Both Teams Played Hard

It was a good game, both teams played hard. Both teams played hard, my man. Both teams played hard. Both teams played hard, God bless and good night.

-Rasheed Wallace

I like post game press conferences. I like trying to name the reporters asking questions while at the same time convincing myself that I don't have a sports problem. For anyone wondering, I'm about 50% this post season. I need to spend the off season working on my local newspapers.

But sometimes I wish all press conferences were like Rasheed's because then we could just move on to playing the next game. Instead, we get canned responses and overreactions. We had Dirk saying that this was a huge momentum swing for the Mavs. Of course he would say that. He has to. They have to believe that as a team to try and get a leg up. Of course LeBron blames the defense. He wouldn't dare say he bailed out the Mavs defense by taking 26 footers for the last 5 minutes of the game. Of course the Mavs said that Wade's pose after his three pointer in front fo their bench motivated them. Of course coach Spoelstra says his team will respond. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone.

Nor should this series being tied at 1 game a piece going back to Dallas. There was a moment when I was expecting Miami to sweep somewhere between 9 minutes left in the game and Wade's 3 pointer. I even had a Dwyane F. Wade tweet loaded up to send before deciding to take a more even tempered approach. But we all knew this would end up being a back and forth series.

After Game 1 we were planning parade routes in Miami. After Game 2 we were on the phone with the engravers spelling Nowitzki. I think they hand out the MVP after Game 3, so be sure to stick around for the post game.

Wire Tapped Conversation

The following conversation was leaked by an as yet unnamed government operative who happened to be wiretapping either Chris Bosh (suspicion that he is actually an alien?) or Carlos Boozer (just trying to deport for the hell of it). It occurred someplace in South Beach last Saturday night.

BOSH: Hey, Booz.

BOOZ: Hey, Bosh.

BOSH: (awkward silence) Look, yo. I got to clear the air.

BOOZ: Sure. And why are you suddenly talking like you're some urban playground dude?

BOSH: Not sure.

BOOZ: Fine. Continue.

BOSH: OK. So I need to clear the air– when you referred to the Miami Heat as the Big 2, that kind of hurt my feelings. I mean, I make as much money as they do!

BOOZ: Ah, man, Bosh. I'm sorry. I didn't think you would take it THAT way...

BOSH: What do you mean.

BOOZ: I mean, I know and everybody knows that you make as much money as they do. You're undeniable that way.

BOSH: (blushing) Aw, thanks, Booz.

BOOZ: Yeah. What I meant was: they are the Big 2 of SKILLS, of SUPERSTARDOM, of PLAYING BASKETBALL. Not money, Bosh.

BOSH: (relieved) Oh good. I thought maybe you were trying to insinuate that I don't get paid like they do.

BOOZ: Never.

BOSH: Man, I'm glad we talked about this. Now look there's this other thing...

BOOZ: Yeah?

BOSH: I was thinking...

BOOZ: Go on, Boshie.

BOSH: What if, tomorrow, we just sorta let each other go off. Shut up the naysayers who are saying we're soft and overpaid and not producing. Just a gentlemen's agreement. You get your 20-10. I get mine.

BOOZ: Interesting.

BOSH: I just think it's mutually beneficial.

BOOZ: It is. It is. But I'm gonna need at least 15 boards just to shut up Noah.

BOSH: I'll give you 15 boards. You give me 3o points...I'm a scorer. Ight?

BOOZ: Ight.

BOSH: (pauses) What about who wins?

BOOZ: (waits, watches Bosh for a reaction) You know we don't care about the W's. Just the GW's. (laughs maniacally as if he has just dunked on a role player when the game is already out of hand)

BOSH: (laughs)

BOOZ: (laughs more)

BOSH: (tries to laugh more than Boozer, gets tired) Look, we get paid the same for an L or a W. And we both know neither of us is gonna win or lose a game for any team, much less these two.

BOOZ: So...we on? 20-15 for me? 30-10 for you?

BOSH: We on. (shakes hand)

BOTH: (letting go, wringing hands gingerly with overdramatic winces)

BOSH: You know I played more than you in the Olympics, though, right?

BOOZ: Huh?

BOSH: Nothing.

Just a Jimmer Away

On the heels of Spike's Sloan/Williams post-mortem, a discussion of the future of the Jazz sparked. Its a little known fact the the Jazz will likely have two lottery picks in this summer's NBA draft. The jokes have been pouring in about which white stiff the Jazz will draft or if they'll take Jimmer just to put butts in the seats. I personally think they are going to build around Gordon Hayward, flanking him with both Jimmer and Kyle Singler Spike's rebuttal to all the jokes turned out to be a very interesting observation about team building approaches. Here is a running dialogue of our Basketball Reference navigating and amatuer analysis.

5:25:36 PM Spike: I don't want to get my hopes up about winning the lottery, besides the Jazz are better at late draft picks anyway.
Maynor at #20 in the first
Millsap at #47 in the second
Ronnie Brewer at #14 in the first
CJ at #34 in the second
Mo Williams at #47 in the second
Kris Humphries at #14 in the first
Jarron Collins (yeah, I know, but still in the league) at #48 in the second
AK at #24 in the first
Padgett at #28 in the first
Nazr Mohammad at #29 in the first
Jacque Vaughn at #27 in the first
Shandon Anderson at #54 in the second
Bryon Bussell at #45 in the second
Dell Curry at #15 in the first
Mark Eaton at # 72 the same year as Dominique
Bobby Hansen at #54
Wes Matthews undrafted
And lest we forget, Malone at #13 and Stockton at #16.

5:42:49 PM Charlie T: Very interesting to say the least. Maybe the Jazz need to trade down. I would like to say that Miami has had the same draft success as Utah, but thats not the case. At least during Riley's tenure.
Eddie House at #37 in the second
Caron Butler at #10 in the first
Wade at #5 in the first
Mike Beasley at #2 in the first
Glen Rice at #4 in the first
Sherman Douglas at #28 in the first
Steve Smith at #5 in the first
Harold Miner at #12 in the first (was good for a dunk contest and the first "next Jordan" torchbearer)
Matt Geiger at #42 the same year had a longer career
Kurt Thomas at #10 in the first

5:46:27 PM Spike: Seems like Miami is really pretty good (minus Beasley) of knowing which lottery type players to get, but their late round picks are iffier.

5:46:42 PM Charlie T: Yeah...high picks they do great at but with second rounders and late firsts, they find no value.

5:49:56 PM Spike: Talent evaluation has a lot of different approaches, I suppose.

