Holy shit the Mavs look terrible.

[brisbaneman]

Well fellow Mavs fans, it's been a good run. I'll be happy to make the second round with this team.

[SpecialQue]

I thought the Nuggets were a good team though? It's not like it's the Raptors or anything.

[brisbaneman]

I thought the Nuggets were a good team though? It's not like it's the Raptors or anything.

They aren't bad but they aren't a contender or anything. Plus there appears to be no continuity in my Mavs' offense. They just look awful.

[SpecialQue]

The Nuggets are deep and the Mavs played yesterday. Give 'em a break.

[ThatsGame]

Bring on the excuses Mavs fans.

[brisbaneman]

Bring on the excuses Mavs fans.

What excuses. They blow.

[derb2k2]

they look horrible on both sides of the floor. The nuggets are getting w/e they want. Can't jump to conclusions though. Mavericks will gel eventually. Not like they have a whole new roster.

[brisbaneman]

they look horrible on both sides of the floor. The nuggets are getting w/e they want. Can't jump to conclusions though. Mavericks will gel eventually. Not like they have a whole new roster.

No ball movement whatsoever. I've never seen them look so shitty.

[SpecialQue]

I'm not watching the game so I don't know what's going on, but the score's 60 - 41 Nuggets? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Already down 20+ points, damn. What makes this worse is it's at home.

[brisbaneman]

LOL, down 22

[brisbaneman]

Already down 20+ points, damn. What makes this worse is it's at home.

Dirk is half assing which makes this even worse

[longtime lurker]

Vince Carter......:lol

[TrueRob]

They've regressed defensively. I don't think we'll be seeing those stretches of dominant defense (especially in the 4th qtr) like we saw last season from Dallas.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Dirk is half assing which makes this even worse

Yeah, him, VC and Lamar all look rusty as hell. Just awfully (and laughably) bad.

[Blue&Orange]

lol mavs

[ThatsGame]

I can't believe this team won the championship. Almost as bad as DRose winning MVP and Blake winning the dunk contest.

[brisbaneman]

Yeah, him, VC and Lamar all look rusty as hell. Just awfully (and laughably) bad.

Not just rusty, but looks like they don't give a shit out there. Dirk in particular.

[derb2k2]

Vince is only going to take up space on the Mavs. He lost his desire to play basketball years ago.

[longtime lurker]

I can't believe this team won the championship. Almost as bad as DRose winning MVP and Blake winning the dunk contest.

To be honest it was a completely different team that won a championship. Had they kept even just Chandler and Butler, they'd still be title favourites.

[L.Kizzle]

Is it time to panic already, lol? They've played 6 quarters of NBA basketball.

[kenny817]

Bring on the excuses Mavs fans.
Says a Heat fan



Anyway...we look absolutely horrible. Embarrassing

[Mr. Incredible]

Mark Cuban will regret not resigning the main core of the championship team.

[kenny817]

lol mavs
When was the last time the Knicks were good? I'll wait








Still waiting

[Hittin_Shots]

Does this make the Heat win look less impressive?

[L.Kizzle]

Mark Cuban will regret not resigning the main core of the championship team.
Resingng ... I thought they chose to leave (Tyson, Butler, Stevenson, JJ??)

[brisbaneman]

Does this make the Heat win look less impressive?

I think so.

[Ken_Force_One]

I had to do a triple take at the half time score.....Dirk lookin like a German Chocolate Cake and not a basketball player out there...

[Heavincent]

I can't believe this team won the championship. Almost as bad as DRose winning MVP and Blake winning the dunk contest.

Are you seriously saying they didn't deserve it?

[derb2k2]

I think the Mavs should've somehow retained Chandler. I think his presence alters many plays. He is no doubt a valuable piece to have and the Mavs can't replace him.

[Clocian-IGN]

Does this make the Heat win look less impressive?

yessir!

