Dallas Mavericks finally land the NBA World Championship – How they did it? - Part 1
The Dallas Mavericks entered the NBA Finals as underdogs against the star studded Miami Heat side. What followed was an epic performance by the veteran Dallas team, each of whom had been written off by analysts before the season even began.
Now they sit atop the basketball world, greedily clutching the NBA World Championship. As the finals are now over, let us take a look back at how the Mavericks won it, and what were the big factors that aided them in their ultimately glorious quest.
Dirk Nowitzki:
Named the Finals MVP, Nowitzki did everything his team asked off him, and perhaps even more. Dirk’s talent has long been admired and loved by fans throughout the NBA. His ascendancy to champion status was delayed due to a choke out against the Miami Heat in the 2006 Finals and the Mavs struggled since then. However, five years later when Dirk came against the same side that had quashed his championship hope, he simply refused to be denied.
Coming up against a team that had out defended the best defensive team in the league, Chicago Bulls, questions were being raised if Dirk would be able to carry the offensive load in the Finals. Nowitzki answered back with a resounding yes.
He averaged 26 points per game in the series, second only to Dwyane Wade who led with 26.5 points. However, Nowitzki was more of a thorn in the Heat’s side than Wade was in the Mavs’. Nowitzki was simply unstoppable. Miami tried everything, double teaming, ball denying, you name it. But Nowitzki’s size and skill was simply too much.
What was even more disastrous for the Heat was Nowitzki’s ability to take over the game in the final period. Time after time Nowitzki turned it on in the clutch. The rest of the Dallas team just had to get the ball to Dirk and he would do the rest.
Add to it Nowitzki’s leadership and his overall contribution and Dirk Nowitzki was undoubtedly the biggest reason for the Mavs success.
Rick Carlisle making the big calls:
Halfway through the Finals, Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle took two tough decisions that changed the series, and shifted the momentum towards Dallas.
The first was the benching of Peja Stojakovic. The veteran 3-point specialist signed for the Mavs this season as cover for the injured Caron Butler. He proved a superb acquisition and made huge contributions in the playoffs, most notably against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
However Carlisle quickly realized that Miami’s energetic perimeter defence closed him down very well and Peja simply wasn’t getting any good looks at the basket. Also, he couldn’t play with the same intensity on D that some other guys could, like Brian Cardinal. Therefore Peja was benched and it proved to be a hit.
The other big call by Carlisle was promoting Jose Barea to starter. That was a truly inspired move. Barea didn’t even have a good time early on when coming off the bench, but Carlisle realized what everyone else later saw.
With Barea starting, the Mavs got a much quicker tempo to their offense. His penetration and outside shooting gave the Miami Heat a headache. It also provided the Mavs with an invaluable new offensive weapon. Jose Barea isn’t the best defender, but Carlisle knew that the Heat didn’t have anyone at point guard who could take advantage of that fact.
It was a win-win move by the Mavericks head coach.
Link for Part-2: http://www.senore.com/Dallas-Mavericks-finally-land-the-NBA-World-Championship-How-they-did-it-Part-2-a76037
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