FINALS!

So what'll it be? Are you putting on a cowboy hat and saddling up for the Mavs, or slipping into a thong to moon over Miami? Either way, there's a lot riding on it! (Okay, I'll stop now.)

Use this thread for your Dallas-Miami predictions, comments and questions.

Game 1: HEAT @ MAVERICKS THU 9:00 PM
Game 2: HEAT @ MAVERICKS SUN 9:00 PM
Game 3: MAVERICKS @ HEAT TUE 9:00 PM
Game 4: MAVERICKS @ HEAT THU 9:00 PM
Game 5: MAVERICKS @ HEAT SUN 9:00 PM
Game 6: HEAT @ MAVERICKS TUE 9:00 PM
Game 7: HEAT @ MAVERICKS THU 9:00 PM

SERIES LINKS:
ESPN
Dallas News
Miami Herald

I'll start by saying that I think this is the Mavs' year. Aside from a petty desire to see Miami ground up into polenta, Dallas has so many good role players who do more than the "just be decent" supporting cast of the Heat.

The Mavs can put Dampier and Diop on Shaq, plus Howard on Wade. But who do the Heat put on Nowitzki?

I had the Mav`s coming out of the West last year and this year. They finally made it and I think they will beat Miami in 5-6 games.

What I really like anout the Mav`s is they can go 10 deep if neccessary. Forget that crap about a 7, possibly 8 man rotation in the playoffs, if you can go 9 or 10 deep like Dallas and everyone contribute , it puts you at a serious advantage to win EVERY game.

Our Pistons better develop a bench next year or we will be on the outside looking in again next year at this time.

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"We are going to be really good offensively and definsively, we are going to be a team that can beat you 120-110, or beat you 80-70" Coach Michael Curry on the 2008-2009 Pistons.

Dallas has homecourt, and they get the calls there.

This should be a short series.

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Both teams seem to have peaked and are playing their best basketball of the year. Some factors that may be relevant to the outcome:

1) Is Miami going to have an emotional letdown after expending all that energy in this last series to avenge last year's bitter loss to Detroit?;

2) Shaq seemed to play younger and better (except for free throw shooting) in the Detroit series than he had in either the 2004 Finals or the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals. The second half fatigue factor that we have come to expect from Shaq seemed almost non-existent in the last series. Can he continue that strong play? Will Dallas make him work harder for his points, and hence make him tire in the second half?

3) Does Riley's experience and skill give him a coaching advantage over Johnson that could become a factor in the outcome?

4) Does Dallas have the players or defensive schemes to stop Wade's penetration in a way the Pistons could not?

5) Has Dallas really acquired what it never had before -- a commitment to defense? And will Miami continue to shoot a high percentage? If Miami continues to shoot the lights out, I think they have an excellent shot of winning.

Oh what a pukey series. Would I prefer a Texas champ or a Florida champ that includes Shaq and Riles. It's too distasteful to dwell on.
But I think the Heat is the better team. But how do know since the Pistons didn't challenge them?

The Heat's only chance in this series is to slow the pace way down and make it a physical game. (We know Riley isn't against that if his team is at a skill disadvantage.) If the refs call it tight but even, the Mavs get a huge edge because they're better free throw shooters.

Six games, Dallas.

I'll be rooting for Dallas because I don't like the Heat. But I'm guessing...

Miami in 6.

It's not everyday that we get to see a first-time champion. By my reckoning, the last time two teams that had never won a NBA championship faced eachother in the Finals was back in '78, when the Bullets beat the Sonics.

It's even more rare to have two teams that have never even played in the Finals, much less won it all. Again by my reckoning, the last time that happened was in '71, when the Bucks and the Bullets were both Finals newbies (the Bucks won).

Enough with the history lesson. At the beginning of the season I called the Pistons winning it all over the Mavs or the Rockets. At the beginning of the playoffs I called the Pistons over the Mavs. I'm going to stick with the Mavs, in 6 games. The Spurs stretched them to 7, but I can't see the Heat being able to do the same.

Mavs in 6 is my prediction.