Finals Talk: Prediction

As the seconds tick closer to the first tip of the 2011 NBA Finals, it's time for that ever so important prediction.

The Dallas Mavericks are the team best equipped the compete with the Miami Heat with the number of weapons they can put on the floor that can shoot the lights out from three point range.

Jason Terry is guaranteed to garner some conversation from the Heat coaching staff, the guy is red-hot from three point range this postseason. He's averaging six a game and is shooting 46% from beyond the arc which is completely ridiculous

Dirk may be the only true star on the team, but he isn't their only playmaker, there has been phenomenal play from Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd.

Kidd is tied for third in assists in the 2011 playoffs and has made a couple big shots throughout this run to the Finals by the Mavs and an unquestioned leader with unmatched experience on the floor.

Marion has improved his play as the playoffs progressed and he capped it off with his best game of the playoffs in the Game 5 win over the Thunder when he got 26 points and eight rebounds.

The Miami Heat once upon a time was as deep a kiddie pool, while it's gotten better, they still don't have the production from the rest of the roster not named Wade, James and Bosh as they would want, but it's worked out fine so far.

Though Miami has gotten a much needed defensive lift from Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem, those two guys provided much needed post toughness that has been missing for majority of the season.

Miami is no longer a push over in the paint, but Dallas will have a distinct size advantage down low with two seven foot guys in Heywood and Chandler.

Dallas will continue to spread its scoring attack while Miami will stick with what's worked, going through Wade and James with Bosh picking his spots and attacking when necessary. I don't think that will be enough however.

My pick for the 2011 NBA Finals is the Mavericks in seven, this will be a great series as we'll see great performances from all the principle characters in this series and we're guaranteed to see LeBron take over at least two games in this series.

But in the end, the hunger is greater with Dallas and the roster is overall better and the size factor will come into play many times over the course of the series.

I said before the season that three guys don't equal the production of an entire team and I've been proven wrong up until this point, but I see the Heat's run ending here and Dirk gets his first and potentially only ring.

Photos Courtesy of the Associated Press

Hustle Points: NBA Finals Preview

Tonight marks the kickoff of the NBA Finals and the NBA has been in the midst of a great run recently with regards to the increased popularity and ratings.

The 2011 NBA Finals features another interesting matchup and also interestingly enough this is the first Finals matchup in two decades that will not feature a Jordan, Olajuwon, Duncan, O'Neal or a Bryant, which would've made this a new blood match up if it wasn't a rematch from 2006, but that aside there are great stories abound.

The Dallas Mavericks have been plagued for years as the team that couldn't win in the playoffs and when they made any progress, they were expected to choke like they did back in the Finals in 2006.

It's tough to say that a team which has won 50+ games in a season 11 straight times is a fluke or a fraud, but that became the perception of the Mavs. They were a team that were destined to be bridesmaids (nice current pop culture reference) and it would take an amazing twist of fate to prove otherwise.

It may be safe to say that the 2011 playoff run of Dallas has done that and made everyone re-evaluate this team and how good they are and how great a player Dirk Nowitzki is.

Nowitzki is averaging 28 points per game this postseason in 38 minutes of action for the Mavs and provides a match up nightmare for anyone that opposes Dallas.

Dirk is a top ten player in basketball, but has been a also-ran in a league full of Bryants, Lebrons, Wades and Howards. Not many people volunteer Dirk's name when discussing the best in the game today.

It always felt as if everybody knew how good Dirk is, but no one spoke about it. Well, the words are flowing now, Michael Wilbon even shared some thoughts on how Nowitzki compares to Larry Bird, which is immense praise.

From the Miami Heat side of things, the talk will continue to be about the Big 3 and what they've accomplished fairly enough, but in the end it looks as if LeBron will be the one getting a majority of the credit and the pub if the Heat were to pull off winning a ring in their first season together.

The most important part of that is the response of Dwyane Wade, he doesn't care about the overblown reaction to James and he definitely wouldn't care if he wins another ring. There has been no fight for power in Miami this season, no conflict for the basketball (some from Bosh, but he doesn't matter in that regard).

The NBA's two biggest superstars have been on the same page the entire season and that's the reason why Miami is at this point right now.

If James is able to get his first ring in his first year as a Heat, then a lot of the criticism of him and his "Decision" will cease to exist because he'd be well on his way to making his point of wanting to win multiple championships and we all know that the first one is always the hardest for teams capable of winning multiple.

