Dirk Nowitzki drove to the lane in the fourth quarter Tuesday and kicked it out. Time and again he didn't have the stones to take it all the way to the hoop as a superstar must do. Dwyane Wade was more than tough enough, and that's why Miami captured the NBA title.
Throughout the playoffs it was clear the difference with Dallas this year was Nowitzki had developed the courage to attack the rim, play defense and rebound. It was a noticeable difference in Nowitzki from previous years. With his freakish skills, he was nearly unstoppable. But Nowitzki stopped himself Tuesday by losing that courage late. He scored a lot, but not in crunch time, when only the best step up. He kept deferring to his teammates.
Wade was the toughest player on the floor. He did everything a superstar is supposed to do and he wanted the ball. He deserved the title.
If the Mavs win the next two or three this was just their stop on ascendancy, with a rookie coach and some bad breaks. It is nice to see Mourning get a ring. He can now go away. Shaq has buried the Kobe legend. The Mavs seem built to last, with their young players losing their foolish ways via experience. They are the pick for the 2007 title.
Umm...that's "Nowitski".
And it's not his fault Dampier has hands of stone.
Roman responds: It's Nowitzki, and it's his fault for throwing a guy with hands of stone the ball 15 feet from the hoop.
I hope all of the foolish Nowitzky-Bird comparisons will cease, now. Bird was much more versatile and much more of clutch player.
I hope all of the silly claims that Nowitzky has the "skills of a guard" will finally come to an end. He is an outstanding athlete for his height, has a great jump shot, good enough handles to beat the most power players off the dribble and the height to shoot over most perimeter players. But guard skills? I think not.
James Posey and Udonis Haslem, with their combination of quuickness and length - along with the Miami team defense - exposed Dirk for what he is: a very, very good - but not great player. Tom Chambers? Maybe a little better. Larry Bird? Never.
Wade is a playmaker that strives for the big game when the game is on the line. Dirk ducked, don't forget Wade didn't whine when the Mavs ran them out of the gym in games 1 and 2 like Dirk did after the "timeout" game.
I'm happy for Wade and Shaq.. Boy, what could have been for the bulls if wade fell to #7, and shaq proved that he is the reason LA won those titles, not Kobe. But the worse thing had to be to watch watch Walker, Mourning, and worse of all, Payton celebrate after the game last night... I truly don't like these players, and it's unfortunate that they got a chance to ride the coat tails of wade and shaq to a NBA title.
Walker with that annoying shimmy he does (more when he was with the celtics) after hitting a 3-pointer, Mourning flexing his bicep when he gets fouled (he did it last night...), and Payton trash talking and give those cocky looks (anyone see when he was complaining to refs, during a play! Which caused a turnover!). Their showboating has always been annoying, especially for players who never won anything, till now....
Oh well, congrats to wade and shaq! If anyone can be compared to MJ, Wade has to be the closest, for the way he basically took over the finals for the Heat. Hopefully Mourning and Payton can now go away! Maybe the Heat can pick up Karl Malone and Shawn Kemp next year so they can win a ring too!!!
I agree. In the end, Nowitzki and Dallas are still soft. Dirk doesn't know any better but to defer to his teammates. He'll never be elite until he understands that the best step to the fore in the 4th quarter. Dwayne has proven to be the best player in the league for the next 10 years because of his will to win. He's better than Lebron, Dirk, Nash, Melo all of them. I love to watch the guy play and I'm glad he's from the Chicago area.
I'm originally from Chicago, the Bullies will always be my first love, but since moving to Miami I have been priveleged to get to watch one of the new greats grow up. Since MJ, there hasn't been one player that everyone can enjoy for his talent, his personality and his late game heroics. Kobe tried so hard to be like mike, but DWade actually has a little bit of that magic to him. If you haven't watched many Heat games, I highly recommend watching the Heat, they are truly entertaining and we are watching one of the all time greats blossom before our very eyes.
Im having a hard time with this idea that the Mav's are the team of the future. Didnt everyone just see the rise of a new king in D-Wade? When i look at Dallas i see a soft team thats going to have its hands full just getting to the Western Conf Finals. Lets see the moves Miami makes in the summer. No matter what happens they still have the best player, and the most dominant force on the planet. We are in a new era.
I'm a Bulls fan since there's been a team with that name.
Anyone who watched the playoffs should be able to recognize one thing quite clearly: Miami's defense improved dramatically from the regular season.
For the season, the Heat allowed 96. points -against all teams, good, bad and terrible. For the playoffs they allowed 92.5 points per game.
They started off with terrible D against the Bulls,for the first three games, giving up an average of 108 points.
For the last three games of that series, however they only allowed 89 points per game, 8.8 less than the Bulls averaged during the regular season.
Then, even though they beat the Nets more quickly than anyone else - in 5 games - they had more trouble with them defensively, giving up 95 points a game compared to the Nets season's average of 93.8.
