>>You really don't understand what playoff basketball is about. <<
Another adhominem. At least your consistent.
I'm not going to get into a pissing match over this nonsense. If I told you my background in basketball, a truly objective person would feel really silly making that remark.
>>that's a team that demonstrated it was learning how to win.<<
Are you really listening to what you are saying? The Mavs have not only a better, but MUCH better and more consistent 5 years previous history the last 5 years than the Pistons had the 5 years prior to them winning the title. I don't know why you keep saying they are "up and down" and have had "no progression" while asserting the Pistons were solid and building to a climax. In those 5 years, the Pistons played in only 2 second round series (vs. 4 for the Mavs), only one conference final (same for Mavs), and lost in the first round or didn't qualify for the playoffs 3 times (vs. 1 1st round loss for the Mavs). Your argument here is beyond silly.
I'm not saying this proves anything. What I'm saying is that if history is any indication of success, the Mavs have better history on their side than the Pistons did prior to 2 years ago. This is fact, and arguing it is ridiculous.
>>they haven't shown that they are learning how to win in the playoffs. Detroit has been there and done that.<<
Show me exactly how Detroit learned how to win in those 5 previous years and exactly why the Mavs didn't? By your standard, Dallas will never learn how to win in the playoffs.
>>They've accomplished all that regular season glory and they haven't done crap in the playoffs.<<
Aside from the fact that, other than win the championship, they have done "crap" in the playoffs, there's a lot of reasons for this. Number one reason is Don Nelson. He's gone (thank goodness). Great regular season win coach and little in the playoffs. Some of the guys Dallas was stuck with (Shawn Bradley, Michael Finley) didn't fit into a system that is going to emphasize a player like Dirk the way he plays. There's no question Dirk is the key, but to assume Dallas can't win a championship now because they haven't done it before or because they haven't lived up to their regular season billing is ludicrous.
Over the last 5 years, had Dallas played in the Eastern conference, they would likely have been in at least one and probably 2 finals. I doubt they would have won either with Nellie, but they were at least as good or better than the East team.
>>What can you Mavs fans point to?<<
For the umpteenth time: what could the Pistons point to prior to 2004? 1988? What could the Spurs point to prior to 1999? The Rockets prior to 1994? The answer is NOTHING. The Spurs were a joke of a franchise prior to a decade ago.
Other than the Bulls with Jordan, the Lakers with Showtime and later with Shaq, and the Celtics with Bird, there's been no champion that could really point to anything until they actually won a championship. Unless you can come up with a Red Sox/White Sox style curse (oops; that won't work either), you are going to have to come up with an explanation of why historical results are the only measure of a team's ability to compete for a championship.
You can't. So please stop repeating yourself. I've refuted all your arguments.
If you don't like Dallas, that's fine. If you don't think they are going to win, fine. But its absurd to suggest that since they haven't done it before, they can't do it now. That's the only thing you are saying, contrary to your assertions that it isn't what you are saying. It is. All your quotes boil down to the same thing.
Why are you having such a difficult time understanding this simple concept. The Pistons went to the conference semis in 2002, the conference finals in 2003 and then they won the championship in 2004. That is an upward linear progression that demonstrates that they were improving their postseason efforts each year on their way to a title.
The Pistons showed s similar upward progression in the late 80's, the bulls showed a similar upward progression in the 80's and 90's. That upward progression is what the Pistons could point to before winning our first title in 1989 and their most recent title in 2004.
The Mavs have shown no improvement from year to year. Some years they make the semis, some years they make the second round. There's no progression...they exit the playoffs and varying points each season.
In short, you cannot point to a linear, upward progression that shows they are learning to win in the postseason. Their playoff history is not suggestive of a team that is building towards a title. The commposition of the team suggests that they will not win this year as it includes Stack and Dirk Nowinski.