Players can flop all they want... its the refs fault for deciding to start calling every single one an offensive foul. Did you just see Harris try to semi-flop when he was doubling Shaq, and Shaq stuck his arm out to fend him off? Ridiculous flopping.
I hope JVG is watching this.......Tmac and Yao are better than Wade and Shaq. They surround them with J will, Walker & Haslem.....ROLE players..... The Rockets can do the same with some smart moves. DD
Uh, um, Yao>Shaq. But T-Mac, if healthy, 100%, =Wade. But you take his back into account, and the fact that he won't be the slashing freak he is anymore, uh, Wade>>>>>>>T-MAC(Plus he's younger)
Posey stepped it up. Props to Shandon Anderson. Mourning is a beast defensively the paint is his area.
r u kidding? white chocolate ain't worth a crap. hmmm.... nice. so all those smart passes, all those 3-pters, are woth nothing. you bring me a couple crap like this, and i'm off to the finals too. whooo
Tmac is better than Wade, when healthy. Do you not remember the 04-05 tmac, who took this same Dallas team to 7 games with 2/8 the cast Wade has (Yao and James, and Yao was not as dominant back then, good but not dominant), or carried the magic to 3 different playoff appearences with no help. Tmac also does not get the foul calls, Kobe, Wade and Dirk get. Wade has always had help, look at the squad he had out there today. This year he was better than Tmac because of injuries. Wade is very good, but I dont think at this point he is as good as Tmac.
That was an outstanding DEFENSIVE performance by Shaquille O'Neal, I hope someone commends him for that he was the biggest reason why their zone completely killed the Mavs' offense. The stats might say that Wade was their best performer, but this game was won on the defensive end and on the boards. Shaq (and Zo) not Wade were the biggest factors their so Shaq was the MVP. I liked how Posey played too, I think he should start over Walker and Riley knows it, but he'll keep starting Walker because Walker's ego can't handle being benched. Dirk? Before the season started I said Dirk was great enough to push a team right up to the top (like he did with Germany), but when it comes time to get over the hump he will always fall short. His teammates see him struggle against Miami's pressure zone defense and since he's not a big talker they don't draw any motivation from their superstar. On the other side the Heat players see Shaq hustling his fat ass off on defense, taking charges, running out on three point shooters, and rebounding and they bust their ass too. Yeah that game was a blowout, but it was a joy to watch IMO...
Uh oh, Dallas has lost their chemistry and now they look like the team that played the Suns. If this keeps up, the Heat will win the series. But at this point, I still say Dallas controls their destiny because they have better players. Dirk was just awful. Josh Howard was complete garbage. After 3 days in Dallas, I'm back home now, but I wonder what The Ticket and ESPN103.3 are saying now. Yesterday, it was all about how the Heat only won by two when they played their best game. What's the story now? The game was very sloppy. The Heat were ready to choke at the beginning of the 4th quarter but Dallas couldn't hit a shot. I suppose if the Mavs had made a move Wade would have stepped in and taken over the game. Avery is gonna have to find a way to bring back the cohesion they displayed in the first two games and part of game 3. Right now, it would be such a huge disappointment for them that I would feel sorry for the Mavs if they lost the series. boomer, I'm sorry, but Wade is every bit as good as Tracy. I don't like admitting it but the truth is the truth. Wade doesn't have the variety of moves, the 3 point shot, the length or Tracy's ability to finish with the left hand. But he's every bit as effective; that is a fact. It's not what you CAN do; it's what you PRODUCE. Wade has produced as well as can be expected by a mere mortal. When Tracy's shot selection and FG% improves, then let's debate.
Couple of thoughts on this one: *Dwayne Wade might have the best shot selection out of any superstar guard I have EVER seen. Just incredible how patient he is with the shot. You rarely ever see him force something. It's unfortunate for him that he's so small and so much of his game relies on his athleticism. *Posey and Shandon Anderson were the difference in this one. My God, Shandon Anderson is the worst offensive player not named Ryan Bowen that I have ever seen. I have never seen an NBA guard not be able to pass, shoot, OR dribble. But his defensive intensity was huge tonite and was a huge reason the Heat pulled away. Same with Posey of course. He was everywhere *I simply cannot expound on just how bad Gary Payton has become. *I don't understand why the Rockets don't play zone in situations where teams try to exploit Yao on defense. Miami wasn't even affected when Dallas tried to make Shaq guard Dirk. We've seen so many teams just take Yao completely out of the game making him have to guard forwards. It makes no sense why we wouldn't use zone in these situations.
They scored 7 in the fourth... And on that note I loved that the Heat didn't let them carry anything in to game 5, they have absolutely nothing to look at on tape and say, "See, we did do some things correctly". Anyway, RR, Avery Johnson was outcoached big time, he had absolutely no answer for that zone. Plus it looked like he choked because he didn't even try to do anything, as if he was frozen in time not realizing that his team was letting a championship slip out of their hands. Didn't sub as much, didn't yell at the players or the refs, he probably needed to get a technical just to try and motivate his team in some way, because they were playing scared. That zone is huge man, Charlie Murphy and Stack can't get anything because most of their baskets come off taking their man one on one, they have no idea how to attack that zone.
Off the top of my head, it's because we don't have the height or athleticism to close on shooters quickly enough. The Mavs would just play hot potato until they found a hole, which in the Rockets perimeter D, would probably take about half the shot clock.
Heat won the rebounding battle 48 to 36, 3 out of 4 games were won by the team that got the most rebounds (game 1 was 48-46 Heat), so why don't people talk about this? Why is it all about offense?
