BUT ............ Dirk is going to get beat the fuck up ...Memphis,San Antonio and Phoenix are the 3 softest teams in the NBA ....Miami is on the opposite end ....will the NBA protect Dirk early ??
Wade BETTER win now because that team is old and this is their last run FOREVER (they have to pay the kid)
Dallas matches up better with Miami than any other Western Conf team ....Del Harris was hired to beat Shaq ...Don Nelson & Mark Cuban will kill to beat Shaq..
Miami was built for this ....Riley knew he could beat Detroit and Van Gundy couldn't ....exit Van Gundy.....but i'm not sure Pat even knows who the Dallas Mavericks are .....The Heat are a team full of players and coaches everybody hates .....but those dudes are HUNGRY !
Nowhere to go but up for Heat After debacle against Mavs in February, Heat took flight
12:26 AM CDT on Monday, June 5, 2006 By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
MIAMI ??? The Miami Heat's road to the NBA Finals started by bottoming out in Dallas 50 games into the season.
Heat coach Pat Riley said Sunday his team wouldn't be facing the Mavericks on Thursday if not for a 36-point loss in Dallas on Feb. 9.
"A lot of things changed that day," Riley said after his team's first practice in preparation to face the Western Conference champions.
The Mavs had just gone up and down the floor in transition as if the Heat were orange cones on defense.
With each Heat player slumped in his locker in the bowels of American Airlines Center following a 112-76 pounding before a national TV audience, Riley said he and his team were wondering about the direction of their season.
The Heat was 30-20 after the loss. By no means were things in the tank. But Riley was concerned. He had pushed for the acquisitions of Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and Gary Payton ??? players perceived as selfish at other stops. And then he had inserted himself as coach, replacing Stan Van Gundy, 21 games into the season when the Heat had an 11-10 record.
Based on the laugher in Dallas, the Heat looked old, slow and, most importantly, fractured.
That's when Gary Payton and Udonis Haslem, of all people, started a season-changing conversation.
"OK, coach. How are we going to get better?" Payton asked before Riley could address the team after the loss.
It was a pivotal moment because Payton was a newcomer. He was one of the players who had done it other ways with other teams. By Payton basically saying he was ready to take Riley's coaching, it was a message to cornerstones Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade that he was ready to fit in. By extension, it was a message to Williams and Walker that personal issues of starts, rotations and playing time had to be shelved.
Then Haslem lit into the locker room about accepting roles.
"Usually, it's Shaq or myself doing the talking in those situations," said Wade, who is averaging a team-leading 26.2 points in the playoffs. "It was really good that Gary stepped up right there."
O'Neal said Sunday that members of the Heat were still learning about the new players in times of adversity after that loss in Dallas.
"Gary got a lot of people's attention," O'Neal said. "We needed to hear what he had to say. For whatever reason, that's what we needed to hear and who we needed to hear it from."
Riley agreed.
"Gary asked me how we were going to get better," he said. "And from that day on, we got better. That's what that game did for us.
"It humiliated us and embarrassed us enough on national television to start coming together and doing the things we'd been talking about. Suddenly, we quit worrying about who was shooting, who was playing and what the rotation was. It was a crossroads for us."
Walker said, "We're a totally different team now. We decided there in Dallas we had to get back to playing team basketball. Guys made a commitment to try to get this thing right."
The Heat beat the Pistons three days later, starting a 10-game win streak. The Heat won 15 of its next 16, developing the kind of confidence and camaraderie that would help carry it into the playoffs.
The Heat hasn't played the Mavericks since bottoming out.
"Playing in Dallas Thursday will serve as a nice reminder of all the team-building we've done since," O'Neal said.
Dwain Wade: "Josh Howard covers me as good as anyone in the league"
As much as y'all wanna get after me, I'm not making this stuff up fellas.
Cm'on, "As good as anyone"? How about "Better than anyone else". That would be actually saying something.
There's a HUGE difference between those statements, the former of which is just some throw-the-guy-a-bone cookie-cutter blandness.
I was paraphrasing a paraphrase I heard on sports radio this AM. I believe the quote came from his Sunday Night Conversation last night, which may be linked on ESPN's site.
