Without a doubt, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are two of the greatest basketball players to ever play the sport.
This is not a discussion of who is better, nor is it a slight to any other major NBA All Stars, past or present. It is simply an observation of two athletes who can, and have done, virtually anything with that ole round ball.
Some Black Mamba highlights:
A bit of King James:
Nice defense by Kobe (re LeBron):
It is always a pleasure to watch these two take the floor.
Over for Now.
Main Street One
Showing posts with label Miami Heat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miami Heat. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Dallas Mavericks, 2011 NBA Champions
When the season started, in October 2010, there were not many people outside of die-hard Dallas Mavericks fans who would have bet any money that Dirk & Company would be able to win the crown.
Especially against the big three of the Miami Heat (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh), the free agents who came together last summer with plans to win multiple titles.
For Nowitzki it must have been sweet revenge for their embarrassing defeat to the Heat in 2006, after jumping to a 2-0 start in that series.
This was a hard-fought set of games where every night the announcers continuously spoke about how Miami was the dominant team, even when the series was tied at 2-2. That talk subsided a bit when Dallas went up 3-2 on Thursday. It left at the final match-up in Game 6 with the Mavs dominating the second half and ending with a 105-95 close-out victory.
Even though eventual Finals MVP Dirk shot just 1 for 12 in the first half of game six the rest of the team took up the slack until he got his groove back. Key was Jason Terry who, coming off the bench, burned Miami seemingly whenever he touched the ball and topped all scorers with 27 points. Another was speedster JJ Barea who added 15.
Dirk, who pretty much sealed the game with 2:27 left, ended with 21. One great effort was a rainbow 3 he launched 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter.
For Dallas' aging three (thirty-somes Dirk, Terry and Jason Kidd) the glory of victory to garner for the franchise their first-ever trophy certainly was sweet, as can be seen in the below video.
Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks on a hard-fought, well-played and well-deserved championship series.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Especially against the big three of the Miami Heat (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh), the free agents who came together last summer with plans to win multiple titles.
For Nowitzki it must have been sweet revenge for their embarrassing defeat to the Heat in 2006, after jumping to a 2-0 start in that series.
This was a hard-fought set of games where every night the announcers continuously spoke about how Miami was the dominant team, even when the series was tied at 2-2. That talk subsided a bit when Dallas went up 3-2 on Thursday. It left at the final match-up in Game 6 with the Mavs dominating the second half and ending with a 105-95 close-out victory.
Even though eventual Finals MVP Dirk shot just 1 for 12 in the first half of game six the rest of the team took up the slack until he got his groove back. Key was Jason Terry who, coming off the bench, burned Miami seemingly whenever he touched the ball and topped all scorers with 27 points. Another was speedster JJ Barea who added 15.
Dirk, who pretty much sealed the game with 2:27 left, ended with 21. One great effort was a rainbow 3 he launched 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter.
For Dallas' aging three (thirty-somes Dirk, Terry and Jason Kidd) the glory of victory to garner for the franchise their first-ever trophy certainly was sweet, as can be seen in the below video.
Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks on a hard-fought, well-played and well-deserved championship series.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Shaquille O'Neal Retires
One of the most dominant forces in basketball and a future NBA Hall of Famer, Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal, announced his retirement from the profession today after 19 years.
The annoucement was made via Twitter:
Ever the competitor, injuries hampered his final three seasons, but the years when he played at full force he was something to watch.
With a powerful career that started with the Orlando Magic, then moved to the Los Angeles Lakers and on to the Miami Heat, the last three seasons saw Shaq with the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and this past season with the Boston Celtics.
There has been so much written about The Diesel the past two decades that perhaps it would be best to just list a few of his many accomplishments, and then watch this eight minute video showing just how dominant he was on the court.
