warnerwlf98 wrote:The biggest problem for the Suns is rebounding. Even with Stoudemire they were getting out-rebounded often, and now they're an even shorter team. When you give up tons of offensive rebounds, you can't expect to do that well, but they have a whole season to try and figure it out.
They actually aren't any shorter, they just picked up guys that are fairly soft on the boards. Warrick and Turk are both 6'9-6'10 but softer than charmin...so they have to rely on guys hitting the glass more. They did okay last night and have been better than expected so far. They really need to try to pick up a rebounding PF to play next to Frye when he's on the floor. Obviously they don't need another scorer because they've got a TON of those. One thing that was horribly annoying about the Hawks game...the stupid f'n announcers calling the arena the Highlight Factory the entire time. Are you f'n kidding me? That's horrendous.
I long for the days that the NBA League pass will ALWAYS give us the home and away announcers like they do for baseball. For some reason they like to only give one broadcast for hoops usually.
warnerwlf98 wrote: One thing that was horribly annoying about the Hawks game...the stupid f'n announcers calling the arena the Highlight Factory the entire time. Are you f'n kidding me? That's horrendous.
They have been calling Phillips Arena "The Highlight Factory" for many years now. Sorry you don't like it. The announcers didn't make it up. Probably some marketing guy.
It's just the "nickname" for the arena.
Yeah, last night was a good night in the NBA. After watching the Cavs win their third straight road game I switched over just in time to watch the overtime of the Heat loss at home. Then I went to bed with a smile on my face.
EZSnappin wrote:I don't know which was crazier - Milsap's 4th quarter or the Pacers INSANE 3rd quarter. One of the weirdest NBA nights I can remember.
I'd say the Pacers. That was five or six guys en fuego -- not just one dude, like Millsap. Some of Dunleavy's baskets in the third quarter were Sputnik shots, so it's not like Indiana scored on 19 dunks and two mid-range jumpers.
Yes, I'm contributing specifics to an NBA thread. Icicles spotted in hell.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
It doesn't look like the three Kings in Miami is working out too well atm. Miami is 1-7 against winning clubs and lost a close one to Dallas last night. Miami is a very impatient sports town. Randy Shannon is gone, rumors of Tony Sparano going if the Dolphins don't improve and now theres talk of Pat Riley taking over the club.
I personally don't like it especially when it happened to Gundy but the Heat did win the Championship. At this point the team has no focus and neither of the three knows who should get the ball. It's almost as if they don't want Miami to be perceived as Lebron's team or Bosh's team or Wade's team. They are all trying to blend in and that is hard to do with three All-Stars on the same team and it has not been a good year for D-Wade so far.
Even Riley is smart enough to know that even HE cannot fix what's wrong with the Heat. I've watched nearly all their games since the wife is a Heat fan and a few things:
1. They essentially are in training camp now because Wade was injured the entire preseason. They still have to work things out.
2. You cannot have two alpha dogs, let alone three (tho Bosh clearly isn't one). Wade and LBJ look like they are just deferring to each other...it's your turn, okay, now it's my turn, etc. Wade has played 3 or 4 of the worst games I have EVER seen this year...Bill Simmons mentioned this too, so I'm not alone is noticing this. He just doesn't look the same. Whether he's still injured, just getting old (which is quite possible with the pound he takes year after year) or he just isn't comfortable with LBJ yet (the most likely reason)...who knows. Wade just isn't that good this year.
3. You can't win a title, let alone advance in the playoffs (they'll make the playoffs because the east has a grand total of 2 good teams) with only 5 players. Sure, they have an entire roster full of guys, but most guys that wouldn't even get off the bench elsewhere. Their rotation guys (Miller, Haslem) that are decent are both hurt for a majority of the year. This means 10th and 11th spot players are playing a ton of minutes (Hello Joel Anthony and Jawon Howard). This just will not work.
4. You need a PG and a rebounding big guy to win in the NBA. The Heat have neither and it's costing them. Opposing PGs absolutely kill Arroyo and Chalmers...both are horrid defenders so it makes their defense look terrible because of all of the rotations. Yes, the Suns have this same problem defensively with Nash but his offense clearly makes up for it...Carlos and Mario, not so much. The reason the Heat were so quick to replace Haslem with Dampier is because they know they need a guy that will crash the boards. I personally think Dampier is a HORRIBLE option for that, but he'll be a big body in the lane which Haslem was not, so it is bound to help a little bit.
