First credit must be given where it’s deserved! The Dallas Mavs were simply the best TEAM in this year’s NBA finals. Lead by finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs have a tremendous bench, which in my opinion was the difference in the championship.

While I still am of the opinion that the Heat are a more talented team, the Mavs proved that the title cannot be won on talent alone. Jason Terry carried them in the first half when Dirk couldn’t find the hoop, sprinkle in JJ Barea and DeShawn Stevenson, Tyson Chandler’s tenacity on the glass, Jason Kidd’s basketball IQ, and great team chemistry, which gave Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks their first title.

The Mavericks success came on their ability to find their shooting touch. Hitting 50% from the field and 46% from the 3 point line is the same kind of shooting that sunk the Lakers in 4 straight, and it seemed like they found their rhythm in game 5 and it carried over to game 6 to clinch it.

Kidd, Terry, Nowitzki and Marion slayed their demons in the finals, all 10 plus year veterans who have all experienced playoff and finals disappointment, can now call themselves champions.

The Miami Heat put the heat on themselves from the beginning of the season. With Bosh, Wade and James, making a proclaimed championship or fail mandate, the pressure was too much to overcome. Where do they go from here? For all of the talent they have, 3 great players do not a team make. They will have to get a true point guard and a big man who can intimidate and rebound in the middle, as well as additional depth across the board. They will surely be active in the free agent market if they are to get back to the finals. They simply didn’t have enough fire power to close. The emotional and physical toll was just too much for 3 players to bear.

LeBron became the NBA villain, wrongly I would say, why because of the manner in which he decided to depart Cleveland? Again his finals performance was less than stellar, one has to ask why? I have some opinions of my own. LeBron is a drive player, credit the Mavs for taking away his ability to drive, as well as intentionally fouling him on break aways. The next thing is, he will need to develop a mid-range and pull up jump shot. The Mavs just evaluated the strength of LeBron and made a team effort to take it away. One on one has never worked against a team and the Mavs help defense was as outstanding as their offense

In the end, the same growing pains that plagued the Heat all year long reared its ugly head in these finals. One thing is for sure, you may be able to hide your inefficiencies and weaknesses during the regular season and maybe even the early rounds of the playoffs, but once the finals begin, head coaches really make a name for themselves by finding ways to exploit your those weaknesses to beat you. And your weaknesses will manifest themselves in pressure situations.

Rick Carlisle and staff made great adjustments, line-up changes and decisions. A coach with a complete team and he knew exactly what to do and how to get it done at the right times. Erik Spoelstra at times seemed to have no answer or remedy for the adjustments made by the Mavs coaching staff. Even when the Heat offense seemed out of rhythm and he rarely came out of a timeout with a clear cut adjustment or play. I’ve said all year, the Heat have had to overcome the best of every team in the league (opponents), as well as I believe coaching inefficiencies.

As the Mavs celebrate, the Heat are left to ponder what could’ve been and what will be necessary for the outcome to be different the next time they are on the finals stage.

- Seth Joyner

June 7, 2011 By Seth Joyner Comments (1)

I am perplexed, although have been extremely entertained with the NBA finals. It has been said that the finals are about runs and adjustments, yet I don’t see the better team making the proper adjustments after 3 games.

I give Dirk his props, throw in Kidd, Marion and Terry’s desire to win a title the fight has been entertaining, but talent wise the Heat should be up 3 games to none and drooling at the prospect of winning one more to send the Mav’s fishing.

The Heat jump out to these double digit leads then fall asleep at the wheel and let the Mavs make it a game down the wire. Whatever they do in the first half to limit Dirk should be done in the second half. I’m sorry I know Haslem may not have the endurance to play the whole game considering how little he’s played this season, but considering what’s on the line, if Dirk is in the game he has to be in.

With Haywood out they can make rebounding a huge advantage, Tyson Chandler is very aggressive blocking shots and rebounding. The Heat need to take advantage of this aggression. Dirk uses the pump fake to live at the line, why haven’t the Heat learned from that, pump fakes in the paint to get Chandler into foul trouble, and the second chance points for the Mav’s disappear.

In Chris Bosh they have a consistent 18 pt, 10 rebound guy, but as the series progress the Mav’s are going to put more pressure on him in crucial situations to make a play. He came through last night, but does he have the confidence to come up big in game 4?

I think the minutes Wade and James have to play in the first half takes a toll on their ability to close, they seem to have no energy left to go to the rack in the 4th quarter that they’ve had in the opening quarters. The Heat have gotten some bench help from one player each game, Chalmers in game 1, Bibby in game 2 and Chalmers again in game 3.

Someone else is going to have to make something happen, it’s clear that Wade and James will see the double team. Likewise the Mav’s have been a one man show, but Haslem has done a good job and I like LeBron on Terry to keep him under control. Marion has played great and has been a problem defensively for the Heat, who can they put on him with LeBron on Terry and Wade on Kidd?

They are by far more talented a team and still should wind up winning it all. Considering what they have, can you imagine the Heat with a big man to intimidate in the middle and a consistent 3 ball threat? The Heat would shut up all the naysayers and haters and strike fear in the rest of the NBA for the next few years.