5:50:05 PM Charlie T: Sure. Riley has always looked at picks as assets more than anything, assets to trade.

5:51:22 PM Spike: It would be interesting to see how LA drafted when he was there, same with the Knicks. In Miami, he seems to gravitate towards bringing in proven commoditites.
From 81 to 90 w/ the Lakers, the only real keepers from the draft were:
Nobody in 81
Worthy as the #1 in 82 (no brainer, he does well with high picks)
Nobody in 83
Nobody in 84
AC Green at #23 in 85
Nobody in 86-87
David Rivers at #35 in 88, but he was nothing
Divac in 89
Elden Campbell in 90

5:57:04 PM Charlie T: Riley from 91-95 with the Knicks:
Greg Anthony in 91
Hubert Davis in 92
Charlie Ward and Monty Williams in 94
And he only drafted 4 players over all during his time there. No picks in 93 or 95

5:58:02 PM Spike: Everybody else was added to those teams some other way.

6:00:01 PM Charlie T: So really, Riley's offseason this year was a microcosm of his history of putting teams together. Ship off anything that isn't proven and make room for the other pieces.

6:02:17 PM Spike: Exactly. 95-96 in Miami, he cleans house after losing to the Zenmaster in Chicago and brings in Zo, Hardaway, PJ Brown, and Majerle.

6:03:12 PM Charlie T: He had Juwon Howard signed the next year but the league vetoed the contract.

6:03:49 PM Spike: Then in 2004 he traded assets Butler, Grant, and Odom for Shaq. Then added Payton, Williams, and Walker.

6:04:40 PM Charlie T: With the Knicks it was a little different. He had Ewing to build around so some of the pieces were more complimentary, and also designed to beat MJ in Chicago.

6:05:56 PM Spike: 92-93: traded Mark Jackson for Doc Rivers, Charles Smith, Bo Kimble and picked up Rolando Blackman and Anthony Mason. Started turning Starks into a defensive stopper.
93-94: Acquired Derek Harper

6:07:15 PM Charlie T: Thats Riley. Always making big moves, with the summer of LeBron being no exception. We shouldn't have been surprised that he came away with a haul. Where as the Jazz are aquiring the assets they are used to using for rebuilding.

6:08:26 PM Spike: Fascinating. I'm sure this pattern exists with a lot of other franchises as well, but its interesting to see how it continues to manifest itself in Utah and Miami.

I'll Go Along With The Charade, Until I Can Think My Way Out

Wednesday Spike and I had the following exchange:

Charlie T: The "W" word that ends in "inning" hasn't even been going around for a week and I'm already tired of it.

Spike: Is this a heat reference?

At the time it wasn't, but as the weekend went on I wasn't so sure.

I originally wrote it to declare my departure from the Crazy Train of Sound Bites and Video Clips coming from He Who Shall Not Be Named. (both to be referred to as CTOSBAVC and HWSNBN from here on out) Thanks to this deluge of pop culture fodder, certain words have instantly lost their meaning. One is a flavor of Sno-Cone and the other is a word used to descibe what happens when you have more points than the other team at the end of the game. The Sno-Cone reference is less relevant here. I'm more interested in the word that starts with "W" and ends with "inning".

During Weekend Update, Seth Meyers ran down the Winners and Losers of the whole CTOSBAVC coming from HWSNBN. The biggest loser was the "W" word. According to Seth, it just doesn't mean the same thing anymore. I thought it was a very valid point and it gave me a clue as to what was going on with the Heat.

Back in August, LeBron completely changed the way NBA players handle free agency. He collaborated with ESPN to have a one hour special to announce his intentions. You may have heard about it. This set off a chain reaction with Bosh and Wade both opting to join him in Miami, which set off another chain of events that led to Mike MIller and Udonis Haslem taking huge discounts to join as well as a bunch of other veterans and 3 pt specialists to join the Heat for the minimum. By themselves, these were not new ideas. But all together, now that was something new. The Heat became the first team to completely strip their roster down to the league minimum of one player. They also became the first team to have 3 of the top 5 draft picks of a single draft. The firsts continued for this trend setting team. They were ahead of the curve, transforming the way things are done in the NBA on the fly.

Now back to the "W" word. The Heat had to stay ahead of the curve. The word had lost all meaning and significance. They wanted nothing to do with this bandwagon. Almost instantly the world shifted its view from "W#%&ing is Everything" to "Everything is W#%&ing". So like all good trend setters, the Heat decided that they were done with the "W" word. Even if it was painful and might come with some sad eyes, there would be no more W#%&ing.

And so it was. They settled in trying out as many different methods of not W#%&ing as they could. Close games, blowouts, last second decisions, against good teams, against contenders, blowing big leads. It has proven to be a fairly difficult task, requiring creativity at the end of games and poker faces during press conferences. We know this is some of the best talent in the NBA, so I have faith that they will be able to keep this up as long as they need to. If I could be on how long the CTOSBAVC will last versus the Heat's counter-culture movement, I would be the farm on the Heat.

While I don't doubt the Heat's resolve in standing up to HWSNBN, for my sake I hope HWSNBN folds. And soon.

The Fourth Heatle

A few weeks ago, LeBron polarized the world by telling a reporter that the team refers to themselves internally as "The Heatles" only because of the massive amounts of attention they get when they are on the road. The world then went crazy saying that the Heat will never be comparable to the Beatles becasue the Heat will never have the success of the Beatles.

My take: Yeah, yeah, whatever. The Beatles are the greatest thing ever. I get it. I don't think LeBron was going there, but even if he was it is still the best nickname that has been suggested. I like how it sounds and I'm rolling with it.
Okay, now that I've gotten that off my chest, its time to delve into a Heatle topic that is much more fun. The Fourth Heatle. Many suggestions have been floated around based on free agency or trade speculation. The idea has even been around since before the Heatle moniker was around. Being that this blog is a mix of sports and music, I feel more than qualified to break down the field.

Note, becoming the fourth Heatle is more than just being a memeber of the Heat. You have to have a Yellow Submarine every now and then...and be memorable even with the big shadow cast by the other Heatles.

Dwight Howard. Odds 20 to 1.

