Barring Derrick Rose being abducted by aliens and adding four inches to his frame, and the Bulls signing a shooting guard that can actually shoot (Yes, I’m frowning upon you Kyle Korver for shooting even worse than Keith Bogans, JesusChriss, Keith Bogans?!?), a 2006 NBA Finals rematch seems to be set, albeit with a slew of different characters and narratives.
From the top of my head, only four players (two from each team) remain from the matchup from 2006. The story lines are a hell of a lot different too. In 2006, Miami was banking on Shaq’s promise of a title, but eventually rode the back of Wade’s rising star (and Stern’s will being done) to get the franchise’s first title. Dallas paraded a talented crew that may have been on its way to a Finals sweep had they been able to close Game Three and hold a 3-0 series lead. Instead, they performed a massive choke job (one that Heather the Deep Throat Queen would be proud off) and carried with them the title of “chokers” for the better part of the decade in spite of their best player being as clutch (perhaps not as efficient and assertive as he is now) as you can reasonably hope for.
Undoubtedly, Dallas was the best in the West. This was not a matter of the match ups being stacked neatly for them to pile over. Whatever the bracketing may have been, this bunch would have come out on top the way they played. The shooting was laser. The defense was the best its ever been. And for the first time in Nowitzki’s career, his supporting cast had his back. All of that came together to form a team with a deserved return to the Finals.
The Heat asked to be hated. From that infamously ridiculous TV special, to the smoke and light shows to introduce their signings, to the early struggles, to the whining, they wanted to be the villains and played the role to perfection. Only, while the rest of the basketball watching (and hating) world expected them to fail like villains, they got it together at exactly the right time. When Phil Jackson joined Kobe & Shaq back in 2000, he expected a while before the Lakers contended for a title due to the intricacies of learning the triangle. But the group surpassed the Zen Master’s expectations and won the title that very year. I bring that up, not because I am a Laker fan still thirsting for my team to be on the spotlight (No, that was LeBron last year trying to upstage the Finals by continually bringing up his free agency, but I digress), but because people also understood that it would take a while before this cast of two and a half men + role players figured it out. That every misstep and minor failings were extremely magnified were on the way the leading men projected themselves; wanting all the attention, preening and screaming before a game had been played, predicting multiple championships before one practice had been scheduled, I could go on. That litany of arrogance and sense of entitlement appealed incredibly to both haters and basketball purists which lead to the immense criticism.
But here they are now. Looking like the team everyone feared they could be. They’re not unbeatable, but they’ve developed a system where they’re intensity coupled with their talent have made it such a difficult proposition to beat them four times out of seven. The Celtics had too many issues to combat within to stand a chance against the Heat. Derrick Rose being the only threat against that Miami defense, while the anti-Heat prayed that his MVP season can bleed out a miracle from him, can only do so much. It’s on (unless there’s a miracle still to be had).
From a purely basketball standpoint, the prospect of that Dallas ball movement (feeding off Dirk’s pump fake, turn around, one-legged, twisting fade aways) testing that quick, long armed and attacking Miami defense excites like a lap dance in a foreign land. Will the Mavs continue to shoot as they are, and will the Heat’s defense continue to nurture their open court talents? This should be a good one. Also, the “who’s gonna choke first” watch will be on full alert. What with the tons of blogs and websites out here, someone will be hated. And depending on which side of the titty bar you’re on, you’ll enjoy it.
From the top of my head, only four players (two from each team) remain from the matchup from 2006. The story lines are a hell of a lot different too. In 2006, Miami was banking on Shaq’s promise of a title, but eventually rode the back of Wade’s rising star (and Stern’s will being done) to get the franchise’s first title. Dallas paraded a talented crew that may have been on its way to a Finals sweep had they been able to close Game Three and hold a 3-0 series lead. Instead, they performed a massive choke job (one that Heather the Deep Throat Queen would be proud off) and carried with them the title of “chokers” for the better part of the decade in spite of their best player being as clutch (perhaps not as efficient and assertive as he is now) as you can reasonably hope for.
Undoubtedly, Dallas was the best in the West. This was not a matter of the match ups being stacked neatly for them to pile over. Whatever the bracketing may have been, this bunch would have come out on top the way they played. The shooting was laser. The defense was the best its ever been. And for the first time in Nowitzki’s career, his supporting cast had his back. All of that came together to form a team with a deserved return to the Finals.
The Heat asked to be hated. From that infamously ridiculous TV special, to the smoke and light shows to introduce their signings, to the early struggles, to the whining, they wanted to be the villains and played the role to perfection. Only, while the rest of the basketball watching (and hating) world expected them to fail like villains, they got it together at exactly the right time. When Phil Jackson joined Kobe & Shaq back in 2000, he expected a while before the Lakers contended for a title due to the intricacies of learning the triangle. But the group surpassed the Zen Master’s expectations and won the title that very year. I bring that up, not because I am a Laker fan still thirsting for my team to be on the spotlight (No, that was LeBron last year trying to upstage the Finals by continually bringing up his free agency, but I digress), but because people also understood that it would take a while before this cast of two and a half men + role players figured it out. That every misstep and minor failings were extremely magnified were on the way the leading men projected themselves; wanting all the attention, preening and screaming before a game had been played, predicting multiple championships before one practice had been scheduled, I could go on. That litany of arrogance and sense of entitlement appealed incredibly to both haters and basketball purists which lead to the immense criticism.
But here they are now. Looking like the team everyone feared they could be. They’re not unbeatable, but they’ve developed a system where they’re intensity coupled with their talent have made it such a difficult proposition to beat them four times out of seven. The Celtics had too many issues to combat within to stand a chance against the Heat. Derrick Rose being the only threat against that Miami defense, while the anti-Heat prayed that his MVP season can bleed out a miracle from him, can only do so much. It’s on (unless there’s a miracle still to be had).
From a purely basketball standpoint, the prospect of that Dallas ball movement (feeding off Dirk’s pump fake, turn around, one-legged, twisting fade aways) testing that quick, long armed and attacking Miami defense excites like a lap dance in a foreign land. Will the Mavs continue to shoot as they are, and will the Heat’s defense continue to nurture their open court talents? This should be a good one. Also, the “who’s gonna choke first” watch will be on full alert. What with the tons of blogs and websites out here, someone will be hated. And depending on which side of the titty bar you’re on, you’ll enjoy it.
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