* NBA Rookie of the Year (1993)
* Twice NBA scoring champion (1995, 2000)
* NBA MVP (2000)
* A four time NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006)
* Three NBA Finals MVP awards (2000, 2001, 2002)
* 15 NBA All Star Teams (1993-1998, 2000-2007, 2009)
* Three times NBA All Star MVP (2000, 2004, 2009)
* among others
Shaq in Action:
We enjoyed your play, Shaq, as well as your off-court entertainment.
Following is a short Shaq-feature comic hero treatment from the NBA.
Enjoy your retirement, Shaq.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
The annoucement was made via Twitter:
Ever the competitor, injuries hampered his final three seasons, but the years when he played at full force he was something to watch.
With a powerful career that started with the Orlando Magic, then moved to the Los Angeles Lakers and on to the Miami Heat, the last three seasons saw Shaq with the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and this past season with the Boston Celtics.
There has been so much written about The Diesel the past two decades that perhaps it would be best to just list a few of his many accomplishments, and then watch this eight minute video showing just how dominant he was on the court.
* NBA Rookie of the Year (1993)
* Twice NBA scoring champion (1995, 2000)
* NBA MVP (2000)
* A four time NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006)
* Three NBA Finals MVP awards (2000, 2001, 2002)
* 15 NBA All Star Teams (1993-1998, 2000-2007, 2009)
* Three times NBA All Star MVP (2000, 2004, 2009)
* among others
Shaq in Action:
We enjoyed your play, Shaq, as well as your off-court entertainment.
Following is a short Shaq-feature comic hero treatment from the NBA.
Enjoy your retirement, Shaq.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
NBA Finals - Dallas maligned in Game 1 loss to Miami
It's bad enough to lose the first game in the NBA Finals. Especially waiting five years to get back to this stage.
it is even worse to be maligned for losing when not deserved.
The Dallas Mavericks did, indeed, lose to the Miami Heat in game one of the NBA Finals. No doubt about it. Final score: Heat 92 Mavs 84.
Reading what some reporters and bloggers have written makes it seem as if Dallas could do nothing right - yet an 8 point loss is not a blow out by any means, especially when one is in the enemy camp, i.e., playing on your opponent's court. You know, the ole home court advantage thing.
As far as stats are concerned, Dallas shot 37% from the field, Miami hit 39%. Neither of those are very impressive.
From downtown the Heat were at 46% while Dallas shot 41%, a difference of 6 points in favor of the Heat. The Mavs held the edge at the free throw line hitting 78% to the Heat's 71% for a 6 point advantage. They effectively cancelled each other out.
Offensively, Miami took 80 shots to Dallas' 67. That was a huge help for the Heat. And Miami did dominate the boards, 46 to 36, which is what gave them, to a fairly large degree, the winning edge.
Yes, Miami won, mostly due to their better defense and the offensive board advantage they took.
To read the headlines, one would think Dallas did absolutely nothing right. Yes, LeBron and Wade made some big, key plays in the 4th quarter. And those two can be dominating, but they did not "dominate" this first game. And then consider that two of Miami's starters failed to score a single point.
Sweet slam by LeBron.
One article that appeared in Yahoo! Sports mentioned that it would be tough for Dallas and their one star to beat Miami and their three stars, meaning Dirk beating LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh. Apparently that reporter does not consider Jason Kidd a threat, despite the fact he is a 10-time All Star and is in 3rd place all-time for triple-doubles. Go figure.
True, everyone has, and is entitled to, their own opinion. This blogger's opinion is that Miami won, Dallas lost. Miami played better at the right times, especially down the stretch. Neither team played close to a perfect game.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
it is even worse to be maligned for losing when not deserved.
The Dallas Mavericks did, indeed, lose to the Miami Heat in game one of the NBA Finals. No doubt about it. Final score: Heat 92 Mavs 84.
Reading what some reporters and bloggers have written makes it seem as if Dallas could do nothing right - yet an 8 point loss is not a blow out by any means, especially when one is in the enemy camp, i.e., playing on your opponent's court. You know, the ole home court advantage thing.
As far as stats are concerned, Dallas shot 37% from the field, Miami hit 39%. Neither of those are very impressive.
