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****The Official 2014-15 NBA Thread****

Discussion in 'Other Sports Forum' started by schmolioot, Jul 7, 2014.

  1. TiP54

    TiP54 Bad Reputation

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    Young guys balled out. Let em play, Spo!
     
  2. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    In the end between Napier, Hairston and Early, we would feel the same way I guess lol none has stood out.
     
  3. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Early will be the best of those 3. Hes shown he can create his own shot in limited duty. The Knicks arent rushing him since he plays the same spot as Anthony.
     
  4. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Yeah I have a feeling Early will be better.
     
  5. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I'm really glad they continued on with Tyler Johnson to see how deep the rabbit hole goes there. They need to continue that. Take advantage of Dwyane Wade's absence to figure out and establish a stronger rotation for when Wade is around again, so that you can get energy and production from the bench. Tyler Johnson looked dynamic out there. The Heat should love that he plays both ends.

    Kind of sad though that they continue with Danny Granger who I think is a waste of time at this point. But maybe they're just really convinced they can get him into the flow as a three point shooter.

    This three point shooting is a major issue. I brought it up before the season began. The offense has always seemed to have a knack for kicking it out to the wing for shooters to knock down threes but this year the guys they're kicking it out to aren't reliable. The best are Shawne Williams, Luol Deng and Chris Bosh. But it seems to me at any given moment of the game the rotations dictate that the Heat basically have only one guy on the floor that is realistically going to be found out on the arc ready to shoot, and that can actually make the damn shot. This is especially an issue with Wade out because then all the sudden Deng and Bosh became two of the guys you rely on to handle the ball and create some opportunities. Yet they're the ones that are the best at getting the ball kicked out to them for threes. It's a paradox.

    With Tyler Johnson playing more though, he can create more in my opinion with his pure athleticism. That should help. But I am still very uncomfortable with the three ball situation.
     
  6. sports24/7

    sports24/7 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I liked Napier, but I also really wanted Jordan Clarkson who's been playing very well for the Lakers lately.
     
  7. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Ennis and Napier can hit the 3 but neither shoots it enough, or has enough confidence in it right now.

    Ball movement is really the key for the Heat right now. Far too many possessions now end with Bosh holding the ball with 5 seconds left on the shot clock
     
  8. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Tyler Johnson has great shooting form.... I expect the rim to get bigger eventually for him.. he's going to knock that down consistently from 3. He shot 43% in college from that range.. that's pretty good for a guard
     
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  9. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Agreed. Same thing with Napier. Provided he gets open looks, he should be able to hit 3s.

    TJ's athleticism is the most exciting part though. Without Wade, he's the best penetrator/attacker we have and I think he'll be able to get other guys shots as well kicking out. He also seems to really look for Whiteside on those drives, which is a good thing.

    When he goes to the basket, he gets to the basket. Unlike Chalmers and Cole who foten drive but the end up underneath the basket and have to come out. That infuriates me to no end and they each do it at least once a game.
     
  10. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Napier can't hit anything. I disagree on that. He's the prime example of what I'm talking about where the guys that the Heat are finding open on the perimeter can't hit a three. The only three that Napier can make is the one you least expect.
     
  11. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Yeah I am intrigued there as well but realistically it could be a year or so before he starts becoming a reliable shooter.
     
  12. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    On the Three ball....

    I said before the season, that they needed to be league average to keep the offense afloat for the season.

    League Average is 35%.

    The Heat shoot 33% from three.

    Only 2%!. SO that's good? No. it's awful. during an entire season, that 2% that makes you a below average three point shooting team means as many as 160 makes.

    160 MAKES!

    SO make it 164, and that's 2 a game. 6 points.

    Can the Heat use those extra 6 points a game? Yes, it would mean that they would be 5 games over .500 instead of 5 under.


    Now for the good news...I like Tyler Johnson a lot...he is a good athlete. The Team Defense has really picked up the last 12 games or so. Heat is headed to the top 10 in Def. Eff. if they continue at this rate the rest of the year.
     
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  13. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    So, then what do we do?

    Is there a trade out there that makes sense?
     
  14. dolfan32323

    dolfan32323 ty xphinfanx

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    Any chance we keep Johnson? He's playing really well. A definite + out there over Cole and Napier.
     
  15. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Can't imagine we don't sign him for the rest of the year.

    No reason not to.
     
  16. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    This is my uneducated view of the three situation.

    It's a tough situation with the three ball because it looks to me like the with key players injured (and those key players seem to have a way of always being injured), Heat need Bosh to be a creator which means he's not going to be found conveniently on the wing for threes. This is why he should ideally be the third best three ball shooter on the floor, not the best.

