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First of all… I’d hardly call going 29pts and 15rebs in an elimination game giving up.

Secondly…..if you think the Finals were not fairly officiated, then the rest of your rant is stupid. Because with that logic, you’re saying winners don’t give even when the refs are cheating. You’re also saying that you shouldn’t complain to the refs, even if they are cheating.

That’s the stupidest thing i’ve ever heard.

Listen, you want to say Portland has a chance to beat Dallas, great. My opinion still stands that it’s pretty dumb to say they’ll “kick some Dallas ASS”, when you really don’t have ground to stand on. Portland has had injures, but they have also accomplished far less in the last 10 years than Dallas has. And like i said, if you want to keep it recent, they’ve done more in the last 2 years as well.

Good luck to Portland. Dallas has respect for them, but lets not confuse the team with the worse track record.

I’m not saying the 2006 was fairly officiated, but that doesn’t change how Dirk gave up on his team while D-Wade lowered his head and put in work. That’s the difference between champions and people like Dirk; maybe they all yell at the officials but when it comes down to a big game that your team is losing or overmatched a winner is confident and makes his teammates believe that they can win. A loser finds excuses and feels sorry for themselves.

You like to bring up Dallas’ playoff hardships over the years, well Dallas was in the semi-finals two years ago. Portland hasn’t got out of the first round in years. So it’s a great stat for you to throw out, but if you want to keep it recent, Dallas has still been further than Portland.

Also, Dirk whining to the refs? What? I don’t know where you get this from. If you want to point out Dirk for whining to refs, i think you could say he does just about as much as anybody else in the league. Lead by example with toughness and determination is exactly what Dirk has been about his entire career. He’s played every year of his career and has only played less that 73 games one time. So check the guy out before you talk about his toughness and leading by example.

You want to bet your life savings on a basketball game, be my guest. But don’t cloud your judgement about a hall of fame player based on your Blazer blinders. They got a chance to beat the Mavericks, but you may want to get out of the first round before you start talking about other teams getting their ass kicked.

Portland hasn’t been out of the 1st round in 10 years but they have a new best player. LaMarcus Aldridge has taken the reins of this team and he refuses to let them quit when their outlook seemed grim (from injuries). Maybe equally important is that they stole Gerald Wallace from the Bobcats and he has been huge for them.

Dallas has had the same best player for 10 years and Dirk has always been the type to whine to officials rather than lead by example with toughness and determination. I would bet my life savings on Portland at this point.

Portland is a huge black horse in the west. They have a lot of very tough, intelligent and talented players along with a good coach. They could make it to the conference finals if everything clicks… but probably just a first-round upset of the Mavericks.