Finals, Who Wins?

R

Rex Kramer

1,000+ Posts
I'm a huge Mavs homer, but I say Heat in 7. Head says Heat in 6, but my heart says Dirk wills them to a W or 2. I hope this is like the '06 Rose Bowl, and we can conquer the Roman army of the NBA - the greatest team ever assembled.
 
Have to admit that James and Wade were impressive tonight in their shot making. But also no ball movement on either team. My homerism says Mavs move the ball, continue to play great defense and win it in 6. Here's hoping!

Hook'em!!!
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Mavs played very tough D down the stretch of Games 4 and 5 but are susceptible to running teams like OKC. I sure hope this prediction is like my Lakers prediction (Lakers in 6) and less like my OKC prediction (Mavs in 5).
 
Heat aren't really a running team.

I like that the Mavs best D player gets their best O player and that they don't have even a decent matchup on Dirk. My bigger worry is that Wade is a very good defender and could take Terry out of the series. The Mavs still need Terry to score and without him playing well they struggle. Peja has not been shooting well of late. The Mavs could really use a good game or 2 from him. They have lots of options, but are going to need someone to step up not named Kidd or Dirk.

On the other hand, the Heat are going to have to score more points. They were still in the 60s late in the 4th quarter. They would have been down 20+ to the Mavs at that point. I realize the Mavs don't play D like Chicago, but the Heat are still going to have to get some help for the big 3. Should be a good series.
 
Wade looked a little banged up. Heat may not be at 100%.

Dallas is on a tear right now. They were able to get through another series with rest. I think it is the Mavs year and will be rooting for them over Lebron and the Heat.
 
I think Heat for two reasons:

Udonis Haslem - he will hit open jumpers that will break our hearts as the 24 second clock winds down. I seem to recall he killed us back in 2006 (that and THE REFS!!!)

LeBron - I think they will stick him on Dirk and it will be tough for Dirk to be Dirk.

The key for hte Mavs will be consistently hot 3-point shooting from Terry, Peja and Kidd.
 
The Miami Defense will be the best that the Mavs have faced in the playoffs. The Dallas Offense will be the best the Heat have faced in the playoffs. Wade, LeBron and Bosh all have to sit at some point. I'm not impressed at all with Miami's bench. The Dallas bench may be the difference in this series.

I hate the 2-3-2 format. I know Miami won 3 straight against Dallas in '06 but damn that's almost impossible in the Finals to win 3 straight games even with home court advantage. It makes winning one of the first 2 in Miami a damn-near must.

I'm going Mavs in 7. I think Dirk will get LeBron in foul trouble and the Dallas bench will overcome the Miami athletic advantage of the starters.
 
I haven't heard anyone say that LeBron will be on Dirk. It's just my feeling that LeBron will say "I got him." I think he showed he can stay out of foul trouble by covering Derrick Rose who does blow-bys.... Certainly Dirk is tall and has that sick fade away but I think LeBron can jump and will help deny him the ball and make it physical. We'll see...
 
Haslem did a good job defending Dirk in '06, in large part because the officials let Haslem play Dirk extremely physically, while simultaneously and shamelessly over-protecting Wade on the other end.
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If the officiating crew in the Finals calls Haslem (or LeBron or Bosh) closely on Dirk, then we'll see a Dirk FT parade like we did in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. If, however, they let the Heat guard Dirk physically, then it'll be on Dirk to vary up his moves, attack the rim, use the pump-fake, etc. to get good looks.

If I see another series where Dirk gets mugged on one end and Wade (or LeBron) gets treated with kid gloves on the other end, then I may destroy my television.
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I hear you.... I have to admit I have never been more upset in all my years of watching sports than I was over the officiating in the 2006 finals. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Wade was bascially told by the refs, "Do what you want; we got your back." To this day I remember it all and it sucks...
 
I don't think Wade has quite the burst he had in 06, and Having 2 legit centers will help. But the Mavs have to play better perimeter defense so they don't get the centers so far out of position.

I thought in the OKC series the officiating was just weird. Game one anything was a foul. The rest of the games, they let both teams play pretty physical. I though Collison just mugged Dirk at times, but the Mavs fouled at key times that weren't called as well.

I still remember Wade driving in a one point game, punches Dirk in the stomach with his off hand to get some separation, falls down, and somehow it's a foul on Dirk. Those points were the game. I didn't watch the NBA for 3 years including the great 07 run. If this happens again, I'm done with it for good. I still much prefer the Horns and I give my Saturdays to sports.

This whole notion that owner/coaches/players can't make comments on officiating is just dumb. The fines to the coaches are so small, they just use that to get their message across. I like that Cuban is taking a back seat now and I think it helps. But damn, if you got a problem with what you see and you own a team, you should be able to voice that. It's your money invested in the team, not Sterns.

And yes, I realize this post is rambling.
 
I want the Mavs to win, but sadly, Heat in 6.

Hearing Marv Albert orgasm for every LeBron dunk will be very painful.
 
I have a bad feeling the refs will be pro-Miami at the direction of Stern. Stern wants Lebron to win a title so bad that I wouldn't put anything past that scumbag
 
Im not that crazy Rex. But, just ask Sacramento fans about 2002 and of course Mav fans in 2006. They would beg to differ with your assessment
 
Nah I agree with Rex- if you think there is a conspiracy theory, organized by Stern in the NBA, you probably are a little crazy.

The San Antonio Spurs won 4 championships in 8 years- Exhibit A.

Exhibit B- one ref was crooked and found out within 2 years. He acted alone.
 
If there is any conspiracy theory out there I would believe it's that Stern wants the series to go 7 games. Beyond that I doubt he would try to influence one team winning over another.
 
I don't think there is a conspiracy theory, but players and refs are WAY too close in the NBA. It's way out of hand. As a ref you should have NO relationship with the players. It's like a judge having relationships with the witnesses. Just not appropriate.

I know this has been posted before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWNAOYOn3vw

It's only human nature to display some bias if you have any kind of relationship. I have a lot of respect for George Karl so listen to what he has to say. David Stern is responsible in the fact he could clean this up and he doesn't. Mavs fans don't trust the refs because of the finals and also because Cuban complained so much. When you complain about the job someone does and they have some control over your fate, there is some natural human nature to punish that. At least Cuban is staying the hell away from the refs.
 
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