A look Back

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Aug 092011

I wrote this recently and I decided not to let it go to waste, even if this is a little late.

The buzzer sounded. American Airlines Arena hadn’t been quieter all year, but now it was all over, all they could do was watch the Dallas players cheer and wish they could have a redo, but this wasn’t a video game, this was reality.

It all began when the Cleveland Cavaliers got eliminated from the 2010 NBA playoffs, LeBron James walked off the court taking off his jersey and we could only wonder what he would do next. Leave.

LeBron headed down to Miami and joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They danced and cheered, but as they often do, the Miami Heat cheered too early. They still had to play an NBA season.

So they played. Sometimes they were laughed at and other times they were respected, and somehow, after a 9-8 start, they managed to finish their season 58-24, favorites to win a ring.

All throughout the playoffs NBA fans watched the Heat speed through the first three rounds. When it was time for the finals, Cleveland diehards were picking Miami to beat Dallas.

That is why it was so disappointing when Miami could not beat the Mavericks, or even force a game seven. But my question is, how?

Miami had the big three and a handful of role players and they couldn’t beat the Mavericks in a best of seven series.

Well, Dallas had a better coach, Rick Carlisle was making changes in the starting line-up in the finals. Carlisle also ran a zone defense, which I believe is the best defense available.

Dallas also had a better supporting cast around their star players. Miami had had Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony in the starting line-up while Dallas had J.J. Barea and Shawn Marion around their core three players.

The biggest problem for the Heat was their inability to finish games. During the finals there were several games in which the Heat let go of a close game. In game five the Mavericks led 84-79 going into the fourth quarter and won 112-103.

The Miami Heat are a very talented team, but they need to do some work if they want to win a championship, because right now, Miami is not capable to win a championship with the way they played in the NBA finals.

Posted by zach at 5:06 pm Tagged with:

Welcome Back

NBA, Opinions No Responses »
Nov 272010



Lebron James is headed back to Cleveland

On July 8, 2010 Lebron James said the now famous words, “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.” Cleveland fans got very angry and now he has to show up in Cleveland again. Fights might start and chanting wont be too nice.

Why can’t Cleveland fans give Lebron a break? James is from Akron. Akron. Akron is not Cleveland. Cleveland Cavaliers fans do not have the right to call him a trader and a liar. He never lied. He never said he was going to stay in Cleveland. He is not from Cleveland, he is from Akron, two different cities. If I was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and I was drafted to the Miami Heat, I have no responsibility to keep playing in Miami. If I become a free agent, I could go anywhere where I am wanted.

Why should James be hated in Cleveland when he didn’t even have the choice to go there? It wasn’t his decision to be drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but it was his decision to go to Miami. It was his decision to go to St. Vincent St. Mary High School.

People in Akron and Cleveland hated him when he was in high school. Theythought he was being paid and they booed him at the games. He helped the team be ranked first in the country and the fans booed him.

James was not a prisoner in Cleveland, he was a professional basketball player. He was a free agent, and last time I checked, free agents were allowed to go where they wanted. So I am sick of hearing Cavaliers fans whine about James “betraying” them. And calling him Lebenedict Arnold James is wrong.

Benedict Arnold was a spy. calling a player Lebenedict Arnold James is rude. It is not right and that makes me angry. It is like Kevin Garnett calling Charlie Villanueva a cancer patient. That behavior is childish and should not be tolerated.

James gave Cleveland so much. he took them to the finals. He did  everything he could to win them a championship, but his team could not produce. He wanted a championship. The fans and the team wanted James, the team had James, but James had no ring.

Maybe it would have been better for the league if James had stayed in Cleveland. Maybe he should have been the home town hero and his ego would be better. But he left. It’s time for Cleveland to move on. Find a new hero. Don’t sulk about the past. Don’t say what if. Look at future stars, Antwan Jamison and J.J. Hickson, rebuild a franchise. Then go win a championship. Get over Lebron James.

Dan Gilbert can talk all he wants. Fans can say what they want and Mo Williams can tweet anything, but all it is is talk. Talk doesn’t win a championship, action does. How the team plays on the court is what wins championships. The Cleveland Cavaliers need to do that on December second. If they talk smack and boo the Miami Heat, what good will it do? Mack R. Douglas once said “When a man has done his best, has give his all, and in the process supplied the needs of his family and his society, that man has made a habit of succeeding.”

This is one of many anti-Lebron videos on the internet.

Posted by zach at 12:08 pm Tagged with: , ,

Dampier to Miami?

