Partially. Without looking at line-up numbers, it seemed to me that the Heat was effective with Whiteside and multiple ball handlers (Dragic, Winslow and McRoberts). Although McRoberts struggled. It seemed like Indiana was playing him to pass and daring him to shoot. I think he needs to take the shot a little more often. I think Deng works best as our speed 4. I've heard his role compared to what we used when Battier was here and I agree. He's crafty like Battier was. He got a ton of offensive rebounds, but I don't recall if he was playing at 3 or 4. Wade had a horrible night most of the night, but he's our best crunch time scorer. I think I'd be in favor of staggering the minutes between Dragic and Wade more. They can play together but sometimes they seem to cancel each other out. It's almost like they take turns. Not sure where Bosh fits best. Maybe at the 5 with Deng at the 4. We need more shooting, especially 3s. That's where Bosh will help a ton in addition to his defense. I wish Green would snap out of his funk.
The crazy thing about Winslow's +29 was that it was in 40 minutes. So that means there were only 13 minutes he didn't play, and the final margin of victory was 8. Think about how nuts that is.
Not Heat related but can we talk about how bad Sam Presti is. He has always been thought of as some wunderkind and yea the Thunder made it to the NBA Finals and are on pace for 60 wins this year but he pretty much fell *** backwards into Russell Westbrook and if Portland takes Durant, they would've never built that team in OKC. The guy got rid of Harden who is one of the top-10 players in the league to turn around and pay Serge Ibaka and Ibaka stopped developing about 3 seasons ago. He then claims he made the trade so the team wouldn't have to play Luxury Tax but then dips into the tax to pay Enes Kanter of all people. He turns around and trades a 1st round pick for Dion Waiters, the guy is hot garbage and he has been since he's arrived in the league. It pissed me off to no end that people were actually intimating that he could be the next Dwyane Wade when he was coming into the NBA from College. Anyhow, rant over. Great win for the Heat last night. Dragic is finally looking comfortable, Whiteside is making himself alot of money by coming off the bench and posting up incredible numbers. We desperately need a threat behind the 3 point line though, teams are just going to pack the paint and we cannot beat anyone on the perimeter. How I miss the days of Mike Miller, James Jones, Shane Battier, and Ray lol. If Winslow can develop a shot outside of 18-20 feet, the kid will be an All-Star, he plays with so much poise and grit, does all the little things. Definitely lucked out that he dropped to 10, I will never figure out why. Just like when Pierce dropped to 10 and Caron when we took him.
Well for example there were times they lined up with Whiteside (7-0), McBob (6-10), Green (6-8), Winslow (6-6) and Udrih (6-3). That's a pretty big lineup, even when Udrih went out and they subbed Dragic (6-3) in for him. That seemed like a lot of height, strength and rebounding prowess. I thought I recalled the Heat liking to go small against the Pacers, so when I saw those lineups it caught my attention a little. Seemed like a barbell approach because otherwise you had Dragic (6-3), Wade (6-4), Winslow (6-6), Deng (6-9) and Stoudamire (6-11) in the lineup and that strikes me as small-ish.
Also I meant to ask, obviously Luol Deng has been having a great stretch run since the All Star break but the question I have is whether it has anything to do with a change in his role since Chris Bosh went out? It seems like they're playing him at the 4 spot a lot and playing at or near the rim more has turned the guy into a different player than he's been with us to date. Maybe that's a bad perception?
Welp, Udrih is out for the season leaving the Heat with one true PG on it's roster (and only 10 total healthy bodies). Riley says they don't want to go back over the cap, so we'll see what happens.
Agree? SBNation Article - "The Heat are finally playing to Goran Dragic's strengths. It's no accident he looks like his old self again and their offense is thriving."
A week ago I had: West - GSW vs. OKC East - CLE vs. TOR Since them I'm pondering that OKC pick. SAS haven't been themselves and with Duncan and Leonard showing a dip in health there's no way they can contend if not at full strength. Plus, OKC win the Point Guard match-up by a mile. The PG weakness is an issue for SAS. It's worth point out that of the top teams the point guards are - Steph Curry, Russel Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, and then Tony Parker. Still, is it foolish to count out SAS against OKC? The Spurs bench beats the Thunder's by a mile. Would I, as a Spurs fan, be falling into the common trap of writing them off too early? Maybe we will end up with a GSW vs SAS WCF. Here's hoping SAS can get back to full strength. Then again, if the Clippers can close that gap and take the #3 spot from the Thunder then I might like a LAC vs SAS match-up even less - although it would be nice to force the GSW to go through OKC in order to advance. That would be a high-octane series.
Yeah that really sucks. More of Wade, McBob, and Winslow initiating stuff at the top of the key, I imagine. But jeez are we thin in the backcourt. Ugh. Richardson's made some nice defensive plays here and there, but on offense he looks like he belongs in the D-League for a little while. I don't know how much Spo would go to him. This probably means more minutes for Gerald Green...hopefully he can turn it around and be a plus. It's a shame, cause Beno's been steady and solid.
I thought Barry Jackson mentioned that signing someone to a 10 day contract wouldn't necessarily put them over the cap. I don't know the first thing about the NBA salary accounting situation though.
Yeah, I'm a little fuzzy about it too, but I believe they can add 1 (maybe 2) minimum players and stay under the cap. EDIT: Ok, it appears you are correct about the 10 day contracts, but it's tricky. Here is what Albert Random says:
I swear this team and injuries.... just bad luck. Definitely need a backup PG, unless they have faith in Richardson and continue to employ lineups where 1-4 can bring the ball up the court.
He is playing at Bosh's position, and therefore is not a spot shooter, so he is getting a ton more cutting opportunities which is when he is at his best.
I think it is more Dragic' driven than anything else. It is popular to say that Wade drags him down, but Wade and Dragic played great together for a stretch last season. Dragic has done a ton of ball watching this year and not involved himself in secondary offense, but not lately. He has been very aggressive, and it's paying off.
I really liked seeing Dragic penetrate and when he found no alley or place to dish simply backing out and taking a short open jumper from the elbow. He hit that pretty consistently. It seemed far more efficient than passing it to an iso and having that player force up a tough shot when the clock was expiring as our offense too often did.
I think if it happens again next season he will go into medical retirement. Hes one of the bright minds in the NBA im sure he has been verygood with his money. And the insurance of a medical retirement will get him more.
Im all for Whiteside elbowing Curry into the 9th row...that guy is a phony is I have ever seen one. Just a really really good one.
Sometimes they'll put up a dumb shot with no passing like that Whiteside jumper and sometimes they'll keep passing until someone steps out of bounds. Sometimes those things happen on the same possession. This team really needs some offense next season.
How the **** do the Warriors play like this every night? I feel like the Heat are playing out of their minds and it's a back-and-forth struggle with like 15 lead changes.
The number of moving screens the Warriors set is ridiculous. On just about every one of their big 3's someone is setting a moving screen. It wasn't even close on Curry's last 3.
Well when you're going to McRoberts for a drawn up 3 at the end you know you need a shooter. Heat played well, what can you do about those shots curry and Thompson hit at the end?