Deron Williams. Spike isn't going to like the thought of this, but he hates the name Heatles so he probably won't make it this far. He might be the biggest catch for any team post-lockout. One might argue Dwight Howard, but Williams has done much more with much less. And he is a proven leader on the floor. If he leaves Utah, he's probably going somewhere to spite the Jazz like to the Lakers rather than to run the show in South Beach. Odds 14 to 1

Chris Paul. This is a difficult one to predict. Stern will never trade him and subsequently sink the Hornets. And it would be cruel for him to leave the team just before they move to Seattle, sending Sonics fans a shell of a team. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wants to be a fourth wheel anyway. Odds 12 to 1

Ricky Rubio. The mop top. The point guard with some flare. Won't be an option until 2012-2013. He might be too late to the Fourth Heatle Party. I'm not sure that he will even pan out as a pro anymore. Odds 12 to 1

Devin Harris. LeBron has covertly lobbied for this, but does he add the backbeat they need? Is he even better at thsi point than anyone they've got? Odds 12 to 1

Mario Chalmers. Even if LeBron has taken 'Rio under his wing, I'm not sure he will be known for much more than a NCAA Title winning three pointer. Plus he's got the Pete Best thing going. Odds 10 to 1

Greg Oden. This was floated out as a possibility since the Heat need a big man and Oden needs a change of scenery. I'm not so sure his legs can hold up to the legendary, though now less frequent, Heat practices. Insert joke here about his alleged talents on South Beach. Odds 6 to 1

Nene. Another big man scenario. This one probably hinges more on what happens in Denver in the next couple months. The Nuggs could be on the verge of a total implosion and Nene's future will simply be collateral damage. Odds 6 to 1

Mike Miller. Many are anoiting him the fourth Heatle since his 32 point outburst vs the Raptors. Thats all fine and good, but we forget that Ringo, most commonly recognized as the fourth Beatle, was not a founding member. Pete Best was. The question with Miller might be better formed as "Is he the Pete Best of the Heatles?" Odds 5 to 1

Kevin Love. LeBron has already been lobbying for him. You've got to think he is leaving Minnesota, so why not trade the Twin Cities for South Beach? Odds 4 to 1

Steve Nash. Here is where it gets interesting. Could he be Jason Kidd for the Heat? We all know Nash is a better shooter than Kidd, Chalmers or any other PG the Heat could pick up. Imagine Nash getting wide open threes a half dozen times a game. Also he is great with the high pick and roll, which has become the Heat's bread and butter. Imagine him running it with LeBron while Wade cuts backdoor, Mike Miller/James Jones stands in the weakside corner with Bosh at the free throw line extended. Pick your poisen on that one. And he has the hair for it. Only problem with this one is how he gets there. Trade? Not happening. Buyout? Not with 22 mil left on the books. That leaves free agency in the summer of 2012. Odds 3 to 1 (a guy can hope, right?)

A Message from 1990's Charlie T.

90's Charlie T caught wind of the Gospel of Hustle debate and decided to cast his two cents into the chatter. 90's Charlie T has email, but isnt totally comfortable with it yet as a communication tool. He just likes to IM. The following is a except from his chat with 2010 Charlie T.

chuckt90_33: (9:36 AM) I really like Coach Spo. He talks about defense and adversity and is never satisfied. He probably spends four hours every morning and four more before bed locked in a room with Riles and Zo. Thats the only way to explain his dedication to the message. He is scared to death about what will happen if he strays from the Heat Way, knowing that he will have to answer to both of them.

charlie_T2010: (9:41 AM) Never underestimate the power of Alonzo's scowl or Riley's silence.

chuckt90_33: (9:42 AM) Exactly. One will tear your arms clean off and the other will find you a cozy place at the bottom of Biscayne Bay. I'm glad to see the two of them keeping the Heat Way alive. It seems like everyone is buying in too...except for JaChris Boshburn. I always wondered why Riley put up with Mashburn. The guy just wanted to put up threes from the corner. And when we brawled with the Knicks, he was looking for the back door, like the prep school kid in a bar fight.

charlie_T2010: (9:50 AM) Yeah, Bosh really fits that Mashburn role. Mash was third fiddle to Zo and Hardaway, and without the grittiness of PJ Brown and Keith Askins. We needed Mash at the time because points were at a premium though. Even if he was a bit soft.

chuckt90_33: (9:53 AM) A bit soft?! The guy couldn't crack an egg even if he smashed it against his forehead. He was unbelievable. Just like this Bosh guy. You saw what he said about getting hurt during a scramble for a loose ball. Please. I'd be surprised if he wasn't really hurt, but suspended by Riley for being a pansy.

charlie_T2010: (9:58 AM) So you agree with Spike? I mean I know Bosh is soft, but he does what we need him to. 18 and 10 and then stays out of the way.

chuckt90_33: (10:01 AM) Of course I agree with Spike on this one. Spike once rooted for a guy who wrestled WWF. I rooted for teams who wrestled on the floor. Toughness is part of our basketball fan DNA. What happened to you? Remember when the Heat would roll into MSG? What we saw in Cleveland may have been loud, but it wasn't as fierce as what we saw in New York or Chicago or Indiana. That was true hatred. And The Decision? Riles FAXED in his resignation. Thats what villains and tough guys do. They body slam when they box out and they fax in their resignation. They don't whine about an ankle. They play with one kidney and a cocktail of meds just so they can stay alive! They shred their knee getting back on D, and then rehab even though they are going to retire anyway. Who cares about 18 and 10. My little sister can put up 18 and 10 shooting 20 footers. I'm disappointed in you, future me.

charlie_T2010: (10:09 AM) I

chuckt90_33: (10:09 AM) You need to get back to your roots. You're in love with the fast breaks and the highlights against the Warriors.

charlie_T2010: (10:09 AM) I guess you're right. I am looking past some of the pretty boy stuff going on. But Wade is a tough guy. So is Bron. Udonis. Eddie House will mix it up. James Jones is taking charges. Big Cat is bustin up guys even when he's on the bench in a suit (see vs Ron Artest). I don't even like Bosh that much. So what if he is soft. We are winning.

chuckt90_33: (10:12 AM) We are winning now. But what happens when KG pushes him around in the Playoffs. Or when Bogut mixes it up with him. Or when Noah has his way. He wont be getting his usual then. He'll be getting his swim trunks ready to go chill.

charlie_T2010: (10:14 AM) I see your point. Right now he would be getting the PJ Brown hustle like Pau Gasol got in 08.

chuckt90_33: (10:15 AM) There you go. Stop pretending the regular season matters. For the teams that have a shot, its a chance to get it figured out, and right now Bosh needs to do a lot of that. And for our sake, I hope he does.

charlie_T2010: (10:18 AM) I hope so too. I know they are listening to the doubters because they've done a lot of disproving so far. Turning into a team so quickly, Bron and Wade playing well together, getting it done with a four headed center, making it work with a minimum salary roster.

charlie_T2010: (10:20 AM) I'm glad we had this little chat. I have been too soft on my guys. I'm just excited to have some hope...and some exciting basketball to watch. But you're right. I am not giving it the full Zo effort. I'm standing by the back door when i should be mixing it up.

spike_dub_12 (10:23 AM) And on the fourth day, there was light.

