by Grahaml » Fri May 27, 2011 2:30 pm
LeBron is just the best player going around and has proved it time and again this series, just doing whatever his team mates can't.
Wade battled out all game and finally started to get it going in the last.
Bulls were very poor down the stretch. Had a pretty commanding lead then their offense fell apart and their D, as mooted by yours truly all season, couldn't do enough when it was really needed.
Rose needs to learn how to score against guys who can match his speed. Developing his outside game is the most obvious area, but also his protection of the ball when he reaches the hoop. You only have to look at LeBron and Wade to see how they work hard to make sure nobody can get to the ball. He could also look to dish more often when he's struggling. He just can't have so many 8/24 nights against the top teams Noah needs to be a part of the offense. Excellent rebounder, reasonable defender but just too limited at this stage. Deng hit big shot after big shot all series, but it wasn't enough. Definitely more reliable than I thought at the start of the season. But the Bulls are definitely on the up. Boozer I think will contribute more next season down low while a scoring option at centre or just another shooter with a reliable shot will open things up for them, but then how many teams are after players like that? Will be a contender in the next season (whenever that is).
Now onto the finals. Dirk probably comes up against a side that has one of the better matchups for him, while the Mavs outside shooters won't have the time and space against Miami's perimiter D. The mavs will probably look to play a bit more through Chandler and Marion in the post. Miami will look to work Jason Kidd hard on the defensive end to limit his playmaking down the other, force Dirk to hit fadeaways all game against double teams to win. A couple weeks ago this looked very much like it would have been Dallas with 9 players against Miami with 4, but Haslem, Anthony and Miller are doing some nice things now.
The playoffs have had everything but a game 7. Would be brilliant if it happened.