1) When considering that NBA teams (especially those in big markets) are attempting to follow the “Big 3” format, which both the Celtics and Heat attempted and succeeded (to different degrees) with…Does the Mavs’ success revitalize other teams’ hopes in a traditional one-two star/role players combination?
2) Over the past 2 decades, and arguably further into history, I can only think of three teams which have obtained a championship with fewer than 2 “Stars”…The 93-95 Rockets w/ Olajuwon, 03-04 Pistons w/ Billups (although I would argue he wasn’t even a “star” per say), and the 10-11 Mavericks w/ Nowitzki.
3) Where does Dirk Nowitzki now rank among NBA all-time great power forwards like Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Bob Pettit, Elvin Hayes, Kevin Garnett and the like? How far do his new pieces of hardware move him up on that list (if at all)?
4) Does LeBron James officially remove himself from any and all arguments for his being one of the all-time greats, as well as any comparisons to Jordan? Do his Finals’ performances demote him to the class of “Robins” (Pippen, 99-02 Kobe, etc.)?
5) Is D-Wade underrated? Where does he stack against the likes of MJ, Kobe, and other great shooting guards, when taking into consideration his Finals success/statistics?
6) Do the Heat regret their pre-season championship celebration? (Recall smoke machine entrance and LeBron’s “ not 2, not 3…but 8 championships”)
7) With all of the attention being on the Dallas Mavericks for the past couple weeks…I wonder if even Jim Carrey is aware of how much Rick Carlisle resembles him.
8) Shawn Marion and Rick Carlisle were the unheralded keys to the Mavs’ Finals victory. Marion posted 13.7pts and 6.3rebs, while defending either LeBron James or Dwyane Wade constantly. Also, it was evident that Carlisle fine-tuned his gameplan following Game 1…most notably through his implementation of a zone defense, containment of LeBron, specially-designed offense for high quality looks (getting Dirk and Terry with the ball in the right spots), rebounding, and FINISHING GAMES (something that he was clearly better than Spoelstra at)
9) I would argue that considering the average margin of victory was 5.7pts and there were 3 games decided by 3 or less points that the winner of the series was decided by superior coaching, sooo…if the Heat had a more experienced coach, namely Pat Riley, would they have won?
10) How good could the Mavericks have been if Caron Butler, who averaged 15pts and 4rebs and was their best perimeter defender, and Rodrigue Beaubois, who averaged 8.4pts a game and started 26 of the 28 games he appeared in (clearly their starting SG), played in not only the Finals, but the entire season? (This also shows their potential for next year)
11) Finally…why did LeBron disappear? Was it the reported family and personal issues thar are circulating (there are rumors of Wizards forward Rashard Lewis having slept with James’ girlfriend, Savannah Brinson), or was it as simple as “he couldn’t step up to the plate and handle the pressure?”
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