Soflasnapper
10-22-2012, 12:04 PM
Last year's Heat run to the title feature much self-doubt and panic among Heat fans. I know, I am one, and I heard all the radio talk, and read the columns.
Yes, they were semi-favored. Then they seemed to have critical flaws in both how they were put together (no height, no true center of any impact), and in the character of their stars (LBJ a loser who failed in the clutch, DWade, an over-the-hill former great who'd lost more than a step, Bosch, just over-rated and then injured).
Even that one loss to the Knicks off of Carmello's monster scoring game dispirited some fans. Then it appeared we'd lost to the Pacers with that top 5 big man Hibbert. Then they went down 2-3 to the Celtics, needing to win two in a row, and starting in Boston where they'd not won to any degree.
Last were the Thunder. Although the final tally of 4-1 was dominant in retrospect, no Heat fan could breathe easily through those close games. They seemed too much, with that speed and 3 scorers and the surreal game of KD, the game's premier scorer for 3 years in a row. No Heat lead was safe, and the Thunder even went up 17 points early in a game the Heat eventually won.
The nervous nellies in SoFla called for trading the big 3, breaking up the team, because it was obviously so horribly flawed. But to repeat, they won the finals 4-1.
My intent is to draw an analogy to this electoral season. The extreme nerves of the Heat nation were not entirely unwarranted. But they were overblown beyond reason. No, it was no triumphant cakewalk, ala that great Sixers team with Dr. J and Moses, 4-0, 4-0, 4-1. They did not dominate, and trailed in their last 3 series. Even the home town fans somewhat wrote them off.
Here we're in the 3rd quarter of the last game, facing a tied national vote. It wasn't supposed to be this way, with the larger and growing Obama leads earlier in the year. But the score tightened to where it is now. Big casino, coming down the homestretch, anyone's game for the taking.
Will the Romney gambit of substituting late, trying their foreign policy scoring specialist instead of their reliable economic conditions triple threat player, work? Will their height (their money advantage) prove decisive?
We'll soon find out. But that's why the games are played, and to the end. Late injuries or self-inflicted turnovers may yet prove the difference. But it's getting down to a few possession game for both sides, and it's a tied game.
Yes, they were semi-favored. Then they seemed to have critical flaws in both how they were put together (no height, no true center of any impact), and in the character of their stars (LBJ a loser who failed in the clutch, DWade, an over-the-hill former great who'd lost more than a step, Bosch, just over-rated and then injured).
Even that one loss to the Knicks off of Carmello's monster scoring game dispirited some fans. Then it appeared we'd lost to the Pacers with that top 5 big man Hibbert. Then they went down 2-3 to the Celtics, needing to win two in a row, and starting in Boston where they'd not won to any degree.
Last were the Thunder. Although the final tally of 4-1 was dominant in retrospect, no Heat fan could breathe easily through those close games. They seemed too much, with that speed and 3 scorers and the surreal game of KD, the game's premier scorer for 3 years in a row. No Heat lead was safe, and the Thunder even went up 17 points early in a game the Heat eventually won.
The nervous nellies in SoFla called for trading the big 3, breaking up the team, because it was obviously so horribly flawed. But to repeat, they won the finals 4-1.
My intent is to draw an analogy to this electoral season. The extreme nerves of the Heat nation were not entirely unwarranted. But they were overblown beyond reason. No, it was no triumphant cakewalk, ala that great Sixers team with Dr. J and Moses, 4-0, 4-0, 4-1. They did not dominate, and trailed in their last 3 series. Even the home town fans somewhat wrote them off.
Here we're in the 3rd quarter of the last game, facing a tied national vote. It wasn't supposed to be this way, with the larger and growing Obama leads earlier in the year. But the score tightened to where it is now. Big casino, coming down the homestretch, anyone's game for the taking.
Will the Romney gambit of substituting late, trying their foreign policy scoring specialist instead of their reliable economic conditions triple threat player, work? Will their height (their money advantage) prove decisive?
We'll soon find out. But that's why the games are played, and to the end. Late injuries or self-inflicted turnovers may yet prove the difference. But it's getting down to a few possession game for both sides, and it's a tied game.