[NuggetsFan]

They've looked pretty ugly. Denver's played pretty good tho. Hard to compete when a team shoots like 57%. Pretty old team on a back to back facing a team that thrives on energy and depth.

Don't think they'll repeat or anything but can't seem them not winning a bunch of games and being right there in the thick of things out West.

It's been 2 games ..

[kentatm]

only a moron would throw in the towel midway through game 2 of the season.

[Hank]

Does this make the Heat win look less impressive?

Nah.

Yesterday the Heat destroyed their mojo and psyche.

Though a team with pride like the Mavs should wake up a little in the 2nd half , at home

[ThatsGame]

Does this make the Heat win look less impressive?

Touche' :lol

Mavs are still performing like crap.

[brisbaneman]

only a moron would throw in the towel midway through game 2 of the season.

Then consider me a moron.

[Hittin_Shots]

Nah.

Yesterday the Heat destroyed their mojo and psyche.

Though a team with pride like the Mavs should wake up a little in the 2nd half , at home

Of course you're going to say no, but I'm pretty sure it does.

[Kargo]

A)This is not the same team as last season,the whole bench aside from Terry is gone(Stevenson,Peja,J.J Barea) their main defensive player and rebounder Tyson Chandler (a huge weakness for the Mavs for years) and Caron Butler.

B)You're never going to see the fire and enthusiasm Kidd/Dirk/Terry had during the playoffs.Everyone watching Dirk at the Euro's knows that his body was there his mind and desire wasn't.He achieved his goal and i don't think he'll play as good as that ever again...Kidd too,he's probably closer to retirement than last year's level.

C)They had about a week to gel with Carter/Odom/West so it's going to take time to become a decent team...they'll be fine,not great,but fine once they work it out.

[-playmaker-]

only a moron would throw in the towel midway through game 2 of the season.
This

[brisbaneman]

This

Thanks for the neg, brother.

[-playmaker-]

Then consider me a moron.
Done

[-playmaker-]

Thanks for the neg, brother.
I didn't neg you


But now I did

[ThatsGame]

Wasn't there a thread on here that was saying something along the lines of Dirk being the only player to be able to win without a second option?

What happened?

[brisbaneman]

I didn't neg you


But now I did

Thank you, brother. Mavs unity.

[B]

Looks like the Mavs signed the inconsistent Lamar of 5 years ago. Maybe the Lakers were onto something.

[HannibalKid]

Thanks for the 1st round pick lol

[Sarcastic]

Tyson Chandler obviously was more important than most people give him credit for.

[Eric Cartman]

Lamar looks lost making terrible decisions out there.

[NuggetsFan]

Tyson Chandler obviously was more important than most people give him credit for.

Wait I thought the general consensus was that Tyson Chandler helped transform there D and was a huge part of the championship? Perfect guy next to Dirk? It's been much been said post Maverick champion and during there run..

What more credit do you want? We talking finals MVP here or what :oldlol:

[97 bulls]

Tyson Chandler obviously was more important than most people give him credit for.
I've been saying this for the longest.

[NuggetsFan]

I've been saying this for the longest.

What more credit can he get tho? He's widely considered the 2nd\3rd best player on a championship team. Considered the most important final piece for them. Look at what he just got paid. He gets credit.

How soon people forget. If the Mavericks slip he'll get credit for that as well.

[NugzFan]

mavs played a lot of one on one iso ball in the first half. denver passed, attacked and played much better D

[MostHated305]

Mavs are not in shape. At all.

Got fat off the championship high.

Like I said. They will repeat. They won't even make the second round.

[RRR3]

OP avy bet the mavs would beat the Heat. :roll:

[MostHated305]

Bu bu bu bu but...it was just 1 game.....


:roll:

[MiseryCityTexas]

that french black guy is looking terrible so far also. i expected him to step up this season cause everyone was dickriding him awhile back.