From downtown the Heat were at 46% while Dallas shot 41%, a difference of 6 points in favor of the Heat. The Mavs held the edge at the free throw line hitting 78% to the Heat's 71% for a 6 point advantage. They effectively cancelled each other out.
Offensively, Miami took 80 shots to Dallas' 67. That was a huge help for the Heat. And Miami did dominate the boards, 46 to 36, which is what gave them, to a fairly large degree, the winning edge.
Yes, Miami won, mostly due to their better defense and the offensive board advantage they took.
To read the headlines, one would think Dallas did absolutely nothing right. Yes, LeBron and Wade made some big, key plays in the 4th quarter. And those two can be dominating, but they did not "dominate" this first game. And then consider that two of Miami's starters failed to score a single point.
Sweet slam by LeBron.
One article that appeared in Yahoo! Sports mentioned that it would be tough for Dallas and their one star to beat Miami and their three stars, meaning Dirk beating LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh. Apparently that reporter does not consider Jason Kidd a threat, despite the fact he is a 10-time All Star and is in 3rd place all-time for triple-doubles. Go figure.
True, everyone has, and is entitled to, their own opinion. This blogger's opinion is that Miami won, Dallas lost. Miami played better at the right times, especially down the stretch. Neither team played close to a perfect game.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Monday, May 30, 2011
Top 10 Plays - 2011 NBA Conference Finals
The 2011 NBA Eastern and Western Conference Finals were superb, producing many many moments of both smiles and frowns, cheering and jeering, joy and sorrow, depending upon the choice of team being backed.
Though each of the sets were decided in just five games, they were each hard fought, and there were some outstanding plays by all four teams involved: Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Below are the top 10 plays of the conference finals, as determined by the NBA.
While not everyone will agree on the selections, each one of the them does represent either offensive or defensive greatness on the floor, from a perfectly executed coast-to-coast layup, to incredible downtown shots, to outstanding dunks, to fabulous blocks.
Great ready for what promises to be an excellent NBA Championship Series between the Mavs and the Heat!
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Though each of the sets were decided in just five games, they were each hard fought, and there were some outstanding plays by all four teams involved: Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Below are the top 10 plays of the conference finals, as determined by the NBA.
While not everyone will agree on the selections, each one of the them does represent either offensive or defensive greatness on the floor, from a perfectly executed coast-to-coast layup, to incredible downtown shots, to outstanding dunks, to fabulous blocks.
Great ready for what promises to be an excellent NBA Championship Series between the Mavs and the Heat!
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Friday, May 27, 2011
2011 NBA Finals Match-Up- Heat vs Mavericks
After a long season, where injuries and internal strife played a major role in determining the two teams advancing to the 2011 NBA Finals, it all comes down to the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks.
Miami began their run-for-mulitple-titles process last summer, bringing on free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play with Dwayne Wade.
Dallas, on the other hand, has been continuously rebuilding since their 2006 championship loss, where they flubbed a 2-0 lead, marching in with a roster of veterans, including the most dominant big in the league, Dirk Nowitzki.
Along the way this year, Miami eliminated last year's Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Celtics, in five games while Dallas snuffed the reigning NBA Champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, in four.
For their Conference title, #2 seed Miami took care of the #1 seed Chicago Bulls and 2011 MVP Derrick Rose in five games.
Dallas, the #3 seed, handled the young and talented #4 Oklahoma City Thunder and two-time NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant in five games.
Both Dallas and Miami experienced come-from-behind games during their runs to close out contests in their favor.
The stage is now set.
Through the first three rounds both teams played 15 games to eliminate their opponents.
What remains are anywhere between 4 and 7 contests, sure to be hard-fought, in quest of the NBA trophy.
It is interesting that the 2011 Championship showcases the same two teams from 2006, though each with much different line-ups and personnel. The Heat took that crown in six games, after losing the first two. Dwayne Wade remembers that. So does Dirk Nowitzki.
Can the Big 3 in Miami stop Dirk and Company from attaining the crown?
