NBA thread

[captaincaptain]

If the Mavs win this series, last night will go down as one of the biggest defensive breakdowns in sports' history.

[CHCl3]

Donnie Walsh leaving position as New York Knicks president, GM - ESPN New York

James Dolan is the dumbest owner in the history of sports. Ever since he became the primary manager over the Knicks in 1999they have both been terrible for the majority of his run. Now when the Knicks finally have a smart person making the decisions this moron undermines him during the Melo trade talks and then lets him go.

If Isiah Thomas comes back I am seriously considering becoming a Nets fan. Proky may be a clown but at least he's a clown that wants to win instead of just stroking his own ego.

[debaserr]

I doubt he would replace him with anyone else.

[Dirty]

Man, I was exhausted after work last night and came home and fell asleep during a commercial. Seems like Miami thought the game was over and stopped going to the rim and being aggressive. I'm pretty pissed I missed the majority of the game. I woke up afterwards and saw the highlights and stuff. Just an epic meltdown by the Heat though. If they won last night, the series was over, simple as that. This could go 7 now, I wanna see how Dallas plays at home.

[Bane of your existence]

I'm hugely invested in this series. Not only am I a big Mavericks fan, but I also relish in Lebron shadenfreude. Plus I've got an hundred bucks riding on the Mavs. I nearly orgasmed through my pants that last game. My throat's still sore.

[Sljslj]

Originally Posted by eric generic

wow, best game of the playoffs.

You got that right. That was an incredible comeback. I couldn't believe how well Dirk stepped up at the end.

Now over to Dallas for game 3 on Sunday....

[Bloozcrooz]

Yeah Dirk steppped again at the end and.........missed the shot that would have sent it to o.t. In his deffense though he wasnt getting much help in the 4rth from the starters. Terry's jumper got cold and Kidd's 3's wouldnt fall and the rest seemed non existant. The mavs played a good game and hung around and had plenty of chances but just never could hit the shot that put them up by more than 2 or 3, or they would fold on deffense and allow the heat to penetrate to the basket. The mavs out rebounded and they're bench out scored the heat but only Dirk seemed to be able to do anything in the 4rth points wise towards the end...at least till the very end.

As for the Heat D Wade was out for blood this game and wasnt waiting for Lbj to win it for them. He still got his points but this was definatley Wades best performance to me thus far. Haslem as well hit some big shots in the 4rth and Bosh actually nailed a jumper that was the final blow. The heat responded to the mavs every time they threatened to come back and as fate would would have it..came away with the victory. I hate to be the bearer of bad news mavs fans but you may want to look up the statistic of teams that are tied one a piece in the finals as to who usually wins the series after winning game 3. Of course anything could happen though you never know.

[Dirty]

I thought Dirk's shot at the buzzer was going in. Great defense by Haslem by not jumping for the pump fake, but Dirk can get a good look anytime he wants to. He just couldn't nail it. Tough loss for the Mavs tonight cause now after stealing one in Miami with that great comeback they are once again facing some very tough odds to win the series.

In my opinion this series is exactly how Miami imagined their tema being when they signed LeBron and Bosh... Wade and LeBron taking over at different times, tonight Wade was money and LeBron was more of a passer. Bosh being good enough that you c an't forget about him, hitting the game winner, and overall just insane athleticism and great defense. Joel Anthony and Haslem are gonna be the unsung heroes if the Heat win but they've really battled all series doing the little things and playing defense.

Wade just really impressed me tonight. I've never been a huge Wade fan to be honest but even in his post game press conferences you could tell he just wanted it more than anyone else and wouldn't let his team lose. I also wanna remind everyone that there is a reason that Wade has been outshining LeBron in the 4th, and that's because Kidd is on Wade and Marion is on LeBron. Huge difference in defensive ability right there.

-Also I'll say Bosh has been playing bad defense. A few times on rotations the Mavs either nailed 3s or missed decent looks because Bosh didn't run them off the line. He hesitated too much, he needs to run full speed for the block and if they pump fake, so be it. Better a 2 than a 3.

[Bloozcrooz]

Just wondering if anyone had any predictions on tonights game? Of course the league will want this to go 7 games so im already counting on the Heat to catch the brunt of most the crap calls from the refs. The Mavs desperatley need to get Dirk some help to even have a chance at this. It just looks like to me that the Heat are the better team, and unless they falter then the Mavs have to play a perfect game to win. What happened to they're three point capability that they've had all season long? I think they have to set more pick and rolls around Lebron to get some open perimeter shots going and drive the ball up the court with a little more urgency. J.J. Barea needs to step up his game, and knock down some of those open looks he got in game three. If Chandler can contribute to helping out not only on D but getting them some offensive boards as well then they're chances are looking pretty good. Terry has all, but vanished in the 4rth quarter scoring wise, but give the Heat D some credit cause when they want to they can be very dominate, and hard to score on. Somebody from the Mavs starting core though has to step up, and be the X factor other than just Dirk here. Unless its just a monster blowout the last 8 to 5 mins in basketball are the ones that really count, and thats where the Mavs have been getting cold with they're shooting.

As far as the Heat go I think its just a matter of doing more of the same with what they have been doing. They stayed out in transition most of game three, and easily penetrated to the basket throughout the game. I wouldnt completley under sell the Mavs cause they have the ability to get hot, and rain three's on any given night. I just think the Heats closing abilities in the 4rth are extrordinary, and that being said most likely will cause it to come down to the wire where once again where either Wade or Lebron will persevere, and rise to the occasion.

