6 Thoughts
1) First of all, all credit where credit is due: The Dallas Mavericks are the champions, and they deserve it in every way. They were fantastic in the series - they won two games in Miami, which is all you need to know. Dirk Nowitzki is a fantastic player, and he is always a class act, win or lose; Jason Kidd is an all-time great point guard who is still savvy enough to help win ballgames; Jason Terry is a putz - but he played great; and even Dallas owner, Mark Cuban, whom I love to see lose - but only because he cares so much - deserves this because he is passionate, and he spends the money necessary to compete at the highest level. This Dallas franchise thought they were the better team in 2006 when Miami denied them a championship. This year, Dallas is the champion, and I can only imagine that it tastes all the sweeter for the wait. I am being truly honest when I say that I am happy for them. Congratulations to the Mavs! Out of respect to them, and in their honor, for the last time this year: Let's Go!
2) Look, we are mostly going to wrap up the season tonight, but just quickly, on the game: Miami got everything it could have asked for. As expected, back at home, the free throws flipped back Miami's way - they shot 33 to Dallas' 18. Tyson Chandler got into early foul trouble - that was predictable in Miami. More surprising, Nowitzki, for the most part, stunk the joint out, shot only 9-27. But with everything that went right, a couple of things went very wrong: Miami had already missed 13 free throws a minute into the fourth quarter. LeBron James found the missing jumper early, scoring a quick 9 points, but then was not quite assertive enough the rest of the night: his 21 points on 9-15 shooting with 6 assists and 4 rebounds was largely offset by his 6 turnovers. It wasn't the heroic night Miami needed from him. And besides Nowitzki, Dallas, for the second straight game, spread Miami out defensively and made shots. They finished 50% from the floor, and Jason Terry was the star of the game, scoring 27 points on 11-16 shots, many of them with LeBron covering him. Or trying to. Dwyane Wade was the best player in the series, but Nowitzki and Chandler were probably the second and third best. And it would be tough to argue that LeBron outplayed Jason Terry in the last couple...
3) Do I have any final thoughts on this whole Wade-LeBron-Bosh-The-Decision-Bump-Gate season? Yes, yes I do. In my mind, LeBron and Bosh came here for one reason, and one reason only: to help us win another championship. And by "us," I mean, of course, "Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, and me." Anything else is besides the point. I don't care what the media says, I don't care what the fans of the other teams say, I don't care what the players on the other teams say - none of it really matters on the court. In retrospect, though it often felt like torture - because every season often feels like torture to me - I enjoyed this season thoroughly because I thought we had a great chance to win the title. Right up until we didn't. Everyone else can spend the next however many months killing LeBron, killing Bosh, killing Coach Spo - that's whatever. Next year, again, I will think we have a great chance to win the title, and we'll see what happens. The only truly interesting thing I read about LeBron's struggles in this final series (and he was utterly brilliant in the two series before it) came today, in the New York Times, from Dirk Nowitzki (although I don't when he actually said it, and I'll have to paraphrase it). Dirk was widely seen as gagging away the 2006 championship, and came back the next year, had an even better regular season, then was terrible as the Mavs got beat in the first round by Golden State, in one of the biggest upsets in NBA history - for years he's had the reputation as "too soft," "not clutch," "mentally weak" - everything LeBron is getting now, and will get all offseason. Dirk, asked about the criticism LeBron has been receiving, said quietly and sympathetically, "Look - I've been getting hammered for 13 years; if we win the championship, at least I'll have one year where I don't." I love that - people love to make every game, every play, for guys like Dirk and LeBron a constant, ever-shifting referendum on their psyches, their "legacies," their careers. It's boring - to me, anyways, I guess some people like it. When the burden of proof is winning a title - and for guys like Dirk and LeBron, it is - there is going to be disappointment more often than there is going to be success. Dirk is a good example of perseverance for LeBron to follow. To LeBron, from me: Thank you for entertaining me this season - beating Boston and Chicago so handily was incredibly fun and exciting - and even more so, for giving a chance to win a title. And the same on both counts to Chris Bosh, Emcee Chalmers (fearless again tonight), and the rest of the crew. And to Dwyane and UD? They know - this is how we do - we're back at it next season. As long as you're here, I'm here; when you're done, I'm done.
4) Okay, okay, okay, enough sadness: it was a great season! We got to The Finals, could have won, didn't, but we still have a great chance to win next season! However, we don't know when that will be. The collective bargaining agreement between the players and the owners runs out before next season, and most informed parties expect a lockout ranging anywhere from "a few games" to "there will never be another professional basketball game played again in any of our natural lifetimes." So a lot of people are like, "How do you and M.Minutos end a season? And what do you in the offseason? And do you have any special plans if there is a lockout?" First of all, we ended this season like we have ended every season that did not result in a title. M.Minutos storms out of the room moments before the final buzzer so that she doesn't see the end of the game, and I turn off the television so I don't have to watch the other team celebrate. I promise you: as happy as I am for them, I will never see Dallas jumping around to celebrate their title! What series? Second, I take M.Minutos into the bedroom and make long, languorous love to her. By mutual agreement, she fantasizes about Dwyane Wade; and I fantasize about, well, also Dwyane Wade. Then, I don't read the newspaper or the internet or email or text messages for about four days, after which time, the world has moved on to other matters, and so have I. I perfected this strategy in the late 90s when every season the Heat would get eliminated by the Knicks in excruciating fashion - if I don't hear about it, it's pretty much like it never happened. As far as the offseason, we usually pick out shows we haven't seen, and then watch the entire series on DVD. Two offseasons ago, it was The Wire. Last summer, Dexter. This offseason, Breaking Bad. And if the lockout goes on a long, long time? Well, this may be premature, but I have an agreement in place with The Captain: if he ever becomes the athletic director for Notre Dame football, he will give me a one year contract to coach them for 5 million dollars. After that one season, if we decide we want to continue the partnership, we do so. If it doesn't work out, we part ways with no hard feelings. So I'll probably do some gameplanning for that, hire a staff, etc...I don't know that much about football, so I have a lot to learn...