Princess Christina

Soft.

I am not against anyone for being upset about being injured. It's your livelihood. You (ostensibly) love to play. You're competitive and want to be out there. You want to help your team win.

Or want to just chill. Whatever.

But come on.

Picking on a first year ex-Euroleaguer? (Would Xtina Bosh have been so vocal if KG had landed on his ankle? If you say yes, you are LYING. He went after a youngblood.) Calling out somebody who hustled without malice? Sure, let's not be reckless. Sure, let's not be malicious. (This was neither, by the way). But come on. I don't want anybody on my team who wants to institute itty bitty micro-rules or gentlemen's agreements about when hustle is and is not appropriate. Please.

Give me the guy who dives for the ball, who gets on the floor. Not the guy who believes in some pink cotton candy world of "higher law."

Maybe KG should warn his teammates before diving into the bench for a loose ball. Maybe Robert Parish should've warned Kurt Rambis before he clotheslined him.

Bottom line: Chris Bosh got hurt on a nonmalicious hustle play (in which he may have been outhustled) that happens 5-6 times every game and had to whine about it with some stupid rant about...what...a mutual understanding among players about the propriety of hustle?

Somebody get the Heat a muzzle.

And somebody get 1990's Charlie T on the line to remind 2010 Charlie T what it meant to battle on the basketball court.

"What's it like rooting for a total p*$#!?"

I want to start out by saying that every member of the Miami Heat has said something stupid that has made headlines. They are not excused for making dumb comments. They know good and well that there are reporters waiting anxiously for some sound bite or sentence fragement that will garner some attention. They have the full attention of the sports world which means most sports fans hear all of these remarks, or at least the most ridiculous ones. (see also Iverson, Allen "we talkin bout practice?") We then get to have heated, over the top debates about what kind of person they are. In most cases this wouldn't be fair but when you have a signing party at the arena in July and have a tv special, you get more scrutiny.

Okay, now that I've got that off my chest, on to the matter at hand. Two questions about The Heatles; Is Chris Bosh a pansy? and to quote Spike's question to me "What's it like rooting for a total p*$#!?"

Four years ago I was playing pick-up basketball with a bunch of friends from school. It was five on five, full court and indoors. Just a bunch of never-weres getting together and sweating it out. Three games into it, we had finally found balanced teams and it quickly became more competitive. The last game featured a pizza bet, with the losing team paying for the winners to go put any calories back on that we had managed to shed. With this kind of a reward comes more dedicated defense and rebounding, since those are the things that only require the one skill we had any amount of (hustle). Here is where this story becomes relevant.

Towards the end of the game I had the defensive assignment on the opposing point guard. He had hit a couple of long jumpers, and was slower than most, so I was playing up on him. Around the free throw line extended, a teammate of his set a screen on me. I decided to go under it and at the same time he decided that he would try and come off the screen with a drive to the basket. He changed his mind when he saw me go underneath and he pulled back. I stepped out on him as he tried to square up and reset. This resulted in him apparently tripping over himself and going to the ground. He lost the ball, which I picked up and took down to the other end for a basket. Upon my return to the other end of the court I saw everyone standing around him on the ground. The was holding his kneee and cursing about his knee. When I came into view, the curses were then directed at me. I was a no-good-fill-in-the-blank who had pushed him over when I knew he had bad knees. Neither accusation was true, but nobody else saw what had happened and I was now the bad guy.

He tried to get up and walk it off but it was apparent that something more than a sprain had happened. We would later find out that his surgically repaired knee had failed and he tore his ACL. We went from being freinds at school to him ignoring me and blaming me for his injury. I had no response. I was sorry he had gotten hurt, but I hadn't done anything wrong. He was playing basketball, a potentially rough sport, and wasn't wearing his requisit knee brace. He tried to push the blame onto me or get me to cover some of his medical expenses. How do I respond to that? I was as kind as I could afford, but unfortunately I felt no responsibility and all he got was a couple of lunches out of me.

Now this is a round about way to getting at the question at hand. Is Chris Bosh a soft, whining pansy? Well I was in the shoes of Omer Asik, getting blamed for an injury. How did I feel? Was it justified? I understood that he was mad and that he would incur some expenses because of the injury. But I did feel wrongly accused. Could I have taken it a little easier? Of course. It was a pick-up game after all. Was this kid a pansy for blaming me? Never did that cross my mind. I did feel like he took the blame assignment too far. I think the same can be said of Chris Bosh. I am a homer, but I don't think he is truly worried that an ankle sprain will keep him from providing for his family. I think he said it out of frustration, in the same way my friend blamed me. It is a pansy thing to say, but I don't think Chris Bosh is a pansy.

So, what's it like rooting for a total p*$#!? Well, its pretty good when he is part of a team winning 21 out of 22 games. When they are on a 3 game skid, it gets a bit tougher. Its also easy to disregard anything stupid he might say since he is, at best, 3rd on the depth chart and maybe only 6th on my favorites depth chart. (In case you were wondering, my list goes Wade, Haslem, LeBron, House, Magloire, Bosh, Chalmers, etc.) If he was higher up on either depth chart, it might bother me quite a bit more. I do wish he was more of a "go to work and keep your mouth shut" kind of guy. But in the end, I don't really care that much when he says stupid things.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other guys doing stupid things that I get to be all worked up about.

Agreed to Terms

Just moments after The Decision, I received this text message from Spike - "mild hate and pure envy". I am only assuming it was a reference to me about LeBron taking his talents to South Beach and my beloved Heat, though he could have been referring to this fascinating project. (we'll get to that in the next couple days) I needed a little more time to sort through my feelings about the Heat's off-season transactions. I've been through a lot in 15+ years as a Heat fan; a kidney transplant, a Championship, a 25 win season, taking a chance on a kid from Marquette, learning to tolerate Shaq, all of sport-dom discounting the 2006 title because the Heat were somehow the only team in history to get a bogus call or two, a 16 win season, the New York Knicks (4 straight playoff eliminations, 3 in the first round even as the higher seed), Jermaine O'Heal, the Mike Beasley Experience, Clarence Weatherspoon, PJ Brown and Charlie Ward, Allan Houston, both Van Gundy's (one around Zo's leg) and Riles. I'm not saying I have been a tortured fan (though somewhere in the spring of 2003 I was beginning to wonder) but there have been some highs and lows to say the least.