Then you look at the story of a Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion and Jason Terry and their chase for championships, this series is dripping for great drama and I'm eagerly anticipating the tip off of this series and I'll be covering this series from tip-off to final buzzer and this preview is only the beginning.

Finals prediction coming later in the day!

Photos Courtesy of the NBA

ill Take: Jim Tressel Steps Down

Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel stepped down this morning under the light of increased speculation of continued program violations at OSU.

"After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach," Tressel said in a statement Monday morning. "The appreciation that Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable."

I spoke at length about Tressel a couple months ago and what I said then still applies now. After what occurred with former player Ray Small and what he said late last week and the rumors are that his conversations lead to this development.

While I'm not the biggest fan of college coaches and I find many of them to be insincere, I know that Tressel is not alone in these actions in the NCAA, there are numerous programs that are guilty of major NCAA infractions and won't be caught because of how well the violations are hidden.

Tressel should have been fired months ago for his actions and the fact that it took more accusations for him to realize what long-term harm he's causing to the program is ridiculous.

What he did isn't the problem for me, it's how he did that screams the loudest and now the Ohio State program will be under a very watchful eye for years to come as people talk about OSU receiving a penalty as harsh or harsher than USC's.

The most eye opening thing about this is not that Tressel was caught, but how easily everything can unravel for a upstanding university like Ohio State in a matter of months and the reality is that all the major programs despite the image of compliance and hanging on by a thread because of the possibility of that one athlete opening his mouth or being spurned by the university from spilling the beans about events that could put his/her school on lockdown.

Now we're going to hear more talk about how the NCAA should pay its athletes and allow this and that, but it'll never happen and if anything more rules will be enforced to prevent future nonsense from happening at the top schools and things are only going to get worse as a result.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press

Fifth Starter Struggles Again

For one day, all the struggles and controversy that's plagued the Mets organization had subsided. On Sunday afternoon, the Mets beat their biggest rival and did it convincingly while the Phils were left wondering about their fifth starter again.

The Mets defeated the Phillies (33-20) by a score of 9-5, as the Mets were able to avoid being swept at Citi Field by the Phillies for the first time since the ballpark opened.

New York scored nine runs for the first time since early May as they snapped a three game losing streak and had previously lost six out of seven games before their win yesterday.

Vance Worley got he start for the Phillies and was hit all the ballpark for his three innings of work.

The Mets racked up a season high 17 hits in the victory and a amazing 12 of them came off of Worley.

The 12 hits surrendered by Worley are the most given up by a Phillies starter this season and yesterday's outing marks the second shaky start in a row although Sunday's game definitely sparks more concern than his previous start against the Reds did.

Ultimately on a day where many of the Phillies starters were resting since they are currently in the midst of a brutal stretch for the team, the Mets loss isn't overly concerning.

The only potential worry out of the game was just how defeated Worley looking on the mound, which was a complete contrast to the other three outings where even when he was hit, he bounced back and remained his composure on the mound, stuff-wise.

A bad fifth starter won't hurt the Phillies too much, they were able to get by Blanton's 5.50 ERA before he got hurt, but one has to wonder just how much better would the Phillies be if they had a competent fifth starter, although depending on Worley's next outing he may well prove that he could be the guy for that spot and this could be just one really bad outing.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press

Hustle Point: Heat Return to Finals

It's been quite the season for the Miami Heat, they've been basketball celebrities since the infamous "Decision" and we've seen more drama from them than from a episode of All My Children.

We've changed our minds so many times about the Heatles, that our thoughts today about them barely resemble what we thought in July.

Now that Miami is in the NBA Finals, things believe it or not are about to get even more interesting from oft-discussed trio.

The Chicago Bulls were bounced out of the playoffs in five games punctuated by last night's 83-80 loss in which Dwyane Wade and LeBron James scored 22 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to help spark a 18-3 closing run that vanquished the Bulls.

And both Wade and James are in vastly different positions now than they were when they last reached the NBA Finals.

Both players touched briefly on the last times each played in the Finals, James went in 2007 and of course Wade won his ring in 2006 vs. these Dallas Mavericks.

LeBron in 2007 was still a happy member of the Cleveland Cavaliers when they were swept in four, but James the player was seen in a completely different light.

