That's pretty close to the same thing and my point still stands with that comment. That argument makes no sense seeing as they nearly swept the Finals. If they got beat in an earlier round, or if they got swept in the Finals, that argument could be made...but they nearly swept the Finals and if Lebron (the supposed #1 guy) plays at even 75% they would've won the title last week.

For the first 4 games of the series the story was the Heat outplaying the Mavs until crunch time when you look at your #1 guy and say "alright man, bring it home for us" and Lebron looked right back and said "nah man, i'm cool".

that's complete speculation. and not the reality of their current situation, though. so........

Maybe. But with a a better PG and Big Man, I can certainty say that they would be better prepared to handle Lebron not playing well. It's no different than saying that D Rose needs another good player to get a championship. Could he conceivably do it by himself. Maybe. But he would be better prepared if he had help.

i don't wanna argue this anyomre. i'll revisit the NBA in the fall, maybe.

Still though, you're counting 2 games. What about the other two? Lebron had a triple double in one game. They didn't win. So its not like the Heat are Lebron's team, or as he goes they go.

When a team loses or wins, there are multiple factors. I think its over simplifying to say, if this one guy had played better, they would have won. When you could say, if the whole team had played better they would have won.

It seems like I'm defending Lebron, which I'm really not. Because I've said before, I don't think that he has the intangibles to win championships. But a better team could have won that series. The Heat didn't get blown out at any point in this series really. Just about all the games were close. And all of them would have been decided by one guy just hitting a shot, not just Lebron. To remedy that, you're going to need a better team. Its over simplifying to boil it down to one particular player or one particular play.

tbf, Dirk had like 4 points and the end of the half and the Mavs were up. He finished with 21, and they won by 10. So, they did have point to spare.

...And all of these begun with a quote of scarface.

4 hours away from lockout

Yeah, I know.

NBA will probably be in a lockout till January or February.

On the bright side though, I expect the players that come out of college next year for the draft to be much much better than the ones who came out this time (in terms of initial talent and stock). A lot of people who could have came out this year, did not. And that means those college players will be much better overall players next year when they finally enter the draft.

Maybe not. A lot of people (who are much smarter than me) are already predicting that owners will win this. That NBA salary cap will be very close to the NHL. Very close to a hard cap. No more mid-level exceptions, and no more sign and trades.

Which really screws a team like Miami, who are already way over the cap. They really struggled to put a good roster around the Big 3 this year, and next year will be much much much harder. They probably won't be able to do sign and trades to get players, the draft (so far) seems less than stellar (they only got 1 player). They still lack Big Man depth, and a proven PG. They'll probably have to take chances with guys at the end of their careers, and hope they'll get lucky. Not to mention that they may need to trade off a couple of guys (Mike Miller/Udonis Haslem/Mario Chalmers) in order to make the payroll.

Every team, except for the teams that are currently under the cap, will have major problems in trying to keep personnel next year. There are going to be guys who will be bought out of their contracts because teams will be trying to get below the cap, when the new CBA comes out. There will be teams that may need to get rid of multiple guys. Free Agency will be extremely crazy when the new CBA comes out. Because of teams that will have to drop veteran players.

Outside forces may keep Miami from doing a lot to upgrade their team. They'll still have the Big 3 next year, but they may have a worse team around it.

Anyways, lockout just began.

Please dont vomit while you dream about the forum... we dont want another hendrix. I think that the next season will start in december2011/january 2012

I love D-Rose, but I am also a realist. I believe that when it it's all said and done, D-Rose will probably go to a couple NBA finals, maybe win 1. So it's not like I think they'll go on a championship run. Bulls are still one player away (though I think they'll get Rip Hamilton who definitely has about 3 really good years left in him )

Secondly, for the last time I'll lay out why I don't think the Heat will win the next 3 out of 5, or 4 out of 5 (remember only 5 years left on those deals), for one: their best player disappears, secondly: they don't have that type of team.

When you're best player disappears, you can't win (ask the Bulls this year). You just can't. I don't think Lebron will ever be that kind of clutch player. He's been in the league for what? Nine years? It's not here now, and I don't think it will ever be here. This many years in league, what you see it what you got.

The Heat just don't have a great supporting cast. Many people say that the Bulls 90's were only about MJ and Scottie (which is untrue), try looking at some of the supporting player on those teams: Dennis Rodman= HOF, probably the best defensive players of the 90's, 5 time NBA champ (Pistons/Bulls), Steve Kerr (2nd all-time in 3 point shots made, 5 time NBA champ (Spurs/Bulls) Toni Kukoch (before Dirk was the greatest international player of all time, 3 time NBA Champ). I could keep going with guys like John Paxson, Horace Grant, Charles Oakley etc. Do the Heat look like they have anywhere near that supporting staff. Look at any team that has won multiple NBA championships in successive years, and try comparing it to the Heat's roster.

Most people forget how much hard work it took for the Bulls to win those titles. People always think that the Bulls just got two great players and just started going on title runs. From the time that the Bulls acquired Scottie and MJ to the time they won their first title, it took them 4 years. It's not that easy to go on those type of title runs. There's a reason that there have only been like 5 teams that have gone on those runs. They're extremely hard.

Anyways, the team that I actually do think might have a chance to go on that type of run is OKC. If you want to do superstar counting, they've got 2 also, and have an already great supporting staff. They've spent the last two years getting experience and they've still got room under the cap to add on.

And I don't think that teams like the Lakers/Spurs/Celtics are done just yet. Remember, those teams ran out of gas when they got to the playoffs because they had to play a full season. Well there won't be a full season this year. In fact, they'll probably only be a third of the season played. Those teams that ran out of gas because of age/wear and tear, will be set up much better this "season" for the playoffs.

The big 3 have 5 years left on their deals. When those 5 are up, Lebron will be 31, D WADE will be 34 (wow!), and Bosh will be a young 32. Just think that people are asking a lot of Heat. It takes a lot to go on the championship run that people want. Don't get me wrong, I think they'll win one, probably 2 championships, but I don't think they'll go this great run that everyone else expects.

Wake me up in February when the season starts. I'm going into NBA hibernation.

That's why the majority of those players went on to win titles in other places. Were they great plaers no, but to say that they were only decent is ignoring facts. I saw those teams and what those players did afterwards.

Its not just the Bulls, look at any great team. Go look up the great Celtics teams, the great Lakers teams, shit even the Spurs. Just take a few minutes to compare those rosters. Then come back to me.

And team dynamics do matter. Great players don't automatically make other players great: ask Iverson, Stockton/Malone, Wilt Chaberlain, Barkley, Jerry West, Gary Payton. I could go on and on with great HOF players who either don't have rings, or barely have any. There's a reason. Its because their teams weren't good enough. No slight on any of them. All were truly great players. There's a reason Lebron doesn't have a title, there's a reason it took Dirk his whole career to get one. Because they're hard to get. It's not always the talent or greatness of the player.

I could keep arguing till I'm blue in the face, and bring up everything in NBA history that proves what I'm saying. You can choose to believe it or not. All it takes is looking at past NBA champions. History is the only proof that I need.

And yeah, that was a short NBA hibernation.