Now, that was a cracker, wasn’t it?
My mind’s a tad foggy – it is about 6 a.m. here so cut me some slack – but that’s got to be one of the best NBA Finals games I’ve ever seen in person.
I’m sure there have been other gems but for shooting, storylines, excitement and put drama, it’s tough to beat.
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LeBron?
Man, I wish I could figure it out. And I’m not alone. No one seems to have an answer.
Yeah, the triple double was good and he looked solid at times in the first three quarters but the fourth? He was oddly ineffective, again.
The thing with James is that good is not good enough and far below his capabilities. He’s got to be great because that’s the reason the team is structured the way and if he isn’t, the Heat cannot win.
And if that’s the way he reacts to what he called the biggest game of his life, I wonder how he’ll react Sunday, which really is the biggest game of his life.
Never before has James been a “favourite” in such a big NBA series. He dined out for seven years in Cleveland – getting the Cavs as far as a championship series – by being the supremely-talented guy carrying an underdog team to unprecedented heights. He was able to manipulate the hearts of fans all over the place into thinking he was doing wonderful things making lesser players better.
Now?
Now he’s the big bad wolf on the perceived better team and he’s not handling well at all.
Interesting.
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Remember when the big drama of the series was the torn tendon in the finger on Dirk’s left hand?
That was about six weeks ago, right?
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Let’s get this one out of the mail, shall we?
(And speaking of mail, I see a slow Friday night in front of the TV coming, so click here and send some greetings, would you?)
Q: I'm wondering if any other Finals had as many ex-Raptors as this one: Bosh, Marion, Stojakovic and Chandler (I'm counting him!)?
Dave A, Toronto
A: Peja’s in the series?
Well, counting Chandler’s a bit of a stretch but if you want to, go right ahead.
But as far as my mind goes, three is tops, anyway.
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Know what I like about the Mavs?
The bust on each other a lot.
Dirk’s willing to take slight jabs at Terry, everyone jokes about Jason Kidd’s age and they all get at JJ Barea for being, um, vertically challenged, as Kidd did in his post-game interview.
“He might be – what is he listed at, 5-10? Yeah, we’ll go with that.”
And Dirk on Terry.
“We all know Jet is a confident young man. He always has a lot to say to us in the locker room. He’s always talking. He’s just an energetic guy. He loves to talk and he loves to hear himself talk.”
Now, I’m going to stop short of calling the Mavs a bunch of idiots like my once-beloved Red Sox but they’re close.
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Hey, with Dave off to Miami and me on an Air Canada baby jet home, that makes that the last live NBA game I’m going to see for quite a while.
Nothing remarkable about that, just saying.
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List time, sort of.
I think it was Irregular Natalie Vancouver who brought this up the other night in the IGBT when the Talking Heads were anointing Wade as the third-best shooting guard of all time.
And, yes, I can quite well appreciate Wade’s abilities, they are extraordinary, but where’s he fit?
Not at three, that’s for sure.
Now, it is blatantly unfair to compare eras but what the heck, who said life was fair anyway?
Let’s do this: Here’s a personal Top Five, from No. 1 to No 5 and have at it:
Michael Jordan
In the words of the immortal Sam Mitchell:
Duh!
Seriously, if he’s not No 1 on this list, there should never, ever, ever be any more lists.
Kobe Bryant
All those titles, all those points, all that irascibility when it comes to holding teammates accountable? No. 2 by a mile over No. 3.
George Gervin
Sure, it shows my predilection for offence but the Ice Man was something special, wasn’t he? This might be too high but what the heck, it’s my list.
Jerry West
He’s the freaking logo! ‘Nuff said? I think so. And I know he lost eight of the nine finals he was in but still …
Dwyane Wade
Now, when the career’s over and it’s all said and done, maybe he moves up a notch or two but I doubt it. Great player right now, no question about it. All-time? He’s on the list perhaps only because he’s in the Finals this year and he’s on the mind.
Know how tough it was to leave off Dennis Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Pistol Pete Maravich, Earl Monroe and even Allen Iverson?
Really tough, that’s how tough it was.
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They do things differently down here.
You know how sometimes if you go to major sporting events, when you return to your car some enterprising nearby swinging hotspot has had someone put a flier under your windshield wiper and often it’s for an establishment where perhaps women disrobe for a living?
Well, in Big D they don’t do that.
What they do, as witnessed first hand during a halftime fresh air break, is have some of those hoofers who actually do the disrobing wander through the crowd handing out cards and posing for pictures.
Clothed. Of course.
And, no, I didn’t get a souvenir.
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For most of the first half, and for most of the series, truth be told, I though JJ Barea was a modern day Milt Palacio for his Adventures In Layups but after watching him turn into some Puerto Rican Reggie Miller, I’m sure the Mavs don’t care about his inability to finish as long as he’s making threes.
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Back to the entertainment world for a second, if you don’t mind.
I can dutifully report that Justin Bieber is about knee high to a grasshopper, having followed him into the arena from the loading dock a bit before tip off.
It wasn’t like sharing loading dock time with Kid Rock and Bob Seger, as some of us have at Finals games in Detroit and it certainly didn’t make me look twice but I guess at some level it was a little cool.
Nah. Wasn’t cool at all. Who cares.
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Okay, here’s the deal.
Mid-day flight back home and then an off-day story to either write or file so I’ll get to comments just as quickly as I can once I take off. No clue what the wireless is like at DFW so not sure how the morning will be.
Have a good day there.
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