NBA Finals stakes

Von made himself a lot of money coming back for his senior season. As a rush DE he got a lot of sacks, and over ran a lot of plays. The Joker position in the 3-4 really optimzed his skill set. He did have some ankle issues early in the year and that affected his overall numbers. Where he really developed was in his coverage drops and sniffing out those 30 bubble screens a game. He was pretty brutal blowing those up, which really helped in the OU game.

As for the coming season, on offense we turn over about 20% of the plays each year and I expect Sherman to find ways to get both Cyrus and Christine on the field at the same time. He is also going to move Fuller around to create mismatches. We have pretty good receiver depth and should see Nate Askew gets some reps this season. I expect us to start out much better than last season on O and should have a pretty good running game. Tannehill can spin it pretty well and is a pretty accurate passer on the short to intermediate routes.

On D, we have a good 2 deep on the DL and hope that Lemarc Strahan gives us some good reps at NT. We won’t be sure if he is qualified until the 2nd summer session but he is on track they say. We have had good luck with Blinn guys recently so if he plays at all like his cousin that would be a bonus, especially for 2012. ILB continues to be the spot where someone needs to step up. We have a lot guys lining up, but we won’t really know what we have until we play somebody decent. I think we are good at the 2 OLB positions, and Von has been a real saleman for the job. Secondary should be good if they all heal. Punting should be much improved with the freshman from Ohio. We’ll be a tough game for you in College Station this year. By that time, your team will have gelled or there will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Longhorn interwebs.

One thing that’s really killing me is how the Dallas media is portraying the series. On the front page of the Morning News today, the headline was “a Maverick victory would be a win for the forces of traditional morality.”

You would think they’re about to face off against the Taliban or something.

Man, tjarks, that’s ridiculous.

I never knew that NBA players choosing where they want to play based on winning was A). wildly abnormal and B). an unspeakable evil.

The worst you can say about Lebron morally from “the decision” is that he didn’t show great sensitivity towards his fans in cleveland in the way he chose his team in free agency. So, he wasn’t especially sensitive to how people in cleveland feel about a freaking basketball game. This is the kind of ridiculous crap that makes me hope the Heat take the finals for the next 10 years.

I’m hoping this series goes like The ‘95 Rockets/Magic series that Orlando was supposed to dominate. What no one is pointing out is how bad Miami’s offensive execution is compared to Dallas’. Will the refs bail out LeBron and Wade by calling fouls on Chandler and Haywood just for putting their hands up? That will be the difference in the series IMO.

this is why I hate Miami. I’m preparing to see more of this…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCo5U9ZhZu0&feature=player_embedded

Nickel Rover —

I think this Bill Simmons article (written in March) sums up why a lot of people “hate” Miami:

And that’s what this Miami season has been — a four-month-long comeuppance, a vindication that you can’t stack your team without thinking it through, that role players matter, that coaching matters, that even the most talented basketball teams need a pecking order. Miami tried to cheat the system. It didn’t work. Teams came roaring at them for four straight months — night after night, a bull’s-eye draped on their backs that never went away — and, eventually, Miami started to wear down. It’s possible to play playoff games for nine straight months, but only with a deep team. You can’t do it with three guys.

Or maybe their success shows us that life is more like Rocky I than Rocky II: maybe no matter how hard you work, how deeply you want to win, how much you deserve it … if your average boxer steps into the ring against Apollo Creed, he’s getting his face smashed in.

Nice, I was interested when Simmons wrote his column on how Wade and James could never work together 3 weeks into the season or whenever that was. Really? If you can’t build team chemistry in less than a season you never will?

Everyonce in a while Simmons hits on a deep truth of basketball and then immediately ignores it with his next argument.

Hopefully you were referring to ‘second half of the 2010-2011 season’ Dirk as a below-average rebounder, since ‘career’ Dirk is one of four guys in league history to average 25 and 10 in a playoff career. Very solid read on his offensive efficiency – this is where I thought he was heading after 2006 when he first started dominating with his high post/elbow game, but he seemed to get away from it after a parade of marginally talented role players (Haslem, Matt Barnes, etc.) were allowed to body the absolute fuck out of him in the playoffs with no calls.

trk begins the Mavs mantra, “The only way we lose is if the refs will it to be so.”

Nah I’m not even a Mavs fan first and foremost(live in SA). It’s just the reality of the NBA. NBA refs = Pavlov’s dog… the star players figured that out a long time ago, and the lapdog commentators pretty much go with the flow. Just calling it like I see it.

trkhorn — The Spurs beat Nash/Amare and LeBron in ‘07. Don’t see how the Spurs win four titles if ref bias is merely a matter of whom the NBA wants to promote.

Here’s another good one from the Star-Telegram today:

The LeBronathon with its megalomania, hubris and grammatically suspect euphemisms was wrong on so many levels. But at its very core it was also dangerous, carrying the seeds to destroy the very thing we love about sports.

The history of every sports championship up until now is the history of athletes melding together in pursuit of a common purpose. LeBron James is in danger of ruining that, and thereby must be stopped from winning a championship.

This is not simply Mavs v. Heat. This is the ideal of sport.

We are all Cleveland. This is absolutely our fight.

tj,

You’re missing my point entirely. I’ll give you tonight’s example of Shawn Marion, a minor star, posting up Mike Miller, an also-ran.

NBA ref-think: Because Shawn Marion is better than Mike Miller, and Mike Miller is basically overmatched in the post, it becomes a foregone conclusion that a foul will be called on Miller when there is contact, despite the fact that Marion is creating it “battering-ram” style as Van Gundy pointed out. Good for him by the way, the other hack announcer actually said “That’s a good call.” It was an absurd call. Miller might have actually fouled him on the shot, but only after Marion literally knocked the shit out of him.

This phenomenon doesn’t always swing games or series, but it defininitely sucks.

And as for Game 1, the Mavs screwed themselves tonight. If Barea, Peja & Terry can’t contribute anything in the 2nd half, it’s going to be a short series.