To preface, I hate everything the Heat stand for. Superstars banding together to form a "dream team" in one of the flashiest cities in the US. Having a huge welcoming party before even playing a game together. Teaching people that if you can't beat em, join em. This is not who you want representing the NBA.
On paper, they should be able to squash their competition. The trio of Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and James can take on any trio in the league. Yet, for whatever reason, they have not been the dominant force everyone thought they would be. One could argue that this is not the case as they have reached back to back NBA finals. But with three of the best players in the league, shouldn't you be able to finish with the best record? They have not, finishing behind the Bulls and Spurs the past two years, as well as the Thunder this year. Shouldn't you be able to sweep an opponent in the playoffs, especially when you are the two seed? They have not, and even their 4-1 series wins have been close when you look at them game by game. Their most recent series against the Celtics, which they won tonight, exemplifies how confusing this team is.
Give a lot of credit to the Celtics as I know most experts will. They do have three potential Hall of Fame players in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen with Rajon Rondo certainly boosting his credentials to someday be there. People will say they had too much pride and experience to lose to Miami easily. But who honestly thought this series would go to Game 7 after the Heat were up 2-0? It looked like the Celtics went all-in on Game 2 in Miami to try and even the series. Rondo, known for his passing but normally not his shooting, put up 44 on the Heat yet the Celtics still lost in OT. My thinking was Boston will probably steal one at home because of the three HOFers mentioned earlier but Miami will beat them in five or six.
Instead, Boston rattled off three straight wins, including one in Miami, and people were saying Boston could win one of two against the Heat and advance to the finals. This conversation should never have taken place. Experience is one thing, athleticism and raw talent is another. The Heat had the latter in bunches. They would show flashes of it with Lebron or Wade slashing through the lane, then doing a circus layup or dunk, disregarding the likes of Pierce or Garnett in the process. Other times, they could not get it done. Whether it was coaching, the Celtics, or themselves, they let Boston creep back into the series and the "foot on the throat of your opponent" mentality never kicked in. After Game 7, it felt that the Heat had survived, not won that series. Their entrance into the finals, regardless of whether or not you like them, is good for the game as a whole.
The first reason is it sets up a good vs evil match-up which everyone loves in sports. Keep in mind though, this is no underdog vs heavy favorite. Recently everyone's first instinct is to say, "It's a Giants-Patriots type scenario," when talking about a match-up that pits someone against a team that is hated outside of their hometown. That does not apply here. The Heat certainly are the Patriots. They have explosiveness, star power, a coach that is hard if not impossible to like, and an arrogance about them that makes you want to see them lose. The Thunder, however, are not the Giants.
They can match the Heat with star power and flashiness as they have their own trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and the Brian Wilson wannabe James Harden. They were able to slay the San Antonio Spurs juggernaut that finished with the best record in the regular season and appeared headed to an undefeated postseason. Unlike the Heat, they were down 2-0. My thinking was the same as in the Heat series. The Thunder will likely steal one at home, then the Spurs will do their thing as they had up until that point and advance. Even after the Thunder tied it at 2-2, they still would have had to win two more times in San Antonio if it went seven games. The Spurs wound up going back twice to San Antonio after Game 4, but the second time they went alone. The youthful Thunder out-hustled, out-ran, and out-youth'ed the mighty Spurs. They won their series while Miami survived theirs.
Despite their success, this is still a likable group and certainly more so than the Heat. Some people probably became fans of Durant and Westbrook when they were in college at Texas and UCLA respectively, and have cheered for them since they joined OKC. Rarely brash or outspoken, they get the job done and put on an exciting brand of basketball. As far as Harden goes, who can't like a guy who has a beard like this: http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1071612/20121805_gav_sv5_036_extra_large.jpg.
The second reason is purely from a match up standpoint. If the Celtics were to advance, I'm sure there would have been experts coming up with reasons why the C's may give the Thunder a close series. But, c'mon. Boston would have gotten run out of the building. The Spurs are a younger team than Boston and they got a look at what happens when athleticism meets experience. Experience gets left in the dust with their hair on fire as athleticism races past without missing a beat. The Heat, meanwhile, can counter this quality. Both teams are fine with running, gunning, alley-ooping, and slam dunking all day. This series may provide some of the most exciting plays we have ever seen in the NBA, not just this season, but ever. Could the Celtics have dragged the Thunder out to seven games like they did to the Heat? Maybe. But this Heat-Thunder series is, in my opinion, the most evenly matched and exciting Finals match up in recent memory (sorry, Celtics-Lakers). If the superstars in this series play like they are supposed to, this NBA Finals may be talked about for years, decades, even centuries to come.
The last reason has to do with the future of the game. Every sport goes through different eras and change. I think the Heat are ushering in a new era of athleticism in the NBA. It's always been important but they are proving that athletes, and less so fundamentally sound basketball players, are what will win championships in this day and age. Look around the league at the young, standout players. James, Westbrook, Durant, Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, and throw in soon to be number one draft pick Anthony Davis and teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. They aren't looking for that Tim Duncan-esque jump shot. They're looking for the big slam, alley oop, or SportsCenter Top 10 pass that makes the fans jump out of their seats. And it's working. It reminds me of the Big Ten vs SEC debate in college football. Big Ten power and fundamentals vs SEC speed and quickness. Recently, the speed has won and I think the same can be said in the NBA. A player's athleticism and speed, now more than ever, should have a great influence on where a player is drafted or how a trade deal looks. Will bigger, taking up space players still be an asset to a team? Sure. Just look at Kendrick Perkins on the Thunder who plays sound basketball and will be a key player, I think, in his series against the Heat. But the teams that can run, especially one with an athletic big man (Dirk Nowitzki last year and Durant this year) have a clear advantage in today's game and can use it to hide or make up for lesser pure basketball talent of an overall team.
So congrats to the Heat. You have improved the NBA. But even that won't save you from the Thunder storm (bad pun I know, but it's 1:10 am). The Durantula will show why he was an MVP candidate, and James Harden will show why he won sixth man of the year as he drops 20 a game and his beard tips in six. At least you will prove Lebron correct when he promised Miami "not one, not two, three, four, five, or six championships." Correct, just zero.
Matty O
No comments:
Post a Comment