Will Dallas have the answer to stop the Heat in consecutive games?
Only time and some excellent games to come will answer that question.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Miami began their run-for-mulitple-titles process last summer, bringing on free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play with Dwayne Wade.
Dallas, on the other hand, has been continuously rebuilding since their 2006 championship loss, where they flubbed a 2-0 lead, marching in with a roster of veterans, including the most dominant big in the league, Dirk Nowitzki.
Along the way this year, Miami eliminated last year's Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Celtics, in five games while Dallas snuffed the reigning NBA Champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, in four.
For their Conference title, #2 seed Miami took care of the #1 seed Chicago Bulls and 2011 MVP Derrick Rose in five games.
Dallas, the #3 seed, handled the young and talented #4 Oklahoma City Thunder and two-time NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant in five games.
Both Dallas and Miami experienced come-from-behind games during their runs to close out contests in their favor.
The stage is now set.
Through the first three rounds both teams played 15 games to eliminate their opponents.
What remains are anywhere between 4 and 7 contests, sure to be hard-fought, in quest of the NBA trophy.
It is interesting that the 2011 Championship showcases the same two teams from 2006, though each with much different line-ups and personnel. The Heat took that crown in six games, after losing the first two. Dwayne Wade remembers that. So does Dirk Nowitzki.
Can the Big 3 in Miami stop Dirk and Company from attaining the crown?
Will Dallas have the answer to stop the Heat in consecutive games?
Only time and some excellent games to come will answer that question.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Saturday, May 14, 2011
LeBron James finally conquers Boston Celtics dominance
It seems, over the past few years, that the Boston Celtics have always had the upper hand when playing teams with LeBron James.
Well, maybe a few hands - Allen, Garnett, Pierce, Rondo and the rest of the gang.
Consider just last year when the Celtics dominated James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (the top seed in the Eastern Conference with the league's best record) in the second round, eliminating James for a possible NBA Championship in six games.
At the start of the 2011 season it seemed that James and his new team, the Miami Heat (even with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh) could not best the performance of the Celtics, losing the regular season series 3-1.
This year's playoffs, however, were a different story.
After taking both home games, Miami found itself in Boston and a resounding loss in Game 3. With the series at 2-1, and still playing at TD Garden, James et al accomplished something remarkable. They beat the Celtics on their home turf in overtime.
Why remarkable? Prior to that victory James had only won twice in Boston out of 15 attempts and his teammate, Dwayne Wade, had lost 11 straight games on that court.
After the win, James was quoted as saying, "I haven't had much success in this building."
That was a gigantic understatement.
Back in Miami, with Boston trailing 3-1, there was a definite threat to extend the series. It could be seen that the Celtics were gunning for a win at Miami despite the fact the Rajon Rondo and Jermaine O'Neal were sidelined with injuries. The game was tied 87-87 with 2:13 remaining and all of a sudden LeBron exploded.
He dropped two shots from downtown, stole the ball and took it in for a slam dunk, then closed out the game with a jumper, scoring the final 10 points of the game. Final Miami 97, Boston 87. Series end: Miami 4, Boston 1.
It does seem that LeBron conquered whatever it was about the Celtics and TD Garden that had haunted him. And it was gratifying to watch him compliment Doc Rivers and the Celtics as he did following the game.
Now, on to the rest of the NBA championship run.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Well, maybe a few hands - Allen, Garnett, Pierce, Rondo and the rest of the gang.
Consider just last year when the Celtics dominated James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (the top seed in the Eastern Conference with the league's best record) in the second round, eliminating James for a possible NBA Championship in six games.
At the start of the 2011 season it seemed that James and his new team, the Miami Heat (even with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh) could not best the performance of the Celtics, losing the regular season series 3-1.
This year's playoffs, however, were a different story.
After taking both home games, Miami found itself in Boston and a resounding loss in Game 3. With the series at 2-1, and still playing at TD Garden, James et al accomplished something remarkable. They beat the Celtics on their home turf in overtime.
