Go Dallas!

[beemerman2k]

I am so happy that the Dallas Mavericks came back from 15 points down with 7 minutes left to beat Miami on the road last night. Go Dallas!

 

I am not so much of a Mavericks fan as I am not a Lebron James fan. James completely turned me off last summer with his televised revelation of where he is going to play basketball. I don't know why, but that just rubbed me completely the wrong way. "Just shut up, go about your business, and we'll see you when you suit up in November".

 

And now the comparisons with Jordan, Magic, and Byrd. Please! Those guys built their teams. They didn't have television specials of where they were going to go so they could win a ring. They stayed put and built a championship team right where they were.

 

James and Co might just win it all this month. But good for Dallas for feeding them some humble pie along the way (although honestly, I have been supporting all the teams the Heat have faced throughout this playoff season from the 76'rs to the Celtics to the Bulls and now the Mavericks). I also wished that the Lakers were not so in the dumps this year. Would that a strong Lakers team played Miami Heat for all the marbles! I would have put on that yellow/purple jersey for the first time in my life :smile:

[ltljohn]

I would have put on that yellow/purple jersey

 

Careful, those words could get you thrown out of Massachusetts or possibly burned as a witch.

[Glenn Reed]

I would have put on that yellow/purple jersey

 

Careful, those words could get you thrown out of Massachusetts or possibly burned as a witch.

 

Well that, and misspelling Larry Bird's last name...

 

I absolutely agree with James's reasoning and thought on LeBron though. He should have stayed in Cleveland and worked to get a ring there. The way he left was ignorant. The way his owner responded was classless too, so maybe there was an issue there. I dunno.

[Joel]

Dirk took his talents to South Beach, too.

[bakerzdosen]

The enemy of my enemy is my friend...

 

I've known since "The Decision™" that I'd be cheering for whomever played against the Heat this year - even the Lakers. And this comes from a nearly life-long Laker-hater.

[beemerman2k]

Well that, and misspelling Larry Bird's last name...

 

Doh! I have a friend whose last name is spelled Byrd. Sorry Celtic Nation

 

The enemy of my enemy is my friend...

 

I've known since "The Decision™" that I'd be cheering for whomever played against the Heat this year - even the Lakers. And this comes from a nearly life-long Laker-hater.

 

Oh yeah, me too. I have never supported the Lakers, even when I lived in LA for 3 years. I was at the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas, CA in '05 and watched them play Detroit in one of the Championship series games. I was all over the Pistons, especially since I am from Detroit. But in this case, I would have donned a Kobe Bryant (I hope that's how you spell his name!) jersey for the occasion.

 

Can you imagine that, they call it "The Decision"? You gotta be kidding me. How about the decision to make your ordinary team mates great? That's what the great ones do!

 

At the end of the day, I am a hard core college football fan, so I am not quite in my element here.

 

[beemerman2k]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

It all seemed like a fool proof plan. Gather the NBA's greatest 3 in Miami and then bowl over the rest of the league and grab a ring. There was only one problem, a man named Dirk Nowitzki. He had other ideas.

 

I love it. Sports prove time and time again that team and heart are far bigger than talent. There you are, the mighty big 3 of the NBA, opponents tremble in your wake, well, except one team. And now, they are the World Champion Dallas Mavericks!

 

 

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[longjohn]

Hey, it was nice to see some of the old timers finally get their rings. It was a great series too. Congrats to the Mavs!! To win this Dallas had to have the supporting cast step up and contribute, which they did in games 5 and 6.

[tallman]

Mighta worked (fool proof plan) but we were dealing with an idiot or two.

Enduring decades of the Boston LA rivalry gives me some experience with the NBA's "greatest".

LeBust, and Bush, still have a way to go, IMO.

"Greatest" implies, to me, a level of character that I see lacking in some of today's players.

(Not saying there weren't blemishes on players from the past)

But give me a break.

Bill Russell, 11 titles including as a player-coach.

MJ six titles, and who could doubt that swapping LeBust for MJ (anywhere near his prime as LeBust is) and the Heat would won this thing?

 

So, yay Dallas!

You and your exuberant owner (strangely quiet and circumspect this season) showed how to play some awesome team ball

and deserve all the accolades.

Of course, next year the Heat will probably win 70 games and sweep all their playoff series, but, for now,

a big Bronx cheer.

Go Mavs!

And please give the Celtics new legs next year.

[longjohn]

The number of championships a player has won is more a function of who he is playing with and who is coaching them, rather than how good of a player he is. Many hall of famers have won one or even none. Marino, Cobb, Baylor, Ted Williams, Malone, Dionne, Gwynn, Ewing, Sanders, Griffey jr., Mays, Aaron, Moon, Iverson, Barkley, Bonds, Fouts, Nash, Marichal, Killebrew, G Perry, O Robertson, West, Irving, Stockton, Schmidt, Boggs, J Robinson, Ripken, Banks, O Smith, Fisk, N Ryan, I could go on.

[Glenn Reed]

I also thought Cuban was classy at the trophy ceremony when he let the first owner of the team raise the trophy.

 

I don't normally think "classy" and "Mark Cuban" in the same sentence, but this time he definitely was.

 

Congrats to Dirk and the gang!

