DALLAS MAVERICKS POSTMORTEM: Two of the leading Mavs hypemeisters, Sports Illustrated and Bill "Mavs in six" Simmons, have recently recanted their Mavs-love. Simmons:

The more things change, the more they stay the same. A Don Nelson team self-destructing in the playoffs because they weren't tough enough and because they didn't play defense? Jeez, I can't believe it. And the thing that really gets me? I fell for them, hook, line and sinker.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. A Don Nelson team self-destructing in the playoffs because they weren't tough enough and because they didn't play defense? Jeez, I can't believe it. And the thing that really gets me? I fell for them, hook, line and sinker.

Think about that Mavs-Kings series. The Mavs pull a hideous no-show in Game 1, even though they were resting for six bleeping days. They rally back to win Game 2, thanks to Steve Nash's only good game before Mike Bibby gave him $20 to stop playing defense for the rest of the series. So they're back at home for Game 3, playing in front of a raucous Dallas crowd ... and Peja Stojakovic sprains his ankle during the game (knocking him out for the series). Good teams do not lose these games at home. Period. And somehow they give this one away at home, allowing the Kings to shoot 53 percent and out-rebound them by nine.

Now they're facing a must-win Game 4, and they get every significant call because the league is desperate for a seven-game series (both Webber and Divac foul out before the end of the game, and if you don't believe in this stuff, you probably leave cookies and milk for Santa every Christmas Eve). But they still bungle the game because Nelson is the last person on the planet to realize that Bobby Jackson is killing Nick Van Exel. Plus, Sacramento runs 57 straight pick-and-rolls that Dallas' defenders botch. The Kings could have brought in Sam Lacey and Pete Carril to run a pick-and-roll in the fourth quarter, and it would have worked.

He goes on from there --I think he's mostly mad at himself for believing the hype. And here's SI's Marty Burns: Cuban's get-rich-quick scheme doesn't pan out. I swear there was a story on CNNSI where they sort of admitted they bought into the hype and got burned, but I can't find it. I guess the title of that Burns thing is sort of a tacit admission of guilt.