You guys are sleeping on the most underrated point guard in the league:
Dude was milk carton 'till game 6 of the Pistons series. Gary Payton gets his crunch- time minutes. Your the only one pumpin' this cat up to be better than what he is. Swap him w/ Nash and the Suns wouldnt look as good.
You guys are sleeping on the most underrated point guard in the league:
Dude was milk carton 'till game 6 of the Pistons series. Gary Payton gets his crunch- time minutes. Your the only one pumpin' this cat up to be better than what he is. Swap him w/ Nash and the Suns wouldnt look as good.
His game 6 was amazing, though.
jwill wasn't milk carton status, he just picks and chooses his opportunities. look for big things coming from the originator of the towel-on-the-head look in the finals.
Will KVH get some burn during the Finals, or will we see him have the same minutes as the previous series.
Good question. Who knows what Avery will do? I would like to think he can contribute in this series, especially since he is the only Mav player w/ NBA Finals experience.
I just hope I don't see KVH guarding Shaq any. That's 6 fouls in 2 minutes right there. That is where the Mbenga suspension hurts a little...he's the third 7 footer the Mavs could potentially use to throw some fouls at Shaq.
My prediction would be KVH to play 10-16 mins a game as Dirk's backup at the 4. Hopefully he gets his 3 point stroke back. He was broke as fuck in the Suns series, but he was huge in the G7 against SA.
Will KVH get some burn during the Finals, or will we see him have the same minutes as the previous series.
Good question. Who knows what Avery will do? I would like to think he can contribute in this series, especially since he is the only Mav player w/ NBA Finals experience. When did he go to the Finals? Refresh my memory. That Nets team that took the Bulls to game 5 in the first round was tha' shit.
Will KVH get some burn during the Finals, or will we see him have the same minutes as the previous series.
Great shot of KVH dunking over Chris Anderson who just may have the most interesting personal story in the NBA!!
Chris is from tiny Iola, Texas but was literally dropped off at an Orphanage along with his sister at a very early age by his Hippie/Artist Dad who was going to Cali after divorcing their Mom.
When he was 15 his "Biker" Mom regained parental rights and enrolled him at Iola High School which had a graduating class of 23!! He dominated the 2-A Division in High School but received NO offers from a Division I College and wound up playing at Blinn Jr. College where he flunked out and went overseas for a year.
He got some attention at an NBA Tryout Camp mainly because he was 6:11 and could jump out the gym!!
Signed an NBA contract, was in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2 years ago and is now OUT of the league due to failed drug tests.
A tragic story all the way around....I hope he can get his self together and get back in the game.
The key to this whole thing is Shaquille. If they run the offense through him properly, the Mavs will be in deep trouble. Too many fouls, too many easy buckets where they can set their defense up. I know most guys hate the Big Aristotle cause he ain't the brightest bulb out there but he is one of the last really good people in the league. I think he plays for the fun of it and it shows. In short. Heat, Heat, Heat.
Well, apparently Shaq is (smartly) not going to take any potshots at Erick Dampier...yet. Was listening to Dallas sports radio this morning and apparently Shaq wouldn't touch the topic even when being prodded by Dallas reporters. His quote "this is gonna be a classy Finals so no smack talk". You'll recall that on SAS' show earlier this year, Shaq called him "Erica" and called him a "WNBA center".
I don't think it's really fair to gloss Shaq as a "dim bulb". Almost everything that comes out of his mouth is calculated and for effect, and there are few more caring and generous athletes out there. I ain't rootin for him and his team, but Shaq is one of the good guys for sure.
I know most guys hate the Big Aristotle cause he ain't the brightest bulb out there but he is one of the last really good people in the league. I think he plays for the fun of it and it shows.
Shaq has a GREAT sense of humor and I take that as a sign of a bright person, not dim in the least. And I do think he's a genuinely, down to earth, good person.
He acts like he is not interested in being interviewed after a game when there are 10 microphones in his face but many times he'll call reporters over and give them a one on one which most superstars would NEVER do.
Plus he had the funniest one liner I've ever heard on a local radio show when he was asked "Isn't it weird to play against someone like Earl Boykins who's so short he only come up to your penis" to which Shaq replied without hesitation..
"Earl Boykins IS my penis"!!!
It baffles me as to why people dislike Shaq.....I wonder if he would be better liked if he got into trouble off the court or carried himself in a "Gangsta" style??
