So are people taking the Mavs seriously as top title contender yet?

Lets face it they are playing great, 24-5 record, beaten Miami twice, Spurs, great record against 500 above teams

Chandler inside has made a real difference inside for them.

You believe they have a great shot to be champs come end of the season? or still not sure?

No. Because we always blow it in the playoffs.

[QUOTE=Hawker]No. Because we always blow it in the playoffs.[/QUOTE]
That's why I'm not sure if they are for real yet.

[QUOTE=All Net]Lets face it they are playing great, 24-5 record, beaten Miami twice, Spurs, great record against 500 above teams

Chandler inside has made a real difference inside for them.

You believe they have a great shot to be champs come end of the season? or still not sure?[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDwBEnOOJ7Y[/url]

nope, other than dirk the whole team will choke in the playoffs.

Chandler really adds a new dimension to this team that they have not seen before. Chandler plays very well with playmaking point guards, and he is a very active defender. He compliments Dirk well, and their guys are gelling. Remember, Butler was only their for less than 30 games last year, and now he is getting accustomed to Dirk and the other teammates.

They are pretty deep. They can play fast or slow. And they have solid balance. Dirk is playing extremely well. All signs say they are contenders and not pretenders but we will see in the playoffs.

If they're up 20 in the 4th quarter of game 7 in the finals I still won't be taking them seriously until I see the champagne shower. It would be funny if they made it to the finals and beat Miami though.

It's hard to trust their offense outside of Dirk. Terry? Marion? Butler? None of those guys are reliable against a Top level D. LA would suffocate them in a playoff series.

Chandler guarding the opposing teams best front Court scorer is the biggest difference. I was surprised that he was guarding bosh. I had hoped for Dirk to be guarding him since he's not a good defender.

They for sure have a shot at the championship but it's better to wait for playoff time because we know that the playoffs are a different story.

I don't know what to believe.
On one side they had great RS and blew it in the playoffs many times. Also they blow 10-20 point leads all the time. Usually they still make it, but that could be a problem come playoff time. Also Rick Carlisle has yet to prove his coaching can make the difference (in favor of the Mavs) in the playoff.
On the other side they just won b2b in Miami and Orlando with Dirk having bad games. They have improved their defence (to the point it wins games) and Chandler seems to be a great fit. Also Roddy can add scoring if one of the scorers (Terry, Butler etc) doesn't show up.

So it's hard to say but currently I lean more toward No. Especially Carlisle is giving me headaches.

They are the Orlando Magic of the West, barring injuries of the other contenders, they are not gonna make it to the Finals.

I am. I think a Post-Gold Medal World Champion version of Tyson Chandler could be the difference. Dallas has the bigs to go against both the Lakers and the Celtics. Dirk is as good as I've seen him and they just look really good. Of course, the season is not even half over. There could be injuries (Like how the Bulls are really banged up but they keep winning) so we will see how things shake out during the 2nd half of the season.

[QUOTE=stephanieg]If they're up 20 in the 4th quarter of game 7 in the finals I still won't be taking them seriously until I see the champagne shower. It would be funny if they made it to the finals and beat Miami though.[/QUOTE]

Wouldn't it be funnier if they were up 2-0 on Miami in the finals and then lost?

[QUOTE=ashbelly]Chandler guarding the opposing teams best front Court scorer is the biggest difference. I was surprised that he was guarding bosh. I had hoped for Dirk to be guarding him since he's not a good defender.[/QUOTE]

Except Dirk is a good defender and guarded Bosh most in the 4th

I can see why a lot of folks would be skeptical given the Mavs' lack of playoffs success recently. But if you really follow the team, you'd see how huge of a difference an active, above-teh-rim center in Chandler can be versus a stiff like Dampier. It allows everyone else to gamble and be more aggressive on defense. And the only guy on the team who gets to the rim at will is still yet to play. Not only that, the Mavs point differential is much stronger than it's ever been and guys are playing fewer minutes. Last season they limped into the playoffs and it showed against a fully rested and healthy Spurs team. I'd be shocked if this team does anything less than the WCF this season.

