The 2006 NBA Playoffs thread

[Fusion]

Ok, so I have had time to recover from my depression and analyze the Finals with somewhat of an objective view. Let me just say that I am still disappointed about the officiating in the series. Wade is an amazing player, and perhaps should now be considered the best player in the league. But the refs treated him as Michael Jordan. All the Mavs had to do was breath on Wade and they'd be called for a foul. Wade needs to win a few more championships and dominate a few more Finals before he's given the MJ treatment by the refs!! The fact that the Mavs can point to many calls (or non calls) that went against them (including the final play where Terry's jersey was pulled as he was shooting a 3) shows that the officiating overall was very poor and Mark Cuban has a point.
Now having said all that, THE REFS ARE NOT THE REASON THE MAVS LOST. They lost because they took their foot off the paddle and let Miami come back in the series with a vengeance. They were up 2-0, and were 6 minutes away from being up 3-0. Then they relaxed, and the rest is history. The reason the Mavs lost is that Wade is an amazing player with a singular desire to win that was unmatched for both teams. The Mavs lost because the Heat's dominant Centers outperformed the Mavs' Centers. They lost because the Heat's role players surprisingly outperformed the Mavs' role players. They lost because the team lost it composure because of the officiating (from Cuban to Avery to the players). And as much as it pains me to admit it, they lost because the Heat were simply the better team THIS YEAR. The Mavs are young and will continue to improve, but this year the Heat were better and deserved to win the Finals.
It was painful to see the celebration of the Heat on the Mav's court. But I was happy for Shaq. Who can not love that guy? On to next year we go!! By the way, with a young Wade, LeBron, Carmelo, Yao, Amare, Dirk and "in their primes" Kobe, KG, Duncan, T-Mac and many others I’m forgetting, is this the most talented the NBA has ever been??

P.S: I think the refs just blew their whistle and Wade is on the FT line, waiting for next year!

[Anil]

yes center is one position where dallas has absolutely crap players....it seemed like dampier and diop were just there to commit 12 fouls on shaq....pathetic....and dampier is such an expensive player right? i don't think they are getting 1/10 r.o.i from him....it's true that there are very few good centers in the nba but even so when you look at the rest of the dallas roster, it is so full of talent and hence the difference seems more pronounced...anyway this team should soon win their 1st championship....as for the heat, wade was just marvellous(he does have the advantage of a vastly superior support cast but at this point, he has developed into a better player than king james) so was mourning, as for mourning quitting after this season, i for one feel shaq should quit now while he is on top rather than alonzo....that was a lion-hearted performance from 'zo in the final game....shaq was just not much of a factor in these finals and his numbers and his general influence on the game will continue to decrease i feel and that is just sad....a legend like him should go out while he still commands the respect of his fellow players not as an over-the-hill player and an afterthought in the opposition coach's mind, that's what i think...i am not too sure they will be able to defend their title next year....i think next year will be one of the most open nba seasons in a long time....the west has even more challengers now with dallas, san antonio, the suns with amare back in their roster, the up-and-coming clippers, phil jackson's lakers could spring a few surprises...., the nuggets etc....the east doesn't look that open but it should be interesting to see what teams the cavs and the wizards and the bulls come up with for next season....

[ohtani's jacket]

Originally Posted by Sanz

You dont win 4 games in a row because of the Calls or Refs. If One man in WADE could beat Dallas, then I guess you are basically saying that Dallas were beaten by one guy. That IMO is a contradiction in some way because you dont deserve to win if you cant control one guy.

I'm not saying that Miami didn't deserve to win -- they won the games, simple as that... but they weren't the best team in the league. Usually the best team wins the NBA title, because of the seven game format. This year produced surprise finalists and the better team choked. Dirk had a lot of quality players this year -- Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, Marquis Daniels, Devin Harris, Marquis Daniels, Adrian Griffin; hell even Dampier and DeSagana Diop played better than expected. After the classic series against the Spurs (and it was an all-time classic), it seemed like a new era of Small Ball, but Miami won using a two man game. Dallas choked. Dirk disappeared. Avery's coaching went to hell. Cuban's *****ing was a distraction. Wade was unguardable in Games 3-6, even if he got all the calls, and it was one of the more convincing MVP performances in recent times, but yes, one guy beat Dallas and he went to the line to do it.

The way a game is called has a massive effect on the outcome. It should never decide a game, but often it does, since it got inside Dallas' head. It changes the way players defend; it changes coaching strategies; it limits minutes, puts people in foul trouble and places teams in the penalty; it allows players like Wade to drive again and again without fear of a turnover... The Mavs made a lot of mistakes -- covering Shaq too much & freeing up Wade, the Game 3 rally, Dirk's missed free throw, the botched timeout, but they got screwed on end of game calls.

Still, Wade was the man. I don't agree that he's the best player in the league, but he was the best player in the post season (after the argument went Kobe was MVP, no Lebron, no Dirk...). I also disagree that this is the most talented the league has been. The 70s and 80s were more talented. Interesting season, though.

[Sanz]

I dont think of Wade as the best player in the league either, but I will take him over LeBron, Carmelo and all those who were drafted with him in 2003.