Mr. Ten Questions (with NBAmate)

Hey Peeps, I hope you have all enjoyed reading The Messenger this season. In addition to writing for myself, I have also been writing for the good folks over at NBAmate, the Australian NBA blog. 

www.nbamate.com

Led by The Chief, RobD, they go by the modest tag of "probably Australia's best NBA blog". They are really awesome and offer some great analysis and insight in their summaries. They're also hell funny! 


Everyone should definitely check it out. Check out the coveted Wall of Fame that features Danillo Gallinari (Gallinari makes the Wall of Fame)


We just finished our roundtable discussion in previewing the NBA Finals. Here are my responses. Would be great to hear what you all think of the Finals. Please leave some comments.

1. Which team was more impressive in finishing off their opposition 4-1 in the Conf Finals - the Mavs or the Heat?

The Mavs have been more impressive in playing inspired team ball with Dirk leading the way. In contrast, the Heat are riding their 2 superstars of Wade and LeBron who take turns when the other is struggling along with a bunch of role players.

2. Does the result of the 2006 Finals have any bearing on this series? Do the Mavs use it as fuel or is it ancient history?

I think the Mavs will use it as inspiration in getting it done for Dirk and Jet who have lead their team this season. Jet’s championship tattoo made some waves within the team. However, the Mavs couldn’t stop Wade then, albeit it was with a little bit (alright, a lot) of help from the officials. What’s to say they can stop Wade, and this other guy named LeBron this time around?

3. The Mavs have a lot of depth while the Heat are heavily reliant on their starters. How important are the benches in this series?

The bench is more important for the Mavs as they are the older team of veterans. Dirk, Kidd, Marion, Jet, Chandler, Haywood, Peja and Stevenson have all played at least of 10 seasons without winning a title. The Mavs were built to be deep and versatile. As the Finals go on with an expected amount of physicality and speed of the Heat, the Mavs bench could be decisive in winning games.

4. Does the outcome of this Finals mean more to Dirk or Lebron? Who's legacy is greater impacted?

So far they’ve both lost in the Finals. I’m assuming that LeBron will win at least one before he retires. If he somehow can’t manage to win one then LeBron’s legacy is eternally tarnished along with all his indecencies. For mine, Dirk will always be known as the 7-foot-jumpshooting-German with or without a ring.

5. Who is the X-Factor player in this series? Who will be the unsung hero?

Mark Cuban is the X-Factor.  He will be on the officials like a hawk for any dubious calls (who doesn’t believe that Miami has already been the recipient of some shady officiating these playoffs?). Don’t forget Cube’s tirade on Stern after Game 6 of the 2006 NBA Finals where he was fined $250 000.

Chandler is already the unsung hero for the season. He has received minimal recognition for his defensive effort. Miami will certainly struggle with Chandler’s strong interior defense, shot-blocking ability and around-the-rim athleticism that they have yet to face these playoffs.

6. Who wins Finals MVP?

Dirk

7. What will Puerto Rican guy do?

Hopefully, his aggressive play will drive Chalmers and Bibby mad. 

8. Slightly off topic, Scottie Pippen recently said Lebron James can be greater than Michael Jordan. Is there any truth in that statement? Has Scottie lost his mind?

Not even going to justify this with a response. Pippen’s statue should be torn down like the Berlin wall.

9. Who wins the championship? (and your series score prediction)

Mavs in 6

10. Who will you be rooting for?

Lets Go Mavs!

TRUE DAT! - Finals Edition 2011

This is it. 14 down. 2 teams left standing to compete.

A dramatic rematch between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat in this year’s 2011 NBA Finals.

Here is today’s dose of TRUE DAT!, the Finals Edition.

#1 Misleading leads

This writer previously wrote during the playoffs that Miami is a team where a 10-point, even a 20-point deficit, is misleading and can vanish very quickly when turnovers start to amass. The Heat are an impending threat of runs.

Facing a 6-point deficit with four minutes remaining against the Celtics in game 5, the Heat went on a furious 16-6 run to close out the series. Game four against the Bulls featured a 29-9 run by the Heat after the Bulls made a 19-4 run.

This was demonstrated once again yesterday when the Heat trailed the Bulls by 12 with 3 minutes remaining yesterday. You could sense the Bulls fall into a false sense of security and LeBron and Wade made them pay for it with their trademark arcade-like turbo boost of offense. The Heat didn’t just clinch, they slammed shut the series in Chicago with an 18-3 run. 

True Dat!

#2 The Young ImpressionaBULLS

Despite offensive capitulations at the end of games 4 and 5, this Bulls team should be applauded for their season. This is a young team that is still growing. They will learn from the experience, particularly on offense, where you need to do a lot more than watch one man try to take over (cough cough LeBron, Cavs). In his first year as head coach, Thibodeau has established a defense-first mentality on the team. It was not their defensive effort that faltered them this post-season.  