[QUOTE=All Net]Lets face it they are playing great, 24-5 record, beaten Miami twice, Spurs, great record against 500 above teams

Chandler inside has made a real difference inside for them.

You believe they have a great shot to be champs come end of the season? or still not sure?[/QUOTE]

WC Champ barring injury.

No, we've seen this intro of this movie before. Time will tell if the ending is the same result. (Choking in the playoffs)

[QUOTE=thomaspynchon]Except Dirk is a good defender and guarded Bosh most in the 4th[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't necessarily say "good", but he's not as bad as a lot of people make him out to be. Still soft as tissue though...

Anyway, to answer the OPs question, no. I don't consider them contenders YET. They are playing like contenders, but IMO after the AS break is when I like to make predictions on who will do what. Until then, they are a great basketball team that has improved since last year. They are definitely the #1 team in the league right now and have a lot of impressive wins on their resume. I want to see them crush teams though. Dominate the good teams. Even against Miami, they didn't dominate. It was a close game that they should have lost. If it hadn't had been for my boy JTerry, this thread probably wouldn't have been made. Like they said on 1st and Take, if Terry is your closer, then you are not a title contender. Period.

[QUOTE=Faberg]No, we've seen this intro of this movie before. Time will tell if the ending is the same result. (Choking in the playoffs)[/QUOTE]

It's very different this season. Their record is commanding against all the top teams, most of whom they have already beat on the road. if you looked at their stats last season, they were

2-2 vs LAL
2-2 vs OKC
3-1 vs SAS
2-1 vs DEN
2-1 vs PHX
1-3 vs PORT
1-2 vs UTA

Which is decent but what it really means is they sort of took care of business AND they had a record for most wins by 1 point during a season which means they weren't really winning convincingly. This season it's quite different.

[QUOTE=thejumpa]I wouldn't necessarily say "good", but he's not as bad as a lot of people make him out to be. Still soft as tissue though...

Anyway, to answer the OPs question, no. I don't consider them contenders YET. They are playing like contenders, but IMO after the AS break is when I like to make predictions on who will do what. Until then, they are a great basketball team that has improved since last year. They are definitely the #1 team in the league right now and have a lot of impressive wins on their resume. I want to see them crush teams though. Dominate the good teams. Even against Miami, they didn't dominate. It was a close game that they should have lost. If it hadn't had been for my boy JTerry, this thread probably wouldn't have been made. Like they said on 1st and Take, if Terry is your closer, then you are not a title contender. Period.[/QUOTE]

Dirk is the closer, always has been, always will be...it was another distorted and misanalyzed comment taken by the (racist against white) media to take Dirk down. Also, their schedule after the ASG is VERY soft.

I want to see them against the Lakers and Spurs again.
I'm leaning strongly towards yes.
...the addition of Chandler, and much better defensive effort and positioning from their scorers (Terry, Butler, Nowitzki) has made them a top 5 defensive team in the NBA. It's hard to accept for most people, but they are an elite defensive team right now, meaning they don't need to rely on consistent jumpshooting to win games late.

For instance, this recent back to back away game wins vs Miami and Orlando Dirk had 2 of his worst 3 games this year, and they still own with defense. And if anyone remembers, the first time they beat Miami this year, Dirk stole the ball from Dwyane Wade TWICE in the last 2 minutes, in addition to a tipped ball that started a successful break. He defensively won that first game in Miami for his team. Their defense won them games against the Spurs, OKC, Utah, and ORL & Miami. THE MAVS ARE A DEFENSIVE POWERHOUSE. Sounds strange right?

This is the best and most complete Mavericks team we've ever seen, and it puts them very close to the Lakers, Spurs, and Boston, if not neck and neck with all of them....and at worst they are a noticable step above Orlando, Utah, & Miami, and two steps above OKC, CHI, ATL, DEN, NOLA, etc.

Can't wait for the OKC & Spurs games next week. Both should be great games.

