Super Bowl Update

By Kshell

The Miami Heat took game one of the NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks 94-84 behind good games from the famous big three. The Heat were led by Lebron James who scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Dwyane Wade scoring 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Chris Bosh scoring 19 points and nine rebounds. The Heat also saw some production from their bench as their bench outscored the Mavericks bench 27-17. The Heat also outrebounded the Mavericks by 10 and the Heat made more three pointers than the Mavericks. It was about as dominant as you can be in an eight point victory. For the Mavericks besides Dirk Nowitzki who scored 27 points and Shawn Marion who scored 16 points and 10 rebounds there just wasn't much production. The Heat have now won five NBA Finals games in a row over the Dallas Mavericks dating back to 2006. Now the Mavericks will hope to get the split in game two in Miami to even the series up. For the Heat they continue their home dominance improving to 9-0 at home in these playoffs.


The first quarter was a grind for both teams as scoring was tough to come by. The Dallas Mavericks led the first quarter 17-16 behind Jason Kidd scoring six points on two three pointers, Jason Terry six points on a three pointer and Dirk Nowitzki scoring four points. The Heat had Lebron James lead the way with eight points and Chris Bosh scoring six points. The other two points was by Dwyane Wade. The Heat didn't receive much production from their other two starters. It was a slow quarter for both teams as the Heat shot 6-20(30.0%) from the field and Mavericks were even worse shooting 4-14(28.6%) from the field. The difference in the quarter was the Mavericks made three three's to the Heat just making the one. In the following quarter the Heat would start to knock down some three point shots.


In the second quarter was a nice back and forth contest as both teams scored 27 points for the Mavericks to lead at halftime 44-43. The Mavericks were led by Nowitzki who scored nine of his 13 points in the second quarter. Nowitzki had 13 points on four for nine shooting from the field. Then Shawn Marion scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds. The Mavericks got 12 points off the bench including making three three pointers. For the Heat they were led by Mario Chalmers in the second quarter as he scored 10 points off the bench and made three for five from three point range. The Heat big three had a nice first half as well led by Bosh who scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. James had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists on four for eight shooting. For Wade he had seven points, five rebounds, three assists. The Heat in the second quarter made five for nine from three point range. This would set up a great second half in which the Mavericks blew a chance to put the game away.


In the third quarter the Mavericks began the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 51-43 lead over the Heat. That was a turning point as the Heat went on a run throughout the rest of the quarter led by Lebron James. Lebron James hit a fall away three pointer at the buzzer to give the Heat a 65-61 lead after three quarters. The Heat had outscored the Mavericks 22-17 in the quarter. For James he was three for three that quarter from three pointers to lead the Heat. Wade started to turn it around as well scoring eight points in the third quarter. The Heat after three quarters were starting to hit their three pointers making 9-21(42.9%) and outrebounding the Mavericks 36-30. That set up a a fourth quarter where the Heat's big three took over especially the 2006 Finals MVP.


In the fourth quarter the Heat pulled away outscoring the Mavericks 27-23 to win 92-84 to take game one. The Heat were led by Wade who scored seven points in the fourth quarter and James who scored five points. Chris Bosh also scored five points in the fourth. The Heat when it came down to it have three of the four best players on the court. The Heat for the game were led by Lebron James scoring 24 points, grabbing nine rebound and dishing out five assists. James shot 9-16 from the field and made four of five three pointers. Dwyane Wade scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out six assists and had two block shots. Wade shot 9-19(6-9 second half)from the field including two three pointers. Chris Bosh finished with 19 points and nine rebounds but shot just 5-18(1-9 second half) from the field. The Heat also got 12 points from Chalmers, seven from Haslem and six from Mike Miller.

For the Mavericks they had several guys let them down. Dirk Nowitzki scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 27 points on 7-18 shooting and 12-12 from the foul line. The Mavericks got just 12 points from Jason Terry who was shutout in the second half. In fact Terry, Peja Stojakovic and J.J. Barea combined to shoot 4-21 for just 14 points. The Mavericks big advantage on the Heat this series was supposed to be their depth yet it appeared the Heat were the deeper team. Nowitzki and Marion showed up but nobody else did. Jason Kidd finished with nine points all on three point shots and six assists. The Mavericks must regroup as they don't want to fall behind 0-2 in this series.

