BlogsThree-Way Blockbuster Would Clear Knicks' Cap Space
Newsday is reporting that a major three-team trade is on the verge of completion. New York would clear the contracts of Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford, along with Mardy Collins, by sending Randolph to the Clippers and Crawford to the Warriors. The contracts of the players returning - Al Harrington, Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley - all expire in time for the Knicks to have massive cap space in 2010. This should concern Heat fans not just because it adds a marquee franchise to the growing list of 2010 shoppers, but also because it creates a potential suitor for our own Dwyane Wade should the Knicks lose out on LeBron James.
0 comments Toronto Raptors 101, Miami Heat 95
by PeninsulaIsMightier
on Nov 20, 2008 9:19 AM EST
Now that's a three-forward lineup.
Toronto's unfair front line of Chris Bosh, Jermaine O'Neal and Andrea Bargnani laid waste to Miami's flawed frontcourt, negating a magnificent effort from Dwyane Wade, a season-best performance from Shawn Marion. This is a rough loss on paper, but it's nearly impossible to beat a team that was shooting as well as the Raptors last night. Miami gave itself a chance, but you need an occasional three-pointer to rim out for the other guys to win close games like this. What are you going to do?
And it's back to .500. Our room still available?
Notepad
- Wade echoed Chris Bosh's effort against Orlando a night earlier, scoring 40 in a loss. Wade was absolutely flawless last night, keeping down the turnovers and even blocking 5 shots. Brilliant! Can we stop worrying about the ankle now?
- The Shawn Marion trade value index skyrocketed after last night's 20-point, 14-rebound effort. I'm fighting the urge to say Miami should hold on to him - it helps that this kind of performance came in a loss. It also proves that Michael Beasley and Marion are incompatible - Marion went off while playing power forward alongside Daequan Cook, rather than small forward/hybrid forward/whatever next to Beasley.
- I'm still not overly concerned, but Beasley was a complete non-factor tonight. I'm still confident he'll straighten it out. Udonis Haslem had a dud of a game too, but he was due to come back to earth eventually. I still think he'll tend more to the 12 and 10 double-double - his shot just wasn't falling.
- Marion's board work helped mitigate a huge Raptors rebounding advantage among the bigs. Bosh and O'Neal outrebounded Beasley and Haslem 28-14, though Beasley's minutes were limited.
- Chris Quinn has pushed the point guard position almost to a platoon, getting 24 minutes to Mario Chalmers' 28. Neither was spectacular nor disastrous. Not that I want those guys out of the rotation, but I'd like to get a long look at Wade and Cook alongside the Three Forwards. Wade's doing all the playmaking anyway, so I'm not sure what's stopping Erik Spoelstra from letting him play point guard and putting a two-guard next to him.
- Even with Beasley's foul trouble, Mark Blount was nowhere to be found. Barring injury, I believe we might have seen the end of Blount as a regular rotation player. When Jamaal Magloire's back, Blount might be looking at the inactive list.
0 comments | 0 recs
Game 12: Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat
by PeninsulaIsMightier
on Nov 19, 2008 2:30 PM EST
We'll start with some scare tactics from the Magic blog Third Quarter Collapse, which published this cautionary tale after Orlando's 103-90 win over Toronto on Tuesday.
That Chris Bosh scored 40 points against Orlando should come as no surprise; Magic coach Stan Van Gundy predicted as much before the game. Further, of the six games in his career in which he's scored at least 40 points, three have come against the Magic. He simply has their number. I didn't keep track of his shot breakdown during the game, but it didn't seem to me that he missed any of the jumpers he took from the top of the key. ESPN'com's shot chart bailed me out by showing he went 5-of-7 from that distance. More impressively, I recall all of those looks being contested. The man is 6'10", can handle the ball, and does not miss from 18-feet even when the hand of another 6'10" man is in his face. And he's 24. Fear him.
OK, I will.