Why remarkable? Prior to that victory James had only won twice in Boston out of 15 attempts and his teammate, Dwayne Wade, had lost 11 straight games on that court.
After the win, James was quoted as saying, "I haven't had much success in this building."
That was a gigantic understatement.
Back in Miami, with Boston trailing 3-1, there was a definite threat to extend the series. It could be seen that the Celtics were gunning for a win at Miami despite the fact the Rajon Rondo and Jermaine O'Neal were sidelined with injuries. The game was tied 87-87 with 2:13 remaining and all of a sudden LeBron exploded.
He dropped two shots from downtown, stole the ball and took it in for a slam dunk, then closed out the game with a jumper, scoring the final 10 points of the game. Final Miami 97, Boston 87. Series end: Miami 4, Boston 1.
It does seem that LeBron conquered whatever it was about the Celtics and TD Garden that had haunted him. And it was gratifying to watch him compliment Doc Rivers and the Celtics as he did following the game.
Now, on to the rest of the NBA championship run.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
NBA Conference Championship Playoffs 2011
It is definitely NBA Playoff time and as this blog is being written the playoffs are, essentially, midway to having a 2011 Champion.
Some surprises have definitely happened along the way.
The #1 seed in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs, lost in the first round to the #8 seed Memphis Grizzlies in six games.
Perhaps it was meant to be this year, the #2 seed (and defending NBA Champion) Los Angeles Lakers took six games to beat the #7 New Orleans Hornets and then got swept by #3 Dallas Mavericks in four games, completely thwarting their effort for a second three-peat.
In the Eastern Conference, the #1 seed Chicago Bulls, with the league's MVP and best record of all teams, took out the #7 Indiana Pacers in five games in round one and find themselves tied at two games each with #5 seed Atlanta Hawks who took the #4 Orlando Magic out of the picture in six.
Probably one of the most anticipated matchups features #2 Miami Heat and #3 Boston Celtics. The Heat excelled in game 4 to lead the series 3-1.
As it looks right now, the Dallas Mavericks, with time to rest after their sweep, will probably meet #4 Oklahoma City Thunder (providing they get by the Grizzlies, with the series tied at 2 apiece) for the Western Conference Championship while in the Eastern Conference odds are that the Heat will be playing the Bulls to determine who goes for the NBA trophy.
It will be interesting to see.
As the theme of the playoffs is "Win or Go Home," one can see the truth in that short statement.
In the meantime, one of the highlights of every playoff game has been the NBA's own commercials, featuring the "Official Basketball."
This one is absolutely great:
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Some surprises have definitely happened along the way.
The #1 seed in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs, lost in the first round to the #8 seed Memphis Grizzlies in six games.
Perhaps it was meant to be this year, the #2 seed (and defending NBA Champion) Los Angeles Lakers took six games to beat the #7 New Orleans Hornets and then got swept by #3 Dallas Mavericks in four games, completely thwarting their effort for a second three-peat.
In the Eastern Conference, the #1 seed Chicago Bulls, with the league's MVP and best record of all teams, took out the #7 Indiana Pacers in five games in round one and find themselves tied at two games each with #5 seed Atlanta Hawks who took the #4 Orlando Magic out of the picture in six.
Probably one of the most anticipated matchups features #2 Miami Heat and #3 Boston Celtics. The Heat excelled in game 4 to lead the series 3-1.
As it looks right now, the Dallas Mavericks, with time to rest after their sweep, will probably meet #4 Oklahoma City Thunder (providing they get by the Grizzlies, with the series tied at 2 apiece) for the Western Conference Championship while in the Eastern Conference odds are that the Heat will be playing the Bulls to determine who goes for the NBA trophy.
It will be interesting to see.
As the theme of the playoffs is "Win or Go Home," one can see the truth in that short statement.
In the meantime, one of the highlights of every playoff game has been the NBA's own commercials, featuring the "Official Basketball."
This one is absolutely great:
Over For Now.
Main Street One
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