Has anyone mentioned that Miami's current playoff mastery has coincided with competition against Chicago, New Jersey and a poorly functioning Detroit?
Sayin, K.
So Miami would have lost to a properly functioning Detroit?
If Detroit had internal problems or were just exhausted playin against the Cavs, so what. This the Playoffs. How does this take away from the Heat's victory. Are Chicago and New Jersey unworthy opponents?
Dallas played against an injured Raja Bell/no Amare/no Thomas, does that make Dallas' victories suspect?
Explain yourself?
Their calibre of opponents have been soft - they haven't been tested. Guess this is the time to prove it.
I dont remember him taking only 5 shots when Kobe was "hogging" the ball
this shit has been beautiful to watch
That wasn't all Shaq's fault though. Part of it was that the Heart perimeter players couldn't hit shit so the Mavs just swarmed on Shaq and made it hard to get the ball to him. Another part was that he often got doubled and passed out of it quickly and never got the ball back. And part of it is that Shaq's not as dominant as he use to be.
Through the first two games of the NBA Finals, the Mavs have shown themselves to be a far more complete team. They have more quickness, versatility, balance and depth. They can put penetrators, scorers and workers on the court at the same time. That's something the Heat cannot match.
To make matters worse for the Heat, the Mavericks have done a great job of running double teams at a completely ineffective Shaquille O'Neal with another big man every time he touches the ball. They have crowded the Heat big man and never allowed him to use his 340 pounds to generate momentum toward the rim. Shaq has done a decent job finding shooters and reading the weakside of the Mavs defense, but the Heat shooters have been wildly inconsistent.
The Mavericks' defense on Dwyane Wade in Game 2 was equally stellar. They put defenders in his driving lanes, contested his finishes and forced him to make pull-up jumpers and perimeter shots, his one remaining weakness.
I thought this blurb said a lot. From dallasnews.com
Stackhouse doesn't have time for fun and games
Jerry Stackhouse was in no mood to offer any insights into the wacky pronouncements of Shaquille O'Neal.
Sporting three stitches across the bridge of his nose, Stackhouse dismissed a question before Game 2 about Shaq's alien origin story.
"Hey man, I ain't got time for games," Stackhouse said. "We are at the world's finals. If Shaq wants to have some fun and comedy with you guys, that's great. But for us it's all about business, like it has been all year."
One last quip before i walk off into the sun.............
Will Josh Howard have a brakeout game? Will he have to?
Stands to reason he might. JET had one. Stack had one. Damps had one in a sense. Should be Josh's turn in the rotation soon. Dirk's just been steady and puttin in work on the boards.
Its a wrap. UNCLE. You wont here shit from me anymore.
Congradulations Dallas fans.
Now who are u gonna argue with GP?
As a Mavs fan since day one(They joined the NBA the year I moved from NY to Dallas) I have been waiting for this a long time.
We have gone through ups and downs that were rollercoaster-like until Mark Cuban bought the team.
Went to the West Championship in the 80's only to be beat in Game 7.
Had to live through Ross Perot owning and not giving a shit about the team.
Years of abuse from Sir Charles Barkley who made the Mavs his own personal punch line.
Even here on SS our resident Hoops Expert Phill Most picked the Mavs to finish 8th in the West this year.........8th!!!!!!
And now it looks like it's FINALLY time to celebrate.
For those NBA fans out there who have enjoyed watching the Mavs in this Post Season you have to understand that the Mavs have been the most exciting team to watch in the NBA for the last 5 years.
Watching Dirk evolve, making incredibly smart draft picks like Josh Howard and Devin Harris.....signing the undrafted Marquis Daniels......and proving that NBA cast offs like Stackhouse, Jason Terry and Damp/Diop were indeed good players when placed in the right role for them.
And this year having the genius of Avery Johnson coaching is really what's put us over the top.
