heh thats the way it is with some of these kids. they figure that if you are pushing 30 you should be getting ready to apply for Social Security and walk with a cane. "Last day: Capricorn 29s. Year of the city 2274. Carousel begins."
Miami as a team only made 30% of their 3-point attempts. ALL of their damage came from getting points into the paint. Dallas, on the other hand, hardly ever attacked the basket and became primarily a jump shooting team. Isn’t that maybe a sign that adding another jump shooter like Reddick isn’t the way to go?
I see it as a sign that it is. If they had some guys knocking down threes, they would have won by that much more. Redick's free throw shooting may have been helpful as well considering they are so bad as a team.
IDK what you're talking about, but place Wade instead of Nowitzki and Stackhouse on Dallas Dallas wins in 6
You play the cards you are dealt. We have Yao and TMac. Yao will not often be the trailer on a fast break. Dallas is built on everything you just described ...and lost. Miami won because they had the best player on the court ala Hakeem, Jordan and Duncan. Team youth and athleticism rarely, if ever, wins champsionships. Seriously? Do you watch basketball? That dunk over Shawn Bradley two years ago could only have been accomplished by Dirk when he is dreaming about Hasselhoff. Last season TMac relied on jumpshooting because his back. A healthy TMac is NOTHING like Dirk. Completely different players. Wade, Kobe, TMac and James are similar players. Dirk ...is not similar.
It’s a sign that a team with quick aggressive guards that can break down the defense, get in the paint, and draw fouls has a better chance at winning a championship than a team full of guards that all rely on the jump shot. The finals made it blatantly clear what kind of players (penetrators/slashers) are going to benefit most from the NBA’s rule changes. If the Mavs so much as sneezed on Wade on his way to the basket, he would have drawn a foul.
Dallas was built on those things and it helped get them into the NBA finals. They just happened to run into a team with a dominant player (Wade) that was younger, faster, quicker, and more athletic than anyone on their team. One dunk does not make him a slasher. A vast majority of Mcgrady’s points during that series came from jump shots near the top of the key. Mcgrady is a jump shooter, plain and simple. His bread and butter is his jumper. In fact, I would say Dirk goes to the basket and draws more fouls than Mcgrady does. Afterall, Dirk did just break the record for most free throws in playoff history. Further more, I have no idea why you would want him attack the basket like Wade, considering his back problems. Long term, it makes absolutely no sense
Why do people always associate this movement to quicker, more skilled players as a "run and gun", no defense, all transition strategy. For example, running a quicker SF/PF hybrid at the 4 spot is more about creating mismatches in the halfcourt game. Getting someone like a Dirk or a Marion who is very difficult to contain by a traditional PF. And if you already have an advantage at the C, like we do, then that mismatch gets magnified because if they go small and move their PF over to the C, then Yao can go to town and wear down the smaller defender.
Give T-Mac the chance to be in the Finals, and I guarantee you he will drop 40 every night. The guy has phenomenal talent surpassed by none in the league. He's just a bit slow to show it sometimes, but presented with such an opportunity there is no doubt he would explode. That being said, we are already on the way to the Finals next year. Wade was on the cover of NBA Live 06 and he won it. T-Mac is on Live 07. Lets hope for the best!
They ran into a team with a more dominant player ...period. His youth is irrelevant. Duncan was stronger, more consistent and dominating than... Shaq was bigger, stronger and harder to contain than... Jordan was smarter, grittier and more clutch than... Dream was quicker, more veritile, tougher on defense than... Want me to go on? Youth rarely, if ever, wins championships. Wade won this champsionship because he was surrounded by vets. Dallas LOST this series BECAUSE of their youth. I'm worried about Dallas next season, however. They now have paid their dues. But I doubt they ever win because star players win championships and Dirk doesn't have "IT". Again, do you watch basketball? That said, I'll agree with you that TMac relies on his jump shot too much sometimes particularly when his back is hurting ...which is understandable. But to compare TMac's style to Dirk is just plain silly. I can't have this conversation with you. I feel you are so off-base that we won't ever be able to have a rational conversation.
His youth and athleticism is totally relevant. How the hell do you think he was able to get to the basket with such ease? Do you honestly think he would be able to dominate the way he did if not for his explosive athleticism? And do you honestly think a team full of slow veteran guards would stand a snowball's chance in hell of keeping up with superquick guards such as Wade? Well, let’s look at some numbers. According to 82games.com, last season, 79% of Mcgrady shots last season were jump shots. The year prior, it was 77%. In the past two seasons, 80% and 82% of Dirk’s shots were jumpers. Pretty close. In comparison, 60% of Wade’s shots this past season were jumpers. The year prior, it was only 53%. And 64% of LeBron James’ shots were jump shots. I don’t see why you find it so ludicrous that I would compare Mcgrady with Dirk. Outside of Dirk being white and a few inches taller, their games are very similar, in terms of what they look to do on offense.