I will add though that the Mavs have been turning the ball over a lot,and not containing the Heat enough to force them into a 1/2 court offense. You have to at least try to make them slow down the pace, and think about what they want to do on offense or your just spinning your wheels. The Heat live for points off fast breaks, and transition offense. Which is really what the Mavs need to try an put in place so as to slow down those traps The Heat like to put in place.
All and all this has been an exciting season for basketball from the start and throughout these playoffs on into the finals. I dont think theres any doubt though about who the team to beat will be as long as they maintain the personnel they have in place now player wise. Speaking of personnel Maybe the Mavs only hope is to out coach Spoelstra and hope the players can execute what Carlisle draws up. Spoelstra could be the achilles heel of The Heat and at times has shown his vulnerablity, if that can be expoited who knows what the out come could be.

[Dirty]

Originally Posted by Boozinbloozin

Just wondering if anyone had any predictions on tonights game? Of course the league will want this to go 7 games so im already counting on the Heat to catch the brunt of most the crap calls from the refs. The Mavs desperatley need to get Dirk some help to even have a chance at this. It just looks like to me that the Heat are the better team, and unless they falter then the Mavs have to play a perfect game to win. What happened to they're three point capability that they've had all season long? I think they have to set more pick and rolls around Lebron to get some open perimeter shots going and drive the ball up the court with a little more urgency. J.J. Barea needs to step up his game, and knock down some of those open looks he got in game three. If Chandler can contribute to helping out not only on D but getting them some offensive boards as well then they're chances are looking pretty good. Terry has all, but vanished in the 4rth quarter scoring wise, but give the Heat D some credit cause when they want to they can be very dominate, and hard to score on. Somebody from the Mavs starting core though has to step up, and be the X factor other than just Dirk here. Unless its just a monster blowout the last 8 to 5 mins in basketball are the ones that really count, and thats where the Mavs have been getting cold with they're shooting.

As far as the Heat go I think its just a matter of doing more of the same with what they have been doing. They stayed out in transition most of game three, and easily penetrated to the basket throughout the game. I wouldnt completley under sell the Mavs cause they have the ability to get hot, and rain three's on any given night. I just think the Heats closing abilities in the 4rth are extrordinary, and that being said most likely will cause it to come down to the wire where once again where either Wade or Lebron will persevere, and rise to the occasion.

I will add though that the Mavs have been turning the ball over a lot,and not containing the Heat enough to force them into a 1/2 court offense. You have to at least try to make them slow down the pace, and think about what they want to do on offense or your just spinning your wheels. The Heat live for points off fast breaks, and transition offense. Which is really what the Mavs need to try an put in place so as to slow down those traps The Heat like to put in place.
All and all this has been an exciting season for basketball from the start and throughout these playoffs on into the finals. I dont think theres any doubt though about who the team to beat will be as long as they maintain the personal they have in place now player wise. Maybe the Mavs only hope is to out coach Spoelstra and hope the players can execute what Carlisle draws up. Spoelstra could be the achilles heel of The Heat and at times has shown his vulnerablity, if that can be expoited who knows what the out come could be.

Good post boozon. I think for the Mavs to win, they need Miami to beat themselves (like in game 2 when they pretty much quit and it bit them in the ass) or they need a LEGENDARY game from Dirk. I'm talkin like 45 points. Because I just don't see anyone stepping up for them. Terry can't do anything with LBJ on him. Barea missed some open shots that he needs to knock down, he had some good looks. He needs to be the xfactor in my opinion because he can get into the lane unlike kidd and is quick.

Chandler needs to rip a ton of boards, rebounding is the only facet of the game where Dallas has an advantage. They can't shoot threes because Miami is so fast and big it's unreal and they just run them right off the 3 point line. Actually Dallas's best chances were off of steals last game, they had some open 3s before the defense got set but they bricked them. I feel like the Mavs are playing pretty close to as good as they can against the Heat and the Heat aren't even playing their very best and still winning.

I thought last game the refs were pushing for Dallas to win to be honest. I know the Heat got that call when Wade flopped on the rebound, but the ref wasn't in position and just missed it. The refs called some BS fouls favoring Dirk int he 4th on rebounds, I don't know if anyone knows which I'm talking abotu but they were barely touching him.

I picked Heat in 6 but I think Heat win tonight and essentially wrap up the series. I feel like Dallas had a miracle win in game 2 and were lucky to be so close last game. Miami is just a lot better. Unfortunately for Dirk's legacy, people will say "yeah but he lost in 2 finals" which is sad because it overshadows the fact that his teams had no business even making the finals either year. It would be better for his legacy if they would've lost to the favored Spurs in '06 and the Lakers this year.

Anyone have thoughts on Warriors hiring Mark Jackson as coach? 17 year veteran and 3rd all-time in assists. Great player, tough defensive minded guy, and is part of my favorite NBA analyst crew of Van Gundy, Jackson, and Mike Breen. I like the hire. It's not like there's a goldmine of coaching talent out there. I think he will bring a little defense to the Warriors. Rumor has it there's a Monta Ellis for Andre Iguodala trade being talked about. Golden State should have a boner and accept that immediately.

Anyways, here's some good (pretty short) reads.

Haters gonna hate

Great points about LeBron haters.