Stirring the Constellations

   The constellations have been shuffled, mixed into ghosts of the undefined and the what-may-never-be. Yet, they still grasp at the ability to haunt the days looming in the wake of tomorrow. Connect the dots to perfect the silhouettes with those stars we chase in our farthest reaches of hope, of dream, and still we’re merely drawing shadows in the dark.

   But, we’re not alone.

   We can draw portraits in the dirt. Scratch diagrams in the walls of basketball dialogue. Etch our constructs in digital forums. But, in the end, we can only pretend to know just how the cannonballs will stack; can only feign to know how the first will fall, and how it will guide those that follow.

   The constellations remain shuffled, and in this moment definition has yet to claim, it’s easy to pick and choose what to make of the scattered dots spilled over the sky. 

   On the eve of the next race, the biggest we’ve seen – just as those held before, and those to come; a path eternally ascending – there is no shame in counter-weighing optimism with realism, but it isn’t the realist who never allows for a small room behind an unlocked door to store his hope. As it so often is, the pessimist hides his affair with doubt under the guise of knowledge he does not hold, of preaching the reality that has not come.

   I write now, not as a preacher, but as one who hopes to remind that until hope has shed the need to chase that next breath, there is nothing gained in refusing its acquaintance. 

   Until you accept the inevitability that some sketches may collapse into a pool of random stars before the image comes to life, you invite the petrified, paralyzed stance entrenched in disappointment.  You stand to miss most of the joy found in the connections that could echo down the corridors of NBA history; the joy kept in the moments before the sky wears the tattoo of a successful design and the fireworks take flight.

  You’ll stand welcomed in the celebratory songs found then, but you’ll have missed as we found the lines connecting the dots that brought the new constellations to life. 

Conclusions: Final Impressions of 2009/10 Mavs' Season

Conclusions:

For me, this Mavs’ team was a missed opportunity. While the roster was vastly overhauled, nothing changed. However, you can’t deny the affects of changing 2 key members of your rotation at the All Star break (or what should have been 40% of your starting 5). Give me a moment to explain:

For years now, we’ve seen the Mavs roster change piece by piece, and finally we had a change that impacted the core when Josh Howard was sent away, and Dampier should have been relegated to backup duties. Still, the style of play seems to have changed very little, particularly in the playoffs. In the end, this is still an offense heavily reliant on isolation play, mixed in with the two man game of Terry and Dirk.

Again, while the roster has been vastly upgraded, the game plan has not adapted to those players, rather those players are being asked to adapt or change to fill the same old roles those before them filled, the biggest example being Shawn Marion.

We’ve watched as Marion was forced into the Antoine Wright role, ignoring the vast difference in what they bring to the court. Butler was essentially forced into being Josh Howard. Haywood was asked to play exactly as Dampier has, ignoring his radically different areas of talent – such as hands and athletic ability. Roddy was treated like Ager, or any other untrustworthy rookie by a coach with an overreliance on what is known, even if what is known has been known to fail. Meanwhile, regardless of their effectiveness, Terry, Dampier, and other rotation players held strong to their previous roles.

While this formula may have gotten the Mavs to the Finals, it hasn’t worked in the playoffs since, and ignores those many roster changes that have taken place. When the pieces are not the same, you can’t continue to try to force them together in the precisely same manner.

Isolation offenses can work and work very well, but they can also cause a team to become stagnant, which is something we’ve all seen the Mavs do, regardless of personnel. How many times have we watched 4 guys stand still while Dirk is asked to shoulder the complete load on the offensive end. If Dirk doesn’t score, this likely means a contested jumpshot for another player for reasons I’ll elaborate on as I go, not good offense.

To go back to my original point:

Marion was often asked to stand motionless in the corner on offense, by design or action/reward (how many times do you make a cut when the pass continues to not come?), this would seem to sever most of his strongest assets from the game. Essentially, he’s Antoine Wright – not based on talent, but forced by design.

Haywood was ignored almost completely on the low block after an experience that would seem to alert most players that this was a bad idea, a 13 game win streak in which he continually delivered at the rim when given the chance. After that, whether it be by design or habit, players simply stopped looking for him. You can blame this on not starting, and thus not playing with Kidd (though Kidd wasn’t innocent of ignoring him either), but if you go back and watch, you can’t fairly blame him for this, at least not consistently (but what came first, inconsistency in chances or effort?). He continued to be open, or to successfully post up his man. The ball simply stopped coming.