Erik Spoelstra needs to come up with a better plan for the Heat to sustain a lead, but most people feel as though the big three have overcome coaching all season, they are 2 games away from winning it all, the question is can they hold up and make it to the finish line?

- Seth Joyner

What’ve we learned about the four remaining teams in the NBA conference Championships? It’s going to be a dogfight. While the Bulls after game one looked like they may sweep the Heat, LeBron stepped up big time last night and Miami’s savior may have been Udonis Haslem. It’s clear that the Heat only have two players whom they can count on.

Bosh is a one dimensional player who the Bulls have eliminated, but Haslem gives them toughness in the paint with rebounding, physical play and mid-range scoring. Head Coach Erik Spoelstra has to hope that the rest of the Heat bench will be inspired by the play of Haslem. The question is how long Wade, James and Haslem can carry the load of Bibby, Chalmers, Miller and Bosh. Bosh may reemerge with the presence of Haslem, it seemed to be a chemistry issue with Haslem being in the lineup with new undefined roles.

The Bulls received a wakeup call that this will be a battle. Derek Rose is the truth, but the Heat did a good job defending him last night. All season the weakness of the Bulls, if you can call it that, was the inconsistency of the Bulls role players. Deng, Boozer and Noah played lights out in game one combining for 44 points.

Game two was a different story they combined for just 29 points and this may be the key to this series. The Bulls will win the rebounding game, but if they are to beat the Heat, they will have to continue to dominate the offensive boards and second chance points. They shot 43% in game one and 34% from the field in game two as a team, and you know that Rose will not have another 7-23 night the rest of the series. Shooting percentage and offensive boards may determine this series.

The story of the Western conference finals seems to be Dirk Nowitzki and the Thunders ability to guard JJ Barea. So much talk of not being able to stop Dirk and no one has yet, but when I look at his game, yes he is a tough to almost impossible guard. But if you know he’s going to fade why not play it and go to the right hand, he fades because he can’t elevate.

Most players are right handed and try to distract or block with the right hand, but a player who can use the left and pressure the shooting hand would seem to cause some distraction to his shot. I thought James Harden could be the answer given the fact that his is left handed, but he is too short to be effective and drew 2 quick fouls trying to guard him.

The other thing, as great a shooter as Dirk is I find it hard to believe that he can continue to shoot at such a high percentage, everyone has an off night or an average night. The other obstacle and I think the dagger for OKC was JJ, they had no one to guard him and he was having his way the other night scoring 21 points. Russell Westbrook seems to be the only Thunder player with the quickness to guard him and by the time he was inserted back into the game the damage was done. I would back off and make him shot the 3 ball rather than allowing him to drive the lane.

That being said, the Thunder was still in the game late down by 5 with minutes to play. Westbrook had probably as bad a night shooting as he will ever have and the Mavs defense smothered everyone else except Durant (40pts). Although Dallas is content to play zone until the Thunder heat up from the outside, OKC will have to take the ball to the basket to get the Dallas bigs in foul trouble in order to win game two tonight.

Jason Terry and the rest of the Mavs can create and get their own shots. I am assuming the plan will be to double Dirk and get the ball out of his hands to prevent him from going to the charity stripe 24 times, and make everyone else beat you. I would put the pressure on Jason Kidd, you can’t leave Terry or Stojakovic, Kidd has just become a scoring threat, so I would let him take 10 3 pointers and live with the result rather than allowing Dirk and Terry kill you.

One thing’s for sure these playoffs are some of the most intriguing in recent years. I’ll be glued to the tube to see how the Thunder respond and more important, how Dirk will respond after a record setting game one.

~ Seth Joyner ~

The New York Knicks look eerily like another team that head coach Mike D’Antoni has coached. One thing that coach D can do is put a team on the floor that produces points. That being said, for all of the offensive production he gets out of his teams, neither the Knicks nor his former team, the Phoenix Suns, plays or played any defense.

Amar’e Stoudamire was a much needed super star and an important piece to revive the Knickerbockers legacy. Carmelo Anthony was a great addition given the path that NBA free agency is headed. But neither of these players are defensive juggernauts. For all that the Knicks gave up to get Melo, the trade has set the team back in regards to depth and overall talent.

Chauncy Billups is a formidable point guard and floor general, but beyond these three, the Knicks have little else and Billups is certainly on the down side of a great career.

Like the D’Antoni coached Suns, when I look at the athleticism of the Knicks, I have to wonder why it is such a monumental undertaking for either of these teams to play or have played defense. Like the Suns of old, the Knicks rank among the league worst in defense, ranking 28th out of 30 teams.

Defense is “attitude and want to” more than anything else, without it teams have no chance at securing a place among the league’s elite in wins and losses. The Knicks rank among the league leaders in scoring (3rd) at 105.9 per game, but can’t stop opponents from averaging 105.7 per game. They don’t have a defensive presence like a Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum, or as a team for that matter.

