The year Dallas lost vs Warriors in the 1st round, were they pretenders (67 wins)

[k0kakw0rld]

The word "pretenders" is way over used.

How do you know if a team is pretending or nah? Raptors stay winning but lost their number one offensive option. They have a solid roster, their frontcourt is amazing and Kyle Lowry (what else to say about this guy) :bowdown: Lou Williams is having fun playing ball too. I see them winning the east.

Warriors are first but still broken with injuries.

In 2007 when Dallas lost in the first round, were they pretenders? Whats yall take on that? They had the best record in the league (67 wins) but got eliminated by B.Davis and his buddies.

[chocolatethunder]

The word "pretenders" is way over used.

How do you know if a team is pretending or nah? Raptors stay winning but lost their number one offensive option. They have a solid roster, their frontcourt is amazing and Kyle Lowry (what else to say about this guy) :bowdown: Lou Williams is having fun playing ball too. I see them winning the east.

Warriors are first but still broken with injuries.

In 2007 when Dallas lost in the first round, were they pretenders? Whats yall take on that? They had the best record in the league (67 wins) but got eliminated by B.Davis and his buddies.
My take on it is they were playing against their old coach which will make the match up a lot more difficult. It's not that they were pretenders its that playoff series are all about match ups and that was an awful matchup for Dallas that year. You can say this or that about a matchup on paper or some team's record or whatever but you have to line up and play the games. Nelson is a really smart dude and he knew what Dallas' weaknesses were because he had just been their coach. There's no mystery as to what happened.

[navy]

Just one of those years man.

[DMAVS41]

The word "pretenders" is way over used.

How do you know if a team is pretending or nah? Raptors stay winning but lost their number one offensive option. They have a solid roster, their frontcourt is amazing and Kyle Lowry (what else to say about this guy) :bowdown: Lou Williams is having fun playing ball too. I see them winning the east.

Warriors are first but still broken with injuries.

In 2007 when Dallas lost in the first round, were they pretenders? Whats yall take on that? They had the best record in the league (67 wins) but got eliminated by B.Davis and his buddies.


Definitely not pretenders. That Mavs did had a chance to win the title...

They just weren't as good as some projected in my opinion. Take a look at that roster and you'll see some glaring issues. For starters, no consistent 2nd all nba type player. Not to mention playing Diop, George, Croshere a combined 52 minutes a game in the playoffs.


The Warriors just happened to be a nightmare matchup and a team that got hot against a bit of an over-rated team while Dirk played the worst series of his prime...with the added circumstances of Avery solidifying himself as a shit coach and Dirk having to deal with his father have serious surgery right in the middle of the series due to serious health concerns....not to mention many in Dallas were talking around the team with people intimating Dirk was also hiding an injury for around the last month of the season as well.

So pretenders? No.

Over-rated based on an inflated win total in a down NBA? Hell yes.

The lesson, as always, is the regular season is over-rated.

[bdreason]

Mavs got out-coached in that series. Instead of playing their game, they tried to adjust to the Warriors game.

[Nowitness]

Well. Every year Dirk has been the clear cut 'best player' or number one option they have been pretenders so yes, yes they were.

[Kblaze8855]

No. Id call a contender any team that could realistically win if a few things fall right for them. The winner is rarely just...the best. Everyone is a twisted ankle from losing in the first or second round. There is an awful lot of luck involved.

The Warriors are a couple shots over the course of the season from missing the playoffs. But they beat a 67 win team and save the rest of the league from dealing with it.

Once your team is on a certain level...the rest is luck, health, and coaching to me.

[Legends66NBA7]

Raptors stay winning but lost their number one offensive option. They have a solid roster, their frontcourt is amazing and Kyle Lowry (what else to say about this guy) :bowdown: Lou Williams is having fun playing ball too. I see them winning the east.

Raptors aren't a pretender because nobody picked them winning anything, nor are they a contender. They are just building for the future but winning much more after experiencing the playoffs

And were winning without DeMar because it's been weak competition the Raptors have been beating. The only above .500 team the Raptors have beaten during DeMar's absence have been Clippers. It does speak to how deep he Raptors are, as they don't need DeMar's services to beat those weaker teams, but the defense has slipped mightly without him.

With DeMar in the lineup, they are a Top 10 offensive and defensive team. Since the Rudy Gay trade really. Without him ? It slipped below bottom 20.

They can hold it down for now, but they need him come playoff time (especially back to his all-star form).

[JonatanRey]

I have seen those series a couple of times and yes, Mavs were outcoached. And well, people may argue but those Warriors played over their limits. Seems like every contested 3 was going in. Incredible. No one could stop them. Too much heart. Saying that, maybe Dallas would have won 3 series out of 4.

[L.Kizzle]

Some teams just have your number. The Warriors had the Mavs number. Mavs probably win the whole thing if they get past Golden State.

[DMAVS41]

Some teams just have your number. The Warriors had the Mavs number. Mavs probably win the whole thing if they get past Golden State.

Yep...

Or would have easily won it the year before if the Eastern opponent had been the 07 Cavs..for example.

Context is always needed when comparing teams/players. This should be obvious, but sadly it isn't.

[SCdac]

I wouldn't say they were "pretenders" in particular, but they definitely weren't championship material despite their regular season record. Dirk had a horrible series against the defense of Stephen Jackson, Al Harington, etc, and he's kind of like the head of the Mavs' snake (and the MVP) so if he plays bad in all likely hood they're going to lose a series. Baron Davis and crew got hot. That was all she wrote. But if a team is so vulnerable and fragile in the first round (barring health) they weren't truly a strong team after all.. I think that's safe to say. Same could be said for some of the Spurs, Lakers, Heat, Thunder (etc) teams that didn't live up to their own high standards and lost early in the playoffs. The label "pretenders" is more fit for teams like the mid-2000s Suns imo, or Clippers of the last 3-4 seasons. Teams that are just posturing.

[stephanieg]

Even allowing for the '06 highway robbery, those Dallas teams were pretenders until Dirk learned to abuse little dudes. Up until his Australian zen journey other teams could put frickin' SFs on him and he'd still take 20 footers. And he had some choking issues.

When they won the title you could see Dirk's psychology was so different compared to before. He basically went into "**** it" mode.

[1987_Lakers]

Looking back, Dallas wasn't a very talented team, but the league as a whole was pretty weak in terms of dominant teams. I wouldn't call them pretenders, they just went up against a team that was a really bad matchup for them. I remember during that regular season the Warriors had Dallas' number and I even saw a few people predict that Golden State would Beat Dallas in the first round or at least take it to 7.

[DMAVS41]

Even allowing for the '06 highway robbery, those Dallas teams were pretenders until Dirk learned to abuse little dudes. Up until his Australian zen journey other teams could put frickin' SFs on him and he'd still take 20 footers. And he had some choking issues.

When they won the title you could see Dirk's psychology was so different compared to before. He basically went into "**** it" mode.

Calling the 06 Mavs "pretenders" is one of the most absurd statements in NBA history....

Didn't even see you thought Dirk was a choker back then as well...another one of the most absurd statements one could make.

But whatever...enjoy the thread