Get ready to celebrate: Warriors will win in six - Column by Carl Steward

[tiptoe]

Get ready to celebrate: Warriors will win in six
Column by Carl Steward, Article Last Updated: 04/21/2007 02:37:49 AM PDT
DARTING HERE and there ...

-Cruising cyberspace looking for someone brave, smart or stupid enough to pick the Warriors to beat the Dallas Mavericks. Can't find anyone. Guess it might as well be me: Warriors in six.

-Just a hometown hope? No. This matchup is the Mavs' worst nightmare, starting with the mind games Don Nelson already is playing: "We know who the best team is, and it ain't us." Translation: Nellie thinks it's possible.

-Fans must believe. On ESPN's SportsNation, which polls the masses on a variety of sports subjects, a Warriors series win in 7 games commanded the top percentage of respondents as of Friday: 23.1percent. That surpassed 19.7 percent who say Mavs in 5 and 18.4 percent who believe it'll be Dallas in 6. Unscientific, to be sure, but intriguing.

-Monte Poole made an excellent point while we were discussing this upcoming series: For Nelson, this is not unlike Jon Gruden going up against the Raiders in the Super Bowl. He knows the opponent as well as his own team — particularly Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki — and that not only sets up the best possible strategies to beat the Mavs, but also Nellie will be in their heads from the outset because they respect him so much.

-The Warriors are no ordinary No. 8 seed. This lineup playing the way it's playing now could win 50-55 games over a full NBA season, and the 16-5 finish is full of victories over strong teams. Dallas' 67-15 record is imposing, but having not beaten the Warriors is a factor. So is the Mavs' gag in last year's NBA Finals against Miami.

MORE

-The point guard matchup of Baron Davis vs. Jason Terry...

-Overrated: The rest factor...

-Three things that can't happen for the Warriors: ...

-One last thought: The Mavs aren't terribly scary inside...

[bmbmd]

1. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?

Nellie has such a stellar playoff record I could see it happening. Mavs are 11-10 to win it all on some sportsbooking sites.

[tiptoe]

2. Especially for Mark Cuban :) "Nelson really wanted series against Mavs"

Nelson really wanted series against Mavs

...
However much credit Nelson deserves, it's not likely Cuban will give it willingly. Nelson said he and Cuban "really don't have" a relationship in the wake of Cuban's decision to dispute $6.6 million in deferred compensation Nelson says he's owed by the Mavericks.

"I truly enjoyed working for him for a long period of time. We just fell out of love the last year or two," said Nelson, who plans after the playoffs to file for arbitration in an attempt to recoup the $6.6 million. "It was a hard negotiation (for) the last contract I signed, and it really went downhill after that."

While much has been made over the pair's fractured relationship, Nelson claimed Friday that the breakup was really set into motion by the departure of guard Steve Nash via free agency in the summer of 2004.

"It broke my heart when we lost Nash," Nelson said. "I thought we could have won titles with Nash and Nowitzki, playing the way I was playing. When we lost him, it was very difficult for me after that.

"And the team took on kind of a different character. So it was time for me to move on. That broke my heart, and you lose some passion. ... I think (leaving) was a good thing."
...

http://tinyurl.com/QKK23

[Auggie]

3. Well... one down. Five to go.

Game one: Warriors 97, Mavericks 85

[tiptoe]

4. (were the 67-win Mavericks 'that bad'...((or were Nelson's Warriors 'that good'?))?

[nolabels]

5. Or how about ..............

We now will get to see if this a fluke, or Nelson's Warriors are really that good. I think this whole thing just might be a coaching thing but then again maybe not. A dose of the Jazz or Rockets should help us find out :shrug:

[tiptoe]

6. Jazz and Rockets are flat-footed compared to Warriors...only unknown: Davis' health.

http://tinyurl.com/QKK23