As the Dallas Mavericks have just stunned the Miami Heat in 6 games, here are some Finals lessons that can be taken from this memorable series…

-Always play to the final buzzer…
Game 2 changed everything in this series. With a little over 7 minutes to go, Dwayne Wade hit a 3 in front of the Mavs bench to put the heat up by 15. He then held his hand in the air and slowly walked back to the Heat bench while LeBron shadow boxed with him. By all accounts, the game was over. By my own account, the game was over! I texted a friend and said it was safe to go to bed, because this one was done. To take it one step further, it FELT like the SERIES was over. Miami was playing so well and the Mavs seemed overmatched. There’s only one problem, it seems the Heat felt the same exact way. You know the rest of the story. Dallas ripped off an incredible run to stun the Heat and steal game 2. Miami seemed to stop playing with the same aggression and passion. Next thing you know, we had a series. And even though Miami came back to win Game 3, that Game 2 collapse changed everything. If Miami plays until the final buzzer of Game 2 and goes up 2-0, there’s a great chance that tonight, the city of Miami is celebrating their world championship team.

-Knowing your role is underrated…
I could easliy have named this lesson “Coaching matters” or “Trust in your team”. Coach Rick Carlisle made a huge and risky move at the beginning of Game 4. Deshawn Stevenson was the typical starter for the Mavs at the 2 spot. Yet the change was made to start JJ Barea. Changing starting lineups in the middle of the NBA Finals? Yeah, risky is an understatement. Especially when Barea had been stuggling through the first few games. Against the Lakers and the Thunder, my new favorite player (could it be because he’s 5″9… yeah, maybe) ripped through the defense and did what he wanted. Against the more athletic heat, he found his way much more challenging. Yet here was Coach Carlisle, pulling the trigger. Took some guts. And boy did it pay off. Not only did Barea finally figure it all out and play back to his early postseason form, but here is the real key… Imagine you are used to starting, and you’ve started the first 3 games of the NBA Finals. And then your coach comes and tells you that you’re no longer starting. Would you be strong enough mentally to handle that? Stevenson was and should be credited immensely. He could have VERY easily shut down and become ineffective throughout the rest of the series. Instead, he CHOOSE to not only accept his role, but to trust in his coach. He hit some huge shots in tonight’s clinching game and was an integral part of a championship team. I’m sure the shine of the NBA Championship ring is a nice trade off to not starting the final few games.

-Chemisty and failure matter…
Chemistry-One thing was clear to me as this series went on. You could tell that the Mavs had been playing together longer. Each member knew their role and it seemed as though many members of the Heat were still trying to figure that out. The Heat will eventually figure that out and likely win a few rings. But against this Maverick team, they weren’t there yet. Too many undefined roles. It’s a team that only had one year together as teammates. As long as that may seem, in the grand scheme, it’s really not long at all. You say, well they beat the Celtics, and they had great chemisty. I say, no, after the Celtics traded Perkins, their entire team chemistry changed and they never figured out who they were. Add to that Rondo’s injury and older legs, and you have Miami in 5. But Dallas was a different animal. They had one player who was better than any on the Celtics at the moment (Dirk) and they had a few years where the core of this team was together (one exception was adding Tyson Chandler last summer, who Dirk called the nicest human being he’s ever met. I’m going out on a limb and saying a guy like that probably helps chemistry).

Failure-Take a look at past NBA champs. Almost every single one had to struggle for a year (if not years) before they won a championship. Let’s take a look…
2009-10 Lakers-Lost to the Celtics the year before and lost the final clincher by 39.
2008 Celtics-Had superstars (KG, Pierce and Allen) who had bitter playoff disppointments throughout their careers and due to their age were willing to sacrifice their individual accolades for team success.
2007/2005/2003/1999 Spurs-In between title seasons, had many a nemisis, namely the Lakers, that they continued to battle and struggle with.
2006 Heat-Lost to the Detroit Pistons in 05 and came back to beat the same Pistons team in 06 en route to the title
2004 Pistons-Lost to the Nets in 03 to get to the Finals and came back to win it all the following year.
2003 Spurs-Stuggled with the Shaq/Kobe Lakers for a few years before destroying them in the Conference Finals
2000/01/02 Lakes-Had plenty of heartache in the early Shaq/Kobe years in the late 90’s when they couldn’t beat the Jazz in the playoffs and many wondered whether they could ever win together.
1996/97/98 Bulls-MJ on a rampage after skipping 18 months playing baseball. Lost to Shaq and the magic in 1995 in the conference semis after MJ came back in March from the diamond. In 1996 they swept what was supposed to be a very close series against the same orlando team. After a game 1 blowout, the series was never close as the Bulls swept them away with MJ’s 45 in Game 4.
1994/95 Rockets-95 Rockets were the first 6 seed to ever win the finals. The 94 Rockets had to go through the Spurs and MVP David Robinson. Hakeem showed the world who the real MVP was this dismantling of the Admiral.
1991/92/93 Bulls-After the Pistons had beaten the Bulls for 3 straight years, the Bulls finally came of age in 91 as they swept the defending champ Pistons in 4 games, starting a string of 6 wins in 8 years for the Bulls, and 6 straight championships in which MJ played a full season.
1989/90 Pistons-Lost to the Lakers in 1988 Finals and avenged that loss in the Finals in 89.
1985/87/88 Lakers-Lost to Celtics in 84 and came back to beat them in 85 and 87.
1983 76ers-Lost to the Lakers in 82 and came back to beat them in the Finals in 83.
1981 Celtics-Lost to the 76ers in 1980, came back to beat them in 81 and go on to win the ring.
As you can see, success in the NBA, as life, is about failure. Every team in the last 30 years to win a ring had to fail in order to win. I must say, as well as the Heat were playing this playoffs, I wondered if there would be a new trend. A trend of bringing ultra mega talented stars together and after one year they win. And then win and win and win. It sure looked like it.
Instead, the trend that proved to be true once again was the once that has stood for over 3 decades in this NBA. That in order to win, no matter how talented, you must take your lumps. You must lose. You must grow. It doesn’t matter if you have 2 of the best 3 players in world (possibly the best 2 now). You still have to lose and learn. I believe that is why so many people have rooted against the Heat this year. Because it all seemed too easy. Like they didn’t really earn it. They will have to now after a bitter, hard fought series.

After an absolutely classic Finals where 3 out of the 6 games came down to the final shot, we have to remember who else failed. That’s right, the Mavericks were up 2-0 against the Heat in the 2006 Finals. More importantly, they were up 13 in the 4th quarter of Game 3 before not only losing that game, but the series as well. And even though there are only two players left from that Mavs team, they happen to be their best players in Dirk and Terry. It’s no coincidence that their biggest failure led to their biggest success… The 2011 NBA World Championship.

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