NBA Finals Thread: Mavs are NBA Champions! :O

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Excellent point, also I think Dallas has much better shooters (and multiple shooters), so it won't be that simple to double up on Dirk - as Lakers and OKC have found out. It will be very interesting to see how Miami plays Dallas (if they make it to the final).

Dirk is so money right now, I don't know if there is anything anyone can do to stop him. Heat just has to make sure that no one else burns them, like Terry, Marion, Kidd. If they let Dirk get his, and stop others - they should be ok, imo.

I agree with each observation you make here. Dirk's a tricky guy to double both because of where he operates and because of how tall he is. If that second guy comes to help on Rose, guys like Lebron or Wade can trap him and take away passing lanes because of their size. It's a lot harder to take those lanes away against a 7 footer. That being said, LeBron & Wade are as good as it gets when it comes to deflections, so Dirk/Dallas' margin for error when moving the ball is slim. Dallas' offense vs. Miami's defense is an extremely interesting matchup and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Miami's offense is going to have to be a lot more effective in this series in order for them to win. Dallas isn't as good as Chicago on the defensive end, but they are going to put a lot more points on the board than the Bulls have. I think that Miami's going to have to score around 95ppg in order to win. It should be interesting to see if they can do that. Kidd, Stevenson, & Marion are all solid perimeter defenders, but I don't know if they have the footspeed or athleticism to hang with LeBron & Wade. And I think the best defense against Dirk these days might be making him work on the other end, and Bosh is capable of doing that.

Should be a great series.

Im rooting for Dallas

unless the Bulls magically win the series vs the heat

Originally posted by vrabbit:

Originally posted by TX9R:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I can't think of a player that's redefined himself as much as Dirk has this year in the playoffs. He's just been incredible and I've gained a lot of respect for him.

Maybe it's just me and the fact that he's killed my Rockets for years, but Dirk has always been pretty close to what he is now offensively. He's just never had a great cast, more importantly some defense and size in the middle. Now that he does he doesn't have to do everything and you see the confidence he now has knowing the bigs can defend and rebound.

Yes and No.

He has been "pretty close to what he is now offensively" but he has really taken it up a notch to that elite level, that legendary status where years from now people will talk about his performance in the playoffs and how GREAT it was, and he's so f**king determined it is really impressive to see, not even celebrating the WCF title much, just WOW.

Ya, exactly. He's always been a great scorer, but being that he doesn't do a whole lot outside of that, he has to really dominate in this respect in order to take over a series...and he's done just that in each series so far this year.

I don't mean to sound hypocritical by posting Dirk's stats after railing against these sorta stats so often, but I think they're more applicable to guys like Durant or Dirk than they are to guys who are responsible for running the offense. Dirk's job is to score, and from that perspective, check out what he did against OKC...

PPG: 32.2
FG%: 55.2%
FT%: 96.7% (while getting to the line 12.2 times per game)
3PT%: 36.4%

f**kin' nuts. Amongst the greatest series' ever from a pure scorer perspective. And he does it without holding the ball for an inordinate amount of time, which is a big reason why Dallas was able to score 105.2ppg as a team in that series.

I've never been a big Dirk fan, but he deserves a .

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Excellent point, also I think Dallas has much better shooters (and multiple shooters), so it won't be that simple to double up on Dirk - as Lakers and OKC have found out. It will be very interesting to see how Miami plays Dallas (if they make it to the final).

Dirk is so money right now, I don't know if there is anything anyone can do to stop him. Heat just has to make sure that no one else burns them, like Terry, Marion, Kidd. If they let Dirk get his, and stop others - they should be ok, imo.