[PejaNowitzki]

Mavs look old as ****, damn, like everyone has aged 3-4 years since they last played a game. Eventually they'll go on a hot streak and win some games but this team is a goner in the playoffs, ****ing senior citizens on that team.

[Kiddlovesnets]

The flaw in Dallas' defense makes no sense since it werent this bad even before Chandler joined last year.

[Lebron23]

I couldn't believe the Nuggets beat this team. This team needs alot of work.

[brisbaneman]

OP avy bet the mavs would beat the Heat. :roll:

oh yeah, where did that guy go?

[Mavsfan31]

Mavs started 0-4 in 06-07 when they ended up with the best record in the league...:banana:

[MavsPoke]

Mavs started 0-4 in 06-07 when they ended up with the best record in the league...:banana:

Playoffs:
Lost NBA Western Conference First Round (4-2) versus Golden State Warriors (http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/2007.html)

[lpublic_enemyl]

wow tyson chandler and dwanye casey look like the are sorely needed

[DMAVS41]

wow tyson chandler and dwanye casey look like the are sorely needed

i love how people act like the mavs couldn't win a game before chandler came over....

11 straight years over 50 wins with a ton of different players and different coaches around Dirk....

its just a bad situation right now. new players with no practice time. and everyone is rusty because of the lockout. you hope having veterans would/will help...but veteran leadership and play can't do anything if you are getting run off the floor every night

the new guys have to buy in and step up. so far odom, west, and carter have really struggled. i thought haywood showed some solid signs tonight.

[brisbaneman]

i love how people act like the mavs couldn't win a game before chandler came over....

11 straight years over 50 wins with a ton of different players and different coaches around Dirk....

its just a bad situation right now. new players with no practice time. and everyone is rusty because of the lockout. you hope having veterans would/will help...but veteran leadership and play can't do anything if you are getting run off the floor every night

the new guys have to buy in and step up. so far odom, west, and carter have really struggled. i thought haywood showed some solid signs tonight.

dirks looks completely disinterested though. thats what scares me the most.

[spiegel]

The Mavs are badly missing Chandlers post defense and Bareas spark off the bench. Odom is to early make a judgement just yet. Give him atleast 20 games before he finds his niche.

[DMAVS41]

dirks looks completely disinterested though. thats what scares me the most.

give him some time. he said himself he's rusty and not ready. its also hard to be interested when we these games have been essentially over after the first 10 minutes now...

[Kiddlovesnets]

Mavs started 0-4 in 06-07 when they ended up with the best record in the league...:banana:

Well I do not recall they used to be down 30 into the the 4th quarter for two consecutive games even during that 0-4 start in 2007.

[brisbaneman]

give him some time. he said himself he's rusty and not ready. its also hard to be interested when we these games have been essentially over after the first 10 minutes now...

he reminds me of sampras when he turned 30...dude just like pokes at the ball and gives up after the play.

[RazorBaLade]

come over here bros for a hug

-laker fan

[Hittin_Shots]

come over here bros for a hug

-laker fan

Laker fans and Mavs fan gonna comfort eachother?

[mrpibb]

Imagine if we still had D-Will... this feels like the year Houston won it all when Jordan wasn't in the mix. Everything went to hell, but it was fun.

Does anybody have any idea who the best teams are? I don't.

[kurple]

All this talk about Dallas sucking, but I havent seen anyone give any credit to the Nuggets

We will continue to prove the hater wrong

[SpecialQue]

All this talk about Dallas sucking, but I havent seen anyone give any credit to the Nuggets

We will continue to prove the hater wrong

I posted this on the first page:


The Nuggets are deep and the Mavs played yesterday. Give 'em a break.

I liked them last season and I'm anxious to see them this season. I honestly think this lockout schedule helps them.

