Dallas Mavericks....NBA Champs at last

   I have held up posting any comments on this subject for fear of jinxing the team,...but now it is finally here. The Dallas Mavericks are the Champions of the National Basketball Association for the first time. Dallas took the Championship Finals from the Miami Heat four games to two. Game six finished 105-95 and that was the largest margin of victory in any of the six games. The Heat were the darlings of the media with their high-dollar superstars of LeBron James, Dewayne Wade, and Chris Bosh...When they signed with Miami last year all of South Florida was talking about the dynasty coming to the team.

  Dallas and Miami faced each other in the 2006 Finals of the NBA season, and although Dallas won the first two games, the Heat came back to win four in a row to take the title. Only two players remain on the Dallas roster from that 2006 season and both were instrumental in this current campaign. Jason Terry poured in 27 points in game six, and every one of his baskets was like a dagger sinking into the chest of Miami. Dirk Nowitski was the unanimous Most-Valuable-Player in the Finals, and proved to be the greatest foreign-born player to ever play in the NBA. German-born Nowitski has always been called an All-Star in the NBA, but has been saddled with the title  'choker' when it came to the playoffs. 2010-2011 would prove to be a new Dallas Mavericks team. Team owner Mark Cuban coughed up the big bucks in bringing talented players to help Nowitski. Tyson Chandler and Shawn Marion meant the opponents could not overpower Dirk in the paint. Brendan Haywood had to miss the Finals with an injury, but he too was a key player this season. Jason Kidd, now in his 17th NBA season, started his career in Dallas and returned to finally win his first championship. Game six was really a story of bench play. Miami got very little help from the bench while Dallas' support players rose to the occasion. Brian Cardinal played great physical defense, and DeShawn Stevenson brought the high flying James back to earth with his defense. Miami is still looking for a way to stop J.J. Barea from getting to the rim.

  It was a classy moment after the game when current Mavs owner Mark Cuban allowed the first Mavs owner, Donald Carter, to accept the Championship Trophy from NBA Commissioner David Stern. The most memorable post-game moment for me was the close-up shot of Dirk Nowitski hugging Jason Terry. You could almost see the heavy burden being lifted from the shoulders of these great players. The bad memories of 2006 could now finally be put to rest...and best of all.. Now Miami has to live with memories of 'what could have been.'