When Stars and Teams Collide

It is interesting how music will historically define a youth generation and how that music at the time will be considered “devil’s music” or taboo for children to listen. What’s strange are how these musical representations only manifests themselves in roughly thirty year intervals: the jazz age for the Roaring Twenties until Classic Rock stole the show in the late fifties and finally my own hip hop symphony that started in the late eighties and still thriving today.

I’ve only recently become invested in the rap generation but solidified my relationship with this scarlet after Public Enemy’s Chuck D came to Florida State and talked at my school (a class about hip hop’s history and literature may have helped too). He relayed many of hip hop’s threatening problems—record companies run my 55+ white executives, the reliance on misogyny, and the “don’t hate the player, hate the game” narrative that releases execs and rappers from any culpability—but Chuck emphasized that why these problems remained in the game was because there was no more rap collectives, no more teams that could rely upon each other when challenged in a public sphere. In today’s game, there are only stars.

This entire NBA Finals has been touted by sportswriters (myself included) as a true team versus three superstars but this narrative never really manifested itself, until last night. By his own standards, Dirk Nowitzki did not have a great game nor did LeBron James. Everyone has been calling for the rest of the Dallas team to step up because Dirk’s lone star show will not work against the three stars of Miami. Dirk even called out his own teammate Jason Terry for being unclutch in the past games. So when the series looked lost as a decrepit Dirk sat on the bench, towel overhead, wheezing to catch his breath, it was the team of Dallas that responded. Deshawn Stevenson had a surprising 11 points off the bench. Tyson Chandler channeled his inner Moses Malone, finally realizing the lack of bigs on Miami and crashed the boards for 16 rebounds with an astounding nine of those being on the offensive end. Jason Terry backed up his smack talk by sparking the Dallas comeback with 8 points when Dirk was on the bench. When the Dallas lead star was down, his collective team rallied around him when he needed him most.

On the other end, the Miami Heat lost because of the play of one LeBron James. I’m not going to blast James with various Le- derogatory nicknames and this game may hurt his eventual legacy but that’s only because LeBron has enormous expectations  from a crowd that doesn’t want him to live up to them. Stop the derivative comparisons between Jordan, or Magic, or Pippen because truthfully he’s none of those guys. He’s so unique in his talents and skillsets that he deserves to be defined by his own name, LeBron (shocker!). How I judge how much of a star an individual star is in the NBA, is to listen to how both the media and his fellow players will address him. If a player is repeatedly called by his first name, he is a transcendent star (or has a terrible last name like Olajuwon although Hakeem is still a superstar), but if this player is simply a star, they are called by their last (except in Bird’s case who has an awesome last name). How often is LeBron referred to as James, or Kobe referred to as Bryant while their respective teammates are stuck with their last names Bosh and Gasol.

I don’t think we’ll ever get away from hypercriticizing LeBron, mostly because we will always crave more from him. Our appetites will never be satisfied with his legendary Detroit performance or his defensive dominance over Derrick Rose because as soon as he touches that greatness, we start the inevitable comparisons. LeBron will only be appreciated after he leaves the game, sort of how Vincent Van Gogh’s art was only considered masterpieces after his death (In this case LeBron’s death is figurative, not real.).

Although the LeBron legacy questions are unfair, any criticism for James’ performance in last night’s game are completely founded. He looked more exhausted than Dirk at moments. He was content to stand in the corner on timeout, even when he had the shit talking Jason Terry guarding him. However, when a team is based on three players plus whatever role player decides to show up for scoring purposes, a true team will eventually catch up to them. A lot of analysts have said that the beauty of the Miami Heat, is that when one star falls the other two will pick him up. They never had to say this about LeBron, he’s been so consistent for too long. Also, whenever analysts make this point, the Heat star player in question usually has at least a double digit game, LeBron only had 8 points. He scored only one true field goal with his other points including free throws and a dunk. Maybe Jason Terry words are true and maybe there’s some personal matter in his life, but LeBron wasn’t LeBron last night, he was simply James.

The only difference about last night was that Nowitzki had a team pushing him to become Dirk, James only had other stars too ready to capture their own spotlight. 

It All Starts with an Eff You

By all means, what happened last night shouldn’t have happened. It was a perfect storm of poor execution by the Miami Heat, and a seizing of the moment from the Dallas Mavericks. But what makes basketball so fascinating to watch is how much emotion and momentum factor into a game’s outcome, particularly in the last minutes of a game. A lot of people will snidely remark about how little “locker room material” matters in the NFL game and how chippy comments during the week of the Super Bowl truly have no impact on the outcome of the game, but in the NBA, it does.

