Grinch Denied Again

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There was only one team that could do what the entire country wanted to see and as it turns out, the Dallas Mavericks didn't let us down.

I've always known that Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle would be a great coach and I enjoyed working with him the two years he was with the Detroit Pistons from 2001-2003.

Now Pistons President Joe Dumars must have woken up this morning with thoughts about "The One That Got Away."

During Carlisle's coaching career, the 51-year old has posted a record of 443-295 regular season and 53-46 playoff record including a 16-5 mark this postseason. Carlisle is 11-3 in close out games.

What makes the low-keyed Carlisle so unique?

He played college ball at the University of Maine for the Black Bears from 1979-1981 and then for the Virginia Cavaliers from 1982-84. He was drafted in the third round by the Boston Celtics in the 1984 draft and was the 70th player overall. I haven't been aware of many Maine players in the NBA.

Carlisle did win an NBA Championship as a Player in 1986 playing with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, the late Dennis Johnson and Robert Parish. Now he's in a Unique Club to also win one as a Coach. He become the 11th person to to pull it off joining Heat President Pat Riley, retired Los Angeles Lakers/ Chicago Bulls Coach Phil Jackson and his mentor K.C. Jones.

His Mavericks played excellent defense against the Miami Heat and denied former Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James his chance to win a title after his Classless Exit from Ohio a year ago.

When I heard Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert congratulate Mavericks Boss Mark Cuban through his Twitter account 15 minutes after the game, I wonder what took him so long to do it. I thought Gilbert would do the deed much quicker.

But Carlisle will be an excellent coach for years to come. He preaches defense and is just getting better with age. He learned his lessons well from his stops in Detroit and Indiana. I truly believe that Dallas will be his last stop and he's found a home with the Grateful Cuban.

Although I live in the Miami Metropolitan area, I was definitely pulling for the Mavericks to win this championship.

There is no doubt that I truly hate LeBron James! I will hammer him at every opportunity that I get and I hope he never wins a championship!

"The Decision" and the way he left Cleveland may be old news and I'm sure that Cavaliers fans will be grateful to Carlisle and Company.

I actually wonder if James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will be playing together next year. We'll find out. But if they don't and the Heat decide to move one of them for a dominant low post player and improve themselves, this won't make up for the fact that these three clowns predicted that they would win multiple championships but choked badly trying to get their first.

We should rename the franchise the Miami Hype!

I feel bad that Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and John Stockton never won rings. But last night, justice was served when Dirk Nowitzki (32), Jason Kidd (38) Jason Terry (33) and Shawn Marion (33) saw their careers become complete winning their first championship.

James poor fourth quarter performances earned him the nickname LeBrick and I doubt we'll see the American Airlines Arena packed this summer with these Three Stooges singing and dancing on stage as to what they'll do on the court.

Last night, the Mavericks celebrated on the Hype's floor, much to the dismay of Wade, James and Bosh. My only advice to these three clowns is to spend a lot of time this summer working out and working on their game so there will be chemistry together so they can understand the real meaning of "Team."

While this will be a tough summer for the Miami Hype, I'm glad that the Dallas Mavericks won their first title.

When Cuban gave the first owner of the team Don Carter the Championship Trophy, the Mavericks first coach and my friend Dick Motta (79), who lives in Dallas during the winter but spends his summers operating a Bed and Breakfast in Fish Haven, Idaho., must be smiling that he was alive to see his baby finally grow up. The Mavericks grew up in a big away against the most hyped player (James) and trio (Wade, James and Bosh) in NBA history.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.