Butler, a better passer and ball handler than Josh Howard, was rarely to never involved in any sort of pick-and-roll play, and often asked to stand in the opposite corner as Marion with little chance to contribute other than a corner 3 (not his biggest strength) or a desperate late shotclock attempt. More than he’s given credit for, Butler can create his own shot, and do so with a fairly strong level of success, but very few players can be asked to do nothing but isolation plays with great result, particularly in the playoffs. If you’re not one of those 10-15 best players in the league, it’s too easy to neutralize (ask Joe Johnson), especially when the you’re not a very strong 3 point shooting team, and the other four players are merely standing and watching.

On the other end of that, it felt like I noticed an unusually high number of stupid plays from a “high BBIQ”, veteran team. For example, Bonner switches on to Butler, the team starts to clear out and just as Butler starts to make a move someone will roll slowly down to the block, essentially cutting off Butler’s (or any other player’s) path to the rim. Combined with poor overall movement, unintelligent movement is a killer.

Jason Terry continues to be handed the ball in the playoffs and is often asked to lead the 4th quarter offense in the two man game with Dirk. Well, we’re going on four years of this failing as soon as the playoffs arrive (maybe it’s only two years, but it feels like four). Perhaps it’s time to go in another direction. Coach’s tend to stick with what has worked, but shouldn’t they also go away from what has not....especially when there are new capable alternatives available?

Given that Butler and Haywood didn’t join the team until the All-Star break, it’s not hard to understand why it may have been difficult to adjust to their styles in time for this year’s playoffs. It’s also not hard to understand why Carlisle may have had a hard time in trusting a rookie after making the mistake of not building that trust in the regular season (other than in game 6, where there is no defense of Roddy not playing until the final minutes of the fourth quarter).

That is a legitimate excuse for Carlisle, he may have not had time to truly implement the new talent as he would with a preseason of practices, just as you could say there wasn’t time for the rest of the players to properly adjust. Of course, that doesn’t explain trying to force Marion to be an Antoine Wright clone, which I wasn’t aware of being desirous for a “contender”.

On top of this, considering my own player grades, it’s hard to win in the playoffs when only 3 or 4 players (Dirk, Butler, Barea and I suppose you could count Najera – and two of those didn’t perform well, they just didn’t play any worse than they did in the regular season) perform at the level they did in the regular season…..and only 1 or 2 exceed their regular season performances (Dirk and Butler). Watch any other team that is currently having success, and you’ll find a plethora of examples showing different players stepping up and creating wins for their team. The stars tend to get the bulk of the credit and the blame, but without these other players stepping up when given the chance there is no success.

Is it Lebron’s fault Mo Williams is failing? Is it Dirk’s fault Terry, Kidd and Marion played so poorly? On the converse side, was it Nash’s skill that scored 26 points for Dragic in the final 14 minutes? Was it Duncan’s skill that hit those shots for Hill against the Mavs, and then his fault when Hill couldn’t duplicate that level of success in the second round?

All in all, I still think this can be a very good team next year, even with only minor roster moves and Carlisle returning, but it’s time to really look at the roster and build a plan of attack around that roster, rather than forcing a plan that was designed with different players in mind.

In the end, I feel that this was probably the most talented roster in the Dirk era, but that talent was bound and confined within an approach not designed to stress its strengths, rather constructed ignorant of them. While I place some of the blame on Carlisle and some on the players (for not throwing passes that were often there), you can’t ignore the constraints of time.

My hope remains high for next season, but things can’t stay the same.

2009-10 Season - Mav Player Grades - Reg. Season/Playoffs

This is my subjective assessment of the Mavs players on the roster when the season ended prematurely.  As I am writing this introduction, I have not researched any of this and will not be providing any statistical evidence to support my evaluations.  This is simply the impressions of each player that have remained with me as the disappointment of this season gradually washes away…..though I can’t seem to get this residue completely off.

Ok, now that I’m done, I should probably add to this intro:  Sorry this was so long.  Apparently, I did find the time for a couple of stats, but they were mostly things I’d found in previous research.  Again, this is purely editorial, and nothing more than my opinion.  Due to the length, I was going to break it up into a couple of posts, as most (if not all) people will now be turned away by its size (and I don’t blame them).  However, since I am not running a site that requires new content every day, I am just throwing it all out there at once.

Besides, this is as much a cathartic experience for me as anything.  Enjoy….hopefully.

Dirk Nowitzki –

Regular Season: A-

Why the minus?  Dirk was magnificent for stretches this season, and as has been the case for about a decade, was the primary reason this team finished the regular season as well as it did.  People choose to complain about the ending, but the Mavs never reach the position to disappoint without Dirk, they simply wither in the obscurity of the lottery. 

