Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports Bring that prove ‘em wrong energy, no matter the odds A famous recurring sketch from the classic British series Monty Python’s Flying Circus has been rattling around in my head ever since the end of the Dallas Mavericks regular season. “Nobody ever expects the Spanish Inquisition!” is the catchphrase deployed as the revered comedy troupe engages in silliness with a purpose. While this satirization has many layers, it became shorthand over the years for inevitable moments of unexpectedness manifesting in personal life and society. We get into routines of narrative and sameness until those expectations are challenged - or in the case of the Spanish Inquisition sketch - a complete non-sequitur bursts through the door of our world and shakes things up in a way we never saw coming. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cj8n4MfhjUc?rel=0
Being a fan of a franchise that has never been part of the “expected order of things” can feel like you are on a quixotic journey. Painted with large swaths of irrelevance, the pre-Cuban era of Dallas Mavericks history has one brief shining moment as Reunion Arena became ever so rowdy. The NBA world was not expecting those Rowdies of days gone by to have quite that much to cheer about in May of ‘88. The Mavericks took the Lakers to 7 games in their first appearance in the Western Conference Finals and made their debut as a recurring NBA non-sequitur. In all four subsequent marches to the Conference Finals, the national punditry and coastal fan bases doubted the Mavericks every step of the way. In 2003, the chorus of prognosticators expected a Kings win in the second round - yet Dallas prevailed. In 2006, Dallas was not tabbed as a favorite versus the Spurs in the second round or the Suns in the conference Finals - and prevailed over each in consecutive grueling, memorable seven-game series. The first appearance in the Finals ended in disappointment, but the mere presence of Dallas as one of the last two teams standing caught the experts off guard. The one exception when Dallas was anticipated to roll in the playoffs was the following year. As painful as it was, I remember thinking about how Dallas had thrived in the underdog role in the years leading up to that first-round trainwreck at the hands of Nellie’s Warriors. The added pressure of living up to a dominant 67-win regular season cannot have helped as that series started to unravel. Despite finishing third in the West in 2011, Dallas was a trendy upset pick versus Portland. The storyline of playoff chokers had attached itself to the franchise after fumbling a 2-0 series lead in the 2006 Finals and nothing the Mavericks did leading into 2011 changed that perception. Each step of the historic championship run was met with skeptical voices. Sure, the Mavs moved beyond Portland but certainly the Laker three-peat locomotive would run them over. Sure, the Lakers melted down but the Thunder were younger and more talented. Finally, the nearly-preordained Heat would be a brick wall that would stop the storybook run for Dirk and company. After game 6 of those storied NBA Finals, the newly minted champion Mavericks had barely begun their celebration and already the same doubting punditry and many NBA fans at large were dissecting all the ways the Heat had collapsed rather than how the Mavericks had won it all. All these years later, no one can take away that title but conversations and blame games are still being had. A more recent example from two years ago shows this dynamic is unchanged in the Luka Doncic era. After besting the Phoenix Suns in a Game 7 romp, Jason Kidd’s postgame quip was one of his finer moments, “A lot of people said it was going to be a blowout. Well, they were right, but they didn’t have us on the winning side.” As the 2024 playoffs begin, the Mavericks find themselves as slight betting favorites as they take on the Los Angeles Clippers. As a trendy pick for a deep playoff run due to their blistering 16 of 18 stretch to close out the (meaningful portion of) the regular season, the odds have tipped in the Mavericks' favor with all signs pointing to a notable absence in the Clippers’ starting lineup at the onset of the series. Even still, the best energy the Mavericks can bring into this series is the traditional Underdog franchise that occasionally turns the NBA world on its head. This Dallas team missed the playoffs last year and stumbled out of this season’s All-Star break. They feature a superstar held to a standard that seems like an unattainable moving target and will likely be denied the MVP award despite his historic season. His Robin (or is it his Batman?) has the chance to prove all the doubters wrong by tethering his title in Cleveland directly to what he helps this team accomplish at this moment. The rest of the roster is filled with stories of the cast-off, the written-off, and the disrespected. This team should bring the massive chip on their shoulder to every game no matter the narrative, no matter the odds. There is no guarantee that a near future iteration of the Dallas Mavericks will be as healthy, as cohesive, and as well-built for playoff basketball as this one. To get the most out of this roster, Jason Kidd must remind his players that few expected them to be in this playoff seeding - not even this flawed writer who is so glad he was so, so wrong about this season just a few weeks ago. Denver versus Boston is the inevitable destination of these playoffs for so many talking heads as they take the safest route to a mostly chalk dance card. Perhaps this is a rare and beautiful year when the Spanish Inquisition bursts through the door and delivers the NBA another non-sequitur courtesy of the team they never see coming.
Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2024/4/21 ... erdog-role