Pardon My Bias

Did Miami Start a Super Team Trend? Photo courtesy of www.bleacherreport.com.

As any big sports fan, I love to watch great competition.  Especially on the professional level.  The NBA is my favorite league to watch and follow.  From just 8 or 9 years ago the talent level in the NBA has grown very quickly. This was always apparent in the Western Conference, as maybe the top 10 teams could make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference where sub-.500 teams would often sneak in the 7th or 8th seed.  For years after Jordan retired the Lakers and Spurs dominated the NBA Finals.  Detroit and Miami had their championships but it really was not until the 2007-2008 season the East finally put their foot down.

Up to 2007 there were certain NBA powers.  The Spurs had their core, the Suns were still scorching people, Dallas was also a good team minus their embarrassing playoff collapses.  But those teams all followed a similar roster structure in that they had their superstar, Tim Duncan or Dirk Nowitzki, then had good, if not great support players like Tony Parker or Jason Terry.  Boston changed everything in the summer of 2007.  Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett on one team.  Surrounded by very good roll players who bought in to doing what was needed.  Rajon Rondo listened to the Hall of Famers around him.  Kendrick Perkins clogged up the paint while Leon Powe and Tony Allen played solid defense and hit the open shots they were bound to get.  The Celtics demolished people with some of the best defense the league has seen.

On the other side of the country, the Lakers were gifted an absolute gem in the Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol trade.  The Lakers came out rolling and became the NBA’s hottest team.  Everyone else, but the Celtics, panicked it seemed and the trade season was as busy as every.  The Lakers romped through the Western Conference taking an unlikely 1 seed and eventually met the brick wall of the Celtics and lost.  Either way, two extremely talented teams were born that season.  The Lakers came back next season with Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher as their starting lineup for most of the year.  We all know what happened the next two seasons.

Enough of the the history lesson though.  These two teams were good.  To me those teams opened the door for the current Miami Heat.  This league, maybe more than any other, is built upon a lot of individual talent.  While it may not guarantee a championship it will win lots of games.  But imagine if Miami didn’t blow a couple leads and won the title this year.  And for a few minutes ignore the impending lockout.  Would bringing in multiple superstars with free agency or trades become the goal for teams?  Would owners begin stacking up the talent on their roster?  All it takes is one or two teams per conference to do this and suddenly the NBA loses its competitive appeal.  I looked forward to this years’ playoffs more than any other year because every round would have several intriguing match-ups.  But if one team is so overloaded with talent that no team can beat it in a 7-game series then why watch?  Yes, there are upsets and Cinderella stories, but those do not happen often in professional leagues and that is why people love them so much when they happen, they are extremely rare.  This is a possibility if New York somehow acquires Chris Paul.  That team would also become a monster and like the Heat, with a well integrated supporting cast, and could dominate the NBA for years.  The Lakers, Celtics, and even the Mavs are going to have their age concerns for a while until their windows close.  But the Knicks and Heat would be young and capable of domination.  Other teams still have talent of course.  The Thunder are respected now.  The Grizzlies showed how difficult they can be and Portland always feels on the verge of playing well.  The Bulls will go as far as D-Rose can take them but these teams will still have trouble beating stacked teams in a 7-game series, because honestly that is what the NBA comes down too: can you beat a team four times before they beat you 4 times?

Before I end my ramblings, I would like to add I hope that the new agreement comes soon to prevent a lockout but I also hope it has some way of preventing the stacking of teams.  I’m sure the NBA doesn’t mind making money off the luxury tax but it needs to realize its best creation and tool is the amount of talent in this league.  Keep it spread.  Keep the fans interested outside four or five cities.  Don’t let an era of NBA Super Teams reign.

PMB Stories allow users to create a serious or funny story about sports stars and issues. Our first PMB Story has to do with LeBron James, of course! After his failure in the NBA Finals, what will LeBron be doing this summer?

Use the hashtag #lebronstory on Twitter and continue the story, in your own words, of LeBron’s summer. Please try to refrain from using profanity or at least use censored versions.

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LOS ANGELES, CA — Last night, the NBA finished one of the most thrilling seasons in the past few years. It all started with “The Decision,” and the headlines kept flowing in. “The Big 3 in Miami,” “The Lakers 3-peat,” “ The Celtics last ride,” “ D-Rose and the Bulls,” “Dwight Howard and the new look Magic,” “The up and coming Thunder,” Finally, “Dirk winning the championship.” To think that there would not be a season next year is an absolute shame.

