All of those games except the last one were decided in the last minute. No one would've been suprised if OKC had taken game 2, 3 and 4. Since that team was built, they have been doing better and better every year. They will be fine. Wade is already showing major decline, who knows what will happen next year.
A team with a legit big, they had trouble with KG and somewhat with Hibbert. Duncan would of gave them problems too.
Because it gets really boring if one team keeps winning. Or if the competition is so bad that one team keeps winning.
OKC would be crazy to make any radical changes. Nobody was criticizing Scott Brooks before the finals (except maybe for playing Fisher too much)...though I do agree that they need to bring in someone to implement some kind of offense other than Durant/Westbrook iso's. They came into their own after going down 0-2 to the Spurs. They need more time to grow. This series would have been a lot closer had Battier, Chalmers, and Miller not played out of their mind.
We're all Rockets fans here, but don't think we can auto-stop them. We'd have to run the gauntlet too - LA, OKC, SA, Dallas - before we even get to face the EC champs.
Agreed. As good as James was this series, Miami's bench mob really stepped it up. Battier for the first two games, Chalmers for game 4, and Miller in game 5 - all of these performances were ridiculous.
Under this mentality, Eric Spoelstra (the guy who won it this year) should have been fired last year for making it to the finals and losing. The key here is experience, Scott Brooks will learn from this. Plus, he knows what it takes to win championships first hand
Does anyone seriously think that DROSE comes back 100% next year? I think he is 2 yrs away . . at best Rocket River
Only a few teams can overtake the Heat It really depends on this draft and off-season. I think offseason will set the tone for the next 4 years of who will be championship contenders. If no team does anything significant enough in the right direction to make themselves legit championship contenders then I think OKC and Miami will be trading off championships for the next 4-6 years. This is the new age Celtics/Lakers. Here are the needs for each team to maybe overtake Miami or for Miami to stay on top Eastern Conference Spoiler 1. Chicago Rose come back healthy and with a legit jumpshot, Get a legit SG of the future 2. Miami They need a rim protector...bad! Also a young sixth man off the bench...Fab Melo or Quincy Miller perhaps 3. Indiana Get a good starting PG...Steve Nash would be excellent for a couple of years...a good back up big man 4. Boston Too old...Need a legit big man of the future...KG and Ray Allen to come back on the super cheap 5. Atlanta Need a big man...probably should trade Josh Smith for one...upgrade at PG 6. Orlando They got no shot...Howard will be gone and they will have to rebuild 7. New York Trade Stoudamire which is impossible...Carmelo needs to step his game up...get a legit 6th and 7th man off the bench(a big and a wing) 8. Philadelphia need a superstar...don't see that happening, Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday steps their games up, All-star big man of the future, replace Lou Williams when he bolts 9. Milwaukee No chance...Ellis and Jennings don't match...a rim protector post presence who is an All-star 10. Detroit An defensive stalwart big man next to Greg Monroe, get rid of somehow Villanueva and Ben Gordon...won't happen anytime soon, a prolific SG 11. Toronto still rebuilding...no chance...need PG and SG/SF and a better bench 12. New Jersey get Howard, resign D.Will....try to resign G.Wallace on the cheap, get key role players that complement the stars(3 point shooters, pick and roll PF threat) 13. Cleveland have a really good draft this year and next because they will be playoff pretenders for a couple of years now which address C, SF, SG which they can...would be an awesome series...Miami vs Cavs...bet it happens 14. Washington Get a legit SG...get some bench depth, John Wall becomes all-star/borderline superstar 15. Charlotte get 1st or 2nd best player in the next 3 drafts...team is a mess Western Conference Spoiler 1. San Antonio Too old..but well run so...maybe if they get KG(No way), need a superstar of the future to take over...they may need to suck a year for that to happen though 2. Oklahoma City Durant come back with a more rounded game, Westbrook more consistent, Harden...harden up, Ibaka keep expanding his game, Perkins find a legit post move, Maynor should be back which is an upgrade to Fisher 3. LA Lakers Have some scam trade that keeps them relevant(not happening...hopefully) Need the next superstar to take over for Kobe, a legit sixth man off the bench, upgrade SF/PF(Michael Beasley?), better 3PT% 4. Memphis Trade Rudy Gay for a legit 3 point shooter with defense, have Tony Allen come off the bench because a better SG/SF is a starter 5. LA Clippers Blake Griffen develop post game, get a young all-star SG(they should of kept their pick...K.Irving + E.Gordon > C.Paul 3 years from now) 6. Denver get a superstar, Gallinari steps it up, McGee gets his head screwed on tight 7. Dallas too old....get D.Will and good 2012 draft pick, resign J.Kidd as backup, replace J.Terry production, rim protector similar to T.Chandler 8. Utah Kanter and Favors become All-Stars, Upgrade PG 9. Houston Need Superstar, Franchise Center, Prolific Wing...this draft is very important 10. Phoenix Need Super Star...need to rebuild..no chance b/c Nash will be gone and have no star/assets to build around 11. Portland lots of potential, need a PG and C...the two most important postions though...if they draft/trade right could be back in it 2 years from now 12. Minnesota Nice team of potential but need to do some cleaning up, need a Good SG(K.Martin...I guess that is relative), Rubio come back better then ever, get a solid bench 13. Golden State A nice starting line up on paper, potential top 4 team in the West down the line IF Bogut and Curry can stay healthy, draft SG/SF who is great on defense who isn't a liability on offense 14. Sacramento Defensive stalwart big man next to Cousins, let T.Evans go, perimenter stopper, 3 point shooting improvement 15. New Orleans Way too young to be relevant anytime soon...took a HOF in Durant 5 years to get to the Finals...won't be a threat anytime soon...need everything The only teams I see to dethrone the Heat now to 3 years from now are OKC, Spurs, Lakers, Bulls, and whatever team D.Howard is on. The teams of the future who have a shot are OKC, Portland, Minnesota, Golden State, Cleveland, and whatever team D.Howard is on...he is the catalyst because no one on the Heat can stop him. Hopefully Morey has his golden age of drafts and trades to put us here as well. Nobody impacts the game positively more then Dwight Howard outside of Lebron and Durant. His team will be a contender 2 years from now.