All in all, this is just game one of a very long series. I do think today's game represents why the Heat will win the series. The Heat at the end of games just have three great players to lean on while the Mavericks have just one. Like last series against the Bulls the Heat will make the Mavericks beat them by Nowitzki scoring over 40 points otherwise this will be a short series. The Heat bench stepping up won't last forever but whenever the bench steps up that is a win for the Heat. You also saw how great the Heat defense is today holding the Mavericks to just 84 points which counts Kidd hitting a three pointer with practically little time left in the fourth quarter with the game over. Now the Heat will hope to improve to 10-0 at home while the Mavericks with their backs to the wall will look to make this a series once again.


Observations:

- Lebron James is inching closer and closer to his first title. Today James carried his team until Wade finally came through. James hit the dagger three pointer at the end of the three quarter that felt like it turned the game around. He had two great dunks in the fourth quarter as well.

James finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists. James has been terrific these playoffs and hit four three pointers. James took a ton of crap about the "decision" but that will be forgotton if he can win the title this season.


- Nowitzki scored 27 points and was 12-12 from the foul line. Yet Nowitzki didn't have the impact he has had in the past three series. I think Nowitzki has to average 35+ points a game for the Mavericks to win this series. I just think the Heat's perimeter defense will shut down the Mavericks guards so it will be up to Nowitzki. Nowitzki shot just 7-18(38.9%) from the field and shot under 40.0% in that 2006 NBA Finals.

Nowitzki when facing the Western Conference was able to dominate but today wasn't the case. Nowitzki had a strange 27 point outing and he's bound to have a more productive game. Nowitzki was also terrible on the rebounds having just eight while Miami had 16 offensive rebounds including five by Bosh.


- Who would have thought the Heat bench would have been more productive than the Dallas Mavericks bench? The Heat bench outscored the Mavericks bench 27-17, outrebounded them 15-8 and shot better than the Mavericks. The Heat bench shot 8-22(36.4%) from the field, 5-11(45.5%) from three's and six from seven from free throws. While the Mavericks bench shot just 4-22(18.1%) from the field, 3-10(30.0%) from three pointers and 6-10(60.0%)from free throws. All around the Heat bench just out played the Mavericks bench.

The Heat bench was led by Mario Chalmers who scored 12 points on three three pointers. Then Udonis Haslem was big scoring sevent points and grabbing six rebounds. Mike Miller hit two three pointers scoring six points and five rebounds. Even Juwan Howard in just seven minutes of playing time added two points and three offensive rebounds. If the Heat bench is playing well then this will be a short series.


- Dwyane Wade ended his slump scoring 15 of his 22 points in the second half. Wade also rebounded from shooting 3-10 to finish 9-19 shooting. Wade struggled against the Bulls last series but the Mavericks don't have guys who can contain him. After playing yet another poor half Wade had a great all around game. He basically had a typical Wade game scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, dishing out six assists and recording two block shots.

Wade also had a beautiful alley-oop pass to Lebron James for the dunk at the end of the game. In a game where Bosh shot 5-18 including 1-9 in the second half it simply didn't matter. James and Wade were just so good it didn't matter. At the start of the playoffs most people agreed that Wade is the third best player in the NBA. If Wade plays like Wade the Heat could be celebrating a title very soon.

In conclusion, the Heat's victory over the Mavericks was expected as most teams win game one at home. In fact the last time a team lost game one at home in the NBA Finals was 2004 when the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers. Winning game one is important though as the winner of game one of the NBA Finals since 1990-2010 has won the Finals 17 times. So game one winners in the last 21 NBA Finals are 17-4(.809). One of those four losses of course was 2006 when the Dallas Mavericks won game one but lost the series to the Heat in six games. The Heat looked tough at home and just appear to be clicking at the right time. The Mavericks though to their credit are tough on the road and this series is far from over. The Mavericks will have a chance to get the split in game two then have three straight at home. With the way James and Wade are playing though the Mavericks better get a move on it or their season could end very soon.

Last Time on FIFTEEN: Matt got falling down drunk in the park and then he and Ashley got in this HUGE fight about it. Brooke had a geography paper she couldn't be bothered with and paid Kelly's sister to write it for her. Dylan was a jerk to both Billy and Courtney, so Cindy let him know just how she felt about it because she never heard the expression MYOB. Matt thought Ashley was spreading details about his DRINKING PROBLEM around school, so he dumped her ass.

Episode 12 - Hanging In The Balance

Opening Credits: The previouslies were kinda long this week. It's like they realized they had all these stories they have to wrap up because the season was ending. They'd never leave us with a bunch of loose ends they'd never tie up, would they? WOULD THEY??? (they would.)