Shaq is one of the guys in sports I'd love to sit down and eat dinner with....and is probably the only guy out there who I can feel Ok about if he beats my Mavs!!
And I've waited since day one of the Mavs for them to reach the Finals!!
Rock, you are the king of the well-placed anecdote.
I wonder if "Birdman" will ever make it back to the league? I wonder what drug got him banned? Gotta be blow....can't see a smacked-out dude succeding in the Association.
Comments
BUT ............ Dirk is going to get beat the fuck up ...Memphis,San Antonio and Phoenix are the 3 softest teams in the NBA ....Miami is on the opposite end ....will the NBA protect Dirk early ??
Wade BETTER win now because that team is old and this is their last run FOREVER (they have to pay the kid)
Dallas matches up better with Miami than any other Western Conf team ....Del Harris was hired to beat Shaq ...Don Nelson & Mark Cuban will kill to beat Shaq..
Miami was built for this ....Riley knew he could beat Detroit and Van Gundy couldn't ....exit Van Gundy.....but i'm not sure Pat even knows who the Dallas Mavericks are .....The Heat are a team full of players and coaches everybody hates .....but those dudes are HUNGRY !
should be a great series.... Dallas in 7
Diop/Dampier > BEN WALLACE.................
Surprised to see the deposed champs referred to as soft...
As much as y'all wanna get after me, I'm not making this stuff up fellas.
Cm'on, "As good as anyone"? How about "Better than anyone else". That would be actually saying something.
There's a HUGE difference between those statements, the former of which is just some throw-the-guy-a-bone cookie-cutter blandness.
Okay, fair enough. But it beats the sentiment of "Josh has no chance".
After debacle against Mavs in February, Heat took flight
12:26 AM CDT on Monday, June 5, 2006
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
MIAMI ??? The Miami Heat's road to the NBA Finals started by bottoming out in Dallas 50 games into the season.
Heat coach Pat Riley said Sunday his team wouldn't be facing the Mavericks on Thursday if not for a 36-point loss in Dallas on Feb. 9.
"A lot of things changed that day," Riley said after his team's first practice in preparation to face the Western Conference champions.
The Mavs had just gone up and down the floor in transition as if the Heat were orange cones on defense.
With each Heat player slumped in his locker in the bowels of American Airlines Center following a 112-76 pounding before a national TV audience, Riley said he and his team were wondering about the direction of their season.
The Heat was 30-20 after the loss. By no means were things in the tank. But Riley was concerned. He had pushed for the acquisitions of Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and Gary Payton ??? players perceived as selfish at other stops. And then he had inserted himself as coach, replacing Stan Van Gundy, 21 games into the season when the Heat had an 11-10 record.
Based on the laugher in Dallas, the Heat looked old, slow and, most importantly, fractured.
That's when Gary Payton and Udonis Haslem, of all people, started a season-changing conversation.
"OK, coach. How are we going to get better?" Payton asked before Riley could address the team after the loss.
It was a pivotal moment because Payton was a newcomer. He was one of the players who had done it other ways with other teams. By Payton basically saying he was ready to take Riley's coaching, it was a message to cornerstones Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade that he was ready to fit in. By extension, it was a message to Williams and Walker that personal issues of starts, rotations and playing time had to be shelved.
Then Haslem lit into the locker room about accepting roles.
"Usually, it's Shaq or myself doing the talking in those situations," said Wade, who is averaging a team-leading 26.2 points in the playoffs. "It was really good that Gary stepped up right there."
O'Neal said Sunday that members of the Heat were still learning about the new players in times of adversity after that loss in Dallas.
"Gary got a lot of people's attention," O'Neal said. "We needed to hear what he had to say. For whatever reason, that's what we needed to hear and who we needed to hear it from."
Riley agreed.
"Gary asked me how we were going to get better," he said. "And from that day on, we got better. That's what that game did for us.
"It humiliated us and embarrassed us enough on national television to start coming together and doing the things we'd been talking about. Suddenly, we quit worrying about who was shooting, who was playing and what the rotation was. It was a crossroads for us."
Walker said, "We're a totally different team now. We decided there in Dallas we had to get back to playing team basketball. Guys made a commitment to try to get this thing right."
The Heat beat the Pistons three days later, starting a 10-game win streak. The Heat won 15 of its next 16, developing the kind of confidence and camaraderie that would help carry it into the playoffs.