In order to be competitive with the Heat you have to have a great defense. As I watched the finals I was appalled at how bad OKC's defense was. The Celtics took them to 7.
Miami is still vulnerable. If you are going to build a team to beat them, you have to look at Miami's strengths and weaknesses. Greatest strength: Lebron and Wade are the best finishers in the game. Weaknesses: Miami does not have a big that can defend a low post center with low post scoring moves and the ability to pass out. I admit they're going to be difficult to beat the next few years barring injuries. But if you look at the last playoffs, the formula is right there with Boston. Boston was just too old and too dinged to get it completely done. But Boston stretched Miami out and exposed them. Miami is vulnerable against a half-court move-the-ball low-turnover, offensively efficient team that plays good defense. 1. When you slow the ball down, work the clock, and come up with good, highly efficient shots that are shot by good shooters, you start to negate one of Miami's greatest advantages...the open court. Now they've got to come back down and set it up. 2. You have all-world two-way players at the positions that Miami is the weakest at, center and point guard. What does Miami do when they are overmatched at point? They run Lebron out there defending the point. Well, guess what. If you've got an all-world point guard, and an all-world center, you've got plenty of options. PnR or just throw it to the big fella on the low block. Oh, so Lebron drops into the post and fronts the center? Listen, you can get away with that against lesser bigs and against teams that just don't play smart. But a good coach with smart, heady perimeter players can tear that up. Besides that, wouldn't you want to see Lebron fronting Dwight in the post? Looking around the league, the possibilities I see from the West are.... 1. OKC - this series ended up being over quick. But the revelation that perk was playing with a torn groin makes me think OKC wasn't at their best. Not to mention, if Ibaka simply continues to develop his offensive game and they stay together, they can and will become even more difficult to deal with. Not to mention Durant working on his post-up game like Lebron has. 2. TWolves - Rubio is an all-world playmaker. You've got Love who is the best PF in the game right now, stretching the floor. They need a low-post player (Gasol) and a couple bigger, longer athletic players that can defend and shoot the 3 consistently at a 40+% clip. And they will be very, very difficult to deal with. Will they get all that done? Dunno. But if they make a trade for Gasol, it is going to get real interesting in Minny. 3. Any other team that can pair up Pau or Dwight with a top-notch point guard like CP3 or DWill and can add guys like Jeffrey Taylor/Nic Batum on the wings. (New Orleans, Portland, Houston) In the Eastern Conference, Chicago is down for the count for a seaon or two and depending on how Rose comes back, it may be over for them. Boston, however, is another story. They've got plenty of cap space. They do have the cap room and trade pieces to combine Dwight and DWill and build out from there. They could mate DWill, Dwight, and Garnett for another 2-3 years. And that would be a good base as long as Garnett stayed effective. If the Nets acquire Dwight, then they can build from there. But it's going to take them at least 2 more seasons even if they trade for Dwight and re-sign DWill. They simply won't have the other players to add to those two soon enough. As far as immediately competing with Miami next season...... 1. OKC - they're not going anywhere. They will get better. 2. If the Lakers play their cards right, they wouldn't wind up with Dwight and DWill, but if they moved the guy they should move (Bynum) and kept the guy they should keep (Gasol), they could get a quality PG and PF that would flip them right back into championship contention. 3. If New Orleans were able to acquire the Dwight/DWill combo to play with Gordon and Davis...that team would spell some serious trouble. They would be automatic contenders. 4. If Portland could land Dwight and Dwill and still keep Aldridge and Batum, they would have a chance to contend immediately. 5. If the Houston Rockets could acquire Dwight and DWill while retaining Dragic, Parsons, Motie, Camby, and Lee...they would be very tough coming out of the West. 5. If the Spurs could add a multi-dimensional PF that could shoot the 3, defend, and play some post, they can still compete at an elite level for a couple more seasons. Guys, there's one key to these scenarios. It is teaming up Dwight and DWill or Pau and some other top-notch point guard with a few more seasoned guys that can play ball. That's why I am keenly interested in what happens to Dwight/Dwill. Because if those guys team up in the right place, it is a serious power shift in the league and for the Rockets to compete in that environment, they'll have to get Pau and some other pieces to have a chance. So if they don't get the Dwight/Dwill combo and if they don't trade for Pau and some serious help at SG to go with Goran and Scola/Motie, then our chances for competing for championships are nill for at least 3 more seasons. Once these guys team up, get ensconced, and get a chance to add a couple MLE's to the equation, it's going to be tough to beat them until they get old. Guys like Dwight/CP3/DWill/Lebron/Wade/Bosh are so rare. It is difficult enough to acquire just ONE of those type players, much less try to pair up two or three of them with quality teammates. Once Dwight and DWill are gone our window for competing for a championship moves from possibly immediate to several years down the road.
Indiana Pacers in all honesty has the biggest advantage. They must get another dynamic scorer though. :/
They desperately need a go-to scorer and that's the hardest piece to find. They have a lot of talent though. If they could package two out of Granger/George/Collison for a go-to scorer they almost have to take that chance -- the only guy available that comes to mind is Rudy Gay but that would be a huge gamble. That series wouldn't have been nearly as close though if Bosh was healthy the whole time. Miami is a different kind of beast with Bosh.