[RazorBaLade]

Laker fans and Mavs fan gonna comfort eachother?

you get in here too. all the teams that got screwed the **** over by various bullshit. celtic fan mav fan laker fan HUG.

mavs- chandler being a greedy whore
c's- west going for the money like a greedy whore
lakers- stern being a greedy whore

[nba_55]

Nowitzki isnt as hungry as he was last year. Plus, they have an almost whole new roster. They ll need time to get it together. Still, I dont expect them to make it to the finals this year.

[Tenchi Ryu]

I'll still give them the benefit of the doubt and blame it on the rough start of the shortened season. This guys will need some time to mesh, but one thing I hope is NOT the case is that Dirk is less hungry since winning that Ring.

[knicksman]

give him some time. he said himself he's rusty and not ready. its also hard to be interested when we these games have been essentially over after the first 10 minutes now...

well if im dirk, I would be disinterested too if Cuban is more interested in getting a superstar rather than giving the core another chance. Cuban is ruining dirks career IMO.

[knicksman]

give him some time. he said himself he's rusty and not ready. its also hard to be interested when we these games have been essentially over after the first 10 minutes now...

well if im dirk, I would be disinterested too if Cuban is more interested in getting a superstar rather than giving the core another chance. Cuban is ruining dirks career IMO.

[senelcoolidge]

I think the Mavs are waiting for the playoffs, but someone needs to remind them that you need to win games during the regular season to be in the playoffs. Am sure they will adjust, but it might be too late by than.

[All Net]

2 straight blowout losses, certainly not great start.

[Hank]

2 straight blowout losses, certainly not great start.

What's worse is both were at home.


What's even worse is the fact that they didn't have any injuries as an excuse, they were healthy.

[AMISTILLILL]

Nowitzki isnt as hungry as he was last year.

The irony is Vince Carter is even hungrier than he was last year, hence the weight.

[9512]

The Mavs' run was a fluke to me.

I would believe in them more if they kept the roster close to exactly the same as last year.

[bluechox2]

cuban thinks he can get wiliams and howard so he stuck as much old tape he can in the offseason.

[R.I.P.]

cuban thinks he can get wiliams and howard so he stuck as much old tape he can in the offseason.

Mavs are stealing Deron, Howard and the #1 pick from New Jersey. Big mistake from New Jersey to win their opener. One more win and they

[RazorBaLade]

cuban thinks he can get wiliams and howard so he stuck as much old tape he can in the offseason.

how can he get both? they cant have enough cap for both and not very many trading pieces

[Sakkreth]

OP why u make avy bet if you don't get ur new avy after u lose ?

[swi7ch]

I knew this the moment they signed Vince Carter. That guy is like cancer who makes everyone around him play horrible.

[creepingdeath]

The irony is Vince Carter is even hungrier than he was last year, hence the weight.
:roll:

[Kujo]

Pretty amazing to see the defending champs look so awful to start this season. They already miss JJ, and Chandler. No doubt they've been affected by the short training camp.

That being said, they'll turn it around eventually once the new players start to gel.

I'm little baffled that Chuck Barkley likes them to come out of the west again this year. I don't see it.

[brisbaneman]

OP why u make avy bet if you don't get ur new avy after u lose ?

I'll use the avy. I just got busy and forgot. tell me what it is and i'll do it now or PM me it.

[Shepseskaf]

B)You're never going to see the fire and enthusiasm Kidd/Dirk/Terry had during the playoffs.Everyone watching Dirk at the Euro's knows that his body was there his mind and desire wasn't.He achieved his goal and i don't think he'll play as good as that ever again...Kidd too,he's probably closer to retirement than last year's level.
Agreed on every point.

[DMAVS41]

Agreed on every point.

I think you will see that again in the playoffs from at least Dirk (if the Mavs make the playoffs that is)

With Kidd...I don't think its desire...its just age and its hard to play regular season games.

People forget that the way the likes of Kidd, Terry, Marion, Barea, and Stevenson played in the playoffs was abnormal. If the first three guys I just mentioned go back to their normal play...its going to be a really rough year unless the new guys and Haywood step up.