5) Okay, we don't want to say goodbye for the season down in # 6, so we'll do it here in # 5. Worst moment of the season? Well, if we had lost in the finals to Dallas, it probably would have been that - since that never happened, it was definitely the night in Miami when we lost to Portland, at the tail end of a five game losing streak. Miami had lost four games in a row in excruciatingly ridiculous fashion - bizarre collapses, bad calls, heroic shots by the other team - and came out against Portland and played exceptionally hard and well, Dwyane and LeBron combined for like 70 points, and the Blazers still pasted them. It was the one time I thought, "Oh, no - maybe we just aren't good enough. I mean, that's kind of our 'A' game, and they waxed us." I remember just sitting there, looking at the tv, feeling doubt for the first time...A couple of nights later, Miami beat the Lakers, then Memphis and the Spurs, and I never felt that way again. Not even in the Dallas series, if it had ever happened. So that was the worst feeling. The best feeling? Everytime I had this conversation by email, text, or in person - it happened a lot, and it was usually about # 6, and it usually went like this: "Remember that time you wrote about --------?" "No." "Remember? You said something like ---- --- ------?" "Not really, no." "How can you not remember what you wrote?" "Oh - because I probably just made it up." Like, it always makes me feel good when I get a reminder that people read the blog because I don't usually think about it that way - in my mind, it's just for me and M.Minutos. And 2010 was such a difficult year for me - I was tired, mentally-breaking down, and had to suspend the blog for a while mid-season, while I worked out my troubles in therapy, and elsewhere. And I remember feeling better at the beginning of 2011, and telling my therapist about the blog, and that it makes me happy. And he was like, "Well, why don't you start writing it again?" And I thought about it, and I was so happy and relaxed partially because I was sleeping more, and feeling better about my life, and I remember saying to The Captain, "What if I bring back Dos, and then I hate it, and have to stop it again?" And he goes, "Who cares?" And that made me laugh, and I was, like, "Yes, let's write the blog again." And then when people read it, and even if they only enjoy the basketball parts, which some people do, and even if they only enjoy the # 6, which some people do, it is still a good feeling. Not a good feeling - a special, great feeling! So thank you to everyone out there, even if you only read this one post - it means a lot to me. And while 2010 was one of my worst personal years, so far 2011 is one my best, and in some small way, everyone who reads Dos Minutos has contributed to that. At the end of every season, I am always so tired of staying up late to write it, that I always assume that I won't bring it back the next season, but tonight, at least, I feel pretty lucky to have it, and pretty good - so who knows? This was the greatest four month run of basketball I've ever had: Connecticut won the Big East tournament, then the national tournament; O.Minutos led his team to the 9 year old championship; and the Heat got to within two games of an NBA title - if I don't bring Dos back, I'm worried I'll jinx this run of good fortune. If we've learned anything this season: Always respect the power of the jinx!
6) I spent 5 hours today on a boat with some friends and 10 nine year olds hopped up on Doritos, fruit rolls ups, and ice cream, shuttling back and forth through the intercoastal to a sandbar called "Beer Can Island." You do the math. When I lived up north, I assumed that living in Florida is kind of like being on constant vacation - and, by the way, it is. I feel totally lucky that in five minutes, I can be at my friend's house, hopping in his boat and jetting out into the Atlantic. Which raises a question I often get asked by friends who are still up north: When are you going to buy a boat? And the answer is: Never! And the reason is: I am too lazy! I am happy - thrilled - to go out on your boat with you, a few times a year. Just know that as soon as we hit the dock at the end of the day, I am out of there (like LeBron in the fourth quarter of a championship game - ouch!). I am not staying to help you take stuff off the boat, I am not helping to wash it down with the hose, I am not carrying all the empty beer bottles I drank to the recycling bin - Jesus, I just spent 5 hours out in the hot Florida sun! I am tired, and I need to go home and take a nap! Which is exactly what I did today! Man, I love Florida - the sun, the sea, and friends with boats!!!
Annnd, that's it - that's a wrap on the season! If you are lucky, I won't bring this blog back whenever the new season starts! Either way, if you need me until then- I already told you: I'm going in to wake up M.Minutos now TO MAKE LONG, LANGUOROUS LOVE TO HER!!! And if you do need me, it has to be non-basketball-related. Because. I. Am. On. Vacation. Beginning. Right. NOW!!! SEE YA!
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Sunday, June 12, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Mavs 112 Heat 103 Mavs lead series 3-2
6 Thoughts
1) Really? Dwyane Wade has to get hurt in the fifth game of the NBA Finals? Really? That's what has to happen? He couldn't have got hurt on a Tuesday in December against Minnesota, or a Saturday in February against Detroit? Really - tonight he had to get hurt? C'mon, mannn! It doesn't even feel like a "real" loss, it feels fluky, which I suppose is a silver-lining in an otherwise dreary night...Dallas shot the snot out of the ball (13-19 on threes!), shot a bunch of fourth quarter free throws again, and LeBron couldn't find his jumper...Let's go...back to Miami, thank the Lord!
2) Wade got hurt in the first half on a collision with Brian Cardinal, of all people. Brian Cardinal shouldn't even be in an NBA Finals game! What are you doing putting him in there to injure Dwyane Wade, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle - I hate you!!! Banged up his hip, missed a few minutes, labored through the closing minutes of the first half, then stayed in the locker room for the first 8 minutes of the second half. Came back out, limping noticeably, with no explosion, with Miami down a handful of points, and still almost willed them to victory! It would have been an all-timer, for sure. Finished with 23 points in only 34 minutes, and most tellingly, only 2 rebounds. Didn't have lift in his legs. Man, Miami's got home games Sunday and, if they win that one, Tuesday - win two home games, and you're the NBA champions. If they lose because Dwyane Wade is limited - after playing like a hundred games this year - that is going to be super-aggravating....
3) Biggest exchange of the game: With Miami down 2, and two minutes to go, Wade drove middle, found LeBron cutting baseline, and LeBron elevated and finished while colliding with Tyson Chandler. At home, that is almost certainly a three point play, or at worst a no call and a basket, and Miami would have been up one or even. Instead, Joey Crawford called an offensive foul, wiping out the basket, Dallas came down and drilled a triple when Mike Miller inexplicably wandered down the lane trailing a driving Jason Terry, who was not his cover, leaving Jason Kidd alone to set his feet on the perimeter, receive a pass, and drain it. If that were Dwyane Wade or Dirk Nowitzki, they probably would have been awarded 4 or 5 free throws. But LeBron - nothing. Such is life as LeBron...Frustrating for Miami - it couldn't get that one driving LeBron call, the Mavs shot 13 more fourth quarter free throws in this game, and was in the bonus for the last seven and a half minutes - and it was that way for three games in a row in Dallas. That's not a complaint - that's life on the road in the NBA. If there is one tangible thing getting back to Miami can do for this team, it is the opportunity to perhaps get more chances to make fourth quarter stops. It just feels like they can't catch a break right now.
4) Totally heroic: Mario Chalmers. With Wade in the locker room, and then limping badly, and all Dallas defenders loading up on LeBron James in Dwyane's absence - and LeBron can't locate the stroke from the perimeter - Mario Chalmers came in and played as well as he can play in the first half, allowing Miami to hang around. Hit another first quarter buzzer-beating 45 footer when Mike Miller, wisely, sought him out for the crazy shot. As M.Minutos again pointed out, all that time everyone thought Mario was wasting in the gym by flinging half-court runners his entire life has now paid off two games in a row. Emcee hit 4-6 triples before the break and had 13 points. On the verge of getting run out of the game a couple of times, Chalmers saved them. Against all odds, he was Miami's best player in the half.
