I missed 2 posts but I seriously got busy these past two days, but they were for good reasons so its ok. I didn’t get to write though what I thought either MIA or BOS needed to do. Of course it’s all irrelevant now, as MIA has taken the Eastern Finals.
At any rate, I wrote down these:
• Pierce has to score 40 or more.
• Somebody else in MIA needs to score other than the usual, or Battier needs to go at least double figures (he scored 12 today, all 3s).
What instead happened was:
• Pierce scored 20, hardly all star numbers esp. for a Game 7 playoff game, and KG got into early foul trouble that completely de – railed Boston’s usual plays.
• MIA committed an inexcusable 10 TOs in the first half, one of them culminating in this spectacular play off of Bass’ steal from Wade in the 2q.
That was a true old school in – your – face dunk. Wade blocked it even, but it didn’t matter because Bass just stuffed that in, exactly the way Coaches say bigs should do when they can. In fact that’s a textbook reason why bigs should dunk, because if he hadn’t, Wade would have swatted that thing back to the other court. It was so good I think they replayed that about 5x.
• But the real clincher is this: Bosh scored an incredible 3-4 from the 3pt. line, ending with 19pts.
It’s not the points itself, but the fact that Bosh opens up the Celtic D so much if he shoots it so well from so far. Boston bigs KG, Stiemsma or Hollins are relegated to standing around several feet away from the basket to try and guard him, allowing excursions into the lane for everyone else.
So to say Bosh has been big for Miami is an understatement today. Even in his first game when he played limited minutes, he made moves around the basket that made me have shake my head because I couldn’t believe MIA had a big who could do that. Haslem and Anthony, while very important for defense and occasional spot – up Js, are nowhere the level of what Bosh can do offensively, and he wasn’t even 100%. It’s scary how effective he can be therefore, once he gets even more rest before the Finals.
Wrapping This Series Up
I’m glad BOS got so far into the Playoffs and I’m sad to see them go because they are clearly running on an empty tank even during the PHI series. There was a resurgence from KG in Game 2 a few days ago, but as for Pierce, he was really just a shadow of his former self. When Pierce is The Truth he is one of the most inspirational players I’ve ever seen, but the way he was these past few games I’m happy he finally gets time off to heal whatever it is ailing him.
OTOH, James put a stamp onto Game 6 that I christen the ‘SHUT YOUR MOUTH’ game, where he basically just does that, shuts . everyone . up. Coach Van Gundy made a few great points during the game in asking ‘what if it had been LeBron that went for 4-17 (Pierce’s numbers)?‘ and ‘why is everyone on LeBron so much?’
To be fair, it’s because of this Coach:
I mean, let’s not forget that, ok? I know it’s been 2 years, but the announcement of ‘not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7…‘ championships still grates in my ears.
But I do agree however, that people had been taking it waaaay too far and have blown it out of proportion. And by that, I mean come.on., and I wrote so last year. Coach Van Gundy said there should be a statute of limitations for such a thing, and I agree. These guys did wrong, and they admit as much. They were caught up or whatever. Ok, we understand that, now let’s move on.
But will people finally respect James for the behemoth all – around beast, the future legend that he obviously is?
Well that all depends on whether he wins this.
Make no mistake. How we regard LeBron James for the rest of 2012 until 2013 will depend on whether he gets that trophy.
People respect James’s ability. There is no question about that now. There’s this period in the 2q of Game 6 where he is bringing up the ball. He is wearing the red Heat visitor uniform. He’s skipping across the lane, then in a sudden burst of speed he crosses Pierce and slams it home so hard the camera behind the board was still shaking when he was running back down. That is classic James. The KING slamming it down your sorry ASS. When I think of the MIA – BOS series, I will always remember 45 pts., 15 rebounds and that play.
But in order for us to completely forget this?
He’s got to get this.
There’s just no other option to my mind.
Anything less, and 2012 – 2013 will just be exactly like the past 2 years for LeBron James. People will respect his ability, but otherwise be the target of hate.