Avalon - Conspirator's Corner. Ashley recounts to Jake how Matt dumped her, even though we JUST SAW IT in the previouslies. Jake thinks it's crazy that people at school found out about Matt. How could anyone else have known? They were the only two people who knew and the only two people who were openly discussing it at the top of their voices in a diner within earshot of half the school. It just seems impossible! Jake says he'll set things straight with Matt, but Ashley doesn't even WANT to get back with him. She's just over the whole messed up ordeal. Worse than all of it, she has a math test she is totally unprepared for! Also? Bitch has lost her fool mind. Jake can't think of anything supportive to say. He is out of his depth. Crazed Ashley just runs away from him. So sad!


Hillside - Student Lounge. Courtney walks up to Billy and asks if he's okay. He is. Does he wanna hang out with her after school? No, he's hanging out with Olaf. Courtney is surprised to hear this since Billy had previously ditched Olaf, but Billy explains zzzzzzz...... What? Oh. Sorry. Billy explains that Olaf took him back and forgave him for being a wang. Courtney thinks Olaf's pretty neat. Jeez, Courtney! Your endorsement could've helped both of them out if you gave it 4 episodes ago. She leaves Billy alone and wanders off...


...to see Ashley participating in on our favorite game show, Whose Locker Is It Anyway? Ashley is fumbling with books in a random locker. Her hair is CRAY-CRAY. Things are not right in her head, folks! Courtney asks Ashley about the rumors she's been hearing about Matt and Ashley breaking up over his rampant alcoholism. Ashley confirms that it's true. Courtney tells her not to worry and that maybe it's not really over. Ashley's like "Nah, it's cool. That relationship sucked." She's so okay with being done with Matt! She is not okay with failing her MATH TEST, which she fears she is fated to do. She studied for eight hours and nothing stuck in her brain. Courtney's like, "yeah, but about Matt... and DRINKING... and rumors... and you not confiding to me about this stuff... " Ashley yells at Courtney that she can't deal with this bullshit and runs off half-crazy again, this time to the library. Courtney thinks the best action here is to stand still and watch her runaway. This is why Ashley didn't talk to you about this shit, Courtney! You are simultaneously useless and stone cold.


Hillside - Boy's Locker Room. Matt and Jake are already mid-argument. Man, everyone at Hillside is having such a bad day today! Jake's trying to tell Matt that Ashley didn't tell anyone that he's an alcoholic. Matt says if it wasn't Ashley spreading rumors, than it had to be Jake. Jake says it wasn't him! So Matt insists it had to be Ashley! Jake is getting tired of Matt in a major way, so Matt just gives him an ultimatum. If he wants to side with Ashley, then he and Matt are no longer friends. Matt storms out and Jake tries to come up with one negative thing about that scenario.


Close up on chicken-scratch posing a homework. It's Ashley trying to learn Math right before she's tested on it. Picture it: Hillside - The Table in the Middle of the Hall. Ashley looks crazed. Brooke slinks over to her, ready to wage more psychological warfare. When Ashley sees her, she slams the book closed. Why? What's she hiding? Brooke tells her that she's SO SORRY to hear Matt dumped her. Being dumped by an alcoholic is the worst shame ever! Ashley writhes in her seat as Brooke continues to twist the knife. Finally Ashley can't take the verbal daggers and shouts - yes, shouts! - at Brooke to keep her nose out of Ashley's life. With that, Ashley runs off (yet again. third time this episode) to lose the rest of her mind in private. Have I mentioned there's some weird giant poster on display right behind the table? Because there is. Also, Brooke has an ENORMOUS yellow binder with her. For someone who never does her own Homework it looks like she takes a lot of notes.


Brooke sees Olaf sitting at the other table. Wait, what other table? There's always only been one table in this area. Did they just add another table because the scene called for it? Seriously, the whole set up is different! Oh, Show. We are twelve episodes in! Don't try to pull this crap now. I've already dialed the Continuity Police so many times, but they will be here to take your statement by the time of the next commercial break.

Wait, where was I? Oh yeah. Brooke comes over to Olaf and complains about Ashley's stank attitude. Brooke was just trying to make her feel like less than dirt, why did Ashley have to get all hostile? Brooke fills in Olaf on everything you've just seen for the past two episodes. He didn't know it was happening because he was busy building recycling bins and working on his... geography project? OMG, OLAF'S NOTES!!! I forgot this was an actual plot point. Oh good, good, good! Brooke is impressed at the depth of his research. Olaf laments that it's just notes and he still has to write the actual paper. Brooke makes a joke about paying someone to do it for him which is actually kinda funny. Then she wanders off without really having been a bitch to him at all for the entire conversation. I wouldn't have thought it possible!


