry would score a game high 27 points, hitting 11 of his 16 shot attempts including 3-of-7 from three point range. He couldn't have played a better game when his team needed him the most. Not only did he hit the game clinching three in game five at home, but he was lights out in game six and at times seemed like he wasn't going to miss all night long.

When the final buzzer sounded and the Mavericks were able to celebrate, Nowitzki disappeared into the locker room to steal a moment for himself. A player who had given it everything he had and had put this team on his back with some of the most gutsy performances in NBA Finals history, needed to regain his composure and let out the emotions that were a long time coming.

This was a team effort from start to finish. Dirk hit some big shots for the Mavericks but without big shots from Terry, Stevenson, and others, there would be no celebration for this team and for this town.

Even the morning after, the metroplex is still buzzing about the events of Sunday night. Is this real? Did this team really win an NBA Championship?


Photo courtesy: Getty Images



When the team returns home and lands at Dallas Love Field sometime around 11am on Monday morning, they will be carrying a brand new shiny trophy down the jetway.

At that moment, Maverick fans will know just how real this ride was.

Their baseball team, the Texas Rangers, came oh so close in 2010. This time they will be able to celebrate the first major championship since the Dallas Cowboys won their last Super Bowl back in 1995.

But for some, this title is the sweetest of them all.

The Dallas Mavericks are the 2011 NBA Champions for the first time in franchise history. This is a title that will never be taken from this group of guys. This is a title these players and this town can be proud of.

This one was earned.

2011 NBA Finals: Dallas Mavericks Are One Game Away From an NBA Championship

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I never saw this coming. No really, I didn't.

From the moment the playoffs began I doubted what the Dallas Mavericks would be able to do. I didn't believe they could figure things out and change the course of history that this team had been on. Outside of their last NBA Finals appearance back in 2006, the Mavericks had been bounced out of the playoffs in either the first or second round.

So I figured this wasn't going to go any differently than it had before. I didn't think they had the team or the players to be able to get past the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and there was no way they would be able to get past the Miami Heat and their "Big Three."

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Low and behold they have proved me wrong at every turn. Not only did they get past the Lakers but they did so with a broom and more dominance than any Maverick team I've seen in a long time.

On Thursday night, they moved one step closer to really proving me wrong once and for all.

After a win in game five, they are just one win away from bringing home the first major championship for the Dallas and Fort Worth area since the Dallas Cowboys won their last Super Bowl back in 1995.

This is a ride a lot of Maverick fans are enjoying. The American Airlines Center has rocked over the last three games and the fans have been one of the biggest reasons their team is where they are. They're loud, they're proud, and they stay in the game from start to finish.

Make no mistake about it, Texas is and will always be a football state. But in each of the past two seasons, the Dallas and Fort Worth metroplex has been on a thrill ride.

The Texas Rangers did something no one could have predicted as they knocked off the defending World Series champion, New York Yankees, in the American League Championship Series but eventually fell to the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.

Almost seven months later, the Mavericks have taken the momentum left behind by the Rangers and have taken it upon themselves to do something only the Cowboys have been able to do.

The NBA Finals will shift back to Miami, Florida on Sunday with the Heat having to win each of the next two games in order to keep the Mavericks from celebrating a championship on their floor.

Sure there are bandwagon fans who have come out of the woodwork, but when those fans have been disappointed from one season to the next by a football team expected for greatness, you can't blame them for joining their fellow fans on this journey.

So, in just over 48 hours from now, the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat will take the floor in South Beach. One team will have visions of a championship while the other will need to fight just to keep themselves alive for one more game.

Is this series over? It depends on who you ask.

To the Maverick fans, they are celebrating in the season's final game in what was the biggest game in franchise history. They believe a championship is coming home.

Honestly...who can blame them.

Dirk Nowitzki Isn't Enough From Keeping the Dallas Mavericks From a Complete Collapse

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The Dallas Mavericks, over at least the last decade, have been one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Not only that but they have one of the best players in that same conference perhaps even the entire NBA.

But that hasn't been enough in the past and it's not going to be enough this time around either. This doesn't just hang on Dirk Nowitzki's shoulders, losing Caron Butler will be the biggest blow to this team's chances of getting through the first round of the playoffs. Let alone get back to the NBA Finals.

Throughout the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex, Nowitzki is seen as the golden child, the face of the franchise, the Michael Young of the Dallas Mavericks.

Be that as it may, but he's not the guy that's going to get them over the hump. He's been given that chance and he hasn't been able to get it done. You can say he didn't have the right players around him but that statement isn't exactly true when Dirk didn't get this team to the NBA Finals all by himself.

In 2011, Dirk has solid players around him. Guys that can make this entire team run without their star. The only problem is the team isn't running with Dirk on the sidelines with a knee injury. While Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, DeShawn Stevenson, Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler try to hold this team together, they showed they're not good enough after being beaten easily by the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

Dallas is a town that has been waiting for a championship for the past 16 years, the last time the Dallas Cowboys brought a Super Bowl home. Since then the Cowboys have one playoff win and both the Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks both have appearances in the big game but neither have been able to get it done.