5) Dirk Nowitzki was great again - broke out with 29 points. Also, my third favorite boat captain on "Deadliest Catch," the raddest show on tv:
I did not think it was cool when Dirk's brother Edgar bailed on him at the end of Blue Crab season last week, but, in fairness, Dirk sits up in the warm captain's chair the whole time, barking over the loudspeaker at Edgar and the rest of the crew to pull pots faster, while they are down there working in, like, arctic hurricanes. We'll see how Dirk likes Opilio season without Edgar - I'm guessing he's going to wish he was a little less abrasive, and a little more understanding of Edgar's needs...
6) I got nothing tonight, but I'm in a suprisingly good mood considering Miami just lost a game in the Finals. Just seemed like fate when Dwyane got hurt - this game wasn't going our way, and even I couldn't jinx it back into a victory. But since I have nothing to write about, here's what we are going to do: a couple of months ago, someone emailed me a list of the 100 Least Appealing Celebrities, and asked me to comment on it. I never opened it - I don't even know who wrote the list, but I saved it for a night like tonight. I am going to pick a random number, riiight now-- okay: 31. Now, we are going to open it, and see who # 31 is, and see if we like them, or don't like them. You know, just see where it goes...Okay, hold up a sec while I check the list - I'll copy whatever they say about the person here, then comment below...Wait a second, there are only 20 names on the list, and there are no blurbs - what the hell? Okay, I'm picking a new number between 1-20, annnnd it is: 5. And number 5 is: JON PLUS EIGHT GOSSELIN!!! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, HOW DARE YOU PLACE JON PLUS EIGHT ON A LIST OF LEAST APPEALING CELEBRITIES, JUST BEHIND THE OCTOMOM, AND JUST IN FRONT OF HEIDI MONTAG, WHOM I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA WHO SHE IS!!! WHY - JUST BECAUSE HE IS ASIAN, HAS BAD HAIR PLUGS, AND WEARS ED HARDY T-SHIRTS SEVEN YEARS AFTER THEY WENT OUT OF FASHION? FIRST DWYANE GETS INJURED AND NOW THIS? THIS IS THE WORST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!!! I HATE THIS LIST!!!
Man, these two teams, they're giving each other a battle. Miami won Game 1 kinda easy, then there's been 4 straight tight, tight ballgames. Dallas has won three. If Dwyane is healthy, I absolutely believe Miami can win two straight back at home - but it's going to be a war. If you need me before Sunday night, I'll be making my Top 100 List of Lists I Am Never Going To Read Again...Have a good weekend!
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1) Really? Dwyane Wade has to get hurt in the fifth game of the NBA Finals? Really? That's what has to happen? He couldn't have got hurt on a Tuesday in December against Minnesota, or a Saturday in February against Detroit? Really - tonight he had to get hurt? C'mon, mannn! It doesn't even feel like a "real" loss, it feels fluky, which I suppose is a silver-lining in an otherwise dreary night...Dallas shot the snot out of the ball (13-19 on threes!), shot a bunch of fourth quarter free throws again, and LeBron couldn't find his jumper...Let's go...back to Miami, thank the Lord!
2) Wade got hurt in the first half on a collision with Brian Cardinal, of all people. Brian Cardinal shouldn't even be in an NBA Finals game! What are you doing putting him in there to injure Dwyane Wade, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle - I hate you!!! Banged up his hip, missed a few minutes, labored through the closing minutes of the first half, then stayed in the locker room for the first 8 minutes of the second half. Came back out, limping noticeably, with no explosion, with Miami down a handful of points, and still almost willed them to victory! It would have been an all-timer, for sure. Finished with 23 points in only 34 minutes, and most tellingly, only 2 rebounds. Didn't have lift in his legs. Man, Miami's got home games Sunday and, if they win that one, Tuesday - win two home games, and you're the NBA champions. If they lose because Dwyane Wade is limited - after playing like a hundred games this year - that is going to be super-aggravating....
3) Biggest exchange of the game: With Miami down 2, and two minutes to go, Wade drove middle, found LeBron cutting baseline, and LeBron elevated and finished while colliding with Tyson Chandler. At home, that is almost certainly a three point play, or at worst a no call and a basket, and Miami would have been up one or even. Instead, Joey Crawford called an offensive foul, wiping out the basket, Dallas came down and drilled a triple when Mike Miller inexplicably wandered down the lane trailing a driving Jason Terry, who was not his cover, leaving Jason Kidd alone to set his feet on the perimeter, receive a pass, and drain it. If that were Dwyane Wade or Dirk Nowitzki, they probably would have been awarded 4 or 5 free throws. But LeBron - nothing. Such is life as LeBron...Frustrating for Miami - it couldn't get that one driving LeBron call, the Mavs shot 13 more fourth quarter free throws in this game, and was in the bonus for the last seven and a half minutes - and it was that way for three games in a row in Dallas. That's not a complaint - that's life on the road in the NBA. If there is one tangible thing getting back to Miami can do for this team, it is the opportunity to perhaps get more chances to make fourth quarter stops. It just feels like they can't catch a break right now.
4) Totally heroic: Mario Chalmers. With Wade in the locker room, and then limping badly, and all Dallas defenders loading up on LeBron James in Dwyane's absence - and LeBron can't locate the stroke from the perimeter - Mario Chalmers came in and played as well as he can play in the first half, allowing Miami to hang around. Hit another first quarter buzzer-beating 45 footer when Mike Miller, wisely, sought him out for the crazy shot. As M.Minutos again pointed out, all that time everyone thought Mario was wasting in the gym by flinging half-court runners his entire life has now paid off two games in a row. Emcee hit 4-6 triples before the break and had 13 points. On the verge of getting run out of the game a couple of times, Chalmers saved them. Against all odds, he was Miami's best player in the half.
5) Dirk Nowitzki was great again - broke out with 29 points. Also, my third favorite boat captain on "Deadliest Catch," the raddest show on tv:
I did not think it was cool when Dirk's brother Edgar bailed on him at the end of Blue Crab season last week, but, in fairness, Dirk sits up in the warm captain's chair the whole time, barking over the loudspeaker at Edgar and the rest of the crew to pull pots faster, while they are down there working in, like, arctic hurricanes. We'll see how Dirk likes Opilio season without Edgar - I'm guessing he's going to wish he was a little less abrasive, and a little more understanding of Edgar's needs...
