[jleefilled]

Took me a long time to bring myself to post here cause the man made me bitter by going to the Spurs, but I guess I'm over it. Fin's last preseason game reminded me of his greatness when he is on. 5 for 9 from the field, 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a couple of steals -- all in 33 minutes. Not his best by any stretch, but it is preseason. He always had me believing in him to the very last day he was a Mav. As I reflect, I feel kind of sad because I recall how many times I felt his "stepping back" kind of took away from his game. Dirk wasn't the only one getting better year by year. Finley may have been the epitome of what we call a player with good work ethic. I believe his three point field goal percentage of the last couple of years atests to this. When he was on, he was an outright star on the court. No one can take that away from him. He always had me hoping that one day he would be a player that was always "on". For some reason, he hasn't yet become that player. I always felt it was a confidence issue with Fin. I feel like if Fin had T-mac's confidence, he would probably get HOF recognition at the end of his career. I still think it's possible. He's an assasin so even when he does lose his athleticism, he'll still be able to reggie miller-it 'til he's finished playing. Anyway, here's to the man who brought me to tears by his play in that do-or-die game in Utah back in 2001. I'll never forget when he hit that impossible fade-away shot over the outstretched hands of Olden Polynice. Afterward, he pumped his fists and you could read his lips saying 'thank you'. I always believed he was saying 'thank you' to God after that shot. He was the ultimate underdog. And I love the underdogs. He was ridiculed by hall of famers, and he made those hall of famers eat their words. God bless him.