However, and this isn’t really an insult as I believe it is required of a player his size and age, but there were certainly times this season when he was prone to coast, particularly on the defensive end.  That said, he still played well enough for this team to earn the #2 seed in a very tough West race despite early season locker room turmoil (according to multiple articles) and enduring a face changing trade just before the deadline.    With “A+” being perfect, you can’t give Dirk that score for the reasons I state above, but he was outstanding.

Playoffs: A

Again, Dirk failed to shine in one game this series, and small portions of other games, but his defense was better than most give him credit for, as he showed the ability to protect the rim on multiple occasions and kept his guys from coming anywhere close to matching his level of production.  You can blame some open jumpshots made by McDyess or Bonner on Dirk, but to do so does not take into account why they were open in the first place – when Dirk was trying to help on the near endless forays to the rim by San Antonio’s guards.  If the defense doesn’t break elsewhere, Dirk isn’t forced to leave his man, and those shots aren’t there.

I’m not saying he never strayed too far, or rotated late or without full effort, only that these events were rarities, and not substantial enough for a severe downgrading of his grade.

Caron Butler

Regular Season: B-

As many have noted, Caron was often hit or miss in the regular season as far as offensive efficiency is concerned (at least if measured by FG%).  Of course, he ended up shooting 44% for the regular season as a Mav….only about 2% lower than Joe Johnson or Kobe Bryant managed this season, and higher that Johnson has shot in 2 of the last 3 seasons (just some food for thought for those saying they’d trade Butler and pieces for Johnson).

He also played solid defense, particularly considering he was playing out of position.  Ideally, he is best suited to guard opposing SFs, but managed to win his positional battles at both SG and SF.  For those, I hope you are reading this MBT, that don’t put much stock in the effect of a player being forced out of position – simply look at Kevin Durant.  You can attribute much of his success to maturation, but if you look back to their coaching change (when Brooks took over) you’ll find a nice bump in production there – which just happens to be when he was moved from SG to his natural SF position.

If you didn’t like him as a SG, your complaint is with management, not with Butler himself.

Playoffs: B

Butler had two poor games in the playoffs as he adjusted to the level of defense the Spurs threw at him, after he warranted that attention with a strong game one.  Once again, I’ll say the stats are horribly misleading for that game.  No one came away with anything but positive feelings for his performance, and his impact on the game.  Follow all of this up with a strong bounce back after being severely mishandled by the coach and adjusting to the defense, as he performed at a fairly elite level in games 5 and 6.

Given his situation on a new team, while playing out of position, 2 games to adjust is an acceptable learning curve.  Overall, Butler was the second best player for the Mavs in their lone series….while being their best player for at least one game (5).

Shawn Marion

Regular Season: B+

While many had unrealistic expectations for Marion on offense, which were only heightened by his preseason performances, he did make a very large impact on the Mavs’ defense as he was easily their top defender.  Hampered for much of the season by minor injuries, I put much of the blame (see Haywood) for his poor offensive performance in much of the regular season on a failure to properly utilize his skills…..as he was often sent to the corner to stand around and wait for the offensive possession to end.  Personally, I find that a horrible misuse of a player that may have been the most athletic on the team, other than Roddy…as well as a player no longer fully capable of consistently hit any open shot he may find while standing in the corner.

Combine this with a failure by the players to attempt the same passes that worked so well in the preseason on cuts towards the basket, regardless of whether or not a defender was at his hip, and removing him from the direct vicinity of the rim by putting him in the corner and not allowing him the proper number of chances for “garbage” points……and all this amounted to nearly neuter his offensive style and chances to contribute on a regular basis.

Regardless of his offensive consistency, or limited chances to contribute, what Marion provided on defense was more than any Mav in recent history.  That he not only didn’t make the NBA All Defensive teams, but didn’t receive a single vote, is a joke and a direct condemnation on the coach’s that voted. 

Playoffs: D+

I came close to giving him an incomplete due to how he was handled in the playoffs, but his proclivity to miss easy shots really hurt this team.  In multiple games, the score would have looked vastly different had he simply made most of his layups.  I’m not saying the Mavs are sure to win those games had he made them, but the leads would have been larger for the Mavs or significantly smaller for the Spurs entering the late game situations.

That said, after the first couple of games, he played solid defense and held Ginobli in check, for the most part.  I may be a little too hard on him here, as it’s not fair to criticize too much when a player has his minutes and role severely impacted by the decisions of the coach.  A key player in the Mavs getting the #2 seed, wasn’t given a legitimate chance to fill that role in the playoffs.

Still, he didn’t produce at the level most of us hoped and play through whatever the circumstances may have been.

