Less than two years removed from its NBA title, Miami is scraping the bottom of the Eastern Conference barrel. How does a team sink so far so fast? Injuries, change and apathy are probably the leading reasons.
At the other end of the spectrum are teams such as the Mavs, who haven’t had a serious drop in performance since returning to the playoffs at the start of the century. Avery Johnson compared his team’s lack of recognition to Dirk Nowitzki, who was crucified for his performance against Golden State in the playoffs.
“We seem to not get enough credit for a lot of stuff that we’ve done,” Johnson said. “The tendency is to point to the negative. Dirk, obviously, we had some issues last year, but I don’t know if enough was being made of what he did last night. If he hadn’t played well, I guarantee you we would have heard more about that.
“Even with what we’ve been able to do after losing in the Finals, which is disappointing, but we’ve still be able to survive and keep this thing intact. To follow up that season with 67 wins, that’s nothing to be ashamed about and we’re still above water now. That’s a testimony to these guys working hard.”
Thursday, January 3, 2008
AJ: Mavs don't get enough credit
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I think the Mavs get exactly the amount of credit they have received. They are a team that plays well-enough in the regular season, but has not played well-enough to win a championship.
They are ranked among the top 5 or so teams in the league every year which is exactly what they are.
So, where is the supposed lack of credit here? Perhaps it is little more than coach-speak on Avery's part, but as a Mavs fan, I disagree with the statement that the "Mavs don't get enough credit."
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