Mavericks Early Playoff Exit Should Have Been Forseen

We all should have seen this coming.

A repeat of last year’s run this year shouldn’t have been expected. 

Well that didn’t take long.  The Oklahoma City Thunder, considered by many to be the best team in the Western Conference, finished a sweep of the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks over the weekend.  It means there will be no repeat for the Dallas Mavericks.  After playing two close games in OKC, the Mavericks were no match for the Thunder as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrookand company got down to business and crushed the Mavericks in game three before finishing them off in game four.  Sure Mavericks fans are disappointed, perhaps even embarrassed with what just happened in this postseason, especially after last year’s magic carpet run.  The fact of the matter is though, that the Mavericks had no shot in the playoffs this year anyway.

Let me explain.  Last year, some would say the Mavericks got lucky when they beat the Miami Heat in six games in part due to LeBron James suffering huge mental blocks in the fourth quarter of that series.  Yet the Mavericks had a very good team, and Dirk Nowitzki played out of his mind.  But during the lockout shortened season this year, the Mavericks lost two pieces in free agency, the biggest one being Tyson Chandler.  Chandler is now with the New York Knicks and is the NBA’s defensive player of the year this year.  Chandler was a huge difference maker for the Mavericks last year.  Even when he didn’t actually block the shot, his presence put enough fear into the shooter to alter the their shot.  Heck, even if he wasn’t near them, you have to think it was in the back of the shooter’s mind, saying “I wonder where he [Chandler] is at.”  When you lose someone who brings such a presence on the defensive end, it is very difficult to overcome.

Let’s not forget J.J. Barea.  He came up with some absolutely monstrous performances in the NBA Finals.  He’s small, but he is very effective; he made big buckets when he had to and did all the things you need a point guard to do.  He left for Minnesota this year to pair up with Ricky Rubio (I think this move was made in large part to make Rubio more comfortable because both Rubio and Barea are from Spain).  Sure Barea isn’t a fantastic player, but when you lose someone who came up so big in clutch situations like Barea did in the NBA finals, that’s difficult to replace.

Mavericks fans need to remember too, the team is getting older.  Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, even Dirk’s getting up there in age.  And this season just didn’t look all that good for the Mavericks.  Their age showed and the opener of the season was a blowout loss at home to the Miami Heat.  Just watching them this year, you didn’t get the sense that they had it in them to make a playoff run.  You kept waiting to see if they would make that jump, but they never did.

So Mavericks fans, I know you’re disappointed.  But don’t forget what a special year last year was and look back at the season.  You could see the writing on the wall for this season fairly early.  Next year will be better.

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