I want to start a poll... "In which finals game will Terry and Payton come to blows?" I say game three...
You also thought the Pistons would roll them, didn't you? I don't remember. I think they are playing much stronger now than they have been all year - at just the right time. I agree though that Dallas will be tough, particularly with the depth they've shown, but it would be a mistake to continue to underestimate Miami, I think.
Don't you remember how Yao and T-Mac DOMINATED Dallas? The experience might help... but Miami has far more reliable "other" options than the Rockets did. The Rockets were throwing Clarence Weatherspoon, Ryan Bowen, and Scott Padgett at them from the 4 spot, for christ's sake. Payton, Williams, Haslem, Walker, Posey, Shandon, and Zo make up a formidable bench/role-player ensemble... hell, that ensemble would have beaten this year's Rockets (minus T-Mac) in a 7 game series. The Rockets lost that series because they truly had no other options... Miami has a chance if those guys come thru.
Come on, I know Dallas is a ****ty city, but the Mavs are a very likable team, for some reason, and I never EVER thought I would EVER say this, but they have grown on me this year. They have alot of fight in them, and it was awesome to see them dethrone stupid San Antonio and homosexual Ginobili. I wish the Rockets were there, but I root for all TX teams in any championship setting, and we should be pulling for Dallas. Flame me all you want!!! I mean, I hate Cuban, but look what he did for that team. They were the worst of the worst, but he got the right players, got the fans involved, and many other great things for that city. Houston should follow suit, but we have a stiff for an owner, with no personality. I would take the Maloofs or Cuban over Alexander any day!!! "ANIMALS HAVE RIGHTS TOO" Remember those Power Dancer shirts, come on!!!!!
hopefully heat in 6...i can't stand gp, j will, zo, and antoine walker, but i hate any and everything associated with dallas hope derek anderson can get a ring! lol
You may see periods when Wade plays SF with williams at the SG and payton at the PG. This may force Dallas to move howard to the SG position and put stackhouse on wade as I don't see howard being strong enough to keep Wade out of the paint. If haslem can play decent defense and make it difficult for Nowitzi then they might be able to play Walker at SF which would give howard problems on the defensive end as Walker is strong enough to overpower howard. Walker isn't too slow as he was able to do a decent job on prince who is quick but not as quick as howard. If walker can cause the matchup problem then Dallas will move howard to Wade and have stackhouse guard Walker. There are so many matchup combinations in this series, it's mindboggling. Here is hoping Miami's power can win out over Dalla's speed.
I have to admit, I got sweeped up in watching Miami finally get over Detroit....it made me think for a second that they might win it all, which is not going to happen. They almost lucked out with Phoenix forcing a game 7, but now the rest factor is negligible. Matchup wise, there are a few essentials that will determine this series. Riley's insistence on overplaying Payton. Getting to watch Gary's non-chalant, "I can't believe I'm backing up Jason Williams" face every game is always great television. The reality is he's a dinosaur who's become an almost guaranteed momentum killer. Combine that with Williams' proclivity for fouling and I don't see how Miami avoids getting in early foul trouble with the way Dallas is going to attack the lane. Jason Terry proving a point. I actually thought this would happen in the Phoenix series, with him having the chance to validate his status by outplaying the guy he replaced (Nash). I'm just going with my gut here in predicting that he'll be clutch again like he was against SA. The mediocrity of the Heat frontcourt. They don't offensively rebound well, Haslem never shows up on the road, Walker's still too hit or miss, Posey's shot is flawed and could disappear, and Zo is no more effective -maybe less so- than Diop or Dampier. Also, because of who he is, people are not even making light of the fact that Shaq was going up against a 6'8 guy during this "resurgence" of his; I don't care if he was defensive player of the year, the form he had against Chicago/NJ is going to be the Shaq that shows up in this series. As long as Avery doesn't overplay Keith Van Horn- who he thinks has "another level" in him- thus allowing Walker to look like an all-star, then Dallas should be fine. The arrival back to Earth of Dwayne Wade. Some might call me crazy, others only slightly so, but I'll say it- D-Wade is OVERRATED. He's developed a Ginobili-like sensibility in his use of the pivot foot, which has allowed him to be amazingly effective running at people from the top of the key, but if Dallas packs it in/zones it against Miami, his average 3 point shot, and that of their backcourt in general, is going to be exposed. I don't think Dallas, unlike Detroit, will hesitate to zone Miami up. They only really beat those kind of schemes when Haslem's allowed to recieved the ball around the free throw line, and I don't see that happening. X-factor: Riley's magic bowl. Unrelated comment- When ESPN is forced to trot out BJ Armstrong as an "NBA expert," you can almost hear the producers screaming into the anchors' mikes-"Remember to say he's a three time world champion damnit!" By far the dumbest commentator in recent memory, and that's saying a lot. Dallas in 5 or 6.
does it seem weird that jason williams might be the starting pg for a championship team? after getting traded from sactown to memphis, i figured he'd bounce around the league from mediocre team to mediocre team the rest of his career, no serious team taking a chance on him. granted, he's not at all why they could or would win, but it just seems weird he might have a ring. same with antoine walker. same with posey, but not to the same degree as the other two. i guess at some point you just reach a critical talent point at which you have to win and win big, no matter how much baggage the talent has.
