NBA Finals

I was very surprised to see Wade get held below 30 points. If he is as great as most people tag him then now is the time to turn on the Jordanisk mode. He is by far the best athlete in the finals and can basically create a shot at any time he needs one. Miami just did not look like they wanted the game more than Dallas. Just imagine if Dirk would have went off ... yikes.

 

After the first quarter, Dallas played a great defensive game. I thought the mavs were in big trouble when they came out tight and couldnt make a shot to save thier lives - they welcomed Wade into the lane with open arms.

Avery had a great defensive scheme, cover shaq and wade, make the supporting cast beat them - they didnt. Antoine Walker was a help to both teams - he scored ok, but had a bunch of turnovers and missed some open shots that lead to some dallas breaks.

Unsung hero(s) of the game Damp and Diop - they did not let the big guy have easy access to the paint. Jet was great

 

Re: Miami Dallas

I thought Haslem and Posey did a good job on Dirk defensively and no body stops Wade (I understand he was still a little sick).

Quit honestly the turning point should have been Terry's break away dunk when he blew that and Dallas followed up with two turnovers that let Miami back in the game. The old Dallas would have folded at that point and lost the game. But they did not fold instead the stood their defense and held on.

With Dirk and Howard both having subpar performances look for Miami to get blown away in gm#2.

Stackhouse and Terry both played great games and I agree Diop and Dampier made great contributions to team defense.

This tear is the only one shed for Miami :tear: Go Mavs:wavey: raise:

 

If I am a Heat fan I am very disappointed in losing that game last night. Dirk and Howard both not playing at their best level, the door was wide open for them.

If I am a Mav fan I am thrilled to get out of that game with a win and cannot wait to see what happens when Dirk and Howard play like they are capable.

 

The Heat look old and tired - I cannot believe how the Mavs have been controlling Shaq and Wade - who is not old, but is being controlled very well by the assortment of defenders the Mavs are throwing at him.

My MVP of the series so far - Avery Johnson, who is out coaching Pat Riley by a mile. Kudos to Donnie Nelson (little whistle) as GM and Mark Cuban as owner for putting together such a deep team. I thought that this series would go at least six and possibly seven - I now think the Mavs will take it in five!

Wade talked before the finals about being the first one of the class of '03 draft choices taking his team to the championship - How about Josh Howard, the last pick of the first round in 03 - dont you think a few teams are second guessing themselves for passing him up? I read in the Dallas Morning News yesterday that Dallas expected Howard to go in the middle of the first round - he was not exactly unknown coming out of college as the ACC player of the year. the Mavs were obviously delighted that he fell to them. Howard will get a huge raise in the off season, and deservedly so!

One last comment - dont you think detroit is wishing that they had doubled Shaq in the eastern conf finals???

 

The Mavs do look great. I still think the series will go 6 games.

I think the Pistons are still trying to get Rasheed off the scorers table

 

No difference

I don't think it would have made any difference If we applied the hack a shaq, which is all it is, to our game. If you don't knock down the shots then you can't score and if you can't score, well you know. What amazes me is that all we had too do was breath on Wade and he went to the line. Refs seem to be in the mood for defense now as the mavs are keeping Wade under wraps without fouling (go figure) him. I love that the mavs are using the hack a shaq though cause Riley had no problem using it on Ben. Its gotta be frustrating.:laugh:

 

Jimmy C gotta wonder about some of these coaches we have deemed "great". I mean it doesn't take much coaching to coach abunch of all star talent.

 

Mavs arent really using hack a shaq - at not in the way that Don Nelson (big whistle) applied it. They are simply doubling him. The Mavs big men are staying out of foul trouble so far. It seemed to me that Detroit was having big ben attempt to cover shaq by himself.

Avery seems to be desiging schemes that are working - true the mavs are deep and have many more players that can light it up. but his coach of the year honor seems deserved.

The series is still early - I still expect shaq to have a breakout game, but it may be too late. Of course if Miami wins the next game the entire city of dallas will be on suicide watch!