And obviously that hasn't happened so far....

[BIG FURB]

Odom needs to quit moping and start playing ball, the guy has been horrible. He looks completely lost out there

[Sakkreth]

I'll use the avy. I just got busy and forgot. tell me what it is and i'll do it now or PM me it.

Nothing too bad, don't worry.

http://images1.cafepress.com/image/29920161_125x125.png

[brisbaneman]

Nothing too bad, don't worry.

http://images1.cafepress.com/image/29920161_125x125.png


all right man, here you go.

[All Net]

Odom needs to quit moping and start playing ball, the guy has been horrible. He looks completely lost out there
It's going to take time adjust as it will most new players

[Bigsmoke]

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q106/lilsexyJ/father_time.jpg

[RRR3]

Nothing too bad, don't worry.

http://images1.cafepress.com/image/29920161_125x125.png
WTF that's all? You should have made him have a LeBron avatar :lol

[trig]

They lost a couple of guys that play defense. Guys like Chandler, stevenson. Its like the old mavs again, a bunch of scorers that tend to forget to play D.

Its funny though that majority of the mavs roster can put it on the floor and score while chicago has only 1. A trade maybe?

[Niytrus]

They lost a couple of guys that play defense. Guys like Chandler, stevenson. Its like the old mavs again, a bunch of scorers that tend to forget to play D.

Its funny though that majority of the mavs roster can put it on the floor and score while chicago has only 1. A trade maybe?

Don't see that happening since the Mavs do not want to take on any long term contracts.

[knickswin]

i wouldn't write them off yet. they need time, but they should still be at least a fringe contender come playoffs.

[Droid101]

Pretty amazing to see the defending champs look so awful to start this season.
Yep, they're done.

Hollinger just wrote their eulogy. This is a guy who HATES jumping to conclusions over one or two games. Yet here he goes:


I can't tell you definitively who will be winning the championship this year, but I can tell you one team that won't be.



Yes, I'm the one who usually cautions you about sample size, and yes, I'm writing off the defending champions after two games.



Before I pile on further, let's backtrack for a second. In general, early-season results are tricky because everybody wants to make grand proclamations from one-game samples, even though that's usually a terrible idea.



Take the Los Angeles Lakers, for instance. They lost two close games, both coming without star center Andrew Bynum, and are 0-2. In the big picture, all this means is that they're 0-2. Losing by one at home to the Chicago Bulls and by nine on the road to the Sacramento Kings isn't a big enough departure from our expectations to meaningfully adjust them. (Although it would be nice if they could rebound a missed free throw.)



But there's an exception to the rule. At this time of year, people sometimes ask me whether there's anything I look for to draw conclusions from early-season games. Actually, there is because it can help us draw conclusions very quickly, from a much smaller sample than normally required:




Home-court blowouts




In particular, home teams that are at full strength (or reasonably close to it) yet are still run off the floor.



There's a reason for this: Good teams are virtually never blown out at home, and, conversely, bad teams virtually never win blowouts on the road. So we have fairly strong information, already, that the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets are teams with which to be reckoned.



As for the Dallas Mavericks, we can make an even stronger statement: Championship-caliber teams virtually never lose at home like this even once. They sure as heck never do it twice in a row.



Want to find an eventual champion who lost a home game by 22 points? You'll have to go back awhile.



Last year, for instance, Dallas' worst home loss was by 11 even though the Mavs played several games without Dirk Nowitzki. Before them, the Lakers won two championships without ever losing by more than 19 even though they played long stretches of both seasons without Bynum. In a two-year period, in fact, the Lakers had only two losses at home by 12 or more points. Dallas needed just 36 hours to match that total.



Even the 2010 Boston Celtics, who staggered and limped through the regular season before finding their mojo in April and nearly storming to the title, didn't lose a regular-season home game by 22 points. The 2007 Cavs were one of the worst teams ever to make a Finals; yet their worst home loss was by 16.



