Just Like Old Times

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

Whicg of course means they will rise from the ashes to win the title and they can crow to ESPN about their resiliance and character.

That's how fate does us as if we're Danny Green after the dentist.

I would've agreed if you had said this ten games into the season. But we're three-quarters of the way in now and the Heat have only amplified the flaws we've seen from LeQuit's Cavs the past few years. It is what it is, and that ain't Hugo Boss the Emperor's wearing.

I'll repeat what I said at Basketbawful: The Heat are Lebron's team now, and it shouldn't be any surprise that a team led by a talented amateur is looking up in the standings at the dedicated professionals in Boston, Chicago, LA, and San Antonio.

[jb]

http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/05/the-joy-of-rooting-against-lebron/?eref=sihp

and another

[JCoz]

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-03-07/heat-havent-figured-out-how-to-use-the-big-three?icid=maing|main5|dl3|sec1_lnk3|48858

Anyone want to caption the photo in that article with what Wade is thinking right there?

It also doesn’t hurt to have a bench. Miami’s subs scored all of six points on Sunday. And if you think newly-acquired Mike Bibby will be the answer at point guard, Wade probably has some swamp land near Key Largo he’d like to sell you.

“This is probably the toughest challenge all of us have faced,” he said.

Wade then mused about how things got to this point, how that Big Three rock-star intro with fireworks and lasers has been reduced to tears.

“That was one thing we had to understand when we all came here, there would be sacrifices,” he said. “You live with the consequences.”

There was a tone of bewilderment that bordered on resignation. The world is getting what it wants.

After all the hype and hope, the only thing the Heat have figured out is that they can’t figure this thing out.

[FUDU]

IMO not one of Woj's better efforts, not that is was bad by any means, but it felt a bit obvious considering how he has nailed everything since the Departure.

The Heat will bounce back with some big games and look good doing it at some point, but this really does put some huge doubts in their long term outlook for this up coming post season. BTW I think Spoelstra sealed his fate by going public with the crying story. I'd be surprised if he was coach starting next season.

But I think a question needs asked about LeBron, just how effective is he really at making his teammates better? I'm not just talking about statistics either, b/c frankly it aint that hard to boost your 3rd or 4th option guy's numbers when the D gravitates toward you so much. It doesn't take extreme talent & uber vision to hit wide open bigs crashing open lanes to the hoop. But take a guy like Wade, already an awesome player (and frankly a guy like him isn't going to score 45ppg b/c LBJ is on his team) but is DWade a better player b/c LeBron is on his team or b/c of how LeBron actually plays? It might not be a fair question considering this is season one of this crack pot experiment but the longer this Heat team is together and they do not play high quality ball it does become a more fair & relevant question.

[StewieG]

I think it depends on the type of player RE: LeBron making them better. Because he dominates the ball so much, if you're a catch-and-shoot player, or a big guy who isn't very skilled but can make an open dunk, then LeBron helps you. If, like Wade, you need the ball to be at your best, then he really hurts your game. If you're Ramon Sessions, and you both need the ball to be effective, and you can't shoot worth a damn, then playing with LeBron will have you out of the league faster than you can say "What the fuck just happened?".

[Toxicadam]

gif of the forever

[fundamentals]

I am not basketball expert but when you choose not to operate and offense that utilizes the low block, you are going to struggle. When it comes to the playoffs, where possessions are lengthier and half court work is critical, it would seem the Heat will continue to struggle. If LeKnucklehead wanted to and we have said this before when he was here, chose to stay in the low post a good amount of time, they would arguably be a better half court team. It's easy to run sets when you are winning most nights by a decent margin. When you play better teams who want to lock you down in the half court and not allow transition, the dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble set isn't going work. Darn for them.

[Larvell Blanks]

^ and this is where Bosh presents a HUGE problem for them. He like to stay out at the elbow and not down on the blocks. While a good pick n pop player, he needs to develop a low post game. He scored 23 Sunday but with his height advantage over Boozer, he should have been posting up. (See Garnett v Jamison last May) Too bad Chris is too soft to bang down low and he just wants to chill. I know MIA has designed their O to spread the floor, much like the Cavs of the LBJ era, but good defensive teams will take that away, as witnessed during that same era. Of any of the "Big 3" he'll struggle the most come playoff time as he has the least amount of experience there and look how he's melting during the reg season.