So yeah, the Heat have a TON of problems right now and Riley can't fix those problems by coaching. It's a team construction thing and they simply will not come close to winning a title as currently constructed. They won't even get out of the east. Orlando and Boston are so far superior...especially when it comes to the resentment they have towards Miami...they are highly motivated to knock them off their "thrones" if you like calling them the three kings. I don't think the Heat imagined that everyone outside of Miami would just downright hate them...but they do, and it's pretty entertaining watching them flail along in mediocrity.
Point#2 is their biggest problem IMO, nobody is taking charge. At least if any of those three were the only star players on any respective team they would have no problem trying to take over a game. Right now I just see..."do you want to shoot"?..."okay who's next, alright you shoot"? No successful NBA team or at least one that wants to win a Championship can play like that.
Where I think Riley can help, and he's responsible for the three amigos on the same team is to figure out who going to get the limelight. I also agree that D-Wade doesn't look right and isn't playing to what he is capable of playing.
The big problem for Riley is that pretty soon fans are going to call for a coaching change. Miami is more of a mess now than it was before King James and Bosh showed up.
I find all this talk about how LeBron and his buddies "just aren't having any fun" really ironic. Last year at this time everybody was complaining about how the Cavs had "too much fun", joking and horsing around on the bench during the fourth quarter of all those blowouts. Funny how things change in a year.
I'm looking forward to Thursday. I loved Charles Barkely's quote: "LeBron, I love you, man. But don't stand close to me in Cleveland."
According to the ESPN wire, Heat players and you can guess who are questioning whether Erik Spoelstra is good enough to coach the team. Gee where did I hear that before?
Bosh is more of a 3/4 than a pure 4 so they basically have 3 swing men getting big salaries.
They are potentially a great small ball club but those teams maybe win 50 games and then get through 1 playoff series at the most before they're exploited inside.
No off-ball movement by Wade or LBJ when the other one has the ball. Certainly one of them could create easy shots for the other but they're not great catch and shoot guys.
But if Heat games get bigger ratings than Orlando or Boston after the NFL season, then NBA will be predisposed to a Lakers-Heat finals, to maximize ratings. So you know what that means, Wade getting 20 FT attempts in the playoffs from those cheap fouls he gets.
So Lex...more than a quarter of the way through the season and your boys have 7 wins and are getting demolished of late (8 losses in a row). Still think they will eclipse 30?
dbdynsty25 wrote:So Lex...more than a quarter of the way through the season and your boys have 7 wins and are getting demolished of late (8 losses in a row). Still think they will eclipse 30?
Yeah, it looks like I'm going to be owing you a video game.
They were doing fine until the Miami game. They still haven't recovered from that embarrassment. Since then it's like they're just moping around feeling sorry for themselves, some of them just waiting to get traded out of here. Pathetic.
Wow I was reading on ESPN last night that the NBA players union is 99% certain of a lockout for 2011 and are going to decertify. I guess that maybe the reason for all the superstars changing teams last year.
Rodster wrote:Wow I was reading on ESPN last night that the NBA players union is 99% certain of a lockout for 2011 and are going to decertify. I guess that maybe the reason for all the superstars changing teams last year.
Umm...what does that have to do with where players sign? The only person that is really affected by a lockout (superstar wise) is Carmelo. It's prudent for him to get traded to the Knicks in-season so that he can sign his max extension BEFORE the lockout and the new CBA. That also assumes that he will ONLY sign with the Knicks. As of the end of this season, he will not be able to sign with them as a free agent under the current payroll conditions. He'll have to wait and the salaries will go down in the next agreement.
greggsand wrote:Gilbert Arenas traded to Orlando. Win-win for both teams I think. Orlando has to try something to keep up with the superpowers of the east.
More lenient gun laws in Florida than D.C. Win-win for Arenas.
San Antonio, Houston or Dallas would be wet dreams of locations for Arenas. Texas has concealed-carry laws for handguns.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
I was in Miami last night watching the Heat game on TV with family and I sure as hell thought the Heat were going to lose. I couldn't believe how the game played out with under 15 seconds to play.
My Sixers are playing a ton better than earlier in the season. Won 8 of their last 11. They are starting to buy into Collins' system and it is paying off. Brand having a nice season and Jodie Meeks has come out of nowhere.
Atlanta beats Orlando for the 2nd time in a row this season. You never know what you
are going to get out of the Hawks. Should be interesting come playoff time, if everyone's healthy. My boy from FL, Horford, is really emerging as a star this year. He is near the league leaders in FG% and never takes a bad shot. His face up post game is so much improved this year. Should be a definite All Star again this year.