The NBA has also begun experiencing its change of guard with old teams like the Spurs, Celtics, and Lakers slowly falling with young teams like the Thunder, Bulls, and Grizzlies rising. It would be a shame if we don’t get to see what the Spurs, Celtics, and Lakers have left in the tank. It would also be a shame if we don’t get to see how Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant come back and become the faces of the NBA.

Last night’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals ratings were up 59% from last year’s Game 6 and hit a peak rating of 25.121, 5 times what NBC and CBS had last night. First-round games on ABC, ESPN and TNT were watched by an average of 4.15 million people, up from 3.2 million last year and 2.7 million in 2007. David Stern said that, “We actually couldn’t be more pleased. We’re actually a little surprised, but pleasantly.”

The NBA is expecting big increase in NBA merchandise from a season ago. Sal LaRocca, executive vice president of the NBA’s global merchandising group said, “Last year, we had a double-digit increase, but we should end the season well over 20 percent.”

The numbers speak for themselves, but the amount of talent that is in the NBA right now should not be robbed of a season. The lockout would set the NBA back, truly exposing the greed of its players and its owners. The NBA has found itself in a situation where people are watching the NBA because they dislike players and teams so much. For as much flack that Lebron James catches, he makes for great television. Last night in the post game, there were more reporters there to interview James and Wade than the winning Mavericks team.

Let’s hope the owners and the players association figures this out, we need to have a season next year.

This is just an opinion…so please, Pardon My Bias.

Shocked. That is how I felt when Dallas took the large lead with only a minute left in last night’s game 5. In LeBron’s “now or never” game, it seemed as if nothing was going his way in the 4th quarter. Now once again the talk is getting louder with every site writing on the “shrinkage” of King James. Celebrities, past stars and even the non-NBA fans are calling out LeBron and discussing his failures to score and perform in the 4th quarter. Every analyst is looking through the tapes and the numbers trying to find a reason for these poor performances. Nothing. Nobody has a clue to why LeBron is struggling and to be honest, it just doesn’t make sense. Hate LeBron as much as you want, but there is no common sense answer to why LeBron has now had 3 sub-par performances. Criticize his will to win, his ability to be clutch and his lack of killer instinct, but none of those reasons make any damn sense!

The Whole World Is Wondering. Photo courtesy of www.jimrome.com.

I am not here to make excuses for LeBron but something is obviously not right. You cannot just go into the Boston series AND the Chicago series and give some of the most clutch moments in your career then come to the NBA Finals and totally fail. This is nothing but a complete meltdown of the Heat game plan. With the first tip of the NBA Finals, the main offensive focus for Miami has been Dwyane Wade. LeBron has not yet once complained and is obviously trying to make a conscience effort to learn to play the role of the 2nd fiddle. Not because he can’t take over the game himself but because this time, it is Wade’s turn. How do you transition from being the main focus for 7 years to the guy who is now (at least for this series) the 2nd option? That is a difficult transition to make and it is showing. LeBron is not strong off the ball and has trouble learning and using screens. He is made to play with the ball in his hand, and for this series, Miami wants Wade to have the ball. For the first three quarters of most of these games, it has been Wade who has accounted for most of the scoring, while James is facilitating and defending. I’m sorry but you cannot go from being the guy taking occasional shots to an on fire closer. Without the rhythm it is difficult for LeBron to get on track and it is affecting him in the 4th quarter of these games.

Dallas is playing some great defense but Chicago, and specifically Luol Deng, also played some hard defense on LeBron, therefore that cannot be a major reason for this skid. After always hearing about Kobe being tired from all the basketball that he has been playing, I decided to look into whether or not maybe fatigue played a role in this situation. Interestingly enough, over his career LeBron has averaged about 3-4 minutes more per game than both Kobe and Wade. Has this extra court time over 600+ games caused exhaustion for LeBron James? No. It may affect him a little but this is the NBA Finals, fatigue is no longer an excuse.

Time For Wade to Let LeBron be the Focus. Photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com.

It is easy to pinpoint reasons for why LeBron has been playing sub-par basketball but at the end of the day, none of us have any idea what is going on. My only suggestion is for Dwyane Wade to go up to Coach Spoelstra and tell him to give LeBron the ball throughout all of game 6. Let LeBron take over the game from the start and see if he can once again work his magic. Miami is Dwyane Wade’s team, but his team cannot win with a below average LeBron James.

I keep thinking that the next game is going to be the one where LeBron comes out and just goes nuts and drops 40+, but as this series goes on, it is seeming very doubtful. Since the end of game 5, I have had so many thoughts go though my head yet I sit here and have no idea what I just typed and what any of it means. I am that much in awe over this whole situation. It is no secret that I am a fan of LeBron and even though it seems extremely doubtful, I still have faith that he is going to pull out some crazy sh*t and go off in the final two games. Faith. At this point, it is probably all that LeBron has left.

