Upon the NBA Champions

Blog lethargy has led me to slack in my upkeep as far as sports go. Then again, most interested sports fans can simply follow sports through the normal channels, and do not look to my blog as a source of said news. anyway...

The Miami Heat claimed the 2006 NBA championship following a 4-2 series win over the Dallas Mavericks. What once seemed to be a laugher for the Mavs turned into a dominant, albeit controversial, performance for the Heat. Dallas took the first two games at home, but didn't win again. Complaints about officiating and penalties are as much a part of the lasting legacy of this series as the basketball played.

Dywane Wade established himself as a bonafide superstar and clutch performer on the biggest stage, emerging as option #1, 2 and 3 for the Heat down the stretch. The calls and the breaks went Miami's way, and Wade delivered time and time-again. The Mavs switched from swaggering and confident to shaky and disheartened, as crucial misses, tough calls, and dagger shots from D-Wade seemed to steal their heart.

A couple of brief points on the series:

- Please don't overlook the fact that Shaq just makes teammates who are great look incredible. He may not still be able to dominate the game the way he did (i.e. 37ppg in the finals, near quadruple doubles, 30-and-20's), but you simply can not ignore him. No one in the league has a real answer for him at center, excepting maybe Yao, so the double-teams still have to come. Wade was phenomenal, but Shaq gave him the chance to be. If you use the Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) formula, where you replace a star with a good player in the same position, the Heat are 50/50 on Wade vs Shaq. If you put LeBron in Wade's spot, I say the Heat still win a chip. No so if you switch-in Yao, or one of the PF who pretend to be centers in the NBA these days.

- Wade is not better than Lebron, he just won first because he has a better team and coach.

- Darko is still the first member of the 2003 draft class with a ring.

- Alonzo joined Diekembe Mutombo, Vlade Divac, and all the other centers who gave the last bit of everything the had to try for a ring, only Zo actually got one. His blocks in game 6 ended the Series. When he started dominating the layups, the Mavs were DONE.

- Not C-Webb, not Vlade, not Peja, not Bibby; Jason Williams currently stands as the only member of the former Kings, and the first to be jettisoned, who has a ring. Might be the only one to get one too.

- Antoine Walker was never better than Paul Pierce, but also has a ring that his former teammate may never have.

- Gary Payton hit two of the biggest shots in the Finals, and got some karma for being on some SICK Sonics teams in the 90s who never got to the top of the mountain. Good for him for losing the ego and getting what he always wanted.

- In one of my favorite and also one of the most unfair moments of the NBA, the following players now have NBA Championship:
Shandon Anderson
Michael Doleac
Jason Kapono
Wayne Simien
Dorell Wright
Earl Barron
Derek Anderson

Thats all for now.