And I'll add that Bosh, after last night, is now officially No. 1 with a bullet on my list of 2010 free agent targets. He is utterly brilliant, and you know he wants the hell out of Toronto. I don't think guys like putting up 40 and still losing by double digits. Let's make it happen for him. How about a little recruiting work while he's in town, fellas? Beasley?
Matchup of the night: Anthony Parker vs. Dwyane Wade.
Parker isn't a marquee guy, but he's good enough to give Wade some trouble on the tail end of the back-to-back. If Wade is a step slow because of the ankle, Parker's defense might catch up and contain him. He's probably not going to really take advantage offensively, but lockdown defense on a hobbled Wade would be disastrous for Miami.
Opposing player I'm scared of: Chris Bosh
See above.
3 comments | 0 recs
Injured Miami Heat Players to Stay Injured
by PeninsulaIsMightier
on Nov 19, 2008 8:27 AM EST
Injured Heat foward Dorell Wright has rehabilitated his way into a persistent injury, sayeth the Herald:
An aggressive approach to rehab from knee surgery has led to painful results for Heat forward Dorell Wright, who extended his stint on the inactive list Tuesday against the Wizards.
Wright said he might have tried to come back too fast from surgery last March to repair a torn ligament.
Maybe I'm naive, but how does this happen in the NBA? Doesn't the Heat have its injured millionaires under near-constant supervision, to keep a well-intentioned player from doing unwitting damage? Should Wright really have to accept the responsibility of extending his absence because he was "working too hard" to return?
I understand he was a restricted free agent this summer, so maybe Wright fell into a gap in the system, or maybe an athlete with Wright's paycheck should seek out the professional guidance of his own volition. But it's unfortunate when a player is allowed to unknowingly sabotage himself like this.
Meanwhile, week six of Jamaal Magloire's expected six-to-eight week recovery period is looming, and it's looking more like he'll use the whole eight.
"I would say probably in the next couple of weeks he'll be able to do more with the team," (head coach Erik) Spoelstra said.
The story notes that Miami is of particular need for an extra big next week:
Starting next Monday, the Heat begins a four-game run against the Rockets' Yao Ming, the Blazers' Greg Oden, the Suns' Shaquille O'Neal and the Clippers' Chris Kaman.
It's probably charitable to believe Magloire would do much to impede any of the above. I'm just not sure Magloire has anything left to offer. Either way, keep Udonis Haslem in your prayers.
0 comments
| 0 recs
|
HoopsAddict Game Notes: Wizards-Heat
A lot of Wizards stuff in there, but some good Heat information as well. Such as:
Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan made an excellent observation about Dwyane Wade and the rest of the NBA players who played on the Olympic Team in Beijing this past summer. Jordan said that all of the players on the squad have come into the 2008-2009 season with a renewed commitment to playing defense. When Team USA was coming up short prior to the Beijing Olympics, the defense was shaky and the effort was even shakier. This year Coach K and his coaching staff did a tremendous job in getting the team to lockdown defense the entire game and as Coach Jordan mentioned the carryover is noticeable.
Miami Heat 94, Washington Wizards 87
by PeninsulaIsMightier
on Nov 19, 2008 8:08 AM EST
Solid enough. Every road win is a good road win in the NBA, even if it comes against the lowly Wiz. Miami's back on the fun side of .500 in what I still expect to be a season spent toggling between a couple games above average and a couple games below. A few more road wins - this was just the second out of six games - would help Miami make an extended stay in positive territory.
Notepad
- Dwyane Wade was a soldier, playing through a gimpy ankle and God knows what else to hang up 19 points and 10 assists in 35 minutes. He did miss 10 of 16 field goal attempts and turn the ball over 5 times, however.
- You know what helps when Wade's shot isn't falling - other people's shots falling. Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn went a combined 5-9 on 3-pointers, Yakhouba Diawara made half of his 4 attempts from long distance and Udonis Haslem was at his efficient best, milking 12 points out of 8 shot attempts.
- Speaking of Chalmers and Quinn, I'm really liking the dynamic the Heat has at point right now. Chalmers finally played like a worthy starter again, eliminating any talk that he should give way to Quinn, and the veteran Quinn continues to excel in whatever minutes he gets. That situation's not looking so bad.