We are now three games into the 2011 NBA Finals and many have already started discussing and criticizing the play of LeBron James. After Dwyane Wade’s back to back impressive games, everyone is back on the idea that this is once again his team. Adrian Wojnarowski, in this morning’s Yahoo Sports article, reclaimed Wade as the alpha dog of the Miami Heat. Why is it necessary for everyone to keep jumping to conclusions on this topic? Both Wade and James are great leaders and obviously are both extremely talented players. Neither has perfect games each and every day and that is why they now have each other to rely on. There is no such thing as the alpha dog in Miami, there is only the player who is feeling it.

Wade has been on fire the past few games but that is no reason to all of a sudden announce him as the go-to guy on this team. In the game 2 loss, many criticized LeBron and the Heat for not giving Wade the ball late in the game after his hot start (also remember that Wade threw up some terrible shots late in the 4th quarter of the game, not just LeBron). So game 3 comes around and Wade once again starts off hot but this time Miami decides to keep the ball in his hand for most of the 4th quarter and people then start criticizing LeBron for not being able to close the game or take the last shot. It is obvious that LeBron can’t win either way, but I think it is too early to be judging this team’s format.

It takes two. Photo courtesy of www.bleacherreport.com

We cannot just forget that LeBron James is a major reason why the Miami Heat are in the NBA Finals. He helped close out the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, especially when Wade was struggling in the Bulls series. We also have anywhere from 2-4 more games left in this series, so who knows how things will play out with LeBron and Wade. It is possible that Wade takes over this whole series, but we cannot count out the fact that LeBron could become a big factor in these final few games.

Dwyane Wade has come up big against the Mavericks in these NBA Finals, but he would not be at this point without LeBron. We can throw out names for who we consider to be the “alpha dog” of this team (and yes, Miami will always be Wade-county) but there is no true #1 leader or closer on this team. Both Wade and James feed off of each other and both have the capability to step up when the game is on the line; that’s the beauty of having two superstars on one team, they do not have to be the closer each and every time.

Shaq is done after 19 seasons. Photo courtesy of nydailynews.com

Shaquille O’neal announced his retirement yesterday via Twitter and new social media start-up Tout. It was a strange way to see a man who is such the showman, leave the game in such a casual manner. As a Lakers fan, I thought back to the glory days of the three-peat. Shaq may not be leaving this game on a good note, with a season ending Achilles injury, but his legacy is certainly set in stone.

Shaq was the persona of the league. He was the player of his generation. He was the consummate professional, and the ultimate joker. He embraced fans and the community like no other athlete had in his era. He was everyone’s favorite person to be around. He was, “the big fella.” He had a great relationship with his fans, his teammates, and the league. Shaq was a great representative for the NBA his entire career.

Looking back at his tenure in Los Angeles, all the great times certainly outweigh the fallout from the divorce. Shaq changed the culture of basketball in Los Angeles, and gave Lakers fan a glimmer of hope for the first time since the Showtime Lakers in the 80s. I am glad to hear the Lakers organization will retire Shaq’s number 34 jersey next to the other Lakers legends.

To this day, I still remember the lob from Kobe to Shaq in the legendary comeback against the Blazers that started it all. Shaq turns around, points both is hands to the sky. The picture is still crystal clear, and one of my favorite moments as a Lakers fan. Perfect.

Shaq finished his illustrious 19 year career with 28,586 points, 13,099 rebounds, shot 58% from the field and 52% from the line. He made 15 All-Star appearance (always the life of All-Star weekend),  and won 4 NBA Championships. He is the greatest Center of the era.

Farewell Big Fella, you will be missed.

SACRAMENTO, CA

Andre Iguodala is a very solid starting small forward who was once thought to be the franchise player that the Sixers would transition to after Allen Iverson’s days were over. The Sacramento Kings are currently in need of a legitimate starting small forward as the current crop has not been able to distinguish itself apart from each other despite being given numerous opportunities to do so. The Kings have an array of young players aka kids (as I like to call them) that can be offered up to the Sixers as well as this year’s first round pick (no. 7). The most likely candidate in my opinion that should be traded is Omri Casspi.

Swingman Andre Iguodala is rumored to be on the trading block. Photo courtesy of www.espn.go.com.

