It Is All Over For Another Year

Well another season is done and it offered many surprises along the way. What started with a decision and a pre-season championship celebration ended with Mark Cuban's Mavs winning it all. No one could have seen that coming. Dirk Nowitzki had been known for failure more than success. He won the MVP and then his team was knocked out in the first round. He lost to Miami with Wade and Shaq after seemingly having the series under control. If anyone was going to stop the MWO and South Beach Heat few would have said it would be the under achieving German superstar. I admit I have always been one of the people that have never given the Mavs a ton of credit. They were always a team that choked in the clutch. But they are no longer that, they will forever be NBA Champions. Perhaps the most unlikely Champions in the NBA since the Pistons stunned Kobe and Shaq in the NBA Finals and won a title with Larry Brown.

Celebrate the Mavs for what they did. For the fact a number of veteran guys were able to finally win a title. Earlier in the week I heard Charles Barkley on the radio talking about why people don't like the Miami Heat. He said it was the arrogance of how easy they felt it would be to win a championship. Something that Barkley was never able to accomplish. He like other greats like Pat Ewing, Karl Malone and a list of many others spent a career chasing that elusive championship. Lebron James has been chasing a title too. After years of trying and failing with little support in Cleveland he became part of this group that decided to join forces and look for the fast track to the NBA Title. But the short cut only got them to the door step of that title. Only to see a group that they likely never expected to see celebrate on their home floor. It was suppose to be Kobe and Lakers to challenge this group not the Mavs. But the Mavs swept them away and ended Phil Jackson's career in utterly stunning fashion. They in equally stunning fashion stunned the Miami Heat.

Mark Cuban deserves great credit for taking a team that was always in second place to the Dallas Cowboys and making them relevant in Dallas. Something we can relate to in Toronto with the Raptors always being in the shadow of hockey and Maple Leafs. Cuban took this franchise from no where and ultimately has been rewarded with a championship. There is no owner in the NBA that I would be more happy for. He has been fined by the league and shot off his mouth for years with the goal of challenging this league and his team to be better. In a true act of class Cuban allowed the first ever owner of the Mavs to be given the NBA Championship. Something he has worked hard for and spent a ton of money for and yet he allows someone else to touch the trophy he has wanted for so long before him. Mark Cuban makes more money than Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined. Yet people for the most part love Cuban and hate them. The act of Cuban doing something classy like that is part of why. But the deeper reason is we see Mark Cuban as a fan like us. While Lebron James tells all of you that cheer in his demise that eventually you will have to go back to your actual lives. That he will be happy with his life and choices he has made. Mark Cuban is a guy that you believe if you met him in a bar he would likely have a beer with you and talk to you for 5 minute. The MWO are guys that hang out in the VIP area and would not be caught dead hanging with you common folks.

It was a great season in a lot of ways. It might have been the start of a changing of the guard in the NBA. Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin lead a new generation of superstars that are looking to take the torch from the Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and other superstars coming to the end of the line. In fact with the uncertain future of an NBA Lockout who is to say we have not seen the last of more than just Shaq when we are playing basketball again.

Ironically after one of the best seasons in the NBA in a long time and followed by one of the most interesting playoffs in years the NBA stands on the abyss of joining the NFL is labour hell. We will be lucky if we see another basketball game in the NBA in 2011. That is not exactly something anyone wants to hear but it could in fact be the reality.

Mavericks won a title the right way and although I really have no love for them, I do respect what they have done. At least I am honest about it. I never picked them to win any of the 4 series they did win. I am not going to be a hypocrite like so many made themselves by cheering for anyone that could stop the Miami Heat. Pumping up the Mavericks more as a way to insult the Heat. For those that are true Mavericks fans I offer sincere congratulations. For those of you just cheering for Miami to lose, I just shake my head. People mocking Chris Bosh for crying but applauding Dirk for doing the same. At the end of the day people that root against the Heat have become just as bad as the guys they hate. In fact perhaps more so.

Miami will be back and depending on how the CBA turns out they could be much stronger when they do. But the real story now is when will you get to see basketball again? Not even the MWO can stop a lockout. Only David Stern and Billy Hunter can get that done. It could be a long a cruel summer turning into a long and cold fall without basketball. It is a shame coming off such a great season of basketball.

The Last Games Before A Lockout Start Tonight

All quiet on the Raptors front as we await the NBA Finals to begin. Jay Triano has yet to get his official stamp of approval but the Raptors have until June 15th to decide on his option. Andrea Bargnani has shut up for now and is still a Raptor the last we checked. While the Raptors still hold the 5th pick in the draft and no one seems to have a consensus on what they will do at the 5th spot if they in fact stay there. But the focus of the NBA is on the NBA Finals starting tonight.

The Miami Heat are in fact what we thought they were at the end of the day. Almost everyone picked them to be in the spot they are now in the NBA Finals. On the other hand beyond Mark Cuban and Mavs fans I am not sure how many people thought the Mavericks would be here in the NBA Finals. They face the same franchise that they blew a 2-0 lead to in the 2006 Final. Aside from D-Wade and Dirk almost everything has changed for these franchises. Dallas is a much better defensive team than they were back in 2006. Pat Riley is no longer on the bench for the Heat.

It may not be popular to say it but Miami is likely going to win this series. Dallas does not really have a scoring threat in the middle and that is something you need to attack a weak point of the Heat. Dirk has been fantastic in these playoffs but he is just one guy he will need help if Dallas is going to pull off the upset. Dallas does have a chance at winning if they can get looks from three point range and stick them. Miami has improved on defence a lot over this year. How they rotate and cover the three point line will be vital in this series.

All the talk in this series will be about Dirk and Lebron both seeking their first title but Jason Kidd has had several chances to win a title and come up short as well. If he can turn back the clock and have a great series he could be an X-Factor for the Mavericks.

But realistically I can't imagine the Heat losing this series. But I did not imagine the Mavericks sweeping the Lakers for what it is worth.

Heat in 6 is my pick.

Also speaking of the Lakers, I am stunned and confused at how the Lakers could hire Mike Brown to replace Phil Jackson. This is actually happening? The guy Cleveland fired because Lebron James wanted no part of him? Kobe Bryant seems as stunned as all of us. I sense this being a huge mistake for the L.A Lakers and this is not going to be a long or happy marriage between Brown and Bryant.

In other coaching news Kevin Mchale is expected to be the new coach in Houston. When you look at some of the hirings this off-season it makes me wonder despite my objections to it that if the Raptors choosing to stick with Jay Triano was unfortunately their best option. I would not hire Mike Brown or Mchale to coach the Raptors. No chance in hell. It would appear that Jeff Van Gundy is happy to stay in broadcasting for now. I would consider him the top candidate without a job right now in the NBA. When the dust clears I am not convinced Triano will last any longer than the option on his contract. But it would appear this off-season was slim pickings and that might have to do with the impending lockout as well.

Speaking of which we are rapidly approaching that lockout becoming reality. In just over a month this will be reality. The last image we may have of basketball is Miami Heat celebrating an NBA Championship that is something that will only add to the pain of a lockout for most.