How Dallas blew this series I’ll never know. They made alot of mistakes and it is my opinion that if they had prevented just one of them, they would be the ones celebrating. The 13 point lead with six minutes to go collapse in game three, the Stackhouse suspension, the Josh Howard timeout or phantom Wade foul in game five, or the no call backcourt violation. If any of these mistakes would have been prevented its a Dallas championship. All that aside however, I am pinning it on Dirk. I love Dirk, he’s a 7 footer who can take guards off the dribble. He was a legitimate MVP canditate for the regular season, and he was Dallas’s number one option on offense. But…somewhere between Game 7 against San Antonio in the Division semifinals and the championship, he forgot how to drive. And that is what was making their playoff run so special. He is virtually unstoppable when he has the inside and outside games going. Unstoppable - big men can’t guard him off the drible and he shoots over guards from the outside. He’s a mismatch before the game starts. But Miami made him one dimensional. I don’t know if he was hurt, lacked confidence, or just forgot to drive the lane (doubtful with Avery in the background), but he did and it cost him. In crunch time against San Antonio he was going for broke on every possession. He’d either get the bucket or get fouled. Against Miami, it seemed all Dirk did in the forth quarter was loft 25 footers.

With Miami winning, all the radio shows and sports writers seemed to gush over Dwayne Wades performance. Don’t get me wrong, I think the guy is awesome and he put together a Jordan like performance during the post season, but where is the Shaq love? Sure hes past his prime, but he opens the floor up for everyone. He makes everyone significantly better. Since he has been in the league, every shooting guard he’s ever played with has seen their stock sky rocket. Penny was being compared to Magic. Heck, Nike was even throwing him some major love (remember little penny). Then in L.A., Kobe became the air apparent. Now, in Miami, its Wade who is drawing all the comparisons to number 23. Is it a coincidence that Shaq just keeps getting lucky enough to play with these guys, or the other way around. I think its definitely the other way around. They are all good to great, but give the diesel some love.

Finally, I think Cuban needs to stay on the treadmill a little longer before the games. Apparently he gets on it prior to tipoff to take the edge off. From the look on that guys face after game five, he probably never should have gotten off the treadmill. He’s bonkers. My guess is hes a guy that you both love and hate to work for.

Is it me, or does Eric Dampier look as if he is in a never ending concused state?