When it comes to playoff basketball, experience matters.
It is the cagy veterans and experienced coaches that are the difference after the regular season is done.
That's why many thought it would be Detroit vs. San Antonio right now. They had been to the finals before, they knew what to expect, and they knew how to handle themselves.
As it turns out, cagy veterans might as well mean aging veterans, and experienced coaches might as well mean exasperated coaches for the Pistons and Spurs.
For the first time since Milwaukee beat Baltimore in the 1971 NBA Finals, we have two teams facing off that have never been to the championship series before.
The Dallas Mavericks have never made a finals appearance in their 26 years of existence, and the Miami Heat have never gotten this far in their 18 years in the league.
There is a whole list of questions that come to mind when looking ahead to Game 1 of the Mavs vs. the Heat.
Looking at two teams making their first trips to the NBA Finals, how do you evaluate the x-factor if there is no experience?
What does it mean for a league that has gone 35 years since it's last NBA Finals rookie vs. NBA Finals rookie matchup?
What does it mean for basketball fans if it feels like there is a lack of history in this series?
Does the emergence of the Heat and the Mavs signal a changing of the guard in both conferences?
It really is intriguing when you look at it. For the first time in 35 years, broadcasters won't be able to play footage of the last time the teams were in the Finals. They won't be able to look back and compare the current rosters to the heroes of past championships. There is little history to go on for two teams that have a combined 40-four year history in the league.
How much insight can you really get by comparing their head-to-head regular season records, especially when they only played twice (and once with Shaq on the bench)?
Where are the Lakers? Where are the Celtics? Where are the Knicks? Where are the Pistons? Where are the Spurs?
Isn't this the reason why the Grammy's have a whole category dedicated to new artists? It just wouldn't be fair to match them up against the veterans of rock (although they might be all right against Jethro Tull). The regular categories are more exciting because everybody wants to see who is making a comeback, and who's still rocking after falling out of a palm tree, and who put their best album out since the late 1970's.
While fewer people may care about the Best New Artist category, there is certainly less pressure than if you were rookie band going against U2 for an award.
That is one of the reasons that the Miami vs. Dallas matchup will be competitive. Lack of pressure.
If it had been the Mavs against the Pistons, everybody would be talking about the tough road the Mavs have ahead of them. After beating the Spurs in seven games, and then taking the Suns in six, they would have to take on the perennial Eastern Conference power. Imagine the pressure Dallas would have felt. A newbie to the NBA Finals going against a team with one of the best NBA Finals resumes in the league.
The same would have gone for Miami if they would have faced the Spurs. It wasn't enough to topple the reigning Eastern Conference champion, but now they would have to move on to beat the reigning NBA Finals champion. Once again, imagine the pressure. Imagine the questions Pat Riley would have faced, asking him if he was worried about taking his team into a series against such an experienced rival.
Two teams that have never been there before — that's a little less pressure on each.
As far as individual playoff experience goes, there is plenty.
For the Heat, Shaquille O'Neal has already played in the Finals five times, with three rings.
Pat Riley has coached in the Finals eight times, and walked away with four rings.
And for the Mavs, coach Avery Johnson took home a ring after San Antonio's 1999 NBA Finals win.
So, there are storylines and motivations and histories to delve through after all. They are just on different levels.
More than any matchup in recent NBA Finals history, this series will be about individuals. Pat Riley seeking redemption after rebuilding the Heat roster in the offseason. Riley attempting to prove to the world that he is still a world-class coach (as if getting the Heat this far wasn't enough). Shaq trying to make good on his promise to bring a championship to Miami. Young Dwyane Wade playing on the biggest stage for the first time. Avery Johnson trying to win a ring in his first season coaching against an opposing coach that already has four. Dirk Nowitzki showing that he is an MVP-type player that can lead his team in clutch situations. The Mavs trying to win a title Jerome Bettis-style for Darrell Armstrong and Jerry Stackhouse (the two oldest veterans on the Dallas roster).
There will be talk about dynasties, even if Detroit and San Antonio are only tangentially involved in the conversations. The focus will be on the staying power of the Heat and Mavs. On whether or not the Heat's aging roster can sustain one (maybe two) more flourishes of greatness. Whether the Mavs can withstand another grueling year in the West against the Suns and Spurs.
Of course, if Pat Riley was this successful in building a team that could contend for a title, why couldn't he do it again next year? Shaq will still be viable for another year or two, and it doesn't appear that Wade is going anywhere anytime soon. With two large parts of the foundation set, the slick-haired master could conceivably keep enough players around his stars to compete for a ring in the coming years.
And it seems like Dirk Nowitzki is just reaching the zenith of his potential. His 50-point performance in Game 5 was simply amazing, and more and more he appears like the kind of player that is bound to have "NBA Finals MVP" after his name a couple of times in the record books. And with a zealous owner like Mark Cuban, one has to believe that the Mavs will be in a great position to contend for the immediate future.
Which is why this matchup is so intriguing on so many levels. The individual storylines. The glimpse of the possible dynasties of the next five years. Veterans trying to prove they still have it. Young stars trying to prove they belong. Great players on the cusp of becoming legendary. And, of course, Desagna Diop.
Okay, maybe not so much the last one.
For the first time in 35 years, the NBA Finals feature two teams making their first appearances. One will go home with their first championship, and one will go home with another year added to their championship drought.
Who will prevail?
Well, if anybody read one of my last articles, you would know that I predicted a Heat vs. Suns finale, so in lieu of making a prediction for this round, I will simply leave you with one of my favorite lines from the Sports Night episode, "The Cut Man Cometh."
"When it comes to the sweet science, I'm not much on predictions, Casey, but I will say this: one of these fighters is gonna win this bout tonight and the other will almost surely not." — Chuck Kimmel
Leave a Comment