Why were Jason Terry and Josh Howard lofting so many jumpers? Howard, in particular, seemed to've nominated himself the go-to Maverick, but maybe Dirk forced him to do that in absentia. Even in the closing minutes, Dirk looked lost, kicking pass after bad pass to the perimeter. His newly-discovered ability to penetrate? Gone. Miami's inability to match up with him? Vanished. Did he choke? Did they all choke?

I wouldn't want to be the knuckles on Mark Cuban's right hand now.

I don't watch much NBA, but I read a lot about it, especially in King's column. I read with interest the ups and downs of King's and the readers' evaluation of Dirk as "soft," or weak, or what have you. I know that things started to look good for Dirk, causing King to rethink his earlier assessment.

But, man, I watched the game last night and did not see the Dirk that caused everyone to jump on the Dirk bandwagon (I mean, Bill Simmons over at ESPN put him in his Pantheon of players). I couldn't believe I was watching the same guy. He shrunk from the occasion in a big way. I was shocked as the fourth quarter moved along and everytime Dirk got the ball with an opportunity to make a play he struggled with it and quickly gave it up. Now, I am not saying he should take bad shots, but all I heard about was how he was so good at creating his own shots and he showed none of it. The Mavs were never really in that game.

My final verdict: Nowitski = soft

That *is* what you were complaining about a few days ago, right King? Don't make me have to cut and paste on yo ass.

Just kidding. But while the Mavs' strategy didn't pay off, the important things are that a) It *almost* paid off, thereby showing proof that the strategy has a place in basketball, no matter how boring it sometimes makes the end of a game (which the viewer should just turn off if he/she doesn't like), and b) The strategy didn't "mar" or make boring this particular game either. It was exciting right down to the wire, because the Mavs had several chances to win that they would not have otherwise had.

Don't go talking about changing the rules of basketball. That's just plain stupid.

I mostly agree with the article, but I do have to dispute the "obviously correct call" regarding Nowitzki's foul. It looked to me like an obvious no-call. If anything, it was Wade who leveled his forearm into Nowitzki.

This is not to say the Heat did not deserve to win. They did. They were obviously the better team. And I don't think the bad call was any kind of intentional stacking of the deck by the refs. Just not a good call at all.

Overall, I can't disagree with a lot of what's been said. But two things stand out to me: one, Dwayne Wade is a no-doubt-about-it superstar, a great player who deserves all the accolades he's getting. That said, I wonder how much the caliber of his play would be tarnished if he wasn't getting so much help from the refs? At times over the past two games it seemed the only requirements for him to go to the line were that he have the ball, and that there be an opposing player somewhere within fifteen feet of him. I saw Nowitzki get practically knocked off his feet numerous times with no call, while Wade seemed to draw a whistle every time he drove to the basket, whether he was touched or not.

And secondly, as a long-time Knicks fan (1970 until about 4 years ago), I can't help but see shades of Patrick Ewing in the consensus that Nowitzki is not the guy you want taking the last shot with the game on the line. I can't tell you how fresh in my mind is the memory of the many times I saw Ewing throw up a 10-foot clunker, knew it was coming and started groaning even before they passed the ball to him. Yet Ewing is considered one of the "50 Best" of all time!

On my alltime all star team, give me Dirk over Patrick any time.

Way back during the Conference finals I made the statement that, now that the Spurs were out of it, whoever came out of the East would be the favorite (see my previous letters) not because of offense, but the big "D." All recent teams who have won the NBA crown (Detroit, Spurs, and now, Miami) have been defensive juggernauts.

Offensive ability is all good and well, but the ability to play good defense is more key when the "real" season starts. All you heard about from the chattering classes and talking heads about the Mavs was their improved defense. I called "BS". Stopping a Stoudamire-less Pheonix does not require great defense. Beating the defending-Champ Spurs, while a great accomplishment, seemed like less great defense and more the Spurs settling for perimeter basketball and not knowing how to overcome Manu Ginobli's and Tony Parker's sudden ineffectiveness.

Then the time came when they would have to defend a great driving player (its official now, Wade is a "Great") and two dominant and hungry centers. Someone, probably a Mav fan, at the time of my prediction said something to the effect of "Who can guard Dirk?". We now know the answer: Dirk. Granted that this is the first time that he's ever gone this far in the playoffs and fatigue is obviously an issue when simply "moving your feet" is a problem.

So the question should have been: Who can guard Wade? I feel sorry for Coach Avery. When your 2 choices are double-team Shaq or double-team Wade, you're going to be wrong more than you are right. But c'mon, get up on the guy (Wade). Get in his face. Get a hand up! I think back to the Lakers/Sixers finals a few years ago when Phil Jackson just got a young, quick, cocky rookie (can't remember his name) to blanket himself on Iverson. No other purpose - the kid was obviously not there to score - but getting in A.I.'s grill and not neccesarily stopping him, but making him work for his shots. And this is where Avery was outcoached by Pat - the "pester" defense may not pay immeadiate dividends - but by the 3rd game of that series, Iverson was dog tired and ineffectual. Lakers in 5.

Sure, the Sixers didn't have a Shaq equivalent, but Phil isolated their greatest strength and made it their biggest liability. Detroit did the same thing to Kobe when they won in 2004. Pat Riley did the same thing to Dirk: in his face, contesting every possesion - betting that Dirk didn't have what it takes to play through it (as an aside to all the posters this week who decry American toughness in reference to Soccer - I gleefully point to Dirk and say "Whatever!") . Antionne Walker is not (as a Celtics fan) my favorite person in the world, but he did a great job of defending Dirk. And any coach that can convince Gary Payton (who's idiocy may have been the biggest contributing factor the the Lakers finals loss to Detroit) to take a charge(!!!) for the team is doing a good job. The Heat deserved this and as much as I hate to see assholes like Payton, Mourning, Walker, and Williams get rings on the backs of a 20-something phenom like Wade, they did have to swallow their pride to do it, and I can respect that.

And on that note: Can Shaq retire now? I'm looking forward to seeing how the NBA shakes out when its most dominant center (and I'm saying this as a person who LOATHES Shaq and everything he stands for) since Wilt, finally calls it quits.