Let me first address my feeling about the backlash of doubt and negativity.

Spike's sentiments could be easily applied to the majority of America's feelings about the Decision, but the problem is nobody will admit to it. The NBA has needed a bad guy since Kobe started winning again, so it seems that everyone is doing their best to make LeBron the league's foil. Had he gone to Chicago would there have been this backlash? New York? New Jersey? the reasoning for deciding on anyone of those destinations is about as reasonable as going to Miami to play with Wade and Bosh.(side note: everyone is saying Bosh is the lucky one in this off-season, raising his stock far beyond its worth. I say its Joakim Noah. He was labeled numerous times as an "elite big man". Sorry but that term is reserved for big men who average more than 10 and 10, and don't wear clown suits to the draft.) Anyway, its been astonishing to see how quickly everyone has forgotten what an incredible athlete LeBron James is. He is the two time reigning MVP. The country has been awing over his abilities on the basketball court for 9+ years. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of 16 AND actually lived up to the hype. I have been very critical of LeBron over the years, but I have never doubted his basketball playing abilities. If the league needs a supervillian that bad, then thats fine. But I think that stigma is going to fade rather quickly once tip-off rolls around. We'll see more #6 Heat jersey's pop up around the country in the first week of November than we saw Chris Broussard in the first week of July.

So take Spike's words to heart and if they don't seem to do the trick, try this little line from the mid 90's: The past is gone but something might be found to take it's place -- Hey jealousy

Now to address my feelings.

I've never been good at being the front runner. I cringed as people made title and win predictions. I wanted the numbers from one to seven to go right back into LeBron's mouth. I tried to down play the potential of this team. I did everything I could to take things back to the Shaq vs Zo days, when someone else was the clear #1 and my guy(s) was/were the underdog. I also didn't want to be like all the Lakers/Cowboys/Yankees fans that I've hated my who life. I didn't want to be the guy who was the fan of the superteam, the highlight reel darlings, the team force fed to the public. I didn't want to have to explain to everyone who knows little about me that I have been a Heat fan my whole, post-2nd grade, life. I didn't want to be seen as the band wagoner. But over the course of the weekend following the LeBronal Conclave, the text messages started pouring in. Family and friends, acquaintances, people I hadn't heard from in years, high school friends that I was certain didn't have my number, and even people at the grocery store began congratulating me. My fears began to dissolve with every text message and I began to embrace the future. Then Beasley was shipped off. And Udonis came back. And Shaq was told "No Thanks". And Fisher went back to the Mamba. And Mike Miller came. And suddenly it was looking more and more like a team full of guys I could root for, guys I knew, guys I didn't have to brainwash myself into liking. I'm still not going to make a single prediction about wins or titles. But I will say that I am going to have the time of my life following this team, even if they are going to be front and center on ESPN and ABC for the next half decade.

Now to end with a collection of Heat related thoughts.

I never doubted Riley's power of persuasion and motivation. I mean he got Shaq, GP, 'Toine AND White Chocolate to play some semblance of basketball together...and get in shape. But I had myself talked into Amare and Joe Johnson several times. I was going to be okay with Gay and Boozer. I was hoping for Bosh and filler. I never would have really imagined this would happen.

I still don't know what to make of the "celebration" other than it was nice to see Wade back in the #3 and being flanked by #1 and #6 that didn't include the names Dorell or Mario.

I have always liked Dan LeBatard and I'm glad to being seeing more and more of him.

This < This

I don't think LeBron left any unpaid debts in northeast Ohio.

Zo played better than Shaq in the '06 Finals, period.

Dear Ohio,

I have decided to use this platform, The Black Converse, to officially respond to the negative outpouring towards me after my little sit down with Jim Gray last night. (side note: I should have known it was going to turn out the way it did when Jim Gray was the only reported who would agree to sit in the director's chair opposite me. He doesn't exactly have a great track record.) I chose this blog to address you all since Charlie T, a very loyal Heat fan, is one of the few people outside of South Beach who has my back.

Charlie T has also been very kind and wise in helping me put my feelings into words, providing me with perspective and verse. I would like to first address everyone in America who thinks I made a bad decision with a selection from what appears to be a TBC favorite, Wilco.

Oh it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me
To be
Exactly what you want me to be

Just remember, I make my own decisions. You don't get to. You are not LeBron James. (and you're damn right I just referred to myself in the third person)

And now to address Ohio specifically. This is sports. Get over yourselves. Remember Kent State in the 70's, neither do I but it happened only minutes from my home. Kent State was a real tragedy. Allow me to refresh your memory by borrowing from one of your Lake Erie neighbors:

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Nobody dies last night. Nobody was even physically harmed. Again, I'm sorry but se la vie .

And now to my owner Dan Gilbert. I can't wait too see you backpedaling on defense as I come up the floor like a locomotive. I can't wait to chase you down on a fast break and slap the ball through the backboard as you go up for a girlish layup. Just kidding, I know I won't be invited over for barbecue's and pick up games anymore. I'm okay with that.

But if you really feel everything you comic sansed the world last night, take some advice from Frightened Rabbit:

So swim until you can’t see land.
Swim until you can’t see land.
Swim until you can’t see land
Are you a man or are you a bag of sand?



And if you were just reacting passionately because you just lost 100+ million dollars in the net worth of the Cavs, essentially resurrecting the Rockers, then thats fine. You should have taken a step back, put your laptop down and put this Hank Williams song on the stereo and called it a night.

It's hard to know another's lips will kiss you
And hold you just the way I used to do
Oh, heaven only knows how much I miss you
I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You.

And to my new fans in Miami:

Here i am in the place where i'com to let go-Miami
the bass and the sun set low.
Everyday like a Mardi Gras- everbody party all day
no work- all play, ok

So we sip a liitle something, leave the rest to spill.
me and Charlie at the bar running up a high bill
nutin; less than ill when we dress to kill,
and every time the ladies pass they be like "Hi Bron"

Cant wait for Halloween.

Yours for five years,

Bron

Lebron & the Heat Check

As sour grapes as possible and as a fan who (if you don't root for LA or MIA or BOS or maybe OKC and ORL) thinks the NBA just got less engaging, it's my job to make Charlie T's uber-happy life a little more miserable. So, I thought I'd revisit some of Charlie's anti-Lebron rants from TBC posts past. After all, Charlie T was more of a LeHater than I was from the start. Needless to say, that ended last night around 7:04 MST.

