Mavs season ends with a fart

Hanging it up for 2007-08

Surprise! The Dallas Mavericks lost (on the road!) to the New Orleans Hornets 98-94, thus ending the 2007-08 season.

Now, Josh Howard can get as high as a kite.

Not a surprise, as much. Pretty much expected. The Mavericks aren't very good and the Hornets are pretty good. Typically, when good teams play bad teams, the good team wins, at least four out of five games.

It's disappointing, but not heartbreaking. No, that kind of pain and agony was imposed on fans the last two years. This team just wasn't very good, old, really. Always 10 steps behind and they expend 200 steps to make up eight in actuality. It's like dog years.

I thought the Mavs, down like 12, came out in the third quarter Tuesday night and played with urgency and fire. They went to the basket, hustled for loose balls and rebounds. But the entire time, it's as if they couldn't get back defensively and could never get that close.

Clarification: It's disappointing and a little maddening.

Maddening to see Jason Kidd start off well ... and then completely disappear. It's maddening to see Kidd basically go to the rim at will at times, then act as if he were Reggie Miller shooting 25 feet from the basket.

It's maddening to see Josh Howard to play basketball. I have a nephew. He's 12 years old and awkward to all hell. I would rather see him try to balance priceless Ming vases on the palm of his hands than watch Howard try to play basketball.

I hate to say such things, but if the NBA investigated point shaving in the playoffs, they'd start with Howard. There is no excuse for a guy to do what he did this series and for all of us not to think he wasn't shaving points some how, or at least doing it on purpose. Really. It was super bad.


Then there was the explanation of the players-only practice. Allegedly, Josh Howard was passing fliers to teammates before game 4 to his birthday bash after the game. Despite the fact that Avery Johnson mandated no partying 'til the off-season. Johnson finds out that about four players went, goes off on the team and pretty much says, "You don't listen, so why should I hold a practice?"

Blech. What am I supposed to do? Changes are coming, they have to come. As proud as Mark Cuban is, he's also a savvy businessman who knows when the product is bad.

This product is rotten. Like a baby with dirty diaper, it needs changing.