2006 NBA Finals:Dallas vs Miami Pickem

[ratm1221]

Dallas in 7

[Solid D]

Bump

Still lookin' good with "Dallas in 5"

You can't change your pick now....but are you second guessing yourself now, with the Mavs leading 2-Love?

[abelle23]

id like for miami to win but i thinkits dallas in 6 or 7

[DubMcDub]

I wouldn't dismiss the Heat so quickly. They D'd up pretty well against a solid Detroit offense. I think their rebounding will be a bit better against Dallas than the Spurs' was. AJ will employ the same basic defense against the Heat that he ran against the Spurs. I'm not sure it will work as well. Wade is a scarier cover for the Mavs because of his J. With TP you have to watch the penetration but otherwise that set shot isn't that scary. Wade can shoot over the top of you if he gets any space. As much as TD ripped the Dallas' bigs a new one, Shaq will make Dampier/Diop/Mdonga a giant fat pink hole. I don't see AJ being able to stick with the defense he ran against the Spurs. At some point the Heat supporting cast are going to get their chance.

The problem for the Spurs in the Dallas series was too many one shot trips on offense and too many 2nd chance opportunities given up on defense. Miami was the best rebounding team in the NBA this season and the 5th best in limiting opponent rebounds (Spurs were 12th and 10th and they were starting a guard at the 4 for most of the series).

The Heat seem to have found themselves as a team and Shaq is energized. They took out a Pistons team that was supposed to knock them out with relative ease, a Pistons team that had won the season series 3-1. If you have a Shaq not only looking to score but to board, D up, block shots and do whatever it takes to win then the Heat's prospects in the series look rather good. Get ready for Dwayne Wade's mainstream coming out party.

Heat in 6.

TD didn't get to the line 23 times or whatever in a game.

Except for that he did. In game 7. Glad to see your knowledge of facts is about as good as your ability to make predictions.

[td4mvp21]

If the Heat will win it will have to be in seven, unless Riley really comes up with something to beat the Mavs.

Game 3 will be the toughest game of the playoffs for the Mavericks. If they win that one, it will be a sweep.

[ALVAREZ6]

Shaq is large. If he's healthy, he can't be stopped.

5 points.

[adrienne]

Dallas in 6.

Miami wins games 3 and 5.

[dieman8686]

I bet some people feel stupid just about now by overating the Heat, the experience factor, and that Shaq can't be stopped. Sparky is one of those that stick out . At least I didn't see him end his posts with " ".

[DubMcDub]

I bet some people feel stupid just about now by overating the Heat, the experience factor, and that Shaq can't be stopped. Sparky is one of those that stick out . At least I didn't see him end his posts with " ".

Sparky stopped posting in this thread as soon as he realized A) how bad his prediction sucked and B) the fact that he made a horrendously false statement regarding Duncan's FT attempts and had no idea what he was talking about.

[SPARKY]

C) He has a life, unlike RubADub and friend.

[Nikos]

Turns out Haslem did end up doing a solid job. I expected Dirk to do better offensively, but I am not suprised at all that Haslem did a good job in many of the games.

Rebounding I am not shocked at all about either. Dirk didn't get a bunch of offensive putbacks like against SA and that limited his offensive effectiveness.

I am surprised that the Heat won with Shaq being only decent on offense. Shaq was still an excellent presense in terms of rebounding and sucking in the defense. But not nearly as big as he was against Detroit and in previous playoff series.

Wade I expected to play real well, but he did even better than I thought. He carried them on offense big time. He was Jordanesque from a scoring standpoint. As clutch as they come.

I figured Dallas role players weren't going to have a field day against the Miami defense and they didn't to the extent they did vs SA. For example, where was Devin Harris this series? For all the quickness he had he surely didn't take advantage of it. Josh Howard didn't really do anything in the fourth quarters of most of the games, even when he was hot. Jason Terry in the end couldn't make up for his cold shooting, by getting to the line.....But Terry was easily their best player after Dirk....

Miami's rebounding and defense were the difference. Wade was obviously the main reason they won, but without the solid D and rebounding they could have lost this series.

[SPARKY]

I wouldn't dismiss the Heat so quickly. They D'd up pretty well against a solid Detroit offense. I think their rebounding will be a bit better against Dallas than the Spurs' was. AJ will employ the same basic defense against the Heat that he ran against the Spurs. I'm not sure it will work as well. Wade is a scarier cover for the Mavs because of his J. With TP you have to watch the penetration but otherwise that set shot isn't that scary. Wade can shoot over the top of you if he gets any space. As much as TD ripped the Dallas' bigs a new one, Shaq will make Dampier/Diop/Mdonga a giant fat pink hole. I don't see AJ being able to stick with the defense he ran against the Spurs. At some point the Heat supporting cast are going to get their chance.

The problem for the Spurs in the Dallas series was too many one shot trips on offense and too many 2nd chance opportunities given up on defense. Miami was the best rebounding team in the NBA this season and the 5th best in limiting opponent rebounds (Spurs were 12th and 10th and they were starting a guard at the 4 for most of the series).

The Heat seem to have found themselves as a team and Shaq is energized. They took out a Pistons team that was supposed to knock them out with relative ease, a Pistons team that had won the season series 3-1. If you have a Shaq not only looking to score but to board, D up, block shots and do whatever it takes to win then the Heat's prospects in the series look rather good. Get ready for Dwayne Wade's mainstream coming out party.

Heat in 6.

Oh well, what does SPARKY know?

Rebounds
Heat 263 total 43.8 per game
Mavs 251 total 41.8 per game

Opponent's FG%
Heat 45.8%
Mavs 42.2%