NBA Finals

[GTDawg]

I had no idea LeBron was actually playing the last two games.

[sjay2k]

Game 5 - Heywood officially ruled out, no shock if you saw him unable to run at all in game 4. GO MAVS

[sjay2k]

Pretty drunk....the mavs socked them!

They play great defence, I've never seen Lebron James relegated to jumpshooter/passer.

Terry's lights-out-game-over 3 pointer was out of this world

Amazing display of teamwork > talent

[lightfungus]

I think we have ourselves a 7 game series here, fellas.

Excited.

[Kurn]

I'm waiting for the first reporter to ask him if Rashard Lewis banging his girlfriend bothers him more than Delonte West banging his mother

[sjay2k]

[sjay2k]

Sidenote would you support Lebron asking to be traded to Dallas now?

We could use him to spell Dirk in the first three quarters

[Wes]

I'd still bet Miami to win 4 of the next 5 NBA championships at everything less than -200. No one in the east is going to compete against them barring some huge free agent moves (extremely unlikely of big contracts moving with lockout coming). This years Bulls is the best they will ever be (aka stick Lebron on D Rose and watch the Bulls score 70 a game), the Magic will not have D. Howard after next year, the Celtics were old last year, and the Knicks still need any semblance of a defense. Every other team in the east is pretty loltastic as far as talent goes. The Heat are going to be the Finals every year for the next six at least.

Dwight Howard is the only man to stop Miami from winning a ton of championships. When, not if, he moves to LA (preferably the Clippers [lol at that]) it will cause some reverberations to the rest of the league. If he moves to the Lakers, expect the Heat to just thump the rest of the league. The Lakers were exposed for being old on the perimeter and that is not going to help any time soon.

Heat and Thunder finals 3 of the next five years with the Heat just nearly sweeping them every time is my expectation.

Really the only chance the rest of the NBA has is the players to win the labor negotiations with the caveat of somehow shared revenues between all organizations with a higher luxury tax threshold.

[sjay2k]

I disagree. Over the next 5 years I think the over/under for Miami championships is 1.5, nowhere near 4.

I think the Mavs, Lakers, Thunder and Celtics are all capable of beating the Heat over the next couple of seasons.

The fact is Dallas destroyed Miami. The Heat were 1-2 on their own court, and Lebron James was a non-factor in the fourth quarter. The zone defence was just nasty at times.

If that wasn't impressive enough, consider Dallas' records on the road in the playoffs against the Lakers, Thunder and Heat: 6 wins, 1 loss. That record is admirable for a January road swing, let alone against top tier teams in the playoffs.

The Mavs should be the favourites for next year.

Also, I think the Thunder would have been a good shot to beat Miami this year. They match up really well with Sef against Wade and Durant/Ibaka on James. The Thunder will be a bigger threat with a real coach (Scott Brooks has overseen his team shoot a 3-pointer in the last possession of tied games maybe 10 times this season??).

[Wes]

Actually Scott Brooks did that six times (cause haralabob said that on twitter).

The reason why the Heat will be much improved next year is that they will only improve their roster. Look at their roster. Mario Chalmers (and maybe a healthy Udonis Haslem) is the only one who doesn't completely suck outside of the big 3. Mike Bibby and Ilgauskaus are completely worthless. Mike Miller can't play defense and now he can't make 3s. For fucks sake they had Joel Anthony and Juwan Howard playing significant minutes.

If they stick any warm body in there it will be an improvement.

Lebron still averaged 18 points, 8 boards, 7 assists (roughly) in a series that he was dreadful in. Maybe he has no heart, but if he chokes and puts up 20/10 every game, yikes.

The West is the still the much better conference. Grizzlies, Nuggets and Thunder are all young and bound to improve. Portland is always dangerous, and they are always at like 80% health wise. Lakers may actually show up on defense with a better defensive coach.

The East, well, not so much. Celtics are OLD. No way the Heat get beat by them. Bulls got the #1 seed largely due to how terrible the rest of their division is (Bucks, Pistons, Cavs, Pacers). Bulls do have a good coach though so they could beat them, but Lebron on D. Rose shows how little the Bulls have for a second option offensively. Hawks are likely to only team to improve as their roster is largely young.

Dallas and San Antonio are the only teams that play a zone well in the league so I wouldn't worry too much about zone killing the Heat.

[Kurn]

Until his condescending rant after the loss, I really didn't dislike Lebron. Now, that's changed.

The Celtics WILL deny the Heat any championships. Lebron will drive the lane and KG will positions himself so "The King" lands on his foot and blows out his knee(as KG is well known to do).

With Lebron out, the Heat will be good, but not championship material. Oh, wait, Lebron's already proven he's not championship material.

Still want him to blow out his knee, though.

Dirty play >> arrogance

[GTDawg]

"The fact is Dallas destroyed Miami."

I'm not sure if Dallas destroyed Miami...

They were in every single game and had second half leads in pretty much every game. And, hell, they legitimately should've won the first 4 games. They were a ridiculous collapse away from being up 3-0 AND they had a 9? point lead in the 4th quarter of game 4.

Their half-court offense is absolutely dreadful, especially late in games. Too many extra passes, nobody excited about shooting the ball, and they are left with stupid deep 2 or 3-point shots with 2 seconds left on the shot clock.

They need a center that can help with their offensive rebounding, as well as somewhere to feed the ball and score points without relying on dribble/drives and mid-range jumpers.

