Miami will win once they get the missing pieces, but not now. Actually, the Knicks have a player the Heat desperately need - Chauncey. His leadership and clutch play are invaluable. He'd tell Wade and LeBron where to go and get them the ball.

uPtoWnNY said:

Miami will win once they get the missing pieces, but not now. Actually, the Knicks have a player the Heat desperately need - Chauncey. His leadership and clutch play are invaluable. He'd tell Wade and LeBron where to go and get them the ball.

LOL at someone telling LeBron where to go.

Nope. But I did think they could have potentially had a solid run in the playoffs and maybe make the Eastern Conference finals, but that was based around the Heat surrounding Bosh, James & Wade with the right players. I don't think apart from the big 3 they have players who can make a major difference in games. Like it's been pointed out they have a weakness at PG, and at Center too. Miami do actually have some bigs on their team (Big Z is 7'3, Pittman is 6'11, Magloire is 6'11, Dampier is 6'11 and Bosh is 6'11 too) so they do have size, but they've got to use that effectively and have the centers who focus on defending and getting the ball to LeBron, D-Wade & CB. I agree that Chauncey Billups would be a good addition to the Heat, but he's got a 2 year $13.1m contract and wouldn't be able to fit in under the Heats salary cap, unless they signed him at the leagues minimum salary for a 10+ year veteran, which would be around $1.35m.

thetimefan said:

Did anyone actually think the Heat were winning a title this year? They have no bench, no size and no true PG.

Nope. But I did think they could have potentially had a solid run in the playoffs and maybe make the Eastern Conference finals, but that was based around the Heat surrounding Bosh, James & Wade with the right players. I don't think apart from the big 3 they have players who can make a major difference in games. Like it's been pointed out they have a weakness at PG, and at Center too. Miami do actually have some bigs on their team (Big Z is 7'3, Pittman is 6'11, Magloire is 6'11, Dampier is 6'11 and Bosh is 6'11 too) so they do have size, but they've got to use that effectively and have the centers who focus on defending and getting the ball to LeBron, D-Wade & CB. I agree that Chauncey Billups would be a good addition to the Heat, but he's got a 2 year $13.1m contract and wouldn't be able to fit in under the Heats salary cap, unless they signed him at the leagues minimum salary for a 10+ year veteran, which would be around $1.35m.

They still could have a solid playoff run, depending on the match-ups.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/26150/too-much-bouncing-could-get-heat-bounced

uPtoWnNY said:

thetimefan said:

Nope. But I did think they could have potentially had a solid run in the playoffs and maybe make the Eastern Conference finals, but that was based around the Heat surrounding Bosh, James & Wade with the right players. I don't think apart from the big 3 they have players who can make a major difference in games. Like it's been pointed out they have a weakness at PG, and at Center too. Miami do actually have some bigs on their team (Big Z is 7'3, Pittman is 6'11, Magloire is 6'11, Dampier is 6'11 and Bosh is 6'11 too) so they do have size, but they've got to use that effectively and have the centers who focus on defending and getting the ball to LeBron, D-Wade & CB. I agree that Chauncey Billups would be a good addition to the Heat, but he's got a 2 year $13.1m contract and wouldn't be able to fit in under the Heats salary cap, unless they signed him at the leagues minimum salary for a 10+ year veteran, which would be around $1.35m.

They still could have a solid playoff run, depending on the match-ups.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/26150/too-much-bouncing-could-get-heat-bounced

Match ups, Celtics, they'll lose, Bulls, they'll lose, Hawks they'll lose, Magic they'll lose, Knicks they'll lose. Hell, they way the Sixers have been playing lateley, they probably wont get past them them.

They better hope they can sneak back into 1st place and play the Pacers.

Lakers by 15 tonight.

And I don't believe the problems in Miami are the "Big Three" or their coach. The problem is their lack of big man to take up the middle, point guard who is strong enough to actually run an offense (which is to say, keep the ball out of the "big threes" hands for more than ten seconds) and ANY kind of bench. Mike Miller hasn't done squat. There are guys on their bench who might play every night on other teams that aren't even stepping on the court because they don't fit the way the Heat play right now. And Haslem has been/is out for the season. Those are the problems in Miami. Not the "Big Three" or their coach. Having said that, I still think Riley will come back next year.

Oh, and has uptown stopped complaining about the Knicks yet?

