MIAMI Madness!

I started off this NBA Finals predicting that Dallas would win in 6 games. I even considered taking Dallas in 5 games if they won last night. But someone named "FLASH" has something else in mind.





The boy is simply a BEAST! He took over the game last night with about 6 and a half minutes to go and for Dallas, it was a done deal. Wade did everything BUT pull a Lebron and go tap Dirk on the chest and tell him "If you miss these free throws, the game's over!" How much more amazing can this guy be???

"If I were an X-Man I would wish my mutant power to be whatever D Wade has"



Gary Payton even hit a clutch shot during game 3 last night. He's playing it off like it wasn't that big of a shot, but we all know he'll be requesting the next "semi-" big shot in game 4 because he still thinks he's 25 years old and an all-star. But he played his butt off last night and hit that shot (his only shot) when it counted.



White Chocolate (AKA Jason Williams AKA J-Will AKA The White Allen Iverson AKA "The Professor" from And-1's older brother) played well too! I have always liked to watch this guy play because he's such a smooth player (as L would put it). But not only that, he will break ankles at will and drive to the hole and dish a sick pass like that one he had last night on the back-door cut to Wade. If he keeps it in gear and starts getting hot with his jump-shot, it could be dangerous for the Mavs. I'll refrain from making any white rapper jokes although I am DYING to do it!



The hometown MIAMI boy Udonis is one of my favorite NBA trashmen. You know one of those guys like Michael Ruffin or Bo Outlaw or someone like that...Scrappy, tough, and not afraid to throw his mouthpiece at a referee. I'm guessing he grew up in Crol City or Liberty City, one of the two. Nobody from the sunny side of the bridge has the toughness this guy does. At least not on the basketball court. What more could you ask for?



Every time you see a shot of Zo during a game, doesn't it look like that? He's the only player in the NBA who is hype during EVERY possession. He makes some unbelievable faces during the game. Passionate, passionate, passionate. This guy's not only a former great NBA player, but a medical marvel. How do you go from being dominant in the NBA, to having a kidney transplant, to coming back to the NBA and being productive. Not to mention the voluntary posterboy for Vince Carter dunks...





I had to get post that...Zo's a great guy though. I liked the special they did on him and how he helped out the kid who had a similar kidney condition. Real touching stuff. It was a very nice story and it showed that Zo is human, not superhuman like I sometimes believe because of his ability to bounce back from that kidney transplant. [This one's gonna hurt...]

"I would give my kidney to Zo just to have a piece of me in him" (NO Johnnycakes)



Pat Riley is the smoothest 100-year old I have ever seen. Not to mention one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time. He did a great job of getting the Heat ready for the playoffs after a regular season where they definitely under-achieved. And it looks like he may be on the verge of coaching them back into this series. He's a guy that demands the respect of his players and gets it. Now only if he could let me borrow some of theat A-gel he uses in his hair so I could get that drywall in my basement to stick. Okay, okay, okay...just a joke. I don't have a basement, but if I did...



Last but not least, it's the Diesel. Shaq's one of my favorite NBA players when it's time to do interviews. This guy never leaves you without at least one quotable statement. Remember the "Big Aristotle"? Man, that was funny! Last night though, Shaq came through and hit foul shots! Come on now! He hit foul shots?!?! This calls for troops being sent back home from Iraq or Tony Blair developing a brain of his own or George Bush...Nah, won't go there on the trackable blog.

Personally, I think if God gave Shaq the ability to consistently hit foul shots, Shaq would be the greatest NBA player in history (hands down); he would have broke all of Wilt's records; and he probably would have won like 10 rings. But the guy shoots foulshots so bad that they have an actual term for making him shoot foul shots...The "Hack-A-Shaq". Jeez!

Shaq isn't what he used to be, but last night, I guess that was a good thing since it meant he would now hit his foul shots when they were needed. The guy's a great leader and he's taken a step back in his role on the team to let D. Wade takeover and you gotta respect that.

I'm wishing the Heat lots of luck for the remainder of this series. I wouldn't be mad at all if you guys won (since there's no wager on this series on my behalf). I love D. Wade and Shaq!! So make this thing into a series fellas and make people like me look stupid. Hell, it won't be the first time!