Jason Kidd

Regular Season: A-

Often times this season we saw comments on how the Devin Harris trade was proven to be a good move, and read or witnessed testimonials to Kidd’s agelessness.  Included in this, we saw his best play as a Mav shortly after the trade that brought in Butler, Haywood and Stevenson.  If only considering the regular season, Kidd was great.

No doubt, he couldn’t guard many of the quicker guards, but still managed to be a positive influence on both ends of the court….and often showed us what people mean when they call a player a “Floor General”.  He epitomized leadership and BBIQ.  And, he became near deadly from the 3 point line.

Unfortunately, as many of us complained all year, his minutes were far too high for a player of his age.  This may have not hurt his performance in the playoffs, but how can you honestly know it didn’t? 

Playoffs: D-

Sadly, his regular season performance only translated to game 1 and some of game 5.  In all other games, Kidd looked closer to Derek Fisher three years from now than a certain Hall of Famer.  I’m going to ignore the claims of sickness, as I see them as irrelevant.  If they are true and the team was aware of it, they further condemn Carlisle’s decisions and the supposed depth of this team, but don’t excuse Kidd’s performance.  He played how he played, and seemed more than capable of forcing his game on the Spurs when the effort was there (see games 1 and 5).

Depending on the degree of sickness, something none of us know, I could be way off base – and he could honestly deserve a break.

That said, you can’t have your leader start to shy away from open shots, as Kidd did, especially when those shots have been a key to your offensive success all season.  We also saw Najera impact this series simply by having a physical presence, why didn’t we see something similar from Kidd?  Unlike Stevenson, Kidd had every opportunity to do this, and never asserted his toughness upon smaller, quicker guards….at least not with any consistency.

Erick Dampier

Regular Season: C

Contract Damp.  I’ll admit, early in the season he was better than I may have ever seen him.  Whether it was injuries or the arrival of a player clearly superior to him at his position, by the end of the season, he was the same old Dampier.  Sure, he sets nice screens (which is a big deal) and rebounds well (at times), but he was an anchor on defense (I mean that in a bad way – as he could not cover any ground and only managed to protect the rim if the offensive player directly attacked him, most of the time) and a complete liability on offense.

Damp seems like a great guy, but his effectiveness on the court is nothing more than a 10-15 minute backup.  Put bluntly, he’s an average to adequate player and nothing more.

Playoffs: F

When you start 4 games of series and only manage 5 points total, all coming on freethrows, you’ve hurt your team.  Maybe if he’d averaged 4 or 5 blocks and easily reached double digit rebounds every game this wouldn’t be the case, but he didn’t.

Put simply, Damp’s performance in these playoffs as a whole (with a nice effort in game 1, and the third quarter of game 6 aside) is near legendary in its level of crappiness.  Sure, you can find single examples or plays and point out something positive Dampier did – but when taken in context with everything he contributed, that small plus is supremely outweighed by the negatives.   Not to mention, the Mavs strongest performance came in a game Dampier did not play a single minute.

Jason Terry

Regular Season: C+

First, I can’t believe he finished second in the 6^th Man of the Year voting.  He certainly wasn’t deserving of it.  He slumped for large portions of the season, during which times he offered nothing positive to this team, other than his off the court attitude.  On the court, he was often off on offense and invisible on defense (sadly, on the defensive end he actually improved this season….just not enough to really upgrade his status as a defender).

Luckily, he did counter these long slumps with some very strong games or small stretches of high quality play, including hitting some game deciding shots.  And, we can’t ignore the fact that he did often produce well, even while slumping, in the fourth quarter of games.

Playoffs: D-

Other than one game, Terry was essentially worthless.  When a one dimensional player is struggling at that one dimension, that doesn’t leave much.  I may be wrong, but it feels like this is now 4 years in a row that Terry has underperformed in the playoffs, at best it’s two years.  This is a very disturbing trend, and reason enough to attempt to downgrade his role next season.  If he’s not going to be there for you in the playoffs, you can’t build your dependence upon him in the regular season.

Brendan Haywood

Regular Season: B

For stretches there were people saying he was already the best center to have ever worn a Mavs’ jersey, and they were doing so with little argument in return.  Haywood was key during the 13 game win streak.  However, after injuring his back his performance suffered to some degree, and I don’t think he handled the demotion to the bench with the greatest of grace.  While coming off of the bench, his consistency in effort seemed to waiver.