NBA, Rumors No Responses »
Nov 222010

Erick Dampier might be headed down to Miami

Erick Dampier had a long post season. He was in the Tyson Chandler trade but then waived by the Charlotte Bobcats. He was talking with the Miami Heat but they decided to pass on him. He was rumored to go to Houston, now Miami has decided not to pass on him. Dampier is now in the Heat’s spotlight after Udonis Haslem was injured. Dampier could be the next NBA player taking his talents to south beach.

Last season with the Dallas Mavericks Dampier only averaged 6 points per game (PPG) and 7 rebounds per game (RPG). He has been in the league for 14 years and has only scored 7,000 points for his career. Not too convincing. Andrew Bogut of the Milwaukee Bucks has only been in the league for 5 years and all ready has 4,300 points.

Dampier might not be a scorer, or even a good player, but he can still come in and help Miami. They need all the help they can get. If he can come in and play power forward for a while while Haslem is out, the team would be in less risk of having to play 16 year veteran Juwan Howard.

My question is this. Is signing another player very smart? They have a rookie Dexter Pittman who might play well if they would actually play him. He might be 6′ 11 1/2”, but that give him a height advantage. It would also save some money which is one thing the Heat need to do.I’m not asking for them to start Pittman, but he had a pretty good college career and he could be good coming off the bench. Even at power forward.

Posted by zach at 9:23 pm Tagged with:

The Real Problem

NBA, Opinions No Responses »
Nov 222010

Udonis Haslem could be out until the all-star break with torn ligament

I could go on all day about how the chemistry has been a big reason the Heat haven’t played as well as we expected, or how 3 stars on one team is too many, or how a team with so many stars need a better coach, but there is a bigger problem for the Heat. Injuries. Dwyane Wade missed the whole pre-season and he was injured again recently, but only for a game or two. Mike Miller might not be back until January.

Haslem had only 4 points and 1 rebound in the Heat's loss Saturday

Now power forward Udonis Haslem is out for at least 6 weeks with a torn ligament in his left foot. Pat Riley, the GM of the Miami Heat, said they are not sure whether or not Haslem will need surgery but they are “dealing with Superman.”

A specialist will visit the Heat to see how how Haslem is on Monday. The team will go from there.

Haslem is very important to the Miami Heat, averaging 8 points per game (PPG) and 8 rebounds per game (RPG). The stats might not be too convincing but after the Miami Heat’s plan with their big 3 falling down, Hasem was a key factor to the team’s chances this season. That could lead the team to more changes on their roster.

Unless James Jones moves up to power forward, which is doubtful, Juwan Howard will be the back-up to Chris Bosh who is now only playing 33 minutes per game (MPG). After Miller’s injury Riley brought in veteran shooting guard Jerry Stackhouse. Now, to keep from Juwan Howard playing 15 MPG, he might bring in an Erick Dampier or a Javaris Crittenton.

Posted by zach at 6:50 am Tagged with:

Pat Riley Fires Back

NBA, NBA News 1 Response »
Sep 112010

Pat Riley brought the Big 3 to Miami, now he gets mad at the peope critisizing

This summer Lebron James and Chris Bosh made a move to Miami to join Dwyane Wade. All summer people have been criticizing the Heat. I will admit I have said some things about their winning chances on the site. Finally after months of hearing criticism Pat Riley got back in an interview.

Riley started with Charles Barkley. He said “Charles Barkley to me went way over the top. I think Charles Barkley is the only guy in the league who can get away with the things he gets away with. Calling these guys a bunch of punks is a personal attack. Lebron isn’t that, Dwyane is not and neither is Chris.”

Stan Van Gundy is a former Miami Heat coach who was fired when Shaq came so Riley could coach them. Stan Van Gundy said he wondered why big name players wanted to be Dwyane Wades lap dog. Pat Riley said “Stan’s out there making comments about Chris Bosh being Dwyane Wade’s lap dog, I don’t know what happened to some of these guys along the way.”

I would be mad too if I were Pat Riley but I wouldn’t say these things if I were him. Pat is a 65 year old man who is highly regarded. When Dan Gilbert wrote that letter to Lebron James we said he acted childish. Now Pat Riley says these things in an interview about people just doing their job and we don’t care. I think this was childish and unprofessional of Pat Riley.

Feel free to leave your comments on what you think about Pat Riley’s comments.

Posted by zach at 12:12 pm Tagged with: ,

The Paper Trail

NBA, Predictions No Responses »
Sep 052010

They say they'll win 7 titles, experts say 3-5, I say 0-3

People have been talking about the Miami Heat. They have been saying they will be champions and that they might win between 3-7 titles. My question is, will the Heat win any championships? Let me tell you why I ask this.

