For the last 10-months, despite 67-wins this season, the Mavericks have been living with the taste of defeat. That's how long its been since they lost to Miami in the NBA Finals.
Addressing a rally at the American Airlines Center, Donnie Nelson, the teams General Manager, told the crowd, “Its time to get something done here in Dallas.”
Mavericks fans can't wait to see if this is the year Dallas delivers an NBA Championship to the City.
“I love the mavericks plus we're winning the NBA. We have the number one record. woo, woo, woo, woo,” yelled on of the Mavericks Cheerleaders.
“We are ready,” said Guard Jason Terry. “We are just excited right now to be back in the playoffs. As I look back and reflect on the season, it went by so fast.”
Fast because the Mavericks played the entire year with one goal in mind, not just return to the playoffs, but return to the finals and win a championship.
“You know we've been looking forward to the playoffs since basically the season started. this is what you live for and what we worked all season long for you know last season ended very disappointed for all of us,” said Forward Dirk Nowitzki. “Hopefully we can get this bad memory out of our mouth, but we got lots of work to do.”
“The good teams I've been a part of you, you don't quote unquote, turn it on,” proclaimed Head Coach Avery Johnson. “I think you try to play at a high level all year, but during this time of the year, you got to try to minimize your mistakes and eliminate some, but ah we've been gearing up for this, we've been down this road before.”
One year ago, Dallas finished the season with 60-wins.. They had the third best record in the league behind Detroit and San Antonio.
Miami, the team that won the championship, had only 52-wins with the 5th best record in the league. The Mavericks feel the experience of one year ago will be a determining factor.
Says Terry, “I think we're a whole lot more mature team than we were. obviously, we've added some more pieces to help us defensively. “Our confidence right now is very high.”
Guard Devon Harris looked at the playoffs this way. “Well I think we did a lot of growing up, obviously everyone's first chance at the finals last year, being there and going threw with what we did and what not, everyone is a year longer in the system. I think everybody is on the same page playoff wise, what we need to do and what we need to accomplish. I think everyone is ready to go and do it,” Harris said.
“I 'm always concerned. there may be one or two things a little bit more, and I don't want to use the word comfortable, but ah, maybe not as concerned with,” said Johnson. “I know our weaknesses, I know how we're vulnerable, so there are a lot of things that I'm concerned about. I will say that the men are very resilient, they handle adversity well, and this is a seven game series, and we've been here before.”
But, just because they're the top seed in the west doesn't guarantee them anything. Its all about positioning and right now this team is in great position to make a run at a championship.