- A homecoming Michael Beasley was probably too busy nodding at his assembled family and friends to put on much of a show for them. That was one of the lamer efforts of his young career, but I'm inclined to give him a pass on his first trip home. No worries.
- Is it bad that I can appreciate Shawn Marion's play only in the context of the effect it may have on his trade value? I'm thinking it is, but I can't get past it. Marion put up a solid 12 and 9 in a team-high 41 minutes. Did you see that, league? Not bad, right? He could totally help you.
- Now that the league isn't listening anymore, I'll whisper to you that I think Miami is a better team with Daequan Cook on the floor, assuming he plays like he did Tuesday, and will be better still when James Jones returns.
- Joel Anthony - 20 minutes. Mark Blount - DNP-CD. Was I right or was I right?
- Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison pretty much had their way offensively. It's a shame this team sucks so hard, because those guys deserve better.
0 comments | 0 recs
Tinsley, Marbury Still Unwanted
An update on troubled point guards Stephon Marbury and Jamaal Tinsley, two long-rumored Heat targets.
Game 11: Miami Heat at Washington Wizards
by PeninsulaIsMightier
on Nov 18, 2008 4:00 PM EST
The overarching story here is the health of Dwyane Wade, who is starting to feel those aches and pains that naturally follow from Wade's recent workload and persistent style of play. You'll recall that Miami beat the Wiz rather handily recently, and there's no reason why that can't happen again at their place. But it's hard to think about anything but Wade's health. It's a paradox - Miami can't win without him playing major minutes, but if he plays major minutes he's probably going to get hurt, and then Miami really can't win. That's a real pickle.
Matchup of the night: Caron Butler vs. Shawn Marion.
Butler got thoroughly shut down last time out against Miami, so you know he'd like to set things right. Marion's greatest value to this team is in defense and rebounding, so it'd be nice to see him put up strong efforts in each category.
Opposing player I'm scared of: Andray Blatche.
He certainly didn't do it last time out against the Heat (1 point, 1 rebound in 13 minutes) but Blatche is the kind of frontcourt presence that should fare well against The Three Forwards. I'm kind of shocked he's not playing more, particularly with Brendan Haywood out. I think he'll get it together.
2 comments | 0 recs
Countdown to Armaggedon: Wade's Injuries Piling Up
by PeninsulaIsMightier
on Nov 18, 2008 8:15 AM EST
The Miami Heat held practice without the Miami Heat on Monday, as franchise player and holder of postseason fortunes Dwyane Wade sat out with a sore ankle and assorted other boo-boos.
The Sun-Sentinel quotes Wade sounding all defiant and stuff:
"That's not my goal, to make people think I can make it through the whole season," he said of the latest advertising campaign for his sneakers. "I want to play the whole season.
"It's not about making other people believe that. I just want to be out here every game with my teammates, as we continue to grow."
Yeah, now that you mention it, basing a sneaker ad on overcoming your injury history is kind of lame. Can't we just do cool characters like LeBron?
Anyway, as this post's incendiary headline suggests, any injury or combination of same that slows or sidelines Wade cripples this team's playoff hopes (see what I did there?) Whatever improvement this team has made - and it's made a little - would be all but lost without Wade, the star that makes everyone else's incremental progress possible. This year would look like the aimless doodle Michael Beasley drew that one time he went to class at Kansas State University.
I know these little dings happen in an NBA season, but it's early, and I'm officially starting to worry. It feels like foreshadowing.
Dwyane Wade - fall down seven times, get up eight weeks later.
1 comment
| 0 recs
|
Hoops Addict in the Heat Locker Room
Hoops Addict's Ryan McNeill ventured into the Miami locker room before Sunday's loss at Toronto. Here's Erik Spoelstra on Michael Beasley:
"He’s still 19-years-old and he will grow. Our focus right now, and we’re not going to back off of it, is we need more defense from him. He’s got a lot on his plate out there and he’s making progress."
More at the link above.
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
New FanPost
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