. Well we know that Redick has almost the same stats as Wade and Reddick is a much better jump shooter. So Rockets draft Reddick. Reddick = Wade athletically. Reddick > Wade as jump shooter. Reddick > Wade or Nowitzki Reddick >? than TMac or >? Yao. So, Rockets = Champions 2007.
Finally I am hearing people talk about getting some players with experience. I know we are sick of the old injured players but hey who's to say that the younger players don't get injured too? Tmac had problems with his back. Raefer, Swift, and even Yao got injured. I am not saying we should be looking to get some dinosaurs but we should be looking to get some experienced vets that can contribute. Smart players that know the game and can play their roles. I completely agree with Pat Riley's statement of getting 15 deep. Tmac and Yao are not getting any younger. They are ready to start winning rings now. I don't think it is the time to be looking for a bunch of rookies that we can only hope will develop into a player we want them to be. I say bring back Sam I am to start at the pg but get him a younger pg to play behind him. Get us some vets that still have gas and has the heart and urge to win that ring. There needs to be some sense of urgency in our players and i don't see us finding it in the rookies.
It is relevant ONLY for Wade. Most championship teams win because they had the best player on the court. The best player RARELY is best because of youth and athleticism. Wade doing it is the exception and not the rule and as such is NOT the model for other teams. Please give me ONE more example of a finals MVP that won where the player's best asset was youth and athleticism. The model for a champsionship team is to put experienced role players next to one of the most dominant players in the game. THAT is the model ...not youth and athleticsm. To win champsionships, you make the other team play your style. If you try to "keep up" with the other team's strenghts, you'll lose. We won't beat the Suns, for example, by "keeping up" with them. We have to slow down the game and pound the ball into Yao. Okay, you are making a valid point ...statistically. But it only takes watching the two play ONCE to realize that those stats don't tell the whole story. TMac and Dirk have a very different style of play. TMac has length and quickness that maybe he doesn't use to his fullest ability ...but it is there. The mere threat of it changes how he is defensed. When drawing up game plans, I don't imagine teams spent much time worrying about Dirk driving to the basket because they know there is time to rotate. Once TMac decides to go to the rack, he's gone ...like Wade.
As long as the Rox think Yao+McGrady+misc scrubs=REALLY HOT TEAM we are doomed to seasons like the one we just went through. The Rockets have not shown they can bring heathy & productive veterans to our team, period (incl. IMHO, TMac). As long as the team is so weak McGrady is forced to lead the league in minutes (again) we can expect more of the same disappointment we had this season (and in the spirit of the Veteran=GOOD, youth=BAD idea the Rox seem to operate on these days my prediction for next year is we will trade Luther for some over the hill scrub who will contribute for a week and a half and then will be a permanent fixture on the bench or injured list AND we'll draft the Italian guy that will never be ready for the NBA to add to our other foreign players that will never be good enough for the NBA). Hope not, but that is what I've come to expect....
I gotta disagree with the TEAM>YOUTH title; it was D-Wade that powered Miami to the Championship. If I were Mavrick Fan, I wouldn't be too dissappointed. Sure, they came in second place, but they are just going to keep going up with their core guys getting only better. I'd be suprised if they didn't win a ring in the next five years. Miami, on the other hand, has three over-the-hill all-stars (Shaq, Mourning, Payton), one in decline (Employee #8), and a bench that is not so deep after the Shaq trade. Sure, they have Wade for his career, but I don't think they have a snowball's chance in hell of repeating next year. In fact, I would try to unload the oldsters while they still have some trade value and start rebuilding now.
The model for a championship team is to build a team that has no exploitable weaknesses and to have a good blend of youth and veteran players. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve already reached our veteran quota with Howard, Mcgrady, Alston, Wesley, and Mutombo. Now if every single team around the league is getting younger and faster as the NBA continues to make rules that favor those type of players, why in the world would we want to get slower and older? That’s a sure-fire way of getting exploited in the playoffs. The league is changing and the Rockets have to change with it. Centers used to dominate everything. Now Steve Nash wins two MVPs in a row. Billups wins the Finals MVP two years ago, Wade wins the Finals MVP this year, and Shaq is a complete nonfactor in the finals. You act like the Heat veteran players were all so outstanding in the Finals, but all of them played below expectations. Walker, JWill, and Payton shot in the mid 30’s and Shaq looked like a shell of his former self. The Heat won for 2 reasons: one was Dwayne Wade playing outstanding and two was Udonis Haslem keeping Dirk in check the entire series. And guess what? those are the two youngest and most athletic players on that team. Explain to me this, if those veterans were so integral to the Heat championship and there’s no way the Heat would have won with younger role players, how did their veteran leadership allow the Heat to make so many silly turnovers and miss so many free throws? You would think, with a veteran team, that wouldn’t happen.
yes the difference is is that miami's superstar > dallas superstar, and miami had the players around wade to do it, personally yao wud have done more, and tmac wud be tmac, but we still wouldnt beat up cuz outside of them two, we have no walker payton mourning posey j.williams haslem, etc, our role players are a whole level below the role players of miami and dallas...and phoenix, san antonio, and alot of other teams aswell