Miami can still come back....stranger things have happened...but to this point it's the Mavs year and I can finally be proud to be a MFFL!!!!(Mavs Fan For Life before some of you jokers start getting creative).
that shit was kinda ill. I called game when he hit those string of treys. The Mavs are too deep. Shaq was THE man (in his private mind garden) in LA, he's since retreated quite a bit in his demeanor and skills (aka past his prime). Dallas in 5.
that shit was kinda ill. I called game when he hit those string of treys. The Mavs are too deep. Shaq was THE man (in his private mind garden) in LA, he's since retreated quite a bit in his demeanor and skills (aka past his prime). Dallas in 5.
I believe this game had the 7th and 8th 4 point plays in the history of the finals. That's kinda wild. Stackhouse was mashin' on those 3's. Whole game was debauchery on the part of Dallas, great job.
that shit was kinda ill. I called game when he hit those string of treys. The Mavs are too deep. Shaq was THE man (in his private mind garden) in LA, he's since retreated quite a bit in his demeanor and skills (aka past his prime). Dallas in 5.
shaq doesn't work hard enough, on and off the court. if he REALLY wanted to score, there is no way dallas could hold him to 5 points. you have to see shaq in person to understand how much of a physical presence he is. dude is a monster.
i'm glad he got though. i've never been a fan of shaq and officially joined the hater club when he started beefing with kobe.
if i were Riley i'd move shaq out of the low-low post and bring him up to start setting more on the ball screens for williams and wade. dallas can collapse on shaq down low and double off of miami's lousy front court. however, if shaq starts out high and sets picks for miami's (solid) backcourt, dallas can't afford to double.
the problem is that shaq is very lazy and might not have the stamina to move his fat ass out of the post.
dirk threw a pretty decent oop, but someone needed to set a pick on wade...dwyane was on some matrix shit when neo first figured out he can dodge bullets. took over and did whatever the fuck he wanted for the last stretch of that game.
i dont know who to root against...shaq or van horn dont know who to root for...dirk or wade tiebreaker is aj over douchey pat riley. go mavs
hope its a good series. i was hoping for OT tonight
hope its a good series. i was hoping for OT tonight
Yes, finally a good game. Game 2 was such a blowout I didn't even watch the 4th quarter and only part of the 3rd. This was more like I was hoping for, but it's so short lived. Dallas is just such a better team it's almost a joke right now. Miami's little dudes are completely inconsistent with their shooting from the outside, their perimeter defense is crap, they have no bench, etc. etc.etc.
Comments
Yuichi, clean out your PMs!
Thought this was supposed to be his big game. Now it's the next one.
this shit has been beautiful to watch
That wasn't all Shaq's fault though. Part of it was that the Heart perimeter players couldn't hit shit so the Mavs just swarmed on Shaq and made it hard to get the ball to him. Another part was that he often got doubled and passed out of it quickly and never got the ball back. And part of it is that Shaq's not as dominant as he use to be.
Through the first two games of the NBA Finals, the Mavs have shown themselves to be a far more complete team. They have more quickness, versatility, balance and depth. They can put penetrators, scorers and workers on the court at the same time. That's something the Heat cannot match.
To make matters worse for the Heat, the Mavericks have done a great job of running double teams at a completely ineffective Shaquille O'Neal with another big man every time he touches the ball. They have crowded the Heat big man and never allowed him to use his 340 pounds to generate momentum toward the rim. Shaq has done a decent job finding shooters and reading the weakside of the Mavs defense, but the Heat shooters have been wildly inconsistent.
The Mavericks' defense on Dwyane Wade in Game 2 was equally stellar. They put defenders in his driving lanes, contested his finishes and forced him to make pull-up jumpers and perimeter shots, his one remaining weakness.
Stackhouse doesn't have time for fun and games
Jerry Stackhouse was in no mood to offer any insights into the wacky pronouncements of Shaquille O'Neal.
Sporting three stitches across the bridge of his nose, Stackhouse dismissed a question before Game 2 about Shaq's alien origin story.
"Hey man, I ain't got time for games," Stackhouse said. "We are at the world's finals. If Shaq wants to have some fun and comedy with you guys, that's great. But for us it's all about business, like it has been all year."