All that said Tim, I would have liked to have a nice running battle with you this finals - perhaps next year!!

 

I wish Flip would have switch off on Shaq and at least attempted to wear him down. Or something. But you have to remember we took care of them early in the season without much hard work. So maybe they figured it wasn't necc.
I think SBC maybe right that something in the locker room got them off focus. Whatever it was it cost them the championship. The team that showed up was not the team that waded easily through the whole NBA.


.......And yeah, I would say having three guys foul shaq instead of one is the same as hack a shaq. I mean it is clear that the orders are for shaq not to get any lay-ups or dunks.

 

When the players are playing so well, it gives Avery a lot of options and he's using those options to great advantage.

The playoffs are so magnified that even one loss seems to spell doom for the losing team. I think it was Kevin McHale who once said that if you win a game in the playoffs you're the greatest team ever, but if you lose, you're the worst piece of **** to ever play the game.

All is not lost yet for Miami. I expect that Riley making some adjustments, plus home cooking will help Miami win a couple of games.

 

Or maybe it was... as I said awhile back, maybe they just weren't that good after all.

Being a Braves fan, I've seen it repeatedly. Dominate the regular season. Flop in the playoffs. Play with great consistency all year long... but just don't have a next gear when it comes to the playoffs. Most of that has to do with attitude and knowing how to peak at the right time.

That's what I'd do... and it is the only reason Shaq isn't one of the top 3 or 4 centers of all time. He isn't a complete player. He can't shoot free throws.

If you foul Shaq on layups 10 times in a game that's a swing of at least 10 points. It just makes sense.

 

So, the lack of free throw shooting is the only reason Shaq isn't one of the top 3 or 4 centers of all time? Would you consider Wilt Chamberlain one of the all-time great centers? Did you know that his career free throw percentage is 51.1? Did you know that Shaq's career free throw percentage is 52.8?

Shaq may not be in the top 3 or 4 centers of all time, but free throw percentage can't be the justification.

 

Shaq is in the top 5 centers of all time regardless of his FT %.

 

how great it would be to see Shaq go toe to toe with Wilt Camberlin? I personally believe that shaq would punish KA Jabbar because of how skinny he was. Shaq going up against Russell would be a different match up because Russell was so defensive minded. The only center near his size and could mach him was Ewing and he was out of his prime when Shaq entered the league. So shaq has some what had it easy as far as being a center.

At this point I would say top centers of all time:

1 Russell
2 Shaq
3 KA Jabbar
4 Wilt
5 H.A. - The Dream! (basically insert your fav here)


I don't know how good Mikan was and I would never vote for Bill Walton so they are not on this list.

What do you think?

 

Those are the top 5 in my mind too, I am not certain on the order other than Russell at #1.

 

Well I would have too totally disagree with the fact that they were not that good for these reasons:

I watch just about every game and all came out with the intensity to beat Detroit the eastern champs. The Pistons were haveing fun as they easly went through the NBA!

Two: Their play did not match the play of earlier in the season. Something disinagreted and it was not because of the other teams. During the playoffs Pistons had plenty of open shots. I don't think anyone really defense the Pistons. They WERE getting the open shots.

three: the pistons did not have use hack a shaq cause they beat them without it. Plus the Heat was shooting over 60%. Shows me no defense and great shooting by the Heat.

No anyone could see that when the Pistons were playing as a team they were simply unstoppable. When they lost that they lost thier ability to win.

I don't know why people hate the Pistons so much. I love the game and I love it when it is played as it should be....a team sport! Much like the Mavs are. The whole team is gettting very much involved. THATS BB!
ONe or two superstars that the refs decide to give special treatment too? You can have it.......I think they call it fake or WWF.

 

A small part of me actually feels sorry for the Piston fans. Their team was the best team in the league during the regular season and then to see them fall apart in the playoffs like that has to hurt.

Then you add on the pain of the Dead Wings loss. Who would have thought the Pistons and Red Wings would choke in the same year.

However, I can't really relate as every year the Chicago Bulls were the best team in the league they brought home a championship