I agree with each observation you make here. Dirk's a tricky guy to double both because of where he operates and because of how tall he is. If that second guy comes to help on Rose, guys like Lebron or Wade can trap him and take away passing lanes because of their size. It's a lot harder to take those lanes away against a 7 footer. That being said, LeBron & Wade are as good as it gets when it comes to deflections, so Dirk/Dallas' margin for error when moving the ball is slim. Dallas' offense vs. Miami's defense is an extremely interesting matchup and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Miami's offense is going to have to be a lot more effective in this series in order for them to win. Dallas isn't as good as Chicago on the defensive end, but they are going to put a lot more points on the board than the Bulls have. I think that Miami's going to have to score around 95ppg in order to win. It should be interesting to see if they can do that. Kidd, Stevenson, & Marion are all solid perimeter defenders, but I don't know if they have the footspeed or athleticism to hang with LeBron & Wade. And I think the best defense against Dirk these days might be making him work on the other end, and Bosh is capable of doing that.

Should be a great series.

Yea, Miami will have some great match-ups against Dallas, but the tear Dirk is on - Dallas has every chance to win it all. Chandler is also going to be a key because as you pointed out - Kidd, Marion, or Stevenson have the foot-speed, so they will rely on help from him.

It really will be a great series, but Miami has to win one more game to get there. It won't be easy.

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Excellent point, also I think Dallas has much better shooters (and multiple shooters), so it won't be that simple to double up on Dirk - as Lakers and OKC have found out. It will be very interesting to see how Miami plays Dallas (if they make it to the final).

Dirk is so money right now, I don't know if there is anything anyone can do to stop him. Heat just has to make sure that no one else burns them, like Terry, Marion, Kidd. If they let Dirk get his, and stop others - they should be ok, imo.

I agree with each observation you make here. Dirk's a tricky guy to double both because of where he operates and because of how tall he is. If that second guy comes to help on Rose, guys like Lebron or Wade can trap him and take away passing lanes because of their size. It's a lot harder to take those lanes away against a 7 footer. That being said, LeBron & Wade are as good as it gets when it comes to deflections, so Dirk/Dallas' margin for error when moving the ball is slim. Dallas' offense vs. Miami's defense is an extremely interesting matchup and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Miami's offense is going to have to be a lot more effective in this series in order for them to win. Dallas isn't as good as Chicago on the defensive end, but they are going to put a lot more points on the board than the Bulls have. I think that Miami's going to have to score around 95ppg in order to win. It should be interesting to see if they can do that. Kidd, Stevenson, & Marion are all solid perimeter defenders, but I don't know if they have the footspeed or athleticism to hang with LeBron & Wade. And I think the best defense against Dirk these days might be making him work on the other end, and Bosh is capable of doing that.

Should be a great series.

Yea, Miami will have some great match-ups against Dallas, but the tear Dirk is on - Dallas has every chance to win it all. Chandler is also going to be a key because as you pointed out - Kidd, Marion, or Stevenson have the foot-speed, so they will rely on help from him.

It really will be a great series, but Miami has to win one more game to get there. It won't be easy.

I'd be STUNNED if Miami dropped three in a row to Chicago. I think Dal/Mia is a pretty safe bet at this point. But I think Chicago will win tonight.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by vrabbit:

Originally posted by TX9R:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I can't think of a player that's redefined himself as much as Dirk has this year in the playoffs. He's just been incredible and I've gained a lot of respect for him.

Maybe it's just me and the fact that he's killed my Rockets for years, but Dirk has always been pretty close to what he is now offensively. He's just never had a great cast, more importantly some defense and size in the middle. Now that he does he doesn't have to do everything and you see the confidence he now has knowing the bigs can defend and rebound.

Yes and No.

He has been "pretty close to what he is now offensively" but he has really taken it up a notch to that elite level, that legendary status where years from now people will talk about his performance in the playoffs and how GREAT it was, and he's so f**king determined it is really impressive to see, not even celebrating the WCF title much, just WOW.

Ya, exactly. He's always been a great scorer, but being that he doesn't do a whole lot outside of that, he has to really dominate in this respect in order to take over a series...and he's done just that in each series so far this year.

I don't mean to sound hypocritical by posting Dirk's stats after railing against these sorta stats so often, but I think they're more applicable to guys like Durant or Dirk than they are to guys who are responsible for running the offense. Dirk's job is to score, and from that perspective, check out what he did against OKC...

