In a cold hallway, beneath the American Airlines Center, two days after being eliminated from the NBA finals, members of the Mavericks discussed the teams future.
“It was a great run,” said Guard Jason Terry. “Hopefully we can get back to this level next year again.”
“We definitely know what it takes now,” said Guard Devin Harris. “We’re just looking forward to next year and the guys getting better.”
“Obviously, there still needs to be some work done,” said Head Coach Avery Johnson.
They left not as NBA Champions, but as a team with unfilled dreams. Gone is their chance of winning the teams first ever title, and in its place, a feeling of unfinished business.
“The feed back that I'm getting is that they want to try it again,” repeats Johnson. “They want to come back and go to work harder and practice even harder. They liked what we did, they liked the approach we had in practice, and they want to come back and see if we can win it.”
Despite losing to Miami in six games, the season had more highs than lows. Beating San Antonio in the Western Conference semi finals was a big accomplishment, and remains one of the highlights of the season. It’s a moment Forward Dirk Nowitzki still points toward. “The moment that sticks out the most was game seven in San Antonio, he says. “I mean, that's something we'll always remember, you know like I said, in that series, that was always our big brother that was beating up on us, and to go there and win on their home court, in game seven was a very special moment for this organization.”
Despite not winning a title, the Mavericks seem to have a lot of things working in their favor for next season. Guard Jason Terry, who is a free agent, sounds more like a player determined to resign and win a championship in Dallas, and not a player who is looking for opportunity elsewhere.
“More than anything is that we've been together now two full years,” he says. “Last year getting to the second round and not making it, this year, getting to the finals and not quite completing the task, so it makes you that much more hungry to come back next year with the same team, and really do something special.”
His return would mean virtually no change in the core of this team, and that would be a positive.
Says Guard Jerry Stackhouse, “We feel we can do it, and I think that's half the battle. A lot of teams go into a season not knowing if they can reach this level, and win, and now we know we can do it.”
The bottom line is that just being in the NBA Finals was invaluable experience, not just for the players, but for their head coach who completed his first full season on the job.
“Obviously, as the head coach, I think I've got to figure out a way that if we're in this situation again, we just got to figure out a way to get it done,” he says. “I feel we're close, you guys saw it, you watched it. We're not a team that's far off. Now, we need to simmer, we've simmered, and we've tasted it, and it tasted good, we just need to add just a little bit more Creole seasoning to it.”
Of course there is no guarantee that the Mavericks will reach the NBA Finals again next year, or even in their lifetime. After all, it took 26-years to get to this point, but the foundation has been laid, and the odds of them returning to the finals have been greatly increased.
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