Avalon - Counter of Counterproductive Attitudes. Dylan comes in and spots Courtney. He tries to apologize, but she refuses to listen to him. She informs him that they are not friends anymore (if they ever were) and he shouldn't try talking to her again. Sad music plays as she leaves and Dylan looks sad. I bet on the flip side of the commercial Courtney's in love with him all over again. Ugh...


Hillside - Table in the Middle of the Hall. Olaf is still working on the geography project. Kelly comes over to talk to Olaf, and also steal his notes. I mean, she's talking to him about Brooke, but she's hungrily eyeing the notes she's going to use to destroy Brooke. Olaf gets a little weirded out by her intensity and puts the notes back in his bookbag. Kelly retreats until she can find a moment where Olaf is distracted, which shouldn't be too long really.

Billy comes over to Olaf looking sad. It's Dylan. Billy still feels bad about his concert getting cancelled. OMG, are we still not over this?? Olaf tells him to just talk to him already. Well at least this retread was relatively brief.

It's later now, I guess, because it's the same place, but Courtney is now sitting like 5 feet from where Billy and Olaf were and nobody seemed to see each other. Jake comes over to Courtney. She tells Jake about letting Dylan have it at lunch. Jake is thrilled. But not Courtney! Oh no. She feels worse than ever! Why, you ask? Because she's decided her inner and outer ugliness is really the source of all the world's problems. She was wrong to think Dylan or any guy could ever like her. She also figures she's responsible for her parents' DIVORCE. Her inability to dress well and do her hair also might be what causes the attacks on 9/11 ten years in their future and why so many people lost so much money in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme. The oil spill in the gulf will happened because she's undatable! Climate change is real because she repulses the very forces of the Natural Order of the Planet!! Jake tries to comfort her. It's not true! She's not worthless! Courtney means everything to him. And then he leans in for the most awkward kiss ever. Oh, it's so painful! See for yourself!



What makes it really bad is that Courtney shoves him off really hard before he can actually make contact. Then she freaks out on him. How DARE he? They're supposed to be friends! She storms off. Yeah, that must've been awful for you, Courtney. A decent guy who always listens to your stupid problems like they mean something wants to kiss you and make you feel better? What a violation of trust. I feel so bad for you, you horrid bitch.

Avalon - Conspirator's Corner. Jake sits by himself. Was Loser's Table already taken? Olaf comes over to talk to Jake and possibly have his notes stolen by Kelly if it hasn't happened yet. Jake tells Olaf how much life sucks and how people don't really want to know how you're feeling. They just want you to listen to their problems. Jake's tired of just being everyone's friend and nothing more than that. He gets up and leaves Olaf there to worry over Jake's state of mind. What if Jake kills himself in despair? Courtney would definitely find a way to turn it around so it was all about her, which would suck. But then Brooke would find a way to make her feel guilty about it until Courtney went crazy. That would rule!


Olaf continues to stare after Jake for what seems like an eternity. Finally, after enough time passes for Jake to have walked out into the street and thrown himself in front of a car, Olaf turns around and goes to start work on his geography paper. Only when he opens his backpack and takes out his folder, the pages and pages of notes are gone! GONE! Who could have stolen them? Well, Kelly did. But WHEN??


Hillside - Girls Locker Room. Brooke is here which makes no sense because I'm sure they've already established that they have gym in the morning and Brooke would NEVER play after-school sports, but the Continuity Police have been responding to calls all episode so I can't get them on the case now. Kelly comes in, fresh from stealing Olaf's notes. She can't even worry about blowing her cover story with Brooke, because the new gossip she just scored is so good it trumps everything else. Ashley was just caught cheating on her MATH TEST! What I thought was her scribbling homework earlier was actually her making a cheat sheet. And she sucks so bad at cheating, she got caught. Kelly and Brooke cackle like hyenas. It's a shame Kelly's about to blow up their friendship. They are at their best when they are bitches united.


Hillside - Locker Labyrinth. Jake (who apparently didn't kill himself in the Avalon parking lot) and Ashley walk down the hall like zombies. Jake tries to understand why Ashley did it, and Ashley tries to explain. It's all stuff you've heard. She didn't know anything, so she tried to cheat. Case closed. Turns out she's no grander than the rest of us. She's humiliated and thinks everyone will think she ALWAYS cheated on everything. Jake says no one will think that. Which might be more convincing if right at that moment Brooke and Kelly didn't slither up next to Ashley and tell her how shocked and disappointed they were to hear that she's a cheater. Everyone in the school knows! They are appalled to discover she is dishonest. Ashley runs off the (fourth time today!), possibly to throw herself out a window. Jake says he'd beat the crap out of Brooke if she were a dude. I honestly don't think Jake would win that fight no matter what Brooke's gender. Brooke doesn't think so either.