PPG: 32.2
FG%: 55.2%
FT%: 96.7% (while getting to the line 12.2 times per game)
3PT%: 36.4%

f**kin' nuts. Amongst the greatest series' ever from a pure scorer perspective. And he does it without holding the ball for an inordinate amount of time, which is a big reason why Dallas was able to score 105.2ppg as a team in that series.

I've never been a big Dirk fan, but he deserves a .

To the bold, he's not a ball handler, he's pretty much a post player. When does a non-ball handler, especially a post-up player dominate the ball?

I hope the Mavs win, they really do deserve it.

Originally posted by Joecool:
To the bold, he's not a ball handler, he's pretty much a post player. When does a non-ball handler, especially a post-up player dominate the ball?

Zach Randolph is one example, but it's hard to compare because if Dirk's a post player, there aren't too many current post players that come close to being as offensively involved as Dirk is. When was Duncan in his prime, he would often take an inordinate amount of time to make his move. Barkley was TERRIBLE at this, and the main motivator behind the 5 second backdown rule. Dirk is generally very efficient in his movements. He either aggressively goes after the scoring opportunity or he moves the ball so other opportunities can be explored.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Excellent point, also I think Dallas has much better shooters (and multiple shooters), so it won't be that simple to double up on Dirk - as Lakers and OKC have found out. It will be very interesting to see how Miami plays Dallas (if they make it to the final).

Dirk is so money right now, I don't know if there is anything anyone can do to stop him. Heat just has to make sure that no one else burns them, like Terry, Marion, Kidd. If they let Dirk get his, and stop others - they should be ok, imo.

I agree with each observation you make here. Dirk's a tricky guy to double both because of where he operates and because of how tall he is. If that second guy comes to help on Rose, guys like Lebron or Wade can trap him and take away passing lanes because of their size. It's a lot harder to take those lanes away against a 7 footer. That being said, LeBron & Wade are as good as it gets when it comes to deflections, so Dirk/Dallas' margin for error when moving the ball is slim. Dallas' offense vs. Miami's defense is an extremely interesting matchup and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Miami's offense is going to have to be a lot more effective in this series in order for them to win. Dallas isn't as good as Chicago on the defensive end, but they are going to put a lot more points on the board than the Bulls have. I think that Miami's going to have to score around 95ppg in order to win. It should be interesting to see if they can do that. Kidd, Stevenson, & Marion are all solid perimeter defenders, but I don't know if they have the footspeed or athleticism to hang with LeBron & Wade. And I think the best defense against Dirk these days might be making him work on the other end, and Bosh is capable of doing that.

Should be a great series.

Yea, Miami will have some great match-ups against Dallas, but the tear Dirk is on - Dallas has every chance to win it all. Chandler is also going to be a key because as you pointed out - Kidd, Marion, or Stevenson have the foot-speed, so they will rely on help from him.

It really will be a great series, but Miami has to win one more game to get there. It won't be easy.

I'd be STUNNED if Miami dropped three in a row to Chicago. I think Dal/Mia is a pretty safe bet at this point. But I think Chicago will win tonight.

stevenson hads foot speed? he is terrible. cant believe mavericks play him still.

I hope the Mavs win the finals, I think they deserve it after they were royally screwed over in 2006 by David Stern.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by vrabbit:

Originally posted by TX9R:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I can't think of a player that's redefined himself as much as Dirk has this year in the playoffs. He's just been incredible and I've gained a lot of respect for him.

Maybe it's just me and the fact that he's killed my Rockets for years, but Dirk has always been pretty close to what he is now offensively. He's just never had a great cast, more importantly some defense and size in the middle. Now that he does he doesn't have to do everything and you see the confidence he now has knowing the bigs can defend and rebound.

Yes and No.

He has been "pretty close to what he is now offensively" but he has really taken it up a notch to that elite level, that legendary status where years from now people will talk about his performance in the playoffs and how GREAT it was, and he's so f**king determined it is really impressive to see, not even celebrating the WCF title much, just WOW.

Ya, exactly. He's always been a great scorer, but being that he doesn't do a whole lot outside of that, he has to really dominate in this respect in order to take over a series...and he's done just that in each series so far this year.