Derrick Rose was this year’s MVP at the young age of 22! He is already a fantastic leader and has unnecessarily blamed himself for the series loss. Perhaps he said it as added self-motivation for the offseason. What’s scary is despite a stellar season, he still has a hell of a lot of potential remaining.   

True Dat!

#3 RiDIRKulous  

Let me start by saying that this guy has just been playing “stoopid”. It’s really crazy.

At the beginning of the playoffs, this writer said Dirk had to raise his game substantially for Dallas to make a serious push. He certainly has not disappointed.

No one is playing better basketball than Dirk in the playoffs. At 7 feet, when Dirk is in his zone, he is unguardable. One wouldn't know how (and certainly hope they don’t) Miami will find an effective way to defend Dirk.

This writer has certainly jumped on the Mavs bandwagon. 

True Dat!

TRUE DAT! - 2nd May 2011

So here we are. The second round of the playoffs upon us.

8 down. Spurs, Blazers, Nuggets, Hornets, Pacers, Magic, Knicks and 76ers are goooooorn!

4 of the remaining bunch to be eliminated with the four series between Thunder/Grizzlies, Lakers/Mavs, Heat/Celtics and Bulls/Hawks.

Here is today's dose of TRUE DAT!

#1 Shaking the rust

There were three keys for the Celtics going into this series against the Heat. If the Celtics are successful they will need to limit turnovers, receive significant production from the bench and Rondo has to remain aggressive.

Well, yesterday, in Game 1, Rondo was unable to establish himself due to early foul trouble in which he was forced to the bench and ultimately played a minimal 32 minutes. The Celtics committed numerous turnovers in allowing the Heat easy points in transition. As for the bench, James Jones who came off the Miami bench outplayed them. The indiscernible Jones proved decisive as he hit 5 of 7 threes.

However, for as poorly as the Celtics played and as well as the Heat played (with a little help from the officials), the Celtics lost Game 1 by only 9 points. Boston made several runs in the second half after facing a 15-point deficit. The Celtics definitely looked a little rusty after a week off. But make no doubt about it; the Celtics will lift for Game 2.

True Dat!

#2 Gundy and Otis 

After a sudden exit from the playoffs, Dwight Howard posted the following comment on Facebook-

“I did my best out there. It’s hard to see us go. I love it here in Orlando but…”

After losing Game 6 against the Hawks, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy explained, choking up a bit, “A team that fights as hard as our guys did, and I couldn’t get them over the hump to win this series, that really is disappointing to me and the job that I did as a coach. I’m just disappointed not to be able to get my team over the hump”.

However, don’t pin this on Stan.

Orlando GM, Otis Smith is responsible for dealing half of the team who had made a deep push into last year’s playoffs. Trading Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat for Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu was absurd. Gortat had shown that he was capable of starting along Dwight. However, Smith preferred to start the inferior Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson who both struggled with consistency this season. Meanwhile Gortat has flourished in Phoenix. Furthermore, Turkapoo has certainly lived to his name by continuing to stink out the joint ever since he originally left Orlando.

Furthermore, Smith traded Rashard Lewis, who is currently a free agent, for Gilbert Arenas and his $111 million contract with 3 years remaining. Arenas averaged 16 minutes per game in the playoffs and did play due to a coach’s decision in Game 3.

If history repeats itself and the Magic lose another franchise big man, than either Gundy or Smith will be held responsible. For mine, a coach is only as good as the roster he is dealt.

True Dat!

#3 Lakers/Mavs

Who knows what to expect in this series? Surprisingly, for two teams that regularly feature in the postseason, this is the first time that Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant will face each other in the playoffs.

The Lakers easily accounted for the Mavs in their last matchup in April at the Staples Centre as they won 110-82. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol along with Lamar Odom created havoc in the interior. Jason Kidd also had difficulty defending Kobe.

It’s hard to see Dallas winning a best-of-seven series as the Lakers hold a significant size advantage. Chandler and Haywood are not big enough on their own to compete with the Lakers’ size and length.

Dirk will need to raise his game for the Mavs to have a chance at winning the series. He showed encouraging signs in leading the Mavs during the last series against the Blazers. It is imperative that Dirk uses his speed and agility against Gasol in order to create offense or drive to the rim and draw fouls.

That’s the key for the Mavs to win. Anytime a team possesses size, the best way to counter against the bigs, is to put them in foul trouble.

True Dat!

BRING THE HEAT-CELTICS

The highly anticipated matchup between Miami Heat and Boston Celtics is finally here.

The “Key Three” of LeBron, Wade and Bosh will take on the “Core Four” of Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo.

Even Paul Pierce shares the enthusiasm. “I’m excited. This is a great stage for basketball. It’s going to be great for fans and the guys we have here love these types of series”.

