I'm not dismissive about it at all. YOU were crowing about a 7 point win with Dirk going 9 of 23 in the field. My only point is that if that was going to be the Pistons strategy in a finals matchup against Dallas, they would lose, and it wouldn't be close.
As far as what has Dirk done, in case you haven't noticed, Dallas is a different team run by a different coach, has a different attitude with personnel that seem to fit better than they have before in Dallas or better than they have for other teams. You ripped Stackhouse and Van Horn, but they fit into what the Mavs want them to do nicely. If Stack hadn't started so much this year due to injury, he'd be a legit 6th man of the year award candidate. Besides, prior to two years ago, what had the current Pistons team ever done?
My point is that it starts somewhere. If you want to assert that because the Mavs haven't won a championship, they won't win one this year, please: by all means, be my guest. Otherwise, deal with the matchup issues.
Look, it's as simple as this. The Pistons have proven themselves. The Mavs haven't.
You can talk all you want about having a different player here and there or a different attitude, but the bottom line is that your team is still dependent on Dirk. He's not a guy who is going to lead you anywhere. He's just too damn soft.
Re matchups, defensively you won't handle either Hamilton or Billups and there's no way Nowitzki is shutting down Mcdyess or Rasheed Wallace. Ben Wallace will eat Diop and Dampier alive on the boards and you don't have a small forward on your roster who's nearly as complete a player as Tayshaun Prince.
I don't see you with an edge anywhere one on one (in the playoffs I'll take a proven winner like Rasheed Wallace over a choker like Dirk)but that's not important. What's important is that the Pistons have displayed a fundamental grasp of the precepts of team basketball. They are the most cohesive team I've seen since our last set of champions in the early 90's. The Mavs haven't shown that and I see no reason to believe they will now.