I don't mean to sound hypocritical by posting Dirk's stats after railing against these sorta stats so often, but I think they're more applicable to guys like Durant or Dirk than they are to guys who are responsible for running the offense. Dirk's job is to score, and from that perspective, check out what he did against OKC...

PPG: 32.2
FG%: 55.2%
FT%: 96.7% (while getting to the line 12.2 times per game)
3PT%: 36.4%

f**kin' nuts. Amongst the greatest series' ever from a pure scorer perspective. And he does it without holding the ball for an inordinate amount of time, which is a big reason why Dallas was able to score 105.2ppg as a team in that series.

I've never been a big Dirk fan, but he deserves a .

To me, Dirk has been like a 7 foot version of Steve Nash lately. Absolutely brilliant offensively and arguably the best offensive talent in the game, but still deserving a slight asterisk in my book because of a glaring flaw. For Nash, defense; for Nowitzki (even though also not exactly Duncan or Garnett defensively), rebounding. He has always just been such a pedestrian rebounder. Only one career double digit rebounding season, and he needed rounding up to barely get there. He barely averaged SEVEN RPG this year- that's just straight poor for a 7 footer who gets big minutes. Therefore I'm not so sure that even if he wins a ring this year, that I'd consider him superior to the Malone's, Barkley's, etc.

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Excellent point, also I think Dallas has much better shooters (and multiple shooters), so it won't be that simple to double up on Dirk - as Lakers and OKC have found out. It will be very interesting to see how Miami plays Dallas (if they make it to the final).

Dirk is so money right now, I don't know if there is anything anyone can do to stop him. Heat just has to make sure that no one else burns them, like Terry, Marion, Kidd. If they let Dirk get his, and stop others - they should be ok, imo.

I agree with each observation you make here. Dirk's a tricky guy to double both because of where he operates and because of how tall he is. If that second guy comes to help on Rose, guys like Lebron or Wade can trap him and take away passing lanes because of their size. It's a lot harder to take those lanes away against a 7 footer. That being said, LeBron & Wade are as good as it gets when it comes to deflections, so Dirk/Dallas' margin for error when moving the ball is slim. Dallas' offense vs. Miami's defense is an extremely interesting matchup and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Miami's offense is going to have to be a lot more effective in this series in order for them to win. Dallas isn't as good as Chicago on the defensive end, but they are going to put a lot more points on the board than the Bulls have. I think that Miami's going to have to score around 95ppg in order to win. It should be interesting to see if they can do that. Kidd, Stevenson, & Marion are all solid perimeter defenders, but I don't know if they have the footspeed or athleticism to hang with LeBron & Wade. And I think the best defense against Dirk these days might be making him work on the other end, and Bosh is capable of doing that.

Should be a great series.

Yea, Miami will have some great match-ups against Dallas, but the tear Dirk is on - Dallas has every chance to win it all. Chandler is also going to be a key because as you pointed out - Kidd, Marion, or Stevenson have the foot-speed, so they will rely on help from him.

It really will be a great series, but Miami has to win one more game to get there. It won't be easy.

It's hard to say who Miami would have a more difficult time scoring against. Statistically Chicago is a better defensive team, but Dallas has the 2nd best rim protector in the game which could do a better job of slowing down Wade/James at the cup, especially if Joel Anthony continues playing 30+ mins/per and Chandler can essentially disregard his guy for most of the game. I think Spoelstra should limit Anthony's minutes (no D-Rose here, don't have to worry as much about guarding penetration against Dirk and the shooters) and feature more of Haslem/LBJ at the 4 to try and make it so Chandler has to guard Bosh a fair amount of the time.

Originally posted by Jamespowers:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Excellent point, also I think Dallas has much better shooters (and multiple shooters), so it won't be that simple to double up on Dirk - as Lakers and OKC have found out. It will be very interesting to see how Miami plays Dallas (if they make it to the final).

