The 2011 NBA finals are set, as the Dallas Mavericks, go to face the Miami Heat. These two teams have shown brilliance throughout the playoffs, from Dirk Nowitzki’s AMAZING increase in production to Lebron James and the heat proving that they can finish games out very strong.
The Miami Heat have yet to face a dynamic player such as Dirk, and the Dallas Mavericks have yet to face such a triple threat offensive game. Both teams need to play to their strength, obviously, in order to win this series.
This match-up will be a great one, and for the Heat to defeat the Dallas Mavericks they will need to go to their most potent offensive weapons, which are transition, cutting, and hand-off baskets. The Dallas Mavericks will have trouble with dribble penetration as Russel Westbrook was getting into the paint multiple times, and now Lebron adn D.Wade will try and do the same. The Dallas Mavericks want to make Miami become a spot up shooting team and live with the consequences. Lebron James has had his stats decrease in many areas when facing the Dallas Mavericks, but the regular season does not matter, as he has won games in the final minutes for Miami in the Boston series as well as the Bulls series.
The Dallas Mavericks will need to play to their strengths as well on the offensive ends, which are post-ups and spot up shooting. They will need to make their pick and roll and transition game become more potent, especially when JJ Barea comes into the game with energy to push the pace. The Miami Heat want to stay on the three point line, and try to defend Dirk as best as they can when he post-up at the elbow.
Both teams will need to defend very well and it will be hard has both teams have superstars that will get points. Shawn Marion for the Dallas Mavericks has been fantastic on defense, and he showed how good he was while guarding Kevin Durant. The Mavericks will need to have Jason Kidd play the same defense he has been playing and surprisingly Deshawn Stevenson, when in the game, will need to play great defense against Dwayne Wade.
The Miami Heat will need to guard the three point line and stay in front of JJ Barea, but their largest defensive task will be to somehow slightly slow down Dirk. Lebron and Haslem will need to play great one-on-one defense on Dirk, and try to make him take the most difficult shots they can force him into. Miami most likely will need to double dirk as the game goes, due to his skill set on off-balanced shots.
The boards will be the deciding factor in this series, especially for Dallas, because you don't want Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh to have to many second chance shots. The Dallas bench will need to keep up their spectacular play, and Miami’s bench will need to step it up to help the big three.
In 2006 I wanted Dallas to go over, and in 2011 I will cheer for Dallas again. Dirk is one player I really want to see win that championship. It is difficult to make a prediction on who will win this series.
Here It Is & Remember The Orlando Magic are still #1 team.
P.S. Will Orlando fans want to see the Miami Heat, a home state team, win?
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
NBA Dry Spell is OVER!
Last night was the season opener for the NBA, and we had two games on TNT, and another in the western conference going to occur. Game 1 was Boston vs Miami, the “aged” Big 3 vs the “OMG how did they do that” Big 3. I must say when Lebron came out and received such a negative reaction from the crowd, well I joined in.
The Boston Celtics won in, this Celtics team’s style, to grind out the game and make defense a tool that was vital for victory. No stats today, just my reaction to being so eager for this season particularly. Miami won’t play that bad against Philly tonight, but it was great to see how that pre-celebration party that Miami had when they confirmed Bosh and James, well now we can all say for sure that was premature. The one big problem that this team has, is there big man situation, and how nobody can generate offense down low, which means their inside out game is hard to come by. Defensively Miami is weak in the four and five spot, which will hurt them with bigger line ups like Orlando, Lakers, Boston, Dallas, Spurs, Houston, Portland, etc.
“OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”. Now Boston fans, I first thank you for a great chant, and this will catch like wildfire to all arenas during a Miami game. I am not a Boston fan, but man did I cheer them on last night, and it felt good to see this Miami team pick-up its first dent in its armor.
The first game was good for the second half, but the second game was great throughout. Houston had Yao return to its line-up, and the Lakers hung their 16th championship banner. This game was well played offensively, and Rick Ademle did a fantastic job of keeping Houston in the game while playing with essentially two different teams, one with Yao and one without Yao. Brad Miller looks to be a great pick up for Houston, and Luis Scola had an impressive double-double and a beautiful fourth quarter. The game did not have too many low spots, as Houston showed how well they were prepared to ake on L.A. and Kobe, although had difficulty with his shot, still helped the Lakers win with some fantastic passes throughout. L.A. looks stronger than last season with Shannon Brown showing improvement, Matt Barnes playing hard defense off the bench, and Steve Blake running the point off the bench, while still not understanding all of the triangle offense of Phil Jackson.
I don’t like L.A. but it was great to see both NBA teams give the fans a treat after not seeing a real competitive game of basketball since late spring of 2010.
This night had a playoff atmosphere, and if these are the type of games that we can expect from all four of these teams, then what a fantastic NBA season this can be.
Here It Is & Remember If Shaq did damage down low against MIA, then imagine Dwight (this Friday)!!!
