I am coming under a fair amount of fire for appearing to blame the plight of the Mavericks on poor Shawn Bradley. Well, allow me to clarify. There is no way that the Mavericks are down 2-0 because of Shawn Bradley. That is absurd, partly because he doesn’t play enough minutes to affect the outcome of these two games. Dirk, Finley, Avery, Van Horn all should receive blame for this thing long before big Shawn.
With that being said, if we can agree that he is not to blame for this series, could we at least agree that he is certainly responsible for the national image of the Mavericks being soft, white boys who can’t get it done? That seems fair. He has been dunked on more than anyone in the history of the league (I am estimating), and has never offered a hard foul on anyone. He is polite, meek, and a perfect gentleman, which is the complete and total opposite of what you want a big man to be in the NBA.
I am sure he is a great guy, in fact, when Dan and I had him on our show, I almost felt guilty because I did find out what a nice dude he is. But there are all sorts of nice guys in this world. Nice guys do not make great basketball players. And my blame of Shawn is not about one isolated dunk from Monday night, although admittedly, that might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Think of it as more of a lifetime achievement award for years of shameless dunk receiving, and years of soft fouls as the other team celebrated while standing over a meek Shawn.
Enough is Enough in my book.
Links:
Rangers hit 4 Home Runs, Lose to Seattle …Solo HRs don’t help much…
Mavs claim they are down, but certainly not out …
Lebreton sizes up the series …
The Mavericks are down, two games to none, and they're smelling like last week's fish.
They've had no answers for the Houston Rockets. No answers for Tracy McGrady, who apparently is the greatest basketball player of all time. No answers for Yao Ming, who's been as tough as Chinese arithmetic.
No answers for -- good grief -- Ryan Bowen, the playoff series' secretary of defense.
Heading to Houston for Game 3, is there one thing that the Mavericks have done better than the Rockets thus far? Clutch shooting? Points in the paint? Bench scoring? Anybody?
The much-anticipated showdown of the superstars, McGrady and Dirk Nowitzki, has been no contest. McGrady has roamed at will for two nights, playing peek-a-boo behind Yao's high screens, ignoring timeouts, draining big shot after big shot. Dirk, meanwhile, hasn't even been the second-best player on the floor.
He won't go inside. When double-teamed, he's had trouble getting the ball to the open man. And in Game 2, he showed no stomach for joining the fight by mixing in an occasional rebound.
"I haven't really found my rhythm yet from the floor," Nowitzki reported after Monday's Game 2 loss.
Ya think, big fella?
Tonight, Spurs try to even up series with Denver …
Jackson and Buss meet in Los Angeles …
John Lopez, Houston Chronicle, says Avery being out-classed by Van Gundy …
Shawn Bradley comes to town with the imprint of Tracy McGrady's No. 1 on the back of his head, the victim of the most heinous dunk you'll ever see.
Dirk Nowitzki comes to town wondering if the next thing he'll have to hand over to Ryan Bowen is the set of keys to his favorite car, considering Bowen and friends already have taken everything else — Nowitzki's game, his confidence, his aura of being unstoppable.
Mavericks big men Erick Dampier, Keith Van Horn and Bradley arrive with two fouls apiece. OK, not officially. But the way Yao Ming is working the paint and working them over, it won't take long.
Down 2-0 in their opening-round playoff series with the Rockets, the Mavericks have issues, to say the least. They can't stop McGrady, can't ignite Nowitzki and can't match up with Yao.
But here's their biggest problem. The one looking most sickly and unsure as the Mavs come to town is the one who is supposed to make it all better.
Star Telegram Soccer Insider …
Hull (above with another great scorer) mulls retirement …
Ahman Green arrested …Making all Packers fans proud….
UFO Wisconsin …
The Open Door Policy gets publicity …
Baseball Magic Potions …
Everyone think a good thought for sweet Liverpool who is a big underdog at Chelsea (ESPN2, 1:30pm) in the Champions League. They will need all of the luck they can get...
