...then combined with the fact that Chicago will soon be finishing off Miami, we would be witnessing a playoffs where BOTH finalists from the previous season lost in the first round!

Making it all a fluke, as we all thought it was.

My NBA rigging theory is falling apart. I thought for sure Miami would get the necessary calls. What is happening? Is Stern on vacation?

I don't think the calls could save Miami. Look at their free throw shooting. Shaq was 3 of 12, and Wade like 4 of 10 or something like that.

Miami did get the necessary calls, but Bavetta couldn't shoot the free throws for them.

Not unexpected for Miami, but the Dallas meltdown is a complete chokejob, and I'm loving it while it lasts.

(I don't care how unfavorable the matchups are: if you win sixty-seven games and your opponent is barely above .500, you shouldn't be completely embarrassed twice)

Wow.

I didn`t watch any of game three of this series and I am just finding out the Mav`s lost!! Oh my, this will go down as one of the biggest choke teams of all times if they lose this series.

Going up 2-0 last year in The Finals, only to lose to the Heat, then to lose to an eight seeded team the following year...........

I can see the scowl on Avery Johnson`s face as I type this. Mark Cuban probably has that Ivan Drago stare going on, and Nellie is loving life.

Wait a minute, I love Avery Johnson, but this will make him, no better than, shall we say...........Flip Saunders!!!!!!

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"We are going to be really good offensively and definsively, we are going to be a team that can beat you 120-110, or beat you 80-70" Coach Michael Curry on the 2008-2009 Pistons.

He made it to the NBA Finals, he's already better Flip Saunders.

Making it to the Finals is indeed an accomplishment, however, being ousted two years in a row, in the fashion that they did/could would be a devasting blow to the Dallas orginization.

What would you remember about these last two sesaons about Avery Johnson? That his team made it to the Finals? Or, that they suffered two humiliating losses in the playoffs after a very successul regular season?

Well, I didn't consider the loss against Miami a humiliating one. They folded, but they still came very close to winning the big one after getting through a very tough Western Conference. I'll remember that Avery won Coach of the Year. I'll remember that he made the team serious contenders by getting them to play defense, which was one of the problems with Nelly's version of the Mavs. If Golden St competes well against the next round team (assuming that they beat the Mavs), one can make the arguement that the teams in the West were a lot closer than we may of thought. The Mavs have not been far and above the rest of the league this year although considered favorites. Some would say that Phoenix and San Antonio had just as strong of a shot. The Mavs aren't the overwhelming favorites say like the Pistons. ...and how many years of NBA head coaching experience does Avery have? I'd say Avery's legacy is still safe for now regardless of the outcome. Flip has had years and years of playoff failure. Really no comparison in my eyes.

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Got Jokes?

I agree and disagree.

The loss to Miami was a humiliating one. To be up 2-0 in the Finals to lose the next four is quite humiliating, IMO.

I think winning 67 games in the Western Conf is far and above the rest, their performance in last years Finals were perhaps, the reason they were not favored highly to win it all this year notwithstanding of their superior reg season record.

Of course Avery Johnson`s acccomplishments (Coach of the Year, motivation techniques) in his shor stint as an NBA coach should not be overlooked, but the failure to win it all will overshadow his successes.

Like I said I like Avery, and I am by no means a Flip Saunders fan, if Avery`s career keeps going like it is now in time, after gaining more experience if he doesn`t win it all, his tenure as an NBA coach will be not unlike our friend Flip.

Time will tell.........

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"We are going to be really good offensively and definsively, we are going to be a team that can beat you 120-110, or beat you 80-70" Coach Michael Curry on the 2008-2009 Pistons.