Funny what would be said about Wade if JET hits that three at the end and the Mavs go on to win the series..... There's no doubt that Wade was stellar in the playoffs, but you've got to admit that he was getting every single call from the refs. That phantom call on Dirk at the end of the game tonight where Wade simply elbows Dirk and Dirk gets nailed with the foul at a key moment in the game with the shot clock running down and the Heat up one was just shocking. I also don't see what Wade's performance has to do with Dirk. Did Dirk not do enough to get his team to the Finals? Is scoring 50 in the key game 5 against Phoenix not enough? Or maybe scoring the huge bucket with the foul in game seven at San Antonio and then cooling draining the free throw to send it to overtime? Or maybe destroying Memphis with key 3 pointers? I'm sorry but to even question Dirk's superstar status after his performance throughout the playoffs is simply rediculous.
By the way who's saying Wade isn't a superstar? All I'm saying is that Dirk's performance throughout the playoffs has only strengthened his status as one of the top 10 players in the league.
Wade stepped up and carried his team when all the chips were down. He was singlehandedly responsible for turning this series from 2-0 Mavs to a 4-2 Miami victory. And for all the blubbering about the refs, which sounds suspiciously Spurs-fan-like, I would point out two things: 1. The refs weren't the reason why Wade dropped 120 points on the Mavs in games 3, 4, and 5. 2. If Wade was getting the calls, he was getting them for the same reason that other superstars have gotten them: the refs are seeing that player assert his will on the game and are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on the close calls. And he put up some nice numbers against Miami, but he was clearly not The Man out there. He was far too invisible at far too many critical times. Yeah, the points and the boards are nice, but how many of them came in the fourth quarter, for instance? Only if you use the term "superstar" cheaply.
No one, now. "Superstar" in my mind is a lot more restrictive than "top 10 players in the league." A certain amount of transcendence is involved.
Dustin is right, Daniel is wrong. Wade sac'd up when he had to, Dirk didn't....period...end of discussion. The Mavs are soft, they've been soft for eternity...soft teams don't win championships. The point at which the game was lost last night. Late 3rd quarter, Antone "Spare-ass" Walker recieves the ball behind the arc, makes a high school quality move on his defender and then runs free through the lane for an uncontested lay up. No team that allows Antone "freakin'" Walker an uncontested basket without putting a body on him deserves a championship. I turned to Scott and said, "That's it...no way the Mavs win this game".
Dirk is a guy who needs a second superstar on the team to take defensive pressure away from him. Wade is the same way. Even if Shaq doesn't score loads his presence allows Wade far more lattitude than he otherwise would have.
I couldn't have handled the Mavs winning a championship. It would be like the Burn winning one. They're my lovable losers - why would I want them to ever win anything and spoil that for me?
The reverse sweep. Biggest choke in NBA history! It would have hurt much more had the WC not been going on.
Imagine how it would've been if they had actually held on in Game 3 and still managed to lose the series. The 2004 Yankees would have company as the Biggest Chokers of All-Time.
Very few of those guys are bonafide superstars, maybe only five of them -- LeBron, Kobe, AI, Duncan, and Shaq. And yes, I know that neither LeBron nor AI has a ring, but they have a certain transcendence to their play that leads me to believe that they certainly would have (or in LeBron's case, will have) a ring or two if they had better teams around them than just a bunch of guys named "Fred."
You don’t consider the back-to-back MVP a superstar? Dirk’s abilities as a 7 footer is what makes him unique. I will admit that this year has really been his best year. He needs to repeat it a few times and be consistent in the playoffs before he reaches superstar status, however, he is a star on the rise in the NBA now.
One thing is for sure, the NBA has a lot of warts on it's arse with the collective fellatio of Dwanye Wade being the most bemusing of all.
Twice during the series he was held to 16 or less and a 2pt 4th quarter stinker. An MVP can't do that. He failed in this series to carry the team or give them a much needed push when they fell behind. The man's been in the league for a decade, at which point do you wanna stop considering him a rising star? It's clear he'll never be the superstar or household name want. We need more scoring to augment his game.