I was actually surprised by Charlie T's turnaround. I thought I would dig up dirt and throw it in his ecstatic face. But the results were mixed and Charlie was actually turning towards LeBron long before I'd anticipated. So here it is, in reverse chronological order, with Charlie T's posts in italics:

A NONCOMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT CHARLIE T'S LEBRON-RELATED POSTS

JAN 17, 2009
A big sarcastic jab that I can't really cut/paste without making this cross over into the 1,000,000 wordcount range. One highlight of Charlie T's translations of TV announcer fawning:

"Watch LeBron here as he takes over in the fourth quarter with a steal and a thunderous slam"
Translation: LeBron just ripped the ball out of Delonte West's hand, took a hesitation dribble just past half court and took 4 steps before dunking on the camera crew. For those who haven't seen professional basketball in a while, the rules have been changed to allow two extra steps if you take a hesitation dribble. Whatever that is.

FEB 10, 2009
Wah, wah, Cleveland.

That said, (Coach Brown) congratulations on sticking up for LeBron and Co. Your team has been so picked on. And it's nice to hear a little harmony with the sad tunes our dear martyr, St. BronBron of Our Lady Of Cleveland, has been singing lately.

FEB 12, 2009
We paired NBA players together in a fictional 2-on-2 tournament, one of many overambitious TBC Concept Series. They were usually paired for reasons of similarity or intertwining stories (Nash/Nowitzki, CP3/D-Will). Note how Charlie T emphasizes the utter fiction of this pairing.

Team Name: Unstoppable
Team Members: LeBron James and Dwayne[sic] Wade

Let's be realistic. This is the only way you will ever see these two play together in the NBA. You know full well that neither will take the paycut necessary to play on the same NBA team together. It just won't happen. That said, for this tournament, they have a lot going for them. (Pushing aside the obvious fact that they are two of the four legitimate MVP candidates this season,) They have some size (James) and both are super quick. Quicker than you might ever imagine. Trying to stop either of them in the lane is futile. Also, like all 2-on-2, this tournament will be Call Your Own Fouls. So, LeBron will be calling fouls on every play, assuring a lot of easy points for his team (because, come on, has there ever been a play in which LeBron wasn't fouled?)...

Feb 27, 2009
An open letter to LeBron. And not a nice one. I believe he calls LeBron "pathetic." Luckily South Beach is known for blurry memories. I do have to give it to Charlie T for skewering both Kobe and LeBron in the same post. I'll miss that. Oh, and Charlie T's soothsaying was only half right about Shaq. He came, but delivered no title.

Dear LeBron,

I know you spent a lot of time with Kobe over the summer. And I know you think he is soooo cool. But this is really a new low in emulation. You had ZERO ASSISTS last night against the Houston Rockets. I can excuse the Kobe-esque 33% shooting, the Black Mamba-ish one-on-five with everyone standing around watching you, even the post-dunk scowl. But for Mr. I'm Gonna Average A Triple Double For My Career? This was inexcusable. Even Ben "I Broke My Leg and Didn't Know It" Wallace had more assists and rebounds than you in half the time.

Keep this up and you'll never escape the curse of being the next Kobe Bryant. Except that Shaq won't be coming to give you a title.

Sincerely,
Charlie T. Hustle Jr.

P.S. One rebound was pretty pathetic too. Correction, Really pathetic.

March 20, 2009
The turning begins.

It's no secret that there is a lack of butt kissing for LeBron here at TBC as opposed to the rest of the televisioned world. But I'm finding it harder and harder to find the holes in anything he does lately. In March, thus far, he is averaging 30 pts. 9 assists 9 rebounds nearly 2 steals and shooting 48%. Plus his team has only lost to Boston this month. So keep playing hard in the regular season, boys. I'm sure you'll give me plenty of chances in the playoffs to be critical.

Nov 13, 2009
The soothsaying, crystal balling Charlie T emerges. Was he precognitive or just really hopeful?

Now that we have established that Miami has retired the number 23, let's bring Mr. James back into the picture and add this theory to the long list of "Where will LeBron go in 2010" theories.

LeBron won't be able to have #23 when he goes to Miami next season. If he can't have it then nobody can. Nobody.

Jan 26, 2010
More saying of sooth.

LeBron becomes a little tougher to pin down (we all know the lack of income tax in Florida has got to be alluring) but there isn't as much mystery around it as there once was.

Feb 9, 2010
The Official Pro-LBJ post.

Here at TBC, we've been mostly down on LeBron James . Not because he is a bad basketball player, but mostly because we didn't like being force fed hearty helpings of King James everywhere we looked. We, or maybe just me, felt that the hype was vastly over done for a guy so young and relatively unaccomplished. This season, I'm starting to have a change of heart. I have seen quite a few Cavs games and James has definitely taken his game to another level. It's not only affecting his game, but the rest of his team looks phenomenal. He makes JJ Hickson look like the second coming of Scottie Pippen (which he isn't...Hickson will be out of the league a year after he stops playing with LeBron) and he makes Shaq (at least for 5 possessions a game) look like Lew Alcindor out there. Nobody else could do that I am convinced. Kobe would chew those guys out to the point that they wouldn't even show up to practice. Wade (as much as it pains me to say this) would get his 20 and then take the rest of the game off. ... And that is why I now buy into LeBron. And the Cavaliers.

March 2, 2010
Charlie posts his theories on why LBJ changed his uni #. Truly soothsaying, this one. People in NYC wish he were just a little more accurate.

Theory 3: He is going to play for the Miami Heat next year and the number 23 is retired there (Michael Jordan). Likelihood: 15% (he could have whatever number he wanted upon changing teams)
Theory 7: Number 6 is LeBron's Team USA number and he wants to recreate Team USA in New York with Wade and Bosh. This is the first step. Likelihood: 45% (Bosh and Wade could just change their numbers upon switching teams)

May 10, 2010
Charlie types a post about how players' value/legacies/perception hinge on how their playoff performances shake out. He put LeBron in a category of players who have "done very little to help themselves" in the 2010 playoffs. I'm not sure if Charlie is saying that LeBron's best has to be better or that the sinking ship could use a more valiant effort by its doomed captain. This was just 2 months ago.

(LeBron) is doing exactly what everybody knows he is capable of, except he has to do it every moment of every game. How does this not (improve) our view of him and shouldn't it be more about his teammates? Yes, they are to blame for their disappearing act but consider this: if a home-schooled child never learns to read, is it his fault or his parents'? LeBron is the parent in this case and his teammates are the illiterate children. Any sign of trouble and LeBron immediately takes over. He can't sit back idly while his teammates struggle through words like "rebound", "defense" or "make an open shot." Of course, we enjoy watching him dominate and I can only imagine Mo Williams does too. He has just become too accustomed to it happening. Same for Side-Show Bob, Grand Theft West, Sheldon Williams's brother-in-law and ABC's in-studio analyst for the 2010-2011 season Mike Brown.

