I'm on vacation, but this is unfortunately a big deal. I couldn't even watch the end of this game. I had to listen to it on my phone, but I can't watch Miami celebrate.
Two years ago the NBA got its villain in the Heat and a team for the country to hate. Last year they couldn't handle that constant bullseye. This year many continued to say that they couldn't handle the pressure. But this year's incarnation is different.
The theme with every NBA champion in terms of the layout of their team is simple. You have one definitive alpha dog superstar, one or two wingmen and several role players. Miami got it figured out this postseason. LeBron made the leap starting in Game 4 of the Indiana series and Wade moved into the second banana role. Having Bosh back helped, and he played the role they needed him to. But it was also the role guys that stepped up. Haslem played good defense. Shane Battier played out of his mind in the Finals. Mike Miller got hot in this finale. Mario Chalmers was great, and Norris Cole was good off the bench. That's 8 guys, that's what's needed to win.
Fairly or not, this series will be overshadowed by the poor officiating throughout the playoffs. I didn't see much of Game 5 tonight, but I found myself screaming at my TV on Tuesday about missed calls. I saw on Facebook more complaints tonight. It had its impact on this series, but at the end of the day Miami won the Finals and Oklahoma City lost. The Thunder couldn't play a complete game all series long, and Miami knew how to close out games.
As I type this, the Heat just officially closed it out. I'm upset, but they earned the title. LeBron showed all postseason long that he had developed the heart of a champion and he absolutely deserves to be the Finals MVP.
As angry as this makes me, congratulations to the Miami Heat. They made a nice run this spring. The next question: Can they defend the title?
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