2011 NBA Thread

[Bradtemple87]

Tonight Dallas wins the championship, and Dirk finally gets his well deserved ring!

[sevin0seven]

DALLAS WIN, DALLAS WIN!

and...

[noiseredux]

wow. Wow. WOW.

[SpaceBooger]

Maybe the "curse" of Cleveland sports has ended!
Congrats to the Mavs and their fans.
Bring on the Draft - Cleveland Cavs #1 For All and All #4 One!

[pakopako]

Holy crap.

Did not see this coming.

Totally expected a blow-out game.. surprised it was in the Mavs' favor last game. Tonight was just pure... amazing they stayed hot outside the arc... and stupid TOs were killing the Heat. (While they never use this as an excuse, Wade kept getting banged up as per his usual Iverson-style could have affected his handling.)

Congrats to loudmouth Mark Cuban; he may have been a jerk, but now he's a jerk with class. Nice move giving Don Carter the presentation (and nice move by Carlisle to keep Cuban clean all finals long). Good work Cuban, now go fix baseball!

lebron_crying

Actually, the guy was pretty deflated after the game. Shook a few hands and snuck off. Wade was hobbling (really do wish he'd change his style of play). Bosh actually broke down and cried as soon as he got to the back -- the cameras caught him crumbling down and needing to be helped up by Howard.

I'm hoping King James gets some humility from this.

[sevin0seven]

Holy crap.

Did not see this coming.

Totally expected a blow-out game.. surprised it was in the Mavs' favor last game. Tonight was just pure... amazing they stayed hot outside the arc... and stupid TOs were killing the Heat. (While they never use this as an excuse, Wade kept getting banged up as per his usual Iverson-style could have affected his handling.)

The Mav's played a team game and had a deeper bench. The Heat while having three superstars didn't have the bench or the experience as a team. no surprise at all. It's like the Pistons beating the Lakers with Bryant, Shaq, Malone and Payton yrs ago. At the end, it's about team work and Heart.

[Metal Militia]

Congrats to Dallas on winning their first title in team history. Glad that Dirk, Kidd, Terry, Marion, Chandler, Peja finally get a ring. Also happy for Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle as well

[pakopako]

The Mav's played a team game and had a deeper bench. The Heat while having three superstars didn't have the bench or the experience as a team. no surprise at all. It's like the Pistons beating the Lakers with Bryant, Shaq, Malone and Payton yrs ago. At the end, it's about team work and Heart.

I thought the Heat had a deeper bench. With shooters like Bibby and House and Miller, veterans Haslem and Ilgasukas, and the Mavs losing Carom Butler (and then Brenden Haywood) would severely tilt favor toward Miami. I wouldn't imagine JJ Barea to stay hot, Brian Cardinal to take charges, or even Ian Mahinmi to hustle like he did in Game 6 (though Stojakvic was a sad case).

Actually, funny thing you bring up the 2004 Finals -- same deal there with an aging rag-tag team against a stacked Lakers starting rotation -- and a similar result: a 4-1 win from the scrappy Pistons. Though back then, neither team had a significant bench, I could have sworn the series went on longer than just 5 games. You are right; Breen and Van Gundy even said this exemplifies that not having enough star-power was no longer an excuse.

[sevin0seven]

from what i recall, the question on that pic was "who's going to take the last shot when the game is on the line." ... funny how that turns out. if the Heat wants to win a ring they need a better supporting cast. they need a dirty player, a real point guard and great help like Haslem off the bench.

they used House the last game, Ilgauskas was not used at all in this series. Magloire would had been good for this series with his rebounding and toughness, Bibby hangout with Peja somewhere in the back, and Juwan Howard who?... the list goes on. maybe they should had never release Stackhouse during the season, he at least had experience with Dallas.

[Luke]

Glad to see Dallas win for many reasons, but mostly for their loyal fan base. Kudos.

I'm actually a little shocked that Cuban didn't mouth off to other team owners and team presidents about sticking with their team. I thought, 100% sure, that Cuban would mention "the decision" after winning a ring, but he really surprised me by his class (as did his team). While James and Wade mocked Dirk the other night, I also thought Dirk may also shoot off at the mouth, which he did not; another classy move.

It's one of my favorite sayings, "Success is the greatest Revenge".