And finally, in the midst of the playoffs and after a post that quickly mocked LeBron's elbow, Charlie T tired of hyperbolic and sycophantic journalists and announcers. We all did. Sarcastically and fed up, he posted this:

LeBron James is the greatest athlete in the history of the game. Wherever LeBron goes will turn that franchise around. You have to say something nice about Early Exit LeBron but both those comments are way off base. Great Athlete? Yes. Franchise Player? Yes. Beyond that? Let's leave it open for debate.

Well, the debate has started. We all know how Dan Gilbert feels. And in Comic Sans no less.

Likert Scale

The Austin City Limits with the Swell Season was on again this last weekend. During their set, they invited out celebrated Austinite Daniel Johnston to sing "Life In Vain" with them. I was taken back to when I saw Daniel Johnston perform for the first time, but this time I understood something new about him. One of the great things about his live performances is that there is an overwhelming sense of positive energy in the room. What this energy stems from is the collective support for him, the desire of everyone in the room for him to succeed. That is something we rarely experience. Even in the best concerts there seems to be a group of people who are upset, wishing they were else where, fault-finding, or looking to score. All of these produce some sort of negative vibe. The absence of that vibe is what made the Daniel Johnston show so unique and you could even feel that vibe on TV.

I wanted to try and work this into some post-NBA Finals angle where I talked about how unlikeable Kobe, Pau, Fisher and the rest of the Lakers are...but you already know that. Then I thought about mentioning the Jazz and how there are at least 3 stiff white guys that they like in the draft this year. Too easy. Maybe something about liking the Heat's chances to get Dwyane Wade a real teammate? I don't want to jinx it. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of things worth liking out there, but the Swell Season performance with Daniel Johnston has to be right at the top of that list.

Dragon Slaying

The Lakers, Spurs, Blazers, Nuggets, Jazz, Suns and Mavs have all been staples of the Western Conference playoffs the last decade or so. This lack of diversity in the Playoff gene pool has led to some great playoff games, great meltdowns and a great set up for this year. The late 90's proved to be the same kind of scenario in the Eastern Conference with the Knicks, Bulls, Pacers, and Heat. Coming from those series were a number of great Jordan moments, Reggie's theatrics and heroics versus the Knicks, and the Playoffs best announcer, Jeff Van Gundy, clinging to Alonzo Mourning's leg. It seemed that every year a Heat/Knicks matchup was inevitable, because it was. From 1997-2000, they met every year in the Playoffs and played the maximum number of games each series, with the clinching game of the series being decided in the closing moments of the game. Miami only beat the Knicks in one of those four series, the first one in 1997. After that, the Knicks became Miami's dragon; the naturally sworn enemy and inevitable matchup for the Heat, a matchup they could never overcome.

The Heat went through another stretch, although much shorter and less dramatic, when a matchup with the Detroit Pistons seemed destined every year. This may have had more to do with the Pistons versus Shaquille O'Neal (dating back to their upset of the Shaq/Malone/Kobe Lakers), but it was the Heat's dragon to slay if they wanted to win a championship. This year, the west is full of such destined matchups. Mavs/Spurs. Jazz/Nuggets. Suns/Spurs. Jazz/Lakers (potential). Suns/Lakers (potential). Lakers/Spurs (potential). Jazz/Spurs (potential). Its almost a paper/rock/scissors set up. Spurs own the Suns, Lakers own the Jazz, Spurs own the Lakers, Lakers own the Suns, and for the sake of the analogy lets just say the Jazz own the Suns. Each team seems to have a date with destiny, a passage though fire, or any other cliched hero/dating reference. Somebody is going to have to slay their team's figurative dragon.

Who wins in all this melee? We do. The way the first round has gone, we can almost assume that round two will be turned up to 11. I'm still hoping that Kevin Durant walks on water for the next two games of the Lakers/Thunder series, but if not it doesn't mean that the best basketball is behind us. Rather, its yet to come.

From Bad To Worse

This isn't 2008. The Heat aren't loading up their starting line-up with a murderer's row of Stephane Lamse, Kasib Powell, Alexander Johnson and Earl Barron. There isn't the hope of a Mike Beasley coming in as a proverbial savior. Most importantly, we aren't worried about whether or not Dwyane Wade is going to have the career arc of Penny Hardaway. These things I am grateful for as a Miami Heat fan.

The one thing that does compare to 2008 is the taste in my mouth after Tuesday night's drubbing in Boston. It didn't only give me nightmares from 2008, but from seasons past in Miami Heat lore. Allow me to expand.

First, the game Tuesday night had the luck of the draw when it comes to announcers. Anytime you can get Reggie Miller as the color guy during a TNT telecast, you can count on ridiculous hyperbole, knife twisting and wound salting, overexcited yelling at random times, and terrible anecdotes. Tuesday was no exception. The Heat were hard at work preparing the finest turd sandwich that $73 million can buy. Everybody could see that. Reggie managed to reiterate it at least a dozen times at the expense of my fandom. Then he began to get loud and obnoxious, yelling things like "Trade KG" every time Big Baby made an awkward lay-up or "the side-line three should be renamed the Ray Allen" as Ray poured in 3 balls from all over the court. Only two other announcers have driven me as mad as Miller Time did tuesday night; Doug Collins and Bill Walton. These three share a common bond. They are poor color commentators who somehow get some of the bigger games and spend the entire night embellishing their careers and raising even the most meager of stars to the upper echelon of NBA greats. Not to mention they are 10 times worse when your team is losing.

There was a time during the late 90's Heat playoff runs where I had to watch games on mute because Bill Walton seemed to be commentating durning EVERY Heat game. And they would lose every game he was working. It was a dark time for me. I didn't even have to watch the games to know the outcome. I just had to hear the play by play long enough to distinguish the voices.

Doug Collins is just as bad. Just watch any Lakers game. Or any Bulls game in the late 90's. Or any Jazz fan during their Finals runs. Or even a Suns fan as recent as Sunday night. He has the ability, same as Reggie and Bill, to take a bad game and make it worse.

I'd like to thank Charles Barkley for begging TNT to switch over to the Suns/Blazers game and saving me from further misery. And I'd like to ask for just one playoff game win this year. Just one. But if not, I'm glad the Celtics are looking like they really might have one more run left in them.