Kings fans will remember that the 2010-2011 season was a frustrating one for Omri as he went from the bench to starter to bench and then out of the rotation for the final portion of the season once the mediocre but solid Francisco Garcia became healthy and Donte Greene proved to be a much more versatile option than Casspi. Omri decided to take his feelings to the internet by posting on his blog that he would like to be traded from Sacramento and that he felt there were other better teams that he would have a more prominent role on (ROFL). While Omri figures to improve his ability to hit mid range 2 point shots and ball handling (especially his left hand), he does not provide more versatility than Donte Greene who is able to guard 3 positions on the court and has become possibly the Kings best defender against star wing players. While Donte’s offense seems to come and go, he still provides length, and athleticism at the 3 spot that seems to fit the direction the Kings want to go in which is to become a fast team that can pound you inside down the stretch with its bigs. Translation: Omri can be shown the door if that’s what he wants but good luck cracking any rotation for a lot of the teams that have better records than the Kings do.

Andre Iguodala has become a facilitator and a primary defender and these are both needs that the Kings have. The Kings would welcome Andre’s 6.3 assists per game (which was 8th in the league last year) and his ability to guard multiple positions along with his veteran leadership which blossomed last season into a surprising playoff berth with his younger teammates seeking guidance. He’s not a great outside shooter however he’s not as crummy from the field as one might think (Career: 46% FG, 32% 3PT) Forget the numbers though…this team, more than anything, needs players who have been to the playoffs and can set examples for our core on how much work it takes to translate from young and talented to winners and perennial playoff contenders. Youth is no longer the answer anymore and there is no more time to save cap space. While Iggy makes a ridiculous amount of money for the production he provides…Kings fans knew they would already have had to overpay for veteran help regardless because of the market they are in.

It’s time for the Maloofs to spend the money they have been keeping in their pockets for the last 3 years. Andre would be a nice start for this team and possibly huge if the Kings lose Dalembert to free agency. The Kings have nearly $30 million to spend this offseason and they MUST solidify the 3 spot and then focus on getting a ball handler (preferably another veteran).

What do you guys think? Should they trade for Iggy? Stay tuned.

Via - www.respectthecrown.net

We have two teams with opposing strengths. Dallas has an offense that can get red hot from distance in a hurry and spaces the floor unlike any team we have ever seen. Miami poses major shut down players defensively in both Dwyane Wade and LeBron James that has become infectious throughout the rest of their organization. Both teams have the clutch factor with LeBron/Wade (more LeBron lately) and Dirk (who is currently the baddest man on the planet). Dallas has more size and depth while Miami counters with more quickness and athleticism. The X-factor battle to me will be Chris Bosh vs. the Mavericks bench.

Questions

Who gets 30 points first? Bosh plus another random Heat shooter such as Miller/Bibby or the Mavs bench with its potent scorers in Peja, Barea, and Terry.

Can Jason Kidd repeat his defensive performance on Durant against Wade?

Can Dirk seize the moment for another series and carry them when he will face the toughest defense (LeBron) in the 4th quarter?

Who will win the 50-50 battle? (loose balls)…this will go a long way toward determining who (LeBron or Dirk) wants their first ring more and who is willing to kill themselves and sacrifice their bodies to get it.

How healthy is Dwyane Wade?

Will Bosh be able to stay consistent again through this series? (I’m done with calling him a v***** after the Bulls series)

Is LeBron finally ready to release a rampage on the NBA and put his name up there with the great prime playoff performers? (sorry guys, he has to do it in the Finals as well although he has definitely regained his 2007 ECF clutch LeBron status back). No more excuses now that he has all the ingredients to win it all.

CONCLUSION

I truly have no idea who is going to win the series. I have gone back and forth between Miami and Dallas about 100 times. I don’t care about the Decision anymore. It was a bad way to piss on a loyal fan base regardless of the fact that any smart and young person that cared only about winning would have gone to Miami at that age (25) to make a super team that could potentially own the next 5-6 years.  The only real hatred left for LeBron comes from Laker fans (until Kobe retires) and Northeast Ohio (fully validated to hate him for life). Winning masks all mistakes, from dog fighting to rape charges. All LeBron did was go to a better situation in a very badly played out “look at me” public manner.

This series has epic potential with two legendary future ”pantheon“ players going head to head for their first rings and perhaps willing to die on the court to get it. That’s what I want to see. I don’t care who wins. I want to see players hurting, swearing, emotionally killing themselves, sweating and bleeding for the right to hold the Larry O’Brien trophy for their franchise at the end. I want to see a 7 game series come down to LeBron vs. Dirk going shot for shot trying to outdo each other.

I think the Mavs pull this off in 7 games and Dirk gets the elusive ring that will validate his career in all the “experts” minds. You know… all that legacy bull****.  

