If Dallas Doesn't Win the Series...

[ste4236]

If Dallas does not win, the Dallas Mavericks will be to basketball what the Boston Redsox were to baseball from 1919-2003. Fielded a bunch of solid teams making the playoffs, coming close, but no cigar... HEY! We could even better the comparrison by using Howards move to the Buckner ball! lol

[Richard_white]

If Dallas does not win, the Dallas Mavericks will be to basketball what the Boston Redsox were to baseball from 1919-2003. Fielded a bunch of solid teams making the playoffs, coming close, but no cigar... HEY! We could even better the comparrison by using Howards move to the Buckner ball! lol

I would compare it to the Buffalo Bills.

[Sao Ming]

Rediculous.  Is Dallas knocking off the first team you have on your list, the New Jersey Nets, or perhaps, the Utah Jazz?  How about Indiana?  I mean each had the same basic success and result, correct? 

[Extra Point]

Why Dallas did not foul Shaq every time he was in the game near the end of regulation and in OT is beyond me.  The guy was 2-12 from the line.

Dallas blew it on that alone.

[GrizzledHogFan]

Why Dallas did not foul Shaq every time he was in the game near the end of regulation and in OT is beyond me.  The guy was 2-12 from the line.

Dallas blew it on that alone.

They did, up until it was under two mins left.  After that, Miami would've had possession after the foul shot, so there would've been no point.

[allyoucaneatbuffet]

WHY is everyone upset??? The Mavs will win in 7 --

Game 3: Miami plays the PERFECT GAME, Wade scores 40+, Shaq is awesome, they hit 3 after 3, Dallas gives up (leading bt 13 with 6min to go), crowd behind them, GERIATRIC PAYTON MAKES THE GO AHEAD SHOT, Dirk MISSES the tying FT....  and ***MIAMI ONLY WINS BY 2.

Game 4: Dallas waves the white flag.  Shoots 22 three pointers, makes 3?  Dirk has a "nightmare night".  More 30+point Wade explosion, Starters pulled early in 4th quarter, J-Ho a NO SHOW, Stack's hard foul... ***MIAMI wins big, yet DALLAS STILL WAS ONLY DOWN BY 10 LATE IN THE 3RD***

Game 5: Dallas plays WITHOUT 13ppg Stack, Wade shoots as many FTS as Dallas, Dallas gets NO FTA in the 3RD, Damp & Dirk "almost" were the heroes, Wade scores 40 but half of that is at the foul line, Avery gets a technical, bonehead timeout, DIRK misses ANOTHER FT, J-HO misses TWO STRAIGHT FTs, an Overtime game at an Away crowd.....   and ****MIAMI ONLY WINS BY 1 IN OT*****

Why the freakouts?

Dallas played as terrible as possible, and yet 2 made fts in 2 games and we'd be the nba champs yet?

I know knee jerk reactions are ruling, and I know it's natural to be afraid of being down 2-3 (TNT's Kenny Smith's houston team came back and won facingn that in '94), but c'mon, i mean, all the freaking stars and planets had to align perfectly and Miami BARELY survived!  Is there ANYONE HERE that ACTUALLY THINKS Miami can win a game in Dallas???   ANYONE?

[return2glory]

I do.

[hogtheball]

If Dallas does not win, the Dallas Mavericks will be to basketball what the Boston Redsox were to baseball from 1919-2003. Fielded a bunch of solid teams making the playoffs, coming close, but no cigar... HEY! We could even better the comparrison by using Howards move to the Buckner ball! lol

Don't compare Dallas to the great teams who have been close many times but not made it.  This is the first year Dallas ever even made the conference finals.  They've NEVER had a solid playoff team before this year.  You certainly wouldn't compare them to the great Bills teams. They are not anywhere near as tragic as the Jazz who existed at a time when MJ kept them from becoming one of the greats. 

Dallas can still win, although it's never easy to beat any championship caliber team like Miami.  There was more than just the home court advantage in these last two teams - Riley has figured out how to keep Dirk out of the middle and make him resort to his perimeter game of old.

By the way, I'm rooting for Dallas but that left-handed layup Gary Payton hit last night was one of the best shots I've ever seen in the finals.

[LA HAWG]

Dallas has not been good for very long. 

[clew]

i don't have a favorite in this series, but if Miami wins, I'd like to see the look on Kobe Bryant's face.  LA was STUPID for picking Kobe over Shaq.

[hogtheball]

If the Heat had to chose between D-Wade and Shaq, i bet u they pick D-Wade because he has gotten the Heat to where they're at now.

