Keys to the Finals

Here are my 5 keys to victory for each team.

<u>Dallas Mavericks Keys to Victory</u>

- Execute the pick and roll

- Attack Jason Williams on defense and get him in foul trouble, when Payton comes in take advantage of backcourt quickness with Devin & Terry on the floor at the same time

- Don't settle for perimeter shots on isolation plays

- Protect against offensive rebounds

- The center by committe has to be physical and not be afraid to use all their fouls on Miami

<u>Miami Heat Keys to Victory</u>

- The Heat won the Detroit series by outrebounding the Pistons in almost every game, they must hustle to keep the Mavs one and done on offense

- Do not fall behind by double digits early. If the Heat allow the Mavs to grab an early lead, Shaq might be forced to sit on the bench because Dallas will just go with an uptempo lineup and the pace will be too much for Shaq

- Control the tempo and wear Dallas down. The Mavs are coming off two tough series, and the longer Miami can stretch out the series the better their odds of winning it all

- If the Mavs use Griffin in the starting lineup, force him to beat you. Double team exclusively off of him and put the pressure on him to make shots.

- Prevent dribble penetration. This is easier said than done, but Dallas makes you pay if the guards get into the painted area. Miami has to communicate on defense and be sharp on their rotations.

So how will it play out? Based on the keys I listed for each team, I feel Dallas has a better chance at successfully completing each task. The toughest adjustment will be rebounding for the Mavs because they don't do a good job of consistently blocking out their players.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fletcher:</div><div class="quote_post">Hasn't Dallas just broken the record for the number of consecutive playoff games beating their opponents in rebounding though?</div>

Yes, but they did it against two small teams, Spurs & Suns. The Spurs didn't use their typical power lineup with Nazr or Rasho on the floor with Duncan at PF. Tim Duncan played Center for the Spurs in the series and they tried to beat the Mavs with a smaller lineup with 3 guards on the court (Parker, Gino, Finley.)

Phoenix doesn't play with a center, and most teams out rebound Phoenix by a large margin.

The Miami Heat have a big team, and Wade rebounds well for a guard. Shaq, Haslem, Walker, Zo and Wade are all capable of getting double digit rebounds. The attention Shaq attracts usually frees up Haslem or Walker on the weakside for offensive boards, or Wade comes flying in for tip ins.

Miami was relentless on the glass in the Detroit series. The Pistons are a strong rebounding team, but here's a breakdown of what Miami was able to do against them in their 4 wins..

Game 6 - 48 v. 39 (6 offensive)
Game 4 - 35 v. 36 (4 offensive)
Game 3 - 40 v. 27 (11 offensive)
Game 1 - 43 v. 33 (5 offensive)

 

Having seen my Warriors beat Dallas 3 times during the regular season I'd say the biggest keys for the Heat are to win the rebounding battle and make Dallas's perimiter players work on defense. Dallas seems to have trouble with big guards who can post up and punish other guards, Baron Davis and Jason Richardson both played very well against Dallas because no one could stop them in the post and Kobe, another guard who can post up, had his 62 point game against the Mavs. The Heat wil have to post up Payton and Wade will have to penetrate often to get the Mavs' guards and centers in foul trouble. Other keys that will help the Heat will be getting bench scoring and obviously allow Shaq to be successful in the paint. Another very important key is shutting down Josh Howard, this could prove difficult if Posey is on Dirk but Dirk can get his as long as Stack/Terry/Howard are contained.

For the Mavs, an important task is obviously taking Shaq out of the game and attack guys like Walker and Williams. Their small backcourt will likely be effective against the Heat who lack quick PGs or guards who acn punish them on defense and other than Mourning they have no other nimble shot blocking bigs. Another key will be feeding Dampier the ball about 5 times in the post. It may sound ridiculous but Dampier becomes much more active on both ends of the floor if he's given touches on offense. The Mavs must take advantage of the obvious mismatches they have with Nowitzki and their 2 PG backcourt.