James was a fan favorite, the feel-good story, the underdog and many people wanting to see LeBron capture his first ring. The mood has changed ever so slightly, LeBron is still seeking his first ring, but the people are no longer on his side and James in a strange twist of fate has become a villain.

The 2011 NBA Finals are chock full of great subplots and there are superstars abound, I'm going to give you guys my Finals preview sometime over the weekend, but I wanted to take a moment to kinda come to grips with where I stood with LeBron after the last three playoff series.

As a former LeBron die-hard, I am one of his former fans and I admit that, but I can admit that he has stepped up to the occasion in a way he's never done before and it plays to the point he made many months ago about needing help to get it done.

It's amazing on a nightly basis to see two of the top five players in the game perform in the way they have and the fact that LeBron to this point has backed up his comments about needing help to reach the next level in his career and if he's able to win a ring with this Heat team in its first year together, watch out.

Photos Courtesy of the Associated Press

Lee's Red Hot Bat

It's been a while since I've written a Phillies recap, but it's like riding a bike, let's get to it.

The Philadelphia Phillies (31-19) won the series finale today over the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 10-4 behind the bat of Cliff Lee. Yes, that Cliff Lee.

Lee got the win for the Phils today going eight innings, allowing four earned runs on ten hits while striking out eight to pick up his fourth win on the season. But the story was about Lee's day at the plate.

At the plate, Lee was one of the Phils' biggest contributors going 2-4 at the dish and driven in three runs, included a game breaking ground rule in the bottom of the sixth inning which broke a 4-4 tie.

Lee has always been enamored with the prospect of hitting in the National League and has said on many occasions that he enjoys the opportunity to get his hands a little dirty and he showed why today.

The Phils were able to take three out of four against the struggling Reds and have seemed to right the ship after losing five of six games in one stretch.

Philadelphia is also seeing a spark in run production after a nine game stretch where the Phillies couldn't score more than three runs in a game, the Phillies have scored three or more runs in their last four against Cincinnati, a team not starved for starting pitching.

The Phillies didn't look very tired at all after a 19 inning marathon on Wednesday night which saw the two teams playing past 1am.

It has also a great sign for the Phillies to see Raul Ibanez continue of his hot streak at the plate, as he hit a three-run home run today and has been hitting at a .340 clip since his 35 at-bat hit less streak.

Chase Utley also chipped in with his first home run of the season since returning to the team on Monday.

This is a team that badly needed a shot in the arm offensively have seemed to wake up, thanks in part to a guy that couldn't buy a hit a month ago and a second baseman who wasn't on the team for 95% of the season.

It's safe to say that things are looking up for the Phillies and sometimes we forget that this team has locked down the top spot in the NL East basically from the beginning until now even with the constant struggles and injuries.

The Phillies are now looking ahead to a weekend series up in New York against the self-imploding Mets. Roy Oswalt will take to the mound tomorrow night for the Phils and will be opposed by Chris Capuano. First pitch tomorrow night is set for 7:05pm.

Photo Courtesy US Presswire

Hustle Points: What were the Lakers thinking?

Mike Brown was officially hired as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday and somewhere Kobe Bryant is not happy.

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a terrible collapse in the second round of the NBA playoffs when they lost to the NBA Finals bound Dallas Mavericks, the result of that series saw a change in philosophy from the Lakers front office.

It was a rumor that if the Lakers went to the Finals this postseason, then when former coach Phil Jackson retired, it looked like a lock that assistant Brian Shaw would be his successor.

Thanks to that miserable sweep in the conference semifinals, the Lakers may now be forever screwed...or maybe just screwed until they get rid of the guy.

Mike Brown has been all polished up the last couple days on ESPN, maybe due to his employment there for the last couple months, but there hasn't been much talk about why Brown was fired and what happened to the Cavaliers on his watch.

Yeah, it's easy to look at the fact his teams in Cleveland won and he has one of the best winning percentages as a coach in NBA history, but it isn't exactly rocket science to win with LeBron James in the Eastern Conference during the years where the East was a "rebuilding" conference.

The true test of a coach is playoff effort, playoff results, having the respect of a team and having authority and just overall looking like a coach. Mike Brown did very few of those things during his time as a head coach.

