Mavs' work far from finished
03:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 16, 2006
“This series is over,’’ was the repeating theme on the radio-show circuit. This would prove why me and D-Moore are the only ones in the world without our own radio gig. I don’t believe it for a moment. Has anybody been watching? Yes, the Mavericks have shown guts, grit and gusto in winning three consecutive games in the series. But please. San Antonio is not dead. The Spurs are are one shot, one bobbled pass or one uncalled foul away from being tied 2-2. Or ahead 3-1, actually. They could have won both games in Dallas. Instead, it’s 3-1, Mavericks and, yes, they have the hammer now. One more win, and the defending champions are done for the season. This will be the hardest one to get. And by the way, eight teams have come back from 3-1 holes, including Phoenix earlier this month against the Lakers. It’s been done before. It will be done again. If the Mavericks come back to Dallas for Game 6, all the pressure will be on them. That’s not an inviting situation to be in. Q: So now that the Mavericks are up 3-1, do you think they would be better off against the Clippers or the Suns in the next round? SEFKO: Geez, weren’t you reading just a few paragraphs earlier? This series is not over. But I’ll play the what-if game with you. Both possible conference finals opponents pose threats. But if you want the lesser of two evils, bring on the Clippers. The Mavericks already have been gouged by Michael Finley, who very nearly won Game 4 with his heroics. They don’t need the hassle of that stringy-haired Canadian coming back to haunt them again. And the up-and-down pace of the Suns is not something the Mavericks can easily thwart. Not to say the Clippers are a soft mark. Sam Cassell is one of the gutsiest players in the league, not to mention one of the most fun players in the league. He would have a lot to say about Mark Cuban, Avery Johnson and the Mavericks. That said, his talk would be the Clippers’ best weapon. The Mavericks would throw some sort of blanket on Elton Brand and they would be in the NBA Finals in six games, maybe five. • • • Q: Can’t we get the normal Mavericks broadcasters back on Ch. 21? They’re better than the guys on ESPN, TNT or ABC. Joe D. SEFKO: Not sure about them being better, but they do slant things toward the home team, which most fans like. Television rules pretty much everything in the NBA, including starting times and what games are televised on what networks. That’s why the Mavericks’ games have been ending at midnight and local television isn’t allowed to show the games. Something about exclusivity. Not sure I understand it. But suffice it to say that the local commentators don’t like it any more than you do. They’d love to be doing their thing in this series, which has been nothing short of stupendous and would be a hoot to do play-by-play or analysis about. • • • Q: Good teams have just been waiting for the playoffs. Teams like San Antonio and Detroit will go on to the next level, and the wannabes will go home and trade off a two-time MVP to make their team better. Bob G. SEFKO: This letter came in after Game 1 of the series. Couldn’t resist a rebuttal to it. First, the Mavericks didn’t trade away Steve Nash. He left in free agency. The Mavericks got nothing for him. Second, it seems like the Spurs are the ones who are down 3-1 right now. And while Detroit probably will be in the NBA Finals, it seems nothing is “guaranteed’’ against Cleveland right now. The longer the Pistons let this series go, the more chances there are for the Cavaliers to get a break (or for the Pistons to get an injury), and then all bets are off. It’s true the Mavericks have done nothing yet. You don’t get to the next round for winning three games. It takes four. But I’ll guarantee you the Spurs would trade positions right now, no questions asked. • • • Q: I was watching a postgame interview with Devin Harris at the AT&T Center. Why is there an American flag, a Texas flag and a Canadian flag hanging from the rafters? Nash doesn’t play for a Texas team anymore. Josh R. SEFKO: Every arena is required to have the U.S. and Canadian flags because of Toronto being in the league. The Canadian national anthem is only played when the Raptors visit, not when Nash or any other individual Canadian visits. Wouldn’t it be great, though, if we got to hear the national anthems for every foreign player who was on the roster for a particular game? Lithuania, Russia, Germany, the Virgin Islands … come to think of it, NBA games are too long already. Forget that I brought it up. As for the Texas flag. Hey, we’re Texas. It’s what we do. • • • Q: After a player takes a foul shot, make or miss, he almost always touches hands with the two players on the team who are lined up along the paint. When and why did this tradition start? Does anybody not follow this ritual? Geoff P. SEFKO: It’s merely a show of support for a player who clanks the shot or a congratulatory touch if he makes it. Seems like it’s been around for many years now, but I’m not sure who gets credit for pioneering the idea. I’ll get D-Moore to research it, and he should have the answer for you in the May 23 newsletter – 2008. • • • Q: I get the feeling that the knock against Dirk Nowitzki is that he settles for a jump shot too often. That’s wrong. He takes jump shots because he doesn’t need to palm the ball and travel to get to the rim. Just a thought. R. Fennekohl, Germany SEFKO: First of all, word must travel slowly to the Old World. Dirk posts up, drives and gets to the line as much as he shoots jumpers these days. Second, you didn’t ask a question. So it gives me freedom to ramble about anything I want. So I’ll say this: Nowitzki showed us that he’s got the toughness all great players must have when he played the final 65 seconds of Game 3 on one leg. He went up in stature several notches, at least in one humble opinion. • • • Q: Will Jerry Stackhouse be a Maverick until the end of his career? Sergio P. SEFKO: Highly unlikely. He’s still young enough (31) that he’s probably going to procure at least one more multiyear contract, and unless the Mavericks are working on two championships in a row in the summer of 2007, they may want to treat Stackhouse like Hollywood big shots treat wives. They’ll want to get younger at that position. • • • Q: To the local basketball genius: How could you let V. Silva get away with saying Dirk is a choke artist in the playoffs? His history points to something much different. G. Grant, Frisco, Texas SEFKO: So does his present. And I’m guessing his future will, too. Anybody who says that is simply trying to bash Nowitzki for the mere sake of doing so. You can’t argue with his performance this year. Last year has been proven to be an aberration. • • • Q: With Devin Harris being out for so long, is it possible Marquis Daniels could see more time at point guard? It seems like he could be a valuable backup at the point. Rick SEFKO: I pulled this question out of the pile and it was dated March 17. This just shows that D-Moore isn’t the only guy who has idiot ideas. To be fair to the e-mailer, at least he was working under the assumption that Harris would be out for an extended stretch, which he was. But as Harris has proven in the San Antonio series, he’s the point guard of the present and the future. That doesn’t mean Daniels can’t contribute at the point. But he has to be much more careful with the ball before he’s going to get any serious time there. E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com 
It happened four times in the first nine hours after the Mavericks had gone ahead 3-1 in the Western Conference semifinals against San Antonio.