It seemed Dirk was still hitting those "he's not going to hit that fadeawa..... oh I guess he can" type shots this year, but adding players like Carter to that team certainly didn't help the Mavs. I think they got really lucky in the matchups that they faced, I don't think they would have beaten Memphis, but they played who they had to play and that's all that matters, and hats off to them, they were one of the few teams that I routed for after seeing my favorite team get eliminated by.
Funny how matchups can dictate the success of teams, such as the Blazers facing Houston that year. I vividly remember some freak comeback by the Hornets that forced the Blazers to play Houston. Had that not occurred, I fully believe they were built to beat any other team that year, except in the finals against Boston, but the cards fell how the fell. Similar to this year in that I would predict a Memphis over OKC scenario (I'm not kidding), but they'll be lucky to get past LAC, however, LAC will most definitely lose to OKC.
I'm still holding out hope that the classy San Antonio team can take care of business and absolutely destroy both the Lakers followed by OKC. It's taken me a number of years to realize that it is hard to hate the Spurs, all of their superstars seem polar opposites to the class shown by Westbrooke, who at this point has become my new Kobe (most hated in the NBA).
I fully believe that the Mavs as a team are finished in their current makeup. Perhaps Dirk moves on at some point but they've probably reached the rebuilding phase, assuming that they don't get Williams or Howard. But they've been a great franchise for 12 years at this point, so it's about time that some other team takes on their role of contenders.
