NBA Finals Preview: OKC Will Trump Miami’s Big Three
BREAKING NEWS, NBA, News Tuesday, June 12th, 2012
The NBA Finals are finally upon us and, as many expected during this condensed season, youth has risen to the top. In a battle of elemental fundamentals, the much scrutinized Miami Heat will have their second shot at raising a banner in the East, while the ever-maturing and largely adored Oklahoma City Thunder will represent the West and attempt to realize their potential just three short seasons into the OKC era, leaving the city of Seattle to look on with mixed feelings.
Neither team got to the Finals without first weathering the last stand of a couple of the league’s elder statesman in Boston and San Antonio, but this is arguably the first time during this post-season where Miami and OKC playing a team built to run the floor with them. This should make for a series that could at times resemble a track meet more than a basketball game, and it makes for some interesting matchups on both ends of the floor.
The most intriguing matchup by far will pit everyone’s favorite second pick of a draft, Kevin Durant, *shakes head at Portland* against the world’s most reviled first pick, LeBron James. I’m curious how often these two will actually be guarding each other. With all respect to Shane Battier, I’m hard pressed to find a player more capable of at least making Durant work for his points than LeBron James.
Durant’s game seems to become more well-rounded by the season and this year he’s really been rising to the challenge defensively, making the effort to check the league’s elite. I doubt very much Scott Brooks will have Durant guard LeBron for any extended period of time, as Harden will likely draw Wade (and Sefolosha the daunting task of James) but down the stretch it would surprise me if Durant requests to guard James and (because LeBron struggles to do late it games) rises to the challenge.
Now, for all the flack that LeBron James takes for his inability to make (or even take) clutch shots late in games, let’s not forget whom we’re talking about here. I dislike the guy as much as the next sports fan with a pulse and a television, but he makes the term “beast mode” almost seem appropriate for use in sports journalism. The luxury of LeBron is his ability to be so dominant in games that the final minutes aren’t important. As if it was in doubt, LeBron’s performance in Boston proved that he’s more than prepared to step up in big game situations, but he’s yet to prove that he’s up for the big moment.
Dwayne Wade has proven himself capable of brilliance time and time again, James Harden is OKC’s most well-rounded (not best) player, and Westbrook is showing naysayers that his shoot-first-have-it out-with-KD-later point guard philosophy can be successful, but I think the most compelling matchup in the finals well be the Bosh/Ibaka matchup.
As fun as it can be to mock Chris Bosh’s emotional, don’t-dive-because-you-might-hurt-me attitude, he’s an invaluable cog in the Miami offense as their only post and mid-range scorer who compliments James and Wade perfectly. His ability to step out, board, and straight up make teams pay for over helping makes him Miami’s X-Factor. What’s scary is that he seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder for the first time in his career. Look out, he’s not just happy to be there anymore.
Serge Ibaka makes for some of the most highlight worthy defensive plays in the NBA, on top of that he’s really perfected a mid-range jumper that, during the Laker series, made Bynum and Pau look like second fiddles to the Perk-Ibaka tandem in the post. Given Miami’s lack of interior scoring, look for OKC to go small again as they did in San Antonio. His ability to check Bosh, patrol the paint, and hit open jumpers could pay championship dividends.
For all their differences in personnel, these teams are built to win in a pretty similar fast-paced fashion. Neither team is especially deep, with a roster centered around three scorers and a bunch of blue collar guys who know their respective roles, and this series could go either way and will be hotly contested. With that said, I give a slight, but distinct edge to the Thunder heading into the series. With the exception of Battier’s performance in game 7 of the conference finals, I’ve yet to see any of Miami’s gunners step up and consistently hit the shots afforded them by James and Wade’s penetration. I will say that Mario Chalmers’ play has been drastically undervalued, and he may be due for a coming out party similar to Jeff Teague’s rise to relevance against Derrick Rose last season, but as I mentioned before, Miami is facing a mirror image of themselves in the athleticism department. As a result, if this series becomes essentially a battle of “Big Threes”, OKC’s trio compliments each other a little better than the three amigos of South Beach.
On the OKC end, I think the Thunder learned a lot from the Spurs about how to play as a team and share the ball. To take such a shot to the mouth from San Antonio (with emphasis on Game 2) and recover so quickly (and thoroughly) is a testament to that team’s character and coaching. I kind of feel like the Thunder said “if you can’t beat them, join them” and their more unified offense makes them a scary team that I feel has one or two more dimensions than Miami that may prove to be the difference.
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Posted by Thomas Policastro
on Jun 12 2012. Filed under BREAKING NEWS, NBA, News.
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JH…Oh yea and for the record…I dont recall ever ripping Lebron James game…I ripped his coach, but never ripped Lebrons game! So please speak real talk when mentioning my name!
Did i say your name realtalk? No so you have nothing to worry about.
When you refer to the “4″ guys above you and I’m one of them, you might as well of said my name…So watch your tone, tough guy!