It all started with Dwayne Wade’s Eff You Three with over seven minutes to go into the game. I remember leading up that point, complaining to my dad about how the Mavericks were giving the Heat the game again and that the series was over. I also commented that the Mavs “looked like pussies” and if Miami is going to continue to drive down their throats on every possession, they should at least be met with a flying elbow, possibly a clothesline, something to convey they weren’t going down without a fight. Miami thrives on turnovers and free throws and the Mavs continued to give them both throughout the night which culminated into Wade’s Three.

Wade ensures that his presence is felt following the three as he stands in front of the Dallas bench for over five seconds with his fist held high in victory. Then Lebron runs over to Wade as he walks back to the bench and starts punching him, presumably telling him how great he was. These guys were acting like their fraternity had just won the intramural flag football game but somehow forgot that there was still over seven minutes to go in the game? Everyone talked of how mature this Miami Heat team is throughout the playoffs but they were more childish at the end of the game than the Thunder kids when they received the same comeback treatment from Dallas. It was similar to when Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer performed the flagrant foul against Lebron James in Game Five of the Easter Conference Finals to make a statement even though they already were with their double digit lead.

Plain and simple, the Heat became cocky. In the play immediately following Wade’s three, Dirk Nowitzki is driving down the lane when Udonis Haslem commits a non-shooting foul. Dirk throws up the ball to act as if he were shooting that play to receive the free throws. As the ball hangs in the air, Wade jumps up and slams the ball to the court emphatically with the cocky posture that had consumed the Heat at this point.

Dallas doesn’t score on their in-bounds possession from the foul and Lebron ambles up the court lethargically and doesn’t perform a basketball move until the shot clock hits ten. Miami repeats this theme with variations of effortless passing throughout the rest of the game usually resulting in a jump shot from outside the paint. From seven minutes onward, the Heat attempted ten field goals with five of them being three point attempts and the only basket they scored was by Mario Chalmers when he was wide open for the three. The Heat only entered the paint three times looking to score at the end of the game with these results:  Lebron drives past the Dallas defenders to a wide open rim but the rim does its job and blocks James on his easy lay-up. James is angry at said rim and attempts to drive to redeem his blunder earlier. He’s met by Tyson Chandler who stops Lebron but receives a seriously questionable foul call, scoring the only two points for the Heat during the Mavs comeback to tie excluding the Chalmers’ three. ESPN shows their typical “stat look at the Big Three of Miami” which reveals that Chris Bosh is having another unsurprising subpar night. Bosh senses the mockery in their voices, calls for the ball, posts up, and turns the ball over losing it out of bounds. Despite their offensive deficiencies, the Steel Curtain like Miami Heat defense should have made some stops, right?

 Everyone made such a tremendous deal over Lebron’s defensive prowess, how he was better and more versatile than anyone before him. This may all be true, but the problems James has, has nothing to do with a lack of talents or skills, both of which he has, but the winning gene that all the greats have. When MJ, Bird, Magic, even Isiah, sensed a victory, they went in for the kill. If that meant lockdown defense, a shot when it mattered most, they were there for the team but Lebron James did nothing. He literally stopped playing defense at the end of the game for whatever reason. On Jason Kidd’s open three, James is standing at the top of the paint and as Kidd receives the ball to shoot, Lebron begins running towards Kidd to close out the three attempt, a basic defensive concept. Then he does the unthinkable, Lebron James stops moving altogether, not wanting to expend unnecessary energy for a game they had already won. I would think James would learn his lesson after one defensive blunder but it continues. When Jason Terry steals the ball from Lebron James and Mario Chalmers, leading the fast break that would tie the game, neither James nor Chalmers chase down the ball. But wait, LeBum isn’t done. Nowitzki gets a great screen from Tyson Chandler and launches the three to take the lead in the game. As Dirk clearly sets up for his shot, LeBron stares at Dirk and doesn’t close out. Inexcusable. To err is human, but to not even try because it probably won’t turn out in your favor? If every guy followed that mantra, nobody would ever get laid.

Then there’s the last play, a single snapshot of how the Mavs made their comeback. Let’s break it down: Jason Kidd holds the ball near midcourt to run down the clock, then the Mavs do the same play they always do in clutch time situations, a pick and roll between Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk receives the ball and sees Chris Bosh guarding him, even though Udonis Haslem is on the court and has been doing the best job guarding Dirk throughout the series.  Dirk spins left, easily dribbles past Bosh for basket and the win. Keep in mind that Miami had a foul to give, so when Dirk spins away from the basket, Bosh could have fouled him and forced Dallas to take the ball out of bounds with only six to seven seconds left on the clock. It was disastrous.

