Pat Riley has always had a knock on his career, that being he hasn't been able to make the right decisions in the draft. I can't really give credit for Winslow, but Richardson was a walk off grand slam in the second round. Can't wait to see this team in the playoffs and really want to see what we can put together in Free Agency. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That was a good game! Hard fought, solid defense all night from both sides. Tony Parker deserves a medal for sticking on Curry like glue. Oh and Diaw was excellent tonight too. Early inside penetration kept the Warriors honest. Still, gotta remember the Warriors were without Bogut, Ezeli and Iguodala, and the ones that did play were on a second game back-to-back. So all that will have hurt them. Plus, despite that smothering defense Curry isn't going to have nights as bad as that often - 1-11 from 3pt land, I believe. Still, a win is a win and there were a couple of extra positives. Duncan only played 8 mins. I suspect that's because Pop wanted to rest him since he wasn't necessary. So that would be one more weapon inside. And Kawhi played a mostly supporting role with Aldridge getting the lion's share of the Spurs's offense. So if Kawhi can get more shots off that's extra offense too.
At the end of the game LeBron and UD acting like best friends, that's when you know something's changed. Either he's made some kind of effort to reach out to everyone because he wants his jersey up in the rafters one day or he's actually letting on that he is thinking about getting the band back together.
I think we are fine without him.. Lebron is still a top player but the game changes with him on the floor. He is not very good off the ball. I mean I guess he would play the 4 in place of Deng but i dont want Dragic, Richardson, Whiteside to be standing around watching Lebron or Durant. Theyre playing great like a team, and with another ballstopping player, they would all be different players, they will just be roleplayers. I rather invest on our team being 10 deep, like the Spurs or GSW.
I'd worry about fitting a Lebron under the salary cap each season since he's gone to these one year contracts (essentially) to maximize his income and exert control over his team. As great of a player as he is (although IMO no longer the best in the league), I don't know that he improves a team as much when you'll inevitably have to subtract depth to fit him in. I really like the Heat's make-up right now. I love their depth. I see every player as a positive contributor (except for Green). I envision a strong future with Dragic, Whiteside, Winslow and Robinson (and even a returning TJ). I like how veterans like Wade, Johnson, Deng and Stat have adapted to picking their spots, sometimes being leaders and sometimes stepping back. I expect that if and when Bosh returns he's likely to do the same. I get the impression that if we brought in a Durant that he would do the same. He's obviously still playing very well so he wouldn't have to step back much. But he seems to do well at getting his points in the flow of the offense rather than dominating the ball. I guess if we lost Bosh to retirement/injury that Durant could fit into his salary slot. But I'm not sure I'd want to lose Whiteside to add another star. I like the versatility Whiteside brings to our offense and three point scorers are easier to find. I have been impressed with how much Whiteside's passing has improved. He's not the ball stopper he was at the beginning of the season. This is a WAG, but I could even see a Durant even taking less to get a championship if he did come here. I don't think Lebron would do that again. He's basically stopped chasing potential GOAT status by going back to Cleveland. I think he's more about maximizing his salary and having control now. I'd trust Riley if he did bring him back, but it's not something I would hope for. At best I'd say I'm indifferent. He's not a player I covet. He'd be welcome back if he fit in Miami's culture again, but he'd have to fit in with Miami rather than Miami having to over turn their roster or minutes to accommodate Lebron.
I agree with this, **** Lebron. I appreciate the titles he brought us but he made his bed 3 times, now he gotta sleep in it.
What's great about Richardson is soon everyone will catch on and not let him open behind the three point line as much, but he's fully capable of using his length and speed to pump fake and then drive in the line, drawing a foul or picking up the layup. Ethan Skolnick had a great point. Him making 22 of his last 30 three pointers, you figure he's going to suffer some reversion to mean...but we have no idea what the mean is! If he keeps shooting threes like this and if he develops his mid-range jumper, learns to be a little more aggressive, he's an All Star.
I'd re-sign Whiteside, and look at filling out the bottom of the roster with some strong depth. Bring Deng back, explore adding pieces like Courtney Lee, Batum, Mahinmi, Mozgov. (one or two if you can find a way to make them fit under the cap). Bank on the development of Winslow and Richardson, and we're set to compete with anyone in this league.
In college his midrange game was his strength, actually; he was much better around the free throw line than he was behind the arc. It's more a question of what his current role allows for, I think. He can shoot it from all over the floor, especially with the tighter mechanics (elbow) it looks like he worked on. His weakest area is around the rim, since he lacks strength and shies away from contact. But clearly this kid can put the ball in the hoop while defending either guard position on the other end. Serious find for the second round, and he definitely looks like a fantastic piece going forward. He's a great example of what 4 years of college ball can do for you, and the value in seeing a guy work on his game to improve steadily over that span of time. He's also an example of how NBA front offices can be foolish for devaluing those kids who stay in school (*COUGH* Kris Dunn). Going forward one question is probably going to be position, and finding the right guy to pair with him in the backcourt. He doesn't have a traditional PG skillset, and he probably projects more as a SG...but I love having that size advantage against opposing PGs. Right now you see how effective he is playing with ball-dominant guys who initiate things like Wade, Dragic, and Joe. That's a better situation for him, imo, sort of like what Patrick Beverly does at 'PG' next to James Harden. I'm looking forward to watching Richardson and TJ play together, see what we have there. They're similar players in some ways, but I imagine they can be complementary. They'll be fun as hell to watch, if nothing else.