I always felt that soccer was the easiest sport to fix, but after watching game 2 and 3 of the NBA finals and the effect the referees had changing the series’ momentum (esp game 2), I might now change my opinion to it being basketball.
And Jake you ll continue to sound like a immature petulant child who hates and is a jealous person. While hes still celebrating his amazing year where he literally dominated the entire year. Nba mvp finals mvp and nba champion. Keep hating while hes celebrating. Kiss the ring
Damn, JH…..you’d think the Sixers just won the championship? When did Lebron join the Sixers? Lebron can kiss Jordan’s 6 rings…in fact he can kiss the 3 invisible ones also! I’ll give Lebron his due, he is an amazing athlete and will go down as one of the greats to play the game…just not the greatest!
Lebron’s story isnt done…Jordan played 19 years Lebron only 8
If Lebron plays at this level for 10 more years I think people will put his name above Jordan
Lets be Real here he didn’t annoint himself anything everyone else did
did AI give himself the name “the answer”
did KG give himself the nam “the big ticket”
Yeah he was at a Miami Heat Pep Rally
and said he would win multiple chips..like WTF do you expect him to say ..”uhh I don’t know how many”
Birdo remember REGGIE WHITE
Jordan played 19 years? If that were the case Jordan would have 9 NBA championship rings…for the record Jordan played 14 years!
15 if you can’t the season he was injured pretty much the whole year
Birdo in 93′ we lost Reggie White when as a FREE AGENT decided to sign with the packers and guess what happen after that? He won a Super Bowl. Id never stay at a place where i know i wouldnt win at. As a free agent it was his choice to leave. Get over it gosh. You guys stay in the past with everything. Even with the eagles you guys never know how to let things go. Lebrons and bosh decision to play in miami has been vindicated. They won a title together, cant take that away from them and im happy for them all. They’ve been thru alot
And are you really counting the years he played in Wash? LOL after being retired for 2-3 years?
Lebron has actually played 9 years, not 8. And I don’t count Jordan in Washington, that was a PR move to sell tickets and help his franchise that he was a GM of.
Lebron will never be better than Jordan because as he gets older, his body won’t let him be. He doesn’t have a consistent jumper nor the finesse to have a career as long as Jordan.
Why do you think Kobe stopped banging around with the big boys down low? When you play like that, you don’t last. I give Lebron another 5 years in the league playing at a high level.
Gotta… how about lets compare both at the age of 27…At 27, Jordan had how many NBA titles? 3….How many Final appearances 3…His Finals record? undefeated….Now lets do Lebron, who is now 27…1 NBA title, Finals record? I dont see how anyone can even fathom putting Lebron on top of MJ…it really rubs me the wrong way lol
LOL..oh those years don’t count..ok cool then can I subtract 3 since Lebron came straight from high School ?
Listen I respect Jordan’s skills and achievements and i consider him as one of the greatest just not THE greatest… But in my opinion He was an OVERHYPED, pampered marketing tool used by David $tern and corporate America.
the NBA Changed with Michael Jordan Rules were changed and made to benefit this dude…Why do you think the superstars get the calls ?
And yes I said Overhyped—When theres a slogan “wanna be like Mike” and you make a movie with Bugs Bunny YOU ARE OVERHYPED..LMAO
Gotta – I lost all respect for you my dude! you gotta be kidding me!
If Jordan is over hyped and pampered, what would you call Lebron? did you watch the series…Ummm Gotta, Jordan nearly averaged 30ppg as a rookie! No rules had to be changed, he dominated from the very start
Gotta Luv It- I appreciate your attempt to defend LeBron’s arrogance because all of these guys are arrogant, but come on. He didn’t anoint himself but he did have Chosen1 tattooed on his back. How would any of us act if we were as naturally gifted as him and latched on to at such a young age?
My question for you is who you think the best is if it is not Jordan? I think that you can make a case that it could be LeBron eventually, but not yet. Not even close. He dominated this whole year as well as in the playoffs with a focus that he hasn’t shown consistently before, but he still has some work to do.
And why is that a bad thing? He is still really young.
Gotta ” “hating” on space jam, being like mike and bugs bunny, you are un american, lol
And no you cant’ subtract 3…Anyone who follows the NBA, knew Jordan didn’t come back to Wash to win a title, he came back for that franchise, as he was the GM the season prior, if I recall….Also, again Jordan didnt play 19 years! 15 seasons counting the year he missed when broken foot! so to put it into perspective, Lebron has max 7 seasons to win 5 more championships!
Noone picked the Heat to win this series or the championship for that matter so let’s not paint the picture that they were the odds on favorites. Everyone picked ALOT of you guys hated these boys since they joined forces. But a championship later what can you say now? Nada! Long live King James!!!
Congratulations to you and your team Jon Hart . They were a good team all year long and you should be proud to be a Miami Heat fan! Congrats!
Long Live King James!!!