You're not making this up. It's not some self-hatred you manifest. The Wall Street Journal notes today that it really is tough to be a Mavericks fan.
"The Mavericks have had the best-ever 10-year stretch in the NBA without winning a championship. Through Saturday, they had gone 534-236 (.694) in the regular season since 2001-02. During that stretch, they earned a top-four seed in the Western Conference playoffs six times and won at least 60 games three times, but they reached the finals just once—losing to Miami in 2006. They have fallen in the first round in three of the past four seasons."
The article goes on to compare the Mavericks to the Utah Jazz of the 90's, those John Stockton/Karl Malone led teams that won 50 or more games in all but two seasons during the 90's but made the playoffs every year. They won 64 games in the 96-97 season, 62 in 97-98 only to lose to the Bulls in the Finals twice.
The Mavericks have had regular season success. They are a playoff fixture, making the postseason 10 straight years, second only to the Spurs who have 13 consecutive playoff appearances. From every email, tweet and Facebook post I get from you, I get the impression you're a little tired of it.
Soooooooooooooo, would you give up some of that regular season success for just one championship, one parade and one year of bragging rights? Would you take an NBA title if, say, like the big, bad Heat you won just 15 games a two years later?
"The Mavericks have had the best-ever 10-year stretch in the NBA without winning a championship. Through Saturday, they had gone 534-236 (.694) in the regular season since 2001-02. During that stretch, they earned a top-four seed in the Western Conference playoffs six times and won at least 60 games three times, but they reached the finals just once—losing to Miami in 2006. They have fallen in the first round in three of the past four seasons."
The article goes on to compare the Mavericks to the Utah Jazz of the 90's, those John Stockton/Karl Malone led teams that won 50 or more games in all but two seasons during the 90's but made the playoffs every year. They won 64 games in the 96-97 season, 62 in 97-98 only to lose to the Bulls in the Finals twice.
The Mavericks have had regular season success. They are a playoff fixture, making the postseason 10 straight years, second only to the Spurs who have 13 consecutive playoff appearances. From every email, tweet and Facebook post I get from you, I get the impression you're a little tired of it.
Soooooooooooooo, would you give up some of that regular season success for just one championship, one parade and one year of bragging rights? Would you take an NBA title if, say, like the big, bad Heat you won just 15 games a two years later?
Any knowledgeable fan knows that any great franchise to win championships has to go through some down times. Even when the Cowboys went to the playoffs 20 something straight seasons they only won 2 " Super Bowl championships" which is a very low percentage considering the # of times they made the playoffs. For the Mavs to win a championship, I would be ok with a 0-82 season the year before and after the year they did! At least they were the best once!
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it but yeah, I would. It's partly about the joy of winning a championship but for me (and I shouldn't care about this but whatever) it's also about getting respect from all of the basketball pundits out there. It's a hall of an achievement to have that much success for so long in the regular season, but nobody cares. Win one championship and then take 5 years to get back to the playoffs, and you might still have a higher profile than a consistently successful team like the Mavericks. And no matter what, Dirk would get the credit he deserves, even if he never even tasted another title.
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