Again, however, I find much of Haywood’s “underperforming” on the performances and decisions of his teammates.  After those initial games the Mav players failed to get the ball to him at the rim.  I can’t find a reason for this, other than they forgot what he was capable of….and ignored his own comments expressing his belief that getting those early chances fed his energy level and helped him perform better.  Haywood didn’t start to underperform, at least on the offensive end, as much as he had his opportunities removed.

This is the fault of the guys on the court, and the coach for not forcing the issue more than was done.  Personally, I hope the Mavs re-sign Haywood and learn from their mistakes this year, where he often found himself wide open or with a much smaller defender trapped beneath the rim – only to not get the ball.

Playoffs: C

Again, I feel Carlisle horribly mishandled Haywood, and failed to properly use him.  As I stated above, the team also failed to get him the ball after game one, when he was able to score 10 points in a very short time.  For a veteran team, the Mavs seemed too often to forget the lessons presented them.  Much like they should have learned in game 5 that continually attacking the rim was something the Spurs had no answer for, they should have learned that Haywood is not Dampier, and deserved to get the ball at the post with more frequency.

Haywood was not all good, as he struggled at times with the pick and roll, though he also excelled at times.  Still, we could have cut off one of his hands and he would have struggled to perform as poorly as Dampier.   My argument that Haywood should have played more and started in the playoffs is as much to say he is clearly a superior player to Dampier as it is to comment on just how poorly Dampier played. 

JJ Barea

Regular Season: C

For stretches, Barea was more than any of us could have asked for, even filling in well as a starting SG for a few games.  Much like many things, however, he was allowed to do this beyond its time of effectiveness.  Many people seemed to turn on Barea this season, and he did have stretches where he struggled on offense.  As a one dimensional player, this is particularly hard to endure.

Barea once again showed a knack for drawing offensive fouls, but I still feel this is a poor defensive play most of the time.  Much like many steals, it is a gamble that just as often left his man wide open as it did get him a call. 

Finally, simply put, like Terry, Barea is a poor defender. 

That said, were there no Roddy on this team, I don’t think half as many people turn on Barea as they did.  He still filled his role adequately, though like Roddy, often showed that he is not a capable backup PG…..at least not capable enough to give Kidd the needed periods of rest on a consistent basis.  Much live everyone not named Kidd, he is a SG in a PG’s body.

Playoffs: C

I actually didn’t think Barea played that poorly in the playoffs, though the stats would not seem to back me up.  He certainly was not great, but in my opinion, he probably outplayed Jason Terry.

His defense was what we should expect from him, poor.  He did provide a spark from time to time, and his biggest detrimental influence was much more on the hands of the coach than himself, as he was left on the court beyond the point of exhaustion at times.

Rodrigue Beaubois

Regular Season: incomplete – Coach’s Decision

“What could have been” is the biggest question most Mav fans have pertaining to Roddy.  He showed flashes of brilliance at almost every glimpse.  In a season that saw Barea struggle at times on both ends of the court and Kidd playing far too many minutes, it’s hard to believe this kid didn’t get a little more burn.  So much potential, so little opportunity.

I can understand the lack of court time in a vacuum, but the more you look at the Mavs situation, the more you have to wonder why he wasn’t given more of a chance to play, and perhaps garner enough trust to be an early option in the playoffs. 

Or, did Carlisle play it perfectly and build up Roddy’s confidence level without the stain of failures?  It’s hard to say for certain, but the playoff results can’t help but affect your opinion here.

Playoffs: Incomplete – Coach’s Decsion

In a series which showed to key Mav guards severely struggle, Terry and Kidd, it’s hard to believe there weren’t a few more minutes to be found for Roddy.  In game 6 he did exactly what so many people thought he could do, and was then benched for almost the entire fourth quarter as we all watched Jason Terry continue to hurt this team at both ends of the court.

Where Butler, Haywood and Marion were all benched for extended periods, it’s hard to believe Terry continued to “earn” as many minutes as he did as he battled to out crapify any of those guys.

Roddy was great in game six, but there’s simply too small of a sample size to accurately assess how he would have performed.

DeShawn Stevenson

Regular Season: B-

As a perimeter defender and spot starter at SG, Stevenson provided much more than most of us expected when he came over in the trade.  He quickly showed that while he may not be as strong a defender as Marion, he could certainly challenge him for the title of best defender on this team.  Just before the playoffs, he even seemed to find his shooting stroke.

Stevenson was what many teams crave, a role player who has embraced his role and can excel at it.

Playoffs: DNP a single meaningful minute

In a series where Najera made a strong impact without gathering stats simply due to his disposition and general ability to play tough, it’s hard to believe there wasn’t a place for Stevenson.  Personally, I would have loved to see him out there getting in George Hill’s head – something no other Mav was capable of doing.  He could have pushed him around some, and given how little he played, I suppose even if he picked up six fouls in five minutes, it wouldn’t have hurt anything….in comparison.