Shaq looks like he's one tiny twisted ankle away from being finished. D-Wade is a LOT more important to the franchise than Shaq.  I hate Kobe, but had Shaq not stumbled into D-Wade - the Lakers would be just as good as Miami right now. 

[Brutalis]

If Dallas does not win, the Dallas Mavericks will be to basketball what the Boston Redsox were to baseball from 1919-2003. Fielded a bunch of solid teams making the playoffs, coming close, but no cigar... HEY! We could even better the comparrison by using Howards move to the Buckner ball! lol

Don't compare Dallas to the great teams who have been close many times but not made it.  This is the first year Dallas ever even made the conference finals.  They've NEVER had a solid playoff team before this year.  You certainly wouldn't compare them to the great Bills teams. They are not anywhere near as tragic as the Jazz who existed at a time when MJ kept them from becoming one of the greats. 

Dallas can still win, although it's never easy to beat any championship caliber team like Miami.  There was more than just the home court advantage in these last two teams - Riley has figured out how to keep Dirk out of the middle and make him resort to his perimeter game of old.

By the way, I'm rooting for Dallas but that left-handed layup Gary Payton hit last night was one of the best shots I've ever seen in the finals.

Dallas has been to the conference finals before. They got bullfried in 2003 by San Antonio.

They've never had a solid playoff team? Of course they have. It's called choking...

The Jordan era Jazz would butcher these Mavericks and Heat. You're talking about Malone, 2nd best PF of all time, Stockton, widely considered the best PG of all time... complete with a balanced scoring and defense don't even pretend ....

Hard to have any credit in your post when you don't even remember 3 years ago.

[hogtheball]

If Dallas does not win, the Dallas Mavericks will be to basketball what the Boston Redsox were to baseball from 1919-2003. Fielded a bunch of solid teams making the playoffs, coming close, but no cigar... HEY! We could even better the comparrison by using Howards move to the Buckner ball! lol

Don't compare Dallas to the great teams who have been close many times but not made it.  This is the first year Dallas ever even made the conference finals.  They've NEVER had a solid playoff team before this year.  You certainly wouldn't compare them to the great Bills teams. They are not anywhere near as tragic as the Jazz who existed at a time when MJ kept them from becoming one of the greats. 

Dallas can still win, although it's never easy to beat any championship caliber team like Miami.  There was more than just the home court advantage in these last two teams - Riley has figured out how to keep Dirk out of the middle and make him resort to his perimeter game of old.

By the way, I'm rooting for Dallas but that left-handed layup Gary Payton hit last night was one of the best shots I've ever seen in the finals.

Dallas has been to the conference finals before. They got bullfried in 2003 by San Antonio.

They've never had a solid playoff team? Of course they have. It's called choking...

The Jordan era Jazz would butcher these Mavericks and Heat. You're talking about Malone, 2nd best PF of all time, Stockton, widely considered the best PG of all time... complete with a balanced scoring and defense don't even pretend ....

Hard to have any credit in your post when you don't even remember 3 years ago.

Dude - just so you'll know - I was saying in my post that Dallas is nowhere near as good as the Jazz.  The Jazz are the best team in NBA history to never win it IMHO.  Dallas is just another OK team to make it to the finals in a really weak NBA year.  An earlier poster compared Dallas to the Bills, and I was saying they aren't near as good. 

Hard to have any "credibilty" in your posts when you use words like credit instead.

[Brutalis]

Dallas has been to the conference finals before. They got bullfried in 2003 by San Antonio.

They've never had a solid playoff team? Of course they have. It's called choking...

Hard to have any credit in your post when you don't even remember 3 years ago.

[EastexHawg]

If the Heat had to chose between D-Wade and Shaq, i bet u they pick D-Wade because he has gotten the Heat to where they're at now.

Shaq looks like he's one tiny twisted ankle away from being finished. D-Wade is a LOT more important to the franchise than Shaq.  I hate Kobe, but had Shaq not stumbled into D-Wade - the Lakers would be just as good as Miami right now. 

I disagree somewhat.  I know Dwayne Wade is the guy seemingly making all the plays and piling up all the numbers...but I think Shaq's presence in the middle has a lot to do with that.  Shaq opens up the court for DWade, just as he did for Kobe.

Shaq is nowhere near the player or scorer he was five years ago, but the defense still has to collapse around him every time he catches the ball.  That opens up the floor for his teammates, including Wade.

