The Association

Give It Back

by Brett Edwards

Avery Johnson needs to give back his "coach of the year" trophy after the dreadful job he did in the NBA Finals. He continually threw double teams at Shaq and chose to single cover Wade, who destroyed the Mavs with a 39 points per game average in the Heat's four victories. Why not single cover Shaq in the post, and simply foul him every time he gets the ball in great position? You had 18 fouls between Dampier, Mbenga, and Diop, and none of those three are a threat on offense, thus making them interchangeably expendable. I don't know if you've heard, but Shaq is not a good free throw shooter.

Equally awful was the fourth quarter strategy in the series-ending Game 6 loss. The Heat were over the limit in team fouls with almost 8 minutes to play in the game. You would think that would lead to a constant attack on the rim, with players refusing to settle for jumpers, right? Wrong. From the time Dallas would have gotten free throws for every foul call until the end of the game, they unconscionably jacked up 9 three-pointers!! What the hell kind of strategy is that?! How about going to the hoop and drawing some fouls? Dwyane Wade certainly had no problem figuring this out, and that's a big reason why he's an NBA Champ.

Finally, with the game on the line, instead of turning to Dirk to go to the basket, you run a pick-and-roll with Eric Dampier, who has no hands and dropped the pass out of bounds. Really?! On an offensive threat scale of 1-10, Dampier is about a -16. Terrible play call, and terrible overall strategy against the Heat. We may not like Riles, but it's obvious that you need a veteran coach at this level to win the title. Maybe Avery will get it right next year.

The Time Has Come...

by Chris Tagawa

The time has come...for me to gloat over my Finals predictions (even though I hate being that guy):

1) This team was built for a championship (much like the Lakers team that won in 2000). This Heat team has two superstars in Wade and O’Neal and aging veteran role players in Walker, Mourning & Payton much like the 2000 Lakers had Rice, Harper & Shaw. Also, much like the 2000 Lakers, fans hated Glenn Rice, and every Heat fan hates Antoine Walker. To both groups I say, “Why you got to Hate?” Without their ugly 14 points per game neither team wins a championship.

2) Jason Terry is not a clutch player. In games one and five I thought I was going to eat my words, but in Game 6, the Jason Terry that I expected came to play. The so called three guard (point guard who likes to shoot like a two guard) from Atlanta reemerged and went 7-25 from the field (2-11 from 3pt land) and did not get to the free throw line the entire game. He sat outside, settled for jumpers and threw up bricks all game long (unless he was getting blocked inside).

3) 95 points would be enough to win. The Dallas supporters gave me much grief when I said if the Heat could score 95 points it would be enough to win, because Dallas was going to score well over 100 points per night. Dallas managed one 100-pt game and that was in an OT loss in Game 5.

4) Finally, I stressed urgency as a deciding factor over, athleticism, length and speed. The veterans on this team, Dwayne Wade and Pat Riley all knew this was their last, best, and maybe only shot at winning a first, fourth or only championship. They all came out and did their part to win this title and they all deserve it.

5) If my last prediction comes true, I will be all too satisfied. I need Shaq to get on that mic during the victory parade and give me a big “LA Can Yooooooou Diiiiiiig It?

Mark Cuban Likes To Curse

by Brett Edwards

Interesting blurb on the Blog Maverick's site today regarding cursing. Mark Cuban basically states that on his turf, under his conditions, he should be (and is) allowed to curse freely. While I think there's a little more to this one, namely that he was probably a little agitated after the close Game 5 loss, I agree with him 100%.

People in general are WAY too uptight about a few fucking swear words. We all use them in casual conversation, and somehow if you use a word that is deemed inappropriate, then all of a sudden you're the asshole. Anyway, check it out and let me know if you think Cubes has a point here, or if he was just pissed after the loss.

More From Game 5

by Brett Edwards

There was a lot to digest after that awesome Game 5, so here are a few more thoughts:

- Gary Payton is going Robert Horry this series for the Heat. He made a tough layup near the end of OT in Game 5, and made the game winner at the end of Game 3. Payton's had a Hall Of Fame career, but he's never really been thought of as a clutch performer, and in fact was particularly un-clutch in his stint with the Lakers. Although it's worth mentioning that he was the only one to play all 82 games for a team that had the best record in the regular season in 2004. Nice to see him coming up big.

- Avery Johnson went to the ol' hack-a-shaq late in Game 5. It worked too, as Shaq was missing his free throws. Not sure why he didn't continue it in the overtime. It was suggested that it was a pride thing, that he didn't want to resort to playing that way. I doubt that's the case, I think he just didn't want to risk giving up any free points in a game that could have been (and was) decided by a single point. I wonder if in hindsight he might reconsider, considering the unstoppable performance from Wade.