Dirk is so money right now, I don't know if there is anything anyone can do to stop him. Heat just has to make sure that no one else burns them, like Terry, Marion, Kidd. If they let Dirk get his, and stop others - they should be ok, imo.

I agree with each observation you make here. Dirk's a tricky guy to double both because of where he operates and because of how tall he is. If that second guy comes to help on Rose, guys like Lebron or Wade can trap him and take away passing lanes because of their size. It's a lot harder to take those lanes away against a 7 footer. That being said, LeBron & Wade are as good as it gets when it comes to deflections, so Dirk/Dallas' margin for error when moving the ball is slim. Dallas' offense vs. Miami's defense is an extremely interesting matchup and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Miami's offense is going to have to be a lot more effective in this series in order for them to win. Dallas isn't as good as Chicago on the defensive end, but they are going to put a lot more points on the board than the Bulls have. I think that Miami's going to have to score around 95ppg in order to win. It should be interesting to see if they can do that. Kidd, Stevenson, & Marion are all solid perimeter defenders, but I don't know if they have the footspeed or athleticism to hang with LeBron & Wade. And I think the best defense against Dirk these days might be making him work on the other end, and Bosh is capable of doing that.

Should be a great series.

Yea, Miami will have some great match-ups against Dallas, but the tear Dirk is on - Dallas has every chance to win it all. Chandler is also going to be a key because as you pointed out - Kidd, Marion, or Stevenson have the foot-speed, so they will rely on help from him.

It really will be a great series, but Miami has to win one more game to get there. It won't be easy.

I'd be STUNNED if Miami dropped three in a row to Chicago. I think Dal/Mia is a pretty safe bet at this point. But I think Chicago will win tonight.

stevenson hads foot speed? he is terrible. cant believe mavericks play him still.

I think he meant to see that those guys DON'T have the footspeed, based on the context of the comments.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Jamespowers:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Excellent point, also I think Dallas has much better shooters (and multiple shooters), so it won't be that simple to double up on Dirk - as Lakers and OKC have found out. It will be very interesting to see how Miami plays Dallas (if they make it to the final).

Dirk is so money right now, I don't know if there is anything anyone can do to stop him. Heat just has to make sure that no one else burns them, like Terry, Marion, Kidd. If they let Dirk get his, and stop others - they should be ok, imo.

I agree with each observation you make here. Dirk's a tricky guy to double both because of where he operates and because of how tall he is. If that second guy comes to help on Rose, guys like Lebron or Wade can trap him and take away passing lanes because of their size. It's a lot harder to take those lanes away against a 7 footer. That being said, LeBron & Wade are as good as it gets when it comes to deflections, so Dirk/Dallas' margin for error when moving the ball is slim. Dallas' offense vs. Miami's defense is an extremely interesting matchup and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Miami's offense is going to have to be a lot more effective in this series in order for them to win. Dallas isn't as good as Chicago on the defensive end, but they are going to put a lot more points on the board than the Bulls have. I think that Miami's going to have to score around 95ppg in order to win. It should be interesting to see if they can do that. Kidd, Stevenson, & Marion are all solid perimeter defenders, but I don't know if they have the footspeed or athleticism to hang with LeBron & Wade. And I think the best defense against Dirk these days might be making him work on the other end, and Bosh is capable of doing that.

Should be a great series.

Yea, Miami will have some great match-ups against Dallas, but the tear Dirk is on - Dallas has every chance to win it all. Chandler is also going to be a key because as you pointed out - Kidd, Marion, or Stevenson have the foot-speed, so they will rely on help from him.

It really will be a great series, but Miami has to win one more game to get there. It won't be easy.

I'd be STUNNED if Miami dropped three in a row to Chicago. I think Dal/Mia is a pretty safe bet at this point. But I think Chicago will win tonight.

stevenson hads foot speed? he is terrible. cant believe mavericks play him still.

I think he meant to see that those guys DON'T have the footspeed, based on the context of the comments.

ahh, okay. I see what he was trying to say now. I was about to say, lol.

Pete, couldn't the Mavs put Chandler/Haywood on Bosh to avoid putting that on Dirk?