The Boston Celtics won in, this Celtics team’s style, to grind out the game and make defense a tool that was vital for victory. No stats today, just my reaction to being so eager for this season particularly. Miami won’t play that bad against Philly tonight, but it was great to see how that pre-celebration party that Miami had when they confirmed Bosh and James, well now we can all say for sure that was premature. The one big problem that this team has, is there big man situation, and how nobody can generate offense down low, which means their inside out game is hard to come by. Defensively Miami is weak in the four and five spot, which will hurt them with bigger line ups like Orlando, Lakers, Boston, Dallas, Spurs, Houston, Portland, etc.
“OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”, “OVERRATED”. Now Boston fans, I first thank you for a great chant, and this will catch like wildfire to all arenas during a Miami game. I am not a Boston fan, but man did I cheer them on last night, and it felt good to see this Miami team pick-up its first dent in its armor.
The first game was good for the second half, but the second game was great throughout. Houston had Yao return to its line-up, and the Lakers hung their 16th championship banner. This game was well played offensively, and Rick Ademle did a fantastic job of keeping Houston in the game while playing with essentially two different teams, one with Yao and one without Yao. Brad Miller looks to be a great pick up for Houston, and Luis Scola had an impressive double-double and a beautiful fourth quarter. The game did not have too many low spots, as Houston showed how well they were prepared to ake on L.A. and Kobe, although had difficulty with his shot, still helped the Lakers win with some fantastic passes throughout. L.A. looks stronger than last season with Shannon Brown showing improvement, Matt Barnes playing hard defense off the bench, and Steve Blake running the point off the bench, while still not understanding all of the triangle offense of Phil Jackson.
I don’t like L.A. but it was great to see both NBA teams give the fans a treat after not seeing a real competitive game of basketball since late spring of 2010.
This night had a playoff atmosphere, and if these are the type of games that we can expect from all four of these teams, then what a fantastic NBA season this can be.
Here It Is & Remember If Shaq did damage down low against MIA, then imagine Dwight (this Friday)!!!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Orlando Magic Fans Should NOT Feel the HEAT!
LeBron James decided that he will be heading to South Beach, and join Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami, to form literally an All-Star studded team. The majority of us were awed by the announcement, while a wave of relief overcame us, due to the nagging length of time these players took to announce their decisions.
After that initial shock to my system, a few thoughts came to mind.
1. I realized that this meant Orlando would not be the lone elite team in the Southeast division.
2. Another scenario that came to mind was the fact that we would play Miami a total of 4 times a year, which meant we would see this team more than any other elite NBA team (Boston, L.A.).
3. Then my mouth started to salivate at the possibility of having an in-state rivalry, only six hours apart, which pitted two of the top teams in the NBA against one another in the same backyard.
4. If you’re the opposing team, WHO DO YOU DOUBLE TEAM? You double team Lebron, Wade will get you! If you double team Wade, Lebron will get you! If you double team, Wade and Lebron, Bosh will get you!
Miami, especially Pat Riley, deserve tremendous credit for what they have brought to their organization, but when looking at the Heat’s roster, there are some gaps that stare you right in the face.
1. The first being they have barely any money left, and still need to sign 9 players to tag along with this core of three, and Beasley/Chalmers being the other two signed.
2. Then the fact that Miami doesn’t have size on their side. Bosh is more finesse and hated having center obligations in Toronto, James plays the 3, and Wade plays the two. Who would be able to defend against Dwight Howard, Yao Ming, Andrew Bynum, etc. deep in the post?
3. Mario Chalmers is a point guard, true, but he doesn’t have a passing game developed, and he is not a great spot up shooter.
4. Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are all not going to maintain the stats they did before coming together because they can’t all have 30 shots per game.
5. They need to create a zone offensive system because the opposing team will play zone defense, and some are very good at it like Boston, Orlando, L.A., etc. This is going to be difficult as all three of these players are use to 80 percent of the game being isolation type of play.
Now for the Orlando side, as for the rest of the league, commentators are really finding any team that can withstand this Heat trio. Orlando don’t forget got to The Finals in ’09, and the Eastern Conference Finals ’09 &’10. Orlando is not a squad that you can push over very easily.
The Heat have a weakness in their front court, and the Magic have the best front court player in the league in Dwight Howard (who is training with Hakeem this summer) and a training Marcin Gortat, who wants to get a better shot so that he can play alongside Howard as a 4 in some cases. Howard and Gortat are two seven footers that take up a lot of paint space, which means penetration will be difficult for the opposing team, which means LeBron and Wade will find it more difficult to penetrate, which is where the majority of their points come from, as they both are not strongly suited in jump shooting.