Their games turn into offensive shot outs and if they happen to have an off offensive night or are out of sync offensively, the percentages of winning go way down. Right now they are completely out of sync, given the fact that they’ve only been playing together for the last 19 games, of which they are 7-12, and 1-9 over the last 10 games, losers of the last 6 in a row.

This team may need another off-season to put together and replace the players they traded away in the Melo deal. But even if they can upgrade their team for next year, defense will remain a focal point, because if you can’t get your superstars to buy into defending, how will D’Antoni get the role players to buy in?

It’s a prevalent problem that has plagued a great offensive minded coach, and conventional wisdom says, if the Knicks don’t come to the understanding that they need to put as much effort in on the defensive end as they do on the offensive end, next season will look much like this one.

Melo is talking must win with 10 games remaining, D’Antoni has said,” They need to play harder.”  The reality is, until they embrace a defense first mentality, knowing that they can put point up on the other end, they simply won’t get out of the funk they’re in right now. Next year will be a replay of this season, and D’Antoni will continue to be known as a offensive guru with no clue or concern about defensive basketball.

Within two years, the Knicks will be the same old Knicks, fans will be calling for a new head coach, and the Knicks organization will be left to ponder what to do next, with big salaries locked up in Melo and Amar’e and nothing to show for it.

-Seth Joyner

While the reeling Miami Heat blew another lead against the Chicago Bulls, the San Antonio Spurs caught a beat-down by the defending Champs.

The Miami Heat continue to find ways to lose games that they seem to have in hand, the bigger question is, have the Lakers finally developed a game plan for beating the league leading Spurs. The Spurs had no answer today, while the Lakers shot a high percentage from the field, the Spurs shot at the lower end of the percentage scale.

San Antonio’s big 3 of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili accounted for only 22 of the Spurs 83 points. While the Spurs are a more rounded team this year with the emergence of George Hill, Matt Bonner, Gary Neal and Dejuan Blair, but as the big 3 go, so goes the Spurs.

The penetrate and kick has been the Spurs bread and butter, but when the role players aren’t knocking down shots this team is beatable. Their offense still runs through Parker and Ginobili, and when they drove today the Lakers big men made them give it up, playing solid defense and putting pressure on the long ball shooters as well.

Bonner who single handily killed the Heat was a non factor, the Lakers took him completely out of the game by not allowing him any free looks. With Bynum and Gasol clogging the middle, the Lakers are one of the few teams with the personnel to play the Spurs like they did.

Most teams don’t have the size and length to intimidate the penetrators, and when Parker and Ginobili can get to the basket, it sets up the 3 ball shooters to get uncontested looks. No doubt this is the blueprint, but I can count on one hand the teams that can play the Spurs this way. The deep ball shooters for the Spurs cannot create for themselves and a team who can guard the 1 and 2 spots of the Spurs will have a chance to beat them by contesting the 3 ball.

Give the Lakers credit though, they shot the ball well also and were well balanced. Bryant, Gasol and Odom scored 26, 21 and 15 respectively and although Bynum wasn’t a factor scoring he was a beast on the boards with 17 rebounds and intimidating with 3 blocks.

Their defense is what won them the game, the Spurs average 103.7 pts per game and shoot 47% from the field, yet the Lakers held them to 83 pts and 36% shooting. Whatever Phil Jackson implemented needs to be reinforced, because if the Lakers can play defense like that and shoot 46% from the field, they will 3-peat.

The Miami Heat look like a team that’s just snake-bitten right about now. I’m still not panicked, because the only reason the regular season matters is for seeding in the playoffs. There are too many great players on this team for them not to figure it out at some point.

That being said, let’s look at what’s their problem.

They seem to start off the game running their offense to perfection, sharing the ball and running when the opportunity presents itself. After halftime with a lead under their belts they seem to wilt under pressure. There’s no flow to their offense and everyone seems to revert back to when they were on their old teams, and the playground, one on one game begins.

Rarely do they take the ball to the rim, settling for jump shots and with no real center or rebounding presence, they get very few offensive rebounds for second chance opportunities. Third quarter scoring seems to be their Achilles heel, they are 1-5 over the last 6 games and have averaged 18 points in the 3rd quarter in those games.

Maybe they just need to stay out on the court and keep shooting at half time. A defensive lapse to start the second half may be part of what’s plaguing them also, while scoring only an average 18 pts, they’re giving up an average of 24 pts in the 3rd period over the last 6 games.

No doubt they can be a great defensive team when they want to be, but their offensive woes are compounded in the second half by their inability to defend and rebound.

Boozer and Noah combined for 18 rebounds (7 offensive), compared to the power forward and center tandem of Dampier and Bosh’s 8 rebounds (2 offensive).

Although the tears are flowing and heads are hung, they will find a way to right the ship. The Heat are sitting right where everyone wants to see them, struggling and second guessing themselves. But LeBron and D-Wade have too much pride and talent to allow the season to fall apart. They really don’t have much support in the way of players beyond their big 3, then again the thought was 3 was all they needed.

Another year may be necessary for them to get some role players they can count on to step up to complete and compliment what they have, after all it is apparent that 3 may not be enough to claim an NBA title.

- Seth Joyner