In Which the Finals and Their Ramifications for the Future of the League are Examined and Discussed

The Finals are set: Mavericks v. Heat in a showdown to determine who best defines the changing Lig and the face of basketball itself.

If that sounds extreme, thats because it is. The Mavs are see above; they bite steez like there's no tomorrow in an effort to out-steez whoever's steezing in the first place. Case in point, the Suns series.

The Suns came in after playing back to back grueling series, winning them both on the strength of their insane running game and ability to lure non-running teams into running with them. Both coaches preceding the Lil General either had the wrong personnel or no idea how to use them, but the result was the same: a Game 7 loss.

Enter the Mavs. They have the ability to play either game, the run and gun or slow it down, with efficiency not seen in the history. In effect, they fly in the face of theorists who claim that only by forcing the other team to adapt to your style of play will you have any success in the Playoffs.

Versus the Griz, the Mavs bludgeoned their opponents into submission, using a big lineup to punish the Memphis Boyz into a sweep.

Against the Spurs, the Mavs forced the big, immobile bigs out onto the break where they were vulnerable and took San Antonio out of their game like they was the Suns.

Beating the Suns took a final steez-bite; the Mavs were able to put out a small lineup and run along with the Suns.

The Heat are a different animal entirely.

Rather than bite their way to the Finals, they played through a relatively weak conference and a Piston team that had trouble firing on all cylinders (pun definitely intended, no matter how stupid it is). Peep their opponents: Bulls, Nets, Pistons.

The Bulls are basically a glorified All-American squad, replete with college players that lit shit up in the NCAA. Even against that paltry competition, the Heat barely managed to sneak by with the series win.

Their squad is semi-broken. DWade, Shaq, 'Toine, and no-one else of note. Gary Payton is along for the ride on his second Championship Express team in 3 years, but he's more of a former famous person than an actual key cog in the functioning of the team. Actually, he is a key cog that has no business being a key cog on a Championship contender.

It is a testament to the strength of Diesel and his buddy that they can carry this vintage squad all the way to the 'Ship. However, like an antique rifle, you can only fire it so many times before it blows up.