- Entertaining press conference moment. Avery Johnson was asked about the final play, and he basically turned the tables on the reporter. He asked him repeatedly "what did you see on that final play?" and when asked again he responded, "you tell me!" He then told the reporter not to stutter, and reminded him that people all over the world are here waiting for his answer. The reporter kept deferring to Avery and refused to respond, but it was very entertaining and reinforced why I like to watch these so much.

- I mentioned this already, but I can't stress enough how much of a non-factor I feel Josh Howard's botched timeout call was. His two missed free throws, however, were a total choke job. Wade is making his free throws in crunch time, and right now that's the difference in the series.

Wade Doesn't Need Any Help

by Brett Edwards

D Wade was faaannnnntastic in Game 5, scoring 43 and singlehandedly carrying the Heat to an overtime victory. He seemingly doesn't need any help from his teammates, going one on five and scoring at will in the second half. He definitely doesn't need any help from the officials. Come on guys, there was no foul on that last play! Wade managed to keep his dribble alive and went through three Mavericks, on his way to an awkward, off balance scoop shot attempt that had no prayer of going in...and then came the whistle. Terrible way for a great Finals game to be decided.

On the other hand, Dallas had their chances. They wasted a 35-point game from Jason Terry, who went gangsta for the second time in this series. Dirk had a subpar 8-19 shooting performance, but didn't force shots and was effective in getting the ball to his teammates. Josh Howard had a nice game, but choked in OT by missing two free throws after he was 9-9 from the line up until then. And don't talk to me about Howard's boneheaded timeout call. Even if he had called it after Wade made the second free throw like he was supposed to, the Mavs would have only had 1.8 seconds to get a shot off, and based on the weak attempt they got off at the end of regulation with slightly more time left I wasn't counting on it going in anyway.

So now that my initial prediction is out the window, what do I expect from Game 6? A Dallas victory. Yes Miami has just won three straight, but Dallas could have very easily (should have?) won two of those games. It's well documented how many things went right for the Heat to win Game 3. And even with Wade going for 40+ and making killer shot after killer shot, the Heat won by a single point in overtime of Game 5. Look for Dallas to get back on track at home, and then we'll have ourselves a Game 7 of the Finals for the second straight year. NICE!

Relax Heat Fans

by Brett Edwards

D. Wade and the Heat rallied from 13 down with 6:30 to play to take Game 3 of the Finals. It was a nice comeback for the Heat, as they led by double digits in the first half before getting blown out in he 3rd quarter 34-16. For Heat fans, it's nice to know that you won't be getting swept out of the Finals, but the Heat are still extremely overmatched in this series. Consider all that had to go right for Miami to get the Game 3 W:

• Wade had to score a career high 42 points on 14-26 shooting.

• Gary Payton made his only shot of the game, a 20-footer with the shot clock expiring and 9 seconds left in the game. This was a very difficult shot, as GP had to pump fake his defender, then take one dribble before shooting. He hasn't made a shot like that in about 3 years. This gave the Heat the lead and was effectively the game-winner.

• Shaq made 2 (dare I say clutch?) free throws with 1:47 left that cut the dallas lead to 3. This is no small feat, considering he was 2-16 (that's 12.5%, people) from the line entering this game.
• Dirk missed a free throw with 3 seconds left that would have tied the game. This too was no small feat, as Dirk had shot 94% from the line the first two games of the series, and was 10-11 from the line in this game before missing the one that would have tied the game.

That's a lot of things going Miami's way, and all that resulted in just a 2-point home win in a game that they had to have. I still expect this series to be over by Saturday. As Riley again mentioned, "The basketball gods were with us tonight." I think that's an understatement.

Shaq Is Speechless

by Brett Edwards

We did not see this after Game 2.

Being an addict of the NBA, and realizing I'm about to have almost four months without it, I find myself watching everything I can that has to do with these Finals. That includes the post-game press conferences on NBA TV that air immediately after the games. For the most part they're uneventful, but you do get the occasional wisecrack from one of the participants. Usually Dirk asks "who?" to at least one of the reporters when they identify themselves, and after Game 1 Pat Riley had the funny line when he was asked if D Wade was injured after he fell down. He responded, "hey, he falls down eight times and gets up nine, right?" Everyone laughed, as Riley was referring to Wade's shoe commercial that ran earlier this year.

I was mildly disappointed (but not surprised) to see Shaq pull a no-show for the media after Game 2. He was fined the obligatory 10 grand, and the team was fined another 25. But these are extremely minor amounts for a player worth over a hundred million and a franchise worth half a billion. It seems like the league would rather have people not show and pay the nominal bail amount than show up and say something they may regret. Though it is rare, I love it when we get meltdowns from a player or coach, but Shaq wouldn't give us the satisfaction.