Dylan's Garage Band - Dylan's playing a sad song because they say so much. There's a knock at the door. Dylan doesn't respond. If it's a crazy girl that wants to make out with him, he's seen enough of those lately. He plays again and there's a knock again. Billy comes in. They don't know how to communicate with words because they are... musicians? So they jam together and everything's cool between them. Aww?


Avalon - Loser's Table. Matt is sitting there Drunk and Angry. Jake comes over to him looking for Ashley. Matt doesn't care where she is. She is the root of all evil at Hillside, in his eyes. First she spread rumors about him and now she's a cheater? Matt's disgusted. He can't believe he has to deal with the whole school thinking he's an alcoholic, and momentarily I feel for him. That does kinda suck, since he's really NOT an alcoholic. He's just on his way to being one, and really who amongst us isn't? But Jake is finally fed up with Matt's whining. He calls Matt a jerk (he searches for an insult for a while and that's all he comes up with. Sigh.) and tells him he's the source of all Ashley's problems. Matt gets up to punch Jake out, but Jake just keeps yelling at him and then storms out. Matt doesn't pursue him. Jake exits past Kelly who is making a call on the payphone. She tells whoever she's talking to on the phone about the shouting match between Matt and Jake, but that's not the point of the call. She tells Mystery Friend that it's all set up. In a few days, Brooke is finally gonna get what she deserves! Man, everything seems to be falling apart. That must mean it's time for a shocking season finale!


Next Time! On FIFTEEN! The shocking season finale!!! It's all been leading up to this. Well, to this or to nowhere, and I'll tell you right now about 85% of it leads to nowhere. I don't want you to get your hearts broken next week. But you can look forward to: Brooke officially throwing her hat into the race for Student Council President, Kelly making a play for Dylan (!!!), and Brooke vowing revenge on multiple people! Break out the sunscreen and the bug spray! Schools almost out for summer!!

By Kshell

Well the time has finally come for the NBA we have the NBA Finals. This Finals features two completely different teams and methods to winning a title. For the Miami Heat you have Lebron James and Chris Bosh leaving to join up with Dwyane Wade to win a title. The Heat are a team who won the title back in 2006 but have struggled since then. For the Dallas Mavericks you have a team who has won 50+ games for 11 straight seasons. The one consistent guy during that stretch has been Dirk Nowitzki who is trying to win his first ever championship. Both teams come in this series red hot as they are both 12-3 in the playoffs. In fact this is the first time since 1986 that both conference finals lasted five games. Both teams have proven they can make a huge fourth quarter comeback down by double digits on the road. Both teams tied in the NBA for the best record on the road during the regular season. Now both teams in the playoffs have been tough at home as the Miami Heat are 8-0 this postseason at home while the Dallas Mavericks are 7-1 at home. So as you can see this is a hard series to predict but I'm going to try my best. Like I did in the conference finals I'll list three things that need to happen for each team to win. Then after all that I'll offer up my predictions.


Miami Heat:

For the Miami Heat to be in the Finals this time last July wouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. For those who saw them jump out to a 9-8 start or in March lose five games in a row they would be surprised. The Heat are winning despite little to no production from players #4-12 these playoffs. The Heat though in game two of the Eastern Conference Finals finally settled on a rotation. Now that they had Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller back their rotation is just good enough to win. The Heat are trying to be the first NBA champion since the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls to go undefeated in the playoffs at home. Before those Bulls it was the 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers who were unbeaten at home. The Heat have the players to pull that rare feat off. The Heat still have the two best players on the court Lebron James and Dwyane Wade while having a third player Chris Bosh who is better than most teams second best player. So now I'll list the three reasons for the Heat to win this series.


1. Lebron James needs to continue playing like the best player in the game:

You know what makes people forget all your wrong doings? Winning. Which is exactly what Lebron James is trying to do. Everyone has forgot about Kobe Bryant demanding a trade and he would rather play on Mars than for the Lakers. Then the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol and he quickly stopped that talk. Well for James he is slowly silencing his critics this postseason. Pretty hard to rag on James now as he is making clutch shots, hitting three pointers, stopping the other teams best player(Paul Pierce and Derrick Rose), and simply carrying his team. James in this postseason is averaging 26.0 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks a game. James is also shooting 46.3% from the field, 36.8% from threes and 78.7% from free throws. At one point in the Eastern Conference Finals James made 31 straight free throws. James and Wade scored 16 points on the Heat's 18-3 run to defeat the Bulls 83-80 in game five. Just like in game four and five of the Boston series he did again against the Bulls. Now that James is "clutch" he seems pretty tough to beat.


2. Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller have to contribute:

Both Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller didn't play a factor in the first two series. In the Eastern Conference Finals though both guys were critical in wins over the Bulls. First for Haslem who was supposed to be done for the season turned the series around in game two. The Heat were destroyed on the glass in game one and were getting destroyed again in game two trailing 23-16. That is when Haslem entered the game and scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting. For the final four games Haslem averaged 5.8 PPG and 5.8 RPG plus he is finishing the game on the court for the Heat. In that same game Miller was put in for his rebounding as well. In game four was Miller big coming out party scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds. In the final four games Miller averaged 5.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG. Those stats aren't jaw dropping numbers but for the Heat they'll take what they can get from their role players.


3. Chris Bosh needs to play like he did against the Bulls:

Chris Bosh people have joked about all year how he doesn't belong in the big three. Bosh proved in the Eastern Conference Finals that he belongs in the big three. In these playoffs Bosh is averaging 18.6 PPG and 8.9 RPG while shooting 50.3% from the field and 83.2% from the free throw line. In the Bulls series Bosh was huge averaging 23.2 PPG and 7.6 RPG. Bosh also shot 42-70(60.0%) from the field and 32-35(91.4%) from the free throw line. Bosh was agressive getting to the free throw line and scored over 30 points twice in the series. It feels like years ago when he made the statement he was scared of the moment in game three against Boston. Bosh has been stepping his game up this postseason and he is now four wins away from being a champion.


Dallas Mavericks:

The Dallas Mavericks have had a great playoff run so far. The Mavericks are 12-3 and 10-1 in their last 11 playoff games. The Mavericks have won five games in a row on the road. The Mavericks also have a chance to exact some revenge. The Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals blew a 2-0 series lead to the Heat and had a 13 point lead in game three. The Mavericks also have a roster full of guys who have been so close to a title. In fact their nine man rotation has played 103 combined playoff games and none of them have won a championship. With the way Dirk Nowitzki is playing though the Mavericks look to finally end that streak. The Mavericks role players have been huge this finals especially the bench. So now I'll give three reasons for the Mavericks to win this series.


1. Nowitzki needs to keep playing like the best power forward in the game:

This is a different Nowitzki from the guy who was scared five years ago in the finals. In these playoffs Nowitzki is averaging 28.4 PPG and 7.5 RPG while shooting 51.7% from the field, 51.6% from three pointers and 92.9% from three throws. If Nowitzki wins a title this year he will jump past Charles Barkley(I think he already has), Kevin Garnett and Karl Malone on the all-time power forward list. Those Nowitzki numbers were amazing but his Western Conference Finals numbers were incredible. He set a playoff record making all 24 free throw attempts in his 48 point effort in game one on just 15 field goal attempts. For the series he averaged 32.2 PPG and 5.8 rebounds. He also shot 49-88(55.7%) from the field, 4-11(36.4%) from three pointers and 59-61(96.7%) from the free throw line. Nowitzki has had one of the most efficient playoff series in NBA history. Nowitzki will have to keep it up because unlike James he doesn't have a Wade or even a Bosh to lean on.


2. Marion has to be able to contain Lebron James:

The Mavericks don't have many options to contain Lebron James or Dwyane Wade on this roster. One of the few options is Shawn Marion who has to stop James from taking over games in the fourth quarter. Marion is having a solid playoffs averaging 11.2 PPG and 6.3 RPG with over a block and steal a game. Marion was a multiple All-Star with the Phoenix Suns and has had plenty of heartbreak of his own with the Suns. Marion is probably the most important defender for the Mavericks this series as he draws the tough task of guarding the games best player. He won't stop James but he has to at least force James to settle for jump shots and prevent him from getting many free throw attempts. Outside of Marion the other option is DeShawn Stevenson which means the Mavericks are sacrificing a ton on offense. So Marion has to step up for the Mavericks.