[Edited 3/10/11 14:38pm]

Cerebus said:

Lakers by 15 tonight.

And I don't believe the problems in Miami are the "Big Three" or their coach. The problem is their lack of big man to take up the middle, point guard who is strong enough to actually run an offense (which is to say, keep the ball out of the "big threes" hands for more than ten seconds) and ANY kind of bench. Mike Miller hasn't done squat. There are guys on their bench who might play every night on other teams that aren't even stepping on the court because they don't fit the way the Heat play right now. And Haslem has been/is out for the season. Those are the problems in Miami. Not the "Big Three" or their coach. Having said that, I still think Riley will come back next year.

Oh, and has uptown stopped complaining about the Knicks yet?

[Edited 3/10/11 14:38pm]

They almost blew the damn game last night. Get me a legit big man, another PG(Toney Douglas makes me nervous) and Doc Rivers as my coach(once he's done in Boston), and I'm happy. Doc knows defense.

uPtoWnNY said:

Cerebus said:

Lakers by 15 tonight.

And I don't believe the problems in Miami are the "Big Three" or their coach. The problem is their lack of big man to take up the middle, point guard who is strong enough to actually run an offense (which is to say, keep the ball out of the "big threes" hands for more than ten seconds) and ANY kind of bench. Mike Miller hasn't done squat. There are guys on their bench who might play every night on other teams that aren't even stepping on the court because they don't fit the way the Heat play right now. And Haslem has been/is out for the season. Those are the problems in Miami. Not the "Big Three" or their coach. Having said that, I still think Riley will come back next year.

Oh, and has uptown stopped complaining about the Knicks yet?

[Edited 3/10/11 14:38pm]

They almost blew the damn game last night. Get me a legit big man, another PG(Toney Douglas makes me nervous) and Doc Rivers as my coach(once he's done in Boston), and I'm happy. Doc knows defense.

Yeah, I was watchin'. Actually jumped in my chair a little when Melo's shot went in. At the end of the season "amost blew the game" doesn't usually matter so long as you make the playoffs. But they did almost blow the game last night. Never should have been that close.

Cerebus said:

uPtoWnNY said:

They almost blew the damn game last night. Get me a legit big man, another PG(Toney Douglas makes me nervous) and Doc Rivers as my coach(once he's done in Boston), and I'm happy. Doc knows defense.

Yeah, I was watchin'. Actually jumped in my chair a little when Melo's shot went in. At the end of the season "amost blew the game" doesn't usually matter so long as you make the playoffs. But they did almost blow the game last night. Never should have been that close.

Consistency on defense is their problem. Once they bring it like the Celtics can, then we're talking. That's why their biggest need is a quick, athletic defensive big man.

Graycap23 said:

phunkdaddy said:

Still can't believe they ever traded him.

They let him walk as a free agent with NOTHING in return.

[Edited 3/7/11 10:34am]

Ben Gordon can't really play defense as an undersized 2 guard.

Paris9748430 said:

Graycap23 said:

They let him walk as a free agent with NOTHING in return.

[Edited 3/7/11 10:34am]

Ben Gordon can't really play defense as an undersized 2 guard.

I still think the Bulls should have made a run at Tracy McGrady. Granted, he's not the phenom he once was, and he is still injury prone, but he would have been a nice addition platooning with Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver. But otherwise, the Bulls don't have any glaring weaknesses other than some playoff inexperience with their bench.

728huey said:

Paris9748430 said:

Ben Gordon can't really play defense as an undersized 2 guard.

I still think the Bulls should have made a run at Tracy McGrady. Granted, he's not the phenom he once was, and he is still injury prone, but he would have been a nice addition platooning with Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver. But otherwise, the Bulls don't have any glaring weaknesses other than some playoff inexperience with their bench.

Actually, he hasn't missed a game all season (due to injury that is.)

Crap balls.

Miami wins a big game. Wade and Bron were clutch tonight vs the Lakers.

phunkdaddy said:

Miami wins a big game. Wade and Bron were clutch tonight vs the Lakers.

Bron was clutch ... when?

This goes to my post made a few days ago, some teams just have your number. I said the same thing about the Cavs beating the Knicks all 3 times this season. The only top team the Heat have beatin this season is the Lakers and they did it twice.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

phunkdaddy said:

Miami wins a big game. Wade and Bron were clutch tonight vs the Lakers.

Bron was clutch ... when?

