If the running joke is that there are only 9 basketball fans left, well... all 9 are watching this Mavs-Warriors series, and will be watching this game tonight. Just look at the internets - everyone is talking about the series... Bill Simmons. The Starting Five (little sidenote: check out the amazing work they have been putting out lately - here is a great back and forth interview with Scoop Jackson. Oh, and as a bit of self-promotion, I did a post today on technology and officiating). Free Darko. True Hoops. Posting and Toasting. The Basketball Jones. Gigginonya. 3manlift. TUP. And, appropriately enough, Barnesgasm. You've read The Last Poet and Blue Thoughts comments on the series. Everyone is talking about this series.
So, NBA, take note. David Stern, take note. People are interested in your product, which is always a good thing. Now ask yourself why?
There are various reasons. Here is my take:
- The fanbase? Yeah, the Warriors fanbase is rabid, having made it to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. But, honestly, how big was the Warriors fanbase before the bandwagon hopping started?
- The everyone loves an underdog storyline. You know how everyone jumps on the George Mason bandwagon during last year's NCAA Tourney? Well, it's like that. The team that barely made the playoffs, needing to win 16 of its last 21 just to squeeze in as the last team to make the playoffs, is beating the number team in the NBA this season. Say what you want about how the Warriors aren't a typical #8 seed, but that is still some Underdog ish.
- The Dallas Mavs don't seem to be very well liked. I don't understand the dislike of Mark Cuban - he seems like a great owner, and I can't imagine anyone not wanting Mark Cuban as your favorite team's owner. He took a sorry franchise that had no fans and minimal success, and turned it into one of the premiere teams in the NBA. As for the actual team?
- Dirk Nowitzski is not well liked. It's mostly because of this MVP pedestal he has been put on by the media. He's not an MVP, and if you didn't know it before, you do now. His is the epitome of his team... a team that is full of jump-shooting, perimeter, soft defense, can't block a shot, can't post, can't get to the basket, don't like contact or tough defense types. Even Josh Howard, the most likeable player on this team, seems to fall in this category. Jerry Stackhouse? Jason Terry? They were more likeable on their previous teams than they are in Dallas.
- The Warriors style. Simply put, they run, they play six swingmen types (well, Baron is questionable) of around the same height, along with a tall, lanky Latvian, in their playoff rotation. They aren't exactly built like everyone else's team.
- That team itself is not unlike the collection of riffraff that makes up the Cleveland Indians team in the movie Major Leagues:
-Baron Davis is an oft-injured, selfish point guard who is overpaid and had very little trade value until four weeks ago. In fact, you can equate him to (gasp) Stephon Marbury. In fact, if two months ago the Knicks had traded for him, every basketball writer and blogger would have murdered Isiah.
-Jason Richardson is coming off major knee surgery that took place just before the beginning of the season, then broke his hand, which knocked him out for almost two months in the middle of the season. It turned out to be a blessing, because it gave his knee, which was clearly not fully healed at the beginning of the season, a chance to rest and gain full strength.
-If you believe the press, Stephen Jackson is thug for life. He had to be traded from Indianapolis, as he made the Pacers unlikeable to their fans. He and Al Harrington came to Golden State in return for Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy's awful contracts (but great personalities!). For all his "faults", Stephen Jackson is a great defensive player who has been in big games. He won a championship with the Spurs in 2003 (some would say they wouldn't have won without Jackson's big contributions). He's picked up his play in this series, both defensively on Dirk and offensively he is average 20 ppg with 4 apg in this series.
-Biedrins and Pietrus are entertaining. Both are Europeans (Latvia and France represent), and both are creating chaos on the defensive end, with some big blocks and rebounds. Pietrus is adding in some nice threes to go with it. For a good chunk of the season (when he was starting in place of Richardson) he was one of three players (Josh Howard and Rasheed Wallace the other two) who were averaging at least 1 3PTM and 1 BPG.
-Matt Barnes is waiver wire trash. He's a player that, in his four-year career, has played on the Clippers, 76ers, Kings, Knicks, 76ers again, and now the Warriors. He has been a spark coming off the bench this series.
- And the home court (The Oracle) is probably the loudest, most exciting arena in basketball right now. The Mavs have yet to win a game at The Oracle this season. Expecting them to do so tonight is... bold.
To this point, the series has gone exactly like we thought it might; the Warriors stole game one, were robbed in game two (because we knew the NBA wouldn't allow them to steal game two), the internets and basketball fans took notice of this team, they dominated games three and four at home, then just barely lost a game five that they had no business winning (down by 21 at one point) nor losing (up by 9 with less than three minutes to go?!?).
None of that matters tonight. This is winner take all. We don't doubt that the Warriors can win a Game 7 in Dallas - they have won games there all season long - but we don't think they want it to come to that. Neither do I. As much fun as this series has been (and it will be a letdown to see the Warriors play the Van Gundy Rockets and their all-business defense), it has to end tonight. The Warriors have to establish Jason Richardson (the unsung star of the team) early, continue to get timely hoops from Barnes and Jackson, get some kind of contributions from Harrington and Ellis (who have been absent the last few games) and continue to get big shots and defense from Biedrins and Pietrus. And Baron Davis needs to keep things moving, get the timely steal and hit the timely three/jumper.
Warriors in six, or the NBA postseason loses its significance.
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I admit that I don't know enough about the San Antonio Riverwalk incident to comment on it. I agree with you that there is no reason to break on another city (I guess it's a Texas rivalry thing?) just for the purpose of stirring up fans... fans shouldn't need such lame excuses to get worked up for games anyway.
Interesting. When it comes to Dirk, I think he's a fine player, very efficient at scoring. Dirk himself doesn't bother me so much; it's the perception of him that has always bothered me. He's a very one-dimensional scorer - he doesn't post or take it to the hole anymore (if he ever did).
Dirk is 7 foot tall; Eddy Curry is 6'11. Dirk averaged 8.9 rpg this season; Curry averaged 7.0. Dirk's career bpg average is 1.0; Curry's is 0.8. Curry is often criticized for being a terrible rebounder and defender, but you never here that about Dirk. I don't dispute that Curry is a bad defender/rebounder; I'm pointing out that Dirk is marginally better. Yet the media loves Dirk.
He's a great shooter/scorer, but I view him as more of a Michael Redd type of player than a complete all-around MVP.
Mark Cuban did a good thing with the franchise, but he also often talks out of his ass. He says things, like making fun of San Antonio's Riverwalk (which hits close to home for me), that he claims are in an effort to stir up the Dallas fans. But, really, it's just not classy behavior. And, has he actually looked outside in Dalls lately? What does it have to offer that's so much better? I was bored to tears when I was there a few months ago.
I would imagine his mouth is what makes a lot of people (like me) hate him and his team.
Also, Dirk is a good player, but something about him rubs me the wrong way. I don't know what it is, which isn't great when I'm posting about it, but that's the truth. Dude just bugs me.