I would contend that this was because, although it is true that the Pistons and Mavs have deeper and overall more talented teams, the Nets, in Carter, Kidd and Jefferson had the best veteran offensive trio in the playoffs.
VC, JK and and RJ lifted their combined scoring from 57 PPG during the regular season to 67.6 against Miami, who simply did not have the personnel to cope with them defensively. Unfortunately the Nets only got 27 points a game from the other nine guys on their roster.
The Pistons, who averaged 96.8 points in the regular season, scored a puny 85 per game against Miami.
The Mavs, at 99 points in the regular season were held to 92 points in the finals.
Whether it was an obviously over-the-hill Gary Payton or a couple of guys like Walker and Williams who have never been known for their D, the Heat players rarely stopped hustling and effectively pursuing the ball.
So, although I refuse to accept that the number of times the Heat got to the line versus the Mavs was at all justifiable, I do have to give credit to Riley - and how I hate to - for managing to get his team to raise their level of play on the defensive end.
It's true Wade wanted it more, but the reason behind every great individual there a man who made it happen and it's Shaq. Without him there would not be a championship. He made the lanes open for Wade, as he did with Kobe. When ever you have some one that dominant it make a difference even though he did not play like the Shaq we know. As far as comparing players to certain players that's BS. There will not ever be a player like Mike he was so special, he made the people around him All stars, and when he left and everyone was on there own DID THEY HAVE SUCCESS? NO! Wade is a fine player, but not great, he can be great , but that's a long way from now.
Yes Wade was the best player between the two and yes he wanted it more. we all praised Nowitzki and said he was the secondcoming of Larry Bird but could he will a team to win. Nope and Nope. Dirk will always be a star but in order for the mavericks to ever win a title Dirk needs to show a mean streak, a more dominant personality. Otherwise someone needs to step up. Wade has the personality and Shaq as well. But with one of the greatest centers of all-time differing to an emerging superstar you can't lose. Also with an amazing coach and a great supporting cast. The mavericks had all the tools but didn't have the directions. All they need is little adjusments and a dominanting Dirk and the Mavericks should be on top
I just can't get over the fact that the Miami Heat picked Wade one spot before our Bulls could get him. I cheered against them just for that! Anyway, congrats to them. And at least we were knocked out of the playoffs by the team that won it all. Go Bulls in 07'.
WADE WANTED IT MORE???
I am an avid sports fan but have grown tired of the "new" NBA. They never call walking and the rules of the game are completely different from everyday players and league superstars. The "Phantom foul", has become the call of NBA officials. I personally could have cared less who won the championship. The league has developed into a bunch of high priced players that couldn't shoot their way out of a paper bag. The mid range jumper is all but gone. There was a time not even 10 years ago that some teams, that's right, TEAMS, shot 50%. Now it is an oddity if anyone other than a center shoots 50%.
I think the NBA wanted the Heat to win it, so the Heat won it.
Long gone are the days when there were 5-10 players averaging 10 assists a game, or 30-40 players shooting over 50%.
If you have any doubt about how poor NBA officiating is, you have to go no further than any BULLS game. They were out shot at the freethrow line almost every game of the season. You cannot tell me they foul that much more than other teams.
The NBA has turned into a sad state of affairs where teams struggle to score 80 points. Bring back the pure shooters and games that ended with scores like 125-122. That was true NBA.
What does this have to do with Wade wanting it more than Dirk? The NBA wanted Wade more than it did Dirk.
I am to the point I am actually turned off by the NBA during the regular season. It hurts to watch such poorly officiated basketball games. Traveling used to be one step, no moving the pivot foot. Now it is hop, skip, and jump, and swith pivot feet 2-3 times.
Prime example of how bad the NBA is on traveling calls, SHAQ. The man walks every time he touches the basketball.
I have ranted long enough, when does football start again?
To ron H. :so we will go back to the good ole days of basketball,with the mini shorts,set shots, no dunking allowed (its too animalistic)fans have been complaining about refs since the beginning of sports.these days the refs are no worse then in the past,just now its magnified because of the media attention.Travelling is still travelling now and forever ,did you forget Dirk Falls or travels every time he gets the ball not Shaq or Coby what games have you been watching? lets change to football?what do you want us to go back to leather helmets and no mouthpieces?the past is the past the game is faster,better the athletes are stronger.The high scoring games you yearn for were just the way they were because of no defense.Is the problem actually how the majority of superstars look to you?Could it be you cant relate to their style of basketball?I recall a few years back some fans wanted to ban dunking (wonder why?)so when you try to accuse this generation of NBA superstars of being subpar in their techniques remember most of them were taught by ole school coaches.they just improved on the product.See you at the bears game because Im sure they are going to fire Lovie and replace him with you!