12 comments:
I agree 100% my man. He sucks, and sucks bad, but he is not the reason the Mavs have blown in the playoffs. You are 7'6"! For the love of the good sweet Lord, give a hard foul! Mormans believe in God, and God loves hard fought playoff basketball.
Bob, c'mon man. Don't get sucked into the default, uninformed fan mode that Junior is always in.
Look, Shawn Bradley is a backup center. He's 7'6", so people assume he should dunk the ball on every play. He is sometimes effective and sometimes not, just like every other backup center.
I don't understand calling him meek. For a lot of his career Shawn Bradley was considered a dirty player that threw elbows and whined to the officials. He only looks meek in the poster dunks, and usually, as was the case last night, most of those dunks are not his fault.
Where's the outcry for the guy that let McGrady that free in the first place, our beloved Dirk? Shawn was slightly screen by Yao on the play as well. By the time he got there McGrady was already in the air, and it's pretty much a toss up whether Shwawn could even have fouled him hard enough to stop him, and if he had, it surely woudl have been a flagrant, maybe a flagrant 2. That would have been a nasty foul.
The Musers just annointed that play the most embarassing in Dallas History, over things like Lett making the missed field goal live and Harp dribbling out the clock. Those things cost their teams the game. This was simply one dunk, and it wasn't even his damn fault.
I'm so tired of media doing default. You're no better than Charles Barkley on this one.
Since the Rockets have more white guys than the Mavs, and they are currently pummeling our dear Mavs, could it be that the Michael Jackson trial has the Mavs and Avery unfocused?
Jared-
You don't understand me calling him meek? Here is one definition of the word meek from dictionary.com:
Easily imposed on; submissive.
If that doesn't describe Shawn, what does?
In that last picture, looking at his facial expression, I think he's actually scared.
Sturmy Sturm,
Meek is not even trying to contest the dunk, which is what Dirk would do. A lot of Shawns poster dunks come because he's IS actually in the way, he just doesn't do a good job of fouling the guy.
Look, I'm not a Bradley lover. I'm fine with him for what he is, a 10 minutes per game backup center. I just don't like all this attention on Bradley, when the whole damn season is going down the drain because of someone that is truly playing meek, DIRK.
the ticket needs a once a week soccer show. if you can do the train station fitness show, you can have soccer on sunday.
Jared, my dear sweet friend-
Let us not confuse 2 issues.
Issue #1 is the Houston - Dallas Series in which Dirk has been the disappointment, and needs to return to his normal self if Dallas has a prayer.
Issue #2 is that Shawn Bradley is a wasted roster spot for the better part of a decade.
I am debating #2, and you appear to be debating both against eachother.
Sturm,
Perhaps I am.
I do disagree that Bradley is a waste of a roster spot. He tends to have more of a positive impact than quite a few backup centers in the league. The frustrating thing about him is he shows flashes of being something better, and he's been paid like something better for most of his career.
Being posterized doesn't make a guy useless.
I just think that McGrady dunk is a microcosm of the guy's career. While he made a bad play, and could have gone harder, everyone chooses to focus on him, rather than the pitiful defense that allowed TMac to get to the rim in the first place.
Regardless I'm getting serious tired head arguing about Bradley. He is at best a 10 min. per game backup center and at worst a waste of space. I can live with that.
Besides, if they lose Thursday with Dirk not showing up, I'm not sure when I will start caring about anything Mavs again anyway.
Bob, I think Liverpool has a great shot at beating Chelsea. After they beat Juventus, I wouldn't be surprised if they reached the finals. Please don't tell me you doubt Liverpool's chances. Go Reds!
P.S. Looking forward to your more-then-once-a-week segment of soccer talk.
I see that San Antonio tonight is showing Denver how a good playoff team responds to a surprising loss at home.
Dallas still has a chance, but boy, they sure had me fooled during this past month, it seems like.
Just cause your tall doesn't mean you will succeed in the NBA.
signed, Manute Bol
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