I bring this up with Shaq for two reasons: 1) I don't like him, and 2) Shaq has the biggest mouth in the league. The guy has press releases for no reason. He makes up feel good stories to make himself look like a big hero. He runs his mouth at his former team through the press. He thinks it's funny to run his mouth, but only when things are going his way. Like referring to Sacramento as the "Queens" while with the Lakers, and historically referring to Eric Dampier as "Ericka", and saying "she would be the MVP of the WNBA." While I think these lines are just as funny as everyone else does, where is Shaq on the night he is outplayed by "Ericka?" The guy's a frontrunner and an egomaniac, and couldn't bear to show up to defend his gawdawful performance and his team's shellacking at the hands of the Mavs.

I just have two more words on this: Shuck Faq.

Dallas Depth Dominates Game 2

by Brett Edwards

So far in this series, what I said would be Dallas' greatest asset is proving to be just that. The Mavs had five players in double figures as they cruised to a 14-point Game 2 win, after leading by as many as 27 in the second half. The depth of Dallas is the key to this series. Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench for 19 points, including 10 straight in the second quarter to help DAL to a 16-point halftime lead. Nowitzki also bounced back from a subpar Game 1 with a 26 and 16 performance.

On the Miami side, most experts expected Shaq to have a big game, but it was quite the opposite. Shaq had his worst postseason performance of his career, scoring only 5 points on 5 shots and grabbing only 6 boards in 28 minutes. Riles sat Shaq the entire 4th quarter, partly due to the fact that the game was out of hand, and partly due to Shaq's ineffectiveness. Hell, even Eric Dampier racked up 6 points and 13 boards in the same amount of time on the floor. Unlike the Heat's previous opponent, the Mavs actually play solid team defense. This, combined with their depth on offense, is why I don't see MIA winning more than one game in this series.

Miami has been a strong home team in these playoffs, and I expect them to come out strong in Game 3. But the bottom line is that Dallas has too many weapons on offense and plays too much defense for the Heat to hang. Expect the Heat to maybe grab Game 3, but even that's a stretch considering they're now 0-4 versus Dallas this season.

Jason Terry Goes Gangsta - For Reals

by Brett Edwards

A little slow between these first two games of the Finals, so in looking around for something interesting involving the participants, I stumbled across this video of our Game 1 hero Jason Terry "reppin' that shit West Coast." That's right, our man the Jet not only went gangsta on the court, but he does the same off the court with his Mad Ass Reason Gang.

If anyone can translate for me what the Jet is saying in this video, feel free. But even funnier than the Jet's hardcore act in the intro is the lyrics that start off the song. It goes a little something like this:

"Bitch-bitch-bitch-bitch-nigga I see it in you, bitch
bitch-bitch-bitch-bitch-nigga I see it in you"

I guess we each have music that touches us, that speaks to us on a deep, philosophical level, right? I mean Jet's teammate Dirk has his own tune that resonates with him, so who are we to judge?

The Jet Is On The Runway

by Brett Edwards

That's how Jason Terry was introduced by the P.A. announcer for Game 1 of the Finals. Between that, his pre-game interview with Stuart Scott where he was a little too focused, and his running down the court after a made shot with his arms spread like airplane wings, I was thinking that the ol' Jet was starting to take himself too seriously. I mean, this seems like a made up nickname, doesn't it? I know he's been using it all season, but when did this start? I don't remember this going on U of A during his college days, or in the ATL in his first few pro seasons. But hell, he could have been involved in a gay porn ring in Atlanta and no one would have heard about it. But I digress.

Jason Terry carried the Mavs to a Game 1 victory, while their other two main scorers went a combined 7-28 from the field (3-14 from Howard and 4-14 from Nowitzki). NOT good news for the Heat. After Miami got off to a scorching start with 31 in the first quarter, Dallas settled in and played excellent team defense and held Miami to just 13 points in the second quarter and only 12 in the fourth. Shaq "I make 'em when it counts" O'Neal started off 0-8 from the free throw line, and finished 1-9. He actually missed two more than that, but they were negated by Dallas lane violations. Honestly, I don't know why any team lets Shaq dunk the ball when he's that horrid from the line. Besides a couple of nice turn around hooks on the baseline in the first half, he only scored on dunks. He was effective passing out of the post, and finished with 5 assists, but too many forced shots by his teammates late in the game led to the Dallas W.

Wade was awesome, especially in the first quarter. He seemed to be able to get to the rim at will, blowing by the entire Mavs team for layups and the occasional sick dunk. But Dallas made him work for his points as the game went on, and Wade finished with 28 points on 25 shots, with 5 turnovers. That's not going to be enough against a Mavs team that I said is way too deep for the heat to handle.

Keep on flying, Jet, and if you're going to put up these kind of performances, you can give all the glory to God and be as serious as you want. Just stay away from the Heat's collective packages during this series, aight? The Mavs need you for all 5 games.