Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks!

jackman · « **on:** 13 Jun 2011, 01:24 pm »

I wanted to congratulate the Dallas Maverick fans and team for winning the NBA championship yesterday. What a great season and final series for that team.

Dirk finally has the monkey off his back and can assume his place as the best European B-ball player to ever play in the NBA. He is a first class professional who did not try to take the easy route and sell out his fans and team by "taking his talents" elsewhere for a "guaranteed" championship. He also showed class when he refused to get involved in the petty antics of the self-proclaimed "King" and his boss Wade who made fun of the illnesses he played through before game 5. Dirk also told his teammates not to retaliate or get involved in any off the court verbal "retaliation". The Mavs took their revenge the old fashioned way, on the court, by beating the Heat on their home floor to clinch the championship.

The Mavs should get TWO trophys for their victory, one for beating the Heat and one for beating the guys with the whistles (the refs and the NBA). You only have to look at Wade and James to put them on the line. Wade has patented the move where he pump fakes and throws his body into a defender to get a foul, even if Wade initiatates the contact! He gets this call about 90% of the time. James gets away with pretty much everything (big-time traveling) and rarely gets called. In the rare instance when they don't get a call, you can usually find them bending the ref's ear. Normal players get called for a technical when they do this but these guys (Wade especially) never get t'd up. The refs tried to give the game to Miami but they couldn't hit free-throws to save their lives. I believe in the 3rd quarter they had a 31 to 10 free throws attempted advantage and still were losing.

This is the second year in a row Lebron James showed himself to be a gutless piece of media hype who chokes during the biggest games. Wade played well and the role players on the Heat did their job. Lebron did exactly what he did last year, when he checked out in the fourth quarter of the finals. He quit on his team (although not as bad as last year) and settled for long jumpers instead of taking ball to the hole.

Whever people compare this guy to Jordan, it makes me laugh. Great players live for the big games, and they want the ball in their hands when the game is on the line. How many big shots did guys like Larry Bird, Magic, Jordan, etc., hit to win BIG games? When was the last time Lebron hit a big shot to win a big game or had a great fourth quarter in a big game to carry his team?

Maybe this is how it works in today's sports world. Talented players are annointed "King" without ever winning anything. It's funny to hear the commentators make excuses for James. They said he was too tired, blaming the coach for playing him too many minutes, etc.

Last night's victory was one for a great team with very good players. Old fashioned work ethic versus cutting corners and "buying" a championship. Just my opinion...

Cheers,

J

PS - Dirk is a great player and has a picture-perfect shot. He deserves all of the positive comments, especially for his offense but he is no Larry Bird. Not even close. Bird retired a long time ago and many current fans never had a chance to see him play. He was an amazing player who could do anything (okay, maybe not dunk the ball very well). I hated him when he played because I didn't like the Celtics but he was a true legend. Bird got more out of his limited physical skills (he could not jump or run very well) than any player I have ever seen. He was a much better all-around player than Dirk.

S Clark · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 01:45 pm »

I was amazed at how Dallas flew under the NBA radar all year long, while all the hype went to LA, Miami, San Antonio, and Chicago. These finals were no fluke, as Dallas owned the 4th period to have close out win after close out win, game after game. Sometimes in sports you have these great champions that have long struggled to get to the very top. For Dirk, Kidd, Marion, and JET this has to be a very satisfying moment. For the rest of us that resented the coronation of the three Kings, there is a sense that the Miami Heat and their hubris have suffered for their bad karma.

Congrats to all the Mav (and Cav) fans.

ken · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 02:23 pm »

Yeah, this wasn't how the script was supposed to be written, the media would rather be fawning over Lebron's greatness enroute to his first NBA title then discussing the gritty performance the Mavericks displayed while getting contributions from just about everyone. Kudos to the Dallas Mavericks.