It's not that LeBron was chummy with UD. It was that UD was chummy with LeBron. Last time they played, there was a mini controversy over LeBron trying to go up and say hi to UD and UD basically ignoring his existence, walking right by him and not saying a word. LeBron is looking at him as he's walking away and you could see he was confused and hurt by it. Now all the sudden UD is hugging him and he's part of the family again. But UD's family is the Heat, so I think it's a little suggestive.
I'm sure he's got a good mid range jumper because he's a good shooter. Whether he's good at it or not though doesn't mean he's got a good mid range game yet. He's not actually out there using it. Since the All Star break he's taken like 10 shots at mid range, 18 shots at short range, and 35 shots at the rim. He's taken 45 shots from three point land. Making a mid range game for yourself to me is about being aggressive and willing to create your own shot.
If the Heat are positioning to fit another max contract on the books I would much prefer KD to Lebron at this stage in the game. I understand Bosh and Wade would disagree, but so what. Plus could you imagine the ridicule Lebron would get. It would be way worse than the first go around. It would basically be him saying, hey Cleveland you suck. Pat Riley and D Wade, I need you. It would be bad.
[video=twitter;711926012821544960]https://twitter.com/TropicalBlanket/status/711926012821544960[/video] LMAO
What I find hilarious is that there is a segment of "Heat Twitter" that doesn't like Spo as a coach. You talk to people that actually KNOW about coaching..and they consider him a top 5 coach in the league. I think he's brilliant, and has gotten over his stubbornness which I thought was not an attractive trait for a young HC. Do not under estimate THAT factor as a recruiting tool for the off-season. Heat can tell KD..hey...all your coaches have sucked so far...here..try playing with a top notch coach.
People are too busy praising Brad Stevens to give Spo or Carlisle much credit. Not that Stevens isn't a good coach - but I've never seen a guy get more hype with less of a resume.
another thing... if my suspicion comes true..which is that Miami will miss the finals, simply due to not having Home Court vs. the Cavs...then look out. They lose in 7 games to Cleveland...the recruitment tool will be: Riley, Loads of talent, Coaching, AND..we are close to winning it all as well.
I think people take this stuff too far. Wade and LeBron are very close friends. LeBron and UD are friends. That isn't going to change based on what team any of them play for. There may be some gamesmanship when they play, but these guys approach basketball in the same way most of us approach our own careers.
He's a very good coach, he doesn't have the rings though. But I'd imagine one is in his coaching future. But Isaiah Thomas can't be your best player to get to that point.
At this point Miami still has to figure out how to get by Toronto if it comes to that. The Heat have dropped 3 of the last 4 to the Raptors.
If Toronto gets out of the first round. They've crapped out two years in a row against far inferior teams DeRozan has been terrible in both series
Remaining schedule pretty easy for the Heat too. Three games against Orlando (29-40), two against the Pistons (36-34), Brooklyn (19-50), Lakers (14-55), Pelicans (26-43), Kings (27-42), Bulls (35-33), Blazers (36-35). We've got San Antonio (59-10) coming up. That's a scheduled loss, going cross-country in a back to back. Wouldn't be surprised to see players sitting for that one. We've got two games in two days on the west coast against the Kings and Blazers. I guess you could see us losing one of those. The Detroit-Boston back to back to finish the year will probably come down to where we stack in the seeding and who is fighting for what. So what do you say, 50-32 on paper but perhaps an actual 49-33 finish?
We've really struggled with Detroit for whatever reason. Probably will drop one of the two And I'm sure we'll slip once against a crappy team. Put me down for 48 wins
Just throwing this out there - but if the Heat make it up to the 3rd seed - Cavs probably have to play CHI/DET in round 1 and Boston in round 2. They haven't exactly dominated any of those teams. And if they make it out of those, they'll likely be a bit worn down to face a Heat team that is on fire right now. I mean - I'm a Cavs fan, but they're more vulnerable than expected, and the East has a few stronger teams than originally thought, as well.
Since this basketball town versus football town thing broke open again on twitter, I'm curious about Adam's point about a Miami Dolphins Super Bowl. The local ratings for a Dolphins Super Bowl would be way higher than the local ratings for any given Miami Heat finals game, I'm sure. But how much higher? And if you stop and consider that the Finals for the Heat would essentially be 4 to 7 games, what would happen if you stack them up cumulatively and compared them to the Super Bowl?
Probably still hard to remove enough noise to really use that as a metric. How many non-sports fans watch the Super Bowl vs watch the NBA Finals? Does counting the same people 7 times equal counting people watching 1 game? I would think social chatter and merchandise sales might be a better barometer?
Heat had their family day yesterday....pretty big attendance.. Pics: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154121401204124.1073741857.284300559123&type=3