The last conference champion to lose so badly at home was the 2007 San Antonio Spurs & who rested their starters on the final day of the regular season and lost by 23 to Denver. Miami did a similar thing in 2006. But the last time an eventual conference champ lost a game by this much with its starters playing came in January 2005, when the Memphis Grizzlies won at the Detroit Pistons by 22. The last time it happened to an eventual champion was in December 2002, when the Kings crushed the Spurs by 24.



Big picture, we're talking about an extremely low-frequency event -- it hasn't happened in more than 500 home games. Dallas is 1-for-2, and would be 2-for-2 were it not for a heroic burst of cosmetic scoring to end the Miami game.



The Mavs' two defeats were by a combined 33 points, and they required strong garbage-time surges just to make things look that good. The composite first-half score of the two games was 121-83. Yuck.



Here's the scary part: The Mavs are completely healthy right now. They just aren't a championship-caliber team.



The reasons are obvious, and Tyson Chandler is only part of it. I go back to the similarities between the 2011 Mavs team and the 2006 Heat. Miami had several veterans on their last legs in 2006, players who fell off sharply the next season; it appears a few Mavs have suffered similar declines in mobility.



Sure, the 30-something perimeter players on Dallas don't have a rim protector to bail them out, but, even if they did, I'm not sure what Chandler could do against this sustained assault of blow-bys on the perimeter. Shawn Marion is getting beat on straight-line drives as if he's not even there. Ty Lawson was sizing up Jason Kidd not for whether to drive or shoot but for whether to blow by him to the right or to the left. Vince Carter, Jason Terry and Lamar Odom put up similarly futile resistance when asked to guard the perimeter. Many teams struggle to stop Lawson's penetration, but when Al Harrington and Danilo Gallinari get to the cup at will? You've got problems.



Combined with horrifying transition defense and an inability to drive or create at the offensive end, it's been ugly. Dallas rather suddenly has become one of the league's least athletic teams, and again the similarities to the '07 Heat team are jarring.



That Miami team in 2007 lost its opener by 42 points and lost three of its first six home games by 20 or more; eventually, the Heat bailed enough water from their sinking ship to limp into the playoffs before the Bulls put them out of their misery in four games in the first round.



I expect similar things from the Mavs, which at this point might make me an optimist: a limp into the playoffs, some brave "you can't count out the champs" talk and a meek first-round exit. Although Dallas has a shorter season remaining, the Mavs also won't be facing the Heat and Nuggets every night (side note: still plenty of room on the Denver bandwagon, folks. Any time you want to hop on, just let me know.)



So, yes, it's only two games and we still have plenty of unanswered questions about the Mavs: Will they recover enough to make the playoffs? Will they start dealing their vets? How strong are Denver and Miami? Has a team ever dropped from first to 30th in Marc Stein's Power Rankings in one week?



But a repeat championship? That's one thing we can already safely rule out. Healthy, championship-caliber teams don't get annihilated at home in consecutive games like this. Ever.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/PERDiem-111227/dallas-mavericks-trouble

[knickswin]

hollinger is such a freaking clown. he wrote them off last year too because of their bad point differential.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

He also picked against them in every single playoff series. He thought Portland would beat them. When they didn't he thought LA. When they didn't he thought OKC would. And when they didn't he thought Miami would.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to assume the Mavs won't repeat. How many repeat champions have their EVER been? The odds are already not in the Mavs favor. Then throw in losing half their team + no training camp + age + lack of "hunger." and you have a team trying to tread water long enough so they can figure out which way to go.

But I love how he uses the blowouts as evidence of something. Carlisle in the last two games has started two different lineups. Has there any defending champ in the last ___________ of years not sure what the starting unit will be? I'm sure Hollinger glosses over that when doing his study..

The Mavs are probably not going to win it all this year. But the next month is training camp for the Mavs. So the point differential and scoreboard don't matter that much.