Cuban is probably enjoying this as much as the players

launche · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 03:18 pm »

Quote from: ken on 13 Jun 2011, 02:23 pm

Yeah, this wasn't how the script was supposed to be written, the media would rather be fawning over Lebron's greatness enroute to his first NBA title then discussing the gritty performance the Mavericks displayed while getting contributions from just about everyone. Kudos to the Dallas Mavericks. Cuban is probably enjoying this as much as the players

I 100% disaggree with the media wanting Lebron or the Heat to win. All year it's been about building the hate against Lebron and the Heat. This is what I imagine the media wanted. Even as a fan I was tired by the end of it all and wanted it to be over win or lose. The constant scrutiny of every move, every word is unlike anything coverage I've ever seen. As a fan I was mentally exhausted from it all so I can only imagine what Lebron felt, I think it all caught up to him in the end. But it was an interesting series and a dramatic enough finals series.

Dallas played great and deserved to win and I as a Miami fan (of the last 12 yrs) have zero issue losing to them. They deserve it. played better and I am happy for various members of their team. It seems to be their destiny to win this year and I am glad it was realized for them.

launche · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 03:31 pm »

Jackman you know you need to stop that bias. Dallas got a great many more calls than Miami, a great many more. Chandler got maybe 30 off the ball fouls, unheard of. The refs did give Miami the benefit at home in game 6 but that's it. Lebron could not get a call to save his life in this series. Don't be bias. For the record Dallas has a higher payroll that Miami so I have no idea what you mean by buying a championship. The guys were free agents and each took less than market value on their contracts. There's a lot to pick at for sure but just be factual about it.

Dallas payroll: $85,875,351
Miami payroll: $65,356,624

S Clark · « **Reply #5 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 03:45 pm »

Quote from: launche on 13 Jun 2011, 03:31 pm

Dallas got a great many more calls than Miami, a great many more.
Dallas payroll: $85,875,351
Miami payroll: $65,356,624

More calls?? That's not the games that I saw.

Bigger payroll. Spread out over a team with the star player taking a cut so that the team could get better talent throughout. Miami spent their $ on three players. The result was the Heat superstars vs. the Maverick team. Miami had the superstars, Dallas had the depth (and a much higher BB I.Q.) If Miami matures, and uses this loss to focus on fundamentals rather than endorsements, they'll be champions next year.

jackman · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 04:33 pm »

Too many examples of Miami getting almost every call. I especially like the one where they had 6 men on the court in Chicago and the refs were kind enough to let them sort it out and not T them up. Or the blocking call that went Wade's way when he ran into Cardinal the other night (the play in which Wade was slightly hurt). Even the announcers had a hard time keeping a straight face when they had to say, "it looked like Cardinal was moving"... Yea, right.

James also gets away with more travels than any other player in the league. He rarely gets called and is usually really shocked when they call him for his "crab step" because he is so used to being allowed to travel. The reason he didn't go to the line as much as usual is because he decided to get passive in the 4th quarter and he didn't do anything offensively. I've never seen a star player go into a shell like Lebron did during this series and last year's finals. How can arguably the most physically talented player of all time (I believe he is) fail to score so badly in the fourth quarter of the biggest game (games!) of his life?

The guys with the whistles tried to give the game to the Heat last night but they couldn't hit their free-throws. At one point at the begining of the 4th quarter, the Heat shot 30 or 31 FT's to 11 or 12 for the Mavs. Too bad the Heat only hit about 60% of their foul shots! Lastly, anyone who thinks Lebron didn't have a bad game last night, needs to check out the +/- rating. He was -24, the worst by far of any player in the game. This means the Heat scored 24 less points than the Mavs when LeKing was on the floor. Pathetic stat for a gutless "King".

