Preface: YES, this is about SPORTS. Don't like 'em? Don't read - don't troll. Simple as that.

Allow me to jump from my videogame-riddled mindset for a second and into the pool of NBA teams competing to get out of the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. As one who sneers at the mere mention of the Dallas Mavericks, I have one thing to ask of Baron Davis and the Golden State Warriors:

Show up to work on Friday when the series shifts back to the Bay Area. For four quarters please.

My friend was convinced that Dallas' losing streak against the Warriors would continue - you don't lose that many games including a playoff game to a team for no reason, after all. Of course, the rest of the world - notably the basketball press - thought that the "best" team in the NBA would find a way to win.

Game 1 had me delighted, with Don Nelson's big-guard lineup and Avery Johnson's inexplicable decision to change his lineup playing right into the Warriors' hands. Baron Davis dominated the ball and used his combination of sheer bulk and speed to pull an '06 D-Wade on the Mavs. Head down. Ball to the basket. Initiating contact.

So what the hell happened? Besides, uh, the fact that the Warriors really don't have a great gameplan. I haven't seen them most of the year, due to the NBA's television schedule and understandable lack of air time given to them. When I saw them this weekend, pulling off the "upset" win over Dallas, I was amazed at the win not because I wasn't expecting it but because they took some of the most ill-advised shots I'd ever seen.

Well, I suppose it came to bite 'em in the balls this go round.

To be fair it wasn't so much their impetuous shot selection (they shot above 45% from the field, after all) as it was their equally impetuous handling of the ball. 24 turnovers? For chrissakes, Stephen "Whoo!" Jackson alone had eight of 'em before he decided to lose his temper and get himself ejected (after Davis himself got tossed). I can't count how many times I looked up from Black Powder Red Earth to see a Warrior jumping in the air, twirling around and then dumping the ball straight into a white uniform. How old were you when coach said to not leave your feet to make a pass?

Scramble. Chuck. Leap. Twirl. Throw away. Get mad. Get ejected. Foul, foul, foul.

And there's the other thing - in the span of a single minute in the middle of the fourth, Matt Barnes picked up three shooting fouls. Three fouls. From a single player. Resulting in five free Dallas points (Dirk actually missed one). And right after that, Josh Howard stole the ball (from - guess "Whoo!" - Stephen Jackson) leading to a score by Jason Terry. Right after that? Golden State's Andris Biedrins botched a pass ... then Jackson fouls Dirk... who makes a free throw, then a technical free throw when, Surprise! Jackson gets himself tossed!, then makes the third scheduled free throw.

And there it is: the score goes from a within-striking-distance 97-86 in Dallas' favor with 6:20 left to a 107-90 with just over 4-and-a-half left in the game. Well, way to practically give up a basket every 12 seconds, guys.

I'm hoping that, for Game 3, Baron comes to play. He's the catalyst for Warrior success here. And I wouldn't mind seeing a little bit of Jason Richardson and Al Harrington either. You know, guys who can ball but somehow chose not to yesterday. I have plenty of other teams to cheer on - Chicago looks magnificent this series, and seeing Kobe fuming on the sideline down 2-0 to the Suns just really makes my day - but what would make my day twice over is to see Golden State pull a Denver-Seattle. You know, the series where Dikembe Mutombo is grabbing the ball, howling on the floor after having just embarrassed then-Sonics coach George Karl.

So, Baron, bring your damn lunch pail to work on Friday. There are some Mavericks to destroy.