Good vs Evil

The NBA Finals have begun so let's talk some storylines.  Here are a quick five that I've been thinking about... in no particular order.    

1.) Jason Kidd.  Last week we talked about how the outcome of this Finals series will shape the legacy of Dirk Nowitzki, but the same thing may be even more true of Jason Kidd.  Kidd is going to go into the Hall of Fame as one of the best 7 or 8 point-guards of all time.  But his only memorable post-season runs came in the early Otts with the New Jersey Nets, when he lead them out of the paltry East to the Finals twice in a row.  And where they were promptly, completely destroyed by the Lakers and Spurs respectively.   Maybe considered the smartest player of his era, Kidd has never been shown the kind of respect reserved for Magic, Cousy, West, Oscar Robinson, Clyde Frasier, and Isiah Thomas, because those guys all won the hardware at some point.  And Kidd never has.  So where does his legacy go if the Mavs can win this title? 

2.) Erik Spoelstra.  Met with such harsh criticism during the regular season, mainly because of the constant media attention (and the writers' subsequent need to write something… anything) coach Spo has emerged from the pressure cooker unscathed.  And now he’s poised to enter that ever-elusive fraternity of NBA Champion coaches, possibly to be known from now on as the Jackson Club.  All-time great coaches Jerry Sloan, Don Nelson, Rick Adelman, George Karl, and Jeff VanGundy aren’t in it.  But Spoelstra now has a chance be a part of the Jackson Club, at the ripe old age of 40.  It may be blasphemy to say it, but he looks like he could become the modern hybrid of Pat Riley and Phil Jackson (He's only 16 titles behind at this point.)  The calm intensity and work ethic of Riley, coupled with Jackson’s ability to shepherd mega-talents, creating inventive ways to motivate them and improve upon their weaknesses.  In a league where you must have great talent to compete, coach Spo has been gifted an amazing opportunity, but he still deserves a lot of credit for the Heat’s success.  And this could be the start of something huge. 

3.) Shawn Marion (and Peja Stojakovic.)  The Dallas Mavericks have spent the last ten years adding talent intermittently to their glitzy roster.  Some smart, some just head-scratchers, but none were as surprising to me as the 5 year $39 Million contract they doled out to Marion in 2009.  What were they thinking?  The Matrix had his hay-day with Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudamire in the mid Otts while playing with the high-flying Phoenix Suns.  But he was apparently unhappy as a third fiddle, and he eventually forced his way out of town.  After that, the world crashed down around him and he slipped into obscurity; it looked like he was completely done.  But in this playoffs he has been rejuvenated and has played a large role in the Maverick’s resurgence.  To a much lesser extent, the same can be said of Peja.  In fact, there's no shortage of career redemption stories that hang in the balance on the Dallas side is there?

4.) aaand of course, Good vs Evil.  Okay, we’ve probably made too much noise about this particular theme here at the Underdogs, but what it really does is describe just how drastically these two teams contrast each other in style, personnel, hype, and how each team was constructed.  The Mavericks have played together for years, battling adversity together.  They have succeeded and failed over the years, and as I’ve alluded to earlier, they have now, almost poetically, been offered this one chance at redemption.  They represent stability, humility, perseverance, and a team that is truly more than the sum of its parts.  

The Miami Heat on the other hand have, fairly or not, come to represent excess, entitlement, arrogance, and big man on campus type status.  They were constructed in a way that no team in history had been before… overnight, and it instantly transformed them into a champion contender, seemingly without having to really earn it together on the floor.  That’s why America hates them.  America doesn’t like skipping steps, or any deemed honor given prematurely.  When a big flashy new-bully-on-the-block preens and gloats, predicting years of dominance before even playing a single game, (like LeBron did when he joined Miami last summer) America wants one thing… come-up-ance!  More than anything else in the world.  It’s like my boy, and Honorary Underdog Austen said the other day.  He wants to make a t-shirt that says, “I’m a __________ vs Miami Heat Fan!”  And you know those would sell!  It’s so odd, but the Heat have united America!  And the Mavericks represent the last hope against this mighty Evil-Empire-to-be.  It’s Luke’s one chance to destroy the death star, before it becomes too powerful to overcome.  Because very soon, it will be too late.        

This is the story of the Finals.  It is overly dramatic and possibly completely irrelevant, because all that’s really going to happen is that these two teams are going to go out and try to beat each other.  And it figures to be wonderfully entertaining ball.  For all of the Miami “Hate” they have been playing marvelously together these past weeks and the Mavericks have as well, so all that’s left is the showdown.  And that brings us to our last storyline. 

5.) The Refs.  Are they going to let them play?  Or are they going to call fouls every time LeBron and Wade drive to the basket and get bumped?  Will the Heat shoot 50 free-throws a game?  Oftentimes fouls are subjective, and the Heat’s attack options have the potential to make things really difficult for those guys.  Hopefully they’ll let them play and only blow the whistle when absolutely necessary, because the last time these two met in the Championship in 2006, the series was swung by some very questionable calls.  It needs to be more even this time.  Every fan has to accept that the refs are a big part of the game… but let’s just hope they're not the story!    

Enjoy the Finals. 

Underdogs OUT!