Goodbye Regular Season... 16 Wins Until "Not One"

Wednesday's season's finale against Orlando closed the books on the most fun basketball season I've ever had the privilege of witnessing. 

A historic streak.

A six-game stretch of unparallelled scoring and efficiencies.

Dramatic acts of athleticism and skill from basketball savants.

Four future hall-of-famers and a supporting cast of energy players, sharp-shooters, and superb role players.  All coming together to produce a 66 win season. 

But now it all comes down to 16 more wins. 

When LeBron said the Heat would win "not one, not two, not three, not four....." he was talking about championships.   Now Championship Number Two is 16 wins away.

With another championship will come another step towards the world recognizing greatness, and perhaps..... a dynasty.

Will Heat Stars Take Up Bird Watching As A Restful Hobby?

Can Chris Andersen take flight again?

With the signing if Chris "The Birdman" Andersen, the Heat may have bought themselves some minutes.

As we have already seen this season, the NBA regular season campaign is as much about keeping your stars healthy and rested as it is about becoming cohesive and positioning for the playoffs.  With Danny Granger, Grant Hill, half the Knicks, Derek Rose, half the Lakers, Anderson Varejao, etc etc etc all missing time, teams need to find ways to keep their stars' minutes down.

This brings us to the Heat picking up Chris Andersen on a try-it-out 10-day contract.

Is Andersen the cornerstone of a championship team?  No.  But he is an interesting player that, in limited minutes, could potentially be exactly what the Heat need to keep LeBron and Battier out of the power rotation, get Bosh playing his natural power-forward position (and hopefully get him out of his mental and physical funk), and act as an upgrade over UD and Joel.  Potentially.

If advanced stats paint a picture, I'm pretty excited about the artist's subject.  In 2011-2012, check out here to see Andersen rank 16th in the entire league in one foul-rate stat for his (mostly defensive) play, and here to see how Andersen favorably stacks up against some interesting names.

Now all The Birdman needs to do is play up to these levels in the 2012-2013 season.  If he takes flight, some of the Heat's regulars could relax and bird-watch from the bench, and it's pretty hard to get hurt or too tired from there.

You Gotta Have Faith

Read Kobe's lips: "I've got no faith that I'm winning another ring."

Since I last wrote, my second daughter was born.  This is the daughter that this blog is dedicated to.  Her name is appropriate for a Heat fan..... "Faith".  Because when I was asked today if I think the Heat will win it all again this season, I said "I think so because we have LeBron", and I have a lot of Faith in him.

Over the last 10 games, the Miami Heat have gone 6-4.  What did we learn about them through this stretch?  Nothing.

They continue to cruise along.... crushing some teams, losing some games they should have won, losing focus when none is required, and (most importantly) winning when they really want to.  And the latter is why you should have Faith.

We were also reminded about a few other things:

Joel Anthony has great heart.  I have a lot of confidence in him to do the right thing when he's in.  From passing the ball away (when the situation requires a modicum of offensive skill, of which he knows he has none), and scoring when he is put in a position to do so (vs rarely scoring when in similar situations in the past).  His defense and picks are - dare I say - critical to the Heat's chances.

Ray Allen isn't a good defender.  He had his best two defensive games against Golden State and Los Angeles, which gives me some hope, but if his shot is off, he is a detriment to the team.  Until the fourth quarter.  Because regardless of how he is playing in a given game, he seems to find his shot in the fourth, and you need that type of player on the floor during crunch time.

Norris Cole's stats somehow, inexplicably do not seem to tell his impact on the court.  Statistically, he sticks, but when he's in, his confidence on the offensive side and disruptive affect on the defensive side give the team a boost.

Rashard Lewis needs to play more.

Shane Battier is glue.  The team is just plain better with him on it.

UD has lost his shot, but not his heart and rebounding ability.  For short spurts, he's still valuable.

Chris Bosh is a wuss.  A great shooter.  Smart.  Decent defender.  But a rebounding doormat.  In the last 10 games, I've seen balls ripped out of his hand, and him boxed out way too much.  7.1 rebounds/game is more than 20% less than his career average.  And this on a team that is starving for a rebounder.  Scheme or not, he needs to get more boards.  And his pouting at the end of the Lakers game when LeBron didn't hit him on a breakaway at the end of the game (because LBJ wanted to chew up precious clock while he had the lead), and then his reaction to James "stealing" a rebound out of his hands (because LBJ's Kill Switch was on) just do not sit well with me.

Dwyane Wade is in conservation mode, which I'm good with.  Still one of the best in the game.  Someone you want to have fresh for a championship run.

LeBron James is the King.  55% shooting, including 45% from three is Other Worldly.  Just unreal for a wing player.  This while also being the best defender, best passer, most competitive, and most intelligent payer in the NBA.  If you want to see who he is, watch the fourth quarter of the Heat's loss to Utah.  Down by 19, James continued to compete while his Co-Big-Three sat.  He guarded Utah's center, Big Al Jefferson, on defense, and played the point for Miami on offense.  He did everything.

Miami ultimately fell short in the game against Utah, a meaningless January game.  But with the Heat down by a huge margin, LeBron willed his teammates to play on, and that is what a true champion does.

And that is why you need to have Faith in these Miami Heat.

A Heat December Recap

Wake the Heat when December is over.

Been a lot going on the personal family front lately.  Birthdays, holidays, pregnant wife, new house.  With all this, I had to take some time off from blogging.  Here's a recap of the last few weeks....

The Heat's defense is coming around. They are closing out better against threes.  Norris Cole, Joel Anthony, and Udonis Haslem playing more means more defense, and with the Big Four, the offense was never a problem.

