Finally Time for Some Red River Roundball

After a lengthy layoff and flying under the national sports media's radar (thanks in large part to owner Mark Cuban's almost fanatical aversion to publicity during these playoffs) for more than a week, the Dallas Mavericks are just hours away from finally tipping off the Western Conference Finals.

Following their rousing sweep and total evisceration of the Los Angeles Lakers in game four, the Mavericks are brimming with confidence, but so too are the Oklahoma City Thunder, after winning their first two playoff series since relocating the franchise. It is usually during playoff series that rivalries are born, and with the obvious geographical proximity and the Red River Rivalry between the Longhorns and Sooners already a big part of the fabric of sports fans in both cities, it likely won't take long before Mavs fans are calling Thunder point guard Brian Westbrrok a flopper or OKC fans booing Tyson Chandler for his boistrous chest pumping.

Looking at their meetings this year, let's see how the teams match up:

Dallas vs Oklahoma City:

	Dallas	OKC
Wins	2	1
PPG	103.0	98.3
FG%	46.7	45.7
3PT%	37.1	34.1
FT%	84.6	73.6
RB	46.3	40
AST	23.3	23.3
TO	13.3	11

Both of Dallas' wins against the Thunder came in Oklahoma City, and Dirk Nowitzki really only participated in the first game in November, scoring 34 points; he sprained his knee early in their second meeting and sat out the third tilt. It's a very small sample size, but the Thunder really don't have anyone who can bother Dirk defensively. They will throw Thabo Sefolosha on him to try and utilize his length and athleticism to try and disrupt him in the same fashion that worked for Golden State back in 2007, but Nowitzki has learned to carve up these kinds of defensive schemes since then.

The NBA's leading scorer, Kevin Durant, averaged 29.3 points per game against Dallas, but in the two Dallas wins was limited to just 2 and 5 points in the fourth quarter. Russell Westbrook was really held in check by the Mavericks' defense, averaging just 14.3 points per game, and in the Mavs wins, Westbrook was a putrid -27 total. Add in the fact that Durant and Westbrook at times seem to be feuding for the ball and the Mavs could be catching a team going through some turmoil, especially in crunch time in close games.

The Tyson Chandler Factor cannot be understated; Chandler twice grabbed 18 rebounds against the Thunder, his season high. Ironically, Chandler was traded to OKC last year, but the trade was rescinded due to medical concerns and the Mavericks were the lucky beneficiaries. Since these two teams last played each other, the Thunder have added center Kendrick Perkins in an effort to shore up their middle, but his lack of mobility and athleticism will do little to slow Chandler.

Dallas has too many weapons and is too experienced in crunch time playoff basketball for the Thunder, and Westbrook's erratic play will doom OKC.

Mavs in 7.

Take Dis Witchooo!

Following the Mavericks series clinching win in Portland in game 6 of that series, Dallas fans had to reach for the Q-tips to clear their ears after hearing longtime Mavs critic Charles Barkley not only refused toimmediately state that the Los Angeles Lakers would be his pick to win their upcoming series against Dallas. Seconds later, they really had to be questioning what universe they were in when Barkley stated that the Lakers don't have a chance to stop Dirk Nowitzki and called his game “one of the most unique” he had ever seen.

In a recent column on ESPN.com, Bill Simmons addressed Nowitzki's play in these playoffs with equal adoration: “To Dirk Nowitzki, who reinvented himself over the years as a fiery competitor with the single most unstoppable move in basketball: his foul line post-up game that always seems to result in (A) him whirling around his defender and getting a layup, (B) him spinning around, sticking his elbows right in the defender's mug and launching a jumper that starts over Dirk's head, or (C), him fading away with an awkward-looking fade-away that has to rank alongside Hakeem's Dream Shake and McHale's mega-fallaway in the Shots That Seem Technically Impossible But Go In Anyway pantheon. Do you have any idea how that shot goes in? Me neither. I also have no idea how to stop that post-up game. Double him and he kicks to an open shooter. Single him and he scores. You can't win.”

Now that the Mavericks have won two road playoff games in a row, something they have not done since the opening road in 2006 against the Memphis Grizzlies, and dispatched of a team (Portland) in a series that many experts predicted them to lose, NBA pundits are finally able to let go of their dismissive opinions of Dirk and the Mavs and actually heap praise on how magnificently Nowitzki has performed in this postseason.

Somehow, in his latest Postseason MVP Rankings column, ESPN's David Thorpe had Nowitzki ranked 7th – a full six spots behind Memphis' Marc Gasol, who he placed in the top spot. Granted, Gasol has been enormous in helping get the Grizzlies in to the second round for the first time in that franchise's history, but he's not even the best player on his team in the playoffs thus far (that would be Zach Randolph.)

Where should Dirk really be ranked? I decided to assemble the stats in the playoffs thus far for the seven players that I would consider for MVP, and see how Nowitzki stacks up.

PLAYER
PPG
FG%
3PT%
FT%
RB
USG RATE%
% OF TEAM'S POINTS*
PER
+/-
Nowitzki
27.4
46
46
90
8.7
39.0
35
26.09
6.7
L. James
25.4
48
30
76
9.4
30.3
30
28.60
6.9
D. Wade
25.3
47
28
85
7.3
35.6
33
29.26
7.3
K. Bryant
24.4
45
39
82
3.9
39.2
34
23.09
6.7
Z. Randolph
22.3
47
33
87
9.3
29.6
29
24.40
3.6
K. Durant
31.6
48
48
82
6.3
32.7
36
28.36
3.3
D. Rose
27.0
38
23
87
4.7
39.3
33
24.63
6.7
All stats from NBA.com, except PER from ESPN.com.
*Percentage of team's scoring while player on the floor.

The first thing that leaps off the page to me is Nowitzki's phenomenal shooting numbers. None of the other candidates even really come close. Factor this offensive efficiency with the fact that he surprisingly has the third highest usage rate (behind only Kobe and Rose, two players that absolutely dominate the ball when they're on the floor) and it becomes apparent what a unique and deadly weapon Dirk has been through the first seven games of these playoffs.

The one stat that will eventually determine the real MVP is, of course, wins. If Dirk can keep the Mavs winning, then there is no doubt who the MVP will be and he will have cemented his position as one of the greatest players ever to play this game. The 2006 Finals and the Golden State loss will become nothing more than footnotes on his Hall of Fame plaque.