It will be interesting. Remember that Mavs beat the Heat by an average of 25 in two games in the regular season (Shaq did not play in one game I believe). Dallas has too much shooters and too much speed for the Heat to overcome with. Who is gonna stop DHarris, white chocolate or 50 year old GP? Harris can penetrate the lane whenever he wants. Who can guard Howard on the Heat team? Posey is the best candidate but Howard will abuse them. And finally who is gonna guard this Dirk who has taken him game to another level since game 6 of the Mav-Spurs series? He is going strong to the hoops and Haslem will foul out in 3 quarters if he is on Dirk all the time. And AJ is a great coach. He might use the strategy the Suns used against Shaq (to sandwich him). In the two games against the Suns, Shaq was totally useless and became a huge liability on defense.
Man! I cannot believe the amount "Dallas Hating" going on here. Yes, Mark Cuban is an irrating jerk-ass and it simply creeps me out to see him hoisting the Western Conference Championship trophy last night but I have to give the devil his due. His team is in the big show. My "team" will be sitting home watching on TV. All of this anti-Spur, anti-Mav carping makes us look like a bunch of sore-ass, jealous loser wannabes. I've always said that if you want to blame someone for the current sad-sack state of the Rockets, blame Uncle Les for letting his team slide into mediocrity while blindly sticking with an incompetent GM. As for the series, I agree with those who say it will be Miami's power versus Dallas' speed. Offensively, Dallas has a huge edge but they have no answer for Shaq who's finally playing like he wants to win one more ring. On the other hand, Miami will have the same problem everyone else has with stopping Dirk. This should be a very good series to watch in terms of following the coaching strategy and the moves/countermoves between AJ & Riley. For now, it looks to me like Mavs in 6.
I wish Cuban owned the Rockets......... I want the Mavs to beat the Heat. Then, I want the Rockets to crush the Mavs into a bloody pulp next year. DD
As a Rockets fan, I don't really understand why you'd "root" for the Mavs to win a championship: First of all, how the Heat plays against Dallas will have huge ramifications on the way Houston will be able to compete with them in the coming years. Miami runs essentially the same offense we run, with better players, and they depend on a big-man/SG pick and roll. They also have the same defensive philosohpy (I wonder where JVG got all his tricks), and preach the same grind-it-out attitude that's supposed to be "championship basketball". If Dallas were to overcome all of that, there's no chance in hell that Houston (with lesser players... even next year) will have a fighting chance. Secondly, once Dallas wins a championship, kiss goodbye to any sort of "media love" the league was developing with the Rockets once T-mac got here, and the team started winning in 2005. Houston will be an AFTERTHOUGHT in Texas... much like the Nets are in NY, and the Warriors are in California. They're really no longer an "up and coming" team, even if T-mac stays healthy... Dallas has more younger players to build around, and Dirk is just entering his prime. Hell, once Dallas wins a title, they'll start talking "dynasty". And, it will just further erase the memories of the media/general public that Houston once had a championship calibur team... when people see Texas, they'll think Championship NBA basketball... but only because of the Spurs/Mavs... not Houston. And that sucks.
Yes, I do. I remember how Avery Johnson decided to stop double-teaming Yao and T-Mac and let them "get theirs" after Game 2, thereby shutting down the rest of the team while happily letting Yao-McGrady combine for 60-70 ppg and STILL lose; that adjustment coach Johnson made was what turned the series around to Dallas' favor, all it took was figuring out how to deal with the Rockets, and then the better team prevailed, as usually happens in a 7-game series. Come to think of it, we took a championship-team-in-waiting last year to 7 games, so it might not have been so bad afterall. That's where we're in disagreement: you're mistaking 'talent' for 'reliability' or 'consistency'. No doubt Miami has the better overall talent, but those 'other' players have been far too inconsistent game-to-game for me to consider 'reliable', and when they matchup against a far more consistent team with as much (if not more) talent on their squad, then the inconsistencies of guys like Walker, J.Will, Payton, and Haslem will be further amplified. The ONLY hope Miami has in this series is that their cast of role players play all-out and at least match the Mavs' productive and consistent cast. Excellent point, and that's EXACTLY why I will be watching and dissecting this series like no other, because Miami IS Houston with a better (albeit aging) cast. IMO, Shaq/Wade is about equal to Yao/T-Mac, they employ the EXACT same system, and now it will be like watching an improved Rockets team go up against the same team that beat us in 7 games last season. Let's go over the similarities between the Heat and the Rox: 1) System: JVG is practically a clone of Pat Reilly, everything he's learned is from working under him for a long time. 2) Both teams have a dominant starting center; both teams having aging but effective backup centers who can shut down the interior. 3) Both teams have dominant, dynamic backcourt players who will torch any defense Dallas can muster against them. It should be a very interesting case-study, because I do share your view that how well Miami does against Dallas would be a good gauge of whether or not the Rockets will stand a chance against them in the future without massive improvement over their current state, not to mention a possible change in philosophy.
Wade versus whomever is the worst match-up on the floor Shaq versus Dallas's putrid centers is the 2nd worst match-up on the floor Dirk versus Miami forwards is the 3rd worst match-up on the floor Miami has been a buzz saw in this playoffs, as they were last year until Wade got injured. Shaq and Wade are in terrific shape physically and will get a lot of rest. Dallas was a little fortunate not to lose in the 2nd round, and had some difficulty (trailed games 5 and 6 in the second half) with the worst conference finalist in recent memory. I don't think it will be very close, Dirk will go off a game or two to keep it from being a sweep, but Mia wins in 5 or 6.