People comparing Lebron to Jordan has got to really tick off MJ. Comparing the most clutch finals player of all time to a guy who has never shown up in a critical 4th quarter (EVER) in the finals, a guy who quit on his team, is an insult to the game of basketball.

ken · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 04:57 pm »

Quote from: launche on 13 Jun 2011, 03:18 pm

I 100% disaggree with the media wanting Lebron or the Heat to win. All year it's been about building the hate against Lebron and the Heat. This is what I imagine the media wanted. Even as a fan I was tired by the end of it all and wanted it to be over win or lose. The constant scrutiny of every move, every word is unlike anything coverage I've ever seen. As a fan I was mentally exhausted from it all so I can only imagine what Lebron felt, I think it all caught up to him in the end. But it was an interesting series and a dramatic enough finals series.

Dallas played great and deserved to win and I as a Miami fan (of the last 12 yrs) have zero issue losing to them. They deserve it. played better and I am happy for various members of their team. It seems to be their destiny to win this year and I am glad it was realized for them.

While I agree that most fans throughout the country were rooting for Dallas Virtually every analyst I've heard on ESPN and WFAN were picking the Heat and are probably still dumstruck how Dallas pulled off this magical upset - in six games no less. It just wasn't supposed to happen and is probably still viewed as Miami blowing this rather that Dallas winning it which incidentally is partially true but more credit needs to be given to Dallas

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 05:05 pm »

Quote from: jackman on 13 Jun 2011, 04:33 pm

People comparing Lebron to Jordan has got to really tick off MJ. Comparing the most clutch finals player of all time to a guy who has never shown up in a critical 4th quarter (EVER) in the finals, a guy who quit on his team, is an insult to the game of basketball.

I agree with just about everything you said, minus this. My most clutch player of all time in the playoffs...

Robert Horry

S Clark · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 05:25 pm »

Big Shot Bob is a pretty good choice for "most clutch"- although the older Celtics fans might argue for the fella whom the MVP trophy is named after- Bill Russell. Clutch doesn't just mean hitting the big shot.

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 05:35 pm »

Congratulations to Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki was the best player on the floor completely outplaying and outclassing LeFraud and Cry Baby Wade. I usually don't relish in seeing a team lose but in Miami's case I'll make an exception.

jackman · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 05:37 pm »

Quote from: Stu Pitt on 13 Jun 2011, 05:05 pm

I agree with just about everything you said, minus this. My most clutch player of all time in the playoffs...

Robert Horry

Hey, Horry hit some big shots and deserves mention on any clutch player in the finals list, no doubt.

Please note, there are lots of people laying claim to the crown but only one true king. His Airness! Six for six in the finals and MVP every time. He was the best offensive and defensive player on the court for every NBA final in which he appeared. He averaged 33 points per game during the playoffs for his career and was the best I have ever seen.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/559446-nba-power-rankings-the-50-most-clutch-players-of-all-time#/articles/559446-nba-power-rankings-the-50-most-clutch-players-of-all-time/page/51

launche · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 05:55 pm »

Free Throws:

Game 6: Dallas 18, Miami 33
Game 5: D 26, M 27
Game 4: D 30, M 24
Game 3: D 27, M 15
Game 2: D 21, M 24
Game 1: D 32, M 26

In the series Dirk averaged 7.7 free throws, Wade 8.2, Lebron 3.3

So you explain to me where the free throw disparity was?
Fine if people want to be biased but don't throw in your bias as if it's fact.
The whole national media has furthered the Lebron anger and Heat hate all season. The team battle to overcome this negativity all season. When they reached the finals and were playing well people gave them credit and many picked them and frankly the series could have gone either way and anyone who watched the series biased or objective could see that.

Bottom line is Lebron handled his decision poorly. Miami celebrated the Big 3 coming together with a party. But the thing is if you live in Miami that's the way they do it down there and yes that's foreign to someone in Tennessee or wherever. That was a Heat fan party/pep rally and yes Lebron got a bit carried away but again that was a pep rally for the fans and not a national TV production. I have no problem with anyone not liking that or Lebron. But say you're biased, say the media has fed you the story you want to here and call it a day. But don't disguise it as anything else. We all know that if you don't like someone or something anything they do you will find fault with. No matter what Lebron does it will likely get twisted with a negative spin due to bias. I am not here to defend Lebron, he has too many flaws for me to do that. But I just want to call out bias.