3. Jason Terry has to step up on offense and not be a defensive liability:

Jason Terry was also on that 2006 Mavericks Finals team who blew the 2-0 series lead. Terry when the game is on the line will also have to cover Dwyane Wade which is a tough matchup for him. Which is why Terry has to score some points to match the total he gives up. Terry in these playoffs is averaging 17.3 PPG while shooting 47.1% from the field and 46.3% from three pointers making over two a game. If Terry can have a big series the Mavericks can stay in this series. The good news for Terry is for most of the game he can guard either Chalmers or Bibby which means he can save his energy for offense. The Bulls tried to win with just Rose being the only scorer. For the Mavericks to win someone besides Nowitzki has to step it up and Terry is the most likely guy.


Prediction: Heat win in five games

I'm picking the Heat to win this series in five games. I don't think the Mavericks have enough defenders to slow down James or Wade. Wade also had a bad series last series but the Bulls had better defenders. Wade also was the 2006 Finals MVP where he averaged 34.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 3.8 APG in that series. He shot 65-139(46.7%) from the field and 75-97(77.3%) from the free throw line. The Heat have the two best players on the court in James and Wade plus Bosh makes it so they have three of the four best players on the court. If Nowitzki doesn't go off every game the Mavericks have no chance. The Heat play better defense as well and I feel as if guys like Terry, J.J. Barrea, and Peja Stojakovic will be liabilities for the Mavericks as they can't guard anyone on the Heat. This should be a good finals as I expect every game to be close but overall I'm picking the Heat to win this series in five games.

(PASSING THE LJUB - Rafa glides easily into a quarterfinal birth. And yes, I've been planning to write that quip for roughly 48 hours since the match up was announced.)

Earlier today, Nadal defeated Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open. His insane record at Roland Garros now stands at 42-1.

Still, it's not the dominant performance, everyone seems to keep anticipating from him. He's not really winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, as the public seems to demand in order for Nadal to be regarded as "playing well" on clay. But even beyond the fact the score seems too close, the worry seems to carry on Rafa's face. He just seems concerned. And the press keeps asking him about it and he keeps giving all the really long, interesting answers. I'm including the link to the transcript of his last post-match press conference here.

Whether or not he's playing at the best level he's ever played here, Our Hero is still moving ahead to play his Roland Garros-Nemesis Robin Soderling in the quarterfinal on Wednesday. I think that match is going to be TOUGH. Rafa can do it though. I believe in him! Vamos!

By Kshell

The Mariners have put together quite the string of success these past two weeks. The Mariners even found themselves over .500 for the first time since the second game of the season. The Mariners on the week took two out of three at the Minnesota Twins then defeated the New York Yankees two out of three at home. This week was a strange week as the Mariners hitting once again didn't hit well especially the top of the order. The starting pitching unlike all season didn't pitch well either having just thrown one quality start in six starts. The Mariners bullpen was terrific once again this week which allowed the Mariners to pull within a game of first place. The American League West race is pretty tight as the difference between first place and last place is just a game and a half. Like I'll do whenever the Mariners have a winning week I'll feature the good, the bad and the awesome. This week the good list will feature plenty of relievers, the bad will feature the top of the order while the awesome will have more attention on the middle relievers.


The Good:

The Mariners went 4-2 on the week which saw plenty of good. This week Erik Bedard like he has all month long is pitching like the pitcher Bill Bavasi gave up so much to acquire. The Mariners relief was excellent this week as they went 3-0 with three saves on the week. Then the Mariners got a little bit of offense from their double play combination especially Brendan Ryan who has been red hot for nine games after being ice cold. The Mariners this week just found ways to win as they won three games in which they trailed including two in extra innings. One of the Mariners wins came off of Mariano Rivera who is the greatest closer of all-time. The Mariners had a winning week when Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda didn't pitch that great of games. So here were the stars of the week for the Mariners this week.

Hot Hitting:

Brendan Ryan: 12-21(.571), 3 RBI's, 2 runs
Adam Kennedy: 7-19(.368), 3 RBI's, 3 runs. He also had game winning hit off Rivera.
Franklin Gutierrez: 7-21(.333), HR, RBI, 3 runs. He robbed a home run against Nick Swisher.
Miguel Olivo: 7-17(.412), HR, 5 RBI's, 3 runs, SB

Brendan Ryan in the past nine games: 17-31(.548) with 7 RBI"s, 5 runs and a nine game hitting streak.

