2011 NBA Finals: Mavs V. Heat, part deux

[atlwarrior]

I agree with pretty much all of your points Hova. I also think it's more of the Mavericks defense thats linked to LeBron scoring struggles. But at the same time you have to question why is he struggling when we've seen him single handedly demolish some of the best defenses the NBA 's ever seen. Some teams are the Detroit Pistons, the Celtics, and recently my Bulls. Is the Mavericks defense really that much better than those teams?

[Andrew]

The Mavs have been making the zone work, which is another reason I thought Spoelstra might break out James Jones a bit more often. I just doublechecked and he hasn't played a single minute since Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He's a 43% three point shooter during the regular season, 46% in the Playoffs and the three point champ. If I were Spo I'd give him a run, see if he can come in and knock down a few from the outside.

[The X]

The Mavs have been making the zone work, which is another reason I thought Spoelstra might break out James Jones a bit more often. I just doublechecked and he hasn't played a single minute since Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He's a 43% three point shooter during the regular season, 46% in the Playoffs and the three point champ. If I were Spo I'd give him a run, see if he can come in and knock down a few from the outside.

100% agree. James Jones has been huge for them all year & when he is put next to LBJ, Wade, Bosh & maybe Haslem/Chalmers/Miller, he does damage.

[buzzy]

He's apparently still recovering from a toe injury or something.

[Andrew]

So he is. Apparently he has a torn tendon in his toe, but is available to play according to the team report on Yahoo! NBA.

[NovU]

Oh come on Andrew. Don't be a hypocrite and tell me you yourself have been all fair and square to the Heat here, which led me to respond initially. But yeah, I get your point that I am a overly sensitive fanboy. Hope we can just lay it off now.

On to the topic of James Jones, he seems to be a defensive liability in coach's eyes. Miller can guard multiple positions, and is able to do dirty work and little things while hitting open 3s. But yeah, I also think Spoeltra at least should have experimented with line up a bit after game 2 loss, not only with Jones(only if he was healthy) but with Dampier as his size matches better against Maverick's twin towers. I know even Lakers did pretty bad against the Mavericks with their sizeable bigs, but Dampier and Z are the guys that have been playing all regular season. Certainly there should have been some chemistry built up by now. Haslem and Miller have been playing not too bad in the playoffs but those guys who played hard all season long also deserved some minutes and chances.

[Andrew]

Oh come on Andrew. Don't be a hypocrite and tell me you yourself have been all fair and square to the Heat here, which led me to respond initially. But yeah, I get your point that I am a overly sensitive fanboy. Hope we can just lay it off now.

Call it as you will. I'm content to agree to disagree.

On to the topic of James Jones, he seems to be a defensive liability in coach's eyes. Miller can guard multiple positions, and is able to do dirty work and little things while hitting open 3s. But yeah, I also think Spoeltra at least should have experimented with line up a bit after game 2 loss, not only with Jones(only if he was healthy) but with Dampier as his size matches better against Maverick's twin towers. I know even Lakers did pretty bad against the Mavericks with their sizeable bigs, but Dampier and Z are the guys that have been playing all regular season. Certainly there should have been some chemistry built up by now. Haslem and Miller have been playing not too bad in the playoffs but those guys who played hard all season long also deserved some minutes and chances.

I believe Dampier is injured and unavailable though, he hasn't played since April 6th. Ilgauskas might be hobbled as well, he hasn't seen any time since the second round. If they're not good to go, not much Spoelstra can do there.

[NovU]

If I remember correctly, Dampier was on the bench waiting to be called since the game 1 in this series. Similar with Jones. I was surprised how Haslam and seldom used Magloire/Howard totally took over the minutes all of sudden in the middle of the playoffs. Even considering how a gamble on Haslem was working out well in the Bulls series, there was no needs to totally revamp the rotation which got you through the first two series and the season.

[atlwarrior]

I believe the rotation has little to do with the Heats lack of success in this series although I feel james jones deserves to see some time. IMHO the person who should probably be inactive is Mike Bibby and they should move Chalmers to the starting pg position. Bibby has done the least to contribute and I'm sorry but he has to go. Eddie House would fit a lot better in the rotation and deserves more minutes. Those few minutes he played last game were better than the minutes Bibby played at any point of the playoffs.

