Aldridge was taking Birdman to school.. Jesus.. And Wade continues his player of the month campaign. You might as well give him the award the numbers and efficiency is off the charts. He now leads the league in 4th quarter scoring too. Clutch as hell
If we can just continue this pace and stay at the 7th seed.. we'll have our first round match up against the Cavaliers and finally have Wade vs Lebron in the playoffs. But we have a legit shot at taking the 6th seed too. lol
That's awesome. Not sure who's reaction I like better, Zoran or Beas. This team has now just played their best 2 games of the year. Is this a starting point or part of the fluctuation? I really hope the former. And if Wade can play like this in the playoffs, no one will want any part of them.
When Goran and Dwyane are on the floor, the HEAT score 111.6 pts per 100 possessions. Those two plus Luol and it's 112.1 per 100. That's from Danny Martinez (Heat) on twitter.
One thing i take away from the past few games, with Tyler Johnson playing the way he is, Chalmers needs to put that condo he bought from Drake up for sale. Especially after the offseason TJ is only going to get better. That expiring contract can get us something else next season. Chalmers played just 14 minutes last night, we dont need that bonehead ****ing us up down the stretch.
We have a lot of expiring contracts next year. Just between McBob/Chalmers/Bird we have about $15 million. The question will be whether there is somebody available in the off season that whets your appetite, or will there be a Dragic next year, who is looking to get out and get on a new Bird Rights team before FA? We'll have to look at it more closely in the off season but we have the opportunity to add a significant piece next year. Plus adding a guy like Danny Green or Lou Williams with the mid-level
McRoberts is signed for 3 more years after this. And besides, in 2017/18, his contract will be a bargain lol
2 words... Alexey Shved Rockets gave him to the Knicks for Pablo Prigioni. Looking like bad move. Shved has been ballin' these last few weeks for the Knicks. I have been raking up on Fanduel using him as a cheap player.
Our 2nd best player went down in the 1st quarter (Terrence Jones). Harden had to go into MVP mode. 50 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and a win. 1 game out of the 2 seed. I really don't know what else this guy has to do to get MVP.
I agree with that. But if you take Harden off the Rockets we are a lottery team...no doubt about it. Take Steph off the Warriors, they're likely still a bottom playoff seed. Harden literally can't take breaks most nights. Our 10-15 point leads evaporate in 4 minutes or less when he sits (happens like clockwork at every start of the 2nd quarter). It's ridiculous how much they are putting on this guy night in and night out.
Johnson has been almost entirely ineffective his last 4 games. He has 9 total points on 4-19 shooting, 0-6 from three. 5 assists and 6 turnovers. He had that awesome game against Phoenix, who features one of the very worst defenses in the league. But he has yet to play a good game against stiff competition, let alone showing consistent reliability against good opponents. I'm not saying he can't...he just hasn't yet. Hard to bank on him as a consistent rotation guy. He should get some burn tonight, though. Denver coming to town in the midst of a road trip and off a back-to-back from Houston last night.
I'm a little torn on this. The last three seasons, Mario Chalmers has been a 39.5% three point shooter. That's like 800 shots behind the arc. Very significant trend. The worst year he's had was 31.8%, then 35.9%, then 36.7%, 38.5%, 38.8% and 40.9%. This year he's a pitiful 29.6% on about 206 shots. If you believe in reversion to the mean, and let's say Mario Chalmers is destined to bring his percentage up to 31.7% this season, a new low for him but only just, then you're basically figuring that over the next 15 games he's going to make probably about 44% of his three pointers. That kind of shooting added onto what the Heat have going with Dragic, Whiteside, Wade and Deng...could really be the key that gets them in the playoffs. And if he continues being hot from behind the arc in the playoffs, who knows? Incidentally, he's 44% over the last 6 games. And the Heat are 4-2 during that span. That's not where I got the 44% from, it's just a coincidence, but it does add plausibility to what I'm saying. It's such a big missing piece in the Heat's game, IMO.
That....and RIO also has a very hidden value (not so hidden for the advanced metrics/sportvu/synergy folks), which is that he is one of the very best on the ball P&R defenders in the entire NBA. He also is an above average finisher at the rim. Rio has just had a horrific season. His legendary Brain farts...you will never get rid of....but you can win Championships with Rio.
Kevin Durant out indefinitely after suffering a set back in his foot rehab. I think he's probably done for the season, they just don't want to say yet.
He likely is done. If they can get to the playoffs then good for them, but long term is more important. They have a lot of pieces to be dangerous next year.
On offense I think there was a role issue with Rio. Imo he's much more comfortable when he doesn't have to be the primary ballhandler and creator. He was very efficient and effective playing off the ball when LeBron took most of the typical PG duties. And I see Chalmers as much more of a legitimate offensive threat when he plays with Dragic, as opposed to when he's paired with Wade. The offense ground to a halt with a Rio/Wade backcourt. It's just not ideal to have him doing that 'true' PG stuff on a nightly basis. Rio's a good passer, but in terms of creating and using him on PnR, he's not ideal, and he's nowhere near as effective as Dragic. Let him cut and spot up, then he has a decent one/two-dribble game into the lane when he gets run off the arc. I think he had a rough go adjusting to a LeBron-less offense for those reasons, as well as how many great looks LeBron used to serve up for him. He seems to be turning it around now that Dragic is getting comfortable and especially since Wade has been more active/assertive with the dribble. But on D yeah he's great...the length and tenacity he adds is a huge boost on that end of the floor.
I expect he'll be done for the season (and it's the right choice), but I'm worried that this could be a career affecting thing. Foot injuries are things that tend to never fully resolve themselves in athletes. I could see this becoming a recurring issue. It would give me pause if I were a team considering a big contract for Durant in 2016.
We gained a game on the Bucks too, but im not sure I want the Raptors though.. i think we match up better against the Cavaliers.
Hmm.. looking at the standings.. I had not realized the Raptors are in fourth.. in that case I think our best match up would be against Chicago. Though... Lebron vs Wade is overdue..
it has become obvious that our backcourt is a matchup problem for our opponents. The weaker the back court......bring em' on.
I'm not sure there would be anything sweeter or more demoralizing than the Heat-Cavs playoff matchup in the 1st round.
Holy crap I just saw that steal and fast break dunk by Whiteside last night. Dude wants to be a forward, lol.
Taking the Cavs to Game 6 would be sweet for me... beating them would be like winning our fifth title.
