This finals is everything the NBA needed it to be, too bad they can't figure out their CBA.

yeah, the only thing the Heat have going for them at this point is homecourt. but i think they'll pull it together.

like i said above, when Dwayne Wade left the game Lebron played good. it reminded me of when he played for the Cavs, like 'i need to play well, and score or we're not gonna win', maybe he should just do that all the time.

also, i'm still waiting for Pat Riley to run on the floor and start coaching.

heyo!!!!!!!

But seriously, that's why I said that "you have to play the games first". I don't think people realize how hard it is to go on a Bulls 90's type run, or any of the Lakers's runs, or the Celtic's runs. It's really hard. You have to have a complete team. I'm happy the Heat lost, because it does prove that you can't just accumulate superstars and win championships. Or that you can predict series by how many superstars someone has. You still need a team to win.

The only thing that I hate is that I was proved right, one round too late. The reasons the Heat got beat in this series was because of the weaknesses that I outlined earlier in this thread: weak bench, weak rebounding, can't execute in the last minutes of a game, can't run a half court offense, and LeBron James being a guy that you can't trust for a whole playoff run. The playoffs were like the regular season for Miami. During stretches, the weaknesses that I outlined didn't show up. But there were also stretches where they did show up. And in the playoffs, just as with the regular season, for stretches they looked like a perfect team almost. But then the bad stretch that I was hoping would show up during the Bulls series, came in the Mavericks series.

The Heat for next year, will have to improve internally. Because I just don't see any major upgrades coming at any position for them. And also, it will be interesting to see the psyche of Lebron James after this. He proved all of his doubters right in this series, and now they will be coming out to attack him. In a matter of a week, he went from being "just as good if not better than MJ" to being a ring-less Scottie Pippen

The Mavs did a great job, and I'm happy to see Jason Kidd and Dird get sweet redemption.

The Heat will have two tougher foes next year, in two teams who looked to be too inexperienced to win a title this year. But next year, will have that experience. Along with young good players maturing. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls (though the Bulls probably need at least a slight upgrade at 2 guard. Which I do expect them to get this off-season). Also in terms of Lebron/D Wade/Bosh's contracts, I do believe that within 3 years age will become a factor. It's rare that big men play till late in their careers (unless you're Shaq). Which could be a factor for Bosh. And also, D Wade takes a ton of hits. Jason Kidd is not the norm.

In three years Wade will will be 32 and Bosh will be 30. That's not really old, but at those ages, both will start to enter the down turn of their career. Proving again, that it's hard to go on a big championship run. A lot of things have to work in your favor just to one. You have to be extremely lucky and good to win multiple championships.

The sarcastic eye roll was more of a joke, than a slight. Idk, maybe I should have put another smiley there.

But really, I do think that fans put too much stock in the "this team didn't have enough heart" thing. At some point it comes down to match ups and who can execute. Take the Bulls, in that Heat series, I truly do believe that they had more heart than the Heat. But in the end, the Heat executed better and won that series. "Heart" has a tiny bit to do with it, but to say "if this team had just had a bit more heart." is b.s. When you lose, it always looks like you don't have heart. (I foolishly thought that of the Bulls for a couple of days after their playoff loss), and when you win; it always looks like you had more heart. In the end, it comes down to executing. If the Heat had executed their game plan, there wouldn't be any talk of "heart". Heart is a small factor.

Now toward the, "no one did it to your Bulls." When they got ousted I came on here ready to give a K+ to the first person who actually dissected why they lost, but no one did. Whether what I did was in poor taste, I don't know. But if someone had did the I told you so game with the Bulls, I would have understood and swallowed my pride (and was expecting to when it did happen). I was expecting someone to say, "see, D-Rose couldn't it by himself, and that will be a problem next year.", "or they got their asses kicked, up and down the court.". I wouldn't have seen that as a slight or disrespectful. tI doesn't change if my team won or loss, and it doesn't change how great I felt about the season. Idk, maybe I'm wired differently. But if it was disrespectful, then I am sorry.

And to be fair about Chris Bosh, if all your dreams were smashed in a matter of a few days, wouldn't you cry? I would. And I did when the Bulls got ousted. Chris Bosh isn't the first to cry after losing a championship. People are just ignorantly on him for it, because he did it in front of a camera.

Heat in 5?

heart matters. it's one thing for someone like Mario Chalmers, no disrepect, to play with heart. but it's another when your best player plays like he wants to win.

also, Michael Jordan can do whatever he wants, he is a God.

Heart does matter. Not saying that it doesn't. But heart didn't get the Mavs to game 6. No one was saying that the Heat didn't have heart when they beat the Celtics or the Bulls. No one was saying it when they were up 1-0, up 15 in game 2. No one was saying after the series was 2-2. Or even 3-2. The Mavs had to do a lot to get it to a game 6. Heart accounts for something. It does. But people usually judge heart after the fact, which is the problem with making it anymore than 5-10% factor. Teams win and lose because of multiple factors, and heart is piece of that pie. But not as big as some are making it out to be.

If the Heat had won this series and Lebron had played bad while winning, no one would have said "they didn't have enough heart." People are making a big deal of it because they lost. If they had won, no one would be talking about it right now.

oh yes they would.

Lebron would've been called out for his bad play. he was terrible.

When Peyton Manning won his super bowl against the Bears, was anyone complaining that he had a sub-par game? No. Does anyone even remember that he had sub-par game other than me? No. Some would have talked about, but in time all people would have remembered is that he won a championship.

Under the new CBA, that will be very hard. Already talk that they might have to trade a superstar in order to make substantial improvements to the bench, PG position, and to get a good big man.

i think they'll work it out, personel wise, somehow. like i said, anything thing they do is better than Ilguaskas not even playing.

what they need to do, and i hate to see anyone lose their job, well unless they're a complete idiot, is get a new coach. Erik Spoelstra's in over his head, which isn't saying much considering most any coach would be. and come on, Erik Spoelstra's as close as Pat Riley could be to coaching the team without coaching the team. Riley hired Spoelstra as an intern and groomed him. i'd bet anything, whatever the Heat did was pretty much what Riley would've, or wanted done. but that doesn't compenste for presence. the Heat need a coach that has that presence and is a seller, Erik Spoelstra is not that guy.

if Pat Riley doesn't end up coaching, they need a Phil Jackson. i also think John Calipari would be a great fit. i don't even necessarily like him but he's like a used car salesmen, an ultimate seller and motivator.