It’s certainly been a competitive NBA Finals so far, no doubt about that. It’s also been very revealing on several important points, some of which shouldn’t be all that surprising to more analytical fans. Among the points:
* Dwyane Wade is the leader of the Heat. If anyone doubted so before, it should be clear to everyone now. I always figured Wade should be the main scoring option if Miami wanted the most success, and so far in the Finals, that’s exactly what has worked best for them. As good as LeBron is, he’s better in a facilitator role on this team, allowing the more clutch Wade to lead the way with big shots and the bulk of the scoring load. Many Cleveland fans (and anti-LeBron people in general) are going on and on about LeBron being the second banana, but as long as he wins the ring, I don’t think he cares that much that he’s no longer the man. Still, it’s nice to see him and others fall back down to Earth and hopefully drop the Jordan comparisons once and for all, because LeBron is not even the best player on his team right now.
* Miami’s supporting cast can step up after all (even Bosh, with his poor field goal percentage so far in the series, hit what was essentially the game-winning shot of game three, and has played excellent defense). Everyone with any sense knew they would have to, and so far, we’ve seen big shots from guys like Bosh and Chalmers, hustle play from guys like Miller and Haslem, and better movement on the offensive end (with the one big exception being their epic collapse in the last half of the fourth quarter in game two, although I think that was mostly the fault of LeBron more than the support players).
* Shawn Marion is the next best player on Dallas after Dirk. Terry can score in bunches, but it’s Marion who has been the most consistent performer for Dallas after Dirk in this series, and it’s mostly Marion’s defense that is making LeBron look rather pedestrian so far. Many people thought he was way past his prime after he left Phoenix – me included – but he still has a lot left in the tank, it seems.
* Homecourt isn’t as big a deal as it has been in some other series. Miami split their first two games, and Dallas just lost on their homefloor. That’s how tough these teams are.
So what do you think? I can’t wait for game four; this series could very well go the full seven games, and even though no team has come back from a 2-1 deficit in the current Finals format, I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if the Mavericks become the first team to do so. Miami has the momentum now, but it isn’t a huge momentum by any means; they better not have any significant issues with LeBron trying to be the hero instead of Wade, or the supporting cast disappearing, because Dallas has been unrelenting.
3 comments
GG says:
Jun 7, 2011
I pretty much agree with you about the Wade/LeBron chemistry. Though, when it’s all said and done, LBJ will probably have a higher scoring average for the playoffs than Wade. LeBron was the go-to guy in game 1 when Wade was struggling. And Wade was that guy in game 3 when LeBron was struggling.
Khendra says:
Jun 7, 2011
I agree LeBron was the top performer in game one. Some of the epically biased haters over on Sports Card Forum were adamant about Wade still being the best of the two guys in that game, but I think that was LeBron’s best performance of the series, and better than Wade’s that night. So, while I agree with most others that Wade is The Man most of the time now, and hence the top dog overall in Miami as mentioned here in my piece, the especially great thing about him and ‘Bron being together is that if one of them isn’t playing as amazing, the other can step in with production in many of the same crucial areas (ball-handling, defense, scoring). LeBron was no idiot in leaving Cleveland for Miami; if some people would just get over their illusion of him being Jordan-like, and/or the immense bitter emotional anger they have regarding the manner in which he left (as is the case for most of his anti-crowd), they would see that he is probably going to get the thing he wants most – the ring – and that everything else is just details.
GG says:
Jun 8, 2011
Bron’s game last night left a lot to be desired, and they still nearly pulled it out. Last night, Bron was a D. If he’s a B for the rest of the series, Miami wins it.
I thought Dallas’ defense was great last night and they’re not getting enough credit for the job they did. Kidd looked like he knew exactly where Bron was going, and for whatever reason, Bron decided to play passively for that whole second half.