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
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