6) I got nothing tonight, but I'm in a suprisingly good mood considering Miami just lost a game in the Finals. Just seemed like fate when Dwyane got hurt - this game wasn't going our way, and even I couldn't jinx it back into a victory. But since I have nothing to write about, here's what we are going to do: a couple of months ago, someone emailed me a list of the 100 Least Appealing Celebrities, and asked me to comment on it. I never opened it - I don't even know who wrote the list, but I saved it for a night like tonight. I am going to pick a random number, riiight now-- okay: 31. Now, we are going to open it, and see who # 31 is, and see if we like them, or don't like them. You know, just see where it goes...Okay, hold up a sec while I check the list - I'll copy whatever they say about the person here, then comment below...Wait a second, there are only 20 names on the list, and there are no blurbs - what the hell? Okay, I'm picking a new number between 1-20, annnnd it is: 5. And number 5 is: JON PLUS EIGHT GOSSELIN!!! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, HOW DARE YOU PLACE JON PLUS EIGHT ON A LIST OF LEAST APPEALING CELEBRITIES, JUST BEHIND THE OCTOMOM, AND JUST IN FRONT OF HEIDI MONTAG, WHOM I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA WHO SHE IS!!! WHY - JUST BECAUSE HE IS ASIAN, HAS BAD HAIR PLUGS, AND WEARS ED HARDY T-SHIRTS SEVEN YEARS AFTER THEY WENT OUT OF FASHION? FIRST DWYANE GETS INJURED AND NOW THIS? THIS IS THE WORST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!!! I HATE THIS LIST!!!
Man, these two teams, they're giving each other a battle. Miami won Game 1 kinda easy, then there's been 4 straight tight, tight ballgames. Dallas has won three. If Dwyane is healthy, I absolutely believe Miami can win two straight back at home - but it's going to be a war. If you need me before Sunday night, I'll be making my Top 100 List of Lists I Am Never Going To Read Again...Have a good weekend!
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Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Mavs 86 Heat 83 Series tied 2-2
6 Thoughts
1) Oh - now I understand why Cleveland fans felt like LeBron quit on them last spring in the series against Boston! What in the name of Delonte was that tonight? LeBron shuffled through 46 minutes of "action" like it was an October exhibition game against Minnesota. It wasn't that he only scored 8 points - it was that he only took 11 shots, in an unbelievably passive performance. Worse, on the other end, he spent the fourth quarter getting torched off the dribble by Jason Terry to the point that Dallas started going at him. I was already exhausted before the game even started, and whatever little energy I had, LeBron sucked the life out of me over the course of two and a half hours. Man, LeBron - I can't even give you a "let's go" tonight - I'm just going to move on to # 2.
2) Even with that, Miami still had a chance to win because Dwyane Wade was, again, incredibly good: 32 points and 6 rebounds for Dwyane, along with 2 fourth quarter blocks, including one absurd rejection of a Tyson Chandler dunk attempt that Wade turned into a layup on the other end for a 5 point lead with 7 minutes to go. Only blemish on his night: a missed free throw with 30 seconds to go that could have tied the game. He's been the best player in the series, easily. Unfortunately, Dirk Nowitzki or Tyson Chandler, and not LeBron, has been the second best, in all probability.
3) Tyson Chandler was fantastic tonight. He is an outstanding defensive player who is effective at deterring drives in the paint. And he has been all over the offensive boards the past couple of games: he had 9 tonight, and 16 total rebounds for the game. I think we all knew that Tyson Chandler was good - I don't we all knew that he was this good.
4) These games have all felt oddly similar. Miami dominates the game physically for long stretches of time, and pushes out to leads over and over. Tonight they led by 9 a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter. Then the game slows down, and the Mavs start getting to the free throw line to fight their way back into the game. It feels like they've been on an endless parade to the line in the second half of fourth quarters in this series; tonight Dallas shot 30 free throws total to Miami's 24, overall. Especially hurtful are the late loose ball fouls that allow Dallas to score points without Miami getting a chance to get a stop - there was another huge one tonight with two minutes to go - a foul called on Wade 85 feet from the basket that gave Nowitzki two points. I'm not complaining - this is what often happens on the road in the NBA. It's why home court means something - refs give you more calls. But, it doesn't happen every night. It just seems like one of the these nights, even in Dallas, Miami is going to get the 50-50 calls, including extra possessions down the stretch, and blow the Mavericks off the court. Annnnnnd, let's hope it's Thursday, 'cause that's the last game in Dallas!
5) Back to LeBron. He's been passive all series. How passive? Dallas got so tired of Dwyane Wade murdering Jason Kidd that they switched defenders - placed Shawn Marion on Wade, and put Kidd on LeBron. Marion was no better on Wade than Kidd - Dwyane still had his way - but LeBron was matched up against a 38 year old five inches shorter than him, and never seemed to notice, or care, or figure out he could get a quality shot whenever he wanted. It wasn't like Kidd got physical with him, or out-thought him, or anything. He just stood roughly near LeBron wherever LeBron happened to set up shop, and...nothing. He did nothing, because LeBron never did anything. I spent much of the day explaining to people that Dwyane Wade is the most aggressive player in the league. He's high risk, high reward. But he's so good, that the reward, over a large enough sample size, always outweighs the negative plays. LeBron has a totally different style. He is conservative by nature - maybe because he is from Ohio! Tonight, though, he took that to absurd levels. He took it to a place where he hurt the team. With the game slipping away down the stretch, he just kind of "let go of the rope," to use a classic Spo-ism. He never, really, at any point, "got into the fight," to use another! I suppose it's possible he's just exhausted from the sheer number of minutes he's played in the playoffs. But that would missed explain "missed shots," more than "no shots." There's two or three games left in this series - Pat Riley would tell him to "be an active participant in your own rescue!" Love those Heat cliches - they come in handy when you are trying to rush through a dumb blog post! I've mostly been on a national media blackout for the past month or so, so I'm not positive what the national LeBron narrative has been, but even locally, LeBron is going to get murdered online and in the press for the next two days.
6) Look, we all know that what Congressman Anthony Weiner did was, perhaps, questionable. But what I hate to see is how he has been given the shaft by his colleagues in the House of Representatives, especially the Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Man, I would have liked to see Boehner grab Weiner and straighten him out - I mean, of all people, Boehner should be sensitive to, and touched by, this orgy of bad decision-making. Sure, I know they are in different parties, and have crossed swords many times over the issues, but Boehner's rigid moral perspective really could help Weiner feel his way through this gaping hole in his judgement. I mean, yes, Boehner should protect himself, as always, but he's been in inflammatory situations before and always remained erect, and often, his drive has helped stimulate others to-...that's all I've got, I'm exhausted...
