He left Lebron in the game. Hell if all he was going to do was pass the rock, he could have left Bibby in the lineup.

:tro:

There was a stretch about the 6 minute to 3 minute mark that LeBron was acting like the ball was a hot potato.

He scurr'd

I thought the exact same thing. He passed on open shots and didn't even think about putting the ball on the floor.

Really when you think about it, the only other guys on the floor except Wade who wanted the ball in their hands and weren't afraid to shoot were Chalmers and Eddie House.

Like Coach said, everyone else was playing Hot Potato.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYe8B--jrbs

Eat a fat rod, douchebag.

I didn't say it was spoelstra's fault although I did say he got outcoached. Carlisle made some great adjustments and ultimately that was the difference. Going zone was huge on the defensive end and going to the high pick and roll was the difference on the other end.

You said it was 'the big difference', which is insanity. Carlisle's a great coach, but Spoelstra did nothing wrong in this series.

Classy move by Wade shaking hands after the series. I didn't see Lebron doing it, because he seemed to rush off the court and the camera followed him to the locker room. Not saying he didn't do what Wade did, they just didn't show it. Anyone see him congratulating the other team after the game?

Also looked like Bosh broke down walking into the locker room a couple of times and was visibly crying.

James congratulated Kidd.

RuPaul crying? Shocking.

Jason Kidd turned back the clock in game 5 and 6.

He really deserved a championship. He's been a fantastic player for over 20 years.

Definitely. Happy for him.

Definitely agree. And Dirk Nowitzki makes the NBA worth watching. Exudes class and couldn't be happier for him, especially after '06.

I agree. Carlisle was a mad genius. Barea started more games in the finals series than he had the entire season. When things were not going well, Carlisle completely changed his entire rotation. He put Cardinal in the rotation and got big minutes from him, Peja was completely nailed to the bench. It all worked like a charm for him. Stevenson played much better coming off the bench and had a great shooting series...over 50 pct from 3. It was a great series to watch and an even greater result. The Mavs played with zero fear.

Nothing wrong? He put Eddie house on Jason Terry. Miami went key stretches without any semblance of an offensive game plan. Those things aside, I am not pinning the series loss on spoelstra. I am merely crediting Carlisle with an outstanding job. Is it not possible that spoelstra could do a decent job but yet still get completely outcoached?

Big deal. He traded defense for offense, coaches often do that when their team is in a hole. Carlisle played Stojakovic and Cardinal over Corey Brewer this series and neither of those two could guard a folding chair. And Miami's offense is a mess at times mainly because neither LeBron nor Wade know how to play without the ball.

It sounds like you're pinning the loss on him if you say coaching was 'the big difference' in the series. The big difference was that Dallas had a closer and Miami didn't.

No disagreement that Carlisle coached a great series.

I saw LeBron just recently and i asked him if he had change for a dollar.
He gave me 75 cents
I asked him "That's it???"
LeBron replied " Sorry i don't have a 4th Quarter."

Oh no he didnnt

Wade isn't a "closer"? That is news. From what I had heard, he was one of the best "closers" in the game...whatever that means.

Putting Eddie House on Jason Terry wasn't merely trading defense for offense. It was putting your worst perimeter defender against the other team's best offensive player (terry was their best offensive player last night and for other parts of the series). Why wasn't he matched up against Kidd as Van Gundy astutely pointed out or anyone else for that matter. That's coaching and at the times he was on Terry, they weren't in much of a hole although they were after a few minutes of that matchup.

If I say that Dirk Nowitzki outplayed Udonis Haslem and was "the big difference", does that mean that I am pinning the loss on Haslem? Of course not. I am merely stating the obvious. The same goes for the coach. Like Haslem, Spoelstra did a credible job during the series. He simply didn't have anywhere near the effect that Carlisle did for his respective team. He didn't have "skins on the wall" to garner the type of respect necessary from players like Lebron and Wade. Riley does. It will be a big difference next year if Riley is there.

You can't sum up what happened in this series to a few minutes down the stretch in every game. Do you play chess? The end game is merely a result of the opening and the middle. The Heat had two queens but the mavs had but one queen and a full compliment of pawns. Carlisle used his advantage of material to wear down the Heat's advantage in firepower.

The Heat had to work much harder on defense and by the late stages they were worn down especially in the last couple of games. It is undeniable that much of that had to do with the adjustments that Dallas made on the offensive end.

Lebron apologists awful quiet this morning. Let's leave it to Lebron to put things into perspective, he always has a way with words.

Via Twitter:
The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time. Right now isn't the time.

Well said, Lebron, well said. :rolleyes:

Much Greater, much

I enjoyed the life lessons he was giving in the press conference to all of his haters.

