Game 6 Western Conference Semi-Finals starring Europeans

Dirk Nowitzki is obviously tired. Tired of all the losing, the choking, the coming-up shorts and just about everything that has happened to the Dallas Mavericks in each and every edition of the postseason. It was in 2006 when he lead the Mavericks in the franchise’s first-ever finals appearance which ended in an awful collapse. The following year, he won the coveted Most Valuable Player award as he anchored the Mavericks towards a regular-season ending record of 67-15-the best in the league. The same year, in which the Dallas Mavericks were in the short-end of a historical upset, losing to the eight-seed Golden State Warriors during the first-round of the playoffs. Each frustrating exit only compounds Nowitzki’s advancing age as the window of opportunity slowly closes.

Peja Stojakovic may just well be feeling the same during the precarious stretch of the fourth quarter. His hey-days are well behind him. He is no longer the feared net-scorcher that he once was. The repeated post-season losses in Sacramento still hurt him.
Those two Europeans bonded by upsets, hard court heart-aches and desperation.

Those two Europeans drilled crucial daggers in an almost scripted pattern. Those two Europeans sank the Lakers in a crater 0-3 hole no one had even predicted prior to the series. Maybe, the upsets had expired on them but the stigma never ceased.

One of Dallas’ half-court set during their run was to give Nowitzki the ball around the perimeter, make a move composed of endless fakes and jab steps, if the double team comes, pass the ball to the trigger-ready Stojakovic and wait for the ball to find the bottom of the net.

Those two Europeans.

This brings to another European. Pau Gasol.

Gasol’s softness is never a kept secret. There is not a short supply of roasting aimed at Gasol with regards to his toughness since the Playoffs began, if not since his career began.

Apart from his ambidexterity, flawless footwork and Jesus Christ beard, Gasol’s on-court repertoire also includes being eaten alive on defense, sprawling everywhere on the floor and tumbling down just as much.

Pau Gasol isn’t the one to blame in their three straight losses against Dallas. But his lack of toughness is part culprit. In the great lineage of centers the Lakers’ team had paraded over the years which boast legendary monoliths like Wilt Chaimberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’neal, Gasol’s name can’t be put in the same sentence with these aforementioned greats if toughness is the subject.

Dirk Nowitzki isn’t the only reason why the Mavericks are dominating the Lakers. But his game is slowly sending Phil Jackson to retirement and in the most ironic way-a sweep.