Ever since the Heat acquired LeBron and Bosh in assembling its “Big Three”, everyone has been waiting for a Celtics-Heat playoff series.

“We knew it was going to probably happen at one point or another,” Pierce said. “Before the season if we were going to where we needed to be as a championship team we knew we were going to have to play Miami. So it’s finally here and I’m sure it’s the much anticipated battle everybody’s been waiting on”.

As Celtics coach, Doc Rivers stated, “We assumed that when they put this team together that, if we wanted to put another banner up, we’d probably have to go through them. So it’s official. And that’s good”.

In the regular season, the Celtics won the first three meetings, including two in the first nine games of the season. The Heat won the last matchup in the beginning of April that decided the second seed in the Eastern conference and ultimately home court in this series.

LeBron boldly expressed this week, “Now we’re preparing for lunch, I guess. This was a series everyone wanted”. However, the Celtics still remain a playoff antagonist for LeBron. In two of the last three postseasons, the Celtics have been responsible for his demise from the playoffs. LeBron has long struggled against the Celtics’ stifling defense.

The Celtics’ playoff defense strives on taking opponents out of their comfort zone by forcing teams out of their first and second options and making players make individual plays. Hence, it is imperative that Bosh is a strong contributor along Wade and LeBron for the Heat to be successful.

Chris Bosh will be the key for Miami and could be the difference in the series. “LeBron and Wade are LeBron and Wade”, said Doc Rivers. “They’re going to be great players before the series; they’ll be great players after it. But when Bosh plays great, then their team is great. He’s the key guy for them”.

For the Celtics, Doc knows that, quite simply, the Celtics are their own worst enemy. For a team that takes pride in good ball movement, turnovers are like kryptonite against the Heat. The Celtics play unselfishly and share the ball with numerous passes in a single possession. This leads to many clean open shots.

However, often the Celtics find themselves racking up turnovers with their non-sticky hands.

During the second half of game four against the Knicks in which the Celtics had established a healthy lead of 23 points and were cruising to a series sweep, Doc was irate with his team for allowing the Knicks to make a mini-run after successive turnovers who cut the deficit to four in the fourth quarter.

Doc knows how detrimental turnovers are to the Celtics’ success in the postseason and especially against the Heat. In the first two meetings in the season, the Celtics had established large leads only to win narrowly by margins of 8 and 5 points. Miami is a team where a 10-point, even a 20-point deficit, is misleading and can vanish very quickly when turnovers start to amass. The Heat thrive in transition with two of the game’s best open-court players in LeBron and Wade.

Moreover, the respective benches for Boston and Miami could be decisive. Celtics President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge pointed out that “getting a boost from the bench could be huge”. Boston’s bench showed promising signs towards the end of the Knicks series. Glen Davis is slowly coming back into form and along with Delonte West’s shooting, should be able to keep the floor spaced for the post in also helping Jeff Green focus on defending LeBron. Green’s ability to play strong defense against LeBron, as well as occasional offense, will be crucial for the Celtics in providing Pierce ample rest

Shaq is also travelling with the team with the intention to play during the series. Shaq, along with the encouraging Jermaine O’Neal, adds a strong presence in the post; an area that is of high concern to Miami who do not have a true big man.

For the Heat, point guard Mario Chalmers and centre Joel Anthony should start, despite Spolestra’s reluctance, in place of Bibby and Ilgauskas. Spolestra believes they add spark off of a very thin bench. There have been suggestions that Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller will return from lengthy injuries to take part in the series. However, it would be doubtful that either could have a considerable effect, particularly Haslem who has missed almost the entire season.

But it boils down to the seven All-Stars especially Rondo who has to find a way against Miami “Rondo Defense” of the typical sag-and-challenge defense that most teams employ. Rondo will likely be defended by a combination of Bibby, Chalmers, Wade and Lebron throughout the game. Regardless of the defense, Garnett surmised it best when he asserted “We just need Shorty to be aggressive. Rondo’s a pain when he’s aggressive. When he’s stacking the stat line he’s a problem to deal with and we’re a problem to deal with”.

While many are confidently predicting the Heat to win in six or seven games, there are still plenty of questions to be answered.

The Heat face unprecedented expectation and have already been heavily scrutinised in its first year of the “Big Three” era. LeBron may have bitten off more than he could chew with his comments about “lunchtime” as the Heat are under pressure.

For the Celtics, they may regret its late season slump in which they finished the season 10-11 in its last 21 games and ultimately relinquishing home court advantage, not only in this series but also throughout the playoffs. They demonstrated that they could play at a high level in a hostile environment in New York. Over the last two seasons, the Celtics have succeeded on the road, which puts pressure on Miami to protect home-court advantage in games one and two.

For mine, expect the Celtics to win in six.

One thing is for sure though. This will get heated.