Hot Pitching:

Erik Bedard: 1-0, 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 3 saves, 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2 K's
Jamey Wright: 1-0, hold, 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, K
David Pauley: 2-0, hold, 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's

Erik Bedard in his last five starts: 3-0, 33 IP, 1.09 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 28 K's
Jamey Wright on the season: 1-1,10 holds, 24.1 IP, 1.48 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 16 K's
David Pauley on the season: 4-0, 3 holds, 32.1 IP, 0.84 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 20 K's


The Bad:

I'm glad that some guys like Ryan, Olivo and Jack Cust aren't living on the bad list but Figgins still remains. The Mariners top of the order has been doing terrible for two weeks now. The 27 million dollar men which is Ichiro and Chone Figgins have done horrible this month. It's pretty incredible how the Mariners are even .500 with the way the team has been hitting. The starting pitching was very average and last weeks hero Jason Vargas got beat up pretty good this week. Then the Mariners have a problem in left field as all the youngsters out there have looked very quadruple A like with the non stop strikeouts. The main problem is Figgins who the Mariners are stuck with for two more seasons after this year at nine million a season. The Mariners need to call up Dustin Ackley now and bench Figgins in favor of Kennedy or at least put Figgins ninth in the order.

Poor hitting:

Chone Figgins: 1-22(.045). For the year hitting .193/.235/.260
Ichiro: 3-26(.115), 2 RBI's, 2 runs, SB
Carlos Peguerro: 2-14(.143), 2 RBI's, 8 K's
Michael Saunders: 0-9, run, SB, 6 K's
Justin Smoak: 4-24(.167), HR, 2 RBI's, 2 runs, 7 K's

Ichiro and Figgins last two weeks combined are 14-104(.135) which has to play a part of Smoak's recent struggles.

For the month Ichiro is hitting .204/.262/.235 with 2 SB's and 3 Caught Stealing. Yet he isn't even the worst hitter or in the worst slump.

For the month Figgins is hitting .169/.204/.202 with 2 RBI's, 5 runs and 4 stolen bases to 2 caught stealing. Time for Figgins to be benched or least moved to ninth in the order. Hard to score runs when your 1-2-3 go a combine 24-156(.154) in the last two weeks.

Poor pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-1, 7.2 IP, 12.91 ERA, 2.61 WHIP, 3 K's

Vargas doesn't really ever have an average outing. It is either a great outing or a terrible outing much like Ryan doesn't have an average week hitting wise ever.


The Awesome:

The Mariners going 4-2 on the week and 10-3 the last two weeks is pretty awesome. The Mariners were 16-23 have battled back from the week where they blew several leads. Now the Mariners are playing like a team with their bullpen and Ryan carrying the offense. The same Ryan who was hitting .200 just nine games ago. The past two weeks has been fun to watch as the Mariners have given this team very little to cheer about lately. So I'll break down the awesome part of the week.

Awesome hitting:

Brendan Ryan: For the month he is hitting .385/.438/.492 and in the past two weeks he is hitting .515/.555/.687 while driving in 7 runs, scoring 6 runs and has a nine game hitting streak. Ryan has raised his average from .200/.276/.245 to in nine games is now .277/.350/.348 on the season nearly improving by over 100 points in every category.

Awesome pitching:

Erik Bedard: For the month he is 2-0, 26 IP, 1.04 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 25 K's and .180 BAA. Bedard has been dominant his last five starts and he'll take the hill tomorrow against his former team. The Mariners have a tough choice to make here in a month on Bedard if he keeps pitching this well. I'd love to make the playoffs with Hernandez, Pineda and then Bedard as no team would want to face the Mariners.

Mariners Bullpen: 3-0, 3 saves, 2 holds, 24.2 IP, 1.09 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 12 K's. The Mariners middle relief has been great and David Pauley deserves to be an all-star.

David Pauley on the season is 4-0, 3 holds, 32.1 IP, 0.84 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 20 K's and .168 BAA. Every year they pick a middle reliever and I don't see how Pauley isn't the leading middle reliever at this point in the season.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 28-25, First Place
LAA Angels: 28-27, 1.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 26-26, 1.5 GB
Oakland A's: 27-27, 1.5 GB

As you can see the Mariners under first year manager Eric Wedge are right in the middle of the race. Wedge does have his team playing hard as there is no quit in this team which is nice to see. The Mariners are 10-3 the last two weeks despite the top of the order hitting horrible. The Mariners just got Gutirrez back which has already been paying off. When Dustin Ackley is finally called up and eats into Figgins playing time that will help the offense again. Also the Mariners are winning despite Ichiro slumping and his track record suggests he'll snap out of this which is another hitter as well. At least the Mariners are giving us some excitement which they didn't do last year. Hopefully the hitting turns around and the pitching staff keeps pitching well. It does feel good to talk positive about the Mariners for once. It has been a great two week stretch that I hope can last a little longer.