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The Suns win this series unless..........the Mavs - Dirk especially - don't stop treating little Stevie Nash like he is still wearing a Mavericks uniform. When is someone going to knock his punk [deleted] down when he drives the lane????? Avery needs to instruct his team that Nash is not allowed to remain upright when his feet touch the paint.

I swear, the Suns isolated Nash on Dirk in the last 2 minutes because they know he won't touch his little buddy. Nash hits 2 3's over Dirk and drives by him for that layup. Are you kidding me???? If I was Avery, I would have pulled Dirk and dog cussed him on national tv for being a bee-yatch to his former suck buddy. That's the ballgame and the series if Dirk doesn't send the message to the entire team that little Stevie is not going to be allowed to treat this series like a pick up game among friends. I repeat - knock his punk [deleted] down every time he drives the lane - hard...................

If Dallas loses this series to Nash and .... Boris Diaw? (no Amare Stoudamire, no Kurt Thomas), the entire organization should be ashamed, from Cuban down to the guys who empty the trash after games. Yes, Shawn Marion is good, but he played half the game limping on a bad ankle. Raja Bell is good, but he also got hurt. Avery Johnson seems to be a fantastic coach, but if Dallas loses this series, everyone -- Avery, Dirk, Stack (nice D on the game-winner) -- should feel like his job is in jeopardy.

i agree, it was ridiculous the way Nash was doing whatever he wanted. Remember when he was a Mav how opposing teams would get physical with him and take him out of his game? Not only arent the Mavs being physical with him, they are backing down and basically getting out of his way. I hated that game last night, really frustrating. Was Diop out due to the broken nose or coaches decision? I might have had Diop in there on the last play at least as a shot blocker.

friarwolf wrote:The Suns win this series unless..........the Mavs - Dirk especially - don't stop treating little Stevie Nash like he is still wearing a Mavericks uniform. When is someone going to knock his punk [deleted] down when he drives the lane????? Avery needs to instruct his team that Nash is not allowed to remain upright when his feet touch the paint.

Friar, I couldn't agree more...I have always questioned Dirk's heart, that was the main reason I picked the Spurs over the Mavs. I was gladly proven wrong, now this.

Watching Steve have his way with Dirk was painful.

Miami in six.

I would try to have either Damp or Diop on the floor as much as possible. I know they may have trouble guarding Diaw on the perimeter, but the Mavs have to get someone in the middle to stop uncontested lay-ups/dunks. If that means giving up a couple of 3s to Diaw or Thomas, so be it. The Mavs made their run when Avery put Damp in during the 3Q.....for whatever reason Avery took him out after getting a nine point lead and never put him back in?

The Mavs are the better team and they will win in six.

I think if you can get Howard playing consistent minutes, Mavs win easily.

The loss of Bell is huge to the suns bc now they are a run and gun team with a 7 man rotation. It will be difficult for them to consistently keep their level of play up.

Agreed that Mavs should go bigger. I thought Spurs should have gone big against the Mavs. Its better to make your opponent adjust to you rather than constantly adapt to their style in my opinion.

Oh, and Suns in 6.

[quote="PonyFan"]If Dallas loses this series to Nash and .... Boris Diaw? (no Amare Stoudamire, no Kurt Thomas), the entire organization should be ashamed, from Cuban down to the guys who empty the trash after games. [/quote]

Cuban should be ashamed regardless of the outcome.

Heh - you might be right on that.

I disagree that Dallas should go big - if they do, Phoenix will have five runners to Dallas's four in a track meet, and will dominate. Dallas has to stay smaller, and you're right that Josh Howard's return likely will determine the outcome of the series.

On a normal day Dallas will not out run the Suns. Howard is an important piece for the Mavs but not near as important as Bell is to the Suns simply because the suns have no depth whereas the Mavs can offset the loss of Howard. But if Howard is playing and Bell isn't, the Mavs have a very significant advantage.

Dallas in 7. If, like you said, Dirk puts his pussyfooting aside and treats Nash like he should -- an opponent.

Dallas in 7, or 6 by a buzzer beater. All close games. League refs will continue to engineer the games to make them close, for ratings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fqN7q4T ... %20Johnson

and

Watch what Avery Johnson does to Josh Howard in this video clip. Ouch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUHIfOic ... =1&t=t&f=b

[quote="friarwolf"] Stevie Nash ... When is someone going to knock his punk [deleted] down ...[/quote]

I totally agree ... except for Nash, I'd substitute Gary Vodicka.