Even over Roddy and Haywood (or at least at the same level), I see this as one of the largest mistakes by Carlisle in this series.  One guy was consistently killing the Mavs, and that one guy was not a wily veteran with years of experience dealing with guys like Stevenson on the biggest stage, it was a second year player with zero experience for it.  Carlisle let a huge asset go unused, untested and unappreciated.

Eddie Najera

Regular Season: C (compared to expectations, I’d give him an A)

I thought the Mavs acquired the corpse of a former player when they traded for Najera.  In comparison to that, he was great.  He found ways to impact games and assert his toughness.  He was what Stevenson was in the regular season, a role player that knew and embraced his role.

Playoffs: C

After a shaky start, Najera made an impact on this series.  While he didn’t make any friends in San Antonio, he did manage to change the feel of the series.  Had the rest of the team followed his lead in this area, we’d probably have just finished two home games against the Suns.

Matt Carroll

Regular Season: F

Who cares?

Playoffs: Incomplete

Again, who cares?

Rick Carlisle

Regular Season: B-

You can’t deny the results.  The Mavs finished as the #2 seed in an ultracompetitive Western Conference.  Those are good results, even if most of us find significant flaws in how he got there.  In the end, all that matters in the results.

Playoffs: F-

Of course, when considering results, you are ultimately lead to the playoffs……where Carlisle provided one of the worst coaching performances I have ever seen for a team I follow closely.  Just about every decision was late, unwarranted or just flat out wrong.  The examples are littered above.  What Dampier was on the court, Carlisle was worse beside it. 

Players performed poorly, but Carlisle failed to hold up his end of the bargain and did not frequently put them in positions to succeed.  Most of the time, he did quite the opposite.

Nothing is lo...Oh, crap....Part 3

Part 3

Well, I had the idea all planned out for Part 3 of “Nothing is Lost”, but the Mavs didn’t cooperate.  So, I’ve gone in another direction…. (and once again, this is supposed to be a “bit” melodramatic – and by bit, I mean a lot)…. 

EDIT:  Here are parts one and two, if anyone should be interested:  Part 1  and Part 2

 Part 3

The sun has set.  The tide retreated.  The stars swallowed by a darkness of unbound depths.  Veins are now hollow caverns carved into cold flesh, and the well has gone dry…..and for the moment we’ll ride the clichés into purgatory.  The battle is lost.

Tethered to this decaying moment, there is no solace, no room for peace of mind, and no comfort in what shall be.  There is only regret for what could have, what should have been.

With a severed ability to influence direction, no arms to grasp the steering wheel, we’ve watched our driver target and then drive off a cliff after placing his trust in cracked, worn and flattened tires….condemning those with the ability to support our weight and to veer away from the crash to the wasted realm of “what if”.

Passengers, we cheered and sought to inspire our warriors, who took to walking into battle, falling well behind our sprinting desires.  And when they did stand, when they did find our enemy’s blood on their fists, they were all too often pulled from the fight, or left to gasp for breath beneath exhausted frames.  No balance could be found.

Whether it be the detriment of near useless tools thrust into the trenches time and again by a leader with his head turned, the ebb and flow of official’s whims, or the failure to embrace lessons learned, the result is the same.  All is lost.

As we sit in the gray darkness found in between, we’re left with nothing but anger, sadness and the haunting whisper of “what if”.   Like a whisper caught in a cyclone of repetition, it tears a scraping path.  As with any question that cannot find an answer, it grants only the twisted destruction found in the helpless, futile search.  Bursting both eardrums in a silent scream, if embraced, it will drown all thought…..but it is all that’s left.

Fingernails lie ripped away to hang at the edge of that cliff falling higher and higher away, and the ghosts of turns not taken, of roads left untraveled plead their sacrificed memory with glowing waves above the undertow that takes us now.  Tossed like a ragdoll in the currents reasonless reasoning,  we can only dance in the itch of “what if” and what’s lost.

In the distance, there is a light.  A firefly fleeing some hidden sun.   A spark attempting to pierce the veil hiding tomorrow’s face, and the expression hidden there.  It comes with old promises made anew, and hopes revived and full of life.  It comes, but for the moment we are left here with nothing but the haunts of what never was, for it has not arrived.

All is lost….until it is found again.