Two steps over Chicago...I don't know Chicago took care of them in Dallas. One step, sure but not two. Not with a healthy Noah.

[QUOTE=thomaspynchon]Dirk is the closer, always has been, always will be...it was another distorted and misanalyzed comment taken by the (racist against white) media to take Dirk down. Also, their schedule after the ASG is VERY soft.[/QUOTE]

Racist against what? Get out of here with that. Dirk clearly said "He's our finisher. He's our closer." What got misanalyzed?

The point is, it's great to have multiple offensive weapons down the stretch, but the best player should be the closer 99% of the time.

[QUOTE=thejumpa]Racist against what? Get out of here with that. Dirk clearly said "He's our finisher. He's our closer." What got misanalyzed?
[/QUOTE]

Didn't he say "he was our closer today"? Or was that crappy german translation?

[QUOTE=thejumpa]Racist against what? Get out of here with that. Dirk clearly said "He's our finisher. He's our closer." What got misanalyzed?

The point is, it's great to have multiple offensive weapons down the stretch, but the best player should be the closer 99% of the time.[/QUOTE]

If you watch the Mavs you'd know that Dirk is their closer, 99 times out of 100. If terry gets the last shot it's because Dirk is being doubled off the pick and roll and trusts terry to hit the shit in a game in which he's hot. Terry's not going to have the ball in his hands and creating his own shot to win.

Racist in that it's obvious that Dirk was trying to instill trust with the comment and the media spun it, predictably, to mean that he doesn't want the ball in his hands and that Terry is their closer, which anyone who follows the Mavs can tell you is false. Media is racist against whites because it does anything it can to put down great white players while constantly elevating blacks. You'd think Kobe is the clutchest ever and Dirk is the worst ever in the clutch, when it's really the opposite.

[QUOTE=eppelp]Didn't he say "he was our closer today"? Or was that crappy german translation?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Dirk Nowitzki]"He's our finisher," Nowitzki said. "He's our closer. He got hot."[/QUOTE]

[url]http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nba/2013726645_nba21.html?syndication=rss[/url]

That's the same quote I'm seeing on multiple sites.

:oldlol: Media racist against whites. Funniest yet dumbest comment I've read. Wow.

[QUOTE=thejumpa][url]http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nba/2013726645_nba21.html?syndication=rss[/url]

That's the same quote I'm seeing on multiple sites.[/QUOTE]

I suppose you don't see what Dirk is trying to say here...maybe he should have said, "he had a good game tonight so I passed him the ball, but when the playoffs roll around he's nowhere to be found"

[QUOTE=GOBB]:oldlol: Media racist against whites. Funniest yet dumbest comment I've read. Wow.[/QUOTE]

Hey whatever man, entitled to my opinion as well. A lot of people see through it but many don't.

During the Miami game, I did see Dirk defer to Terry late in the 4th quarter. I remember it because I thought it was funny how Terry tried to give the ball up to Dirk and then he immediately passed it back to Terry. I guess Dirk wasn't comfortable trying to score in iso because he was having an off night.

[QUOTE=thomaspynchon]If you watch the Mavs you'd know that Dirk is their closer, 99 times out of 100. If terry gets the last shot it's because Dirk is being doubled off the pick and roll and trusts terry to hit the shit in a game in which he's hot. Terry's not going to have the ball in his hands and creating his own shot to win.

Racist in that it's obvious that Dirk was trying to instill trust with the comment and the media spun it, predictably, to mean that he doesn't want the ball in his hands and that Terry is their closer, which anyone who follows the Mavs can tell you is false. Media is racist against whites because it does anything it can to put down great white players while constantly elevating blacks. You'd think Kobe is the clutchest ever and Dirk is the worst ever in the clutch, when it's really the opposite.[/QUOTE]

:oldlol:

I understand what you are saying about the comment Dirk made but let's get one thing clear...Dirk is a legend. Everyone knows this. He's a great player. There isn't one thing that the media can do or say to bring him down. Kobe has hit bigger shots and has more memorable moments than Dirk has. That's why people think he's "more clutch" than Dirk is. What you are talking about is stats. No disrespect, but if you are using stats as a way to say someone is more clutch or whatever, then you are buggin. I'm not trying to start a black vs white argument in this thread but I'm just sayin....