[fundamentals]

Joel Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Erick Dampier, Juwan Howard, ain't none of them Bill Cartwright. I am sure people will say the Bulls had no inside game when MJ terrorized the league but he relished going down low and posting people up. Pippen did it and if memory serves me correctly even the antiquated big folks they had (Will Perdue, Bill Wennington, etc.... )use to get touches down there at times during games. I don't watch every minute of every Heat game but just how often does someone get the ball in the low block on that squad?

If LeBum wants to win, he will put his carcass in that spot. Just don't know if it's in his DNA to do so. He holds the keys to their kingdom.

[Larvell Blanks]

and here I expected Bosh to be somewhat tough...

WindhorstESPN Chris Bosh: "I've been in my own world for the last 48 hours." Says when friends bring anything up re Heat, he shuts it down

He should take a loss in round 1 pretty well.

Wade also hating some of the attention

WindhorstESPN Wade: "I haven't watched college basketball because I know they'd talk about (the crying), I don't even know who Marquette is playing."

WindhorstESPN Wade said house staff knows not to have ESPN on when he comes in the house as well.

No word on LeBron though I'm sure he has either lil Dru or Romeo doing the worrying for him.

[Ziner]

I am just hoping for them to settle in to that 3 seed. NY, Chicago, Boston and West Champ would be a tough road... makes me smirk

[Cease]

Quietly, this feeds the beast and makes their impending playoff run an "us against the world" script. I'm gonna hate that. Frankly, I'd prefer them to have had a nuisance-free regular season, get complacent, and then get shocked in the Playoffs.

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Joel Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Erick Dampier, Juwan Howard, ain't none of them Bill Cartwright.

^^^^^^^^ that

...and then came The Jordan Rules and the advent of the 7-Step

[Ziner]

Quietly, this feeds the beast and makes their impending playoff run an "us against the world" script. I'm gonna hate that. Frankly, I'd prefer them to have had a nuisance-free regular season, get complacent, and then get shocked in the Playoffs.

How has that us against the world thing been working for them. Wasnt it four games ago Lebron said

20+ games left in phase 2. I'm ReFOCUSED! No prisoners, I have no friends when at WAR besides my Soldiers.

[Cease]

Quietly, this feeds the beast and makes their impending playoff run an "us against the world" script. I'm gonna hate that. Frankly, I'd prefer them to have had a nuisance-free regular season, get complacent, and then get shocked in the Playoffs.

How has that us against the world thing been working for them. Wasnt it four games ago Lebron said

20+ games left in phase 2. I'm ReFOCUSED! No prisoners, I have no friends when at WAR besides my Soldiers.

TCF in me feels like we're in for punch and I hesitate to put my chin out so early. It's still pre-season in tNBA, and they have time to gel before April. Believe me, I buy into today's reasons why they won't go all the way, but today doesn't matter. We've seen it first-hand for years, why do we ignore the game-altering gravity of the Playoffs?

Series-wise, I don't see NY beating them even 3 times once defense matters. CHI could stretch a series, but a series win would be an upset, IMO. ORL, BOS, and then LAL/SA ought to do the deed (based on their playoff histories).

[FUDU]

Joel Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Erick Dampier, Juwan Howard, ain't none of them Bill Cartwright. I am sure people will say the Bulls had no inside game when MJ terrorized the league but he relished going down low and posting people up. Pippen did it and if memory serves me correctly even the antiquated big folks they had (Will Perdue, Bill Wennington, etc.... )use to get touches down there at times during games. I don't watch every minute of every Heat game but just how often does someone get the ball in the low block on that squad?

If LeBum wants to win, he will put his carcass in that spot. Just don't know if it's in his DNA to do so. He holds the keys to their kingdom.

Funny b/c the Bulls actually had a decent "token" inside game through the years. Costanza and Longley were serviceable enough to keep teams honest. Then HGrant was solid below the FT line as well. The other key for them was Phil's genius in using a multi headed monster on D in the post. They had like 45 fouls to give if they had to.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

Blazers 105, Heat 96

Hope Coach Spo had the locker room stuffed with extra boxes of Puffs for after the game.

[Ziner]

LeBron is losing at war. Sucks for him.

[noles1]

Actually tonight Portland was simply terrific.

Not sure anyone in the NBA matched up with them well tonight. That team is gonna the West fits if Roy & Camby can stay healthy.

