This from one of my esteemed colleagues:

Then talk about that new rivalry between the Mavs and their ex-point guard/league MVP, who we somehow gave up and still became a better team by having done so! It's on tonight, kids. Come on, Skin... you've got more insider dirt than anyone... fill us in, yo!

yes yes...we all loved the great steve nash, the whirling derbish of canadian offensive goodness that helped bring respectability back to a lifeless basketball city...we appreciated his heart, determination, class, and amazing skill level...the only problem was due to the personnel surrounding him, the Mavericks struggled with having a relatively below average athlete at the point (we're talking NBA level friends - we all realize nash is an outstanding athlete compared to the dudes you bowl with)...in order to get to the proverbial next level, the Mavericks needed to either add great help defenders around him or address their defense in the backcourt...as it turned out, the Suns made it easy on the mavs by making nash an offer he couldn't refuse and one that a Mavs team with too many needs could sensibly match

so here we are...less than a year later and the Mavs have adjusted their personnel with a bunch of young athletes and a 6'11"/265 lb space filler at center...their future has never looked better and they are nowhere close to being as good as they will be once they gain experience and a comfort level with each other....

and things are great for nash too...he was named MVP of the entire league yesterday because he does a great job of finding the three lottery picks and and another top twenty pick (who in hindsight should have been a lottery pick) in just the right spot for them to take an uncontested three or flush a spectacular dunk...nash has had a great year, but him receiving the MVP just goes to show what a joke that award is...if the fact that the league names their most valuable player before the second round of the playoffs ends isn't funny enough, the fact that it was given to a guy who couldn't get his team to the second round of the playoffs last year and has a history of getting torched in the playoffs when it really matters should put the picture in the frame for you...

Jason Williams averaged 17 points on 53% shooting in 28 minutes against Nash in the first round...those numbers better than the 10 points on 41% shooting in 27 minutes he did in the regular season...billups and bibby can attest that this is a trend as opposed to a fluke

i ask you this, if Nash was on Miami instead of Shaq would they be considered TITLE contenders?  if shaq was on this phoenix team instead of Nash we'd be asking if it was the greatest team ever...it's impressive that Stoudemire, a 3rd year player with all the talent in the world is having his best season with Nash...it's an absolute miracle that Damon Jones is the starting point for a title contender in Miami...eddie jones? left for dead and trade bait last year...udonis haslem? one of the best UNDRAFTED players in the lague...

c'mon, this is a joke - and i want nothing but the best for little stevie nash, except for this next week and a half...this series will be wrought with more drama than anything aaron spelling could dream up during one of his seedy bathhouse spent afternoons..nash has something to prove (whether he admits it or not) and Cuban desperately wants to gloat

the mavs are a tired team playing on the road...it'd be foolish to assume they should be favored in this series...and Nash will look like an mvp every time he feeds marion or stoudemire for a one-handed tomahawk...just no so much everytime he's chasing Terry down the lane

go mavs

love,

bloggy sherrod