[QUOTE=GOBB]:oldlol: Media racist against whites. Funniest yet dumbest comment I've read. Wow.[/QUOTE]

The media isn't controlled by white people Gobb. If anything, Blacks have it good in today's media. Certainly better than whites. Poor Dirk. :cry:

[QUOTE=thejumpa]:oldlol:

I understand what you are saying about the comment Dirk made but let's get one thing clear...Dirk is a legend. Everyone knows this. He's a great player. There isn't one thing that the media can do or say to bring him down. Kobe has hit bigger shots and has more memorable moments than Dirk has. That's why people think he's "more clutch" than Dirk is. What you are talking about is stats. No disrespect, but if you are using stats as a way to say someone is more clutch or whatever, then you are buggin. I'm not trying to start a black vs white argument in this thread but I'm just sayin....[/QUOTE]

I watch nearly every Mavs game...look back on the 4th quarter on youtube or something...all of Terry's buckets came off the pick and roll, including the final big one, because the big man always stays with Dirk, leaving Terry wide open...that's why Dirk is encouraging Terry as the "closer." But if you watch them regularly you'd know that Dirk is the guy taking and hitting the big shots in isolation almost all the time.

Kobe is great too but people who follow the NBA know that he fails more often than he succeeds when it counts and his success is due in very large part to his extremely strong supporting cast. before Gasol and post Shaq he did absolutely zero in the playoffs.

[QUOTE=ReturnofJPR]The media isn't controlled by white people Gobb. If anything, Blacks have it good in today's media. Certainly better than whites. Poor Dirk. :cry:[/QUOTE]

It's controlled by liberals.

Last season, the Mavs had some games where they got absolutely demolished. That hasn't happened so far this season. I want to see if they can get through this season without letting some team drop 130 points on them.

[QUOTE=Indian guy]It's hard to trust their offense outside of Dirk. Terry? Marion? Butler? None of those guys are reliable against a Top level D. LA would suffocate them in a playoff series.[/QUOTE]

Actually I think they have a well balenced offense...more than enough. Whatthey lacked was defense and a guy who could clog the paint..they may have that now.

[QUOTE=thomaspynchon]I watch nearly every Mavs game...look back on the 4th quarter on youtube or something...all of Terry's buckets came off the pick and roll, including the final big one, because the big man always stays with Dirk, leaving Terry wide open...that's why Dirk is encouraging Terry as the "closer." But if you watch them regularly you'd know that Dirk is the guy taking and hitting the big shots in isolation almost all the time.

Kobe is great too but people who follow the NBA know that he fails more often than he succeeds when it counts and his success is due in very large part to his extremely strong supporting cast. before Gasol and post Shaq he did absolutely zero in the playoffs.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like you are the one trying to spin it. I'm not trying to use the game as evidence for anything. I'm just going off what Dirk said. He didn't say "closer today" or "he got hot so we kept feeding him the ball". No...he said "He's our finisher. He's our closer". That can only imply one thing.

Kobes success as a clutch shooter has nothing to do with his teammates. He's made big shots. Tough shots. Memorable shots. More than Dirk has. Regular season or playoffs. So what if he had better teammates or had Shaq or Pau...that's part of the game of basketball. Maybe if Mark Cuban would stop cheerleading and actually try to snag a legitimate big man or two, Dirk would have similar success.

[QUOTE=Indian guy]It's hard to trust their offense outside of Dirk. Terry? Marion? Butler? None of those guys are reliable against a Top level D. LA would suffocate them in a playoff series.[/QUOTE]

Mavs' offense did pretty well against the best D in the league (Boston). The Lakers haven't been too good on defense this season.

[QUOTE=thomaspynchon]It's controlled by liberals.[/QUOTE]Is "liberal", the latest code word used by Conservatives, especially on talk radio and Fox News, to mean "Jewish" ?