    Similarly, they need Luol Deng to be a creator that way so he's not as often going to be the one you find out on the perimeter open for a three.

    When the ball gets to Hassan Whiteside, that's usually the end of the ball's journey for that play. The ball doesn't usually come out from him back out to shooters on the outside. If it did maybe you'd find Deng and Bosh out there ready to knock down a three.

    Dwyane Wade is really a key in all this because with him moving around and creating opportunities that is when the ball has a chance of being able to find guys who can actually shoot, like Bosh, Deng and Williams.

    But some of the guys that are mostly likely to be found on the perimeter through ball movement that is created off Wade's penetration are the point guards, Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole or Shabazz Napier. And they suck in those situations. I don't care if Napier's percentage right now is 36.5%. He sucks in those situations where he's found and they need him to knock down an open three. Like I said the only three ball he makes is the one you don't expect.

    And then of course Wade himself might be a guy that is found out on the perimeter for a three ball...but he's close to useless that way.

    Bottom line is your very best three ball shooters, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh and Shawne Williams, are really only kind of mediocre that way. So you don't have anyone on the floor pulling UP your averages. You just end up with guys that pull down the average.

    And it's going to be difficult to try and put better shooters on the floor while not screwing up the defensive effiiciency.
     
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  17. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Basically the Heat need a guard who can handle the ball and run the offense and also knock down threes.

    They need Mario Chalmers to knock down three point shots like he did 2011-12 to 2013-14.

    Chalmers and Cole have taken 235 three point shots this season and only knocked down 61 of them.

    If those two were even hitting at their percentages from previous seasons, that's 26 more makes. And I think they're not shooting as often as they could because they don't have confidence they'll make them...so it's probably more than 26 makes that you're missing from those two.
     
  18. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    From what I can tell Hassan Whiteside is 1st in the NBA among all positions in blocks per 48 minutes, and 2nd in the NBA among all positions in rebounds per 48 minutes.

    But from a pure scoring standpoint he's "only" 12th among Centers on a per 48 minutes basis.
     
  19. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    scoring off the bench is needed. You can;t fix the 3 pt. shooting with a trade. Those guys are not available at this time.
     
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  20. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    Hassan is also #1 in Reb. Rate, and #2 in PER among ALL NBA PLAYERS. His per 36 min. numbers (per 48 min. is useless since nobody plays 48 min.) have only been approached or surpassed by 4 Hall of Famers. (Russell, KAJ, Dream, and Wilt)

    http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics

    In short..the guy is playing like a All-NBA player and MVP candidate. That is NOT Hyperbole.
     
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  21. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    The funny thing is, James Jones would have found minutes, and probably been a productive player on this year's team.

    Hope he's enjoying hanging off LBJ's testicles in Cleveland.

    As for a trade, I'd like to see us do something. I know you're anti-Mo Williams, but he's the type of guy that's available in our price range. Maybe a Gary Neal. Neither is a fantastic option, but better than what we have.

    At this point, I do believe that making the playoffs should be a fairly high priority. We want Whiteside to get playoff experience even though it ultimately doesn't matter whether we win or lose. It would be great for him to have 10 games or so under his belt by the time we're actually ready to contend in a few years
     
  22. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    it really is as simple as that. RIO and Cole are having horrific years from 3, and that is what is hurting the team's overall avg.
     
  23. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    It'd be nice to actually see him start playing 36 minutes.

    LeBatard was saying that he has heard, and is trying to confirm, that the Heat is keeping his minutes low because he's almost been too good and they don't want his ego flying off the rails. According to Lebby they benched him for that long stretch during the Dallas game because they did not want him to break all the records in only his 20th game or whatever it is.
     
  24. dolfan32323

    dolfan32323 ty xphinfanx

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    It's literally unbelievable how he is playing and that he was available for this long. No clue how Riley will top this find.
     
  25. dolfan32323

    dolfan32323 ty xphinfanx

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    I hope this isn't true. We need every W we can get. This team is night and day with Hassanity on the floor.
     
  26. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

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    Damn.
     
  27. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Agreed.

    I understand it, to a point, but we're trying to win games. We aren't Minnesota. Plenty of veteran leadership here. Stunts like that shouldn't be necessary.

    Although if they still have these concerns, maybe they're valid. While Whiteside doesn't come off as a bad attitude/high ego guy, when you hear him interviewed, and none of his teammates have said anything to remotely suggest he is, maybe the organization sees things we don't.