Game 5 is Thursday night in Dallas. The series is tied 2-2, so, you know, it is kind of a big game. I don't even have a "until then" joke. I need sleep, and I need LeBron to show up...I gotta believe he can - and just to inspire him: Let's Go!!!
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1) Oh - now I understand why Cleveland fans felt like LeBron quit on them last spring in the series against Boston! What in the name of Delonte was that tonight? LeBron shuffled through 46 minutes of "action" like it was an October exhibition game against Minnesota. It wasn't that he only scored 8 points - it was that he only took 11 shots, in an unbelievably passive performance. Worse, on the other end, he spent the fourth quarter getting torched off the dribble by Jason Terry to the point that Dallas started going at him. I was already exhausted before the game even started, and whatever little energy I had, LeBron sucked the life out of me over the course of two and a half hours. Man, LeBron - I can't even give you a "let's go" tonight - I'm just going to move on to # 2.
2) Even with that, Miami still had a chance to win because Dwyane Wade was, again, incredibly good: 32 points and 6 rebounds for Dwyane, along with 2 fourth quarter blocks, including one absurd rejection of a Tyson Chandler dunk attempt that Wade turned into a layup on the other end for a 5 point lead with 7 minutes to go. Only blemish on his night: a missed free throw with 30 seconds to go that could have tied the game. He's been the best player in the series, easily. Unfortunately, Dirk Nowitzki or Tyson Chandler, and not LeBron, has been the second best, in all probability.
3) Tyson Chandler was fantastic tonight. He is an outstanding defensive player who is effective at deterring drives in the paint. And he has been all over the offensive boards the past couple of games: he had 9 tonight, and 16 total rebounds for the game. I think we all knew that Tyson Chandler was good - I don't we all knew that he was this good.
4) These games have all felt oddly similar. Miami dominates the game physically for long stretches of time, and pushes out to leads over and over. Tonight they led by 9 a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter. Then the game slows down, and the Mavs start getting to the free throw line to fight their way back into the game. It feels like they've been on an endless parade to the line in the second half of fourth quarters in this series; tonight Dallas shot 30 free throws total to Miami's 24, overall. Especially hurtful are the late loose ball fouls that allow Dallas to score points without Miami getting a chance to get a stop - there was another huge one tonight with two minutes to go - a foul called on Wade 85 feet from the basket that gave Nowitzki two points. I'm not complaining - this is what often happens on the road in the NBA. It's why home court means something - refs give you more calls. But, it doesn't happen every night. It just seems like one of the these nights, even in Dallas, Miami is going to get the 50-50 calls, including extra possessions down the stretch, and blow the Mavericks off the court. Annnnnnd, let's hope it's Thursday, 'cause that's the last game in Dallas!
5) Back to LeBron. He's been passive all series. How passive? Dallas got so tired of Dwyane Wade murdering Jason Kidd that they switched defenders - placed Shawn Marion on Wade, and put Kidd on LeBron. Marion was no better on Wade than Kidd - Dwyane still had his way - but LeBron was matched up against a 38 year old five inches shorter than him, and never seemed to notice, or care, or figure out he could get a quality shot whenever he wanted. It wasn't like Kidd got physical with him, or out-thought him, or anything. He just stood roughly near LeBron wherever LeBron happened to set up shop, and...nothing. He did nothing, because LeBron never did anything. I spent much of the day explaining to people that Dwyane Wade is the most aggressive player in the league. He's high risk, high reward. But he's so good, that the reward, over a large enough sample size, always outweighs the negative plays. LeBron has a totally different style. He is conservative by nature - maybe because he is from Ohio! Tonight, though, he took that to absurd levels. He took it to a place where he hurt the team. With the game slipping away down the stretch, he just kind of "let go of the rope," to use a classic Spo-ism. He never, really, at any point, "got into the fight," to use another! I suppose it's possible he's just exhausted from the sheer number of minutes he's played in the playoffs. But that would missed explain "missed shots," more than "no shots." There's two or three games left in this series - Pat Riley would tell him to "be an active participant in your own rescue!" Love those Heat cliches - they come in handy when you are trying to rush through a dumb blog post! I've mostly been on a national media blackout for the past month or so, so I'm not positive what the national LeBron narrative has been, but even locally, LeBron is going to get murdered online and in the press for the next two days.
6) Look, we all know that what Congressman Anthony Weiner did was, perhaps, questionable. But what I hate to see is how he has been given the shaft by his colleagues in the House of Representatives, especially the Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Man, I would have liked to see Boehner grab Weiner and straighten him out - I mean, of all people, Boehner should be sensitive to, and touched by, this orgy of bad decision-making. Sure, I know they are in different parties, and have crossed swords many times over the issues, but Boehner's rigid moral perspective really could help Weiner feel his way through this gaping hole in his judgement. I mean, yes, Boehner should protect himself, as always, but he's been in inflammatory situations before and always remained erect, and often, his drive has helped stimulate others to-...that's all I've got, I'm exhausted...
Game 5 is Thursday night in Dallas. The series is tied 2-2, so, you know, it is kind of a big game. I don't even have a "until then" joke. I need sleep, and I need LeBron to show up...I gotta believe he can - and just to inspire him: Let's Go!!!
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Sunday, June 5, 2011
Heat 88 Mavs 86 Heat lead 2-1
6 Thoughts
1) I spent all weekend feeling like Miami was out of the series after the brutal Game 2 gack-up - I'm not saying that it made any sense; that's how I felt. If I was a player, I would have quit sometime around Saturday afternoon, because I would have assumed we were going to get blown out. Never forget - I have no heart. Instead, the Heat showed up in Dallas, controlled play most of the night, endured a parade of free throws - even in the last 3 minutes - for Dallas all night long, and survived a last second fallaway jumper try from Dirk Nowitzki. Miami rarely wins games when they get outshot at the line 27-15 - getting to the line is Miami's whole raison d'etre - and they were frustrated at the officiating all night long...Unbelievable gut check win - Miami is back in the fight. Let's Go!
2) Dwyane Wade was just ridiculous from start to finish. His numbers - 29 points and 11 rebounds - were great, but just as good was a defensive play with 30 seconds to go and Miami up a deuce. Nowitzki had the ball around the free throw line and started to spin to shoot his fallaway. Dwyane, anticipating the move, came sprinting off Shawn Marion on the wing, and elevated to block the shot, causing Nowitzki to pull the ball down and try to fling out late to the wing to Marion, who had vacated the spot. Ball out of bounds to Miami. Huge, genius, instinctive defensive play to create a turnover in a one possession game with 30 seconds to go. He seized control of this game early, and was the best player on both ends of the floor again.