The Heat made a “Super Team” with the Big 3: Wade, Bosh and James. They are a very good team on paper but they haven’t proven anything yet. They will probably be a very good team and could get 60+ wins but none of that matters till you get to the playoffs. You saw the Cavaliers get 61 wins last year and lose in the second round of the playoffs. The game in December against the defending champs, the LA Lakers, will be hyped too much. The Lakers have the roster in the front and back courts. Now lets look at the depth and go through the possible playoffs outcome with the Heat. First they play the Knicks. The Knicks added a pretty good roster but nothing too special.I am thinking they get a win off of them. It looks to me like the series ends in 5 games. Next they head on to play Chicago. The Bulls were very good 2 years ago in a 7 game series against the Celtics and last year they took the Cavs to a game 5. The team added Boozer and Korver and got a defensive minded coach. I don’t know how well Thibdeau will do as a head coach though. I heard a rumor that there is a Carmelo Anthony trade in the talks. If the Bulls have Melo I would give it to them but I cant say that yet so I’ll go with Miami in 6. Now they meet the Celtics in the conference finals. The Celtics have players who have won championships and a great coach returning. They will also have Kendrick Perkins healthy who helped them last year. Rondo is a great guard playing against Chalmers. The C’s have better coaching and bigger players. Bosh cannot play well enough on big players like Kevin “KG” Garnett or Glen “Big Baby” Davis. I think losing Rasheed Wallace and Tony Allen hurt the C’s but additions like Jermaine O’Neal and Delonte West make the save.

My conclusion in that series is Boston in 6 or 7 but I’m going to show you just how much I think the Heat lose. If they play the 2 time defending champs in the finals, LA wins in 6. In the last 3-peat in LA Shaq led LA to beat 3 different teams. So if Boston does not win Miami might go, Kobe would win the finals MVP like Shaq and Phil Jackson would have always 3-peated as a coach. The Lakers have a better bench and coach. The big 3 killed LA last year in the finals but they fought and went on to win the title. They could do the same with Miami’s big 3. Phil Jackson is a better coach and Kobe will play great. Gasol and Bynum will grab boards and LA will win in the rebounding match-up. Fisher is a better point guard than Chalmers and I think Kobe is better than Wade. Artest can play an outstanding defense and keep Lebron quiet in some games but he wont come out huge like game 7 last year. Gasol and Bosh is a good match-up but I will slightly pull for Gasol. Pau is bigger, rebounds better and has played in the finals 2 times. Bynum will destroy both Joel Anthony and Zydrunas Ilgauskas so I give the Lakers the championship against Miami.

New York might get Melo and Chris “CP3″ Paul. The Celtics will fade away and LA wont win for a while. A new era will start with San Antonio, Portland  and Oklahoma City stepping up in the west. New York, Chicago, Miami, and Orlando will all fight in the East so I don’t see Miami winning even 3. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they do but it all comes down to the bench.

Posted by zach at 3:55 pm Tagged with: ,

The Miami Helpers

NBA, Opinions No Responses »
Jul 312010

The Miami Heat were the 2006 NBA champions. This year Miami got Chris Bosh and Lebron James to join Dwyane Wade in South Beach. Big-Z and Mario Chalmers are also in the starting lineup. I just don’t see this team winning a championship. They have a lot of young talent and a veteran center. I think they need a  veteran point guard who can still play well. some people say Allen Iverson but AI is not going to help this team. Iverson likes to start and when he does he just jacks up 20 shots. Miami needs a guard who will pass, can shoot free throws, and can play defense. A veteran who has been coached well would help. I think Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks would help. Kidd has a nice shot, can play defense and pass the ball, and he’s a nice free throw shooter. Kidd was also coached under Byron Scott (current coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers) and went to the finals twice with the Nets and would be a good help to the Heat. If Miami is really looking for 7 championships, Jason Kidd can help get a ring or two.

Miami also needs a big man. They don’t usually come cheap so they might be able to get a trade for Greg Oden, good luck. Chris Bosh and Big-Z won’t be great defenders on Dwight Howard, Cleveland took in the Big Diesel for that reason but Miami won’t get Shaq. If Pat Riley managed to pull it off a good coach always helps. Maybe they can get rid of Erik Spoelstra and get Mike Krzyzewski instead. To save money Pat Riley can coach and be the GM. For now, I don’t see them beating L.A.

Posted by zach at 12:21 pm Tagged with: , ,
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