Cole has developed into a positive off the bench.  His offensive game is still not above average, but his defensive pressure on opposing PGs has helped the Heat regain some defensive footing.

Haslem is starting again, and his shot going in a tiny bit more. Defensive skills are still there.

Chris Bosh is really, really good, but still not pronounced during every game.

Ray Allen is a really bad defensive player.

Dwyane Wade is still great.  But he now treats his skills like fine wine; he only breaks them out on special occasions (which is just fine, since the playoffs are always special occasions).

LBJ is still the best on the planet.  Regardless of Durant "continuing to develop", and Melo "finally playing team basketball".   LeBron is the King.

The Heat are really good.  They are clearly biding their time.  They play to their competition, which makes the early season very frustrating for Heat fans.

And now for the games:

106-90 win home vs NO: Not compelling.  Coming off the Knicks game, they did nothing but what they were supposed to do; beat a bad team badly.

101-92 win home vs Atlanta: Nice win over a good team that was surging.

97-95 loss home vs Golden State:  In retrospect, the Warriors are a pretty darn good team.... not shocking the Heat would play too down to a surprisingly good opponent and lose.

102-72 win home vs Washington: Another sign that the Heat play when they want to... a crushing, avenging win against a bad team that had beat them days before.

103-92 win home vs Minn: Heat's lack of size exposed again (by getting smashed on the boards 53-24), but their talent won out (and overall athleticism apparent by out-blocking the bigger Wolves 14-1).

110-65 win @ Dallas:  The Mavs are not the team that beat Miami in the Finals two years ago.... Nice to see Cuban's poor planning result in a poor product.

105-89 win home vs Utah.  Bosh out sick, but the remaining Big Two are too much.

105-97 win home vs OKC.  The biggest game of the season, the biggest win of the season.  Proving the Heat are the best and play when they feel like it.

105-92 win @ Charlotte.  Too close a game against a bad team on a back-to-back after the Christmas Day emotional win vs OKC, but you take it and move on.

109-99 loss @ Detroit.  Really?  Back to driving you crazy by not showing up.

104-85 loss @ Milwaukee.  And why not make it bad two losses in a row because it's December.

20-8

"Let's Go New York" Chanted at a Knicks Game.... In Miami

How does this guy keep beating the Heat?

If Tuesday was horrible, tonight was whatever-word-is-worst-than-horrible.

Of all teams.

Of all places.

At all times.

To lose to the Knick???

By 20.

W.

T.

F.

Steve Novak?

18-43 from three?

Why don't the Heat shoot 43 threes?

I hate the Knicks.

A double alley-oop; wasted.  One of LBJs most powerful dunks I've seen; wasted.  Playing the Knicks without Melo; wasted.

After losing to the Wiz on Tuesday, Thursday was supposed to be a make-good night.  Supposed to show everyone that the Heat could turn it on as needed.

Instead, Thursday stands as a night that allows for those that question the Heat's defense, effort, and concentration to say "I told you so".

Let's just hope that those saying "It's a long season" turn out to be right, because right now, it looks like it could be a long season.

12-5

To Play Hard Or Not To Play Hard

A better celeb friend, and then this.

The tale of two teams.

Not the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat; the low-energy Heat and the high-energy Heat.

Miami continued their In-Game Maintenance Program for the first 2.5 quarters of tonight's match.  Brooklyn built a double-digit lead, and the defending champs looked like they were sleep walking.

Then, just like that, the Heat decided they couldn't wait till late in the fourth to wake up.  They turned up the intensity level on both sides of the ball and closed with a 16-37 run, beating the Nets 89-102.

On this night, LeBron took a back seat to D Wade as the latter showed his nagging knee and ankle injuries won't be affecting him every game.  He scored a season high 34 points, with many throw-back type Wade drives.  His high-light play coming off a slightly-higher than needed alley-oop from Ray Allen (over Kris Kardashian).  His best since Game 6 in the Indy series last year.

Is Andre Blatche (another) one that got away???  He could have been had with a minimum contract.  And I don't buy the possible "locker room issues"; not with this team of champs and vets.  Not to mention trying him out to "see how it goes" and dumping as needed is pretty effortless.  Especially with his upside (and the Heat's size limitations).

Bosh has a horrible night, not scoring in the first half.  Finishing with as many rebounds as Norris Cole (2).

UD came up big in the second half with six second-half rebounds and good defensive effort (+17 for the game).  Heart, defense, rebounding.  If only his jumper could make its way back.

Cole was a nice spark off the bench.

The Nets strategy to trap at the end pretty much didn't work.  The Heat busting it with fun stuff like a James layup and Allen three.

The Heat have played the toughest schedule in the league (by winning percentage), and are tied for the best record.

12-3

Groundhog Day In The 305

The only thing missing was Bill Murray

The story line replays itself again... Again!!!!

The Heat play an over-matched opponent and win 100-105, thanks to another late-game comeback by LBJ and Ray Ray.

[Since the Miami Heat showed up for 10 percent of the game (figuratively), and the six-best San Antonio Spurs players didn't show at all (literally), this post'll be 80 percent shorter than usual (sadly).]

This cycle must stop.

Ray Allen with ANOTHER game-winning three to put the Heat up within the last 30 seconds. 

The Heat are better than the Spurs at resting their stars during the regular season. Instead of openly sending their stars home, they tell them to rest DURING the game. That has to be what is going on here.

LBJ is the best.  This night's highlight a killer eurostep against Splitter with minutes remaining.  Wow.

11-3