[beemerman2k]

The number of championships a player has won is more a function of who he is playing with and who is coaching them, rather than how good of a player he is. Many hall of famers have won one or even none. Marino, Cobb, Baylor, Ted Williams, Malone, Dionne, Gwynn, Ewing, Sanders, Griffey jr., Mays, Aaron, Moon, Iverson, Barkley, Bonds, Fouts, Nash, Marichal, Killebrew, G Perry, O Robertson, West, Irving, Stockton, Schmidt, Boggs, J Robinson, Ripken, Banks, O Smith, Fisk, N Ryan, I could go on.

 

Yes, while true, if you want to use the word, "greatest", then that brings with it an implied expectation of some rather unusual character beyond basketball basics. In short, I'm with Tim all the way; the greats became great by building a great team from what would otherwise be considered a normal bunch of players. This is what Russell did, Magic Johnson did, Larry Bird did, Michael Jordan did -- take the other players on their team and most of them would be considered so-so talent but for the fact that these great leaders turned them into great players.

 

When measured by this yardstick, Dirk Nowitzki proved himself a much greater basketball player than Miami's big 3 combined. When measured objectively, I think most would consider Miami the more talent laden team. But at the end of the day, talent is a part of greatness, but it ain't greatness. Nowitzki and company combined mid-range NBA talent into a top level team. That makes Miami's big 3 a remarkable group of basketball players, but Nowitzki a great basketball player. That's why he has the trophy and Miami does not.

[ghaverkamp]

This is what Russell did, Magic Johnson did, Larry Bird did, Michael Jordan did -- take the other players on their team and most of them would be considered so-so talent but for the fact that these great leaders turned them into great players.

 

I'm not the world's biggest NBA fan, but even I knew there was something suspect about this. Kareem, McHale, and Pippen instantly came to mind as folks most people don't consider mediocre players raised to greatness on the coattails of others. (No idea about Bob Cousy, but he's pretty high on this list.)

[beemerman2k]

How did the Pippen led Bulls do when Jordan left for 2 seasons to play baseball?

[tallman]

withya James.

 

LeBron is a gifted basketball player.

He is not, and never will be, "the greatest", IMO.

 

Ted Williams gave up years, in his prime, to serve in the

military.

If LeBron enlisted this summer, spent 5 years in the military,

not necessary to be a Marine Aviator , then returned and excelled, he would cement his legacy as one worthy of possible greatness.

 

Williams competed against some of the best talent teams and tradition rich franchises of all time.

And, back then, there was the pennant and WS, no dadgum playoffs.

If there had been, who knows what Williams might have done.

 

I do know that if at this time next year the Heat aren't NBA champs DWade is gonna be kikin himself for

not bringing in some team mates rather than some "great" players.

 

Plenty of great players never won a championship.

Truly great athletes find a way to transcend that and the public sees it.

Or sees through them.

[Mike]

The enemy of my enemy is my friend...

 

I've known since "The Decision™" that I'd be cheering for whomever played against the Heat this year - even the Lakers.

 

Agreed. Though they dusted off my Bulls (who I think have the potential for some outstanding basketball in the next few years), something about the self-aggrandizement of the Heat's terrific trio really turned me off.

 

I was fortunate to be here in Chicago through the Bulls' double "threepeat" and to be in Boston during some of the Celtics' great years. It seemed like they came to greatness honestly, but the spectacle of the Miami Heat's acquisition of the Three Stooges made me feel like puking.

[ghaverkamp]

How did the Pippen led Bulls do when Jordan left for 2 seasons to play baseball?

 

57-25 -> 55-27

 

Lost one of the all-time greats, and you'd expect a dip. Lose the one guy propping up a bunch of otherwise "so-so" players, and you'd expect a collapse.

[beemerman2k]

How did the Pippen led Bulls do when Jordan left for 2 seasons to play baseball?

 

57-25 -> 55-27

 

Lost one of the all-time greats, and you'd expect a dip. Lose the one guy propping up a bunch of otherwise "so-so" players, and you'd expect a collapse.

 

There was indeed a collapse! The whole point of the argument is that highly talented players do very well, but don't come home with a ring. The great ones figure out a way to bring home the ring. Jordan brought home the ring, Pippen and others did not no matter how good they were.

 

Now, your point is that Jordan, Johnson, and Bird had a better than normal team by their side. Perhaps, but I would argue that with the possible exception of the Lakers, they were not nearly so stacked as Miami was, and if and when you took Bird away from Boston, I really don't believe the Celtics would have made it to the finals, and maybe not even the playoffs.

 

I have some rock solid proof of this reality of my own to present: my own emotional sentiments There, now deal with that hard data Mr Lawyer guy

[Matts_12GS]

I am just tickled that this latest bunch of thugs, especialy Wade and James, showed their character in the way they inspired the Mavs to get back in the game.

 

 

[Glenn Reed]

And then showed their character again after the games. Wade blamed his missed foul shot in game five on the basketball gods, and then King James said "The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time. Right now isn't the time."

 

So it wasn't the Mavericks outplaying them, or their own missed shots, it was the will of whatever deity that kept them from winning the championship.

 

If, and more likely when, the big three win a championship in Miami (not five, not six, not seven, but one), I doubt they will attribute that win to a greater being, but more to their ability to overcome all sorts of adversity including everyone not in Miami rooting against them.