#070 - Finals Recap: King's Ring, Miami, Miami, Miami

I will refrain from using a photo on this post. Sorry. I know the photos are why everyone comes here. And by everyone, I mean, someone? Just don't feel like sifting through internet images of all the red and white confetti pouring down on Dwyane Wade's head. Sure, I'm a sore loser.

Simply put, the Heat outplayed the Thunder, and they outplayed them in a way that left little doubt as to which team was ready to win the championship. Congrats to OKC for managing to swing Game 1, but they botched every key moment, every potential opportunity to win a second game, every high-pressure situation from there on out. And not in a finger-pointing kind of way. In just a general, hey guys, we didn't get it done way. Westbrook dribbling it off his foot. Harden missing a fast break layup. Sefolosha getting numerous three pointers blocked. Durant trying to go behind his back in traffic (twice). The no-call on LeBron at the end of Game 2. Each of the biggest moments of the series from Game 2 on ended up flowing the Heat's way. And they deserve all the credit, they did what they needed to, especially the big-time three point shooting of Battier, Chalmers and Miller, and the free-throw shooting of Wade and LeBron in the clutch.

There seems to be a big confusion between not wanting a team to win and being a hater. I've never been a LeBron hater, I'm not sour simply because he won and I want him to suffer endless defeats. I merely preferred the narrative of LeBron on the Cavs, building his own team, crafting his own legend. That's what I wanted to see. Not the Basketball SuperFriends. It has nothing to do with not respecting LeBron's game. I just didn't like his choices. For the last three years, there's never been a time for me when I was uncertain as to who the best player in the league was. It was always LeBron. Even if the Thunder had beaten the Heat, that wouldn't have proven Durant as better. He's not. That's not to say he's not better at certain things, because he is, and his pure scoring ability ranks up there with the greatest of all time. LeBron is a different beast all together. Defense, rebounding, fast break, passing. He performs at a world-class level in almost every facet of the game. There's never been a stronger finisher. End of story. All of the "If they win, what does it mean" conjecture is bullshit. It doesn't mean anything. He still would have been LeBron if they had lost. He still would have been the best in the game. Maybe it might have meant that he didn't play like it, but he had a really solid game in Game 1, and they lost that game. It just turned out throughout the series that he got the help he's been asking for.

The biggest thing I credit LeBron on is his acceptance of his faults. He won't publicly admit it, despite his recent confession that he felt he was immature during the loss to Dallas last year. His game is what speaks to his acquiescence. Instead of trying to be a jumpshooter, taking the opportunities given to him by very cautious defenders, he played aggressive. I don't think he's ever going to be an elite jumpshooter. He can get better, and he has, by he doesn't have the body dynamics of a Ray Allen or a Kevin Durant. His shooting form is too bulky and mechanical. He shoots best only when he has the space to set himself properly. That's okay, it's not the worst thing in the world to not be an elite shooter, but there was a long period of time where it seemed like that's what he wanted. This Finals proved that he understood his weaknesses, and he wouldn't succumb to them. Harden gave him jumper after jumper, "Please shoot it, please, please," and he wouldn't give in. It was easy to see that the biggest problem with the Heat version 1.0 was LeBron's and Wade's jumpshooting. Force them into those 19 footers, and you'll survive. Everyone acknowledged it, except for the players themselves. In the Finals, it seemed like they (at least LeBron) said, "Enough."

The Thunder will roll right along next year. I don't think they'll have any hiccups. They might look to add some depth -- I don't think Derek Fisher can be counted on for the same production next year, though it will be a huge bonus to get Eric Maynor back. They certainly might like a back to the basket scorer, if one exists out there, and it wouldn't kill them to flip Perkins. In my mind, one key player that they're missing is a Stephen Jackson type (or his less aggressive counterpart, Shane Battier). A decent three point shooting wing player who is strong enough to guard the best 2s and 3s in the game while Durant works on his strength and defensive footwork. I think that player would be great for them, because Sefolosha, while being a terrific defender, lacks threat offensively, and Harden in my eyes is a bit undersized. Early mock drafts have them taking Jeff Taylor from Vanderbilt, an excellent shooter for a 6'7" forward, and I think the fit would be great (though his defense is clearly well below what they'd look for). The worst reaction would be to panic and break up parts of the core. I have to give Russell Westbrook a tremendous amount of credit for what he did throughout these playoffs. Last year, I thought he might be the weak link, the problem player that could keep them from reaching their goal. This year, I know for certain that's not the case. Sure, he doesn't always make the extra pass, and his game management is questionable. But this guy gives his heart, night in and night out. When the rest of the team seemed resigned to fate late in Game 5, he was booking it up and down the court, losing by 25 points, taking it hard to the rack, trying to press ball handlers. In the span of a few weeks, I've really grown to love him. If it came down to Harden or Westbrook going forward, I think the Thunder will stick with Russ. He wants it, and he wants it with Durant, his big bro and number one fan. To me, there's a piece of Harden that screams, "I want my own team." He might get his wish.

I can't really explain why it is that I like this Thunder team -- I just do. I enjoyed Durant's performance his one year at Texas, and naturally, I was interested to see where he went in the pros. He and I are built similarly, and if there's anyone's game that I would want to have myself, it'd probably be his, but that certainly doesn't explain all of it. Once they moved and the prospect of a new team was out there, I paid more attention. They had a solid core, young guys, likeable guys. Westbrook was a pinball, Durant was the anchor. Keeping it steady. I was a fan of Harden at Arizona State (at least, until he laid a massive egg in the NCAA Tournament) and it was nice to see him go to OKC in the draft. And Nick Collison has truly become one of my favorite players in the league. He accepts who is he, and doesn't try to do any more. That's admirable. I've felt an affinity for this team for a while, and I was really pumped to see them get to the Finals. Unfortunately, once they got there, they ran into a team that was playing better.

The one thing everyone can agree on from this playoffs is that the Heat did it, and they did it without controversy. I understand Rose and Howard were injured -- but given their teams' performances without them, I hardly think they would have factored enough to take out Miami. And OKC got the short end of the stick on many questionable calls, but in my eyes, I don't think they did enough otherwise to warrant that gripe. There's no fix, there's no barking about preferential treatment. LeBron James was the best player of the playoffs, is the best player in the game, and he got himself a championship, thanks to an extremely productive supporting cast.

Not liking a team is not the same as hating on them. Last year, there was an abundance of undue venom spewed LeBron's way for how he played in the Finals. He underperformed, they lost, I think he probably felt bad enough about that. I didn't want to see them win last year, and I was happy for Dirk when the Mavs got it. I didn't want to see them win this year, and I'm pretty bummed for Durant and the rest of the Thunder that they fell short. LeBron deciding to bail on the Cavs and trying to do it with Wade in Miami left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt like it robbed us of seeing a potential legend in the making in a place nobody expected; he had a chance to make Cleveland his own. It didn't change his skills as a player, I just didn't like it. But dislike is different from disrespect. The Heat played superbly in the Finals, and throughout most of the playoffs. They got what they deserved.