After an abysmal season from the Cowboys in 2010 the fans here expected big things from the Mavericks and after a 22-5 start it looked like they were going to get their wish.

Since that time the Mavericks have won just four of their last 11 games including four straight losses and no end in sight.

Though we can talk about Dirk coming back and putting this team on his back, if he tries to do it himself you may as well call this season over and get ready for the 2011-2012 season. Dirk can't do it by himself and he's not the kind of player that should be expected to.

We can talk about the Kobe Bryant's, the LeBron James', the Ray Allen's, and so on but for my money Dirk Nowitzki doesn't belong in that category.

I'm not saying he's not a great player because he can do what a lot of players his height can't do. Not only can he hit the outside jumper but he can grab the rebounds underneath and get physical in the box when the team needs it.

However, when he's left one on one he's not going to beat many defenders off the dribble.

Mark Cuban needs to look at this team's future and realize he doesn't have the players or the team together that's going to be able to hang an NBA Championship banner at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas.

Maybe it's time for him to think about rebuilding this team and doing so without Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavericks haven't accomplished their ultimate goal with him, who's to say they can't deal him for the right players to bring that ultimate goal home?

Sure it's not a popular decision and one that Maverick fans will hate, but what do they want more? Do they want the face of their franchise for as long as he's willing to stick around even without a championship or dealing him now and finally getting that illusive NBA title?

To me, that's not a difficult decision to make.

The Dallas Mavericks Are Off to a Great Start, But I'm Not Buying It

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When I was growing up, I used to watch the Los Angeles Lakers with guys like Magic Johnson, A.C. Green, Byron Scott, James Worthy and Kareem Adbul-Jabbar.

Showtime as the fans at the Great Western Forum called it during those days.

One of the teams they always had a rivalry with during a few of those seasons were the Dallas Mavericks. That rivalry has hung on to some extent but it's not nearly as big as it used to be, other than the fact that no one in Dallas likes anything having to do with the Lakers or Los Angeles for that matter.

Living in Dallas, I get to hear a lot of about every sports team in the area from the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League to the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.

However there are two teams you will hear more about in this area than any other sports teams regardless of what season it is. It's the Dallas Cowboys and the Mavericks. This town wasn't a baseball town until the Rangers went to the World Series in 2010, than every bandwagon jumper made sure they got on as if they had never left. As for hockey, it used to be big here but those days have long since passed.

The Cowboys will always be the top draw for no other reason than it's professional football regardless of the fact that they have one playoff win in 15, soon to be 16, seasons.

Than there's the Mavericks. They're a team that this town that has left this town somewhat confused because they're not exactly sure what to make of them. They haven't won an NBA title and they've only gotten close once (2006).

They've made it into the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons but two of the last three they haven't gotten out of the first round.

They are off to a great start this season and it has everyone in Dallas/Ft Worth buzzing. Could this be the Mavericks' year? Could this be the year they finally go all the way and bring back the NBA Championship?

While there are a few media guys who are buying up those possibilities, I see too much in their history that shows me otherwise.

Sure they've run off a 12-game win streak already this season and yes they've won 10 of their 11 games away from the American Airlines Center, but I'm still not sold that this team is really ready to do what they haven't been able to do through the team's history.

I'm also not sold that Dirk Nowitzki is the guy to lead them there. Yes, I said it. The same way I feel about Tony Romo not being the right guy at quarterback for the Cowboys, I don't believe Dirk Nowitzki is the right guy to lead the Mavericks somewhere they've never been.

I know the Maverick fans love him because he's the face of their franchise. There's no question that he has tremendous talent and I know that he's arguably the best player they've had on their roster for quite some time, or maybe ever.

Do you really want to blame the guys around him for this team's failure through the years? Is he really blameless for the first round exits and the disappointing NBA Finals loss to Miami in 2006?

Maybe. Maybe not.

We can go back in the past and argue year after year and point to all the things he's done for this team. We'll just have to agree to disagree and leave it at that.

As far as this year is concerned, I'm not ready to buy stock in the Dallas Mavericks. I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon and ride it to what a lot of people believe is another NBA Finals appearance, maybe against Miami.

But what I see going back through their playoff appearances only shows me what they haven't been able to do. It only shows me that though they can flex their muscles during the regular season only to find out that those muscles aren't as big as they wanted others to believe.

The Dallas Mavericks since 1984:

• 1st round playoff losses (6)
• Conference Semi-final losses (6)
• Conference Final losses (3)
• NBA Finals losses (1)

The most telling season, at least over the last 10 years, was in 2006-07 one year after they had lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. They won 67 games during the regular season only to be ousted four games to two in the first round of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors.

So no matter how many games the Dallas Mavericks win during the regular season, it won't mean a thing if they can't keep the momentum going into the playoffs.

Anything but an NBA Championship would just be another disappointing season in a long line of disappointing seasons.

While it's too early for me to say that history will absolutely repeat itself, I don't see anything in this team that makes me believe it won't.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding and the proof has me keeping my money in my pocket instead of putting it down on this team.

Sorry Maverick fans, I'm just not buying what the team is selling.