Game 7 (My view points on the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs)

What a NBA Finals series! What a Game! Hands down that NBA finals series should go down in history as one of the best NBA Finals series of all time. It was dramatic, exciting, marvelous, astounding, extraordinary, stupendous, or any other word you would like to use to describe just flat out AMAZING! First off, I want to congratulate the Miami Heat on winning their second straight NBA championship in a row. Those group of guys played like warriors, men, and most of all Champs. They did a fantastic job forcing a game 7 with their backs against the wall and dodging the bullet of humiliation. I used the word "Humiliation" because this is a Spurs team that was suppose to be "Seasoned" for the quick Miami Heat. I refused to use the term old because I picture that word as someone or something that can no longer do the things that it once could do. It's obvious the Spurs could still play and compete like the champions they are at high level to give the best team in the NBA a lot of struggles.

LeBron James performance last night was just stunning and magnificent. Over the years, we criticized James about his lack of accurate shooting consistency--especially in the fourth quarter. But James laid that to rest last night with a 37 points and 12 rebound performance, shooting 52% from the floor along with a clutch two pointer that sealed the victory for the Heat. After talking with some of my colleagues, they brought some good points to my attention about the word clutch and some feel LeBron just isn't up to that level just yet. I will explain more later in my next blog relax Heat fans. Don't forget about the side kick and Miami hero Dwayne Wade. He also had a great game scoring 23 points shooting 52% from the floor also. Last year, it was Mike Miller but this year it was Mr. Shane Battier who wore the hot hand last night to push the heat to victory. But we all know none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for "The shot" in game six by the future hall-of-famer Ray Allen. Be honest! Its over now and the Miami Heat are back-to-back champs.

Alright enough about the game! We all saw what happened last night and now I have some issue that I would like to get off my chest. Yes I was one of the guys who chose the Spurs over the Heat to win Game 6 just the way it was opening up to be but the Spurs simply ran out of gas. I have some points I would like to touch on about the Spurs and Heat below.

The absence of Danny Green:
First off Congratulations to the formal Tar heel Danny Green on achieving an impressive individual achievement on breaking the record for most three pointers scored in NBA finals history. But where was the hot hand last night? One-for-12? Not cool Danny! Now I'm not saying the result of the Spurs losing falls on this guys effort but your presence was missed last night. The Spurs needed that hot hand last night to lift up their championship hopes but Green wasn't able to get much good shots off in game six or seven. It's like the Miami Heat just said, "We are tired of this guy," and simply keyed in on his game. The problem with Green right now is that he only wears one identity and that's to shoot three pointers. The Spurs either live by his shooting ability or die by his shooting. But I can definitely tell you that this guy is going to become a huge threat in this league for many years to come. This Finals experience is going to make Green much better. smarter, and stronger. Stronger physically and emotionally! Watch out for this guy.

The affects of playing more role players
Well we all know the Spurs played gave most of their energy all in game 6 with no sights of seeing a game 7. They felt like if they had gave everything they had they would have put Miami down but that wasn't the case thanks to a clutch shot by Ray Allen. We also knew that after less than 48 hours after a hard fought game six battle San Antonio's energy would descent because of their seasoned age. Knowing these entities about the decline energy of this team should have sparked an idea to kind of hand off some minutes to fresh players on the bench to further assist the big three. I just think Coach Greg Popovich should have went deeper in rotation to give players like DeJuan Blair and Tracy McGrady a chance. Now I know your thinking "Why Blair and another seasoned player McGrady?" Well these are two players who are very skillful in their own ways in the game. Blair may not be as tall as Duncan or Splitter but he could definitely bang on players and crash the boards. Blair, who averages 5.8 rebounds per game, definitely could have helped a struggling Splitter who only had two points and zero rebounds in four minutes. McGrady is another guy who was once the leader of his own team but has been dealing with a lot of injuries throughout his career that kind of hindered his career but the man can still play. I believe he still possesses a fantastic IQ for the game and could still play. Not at the high level he once played in Houston be could have helped with scoring, assist, and some good defensive. My thing is what more damage could have Tracy McGrady done if Green was already struggling one-for-12 from the floor. We don't know if McGrady would have stunk up the court even more or ball out and score an outstanding 18 points to help lift the Spurs. There could be more to the story than I know of about why those guys are not playing. But I just think Tracy must possess something the Spurs love because out of all players to chose from to join an elite team such as the Spurs, they chose McGrady to be apart of their organization to replace Stephen Jackson. I just couldn't understand why you would release Stephen Jackson and bring in another player to replace and don't even play him. I just can't understand that at all. Now I'm not saying these two would have dramatically helped the Spurs win but they could have deferred the seasoned three play time minutes so they could have gain enough energy to get the job done.

Could the Miami Heat go for a three peat?
In my view the chances of the Heat completing a three-peat would probably be a 45% chance they would. Why only 45%? Well you have to understand that this was the year of dramatic injuries to key players on some good caliber playoff teams. Meaning there were a lot of "what if" in this years playoff series. What if Kobe Bryant was healthy, would the Lakers have continued their hot streak run? What if Derrick Rose would have played this season? What if Russell Westbrook was healthy? What if David Lee was healthy? What if Danny Granger was healthy? Of course these are questions that will never be answered because its in the past and the Miami Heat are champions. But take in consideration that all of these players I named will return to their respected teams and will be targeting the expectations of dethroning the Heat. Winning back-to-back championships just added a double target on the Heat and they are definitely not getting any younger. Not saying they are "seasoned" like the Spurs but the shooting saviors for Miami are getting older. Another year for Miller, Battier, and Allen could toughen up their chances for another title if they cannot perform to up most ability.