Take out Marcin Gortat and leave him as a back-up center and with rumors that Stan Van Gundy maybe leaning toward a more traditional line-up, let’s replace Gortat with Brandon Bass. Bass has a beautiful 15-18 footers jump shot that is consistent, he is very strong, which is great for defending, and he is a player that puts his effort into the game and hustles. Pietrus, Carter, Nelson, (Barnes and Redick is they return) are all sound enough perimeter defenders that can help with that zone defense needed. Newly acquired Chris Duhon is great at the pick-and-roll, passing, and is a great defensive point guard. The Magic can use Rashard or Anderson at the 4 spot to lure Bosh out. Rashard can play the 3 , which is where he has statistically been the most successful. Orlando is not a push over team in the least bit.
David Aldridge when asked about the best team in the NBA after LeBron’s announcement, said that the Heat are the obvious choice due to the tri, but don’t count out Boston (who is regrouping) and Orlando, who he expects will make moves in the coming days in order to upgrade the team. Orlando fans should be ecstatic when David Aldridge says these things because he is usually right on the money, and knowing GM Otis Smith, and how e says one thing but does something else that works, Orlando fans should be watching and thinking about what the Heat brings to the table, but still believe in the Magic because the Magic are still in that elite team kitchen.
Here Is the Video of David Aldridge, he speaks about Orlando around the 1:20 mark.
Here It Is & Remember GO HOLLAND!!!
After that initial shock to my system, a few thoughts came to mind.
1. I realized that this meant Orlando would not be the lone elite team in the Southeast division.
2. Another scenario that came to mind was the fact that we would play Miami a total of 4 times a year, which meant we would see this team more than any other elite NBA team (Boston, L.A.).
3. Then my mouth started to salivate at the possibility of having an in-state rivalry, only six hours apart, which pitted two of the top teams in the NBA against one another in the same backyard.
4. If you’re the opposing team, WHO DO YOU DOUBLE TEAM? You double team Lebron, Wade will get you! If you double team Wade, Lebron will get you! If you double team, Wade and Lebron, Bosh will get you!
Miami, especially Pat Riley, deserve tremendous credit for what they have brought to their organization, but when looking at the Heat’s roster, there are some gaps that stare you right in the face.
1. The first being they have barely any money left, and still need to sign 9 players to tag along with this core of three, and Beasley/Chalmers being the other two signed.
2. Then the fact that Miami doesn’t have size on their side. Bosh is more finesse and hated having center obligations in Toronto, James plays the 3, and Wade plays the two. Who would be able to defend against Dwight Howard, Yao Ming, Andrew Bynum, etc. deep in the post?
3. Mario Chalmers is a point guard, true, but he doesn’t have a passing game developed, and he is not a great spot up shooter.
4. Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are all not going to maintain the stats they did before coming together because they can’t all have 30 shots per game.
5. They need to create a zone offensive system because the opposing team will play zone defense, and some are very good at it like Boston, Orlando, L.A., etc. This is going to be difficult as all three of these players are use to 80 percent of the game being isolation type of play.
Now for the Orlando side, as for the rest of the league, commentators are really finding any team that can withstand this Heat trio. Orlando don’t forget got to The Finals in ’09, and the Eastern Conference Finals ’09 &’10. Orlando is not a squad that you can push over very easily.
The Heat have a weakness in their front court, and the Magic have the best front court player in the league in Dwight Howard (who is training with Hakeem this summer) and a training Marcin Gortat, who wants to get a better shot so that he can play alongside Howard as a 4 in some cases. Howard and Gortat are two seven footers that take up a lot of paint space, which means penetration will be difficult for the opposing team, which means LeBron and Wade will find it more difficult to penetrate, which is where the majority of their points come from, as they both are not strongly suited in jump shooting.
Take out Marcin Gortat and leave him as a back-up center and with rumors that Stan Van Gundy maybe leaning toward a more traditional line-up, let’s replace Gortat with Brandon Bass. Bass has a beautiful 15-18 footers jump shot that is consistent, he is very strong, which is great for defending, and he is a player that puts his effort into the game and hustles. Pietrus, Carter, Nelson, (Barnes and Redick is they return) are all sound enough perimeter defenders that can help with that zone defense needed. Newly acquired Chris Duhon is great at the pick-and-roll, passing, and is a great defensive point guard. The Magic can use Rashard or Anderson at the 4 spot to lure Bosh out. Rashard can play the 3 , which is where he has statistically been the most successful. Orlando is not a push over team in the least bit.
David Aldridge when asked about the best team in the NBA after LeBron’s announcement, said that the Heat are the obvious choice due to the tri, but don’t count out Boston (who is regrouping) and Orlando, who he expects will make moves in the coming days in order to upgrade the team. Orlando fans should be ecstatic when David Aldridge says these things because he is usually right on the money, and knowing GM Otis Smith, and how e says one thing but does something else that works, Orlando fans should be watching and thinking about what the Heat brings to the table, but still believe in the Magic because the Magic are still in that elite team kitchen.
Here Is the Video of David Aldridge, he speaks about Orlando around the 1:20 mark.
Here It Is & Remember GO HOLLAND!!!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Watch This Ridiculous Alley-OOP!!!
Here It Is & Remember teams should imply the Alley-OOP more often!
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