The Tables Have Turned

The worst thing about playing a team you are guaranteed to beat is the outside chance you won't beat them. Welcome to the psyche to everyone who has to play the Nettes in the last couple weeks of the season. Seeing the Nettes on the schedule right now is worse than seeing the orange-hot Milwaukee Bucks, the streaking Phoenix Suns, The Jackson Five, or even the Promise Making Chicago Bulls. You never want to lose to the worst team. Ever.


As a Heat fan I went through it a week ago as D-Wade and Co went to the Meadowlands and I am staring down the barrel of another potential disaster the last game of the season in Miami.

Here is why it sucks. Lets say you are the Phoenix Suns who are a game out of second place in the Western Conference. One of your rivals, the Mavs, are playing a tough Grizzlies team on the road and the other rival, the Jazz are playing a tricky Warriors team at home. You've got the Nettes on the schedule. One of the 3 worst teams OF ALL TIME but who are playing like a playoff team now. Winners of 3 out of 4 including one over the Spurs. So the Suns are thinking they are moving up to at least the 3rd seed and possibly the 2nd. You have penciled in a win because you don't think you'll be the team to lose to them. You won't be one of the 10 wins they have all season....right?

So while one Lopez tries to get braggin rights over the other, I'll be biting my nails hoping that the Nettes can pick up a win or two against someone else so it doesn't have to happen to my guys.

Jazz Beat Heat

or

Utah turns down the Heat

or

Miami wades to road loss

or

Miami wades unsuccessfully through Utah winter

or

Boozer's try out goes well

or

Charlie T's team loses to Spike's team

or

Charlie T looks at flying buttresses while favorite team gets flying buttresses kicked

or

Heat go cold vs Jazz

or

Heat glad to go home to warm Miami

Fueling The Fire

Apparently LeBron James thinks Michael Jordan is the basketball equivalent to Jackie Robinson.

I've got a different theory on the whole thing. It is widely known that the Miami Heat don't have much of a franchise history. To their defense, there is more of a history than some of the other teams that joined the league with them. That aside, the numbers hanging in the rafters are 23, 13, 33, and 10. Jordan, Marino, Mourning and Hardaway. The latter two make sense, the other two? Not hardly. Now that we have established that Miami has retired the number 23, lets bring Mr. James back into the picture and add this theory to the long list of "Where will LeBron go in 2010" theories.

LeBron won't be able to have #23 when he goes to Miami next season. If he can't have it then nobody can. Nobody.

Dear Pat Riley, xo- Carlos Boozer

Dear Pat Riley,

Enclosed you will find a set of multimedia materials:

- a DVD of my highlights from last night's Spurs/Jazz game at EnergySolutions Arena
- VHS and Beta versions of the same footage, because you're old school
- a quote from a reputed ESPN article that has Mehmet Okur saying, ""Everybody was active, especially from the defensive end," in which the term everyone must necessarily include myself and thus is a direct reference to my defensive activity.
- A screenshot of a few trade scenarios that worked on ESPN's Trade Machine.
- A box score that highlights my 27 points and 14 rebounds.
- A signed-in-blood covenant to always defer to Dwyane Wade and yourself.
- 3 complimentary cans of Dapper Dan hair pomade.

Sincerely,

Carlos Boozer

Big Night for the 910 Conversation Story Lines

CP3=KG: 1
We know its early in the season but in the game against Boston, CP3 showed some true frustration...and KG envy. A loss last night to the Knicks probably didn't help matters.

Memphis Thirtysomethings: 2

Last night was the first of many disgruntled performances from Allen Iverson, the thirtysomething darling of the Grizzlies. We put you as the first thirtysomething Allen not because we want people to know how old you are but because we knew this would mean a lot to you.
We did what you said, "Go look at my resume and that will show you that I'm not a sixth man," Iverson said. "I don't think it has anything to do with me being selfish. It's just who I am. I don't want to change what gave me all the success that I've had since I've been in this league." And you're right. You are not a sixth man, you're a thirtysomething man...and the first one in our books.
It was also the first thirtysomething point total by a Grizzly of the season, Mr. Zach Randolph. Mayo messed up his chance to be the first by trying to go shot for shot with Carmelo. (for those of you keeping score at home Carmelo's 40+ pt effort doesn't count towards TBC eating a Caramello...because it was against the GRIZZLIES...the same grizzlies who made Kevin Martin look like Kobe Bryant last night)

Sactown Race To 14 Wins: 1

The Kings are moving along at a 25% clip, right on pace to put us in the lower bowl right behind the Osmonds.
Something tells me this won't last.

TBC Smart Points for Daryl Morey: 1

@ricbucher tweeted last night after the Rockets pulled away from the Jazz that "HOU is a 5-man symphony"
We knew after last year they would be scrappy and win some tough games, but with Lil' Chris Rock leading the squad full time now they are looking mighty impressive.

Heat vs. Suns tonight

One loyal reader and Suns fan wrote in wondering if this is a preview for the 2010 NBA Finals.
One can dream...one can only dream.

If the playoffs started today...Vol V

First of all, if the playoffs started today nobody would notice because they are all to busy filling out sweet 16 brackets, debating whether or not UConn is as good as they have played or how far Blake Griffin will carry Oklahoma. And they are also over using the word chalk.

The Dwyane Wade Stimulus Package vs. 4 centers, 3 midseason pick-ups, 2 rookies and a brand new coach
Wade has been the leading scorer for the Heat in 61 of 70 games. They are 36-25 in those games. 2-7 in games where anybody else steps up. He averages more than twice as many points as the next player (O'Neal) on the roster. He is obviously leading the team in minutes per game, assists, steals and is second in blocks. The Heat haven't had a losing streak longer than 3 games. Thats something neither Boston, Utah, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, New Orleans, nor Dallas can say. (those are of the current playoff teams. 8th seed in the East doesn't count.)
That said, its easy to see that the Stimulus Package is working, but thats about all thats working, and who knows for how long.
As Heat blogger Ira Winderman said "When Dwyane Wade looks at the rest of this roster, what is compelling enough to make him say, "This is a place where I want to stay"?"

Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets
This is the inevitable first round match up (see the last two years) and they are also playing tonight. So if the Playoffs started today the Jazz would be playing the Rockets.

Jordan's manliness vs his softer side when watching his babies
Yes he shed a tear when his son won the state championship. But did he cry when the older brother lost in the first round to Wisconsin? And will he cry when the team he generally manages actually does something of note? (i.e. make the playoffs) Or do the tears only come with being the last team unbeaten?