[Nutellar]

I dont like i cant watch those Games on freeTV , however. Good Luck Dirk

[Andrew]

If I remember correctly, Dampier was on the bench waiting to be called since the game 1 in this series. Similar with Jones. I was surprised how Haslam and seldom used Magloire/Howard totally took over the minutes all of sudden in the middle of the playoffs. Even considering how a gamble on Haslem was working out well in the Bulls series, there was no needs to totally revamp the rotation which got you through the first two series and the season.

Could be. I think their current rotation can actually get the job done though. This series has been so close, a few shots here and there and things could be very different. Not to put it all on LeBron but if he scores more than two points in the fourth, takes over and punishes the Mavericks like he's capable of doing, I think that's the difference. Failing that, Wade's certainly capable of having big fourth quarters. They've been able to keep up with the Mavs on the boards the last few games so I think they can get by without Dampier or Ilgauskas.

I believe the rotation has little to do with the Heats lack of success in this series although I feel james jones deserves to see some time. IMHO the person who should probably be inactive is Mike Bibby and they should move Chalmers to the starting pg position. Bibby has done the least to contribute and I'm sorry but he has to go. Eddie House would fit a lot better in the rotation and deserves more minutes. Those few minutes he played last game were better than the minutes Bibby played at any point of the playoffs.

Not a bad idea, though I'd keep Bibby active if I were Spoelstra. Chalmers has still been getting the lion's share of the minutes though and has been finishing games, so it's not like Bibby's had a lot of time to mess things up or been coming up short in the clutch.

[Rip32]

The conspiracy theorist in me says this game is already over and we should be getting ready to talk about Game 7, but I think Dallas can win tonight. I don't think LeBron is going to turn in a huge game, I honestly think he's hurting mentally. Not necessarily in a pain kind of way, but a mental block of sorts.

[Andrew]

I honestly think he's hurting mentally. Not necessarily in a pain kind of way, but a mental block of sorts.

Woj would agree.

After Spain had made a frantic comeback within two points of the United States, there came a telling moment in a fourth-quarter timeout. All hell breaking loose in the gold-medal game, Team USA was finally getting a fight in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And from coaches to players, they could see LeBron James’ eyes darting everywhere, his teeth grinding his finger nails. He wasn’t present, but lost in the magnitude of the moment.

One source called him “completely disengaged,” and this wasn’t a minority sentiment. As it turned out, Dwyane Wade played an immense part in bailing out James in the game’s final eight minutes, securing a gold-medal victory and sparing Team USA a loss that would’ve resonated far beyond, far longer, than these Miami Heat losing to the Dallas Mavericks.

This doesn’t happen every time James faces pressure, but it’s happened in the Olympics, the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals and it’s happened late in this NBA championship series.

Sometimes, James snaps out of it. Sometimes, he doesn’t.

The home crowd could certainly help him snap out of it though.

[JDRochholz]

Woo! CHALMERS IS STARTING!

[atlwarrior]

Chalmers is starting??? It's funny how we suggest things in this forum. And it somehow actually happens the next game. Most often the Miami Heat. I'm starting to think Spoelstra is watching us.

[Sauru]

Flopping has always been widely criticised, no matter who's doing it.

Also, there's a thin line between flopping and selling a foul. For me, flopping is "creating" a foul that didn't actually happen. There are players who are known floppers like Ginobili, Barea, Varjao. But most of the times, there actually was a foul. They just oversold it. Like this:

phpBB [video]

I just loved HBK...

i have only one time saw a guy flop his way to a ring and that player is in the finals again this year

[atlwarrior]

Rodman flopped his way to several rings.

[debiler]

Rodman flopped his way to several rings.

Rodman was a beast and a pain in the ass on the court. I wouldn't have it any other way. He was one of the most exciting players to watch.

All right, here we go!!!

[debiler]

LeGoodStart for James. Miami seems motivated.

[Andrew]

LeBron's come out very aggressive, just what the Heat needed. His jumpshots are falling too, not what the Mavericks wanted to see.

[Sauru]

Rodman flopped his way to several rings.

no you can flop and win a ring but only one player actually won the ring from flopping

[Sauru]

did anyone expect anything else than lebron going off this game?

[Mavs4Life]

I know i didn't. Dirk with 2 already not good.

[Andrew]

Dirk's second foul hurts but looks like Terry's shot is falling again, it might be enough to keep them afloat the rest of the quarter.

[Sauru]

need terry to step up big for them to keep up with a hot miami since dirk on the bench