Was the Miami Heat really the better team? Did they really beat the Dallas Mavericks in six games to win the title? Well, after six games, Miami was hoisting the NBA trophy so I guess they did pulled it off but here's just some reasons why some people still think Dallas was screwed.
They say that in the playoffs, the game becomes more physical, the players get tougher and the fouls get a whole lot harder. In Game 4 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals series, Jerry Stackhouse stopped what would have been another one of Shaq's slam dunks with what used to be a ''good, clean, hard foul.''
Yet, Stackhouse was suspended for Game 5. A game Dallas needed him the most. Dallas lost Game 4 before losing Game 5 too. Did Stackhouse deserved the one-game suspension? No. Ron Artest's attack to Manu Ginobili last season deserved one as well as the one-game suspension to Udonis Haslem when he threw his mouthpiece to the refs but Stack's foul on a seven-foot, 345-pound monster like Shaquille O'Neal didn't. Stackhouse is merely around 6'6'', 215 lbs. Compared to Shaq's frame anyway.
Speaking of Game 5, Miami fans slept that night thinking Josh Howard cost the Mavs the win with a horrible miscue. Well, I tell you now that this was not the case.
NBA refs, Joey Crawford and Joe DeRosa stand by the claim that Josh Howard called a timeout for the Mavericks when Wade was about to shoot his second of two free throws. Crawford claimed that Howard was signaling to DeRosa for a timeout when in fact, Howard was merely communicating with Dallas head coach, Avery Johnson, asking him if they should call for a timeout.
Yes, it was indeed a communication breakdown in the Mavs part but refs should let the players talk to their coaches. The refs saw an opportunity to screw the Mavericks and as it turns out, they did a great job.
Last but not the least, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade was just having all these calls going for him in the best-of-seven championship series. In Game 5, Dallas went to the foul line for about 24 times. Wade? Well, he went to the line for a grand total of 25 attempts. Something was definitely wrong there.
They even gave Wade the game-winning points on a silver platter. It was clealry a backcourt violation in Game 5 when he caught an inbound pass with 9.1 seconds left in overtime. Then with 1.9 seconds left, Wade was out of control and he even knocked Jason Terry down to the floor.
Instead of being slapped with the critical turnover, Wade was awarded two free throws, giving his Miami Heat the 101-100 victory and the commanding 3-2 lead in the series, which they will eventually win in Game Six.
The Miami Heat became the 2006 NBA Basketball Champions but after seeing that fateful best-of-seven NBA Championship series last June, I'm finding it hard to call Miami just that.