June 22, 2006

The Miami Heat, NBA Champions

Posted at June 22, 2006 08:10 PM in Sports .

Dallas may have been the more talented team, but they got too involved in ref-baiting and the media circus. They were unable to stop Finals MVP Wade, and quit driving to the basket even though they were in the penalty early in the 4th quarter of Game 6. Maybe Mourning's five blocks got them hesitant, or maybe they just reverted to their jump shooting ways under pressure. If Dallas had been driving to the basket as much as Wade did, they would have gotten plenty of calls from the refs, too. But they relied on outside shooting -- which means less foul calls.

As for the Dallas fans complaining about Payton grabbing Terry's jersey on the last play, please understand that was INTENTIONAL. Payton was trying to foul him before he could shoot so that he would go to to line with only two shots coming (they were down three). There was no call, and Terry at least got a chance at the 3 pointer. If they had called the foul, it would have been before the shot. Terry would have gotten only two foul shots, and Dallas would have still lost.

The Heat completed a stunning comeback after losing the first two games in Dallas. Wade established his superstar credentials, Shaq confirmed that he's past his prime, and Zo and GP were simply happy to finally have a championship. I just don't think they can repeat. If Dallas quits blaming everyone but themselves for this series loss, they have a better chance of coming back for another try next year.

Comments

Posting of new comments has been disabled for this post.