3) Chris Bosh was weak again most of the night - only 3 rebounds - but he had two huge buckets down the stretch, including a 20 foot baseline jumper with under a minute to go (off a ridiculously sharp pass by LeBron) to give Miami its last lead. In fairness to Chris, a first quarter eye gouge by Jason Kidd left him laying on the floor for a good two minutes (with somehow - incredibly - unbelievably - no foul called), and he returned with his eye swollen half-shut all night. Half an hour after the game, after a shower, and dressing, his eye was still looking bad, and tearing up. "You're still having a big problem with that eye - it still hurts, doesn't it?" sympathized interviewer Hannah Storm. "Yes," said Chris. Okay, good interview! Again - there was no foul called! On the other hand, somehow, you have to believe that almost anyone else wouldn't have swelled up as badly...
4) Point guards! First, from the "I thought I told you that we won't stop" category: Emcee Chalmers! For the second game in a row, he was huge, making 4-6 triples, including a running 40 footer at the first quarter buzzer to put Miami up 7. Miami had the ball side out of bounds, deep in its own corner, with about 4 seconds to go, up 4. Dallas came up to press, and I told M.Minutos: "We should just eat it - LeBron is terrible at these halfcourt shots anyways. Just catch it and don't turn it over in our own end." "No, no," protested M.Minutos, "Chalmers is in - he's a good trick shot guy." Miami inbounded the ball to Udonis Haslem, who took two tentative dribbles over halfcourt, flipped an awkward looking pass back to a flying Chalmers, who caught it, maybe in the backcourt, maybe travelled, then drilled a running one hander. "I told you!' thundered M.Minutos, "You know he spends all his time practicing things like that!" Second, from the "Play of the Game" category: Mike Bibby. On the very first possession of the game, wily and physical Dallas point guard Jason Kidd, who is two inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than Bibbs, tried to post up hard on the left block. Kidd elevated for a little leaner, and Bibbs went up and politely, but sternly, slapped the ball out of the air for (another) blocked shot. Lesson? HOW DARE YOU TRY TO POST UP MIKE BIBBY ON THE GAME'S FIRST PLAY! I LOVE AND RESPECT YOU, JASON KIDD, BUT YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED!
5) Why I Hate Replay, example # 655: Late in the second quarter, Jason Kidd, who had apparently learned his lesson about trying to post up Mike Bibby, went out to the perimeter to try his luck. As he caught the ball wide open in space behind the three point line, he saw Dwyane Wade closing on him hard. Kidd stepped in to the shot with a little bunny hop, upfaked Wade into the air, then took about three more steps to make sure Wade would crash into him as he jumped to shoot. It was a blatant travel - on the other hand, about 70 percent of three pointers follow some kind of travel, and it's a tough play to call full speed, so I'm fine with giving him a couple of free throws (he had stepped on the line during the travel). Except, the referees decided to go look at the replay to see whether Kidd had stepped on the line or not, to see whether he should receive two or three free throws. First problem: back in the day, a referee might just watch the guy's feet to see where they were, and then make the correct call. It couldn't have been any more clear that Kidd had stepped on the line, even live-speed. Second problem: now the referees are going to huddle around the replay monitor, watch Jason Kidd take four steps before shooting the ball, and then pretend that it didn't happen! I mean, the purpose of replay, I think, is to "get the call right." But on this play, and on many plays, we still don't end up with the correct call! So what is the point of stopping the game for 6 minutes - Finals games are already four and a half hours long with the extended timeouts and halftime. Jeff Van Gundy, on ABC's broadcast, made the exact same point as I made it to M.Minutos. Either let the referees make the actual correct call after watching the replay, or just don't have it. Humans lived on earth for, at least, dozens of years before replay was invented... I don't understand how a replay system this badly flawed is even defensible.
6) TV Review: "River Monsters." Great, great show! Rahm Emmanuel, feigning some kind of Irish or English or Australian accent (if they are, indeed, different, as Thor claims), travels around the world fishing in remote rivers to try to catch giant, killer fishes. Beautiful cinematography, awesome native dugout canoes, and bizarre cheesy re-creations of killer fishes attacking the indigenous people. Tonight, in Papua New Guinea, he was chasing a cousin of the piranha, named the pacu, WHO HAD BIT THE GENATALIA OFF OF A NATIVE GUY WHO LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE LEBRON JAMES' PAPUA NEW GUNINNEISH UNCLE! HOLY MOLY! Emmanuel claimed that he was in a remote, mostly untouched part of Papua New Guinea, but one of the first old dudes in the village they talked to spoke good English and was wearing an Imax ballcap. Probably not a lot of eyeglasses out there, so they need those big screens to be able to see what the hell the movie is about. Best of all, in every episode, including tonight, Emmanuel finally catches the big, killer fish - and then releases it back into the river so that it can continue to terrorize the native people! LOOK OUT LEBRON'S UNCLE! Anyways, obviously this is a show that is great for the whole family, although P.Minutos is certainly going to have nightmares about killer fish now. Still, it's a clear 9.5 out of 10, only because it isn't quite as good as "Deadliest Catch."
We're back Tuesday night for the second of three from Dallas. If you need me before then, I'll be out fishing in the canal behind our street, but wearing goggles to protect the detached retina Jason Kidd gave me. See you Tuesday!
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1) I spent all weekend feeling like Miami was out of the series after the brutal Game 2 gack-up - I'm not saying that it made any sense; that's how I felt. If I was a player, I would have quit sometime around Saturday afternoon, because I would have assumed we were going to get blown out. Never forget - I have no heart. Instead, the Heat showed up in Dallas, controlled play most of the night, endured a parade of free throws - even in the last 3 minutes - for Dallas all night long, and survived a last second fallaway jumper try from Dirk Nowitzki. Miami rarely wins games when they get outshot at the line 27-15 - getting to the line is Miami's whole raison d'etre - and they were frustrated at the officiating all night long...Unbelievable gut check win - Miami is back in the fight. Let's Go!
2) Dwyane Wade was just ridiculous from start to finish. His numbers - 29 points and 11 rebounds - were great, but just as good was a defensive play with 30 seconds to go and Miami up a deuce. Nowitzki had the ball around the free throw line and started to spin to shoot his fallaway. Dwyane, anticipating the move, came sprinting off Shawn Marion on the wing, and elevated to block the shot, causing Nowitzki to pull the ball down and try to fling out late to the wing to Marion, who had vacated the spot. Ball out of bounds to Miami. Huge, genius, instinctive defensive play to create a turnover in a one possession game with 30 seconds to go. He seized control of this game early, and was the best player on both ends of the floor again.
