Rather than wait until after the fact, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize beforehand for everything offensive I plan to say, write and do during The Finals.
Yes, silly head, David Stern is, too, staging a lunge for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. It just took a while, that’s all, for ABC to fit the Mavericks and Heat’s 5-year reunion into its busy schedule.
Somehow I can’t conceive Dick Ebersol tolerating the NBA on NBC to take a 120-hour commercial break at the peak of the playoffs. No games for an entire holiday weekend were ever an option during the 12-season league-Peacock partnership.
Ebersol would have hired his own referees to prolong a conference final rather than go dark on Memorial Day; I seem to recall we’ve already touched on a similar story.
At the very least, the recently-departed NBC Sports Group Chairman would have re-run the White Bronco Chase at prime time and perhaps included O.J. Simpson’s cell phone call to Ahmad Rashad, who didn’t get the word until after the Knicks had beaten the Rockets, 91-84, in Game 5 on June 17, 1994.
Think of all the alliteration (“Massacres” and “Miracles”) viewers might have been deprived of had Ebersol not appreciated M&M’s and understood the importance of maintaining momentum.
Spurs’ analyst Sean Elliott would be just another TV house man today if not for his venerated 3-ball winner from the right corner against the Blazers with nine seconds left in Game 2 of the 1999 Western Conference finals.
Hey, let’s not get pushy; if Stern and ABC can delay The Finals for five days, I’m entitled to hold off dissecting the Mavs-Heat confrontation for seven — now eight — paragraphs.
Prior to the impulsive impact of Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, who contributed zilch in the first two rounds, the Heat were helpless beyond three-fifths of their starting lineup. With them finishing the final seven minutes of Game 4 and supplying an amazing amount of points, rebounds and defense, the Bulls could not compete.
They also figure to make the difference in this Sumo Series.
Haslem is capable of bothering Dirk Nowitzki the same way Nick Collison did. Naturally, no single humanoid can shut down Pitch White, though we’re doubtlessly bound to see LeBron James try, especially in the heart of the matter.
Still, if anybody is fundamentally fit to stay perpetually planted on Dirk’s bountiful ball and head fakes, it’s Haslem and his legs are fresh.
At the same time, if Miller can overcome his damaged thumbs and bust out like he did against the Bulls it really puts pressure to defend James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. It would force Rick Carlisle into being extra judicious about using the zone.
Nevertheless, while it’ll be tougher to triumph than in 2006, the Mavs are better prepared for numerous reasons:
Dirk is at the very tippy top of his game; Jason Terry is more mature, even if still a tad flighty; they have a real point guard who is truly special even at age 54 and 6 months or thereabouts; they actually have a center or two who can ball; they have a blank in the Scrabble Set who can cause problems all over the board — even if not every game — in Shawn Marion; very versatile subs that believe in themselves; and a low key coach — quite a contrast to previous two over the last decade, Don Nelson and Avery Johnson.
Carlisle does not seek the camera and does not over-react to situations on or off the court. He is stone solid, if unspectacular, and is certainly among the top five or so of active coaches.
If things go wrong, Carlisle will not break his trust with the players by blowing up at them or blowing them up in front of the media. Nor will he pull them out of their hotel and isolate them miles away or confine them to the hotel grounds like high school kids. Incredibly, that happened after Game 4 in 2006.
Unlike Nellie, Carlisle does not depend on gimmicks. On the other hand, he does not hesitate to employ a zone or a trap on a hot player when strategically inclined . . . something Avery loathed to do.
The Mavs did a lot of matchup zoning with small guards in the lineup against the Thunder. So, with two guards out front, Kevin Durant could line up against Jason Kidd, Terry, J.J. Barea, whomever he wanted to, and it looked like that’s who was guarding them.
And it was true . . . at 25 feet.
Analysts incessantly indicted Durant, in particular, for not exploiting his height advantage and positing up. Yet, it ceased to be an advantage when/if he went down low because the Mavs guards would pass him off to a big guy.
So, Durant & Co. were matched up by guards but there was no disrespect intended; all he had to do was move inside if he wanted to be guarded by a bigger guy.
Miami is less at risk against a zone. It has two tall life guards who can drown challengers from low to high tide.
What the Mavs do have is the requisite boulder on the shoulder. Nowitzki and Terry, ahem, and Mark Cuban, continue to smart from the 2006 shindig when they were more than halfway to paradise before all hell broke loose.
You can’t get no satisfaction from sweeping the last fiveseason series from the Heat . . . steamrolling three previous opponents . . . or riding the crest coming into The Finals.
No, no, no!!!
Dirk craves the same gratification that LeBron furiously seeks.
Legacies are at stake for both players in this Surf-n-Turf series.
Enjoy.