Long Summer

this just sucks.



this REALLY sucks.

-here are some thoughts:

*for the Stars, it's simple -- Tippet has to go. i like the guy, but it's been what, 4, 5 years? i just don't think the players are fully buying into his system. which is understandable when he's constantly changing lines, on a nightly basis. i really dont believe i've seen a single 'set' line for 15+ games in a row. he was a gret assistant in LA, and i believe he can still be......a great ASSISTANT.
-Doug Armstrong should go, too. It's just the nature of the beast...1st round loss after 1st round loss....you either get rid of players or management. the last few years it's been players....
-i really feel this team is on the brink of making it to the finals again. yes, i really do. i think we've got a great mix of young guns and vets, and our goalie situation has got to be in the top 10, if not top 5. it just needs to all gel together, which a new coach/system can do. i'm pretty interested to see what happens this offseason.

*the mavs...
....just wow. it makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it. seriously, the WORST thing to happen after last years Finals meltdown....JUST HAPPENED. have the BEST Mav's regular season ever, home-court throughout the playoffs, the front-runner for MVP.....and lose 4-2 in the 1st round. to the former coach. ugh.
-last year, blaming the refs and thinking David Stern was trying to create "the next Jordan" had some merit to it. sure, the Mavs buckled under the pressure, but, c'mon...
-but this year...nope. no blame-game. the mavs got served. hard. avery, the assistant coaches, the entire team had no answer at all. the Warriors were just oozing confidence. so what went wrong?
-Game 1. we needed to win it. we needed to lay it all out, and just destroy them. but, like most Game 1's....we fall short. Golden State just accomplished what everyone was expecting of them....to at least win 1 game. bonus points they won it on the road. from that point, the series is a free ride for the Warriors. 1st mistake.
-67 win regular season. 3 double digit winning streaks. home-court. nice, but with all this comes pressure. everyone has you as the Favorite, and for whatever reason, these Mavs don't perform well as the Favorite. let's go back last year: against the Spurs, underdog. against the Suns, about even. against the Heat, Favorite. at least next year, no matter how the regular season goes, no one, i mean NO ONE, will have the Mavs as the overall favorite to come out of the West. so we've got that going for us, which is nice.

as far as the team, they were just spooked. this is a good team, that just happened to go into the playoffs in a mild slump and face a team that went 13-3 to finish the season on a roll. the stuff i'm hearing is ridiculous. trade Dirk? you're insane. ship off Harris? so, you're ok with getting rid of our fastest, most promising starting PG? see what you could get for Howard? our 2nd best player? our best defender?

this team is solid. small changes are expected (umm, bye Kevin Willis), but hopefully our core of Dirk, Howard, Harris, Diop, Damp, JET, and Stack will be here next year. (the last two i could see being shopped around, if any)

so, i guess, GO SABRES! and
GO SPURS TO BEAT THE SUNS! GO JAZZ TO BEAT THE WARRIORS! GO JAZZ TO BEAT THE SPURS! GO CAVS/PISTONS TO BEAT THE JAZZ!

MFFL.



intensity.