Miami has already exceeded expectations by getting to the finals in my opinion by getting through Boston (something I thought they had no chance of doing). They will be back again next year but this is Dirk’s year just like 96-97 was John Elway’s to finally get it done.

MAVS IN 7

Let me just start off by saying that I am very excited for this year’s NBA Finals. The Celtics-Lakers rivalry was awesome but this year’s match-up will be no less exciting. There are so many different stories that we can link to this match-up: Mavericks-Heat rematch from the 2006 NBA Finals, Dirk Nowitzki’s drive to finally obtain a ring, the Miami Heat’s big three and all the drama that they have been through this season, LeBron’s journey to finally start achieving championships and the totally dominating play from both Dirk and LeBron throughout these playoffs. All these story lines add up to one thing…one great final series.

Only one can achieve the glory! Photo courtesy of www.callthecomputerdoctor.com.

Before the playoffs had started, I had predicted a Heat-Thunder finals and I did get somewhat close. I expected the Thunder to be the team that would knock off the Lakers and therefore had them reaching the finals; I would have never expected that the Dallas Mavericks would play such dominating basketball and that Dirk Nowitzki would just light everyone up. This outcome actually turned out better than my prediction so I’m all smile!

So now let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Dallas obviously has the better bench with the likes of Jason Terry and J.J. Barea but if Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem can show up again for this series, the Heat bench has a chance to at least compete. The biggest improvement for Dallas this year has been their defense, yet it is still surpassed by that of the Heat. The Mavericks have not seen a defense like this yet in the playoffs so their high octane offense may be contained. Bosh most likely will not be able to slow down Dirk but the Heat may want to try Joel Anthony and I would not be surprised to see LeBron guarding Dirk during the 4th quarter (similar to how he did with Derrick Rose). Dallas’ next threat is their barrage of three-point shooting but we have to consider the fact that Miami’s defense is much faster than that of the other opponents that Dallas has seen so far. Players like LeBron, Wade and Miller should be able to close out faster and help slow down the deadly three-point shooting of the Mavericks. The third line of attack for the Mavericks is J.J. Barea, who has surprised many teams this post season. Fortunately for Miami, they will be bringing in Mario Chalmers off the bench during the time that Barea is in the game. Chalmers should have the speed and defensive ability to keep up with Barea while Mike Bibby focuses strictly on the older Jason Kidd.

The Mavericks are no slouches on defense either. The addition of Tyson Chandler has brought new energy to the defense side of the court and Shawn Marion showed us in the last series that given the motivation and challenge, he can defend the best player on the opposing team. But there is a reason why you pile up three all-stars on one team…it is extremely difficult to defend and contain all three!

Dallas has played some outstanding basketball through this playoff run and the passion and feistiness that Dirk has been playing with is inspiring. After they swept the Lakers and after all the high scoring, clutch games that Dirk has had, I actually wouldn’t mind seeing them win (and I never like to see any Dallas team succeed) but I do not think that they have enough to get past the Heat. Miami was built to win championships and although their bench has not yet been fully equipped, they are going to be too much for the Mavericks to handle. Dwyane Wade will shake off his Conference Finals rust but it will be LeBron James that helps bring another championship to Miami and it will be LeBron who begins to finally start building his all-time reputation.

The Miami Heat over the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.

This is a bold assumption to be making but to me, it seems as if the Miami Heat are barely putting out much effort in these playoff games. Okay, maybe not all the Heat members, but definitely seems to be that way with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Of course I am only getting the “in front of the TV” point of view but I feel as if these two superstars have not even switched themselves into the next gear yet.

This may just be the biggest plus side to having another superstar on your team, but there are offensive possessions when each of these stars are just casually moving around the court. Once again, there could be many factors that lead to this assumption, whether it be camera angles or specific called plays, but I honestly feel as if the Heat are pushing through the playoffs with their two superstars on cruise control.

Do LeBron and Wade Have Yet Another Gear? Photo courtesy of www.fromthestands.com.

There are plays when each player comes to life and most of the time, these plays electrify the crowd. Defensively, these two players are always putting in 100% and this has been noticeable in the past two games against the Chicago Bulls, but it is just at the offense end that I see them pulling back on the gas at times.

I am most likely just seeing things and coming to absurd assumptions. It would make perfect sense if this effortless offense is just the result of isolation plays, in which both stars do not need to be exerting all of their energy, but this still could be a very important message. Enemies beware! The Heat are winning games with what seems to be a sometimes relaxed set of stars…imagine when and if they do turn it up a notch. With consistent play from Chris Bosh, the continued running motors of Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony and improved production from the bench, it may just be impossible to the defeat the Miami Heat once their two stars start playing on a whole new level.