Wah  (to be said with just the right amount of sarcasm and mockery)

Nothing is Lost - Part 2

Part 2

Part 2
 

Today we stand upon the shore of what was not promised.  We stand on what our hope found in the depths of certain demise, on what the will of our team tore from the darkness.  We stand granted the reprieve of another tomorrow, still tied by the weight of what is passed.

Our pulse remains faint, remains constant in its push, and though its grasp holds weak at best, its fingers still clutch and gather that next breath, that next grip on life.

We find that the first night did not take us, but opened itself once again.  We find that the past has yet to swallow this quest, and our eyes find a shadow on the horizon, held on the horizon, bound beyond the construct of today.  A storm comes.  The dust of an opposing army still sews itself to the air we breathe.  Nothing is over.  The storm has not passed, our grave remains unfilled, but dug from the earth just the same.

Should the Mavs not “settle” in the warmth of a successful moment, but remain the “aggressor” as they venture away from home towards that waiting storm of desire, anger and destruction, they will come home again with more at hand than thoughts of next season.  They’ll come armed with more than hope.

They’ll return not engulfed by that fog of loss, but standing before it with a raging pulse, a defined will, and granted the weapon of extermination, rather than simply defending against it.  They’ll come as the fire extinguishing the night.  They’ll come as the storm itself.

Yesterday, we played for today.  Tomorrow, we once again find the defibrillator paddle against our chest, and either embrace the shock or fail beneath it.  Tomorrow, we once again hope for another tomorrow.

Still, nothing is over.  Hope has bounced back from starvation, but is yet to be saved, only pacified. 

It is time to embrace the foot at our throat, and apply our own to theirs.

Nothing is lost.

Go Mavs.

Nothing is Lost - Part 1

This is a 3 part post that I originally posted on Dallasbasketball.com.  The first was created the day before game 5.  The second the day before game 6, and the third came the day after the Spurs ended the Mavs' season.

Part 1

Undying hope in the face of constant disappointment, such is the story of a Mavs fan. 

We sit on the eve of what could be the end of another Mavs season closing in an all too accustomed manner of frustration, much as all but one other team’s fans will endure.   Nothing is over, but like a man pressing into the last sheets he’ll ever rest upon, this is a time of forced intro-and-retrospection, a time to not shun the fading embers of hope, but to embrace them.

Fielding what is undeniably one of their best roster’s in their tortured history of what is neither horseshoes nor hand grenades, a history where close does not matter, the Mavs seemed primed for a playoff run and were paraded as a realistic threat to the “mighty” Lakers.  Our hope was fed, dark corners of our fandom once again found the light, and optimism was passed off as an acceptable perspective.

Now, as the lights flicker and hemorrhage and threaten to blink into the darkness of another season bound to the past, drowned in the pool of failure, that hope has been strangled, beaten, and shat upon…..but has yet to stop breathing.   Doubt and pessimism have siphoned the blood from it, but at this very moment, they’ve yet to quiet it’s faint pulse, to devour every last drop.

Doctor’s have read the statistics in the veins of the past, and given the Mavs a 4% chance of survival.  Still, they’ve failed to pronounce us, the fans, and our hope, as deceased. 

The night has fallen, and the sun been chained, but still that pulse paces on through the dark, at least for this one last night.  Where the shores and depths of tomorrow’s end lead cannot be promised with complete certainty, and in that moment of doubt breathes one last opportunity to grasp fate by the throat and embrace its undefined destination for this journey, and for the Mavs to impose their will with a ferocity that has remained hidden in the receding hopes of their fans.

Nothing is over, as long as that pulse of life pushes on, tomorrow could grant its greatest gift, another tomorrow.

Tomorrow, if this season finds its end, we’ll mourn its loss and begin the process of moving on…..of moving on with more tools for improvement than possessed in any of the recent summers, but until that moment when the heart stops and the veins go dry, nothing is over. 

Hope, no matter how faint, is not dead.  Nothing is over.

Go Mavs.

It Took Some Time, but I Finally Got to Where I Began

I originally posted this at DB.com, in the "Rest of the World" section, but thought I'd include it here as well.  For some needed contextual information, the area I posted this in is essentially an area where little else is discussed other than politics.

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It Took Some Time, but I Finally Got to Where I Began

I don't recall the nature of events when I fell asleep, only the constant thrashing of muscle memory on repeat.  Now, muscles a little more defined by a sort of reverse atrophy, I've awoken without the need to register and map the topography of artifacts supporting me now.  It's without regard that my arms continue their rise, their fall and their dancing monotony of motion, which equates to sleep in mindless repetition.  It's without reason my ears have closed, and my mind has petrified, housing the same whispers that rise again and again to be given a new name in every dull instance.