This goes to my post made a few days ago, some teams just have your number. I said the same thing about the Cavs beating the Knicks all 3 times this season. The only top team the Heat have beatin this season is the Lakers and they did it twice.

Clutch free throws and a butt shaking dunk that electrified the crowd when the game

was tight.

Paris9748430 said:

Graycap23 said:

They let him walk as a free agent with NOTHING in return.

[Edited 3/7/11 10:34am]

Ben Gordon can't really play defense as an undersized 2 guard.

I'll take Ben over the garbage they have at 2 now.

Corey Brewer had a decent game last night. I wish we could have found a place for him. Knicks had no energy at all. This game was over at halftime.

Another 'T' for Amar'e, so he's done for the Indiana game.

This is how Phil Jackson got hired with the Bulls:

“I definitely believe that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step,” the Zenmaster said. “My first step was being hired by the Bulls, and it all happened in the strangest way. My birthday [Sept. 17] just happened to fall on the day [in 1987] when the Bulls had lost assistant coach Gene Littles, who left to accept a job coaching the Charlotte Hornets.

“My telephone number just happened to be on Jerry Krause’s desk when somebody called him asking for it because they said they wanted to wish me a happy birthday. So since the Bulls had to pick up another coach at the last minute, those circumstances all came together to put me in the right spot at the right time. So Jerry called and offered me the job. I took my first step when I accepted the job, and the rest is history.”

Charles Barkley's Heat rant;

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/tnt_overtime/2011/03/10/20110310_charles_heat_rant.nba/?ls=iref:nbahpt1

phunkdaddy said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Bron was clutch ... when?

This goes to my post made a few days ago, some teams just have your number. I said the same thing about the Cavs beating the Knicks all 3 times this season. The only top team the Heat have beatin this season is the Lakers and they did it twice.

Clutch free throws and a butt shaking dunk that electrified the crowd when the game

was tight.

A clutch fast break dunk, lol. He;s lucky the game didn't come down to the fina shot or he would have bricked another 3 like he did the past 5 games.

Bron Bron was "clutch" because he passed it to Bosh a few times and let Wade take the important shots at the end of the game. So what that he made a couple free throws - he misses a lot of them. And I'm not a LeBron or Heat hater - I've got nothin' against either of them. But the importance of his play last night had very little to do with his scoring. Unfortunately I'm not sure he can play that way on a regular basis. And I'm callin' right now that Bosh is used as a trade piece during the off-season.

Did anyone catch the specials on the Fab Five (ESPN) and the Runnin' Rebels (HBO)?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Did anyone catch the specials on the Fab Five (ESPN) and the Runnin' Rebels (HBO)?

Yeah, I saw them.

I liked the UNLV documentary, and I LOVED the Fab Five doc! My favorite part was everybody runnin' down Duke!

I also liked the fact that Jalen said how much he was jealous of Grant Hill and all of his awesome Cosby sweaters than he and his dad were sporting!

OK, I made up the sweater thing.

I think both documentaries showed how big a business College Sports are and how much the NCAA comes down on the athletes when they try to cash in themselves.

Both documentaries show you the NCAA is a corrupt, hypocritical organization. Nothing but a cold-blooded American business. Fuck them, fuck their tournament and fuck those racist fans with their hate letters. Same goes for the media, who get "offended" when brothas are just being themselves.

uPtoWnNY said:

Both documentaries show you the NCAA is a corrupt, hypocritical organization. Nothing but a cold-blooded American business. Fuck them, fuck their tournament and fuck those racist fans with their hate letters. Same goes for the media, who get "offended" when brothas are just being themselves.

Every one.........can be themselves but us.

I thought u knew.

Tyler Hansbrough > the Knicks. Another wonderful defensive display.

I heard D'Antoni had a meeting with Billups, Anthony and Stoudamire where he asked them to play more defense.

OK, so, the Warriors may not make the 8th spot. But I'm still predicting the Lakers finish the season in first place in the West.

I thought The Fab Five doc was great. Very informative and it didn't shy away from anything (good, bad and ugly). My only disappointment is that Chris Webber still refuses to talk about so much, and that his friends are still speaking for him. Chris Webber is a man, dude needs to stand up and handle his business. I actually really like the guy on TNT and NBATV (didn't ever really dig him in the NBA), but its kind of shady that he won't talk about the timeout or the money stuff.