Come on guys, make some shots!
This has been a very weird NBA finals. Neither Dallas or Miami has played well.
After game one, almost the entire media (which means the guys from ESPN) were talking about how great Miami's defense was at putting the claps on the Mavericks' high powered offense. All the ESPN talking heads were analyzing what happened to the Mavs and trying to breakdown why Miami was so effective but, sometimes we as fans, can figure out why a team lost and the other won, better than the high paid analysts can. It is actually quite simple. Dallas missed shots, and that's all there is to it. The bench has missed shots all series and that is the real story. Dallas could be up 3-1 if their not so, turbo charged bench played like we all expected it to. Both Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson in game four discussed, how Dallas is getting wide open shots and just can't knock them down. So that doesn't make a great story but it is the truth of it. Dallas' points per game have declined dramatically, and if the bench was reaching its normal average, so would the team as whole.
There is no reason to discuss this series anymore than the media already has. ESPN's coverage is torture enough, so to be fair, I will say just a few things about Miami. Miami has a lot of problems that have been well discussed by everyone. The Heat could have easily won the series already, and still may in the end. Wade and James are the best kids on the court and when the two best guys get together they are hard to beat. The problem is James and Wade are the same kid and that makes it hard for them to both be at their best at the same time. The Heat will most likely get a true big man during the off season and then the championships may just pile up for the foreseeable future. But for now they have problems that are allowing Dallas to outsmart and play them.
To the Heat's credit, putting LeBron on Jason Terry was a great idea, and it has disrupted the flow of Dallas' offense, but Terry had a big game four and if he has two more big game games it may spell trouble for the Heat. Still, if the Heat play with heart and hustle, I don't know if the Mavs can win with just Dirk knocking down shots. Well, no matter who wins the Heat doesn't seem to be getting the star treatment, and this great for the fans. We just might get a thriller of a game seven and no matter how flawed both teams are, as basketball fans, that's all you can ask for.