I get the fact that he's a great defensive mind, then hire him as an assistant. There are numerous defensive geniuses that are head coaches and they dot the sidelines in the NFL. Being a great defensive mind doesn't make an automatic great head coaching option.

Mike Brown is a good guy and a good basketball guy, but he will have to completely renovate his coaching image after being quit on in Cleveland and fired. Kobe Bryant is one of the most demanding players in the NBA and if Brown doesn't get his respect from the jump, then Brown could be in for another rocky tenure as a head coach.

Photos Courtesy The Associated Press

Top 5 NBA Playoff Storylines

The NBA playoffs have been eye opening and revealing in many ways for many teams. With all the happenings over the last couple months, I feel as if these are the stories that are the most intriguing.

5) The Re-emergence of Dirk Nowitzki for the Dallas Mavericks: Going into this postseason Dirk was an also-ran superstar that everyone knew, but nobody feared. In many minds, he's the NBA's gentle giant. In one postseason, he was able to shape and form a completely new identity and is now receiving praise that he hasn't heard since his MVP season.

One thing that people continuously forget about Dirk (me included) is how hard he is to stop when he fully utilizes his entire moveset on the floor and there are shots of his that are completely unguardable, like that one legged fade away jumper. All of us are guilty of forgetting just how dominant Dirk can be and he also proved just how clutch he can be when he hit that huge three point dagger last night.

4) The Rehabilitation of Zach Randolph: Zach has always had potential and the size to be a superstar and he's even had the numbers to be considered a "star", but for whatever reason there was no floor presence with Randolph. That all changed this postseason when he became a certifiable post demon, when he's as focused as he was this postseason we all saw just how tough he is to guard and how much he stuffs the box score.

The Memphis Grizzlies went from being forgotten to being the next chic pick behind the Oklahoma City Thunder as the "next" team in the Western Conference and a big reason for that is the rise of Randolph and the way he's captivated the city of Memphis, and it's made for a great story on Beale Street.

3) The Apparent Fall of the Orlando Magic: The Orlando Magic are one of a few Eastern Conference powers and are a perennial playoff contender, but they always seem to fall short and it's been a gradual drop since the year they made the NBA Finals. This year, they lost in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks...wait what? They lost to a team they completely obliterated one year prior.

On top of that, it becoming clear that the team is beginning to respond less and less to coach Stan Van Gundy and it's clear he was sick of them by the end of the season with regard to some of his postgame press conference comments. And of course there is that elephant in the room by the name of Dwight Howard who seems closer to leaving by the day. It doesn't look like the Magic will continue their run as a top four seed in the East.

2) The Heat are who we hoping they weren't: Miami is making a believer out of all the disbelievers and they're doing it in impressive fashion, dispatching of the Sixers and Celtics in five and they are ready to do the same to the Chicago Bulls. The only controversy this postseason has been one that has occasionally popped all season with the drama surrounding the question of who's the closer.

Wade and James have proven that when those two guys are on, it appears that you can have only two guys dominating and win playoff games which is something I didn't think they would be able to do and now Chris Bosh has decided to play some basketball and earn his money and as a result, the Heat have become even more dangerous and are destined for the NBA Finals.

1) The curious case of Derrick Rose: Following D-Rose this postseason has been nothing short of illuminating. He's seen all types of criticism and praise and I think if you look at the beginning of the postseason to now, the response to his play is trending downward in a aggressive fashion. There are people that are attacking Rose's style of play, late shot selection, intelligence, shooting percentage, etc.

Rose has been one of the most discussed MVP's in the postseason in a long time and there have been talks of whether Rose even deserved the MVP. My thoughts on this will be brief, Rose is one of the most impressive point guards in the NBA today and deserves more credit than what he's gotten and while he may not prove it in this series vs. the Heat, Rose is going to be one of the focal point's of the NBA for years to come.

Photos Courtesy of  CBSSports.com and Getty Images

Back and Better Than Ever!

It's been a while since I've patrolled these What's ill pages, I had to go graduate and start looking for real work and I've missed a lot of great things and I've missed this site. To have this great canvas to express my opinion, it was missed.

With the Phillies game last night going 19 innings, which was unbelievable and the NBA playoffs inching towards the Finals and Mike Brown getting hired as Lakers coach, there's a buffet of material for me to devour and excuse while I dig in and welcome back to What's ill.