[jta1975]

Phil Jackson firing his shots. I love it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=6195016

[DannyBoy]

Excellent. Lets keep this thread rolling.

[noles1]

See Bosh drew the short straw to whine about shit...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/ ... id=6196012

Why not just shut up and play or at the very least keep the shit in house? Another example of these guys just making it more and more harder to not utterly despise them.

[Larvell Blanks]

My favorite tweet of the night...

MikeeyL_NY Michael Lewis by KGTrashTalk
I asked @KingJames for change for a dollar he only gave me 75 cents I was like wtf, then I remembered LeBron never gives you the 4th quarter

[peeker643]

Cry-ami

[Gradysmanldy]

Missed ALL of this. (Been w/o internet on vacation for a week) It's like an early Christmas Present!

I can't remember an arch villain who was such a B@#*(. Seriously, someone call the guy from the Riches or Gary Oldman to teach these babies how to at least ACT the part)

[fundamentals]

I think I heart the idea of the Heat playing the Knicks in round one. They would have, arguably, no answer for Stoudamire and none for Billups. You have to at least somewhat verclept about the notion of the Heat having to beat a decent squad in round one, a formidable one in the semis, a really good one in the ECF, and another juggernaut in the Finals. I like the odds of them not winning it, right now.

one other thing and it's off topic but.....Off Topic:
the Western Conference playoff matchups are going to be outstanding

[jb]

They had like 45 fouls to give if they had to.

Which is about as many points as Chief, McHale and Big Bill would have dropped on those stiffs in 1986.

Oh Wait. They did.

[papacass]

Why not just shut up and play or at the very least keep the shit in house? Another example of these guys just making it more and more harder to not utterly despise them.

It's entirely possible that the Heat are good for basketball. They've galvanized the whole country against them. Thousands of message boards around the interwebs light up the day after the Heat lose a game, especially if it's a particularly degrading loss.

Heat stories eat up the clicks on the national websites. They're often a trending topic on search engines. They're the highest-rated TV draw in the NBA. And all because the public wants to see them fail in spectacular fashion.

I'm having fun watching those asshats squirm. Probably the most fun I've had since the '08-09 Cavs season. It's exciting when the Heat lose. I'm texting people and posting on the boards here. We share the schadenfreude.

[FUDU]

They had like 45 fouls to give if they had to.

Which is about as many points as Chief, McHale and Big Bill would have dropped on those stiffs in 1986.

Oh Wait. They did.

I'd seriously cut off your left arm to have that thread back.

[Orenthal]

^Good times, epic thread. Also they swept the shit outta them.

BTW Fuck Mo Williams.

[CAVSTRIBEBROWNSin07!]

Wonder how much Bosh cries when he gags?

[jb]

How big is tonight for Miami?

And how much do you think The Mamba knows that he can deliver one hell of a nasty curb stomp of American History X proportion to their crumbling psyche about now?

OTOH, should Cryami rise up and regain, they can turn the season around tonite.

I LOVE LA (today)

[fundamentals]

How big is tonight for Miami?

And how much do you think The Mamba knows that he can deliver one hell of a nasty curb stomp of American History X proportion to their crumbling psyche about now?

OTOH, should Cryami rise up and regain, they can turn the season around tonite.

I LOVE LA (today)

Miami needs to play well. I wouldn't call it a "must win" but it certainly should command their full attention to show up and play the champs. The Lakers have looked pretty good, just hope they show interest in the contest and that their "bigs" dominate.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

It wouldn't surprise me if Miami did beat LA. One team cresting, the other cratering, and the Heat have already beaten the Lakers once before.

On the other hand, both Mamba and Zenmaster have something to prove so they won't be sleepwalking like they did on Christmas day. I'm gonna have to tune in to this one.

[Ziner]

http://www.vladtv.com/video/39906/lebro ... ng-parody/

[leadpipe]

I think the Heat beats the Lakers in a 7 game series.

I also don't think they get there.

Rondo and Rose provide a much bigger problem than the Lakers size. That Heat defense is night and day when they don't have to trap a good, fast point guard. In James and Wade you've got two plus plus defenders, and against the Lakers they're just on the ball instead of scrambling and late. They also have the ability put Kobe in "chucker" mode.

In the paint, Lebron and Wade are athletic enough to make some of the size disadvantage up - they have no answer out front.

