Internship Update
My class last night ended at 9:30, and the second it ended, I sprinted to my car, put the key in the ignition, and quickly switched to ESPN Radio 1300. The game wasn't live on the radio, but with updates every five minutes, I was good to go for my half hour to 45 minute drive. I heard that the Mavericks had jumped out quickly; first by eight, then by 13. I pulled up to into my driveway and they were up 21.
But, as soon as I turned on the TV...
Chaos.
The Warriors didn't chip away at the lead; they made a mockery of it. Seven point deficit at half-time with Stephen Jackson due to shoot a technical at the beginning of the second.
Wow, maybe I'm just bad luck to my own team.
And, of course, while Dallas managed to maintain a slight lead in the 3rd, I felt as comfortable as a recovering cocaine addict in Colombia (my teachers say I have a gift for similies). Sure enough, when Matt Barnes threw down a dunk on Devin Harris to take their first lead of the game with 9:32 left, I thought Dallas was done.
They teased me, like they always do, by taking four and five point leads, but the Warriors just wouldn't lay down. Then, the Mavericks went ice cold, while the Warriors remained white hot from the perimeter. When Baron Davis hit that lunging three despite great defense from DH, I slumped down on my couch. 112-103 with 3:23 left, all the great work they had done during the regular season would go to naught and ESPN would have a field day with the choke job/Cinderella story angle.
And suddenly the MVP shows up.
Where he had been for the past five games I have no idea, but I do know one thing: Dirk Nowitzki put that team on his back and carried them to the promised land. One three, a sick block, another three, and six free throws later, the Mavs survived.
In my seven years of being a Mavericks' fan (and I know I will get criticism for that remark but I direct all inquiries to Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006), that perhaps was the most impressive win I've seen from a Dallas team. I know they got to the finals and I know they've hade epic battles with the Suns and Spurs, but I've never seen them figuratively come back from the dead, ESPECIALLY Dirk. This is the "refuse to lose" attitude that I expected from Game 1, but, especially in this case, better late than never.
In terms of Game 6 (because you know I'm probably not going to write before then), I believe that the Mavs will even the series, and I'm not just saying that as a biased fan (although I would probably say the same thing). I've watched enough basketball (I'm a Terp fan, too) to know that a demoralizing loss (such as the one that Maryland suffered against Duke in 2001) can be psychologically damaging. Yeah, that Terp team did eventually make the Final Four, but if I recall correctly that team went on to lose something like five out of six. My point is that it takes awhile to recover from a loss like that, and the Warriors have less than 48 hours, or realistically less than 96. It took the Terps almost two weeks, and that was a pretty good team.
By the way, no word on whether SLAM has accepted my bet or not. But, that hasn't stopped me from posting on the site.
Thursday night can't come soon enough.
But, as soon as I turned on the TV...
Chaos.
The Warriors didn't chip away at the lead; they made a mockery of it. Seven point deficit at half-time with Stephen Jackson due to shoot a technical at the beginning of the second.
Wow, maybe I'm just bad luck to my own team.
And, of course, while Dallas managed to maintain a slight lead in the 3rd, I felt as comfortable as a recovering cocaine addict in Colombia (my teachers say I have a gift for similies). Sure enough, when Matt Barnes threw down a dunk on Devin Harris to take their first lead of the game with 9:32 left, I thought Dallas was done.
They teased me, like they always do, by taking four and five point leads, but the Warriors just wouldn't lay down. Then, the Mavericks went ice cold, while the Warriors remained white hot from the perimeter. When Baron Davis hit that lunging three despite great defense from DH, I slumped down on my couch. 112-103 with 3:23 left, all the great work they had done during the regular season would go to naught and ESPN would have a field day with the choke job/Cinderella story angle.
And suddenly the MVP shows up.
Where he had been for the past five games I have no idea, but I do know one thing: Dirk Nowitzki put that team on his back and carried them to the promised land. One three, a sick block, another three, and six free throws later, the Mavs survived.
In my seven years of being a Mavericks' fan (and I know I will get criticism for that remark but I direct all inquiries to Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006), that perhaps was the most impressive win I've seen from a Dallas team. I know they got to the finals and I know they've hade epic battles with the Suns and Spurs, but I've never seen them figuratively come back from the dead, ESPECIALLY Dirk. This is the "refuse to lose" attitude that I expected from Game 1, but, especially in this case, better late than never.
In terms of Game 6 (because you know I'm probably not going to write before then), I believe that the Mavs will even the series, and I'm not just saying that as a biased fan (although I would probably say the same thing). I've watched enough basketball (I'm a Terp fan, too) to know that a demoralizing loss (such as the one that Maryland suffered against Duke in 2001) can be psychologically damaging. Yeah, that Terp team did eventually make the Final Four, but if I recall correctly that team went on to lose something like five out of six. My point is that it takes awhile to recover from a loss like that, and the Warriors have less than 48 hours, or realistically less than 96. It took the Terps almost two weeks, and that was a pretty good team.
By the way, no word on whether SLAM has accepted my bet or not. But, that hasn't stopped me from posting on the site.
Thursday night can't come soon enough.
posted by Justin Cherot @ 12:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home