    LeBatard was also saying that assistant coaches have been barred from talking to the media about him, and that they were really pissed about the flexing and stuff he was doing. I didn't see this, but apparently after he got an And-1 yesterday he started to flex and stopped in mid-stream, and Lebby was saying that was because he was told not to do it. So, I guess whatever tough love approach they're taking is working.

    But at some point, you've just got to roll with it, if you actually care about winning. He's our most important player right now.
     
  28. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

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    Heat continue to kill the Dolphins in the South Florida tv ratings race according to Barry Jackson.
     
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  29. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    There hasn't been a single time any television broadcaster or journalist has addressed the question of "Where did Hassan Whiteside come from/why was he bouncing around in the middle of nowhere?" without pointing directly and explicitly toward "maturity issues".

    That tells you everything you need to know. And I think you can sense it in his interviews.

    They're right to handle him the way they think increases his odds of being a professional like Bosh and Wade.

    This is why I could see them not entertaining the idea of bringing a Lance Stephenson in. They want ONLY strong professionals around this kid, because it turns out they're not just trying to polish up a rotation guy, or even "just" a starter. They're trying to create an All Star...because that's what he is, that's what they found, and that's what he's going to be. Losing games right now isn't near as important as making sure this kid grows up the right way.

    I mean, West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where he spent most of his days. Just chillin out, maxin, relaxin all cool and shootin some b-ball outside of school, when a couple of guys who were up to no good started makin trouble in the neighborhood. Hassan gets in one little fight and the Heat get scared and they say he's movin in with UD and Birdman in their lair.
     
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  30. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    The city has long been a basketball town since Shaq got here. There are about as much Broncos/Jets/ravens/giants/packers fans here as there are dolphins lol
     
  31. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

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    There's no doubt about it anymore. Barry says the Heat have some of the highest tv ratings in the entire league. The Dolphins are dead last.
     
  32. Sumlit

    Sumlit Well-Known Member

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    LeBatard was just speculating a bit when he said that. He took what he has actually heard, and expanded a bit on it with some speculation.

    He did say matter of factly that the Heat are cocooning Whiteside with stronger character mentors (Howard, Mourning) and are controlling and checking a bit his ego with all this success he's having. He also did say he heard the team did NOT like Hassan flexing up after he scored an and 1 vs the Bulls I think it was. Hassan then subconsciously tried to do it again a few games later and consciously caught himself mid act and interrupted the flex, which LeBatard took as positive sign that the player seems to be listening to advice and appears coach-able.

    The rest of the stuff about sitting him down so he didn't break records or so that he is not as successful to check his ego a bit was purely speculative.

    It's good that their teaching him and giving him great mentors, who were also great players, so he can relate to them. Frankly, he could hardly ask for better mentorship than the one he is getting from both Howard and Mourning, both experience and knowledge wise and character wise.
     
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  33. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Im positive that with the offseason coming we will mold him into the player and person he needs to be. Its funny, Ive been wanting Anthony Davis on the Heat since last season.. whiteside isnt as good as AD but im glad we have him instead of having to go through a max bid war plus trading the farm for an AD talent.
     
  34. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    They mentioned during the broadcast, I think Hassan himself mentioned it, that everyone in the locker room made fun of him for that double flex move he pulled. Something along the lines of when he walked into the locker room all of the players got up and double flexed their arms mocking him.

    I think that probably set the young man's tail back between his legs as much as anything.
     
  35. PhiNomina

    PhiNomina White-Collar Redneck

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    During 11-game win streak Cavs have easily the best net rating and their starters are outscoring opponents by almost 25 pts per 100 possessions.

    Still just 13th in def efficiency over that time, though it jumps to 6th over the last 9 games. So it's trending in the right direction.

    If Kevin Love could start hitting 3s the offense could really tick up a notch.

    EDIT - Scratch that - starters outscoring opponents by over 18 pts per 100 - sub in Tristan for Mozgov and it jumps to 25
     
  36. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    One thing I'm grateful to Hassan Whiteside for is that it's probably thanks to him that I can actually watch the Heat play the Pistons in Detroit on a Tuesday night in Tampa.

    Couldn't get the Heat televised here if life depended on it before Hassanity started.
     
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  37. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Lol, I know.

    I got Directv to give me a few bucks off the League Pass, which I decided to get for the first time ever. It's actually pretty cool as you can get either the Home or Away feed.
     
  38. Fin-Omenal

    Fin-Omenal Initiated

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    Just like Miami in past, Cleveland if they make the finals should be rooting for anyone in the West to beat the Spurs....that's a 5 game series right now imo
     
  39. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    If you bought it through DirectTV, you can get the broadband league pass for "free" as well, so you can watch games any time after the fact on your pc.
     
  40. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Yeah, I have it. The condensed games are great
     

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