They also need to get a point guard and work on the LeBron/Wade chemistry off the ball. LeBron played absolutely terrible away from the ball. He just looked completely lost at times with no idea how to find an opening where he could get a shot or drive. And, when that wasn't happening, he was standing in the corner by the 3-point line doing absolutely nothing. He might as well taken a seat in the first row.

And, LeBron needs to work on either a low-post move or a mid-range jumper. If he isn't driving, then he is dying at the 3-point line (deep 2). He needs the Dirk turnaround fade knee up shot...

===========
I don't see how the Heat can win 4 or anything, but they aren't going to get any worse over the next several years. In fact, there is the real possibility that they get stupidly better.

The Boozer thing in Chicago seems to be a fail of epic proportions considering his playoff showing...There needs to be a second option outside of Rose. I don't believe they currently have that on their roster. People can shutdown Rose and watch Chicago falter. And, even then, Rose can sputter on his own.

The Celtics...no. Just no.

I'm assuming the Magic are going to fail in spectacular fashion as Dwight Howard goes through a Carmelo year.

The Knicks play zero defense and will continue to play zero defense.

So, the Heat can easily be seen in the Eastern conference finals every year. And, given the things they can improve, they can go up against any team from the West.

Of course, all of this is subject to the new CBA and, personally, I'd love to see a harder cap that would render all of the above talk pointless as several teams would need to figure out how to completely revamp their roster (including the Heat....bye bye Bosh)

[sjay2k]

Sorry but this line of reasoning is absurd.

Miami "should" have won because they were up in the 4th?

By that logic, Dallas should have blown out Miami in the first 3 quarters because they were able to crush Miami in the 4th quarters.

It's a 48 minute game, and you can't mix and match the parts that are favourable to your team.

Dallas' strong 4th quarter displays reflected (in order of importance):

1. Dirk's clutch play
2. Carlisle out-coached Spo severely with better lineups, resting his players, Dallas' zone etc.
3. Well-timed defensive surges
4. Willingness to take tough shots


Dallas crushed Miami in this series in every way except for premature celebration

[GTDawg]

I'm not sure how you can say they crushed Miami in every way when it was one of the closest finals in a decade in regards to scores.

Miami played very well and was in every single game only to have LeBron/the whole team struggle in the 4th quarter.

In no way, shape, or form is that the definition of crushing them or destroying them or any other word that defines a massive victory.

Yes, the Mavs crushed them in the 4th quarter of, pretty much, every game. And, the biggest win was 10 points in the final game.

There were 3 games decided by 2/3 points. That's not crushing someone.

[Wes]

Sports do tend to lead to results oriented thinking.

[Kurn]

In sports, the only thing that counts are results.

[Zybomb]

I posted this on my facebook, but for those of u who arent FB friends with me.... awesome Lebron/MJ commercial, never more fitting than after the finals

[Wes]

In life the only thing that counts is results. Only the wise are even aware of the conundrum this presents when gauging the accuracy of quality.

[Kurn]

Agreed, but if your point is that the results of this NBA finals is not indicative of the Heat's potential for future championships, all I can do is point to Lebron's failures in past playoffs as well.

More than that, nobody on his team looked like they wanted the ball in the 4th quarter of game six. His response was not to take control, but to throw up wild 3-pointers. Not the way a winner plays.

His talents make a big difference in the regular season, but in the playoffs, will > skill, and he has yet to show he has that will. Doesn't mean he'll never get it. But as of now, he has been tested several times and found wanting.

Like the Sedin twins in the Stanley cup, regular season success and skill doesn't translate into a championship if the other guys are willing to smack you in the mouth (figuratively in basketball, literally in hockey), and dare you to respond.

With Lebron and the heat, we'll see.

[Wes]

If the Heat win game six, Dirk would still have the reputation of choking in big games.

Dirk in '06 vs. the Spurs was pretty clutch. In 06 vs. the Heat, not clutch.

In '07 vs. the Warriors, not clutch. In 11 vs. the heat, clutch (but really only because he won).

Clutchness in sports is so vastly overrated and forgotten how poorly people were when people win. Lebron has been vastly so clutch in just about every series excluding the NBA finals and the year he figured out that he didn't want to stay in Ohio. Yes, Lebron hasn't done well in the Finals. These are supposed to be the best two teams in the finals, so not really all that surprising (and the Spurs were so much better than a one man team the first time around).

But somehow Dirk now has a ring and he'll forever be remembered as Mr. 4th quarter as opposed to the choker that he was before. If D. Wade makes the 2nd free throws in the 4th game, perhaps Lebron will now forever be remembered as the best of all time, and perhaps Dirk will be this era's Charles Barkley. But his free throw rimmed out and now all these experts are waying in how much Lebron sucks and how much Dirk is a god.

The greatness of a person in sports is so heavily weighted by some minute percentage point it is ridiculous.

[sjay2k]

It doesn't make any sense to offer alternative realities where things only go one way.

How can you say the above without also saying, "If Dallas won in 2006, Dirk would be known as an all-time big game player"?

Also, when you say "if the Heat win game six" you are entering a complete world of fantasy. In the 4th quarter the Heat were never even close. They really struggled to score, and often took low percentage shots to avoid a shot clock violation. It's not as if they lost because of a bad call or a single shot at the buzzer. They were simply outclassed.

Sidenote:

[Wes]

I think individual games are vastly overrated for how good a player is. Six games really is not a good barometer of how good a person is. But the spotlight is on so that is the way it works.

[thrash1294]

Sweet finals Dirk is the man

[Kurn]

But he should not sing.