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!