3) Chris Bosh was weak again most of the night - only 3 rebounds - but he had two huge buckets down the stretch, including a 20 foot baseline jumper with under a minute to go (off a ridiculously sharp pass by LeBron) to give Miami its last lead. In fairness to Chris, a first quarter eye gouge by Jason Kidd left him laying on the floor for a good two minutes (with somehow - incredibly - unbelievably - no foul called), and he returned with his eye swollen half-shut all night. Half an hour after the game, after a shower, and dressing, his eye was still looking bad, and tearing up. "You're still having a big problem with that eye - it still hurts, doesn't it?" sympathized interviewer Hannah Storm. "Yes," said Chris. Okay, good interview! Again - there was no foul called! On the other hand, somehow, you have to believe that almost anyone else wouldn't have swelled up as badly...
4) Point guards! First, from the "I thought I told you that we won't stop" category: Emcee Chalmers! For the second game in a row, he was huge, making 4-6 triples, including a running 40 footer at the first quarter buzzer to put Miami up 7. Miami had the ball side out of bounds, deep in its own corner, with about 4 seconds to go, up 4. Dallas came up to press, and I told M.Minutos: "We should just eat it - LeBron is terrible at these halfcourt shots anyways. Just catch it and don't turn it over in our own end." "No, no," protested M.Minutos, "Chalmers is in - he's a good trick shot guy." Miami inbounded the ball to Udonis Haslem, who took two tentative dribbles over halfcourt, flipped an awkward looking pass back to a flying Chalmers, who caught it, maybe in the backcourt, maybe travelled, then drilled a running one hander. "I told you!' thundered M.Minutos, "You know he spends all his time practicing things like that!" Second, from the "Play of the Game" category: Mike Bibby. On the very first possession of the game, wily and physical Dallas point guard Jason Kidd, who is two inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than Bibbs, tried to post up hard on the left block. Kidd elevated for a little leaner, and Bibbs went up and politely, but sternly, slapped the ball out of the air for (another) blocked shot. Lesson? HOW DARE YOU TRY TO POST UP MIKE BIBBY ON THE GAME'S FIRST PLAY! I LOVE AND RESPECT YOU, JASON KIDD, BUT YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED!
5) Why I Hate Replay, example # 655: Late in the second quarter, Jason Kidd, who had apparently learned his lesson about trying to post up Mike Bibby, went out to the perimeter to try his luck. As he caught the ball wide open in space behind the three point line, he saw Dwyane Wade closing on him hard. Kidd stepped in to the shot with a little bunny hop, upfaked Wade into the air, then took about three more steps to make sure Wade would crash into him as he jumped to shoot. It was a blatant travel - on the other hand, about 70 percent of three pointers follow some kind of travel, and it's a tough play to call full speed, so I'm fine with giving him a couple of free throws (he had stepped on the line during the travel). Except, the referees decided to go look at the replay to see whether Kidd had stepped on the line or not, to see whether he should receive two or three free throws. First problem: back in the day, a referee might just watch the guy's feet to see where they were, and then make the correct call. It couldn't have been any more clear that Kidd had stepped on the line, even live-speed. Second problem: now the referees are going to huddle around the replay monitor, watch Jason Kidd take four steps before shooting the ball, and then pretend that it didn't happen! I mean, the purpose of replay, I think, is to "get the call right." But on this play, and on many plays, we still don't end up with the correct call! So what is the point of stopping the game for 6 minutes - Finals games are already four and a half hours long with the extended timeouts and halftime. Jeff Van Gundy, on ABC's broadcast, made the exact same point as I made it to M.Minutos. Either let the referees make the actual correct call after watching the replay, or just don't have it. Humans lived on earth for, at least, dozens of years before replay was invented... I don't understand how a replay system this badly flawed is even defensible.
6) TV Review: "River Monsters." Great, great show! Rahm Emmanuel, feigning some kind of Irish or English or Australian accent (if they are, indeed, different, as Thor claims), travels around the world fishing in remote rivers to try to catch giant, killer fishes. Beautiful cinematography, awesome native dugout canoes, and bizarre cheesy re-creations of killer fishes attacking the indigenous people. Tonight, in Papua New Guinea, he was chasing a cousin of the piranha, named the pacu, WHO HAD BIT THE GENATALIA OFF OF A NATIVE GUY WHO LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE LEBRON JAMES' PAPUA NEW GUNINNEISH UNCLE! HOLY MOLY! Emmanuel claimed that he was in a remote, mostly untouched part of Papua New Guinea, but one of the first old dudes in the village they talked to spoke good English and was wearing an Imax ballcap. Probably not a lot of eyeglasses out there, so they need those big screens to be able to see what the hell the movie is about. Best of all, in every episode, including tonight, Emmanuel finally catches the big, killer fish - and then releases it back into the river so that it can continue to terrorize the native people! LOOK OUT LEBRON'S UNCLE! Anyways, obviously this is a show that is great for the whole family, although P.Minutos is certainly going to have nightmares about killer fish now. Still, it's a clear 9.5 out of 10, only because it isn't quite as good as "Deadliest Catch."
We're back Tuesday night for the second of three from Dallas. If you need me before then, I'll be out fishing in the canal behind our street, but wearing goggles to protect the detached retina Jason Kidd gave me. See you Tuesday!
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
Mavs 95 Heat 93 Series tied 1-1
6 Thoughts
1) Miami semi-pummeled Dallas all night, had them on the verge of blowouts two different times, and generally controlled the game from start to finish. And yet, somehow, incredibly, improbably, gakked up a 15 point lead with 6 minutes to go and lost this game. Had Miami won, I think we all agreed that the series was probably pretty much over. Instead, it looks like a long, hard fight. If Miami doesn't win this title, we'll look back on this six minute stretch in agony. We don't want to go, but I guess we have to!
2) Down the stretch, Miami resorted to the late game offense they used for the first four months of the season: LeBron stands 30 feet from the basket, dribbles the ball down to about 8 seconds on the shot clock, tentatively advances to the three point line, then either jams it late to someone in a bad spot, or retreats two dribbles, then gathers himself for a contested, twisting fallaway jumper. Guess what? They didn't go in. Dwyane Wade rarely touched the ball down the stretch even though he scored 36 on only 20 shots - his one shot late was a contested three after a LeBron dribble-fest. Honestly, I don't even mind the threes from LeBron - but you're bigger and more athletic than anyone guarding you. Step up, give one move, and rise and shoot. The diddling around to settle for an off-balance fade is a killer. He's played a ton of good games in a row, and made huge shots. Tonight wasn't great - need a little better decision-making from him.
