Tim McDarby -- DallasBasketball.com
It's amazing what 3 missed shots can do to a city.
Why do I have the feeling this is about to become one long, hot, humid summer in the Metroplex? Dirk Nowitzki's missed final shot hadn't even hit the floor and almost as one, the media began with the reckless finger-pointing and blame game.
"Blow it up!" "It doesn't work!" "I told you so!" and the ever popular "Fire Nellie!" danced off the fingertips and lips of media members, as if they couldn't wait for the Mavericks' season to end. If I didn't know better (and I'm not certain now that I do) it's almost as if we enjoy creating a story and drama that we can play out all summer long. (Anything to avoid covering the Rangers?)
Talk shows and columnists will be all over the Nellie angle for the foreseeable future. They don't want to listen to Mark Cuban's reiteration that Nellie is safe. Cuban is using words and phrases like “tweaking,’’ and “99-percent sure’’ to describe his views on the Mavs’ leadership and style. So is Nellie.
"I signed a three-year deal," Nellie told reporters after his team was ousted in Round 1’s Game 5 at Sacremento. "You've listened to too many talk shows."
The reality is, despite the critics, that the Maverick 'way' of playing basketball really does work. It’s worked to built this team from nothing into a consistent 50-plus-win team, a consistent contender. Why is it that other teams want to try and copy the Mavericks' style of play? Now, is it perfect? No. Does it need a little adjusting on the fly? Yes. That's exactly what Cuban, Nellie and the rest of the brain trust will do between now and the opening of camp.
I believe we all would like to see more consistency on the defensive end. It's easy to say "the Mavs don't play defense". It's also lazy to say that, too. They've given up far too many layups and dunks to try and convince you otherwise. However, they can defend and need to defend more consistently. Also, defense creates turnovers, which creates fast breaks, which create easy baskets in transition. What gets lost when Dallas plays well, is they also create a lot of turnovers, mysteriously. (Mysterious, because they don't play defense, right?)
Even if the Mavericks won a title this year, changes and tweaks will always be made. You have to stay ahead of the competition. The Mavs are ahead of most of the competition. Nellie helps them stay that way.