Gonna be real interesting no matter what the playoff match-ups are.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

I think the Heat beats the Lakers in a 7 game series.

I also don't think they get there.

Concur twice, and I'm not entirely sure the Lakers get there either.

[jb]

The Lakers immortals looked slow and old last nigh, esp down thhe stretch. But that misses the real story.

The real story is what you just saw last night is that D Wade took his team back. And Bron is Scottie. As it was foretold.

Must have been a REAAAAAAAAAALLLL interetsing few days inside the asylum.

[jb]

They also have the ability put Kobe in "chucker" mode.

That's so racist. ;-)

I don't think the El Heato can get past the El Toros.

[pup]

The Lakers immortals looked slow and old last nigh, esp down thhe stretch. But that misses the real story.

The real story is what you just saw last night is that D Wade took his team back. And Bron is Scottie. As it was foretold.

Must have been a REAAAAAAAAAALLLL interetsing few days inside the asylum.

Won't be as good as they can be until they decide it is nobody's team.

Somewhere on the floor, they will always have 1, maybe 2 huge match-up advantages. Learn to exploit those and they can be a 70 win juggernaut. Keep trying to show off who has the more golden stones and keep struggling to finish things off.

[FUDU]

The Heat win last night really means nothing, it's not like they were going to go 4-13 from here on out and beating the Lakers will be a spring board for them now, still have the same issues they did 72 hours ago. Plus we've seen this from a LeBron team before, get up and get focused for a particular opponent or two in the regular season.

[leadpipe]

The Heat win last night really means nothing, it's not like they were going to go 4-13 from here on out and beating the Lakers will be a spring board for them now, still have the same issues they did 72 hours ago. Plus we've seen this from a LeBron team before, get up and get focused for a particular opponent or two in the regular season.

Of course it means nothing. You could make a case that for the 7 or 8 teams that have a chance, the first 82 mean nothing.

As far as a Lebron team, save last year when he LeQuit, the guys about as good a post season player there ever was. And Wade's not far behind. They've got an awful lot of problems, primarily as mentioned before, Rondo and Rose, but the reason they are one of the 7 or 8 is simply Wade and Lebron's ability to be great.

[fundamentals]

The Heat stink, just ask San Antonio.

[Larvell Blanks]

^
Miami showed good ball movement on offense, guys were moving on O, making it hard for SA to isolate LBJ/Wade and make the supporting cast beat them. Mia's D has been really good these last 3 games.

Now the question is, can they play like that consistently or do they fall into old habits (LeIso)

[fundamentals]

^
Miami showed good ball movement on offense, guys were moving on O, making it hard for SA to isolate LBJ/Wade and make the supporting cast beat them. Mia's D has been really good these last 3 games.

Now the question is, can they play like that consistently or do they fall into old habits (LeIso)

Let's hope for the latter come playoff time.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

Linking to an RCF post, so buyer beware, but its worth checking out:

Stat comparison of the 2010-11 Heat versus the 2009-10 Cavs

[jb]

http://www.peninsulaismightier.com/2011/3/22/2065045/lebron-james-named-eastern-conference-player-of-the-week?ref=yahoo

Funny how the Heat loses 3 games and the blogosphere goes apeshit. This and crickets chirp.

Bulls, Celtics & Heat in some order. Not unlike the Celtics, Hawks and Pistons in the day.

[peeker643]

http://www.peninsulaismightier.com/2011/3/22/2065045/lebron-james-named-eastern-conference-player-of-the-week?ref=yahoo

Funny how the Heat loses 3 games and the blogosphere goes apeshit. This and crickets chirp.

Bulls, Celtics & Heat in some order. Not unlike the Celtics, Hawks and Pistons in the day.

Not funny. It's human nature.

How many times did your folks congratulate you or pat you on the head for bringing the car back in one piece when you went to the mall or out with the boys?

I'd bet none.

But I bet they went apeshit whenever you didn't.

[waborat]

http://www.peninsulaismightier.com/2011/3/22/2065045/lebron-james-named-eastern-conference-player-of-the-week?ref=yahoo

Funny how the Heat loses 3 games and the blogosphere goes apeshit. This and crickets chirp.

Ah, Colic, the good ol days

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

Funny how the Heat loses 3 games and the blogosphere goes apeshit. This and crickets chirp.

Its amazing what playing the Hawks can do for one's rep.