Last year, Mark Cuban complained that the refs favored the Heat for 3 straight games in Miami. I thought he was exactly right, the refs did jock the Heat. But Cuban failed to notice that refs in the NBA always favor the home team (especially in the playoffs) and that the refs would've been jocking his team for the last 2 games. He complained so much that it got in everybody's heads and the Mavs let it slip away. Cuban lost that series.
In previous years, Avery Johnson was an underdog kind of coach: he knew that every club in the bag would be needed to get by Phoenix and San Antonio. And he brought in the mindset that Dallas had to be gutsy to get it done--and they almost did. This year, Avery Johnson came in with the best team in the regular season and the defending conference champs. His signature style was removed from him and he didn't know what to do. When Don Nelson came back to Dallas with a collection of crazy athletes and a wacky style, Johnson got caught thinking instead of coaching. He tried to answer what didn't need to be answered early on and then didn't know what to do when the avalanche started coming down on him. Johnson lost that series.
Notice I've yet to call out Dirk. He didn't play his best against Miami last year nor against Golden State this year. This game is played by the players but even the best players can be brought low by peripheral elements. Light a candle for Dirk, none of this is his fault. He'll be back but no one around him will believe in him the way they had in the previous coupla years, even though its the people around him who keeping him from being the best. The best he can hope for now is that when Dallas loses next year, it'll be Dirk's fault.
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