Now enough of the nonsense and Lebron bashing, it's old. Dallas won, they earned and deserved it, were picked by many to win it and should be congratulated instead of it again being about bashing Lebron. Bottom line is Dallas winning doesn't sell, lebron hate sells. Hate and anger sell period. What was the caption I read this morning: "Dirk: The anti-Lebron", before that it was "Rose: The anti-Lebron" let's not kid ourselves here, we know what it's all about.

launche · « **Reply #13 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 06:07 pm »

Please stop with the Jordan stuff as well, that's all media driven. Everyone is compared to Jordan, again it's a media driven thing. The next hottest thing is always compared or measured to Jordan and it's unfair to all those players, Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Rose, Iverson...basically any perimeter player and all of them try to get away from it but the media keeps it up.

The whole Jordan thing is a media creation like he didn't have any teammates. In the history of basketball the Jordan one man show doesn't exist except outside of this particular sports media culture. It's a joke, we cry team, no "i" in team but when it comes to the media creation of Jordan suddenly we are OK with the "i" in team. The media shapes our thoughts and tries to write the story, it's their jobs. You can listen to a press conference of Jordan saying something from his mouth and the next day they a 50 articles telling you what he "really" meant or what "someone" thought he meant. It's fiction at its best in modern journalism.

jackman · « **Reply #14 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 06:15 pm »

I hope LeBron and company had a good cry after last night's game (like they did after a big loss in May). WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #15 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 09:34 pm »

A great series.....TV ratings were up, up, up, too

Real fun to watch the Mavs play.

John

ken · « **Reply #16 on:** 13 Jun 2011, 11:07 pm »

All in all it was a pretty good series but now that it's over perhaps maybe one tenth of the coverage given to the NBA finals can be given to the Stanley cup finals

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #17 on:** 14 Jun 2011, 12:27 am »

Scottie Pippen Says LeBron James May Be Better Than Jordan.

http://newsone.com/entertainment/sports-entertainment/casey-gane-mccalla/scottie-pippen-lebron-james-michael-jordan-greatest-of-all-time/

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #18 on:** 14 Jun 2011, 02:51 am »

Lanche,

You make very valid points regarding Jordan and his supporting cast. But regardless of all that and the media's apparent hype of him and non-stop comparisons, the fact remains that he's the best player of all time. I'll even go out on a limb (a very long limb) and say one or two of those guys may actually be better a better player offensively, and there have been a few better players defensively, but no one did both IMO. LeBron, Kobe, et al don't play defense the way he did. People get caught up on the offensive stuff, yet they forget about defensive skills and flat out domination. There wasn't a guy Jordan couldn't defend (I'm not talking about post players, obviously).

I lost interest in the NBA right around the time everyone focused on offense and thought it was easier to try to outscore their opponent rather than trying to actually defend.

Jordan didn't get all those fast breaks by not stealing the ball.

And for the record, I'm not a Jordan fan. I think towards the end of his career he got way too many calls and no-calls simply because he was Jordan. IMO he became a bit bigger than the game.

As far as Scottie Pippen saying what he said, absolute crap. He was jealous of Jordan his entire career. He had the notion that he made Jordan and was his equal. My rebuttal - what did he ever accomplish without Jordan? The time where he couldn't handle being a decoy and chose to sit out the final shot sums him up very well to me.

Pippen was an excellent player. He'd have been an excellent player on any team. But he wasn't anywhere near Jordan.

JerryM · « **Reply #19 on:** 14 Jun 2011, 03:15 am »

Yeah, I'm happy to see that Dirk, Jason, Shawn, Peja, and All will finally get their rings. Mark Cuban? The guy is a douche, but he finally got his Championship, too.
Congrats to all.

They swept the two-time defending Champs to get it. Exactly what a new Champion should do. Very well done.

Have fun,

Jerry