Monday, July 4, 2011

The NBA Blog: 2011 Postseason Horse Collar Awards

This is late but who gives a damn. It’s necessary. I mentioned in the intro to my 2010-2011 NBA Horse Collar Awards entry that I might do a post-playoffs entry this year. I give out awards prior to the playoffs for the NBA because the postseason is so long it almost seems like a different season. But it just seems weird to do an awards/end of the year entry before things have really ended and without including the most important part of the year. I thought that perhaps adding a post-playoffs entry would solve the problem, and now that the 2010-2011 season finally is complete I know that this is the way to go.

This had to have been one of the top five most memorable NBA postseasons I’ve witnessed. It wasn’t always great but it was always interesting. For a while there I was convinced that it was going to have a very, very unhappy ending (the very ending we’d all been fearing for nearly a full calendar year). The Mavs were our last hope. It didn’t make any sense to me that the Mavericks would stop Miami, but I clung to the idea that perhaps some kind of cosmic justice would kick in and have Dallas beating the very franchise that stunned them in the 2006 Finals.

However, as the minutes ticked away during the 4th quarter of game 2 in Miami, I began to accept that it was going to happen. The bad guys were going to win. Not only that, they seemed unstoppable. I was trying to come to grips with the idea that the Heatles were probably going to win the next 4 titles at least. It was tortuous. Villainy! The bastards had been able to toy with the best two teams in the East before putting them away, and they were now doing the exact same thing to the best that the West had to offer. Treachery! All was lost. It was going to be a brutal lockout.

It looked like it had all come together in the very first year for Miami. It looked like Erik Spoelstra was going to have as many NBA Championships as a head coach as Larry Brown. It looked like LeBron James was not only the best player statistically but in reality as well. Dwyane Wade had found himself again just in time for the Finals, the place where he became a superstar back in 2006. All of our worst fears were solidifying in front of us. The picture of Little Spo and the Heatles smiling at the South Beach Parade was steady coming to life. Only the fine details had yet to fill in.

And then things shifted. In retrospect, it has to be one of the most unexpected reversals I’ve ever witnessed. Over the next 10 days, the Mavericks would beat Miami in 4 of out of 5 games. Erik Spoelstra would be as powerless to stop the collapse as he had been to spur on Miami’s former successes. Dwyane Wade would show himself to be the smug punk that he is. LeBron would again cower at the biggest moment. And he would again show himself to be an immature, narcissistic, loser. At the last moment the Mavs came to our rescue and slain Miami. The Heatles made it all the merrier by disgracing themselves.

It couldn’t have happened but it did. Just when things seemed wronger than wrong, it all turned out right. Fairytale right. The lockout will be ugly and will take much of the shine off of this memorable season. Still, if we don’t get a regular season or a postseason next year, I dare say we shall still be satisfied with this last one. Or rather, with not one. Not two. Not three. Not four. Not five. Not six. Not seven. Not any. Not yet. Not yet.

2011 Postseason Horse Collar Awards

Postseason MVP

1. Dirk Nowitzki

2. LeBron James

3. Dwyane Wade


All-Postseason Team

PG Derrick Rose

SG Dwyane Wade

SF LeBron James

PF Dirk Nowitzki

C Marc Gasol

Coach Rick Carlisle


Most Surprising Postseason Player

1. JJ Barea

2. Jeff Teague

3. Marc Gasol


Most Disappointing Postseason Player

1. Pau Gasol

2. Amare Stoudemire

T3. Carlos Boozer

T3. Joakim Noah


Most Surprising Postseason Team

1. Dallas

2. Memphis

3. Atlanta


Most Disappointing Postseason Team

1. San Antonio

2. Los Angeles Lakers

3. Boston


Best Postseason Series

1. Mavs over Heat (NBA Finals)

2. Thunder over Grizzlies (West 2nd Round)

3. Grizzlies over Spurs (West 1st Round)


Worst Postseason Series

1. Mavs over Lakers (West 2nd Round)

2. Heat over Celtics (East 2nd Round)

3. Lakers over Hornets (West 1st Round)


Best Postseason Game

1. Dallas vs. Miami, NBA Finals, Game 2

2. OKC vs. Memphis, West 2nd Round, Game 4

3. OKC vs. Memphis, West 2nd Round, Game 3

4. Dallas vs. Miami, NBA Finals, Game 4

5. Dallas vs. OKC, West Finals, Game 4


Worst Postseason Game

1. Dallas vs. Los Angeles Lakers, West 2nd Round, Game 4

2. Atlanta vs. Orlando, East 1st Round, Game 5

3. Boston vs. New York, East 1st Round, Game 3


Biggest Douche of the Postseason

1. LeBron James

2. Dwyane Wade

3. Erik Spoelstra

4. Mario Chalmers

5. Carlos Boozer

6. Pau Gasol

7. Andrew Bynum

8. Joakim Noah

9. Hedo Turkaglu

10. Kyle Korver


25 Memorable Moments (In no real order other than chronology)

1. Hawks over Howard in round 1.

2. Pacers choke away game 1 vs. Chicago.

3. NY comes up with nothing against the Celtics.

4. George Hill gives Spurs a stay of execution against Memphis.

5. The Grizzlies knock off San Antonio in round 1.

6. Favored seeds struggle throughout.

7. Roy leads Portland comeback vs. Dallas in game 4.

8. Durant and Thunder come back in game 5 to finish off Denver.

9. Mavs shock the Lakers at Staples in game 1.

10. Lakers disgrace themselves in Phil’s final game.

11. The Memphis and Oklahoma City OT thrillers.

12. Hawks whip the Bulls in game 1.

13. Rondo wills a victory in game 3 to give Celtics life vs. Miami.

14. Boston chokes late in all 4 losses vs. Miami.

15. Miami’s celebration after 2nd round series victory over Boston.

16. Bulls rip Heat in game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals.

17. LeBron owns Rose in the 4th.

18. Bulls collapse in game 5, Heat reach the Finals.

19. Mavs keep coming back against OKC, reach the Finals.

20. Dallas stuns Miami with late surge to steal game 2, turn series around.

21. Dirk misses at buzzer in game 3.

22. LeBron folds, Dirk plays through illness in game 4.

23. Wade and James mock Dirk’s illness on camera.

24. LeBron delivers triple double but not a win in game 5.

25. Terry puts in 27 as Mavs finish Heat, win title for Dallas, Cubes, Dirk, Kidd, Marion, and the rest of the world not called South Beach.

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