Just like Dallas gave away Game One, Miami most definitely handed Mavs Game Two. Although this time I think there may be some lingering effects from the comeback, I think the Heat will be able to respond. This comeback only adds more fuel to the fire for Miami Heat critics, but rightfully so. If Miami win the series, this game will become an afterthought, only leading to the inevitable story on Sportscenter when they recap the NBA Finals and they say how the Heat overcame so much for their title. If they lose? Well I guess we’ll have to see about that.

The Awkward Battle of Good versus Evil

Awkward. That’s the word I would use to describe Tuesday night’s Finals game between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks. Awkward because each team didn’t play like themselves until after Lebron James hit the three to end the third quarter did the Heat look like the Heat. Awkward because the shooters of Dallas were largely ineffective and a large part they stayed in the game for so long last night, was because of their big men; even though these same big men were outrebounded by Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. But mostly, awkward because moving forward, no one understands how this series will end, something to which a Game 1 of the NBA Finals will usually lend some understanding.

It’s in complete contrast to how this series was defined in such a black and white manner. The battle of Good versus Evil (Pop Quiz! Guess who’s who?). The obvious team mentality of Dallas versus the three player team of Miami. Hell, even the teams play different defensive concepts, although Dallas’ zone defense has more to do with hiding their small guards than further separating themselves from Miami’s man-to-man defense.

 Nothing played out the way it should have Tuesday night, but overall I felt like Dallas gave the Miami Heat the game. I’m not trying to take away anything from Miami’s win but will the Heat ever play so poorly at home again for three quarters? No. I’ve never watched a game swing momentum so quickly off of one play but simply for the sake of emphasis, that Lebron three pointer at the end of the third quarter was the most important play of the game. Drama aside, that shot forced Jason Terry and other Dallas veterans to attempt to return to their former selves, which was painful to watch. It’s like Harrison Ford’s career: he was great, athletic, and sexy in his first two franchises Star Wars and Indiana Jones but realized he couldn’t make those movies forever. He focused on the other aspects of what is a great action move; confrontations, over the top romance, engaging dialogue; in a movie like Air Force One and hid his age deficiency. Then he felt pressured into reviving his old form in a sequel to Indiana Jones and at first it was fun to watch but then there was an epiphany along the lines of “this dude is old.”

Both Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic and Jason Kidd to some extent looked decrepit when trying to keep up with Wade and James. JJ Barea, who was a big reason Dallas swept LA, was pitiful as well but overall the Dallas team didn’t look ready to seize the opportunity handed to them. The soft label that haunted this team during the ’06 Finals is not easily applied here as big men Shawn Marion and Brendan Haywood (weird seeing my own name in a column) willed the team to stay in the ball game for as long as possible, it just wasn’t enough.

I’m not going to lie; I love the Dallas story if they win the NBA Finals, exorcising the demons against the team who didn’t deserve the win five year ago. However, if Lebron is hitting shots like he was Tuesday and the shooters of Dallas continue in their slumps, I’ll be writing how easily the Heat can win not one, not two, not three, but six championships barring injury. The Mavericks may be the last team to ever win a championship with just one star on their team and challenge the notion of team basketball versus a three star team. But there is no such thing as team basketball when the team doesn’t support their star.

Mostly, they need to win because all of America is terrified what will happen if Mark Cuban doesn’t receive his trophy since he turned twelve. (I think the plot would go something like this. Inspired by the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Cuban aligns with Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov to destroy the world of basketball as we know it. Cuban with the help of Prokhorov guts the Dallas roster except Brendan Haywood and forces various trades to acquire players like Ron Artest, Kenyon Martin, Jermaine O’Neal and especially Reggie Evans to induce BasketBrawl Two with the Miami Heat. After convincing Rasheed Wallace out of retirement, Wallace talks trash the whole game to Chris Bosh calling him various names like Raptor, AlienHead, and the Fat Kid on Two and a Half Men. Evans then goes for a repeat performance from his patented Chris Kaman move [he grabbed his junk] on Wade during a rebound, prompting Wade to react into a fight. Artest ignores the fight on the court, jumps into the stands causing terror. ESPN runs the fight on loop for the next three days and create a catchy symbol of BB2: This Time It’s Personal, only the subtitle drops out and the first B flips creating the Big Black symbol. Tell me you wouldn’t enjoy that.)

The Miami Heat aren’t guaranteed winners but if the one advantage Dallas has in their bench doesn’t play up to their capabilities, and Wade and Lebron are hitting their outside shots, the Miami reign will begin earlier than any of us expected.