That's not very nice The playoffs start this Saturday, and the Mavericks will face the Portland Trailblazers after the Los Angeles Lakers overcame a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter last night for an overtime win over Sacramento. It pushed the Mavericks to the third seed.
I've had a rotten feeling about this Mavericks squad all season.
I find them unlikable ... from a fan's perspective in regard to the individual player's demeanor or attitude. I also don't like any of their games. I don't like what they do and, largely, how they do it especially if they don't do it well.
They won 57 games because they have one of the top superstars in the game still in his prime, on any given night there's at least one support player scoring 15-20 points and they beat the shit out of the Eastern Conference and lesser teams in the league. There's nothing wrong with any of this. The Sacramento Kings would kill for this.
Add in: The Roddy Beaubois injury caper, Mark Cuban's mouth, Caron Butler's injury, the relative silence in free agency and at the trade deadline.
Despite my opinions, I really feel a dark malaise around town concerning this Mavericks team. See: I'm not alone. No one is convinced of anything anymore. We've seen this rodeo before. It comes into town every year. And, every year, it disappoints.
I think it's a general consensus that the Mavericks will lose to the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs. I also really feel that those same people hope their wrong. It's not that we're not fans anymore. We're just smarter, wiser. We're not idiots and we're not blinded by long winning streaks and 55 wins. We see the game on the court, we see the personnel, we see the body language and we can remember the recent history.
Everyone is sick of the Dallas Mavericks.
It's depressing because right now fans of the Kings are realizing their team is leaving. In Dallas, we take our team for granted. However, I don't think we're spoiled. Instead, we expect more.
Mark Cuban is the consummate businessman. He is always looking for something new. That thing will will improve the experience of the consumer whether he's buying a T-shirt online, going to a game, buying nachos at a concession stand or whatever. It is about the product and the consumer.
Unfortunately, the consumer is getting antsy. After a decade of the same dog-and-pony show rolling into town every year, we want the bearded woman and the trapeze artists. Winning 57 games is fine. We love it over ... nothing. However, change has to come. Cuban, above all, should understand change in the marketplace. Well, Mavericks fans are tired of the stale teams and the stale playoff performances.
There's a turning point here. No longer are we satisfied with not returning to the early 1990s. The Mavericks are no longer the top draw in town. They are not second fiddle to the Dallas Cowboys. They are second fiddle to the Texas Rangers, too. A change is here.
Question is, are the Dallas Mavericks any different.