The Heat hasn't played the Mavericks since bottoming out.
"Playing in Dallas Thursday will serve as a nice reminder of all the team-building we've done since," O'Neal said.
I was paraphrasing a paraphrase I heard on sports radio this AM. I believe the quote came from his Sunday Night Conversation last night, which may be linked on ESPN's site.
Dude was milk carton 'till game 6 of the Pistons series. Gary Payton gets his crunch- time minutes.
Your the only one pumpin' this cat up to be better than what he is. Swap him w/ Nash and the Suns wouldnt look as good.
His game 6 was amazing, though.
jwill wasn't milk carton status, he just picks and chooses his opportunities. look for big things coming from the originator of the towel-on-the-head look in the finals.
What FINALS has he been to?
none, i said expect big things.
Awesome for you, but you best pipe down if you reppin Heat at AAC.
Naw, I wish I was though....connects came through for the WCF but I bet those Finals tix are long gone.
Mavs v. Heat = American Airlines Center v. American Airlines Arena. lol.
Will KVH get some burn during the Finals, or will we see him have the same minutes as the previous series.
Good question. Who knows what Avery will do? I would like to think he can contribute in this series, especially since he is the only Mav player w/ NBA Finals experience.
I just hope I don't see KVH guarding Shaq any. That's 6 fouls in 2 minutes right there. That is where the Mbenga suspension hurts a little...he's the third 7 footer the Mavs could potentially use to throw some fouls at Shaq.
My prediction would be KVH to play 10-16 mins a game as Dirk's backup at the 4. Hopefully he gets his 3 point stroke back. He was broke as fuck in the Suns series, but he was huge in the G7 against SA.
Good question. Who knows what Avery will do? I would like to think he can contribute in this series, especially since he is the only Mav player w/ NBA Finals experience.
When did he go to the Finals? Refresh my memory.
That Nets team that took the Bulls to game 5 in the first round was tha' shit.
Great shot of KVH dunking over Chris Anderson who just may have the most interesting personal story in the NBA!!
Chris is from tiny Iola, Texas but was literally dropped off at an Orphanage along with his sister at a very early age by his Hippie/Artist Dad who was going to Cali after divorcing their Mom.
When he was 15 his "Biker" Mom regained parental rights and enrolled him at Iola High School which had a graduating class of 23!! He dominated the 2-A Division in High School but received NO offers from a Division I College and wound up playing at Blinn Jr. College where he flunked out and went overseas for a year.
He got some attention at an NBA Tryout Camp mainly because he was 6:11 and could jump out the gym!!
Signed an NBA contract, was in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2 years ago and is now OUT of the league due to failed drug tests.
A tragic story all the way around....I hope he can get his self together and get back in the game.
I don't think it's really fair to gloss Shaq as a "dim bulb". Almost everything that comes out of his mouth is calculated and for effect, and there are few more caring and generous athletes out there. I ain't rootin for him and his team, but Shaq is one of the good guys for sure.
Shaq has a GREAT sense of humor and I take that as a sign of a bright person, not dim in the least. And I do think he's a genuinely, down to earth, good person.
He acts like he is not interested in being interviewed after a game when there are 10 microphones in his face but many times he'll call reporters over and give them a one on one which most superstars would NEVER do.
Plus he had the funniest one liner I've ever heard on a local radio show when he was asked "Isn't it weird to play against someone like Earl Boykins who's so short he only come up to your penis" to which Shaq replied without hesitation..
"Earl Boykins IS my penis"!!!
It baffles me as to why people dislike Shaq.....I wonder if he would be better liked if he got into trouble off the court or carried himself in a "Gangsta" style??
Shaq is one of the guys in sports I'd love to sit down and eat dinner with....and is probably the only guy out there who I can feel Ok about if he beats my Mavs!!
And I've waited since day one of the Mavs for them to reach the Finals!!
I wonder if "Birdman" will ever make it back to the league? I wonder what drug got him banned? Gotta be blow....can't see a smacked-out dude succeding in the Association.
So much word to this. Whatever you think of the guy on the court, off the court, he's a megadude.
lol. This pic is begging for some captions.
keithvanhorn, again speaking truth. i totally agree. if Wade is the catalyst, JDub is the facilitator of the offense.