The Daily Nickel

1. The Mavs suck. I went into the postseason very pessimistic at our Mavs chances of surving the first round, but then something happened during game 2....I started to believe in the Mavs again. I think it was the contibutions of J.Kidd as a 2nd banana that got me back on the bandwagon. After the Mavs second crushing loss to a scrubbish Portland squad, I feel so foolish. I should have stayed off the bandwagon where it was safe. Now I'm embarrased and heartbroken that my favorite team royaly sucks.

2. Why do the Mavs suck? It's all Dirk's fault...oh wait, only an idiot would believe that. Dirk is amazing, and even Charles Barkely spends several minutes applauding Dirk's greatness each TNT telecast. So if it's not Dirk's fault, who's is it? I say it's not Carlisle's either. He annoyed me to no end with this 'be ready' mantra and his propensity to play too many players in a game, but I can't really blame Carlisle when he has so little to work with. I can't even place all the blame on JET for our suckitude because he's been decent most of the series. I think the bottome line is that Dirk's great and everyone else is a fifth wheel type of guy. Everyone on our team is so one-dimensional....either they can play defense or they can play offense but they just can't do both. In football, that's perfect...in basketball, that's a losing team.

3. The refs hate Tyson Chandler. I'm not sure what TC did to the refs this year, but they have been absolutely brutal on him the past two games. The refs aren't why we lost, but they haven't helped anything by calling ridiculous fouls on Tyson. The worst foul I've ever seen called was when Batum dropped a rebound, and the ball rolled to Chandler. Chandler picked the ball up with a surefire dunk in his immediate future. Then, out of the blue, the ref calls Chandler for a foul. Can't be easy to play when they won't even let you pick the ball up win it's rolling on the ground. Chandler even picked up a technical when he held his arms straight up in the air while LaMarcus Aldridge shoved him. That Tyson...what a brute.

4. Andre Miller is a punk. Speaking of technicals, I don't know why Miller didn't get one when he swept the leg when he was getting tangeled up by our favorite German. Miller clearly kicked Dirk's legs out from under him when he was frustrated with Dirk getting tough with him. I guess it's ok to kick people but just don't hold your hands up in the air and let them push you....that's an immediate tech.

5. Onto happier news, the Rangers are awesome when Borbon sits. The Rangers played the Royals last night and drubbed them like a rented mule. Why is that? I for one believe that it's because Wash went with an outfield of Nellie, Murph, and Moreland. Hey, all those guys can hit and field (unlike Borbon). Good call Wash, let's try that one again.