Uh oh, the Mavericks let the Heat back in it.  And I don?t want to hear anything about the officials, hit your damn foul shots and it won?t matter.

? What I learned this week:

- It?s much easier to knock Shaq down if you have the ball.

- Does anyone believe Mark Cuban owned a Stackhouse jersey before Jerry was suspended?

- Is it Dwyane Wade time yet? I guess so. 42 and 15 in the 4th is about right.  Follow that up with 36 in Game 4 and 43 in Game 4 and he?s at 40 ppg in the last 3.  And yes, that is Jordan-esque.

- Games in Dallas are being played in American Airlines Center.  Games in Miami tip-off in American Airlines Arena.  Wasn?t American supposed to be going out of business?

- Jason Terry is going to be a UFA at the end of this series and if Cuban thought Nash was over-priced (cue the Judas Priest) he?s got another thing coming.  Avery and Co. may think they can finally make a PG out of Devin Harris. And JT will be right back in Atlanta.

? Hey, didn?t you used to be the new and improved MVP-like Dirk Nowitzki?

? Quote of the Week: Josh Howard, reacting to a reporter asking him about the unintentional timeout call that effectively ended Game 5 for the Mavs. ?What am I saying to you right now, dog? Please, don't come off on me right now because I'm going to come off on you, and I'm not in a great mood right now. Get out of my face, man. Get out of my face.?  Josh Howard?s timeout was just the end of a long 4th Q for JH.  He missed 2 FT?s with :58 remaining and scored just 2 pts and grabbed 2 boards in the decisive quarter.  

? So the Mavericks finally got 35 from Jason Terry AND 20 from Dirk and JH.  They still lost.  Reason #3: no one can defend Dwyane Wade.  Not on the drive, not on the step-back, not in the open court on in the half court sets. Dallas is finally starting to show their lack of experience in HUGE games with GIGANTIC moments that define teams and players.  Next year is Dallas? year, but too many breaks have gone against them already.  

? Trade of the Week: Take your pick, Jermaine and Tinsley to Toronto for Villanueva or the #1 overall.  KG to Chicago for their two #1?s.  KG to Sac-town for Big Brad, Bonzi and KT.  Lamar to Chicago for Brandon Roy @ #2.  It?s going to be wild this week.  I personally expect to see Ricky Davis moving yet again, maybe to a team like Sacramento.

? So, a judge in Florida has ordered that Miami heat ?ber star Dwyane Wade must change his name b/c of a ruling in the suit filed by actor Kadeem Hardison, who played Dwayne Wayne on CBS?s sitcom A Different World about a hundred years ago.  This is just insane.  What?s next, asking Jason Williams to change his name because Jayson Williams wants to write a book about shooting someone in the face?  Hardison claims that with Wade being such a superstar he isn?t able to capitalize on the almost famous character he once played on television.  This, Hardison says, is affecting his earning potential.   The fact remains that Dwyane Wade is a real human, maybe even superhuman.  Dwayne Wayne is come cross-colours wearing pseudo intellectual character.  If Hardison knows his worth, he?d walk around pretending to be his character from White Men Can?t Jump, now that was a money-maker.  

(Editor?s note: Kevin Casini has been fooled by Buster Gunning?s fictional satire?)

? This Just In: Some people in the Raptors organization think they ought to trade Charlie Villanueva for Mo Williams and Toronto native Jamal Magloire, thus solving their big-man and guard problems.  Then they can take their pick and parlay it into a replacement for CV, who would be headed to Milwaukee. Mark me down for calling that one a big mistake.

? So now Michael Jordan is co-owner and de facto El Presidente in Charlotte.  This certainly could affect their draft strategy and move them in the direction of a more proven and ready to play backcourt player.  Why did Bob Johnson bother with this, he doesn?t need investors?  Simple, the opportunity to be linked to Jordan is too good to pass up.  MJ has been interested in ownership for a while now and saw that it wasn?t going to happen anytime soon so he took the next best thing.  But what makes him a good President/GM?  There is nothing in his past to suggest he?ll succeed at this, most glaringly the Kwame Brown selection of 2001.  In fact, aside from Joe Dumars, very few former NBA stars have bene able to put together a winner. Consider: Danny Ainge, Kevin McHale, Wes Unseld, Jordan?s Wizards, and  Larry Bird.  Mediocre at best.  Miserable at worst.  My bet is Jordan doesn?t do much good for Charlotte.

? Mark My Words: Heat in 7. Still.  

Tune in again next week for Mock Draft 2.0 and a look ahead to Games 6 and 7 of the NBA Finals.  And feel free to email at kevincasini@hotmail.com