Who set this horse before me, long since passed?  Who assigned my eternal plight,with course set hard upon inception, uninterrupted by circumstance or evidence, and holding to deaf, blind and dumb with a numb absence of adaptable calculation?  Who chose that I sold my ears to feed my eyes through a filter of my choosing, to solely shovel sustenance to these predefined visions?

What's that song I hear scratching to climb the coarse horizon, a siren who took me deep in her embrace long ago?  She sings of words falling dead before alien ears, and finding life in those of allied design.  She serenades a sun called every color to ever roam, though it's skin has burned one alone. 

Soon, songs rise to clutch at the backs of strained harmonies, breaking and cracking in a toneless, tuneless chorus.  In countless waves once rolled by a hand with intended beauty, there is now only static.  White noise drains the color, drains the song, and without notice, there continues the beating of my arms. 

Who set this horse before me, long since passed?

Perception Reception

Let me preface this by saying, I don’t find anything wrong with it. It’s a vital part of any business to react to and direct their consumer’s perception. To not do so would be an egregious oversight of any profit seeking venture. With that out of the way, do you find the most recent article by Marc Stein (ESPN) recounting the recent attempt by the Mavs to acquire Carlos Boozer from the Utah Jazz a little curious?

Rumors can start by any of a number of means, but this one seems far from unintentional. For me, I see two blatant possibilities behind its conception.

       1. If the story was “leaked” by the Mavs: This is meant to say to the fans, “Hey, at least we’re trying. We’re not sitting on our hands as some would like to believe”.

       2. If the story was “leaked” by the Jazz: This is meant to say to the league, “Hey, we’re not giving Boozer away. If you want him, you’re going to have to give up talent, not just savings.”

Either way, it’s a ritual in the guiding of perception. I’ve already seen/heard/read a few comments by our local MFFLs (Mavs Fan For Life) along these lines. And, the article itself (find the URL at the end of this post) could support the position that the Jazz let this slip for the sake of those who would offer for Boozer in the comments made by their GM, Kevin O’Connor, who clearly states they are looking for more than financial relief in a deal for Boozer.

This leads me to one other point, the Najera deal. It appears the Mavs put this deal on hold as they pursued Boozer, or as Mike Fisher, of Dallasbasketball.com states, maybe it was even a part of the Boozer deal at its inception. Either way, once the Boozer deal collapsed, the Najera deal was completed.

With this story now surfacing, I have one question and would be curious to hear the answer. Did the MBT (Mavs Brain Trust – a title given to the Mav’s decision makers locally) misjudge the fan response to this deal?

Given the timing of this story (which could be merely coincidental, due to the timing of when Gooden’s deal became fully guaranteed), I’d say it is a possibility, though a remote one.  Still, an interesting thought.

Perhaps they thought fans would have a positive reaction to the homecoming of a player who was once a favorite. Perhaps they’ve noticed the stale nature of many home crowds recently, and felt this was a way to try to liven a fanbase that seems less than ecstatic about a roster vastly superior to last year’s…..as most still view this as one that comes up short in comparison to the Lakers and a couple of the Eastern Conference powers.

Perhaps this, putting this failed trade out for public consumption, was a move to change the unforeseen negative perception spawned when this team gave up young, athletic potential in Humphries, in exchange for a player widely viewed as far passed his best days, and who’s ceiling lies far beneath that of the player given away for him.

Perhaps, this is an attempt to save face with a public they failed to accurately assess. Or, maybe they had nothing to do with the story coming out.  For me, just an interesting thought.

And, just perhaps, if they do see this as a misunderstanding of their fanbase, it will tell them that money saving deals with shallow attempts at window dressing without on court substance is not enough to fill the empty seats, or raise the volume on those that remain filled?

As is the case with every sports team, the best way to put fans in the stands, and to get them watching the games on television, to check the upcoming schedule and alter their own calendar, is to give them both the confidence that the team is a true contender for a Championship, and to let them know that the team's management is dedicated to nothing but that goal.

Does the "leaking" of this deal help you, the fan, feel that way?

In my own opinion, the fan reaction was probably not big in the consideration of this deal, which leaves little room for their misjudging of it.  More likely than not, the deal for Najera was motivated by finances, among other things we aren't privy to, and the fans were not really considered until a deal for Boozer didn't go down.....and then, why not let your fans know you're trying. 

In the end, it's just an interesting, though very likely irrelevant, tangent I decided to follow for a moment.  This could otherwise be known as a waste of time....but what speculation (or does the word "rumor" sell better?) isn't?

URL for Stein's Article: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/12243/utah-tells-dallas-boozer-better-than-tax-relief