Congradulations Dallas fans.
Now who are u gonna argue with GP?
I got some cats on emails that still wanna HATT.
One last quip before i walk off into the sun.............
Will Josh Howard have a brakeout game? Will he have to?
Stands to reason he might. JET had one. Stack had one. Damps had one in a sense. Should be Josh's turn in the rotation soon. Dirk's just been steady and puttin in work on the boards.
This is all so gratifying.
As a Mavs fan since day one(They joined the NBA the year I moved from NY to Dallas) I have been waiting for this a long time.
We have gone through ups and downs that were rollercoaster-like until Mark Cuban bought the team.
Went to the West Championship in the 80's only to be beat in Game 7.
Had to live through Ross Perot owning and not giving a shit about the team.
Years of abuse from Sir Charles Barkley who made the Mavs his own personal punch line.
Even here on SS our resident Hoops Expert Phill Most picked the Mavs to finish 8th in the West this year.........8th!!!!!!
And now it looks like it's FINALLY time to celebrate.
For those NBA fans out there who have enjoyed watching the Mavs in this Post Season you have to understand that the Mavs have been the most exciting team to watch in the NBA for the last 5 years.
Watching Dirk evolve, making incredibly smart draft picks like Josh Howard and Devin Harris.....signing the undrafted Marquis Daniels......and proving that NBA cast offs like Stackhouse, Jason Terry and Damp/Diop were indeed good players when placed in the right role for them.
And this year having the genius of Avery Johnson coaching is really what's put us over the top.
Miami can still come back....stranger things have happened...but to this point it's the Mavs year and I can finally be proud to be a MFFL!!!!(Mavs Fan For Life before some of you jokers start getting creative).
That's their steez though. Those guys are busters. Toine. TOINE?? lol. Please shoot more, #8. He was killin it in Garbage Time tho I guess......
The Mavs are too deep. Shaq was THE man (in his private mind garden) in LA, he's since retreated quite a bit in his demeanor and skills (aka past his prime). Dallas in 5.
I believe this game had the 7th and 8th 4 point plays in the history of the finals. That's kinda wild. Stackhouse was mashin' on those 3's. Whole game was debauchery on the part of Dallas, great job.
shaq doesn't work hard enough, on and off the court. if he REALLY wanted to score, there is no way dallas could hold him to 5 points. you have to see shaq in person to understand how much of a physical presence he is. dude is a monster.
i'm glad he got
if i were Riley i'd move shaq out of the low-low post and bring him up to start setting more on the ball screens for williams and wade. dallas can collapse on shaq down low and double off of miami's lousy front court. however, if shaq starts out high and sets picks for miami's (solid) backcourt, dallas can't afford to double.
the problem is that shaq is very lazy and might not have the stamina to move his fat ass out of the post.
Dirk.......nope
Jason Terry.......nope
Stack........nope
Josh Howard......nope
The Damp/Diop two headed monster..........nope
Through two games the Mavs MVP is.....
Antoine Walker!!!!!!!!!
Dude is
HAHAHAH
i dont know who to root against...shaq or van horn
dont know who to root for...dirk or wade
tiebreaker is aj over douchey pat riley.
go mavs
hope its a good series. i was hoping for OT tonight
Yes, finally a good game. Game 2 was such a blowout I didn't even watch the 4th quarter and only part of the 3rd. This was more like I was hoping for, but it's so short lived. Dallas is just such a better team it's almost a joke right now. Miami's little dudes are completely inconsistent with their shooting from the outside, their perimeter defense is crap, they have no bench, etc. etc.etc.
The Heat really had no chance. Wade was hurt in the fourth, but yet he drove to the basket like 5 or 6 times and converted. Reminds me of Manu.
the cape has been passed. I think i'm a fan now.
His rep has been solid, but games like these are what determines greatness.
not sure why payton was in at the end of the game, it looks like jason williams had another solid performance.