An amazing number of people still stumble on that blog post each month, even a year later now. That amazes me. An occasional visitor will still even leave an angry comment. That amazes me even more. And concerns me a little. Because I moved on a long time ago. I left my anger and “bitterness” behind. I embraced the possibility of a bright future.

And this year’s Mavericks did everything in their power to prove that they had forgotten about it too. They blazed an ember-hot trail through the NBA, finishing first in the division acclaimed by everyone to be the most difficult, and earning the number one seed in this year’s playoffs. I even wrote about it earlier this year, when they won sixteen in a row, and became the fastest sporting team to get to 51 wins within 56 games. (Not NBA team, but “professional sports team” Period. In other words: no sports team in the history of professional team sports has ever done this…)

Things were looking great for my Mavs.

But the playoffs ended for the Mavs last night. So after twelve or so hours to get over the shock, I feel the need to make one thing perfectly clear:

The Mavs Were Not Robbed This Time.

Not even close. Nobody, not even a “homer” like me, would be so bold as to claim otherwise.

No, this is much sadder and more pathetic story. The Mavs completely folded. They choked. They failed to fight back. They got off their game. They looked whipped and confused. Golden State played with heart, energy, and passion. Dallas played with….well, were they really playing?

Hear me when I say it: they deserved to lose.

If I’m going to allege that they were robbed last year, then I have to own up to a time when they completely crash and burn. And that’s exactly what they did this past week. They failed to play anywhere close to the level of the team I saw with my own eyes several times this year.

Here’s what folks are saying around town today:

— This team seems to have no guts.
— They seem to have some psychological issues with pressures of playoff basketball.
— The man who might still be named MVP of the league this year (irony, huh?) completely choked. He looked like Shawn Bradley out there.
— The bench, which everyone claimed as “the deepest in the NBA,” was no help at all. (Save, Stackhouse)
— And finally, they inexplicably got away from the game that got them all the way through this year, and allowed Golden State to play theirs.

That’s what folks are saying here today. And it’s hard to argue with any of that.

And so, now what do I do with myself? All of us around here assumed we’d be in these playoffs for a while. What do we do now?

I’ve already written about how I can’t love the Rangers anymore. It’s months from football season. And that didn’t end too well of us around here either. What’s a guy to do?

Sigh…

Well, just needed to say what needed to be said, so there will be no confusion whatsoever:

The Mavs didn’t deserve to win.

Nuff said.