I have been really impressed with Shaq's passing from the post.  If there was anyone on the Miami squad other than Wade...and occasionally Antoine Walker...who could shoot a lick the Heat would win this series easily.  Haslem is an absolute bricklayer.  Miami is virtually playing offense four on five.  Actually, it seems more like three on five most of the time.

Does anyone remember how Penny Hardaway was going to be the next Michael Jordan when he was playing with Shaq?  Once Shaq was traded, he became the next B.J. Armstrong instead. 

How good has the Orlando franchise been since Shaq left?  They made the Finals with him...

By the same token, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers won three straight titles...and made the Finals four out of five years...with Shaq in the middle.  The first year Shaq left, Kobe and L.A. missed the playoffs, while Shaq took the Heat from mediocrity to the East finals.  This year Shaq's Miami team is on the brink of a title, while Kobe is sitting at home enjoying his memories of how many points he scored in a meaningless regular season game.

When Shaq came to Miami, he reportedly told Dwayne Wade, "I am going to make you the best player in the league."  He delivered on that promise, IMO.  Now he is one game away from delivering on his promise to bring an NBA title to the Heat.

Take Shaq out of the Miami lineup and you have...IMO...the Lakers with Kobe and no Shaq. 

Dwayne Wade is a great player, and Shaq's presence makes him even better.

[hogtheball]

Dallas has been to the conference finals before. They got bullfried in 2003 by San Antonio.

They've never had a solid playoff team? Of course they have. It's called choking...

Hard to have any credit in your post when you don't even remember 3 years ago.

Well I'll admit I didn't remember they got there, but then again they didn't put on a very memorable performance either. 

And it's still "credibility."

[hogtheball]

If the Heat had to chose between D-Wade and Shaq, i bet u they pick D-Wade because he has gotten the Heat to where they're at now.

Shaq looks like he's one tiny twisted ankle away from being finished. D-Wade is a LOT more important to the franchise than Shaq.  I hate Kobe, but had Shaq not stumbled into D-Wade - the Lakers would be just as good as Miami right now. 

I disagree somewhat.  I know Dwayne Wade is the guy seemingly making all the plays and piling up all the numbers...but I think Shaq's presence in the middle has a lot to do with that.  Shaq opens up the court for DWade, just as he did for Kobe.

Shaq is nowhere near the player or scorer he was five years ago, but the defense still has to collapse around him every time he catches the ball.  That opens up the floor for his teammates, including Wade.

I have been really impressed with Shaq's passing from the post.  If there was anyone on the Miami squad other than Wade...and occasionally Antoine Walker...who could shoot a lick the Heat would win this series easily.  Haslem is an absolute bricklayer.  Miami is virtually playing offense four on five.  Actually, it seems more like three on five most of the time.

Does anyone remember how Penny Hardaway was going to be the next Michael Jordan when he was playing with Shaq?  Once Shaq was traded, he became the next B.J. Armstrong instead. 

How good has the Orlando franchise been since Shaq left?  They made the Finals with him...

By the same token, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers won three straight titles...and made the Finals four out of five years...with Shaq in the middle.  The first year Shaq left, Kobe and L.A. missed the playoffs, while Shaq took the Heat from mediocrity to the East finals.  This year Shaq's Miami team is on the brink of a title, while Kobe is sitting at home enjoying his memories of how many points he scored in a meaningless regular season game.

When Shaq came to Miami, he reportedly told Dwayne Wade, "I am going to make you the best player in the league."  He delivered on that promise, IMO.  Now he is one game away from delivering on his promise to bring an NBA title to the Heat.

Take Shaq out of the Miami lineup and you have...IMO...the Lakers with Kobe and no Shaq. 

Dwayne Wade is a great player, and Shaq's presence makes him even better.

I agree.  I wouldn't compare Kobe to Penny, but other than that you're right on.  I do think the Kobe/Shaq decision was made partially based on longevity.  As a Laker Hater, I'm happy they chose Kobe.  It makes it even more fun to hate him.

[EastexHawg]

Kobe's selfishness knows no bounds.  Hate is a strong word...but I can at least say I root against him and always wish him nothing but the absolute worst.

[idochog]

Im not for the Heat but I do enjoy that the Heat are in the finals while selfish Kobe sits at home.

[aristotle]

i think Dallas still wins this series. I don't care who wins, no real favorite here. Jerry Stackhouse's suspenions was bogus. Flagrant yes. Suspension, are you kidding me? No way. I thought the foul on Dirk at the end of regulation, sending Wade to the line was a bail out. He didn't get touched. Refs anticipated contact and sent him to the line to tie. Granted, he still hit them like a superstar does.