3) Three huge errors on the last defensive possession when Nowtizki made a driving layup to win the game, two by Coach Spo. One, Udonis Haslem was late coming to help. You have to make sure you get there in time to help the primary defender. That's a Heat strength - UD didn't get there. We praise him enough in this blog - he has to take one criticism. Two, there's no way Chris Bosh can be checking Nowitzki on that last play. Chris had a pitiful night - it was one of his totally ineffectual performances. Even when Miami was killing Dallas, he was horrendous - shot 4-16, and got stripped of the ball maybe 100 times, including one key possession with a minute to go when LeBron put him in a difficult position. You know Nowitzki is going to aggressively hunt a shot in that spot. While Chris is an excellent position defender on pick-and-rolls, he's not a great on the ball guy, it wasn't his night in general, and he got beat pretty bad on the play. Three, Joel Anthony has to be in the game in that spot. You can take either Bosh or UD out, I don't care which, but Joel is the best on the ball defender of Nowitzki, and he's the best help defender at the rim. Neither Bosh nor UD did their jobs in that spot - and Joel is better at both of those jobs. Not sure what we're saving him for - maybe Game 3.
4) I'm not saying I enjoyed the game, or felt good for Dallas, or anything like that - I didn't. All I am saying is, in 2006, they had Miami about as close as you can get to being out of the series, let them slip away, and then Miami came back and won the championship. Tonight, Miami had Dallas very close to being just about out of the series, let them slip away, and...we'll see. Fair play to Dallas tonight. Man, I don't know how players do it - I could never come back and play Sunday night. I'd be devastated. The last time this franchise took a loss like this was Game 7 of the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit, the Dwyane Wade-injured ribs game. It took me about eight weeks to bounce back from that disappointment. I have absolutely no heart!
5) We'd be much remiss if we didn't mention that besides Dwyane Wade, Miami's hero of the night, at least for 42 minutes, was Mike Bibby! Not only did he make 4-7 triples and score 14 points, he also had 4 steals - 3 of them right in a row - to key a third quarter run that put Miami up double digits. He was utilizing his patented "I'll stand patiently over here out of harm's way while there is a scrum on the floor for a loose ball, then it will squirt right to me, and I will casually pass it ahead to Dwyane or LeBron for a dunk" defense. Worked like a charm. Like it always does. Maybe Bibbs should have checked Nowitzki on that last possession!
6) Music Review: new Wombats album. It's awesome, just download it. Here's one of the cool songs - I swear I planned to post a song in which the chorus is "Let me be your anti-depressant" before Miami blew this lead!
Game 3 is Sunday night in Dallas. Now Miami has to win one out there to get the series back to South Beach. It can be done, no doubt - just have to get back to the grind. If you need me before Sunday, I'll be sleeping. School is over for the Minutos boys! No more driving them to school! No more hustling to get them to bed early! Let's get some sleep! See you Sunday!
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1) Miami semi-pummeled Dallas all night, had them on the verge of blowouts two different times, and generally controlled the game from start to finish. And yet, somehow, incredibly, improbably, gakked up a 15 point lead with 6 minutes to go and lost this game. Had Miami won, I think we all agreed that the series was probably pretty much over. Instead, it looks like a long, hard fight. If Miami doesn't win this title, we'll look back on this six minute stretch in agony. We don't want to go, but I guess we have to!
2) Down the stretch, Miami resorted to the late game offense they used for the first four months of the season: LeBron stands 30 feet from the basket, dribbles the ball down to about 8 seconds on the shot clock, tentatively advances to the three point line, then either jams it late to someone in a bad spot, or retreats two dribbles, then gathers himself for a contested, twisting fallaway jumper. Guess what? They didn't go in. Dwyane Wade rarely touched the ball down the stretch even though he scored 36 on only 20 shots - his one shot late was a contested three after a LeBron dribble-fest. Honestly, I don't even mind the threes from LeBron - but you're bigger and more athletic than anyone guarding you. Step up, give one move, and rise and shoot. The diddling around to settle for an off-balance fade is a killer. He's played a ton of good games in a row, and made huge shots. Tonight wasn't great - need a little better decision-making from him.
3) Three huge errors on the last defensive possession when Nowtizki made a driving layup to win the game, two by Coach Spo. One, Udonis Haslem was late coming to help. You have to make sure you get there in time to help the primary defender. That's a Heat strength - UD didn't get there. We praise him enough in this blog - he has to take one criticism. Two, there's no way Chris Bosh can be checking Nowitzki on that last play. Chris had a pitiful night - it was one of his totally ineffectual performances. Even when Miami was killing Dallas, he was horrendous - shot 4-16, and got stripped of the ball maybe 100 times, including one key possession with a minute to go when LeBron put him in a difficult position. You know Nowitzki is going to aggressively hunt a shot in that spot. While Chris is an excellent position defender on pick-and-rolls, he's not a great on the ball guy, it wasn't his night in general, and he got beat pretty bad on the play. Three, Joel Anthony has to be in the game in that spot. You can take either Bosh or UD out, I don't care which, but Joel is the best on the ball defender of Nowitzki, and he's the best help defender at the rim. Neither Bosh nor UD did their jobs in that spot - and Joel is better at both of those jobs. Not sure what we're saving him for - maybe Game 3.
4) I'm not saying I enjoyed the game, or felt good for Dallas, or anything like that - I didn't. All I am saying is, in 2006, they had Miami about as close as you can get to being out of the series, let them slip away, and then Miami came back and won the championship. Tonight, Miami had Dallas very close to being just about out of the series, let them slip away, and...we'll see. Fair play to Dallas tonight. Man, I don't know how players do it - I could never come back and play Sunday night. I'd be devastated. The last time this franchise took a loss like this was Game 7 of the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit, the Dwyane Wade-injured ribs game. It took me about eight weeks to bounce back from that disappointment. I have absolutely no heart!
5) We'd be much remiss if we didn't mention that besides Dwyane Wade, Miami's hero of the night, at least for 42 minutes, was Mike Bibby! Not only did he make 4-7 triples and score 14 points, he also had 4 steals - 3 of them right in a row - to key a third quarter run that put Miami up double digits. He was utilizing his patented "I'll stand patiently over here out of harm's way while there is a scrum on the floor for a loose ball, then it will squirt right to me, and I will casually pass it ahead to Dwyane or LeBron for a dunk" defense. Worked like a charm. Like it always does. Maybe Bibbs should have checked Nowitzki on that last possession!
6) Music Review: new Wombats album. It's awesome, just download it. Here's one of the cool songs - I swear I planned to post a song in which the chorus is "Let me be your anti-depressant" before Miami blew this lead!
Game 3 is Sunday night in Dallas. Now Miami has to win one out there to get the series back to South Beach. It can be done, no doubt - just have to get back to the grind. If you need me before Sunday, I'll be sleeping. School is over for the Minutos boys! No more driving them to school! No more hustling to get them to bed early! Let's get some sleep! See you Sunday!
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