The guy is a complete idiot. Let me give him a life lesson. "You would be a convicted felon if it wasn't for basketball, you mental midget. And take that f.ucking headband off. We all know you're balding, you self-conscious woman. You're a lamb, not a lion. Stop talking s.hit."

Quite a fall from grace for Lebron this passed year. Ugly

Yeah, that was really something.

I can't wait for the Decision Part 2 when he opts out from Miami in 2014 with no rings.

Maybe Lifetime will pick up the coverage this time around.

Very disappointing series from James. I still have no doubt in my mind that he's the most skilled player and overall best player in the game but mentally, he lacking a lot. That was not the way a champion or want to be champion goes down. It's one thing to lose but to do so without putting up your best fight is very disappointing to see. If I'm starting a team, I'd still chose him #1 overall because he is going to do the most of any player to put you in position to win but at this point, he just doesn't have what it takes to finish the job when the pressure is at its highest. That could change and all will be forgotten if Miami goes on to win three or four titles while he's there but his reputation took a huge hit with this loss and it has a long way to go to recover.

Well, Lebron played pretty small... too many times last night he's just standing around and not hustling or creating anything (offensively and defensively... the only rebounds I saw him grab were ones that just fell into his hands). he certainly doesnt have the hustle of Wade, Chalmers (who forced way too many bad shots) and the majority of the Mavs team. It was like Lebron was scared to win.

Congrats to the Mavs and Dirk/Kidd/Terry. They were the better team plain and simple.

FTFY

I can't take credit for this one, but was just told today is LeBron James day so we all get to leave work 12 minutes early. Zing!

If that was really the case, we should all be off today.

Congrats to the Mavs, they clearly were the better team...Dirk, Kidd, Terry are class acts and great players and I'm glad to see them get their championship. James has dug himself a hole, we'll see if he can climb out...I agree that he was worthless in the 4th quarter all series and it reminds one of the Cleveland owner who said he quit in the playoffs in Cleveland...at the time it seemed like sour grapes, not so much now.

I'm a racist, arrogant loser.

There's you new signature Coach Pants. No charge.

Your color has nothing to do with it, King A.ssholeface. But you are a racist too if I am. So we're both racists.

Dismissive c.unt. People like you should be choked to death. Intellectually inferior.

Stop it. The difference in this series was the last six minutes of each game. Dirk was lights out and the Heat tightened up. Only an idiot can't admit that.

:tro:

the only thing I'll add is Terry was lights out also.

Great team game from the Mavs.

Wade rose to the occassion but couldnt do it all by himself... LeBron looked like the 5th option on the team. you and hoss had it right.

What is there to admit? I had the Mavs in 6. Its too simplistic to say that an entire team "tightened up" in every game in the final six minutes with the exception of the two games they won. How does that really make any sense? How does Dwyane Wade tightening up make any sense?

Dirk was lights out. So was Terry for that matter in the last few games. If I am reading you right, the final six minutes is all that mattered and the mavs were better for more games during the final six minutes than the heat were and that is because they are better "closers". Is that right? And does that make sense to someone like yourself who obviously understands the game?

The closing is just the product of what happened during the beginning and middle games. Same with football, boxing, chess or any other game that tests stamina of the mind and/or body. Only an idiot would deny this indelible truth.;)

what about the games that Terry WASN'T lights out in? Did he "tighten up" or could his improvement have something to do with offensive adjustments that were getting him better looks?

Is Dirk, a player that has been accused of tightening up his whole career, suddenly this incredible "closer"? Did he go to closer school? Did Wade skip class when he missed the free throw and turned the ball over during "closer" time?

I'm not going to sit here and say that Lebron's lack of contributions didn't have a huge impact on the Heat's failed title run. At the same time, I think it is too easy for people to say the guy "chokes" and he isn't a "closer". There are so many more variables and the guy has delivered in other pressure situations. He has brought this all on himself but I am trying my best to be objective.

Truth be told? It was really nice to see those jerks lose.

Obviously other factors contributed to the result, but in basketball, more than any other sport, the final stages of the game are of extreme importance. What you do when the game is hanging in the balance decides your fate in the NBA playoffs more often than not. The Mavs did just about everything right late in games and the Heat did just about everything wrong. The other angles are nice, but the fourth quarter performance decided this series. The Mavs owned it.

You're projecting a false argument onto me. You're insinuating that I said everything in this series falls into the narrative of closing or tightening up. That's not what I said. I said the Mavs played better late in games and that's what decided this series. Whatever terminology you want to use to describe it is immaterial, the point is that the Mavs owned the fourth quarter in the series and more than anything, that's why they won the series.

Shrug off the fourth quarter performance all you want, but you're mistaken if you think Dirk didn't possess something that wasn't physical in this series that nobody on Miami had.