Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The Importance of the One Seed

Courtesy: espn.com
The HEAT are back! Maybe.  They did take a big step in the right direction Monday night by beating Portland at home, but I think the struggles will continue as long as the in's and out's occurring in the lineup continue.  It's hard to establish continuity with the rotation changing on a nightly basis.  Haven't we seen this before? Remember the last time our stars were used to playing without each other? It was back when they were all on separate teams.  And that took more than a year to fix those chemistry issues.  We need to right the ship, and we need to right it fast.  The Bulls are coming for the 3 seed and it'd be better if we didn't play them in the 2nd round.  The #1 seed is very important to the HEAT.  More important than it ever has been, because we cannot afford to be beat up by Chicago in the 2nd round AND then Indiana in the ECF and expect to compete in the Finals.   

Monday, March 10, 2014

How I would fix NBA All-Star Weekend

Courtesy: bleacherreport.com
The big question is: How do we get LeBron James in the dunk contest?  Well, then the question you have to ask is: What does LeBron care about? -- Winning Championships? Perhaps. -- Well, what affects winning championships? Home court advantage possibly.  The NBA should take a page out of the MLB's book and put home court advantage for the NBA Finals on the line during All-Star weekend.  What better way to motivate the best players in the game to compete at the level their capable of.  But, lets not just let the All-Star game decide home court.  How about the whole weekend? All the festivities.  I like how the NBA decided to split up into teams, but I think they should develop a points system.  Whichever conference earns the most points, earns home court advantage.  This is how I suggest breaking up the points. 
This would put more emphasis on the most important event: The All-Star game itself.  But, if a conference were able to sweep the 4 prior events, then they would earn home court, no matter the outcome of the game.  Also, the dunk contest this year was loads better than years past, but I'm not one of the people that believe John Wall "brought the dunk contest back".  They need to add at least two more dunks per player to determine the winner.  This is how we get LeBron in the dunk contest and this is how we get more people to tune in. 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

LeBron, Heat struggle to 3rd straight loss

Courtesy: espn.com
LeBron shot under 50 percent for the third straight game and failed to reach the FT line for the first time in the past 333 games (4 year span).  The Bulls overcame a 12 point 4th Quarter deficit.  Like usual, the Bulls gave the Heat fits and their defense down the stretch of the 4th Q and OT proved too much for the Heat to handle.  For some reason down the stretch of close games, the Heat continue to play isolation basketball, scoring just two points in the OT period.  The final play of regulation was a decent look for LeBron, but Jimmy Butler stripped the ball as James was attempting the GW layup.  We saw Vintage Wade in the first half which is a good sign for the playoffs.  Birdman played well with 13 boards and 6 blocks.  The Heat keep failing to take advantage of the Pacers struggles to claim the number one seed in the east.  They are now two games back with the Pacers playing tonight at Dallas. Heat are back home Monday night vs. the Wizards.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

NBA Draft Reform. The Wheel?

I'm personally one of the people that like how the NBA draft works with the lottery.  Granted, I don't understand why they have to do the lottery behind closed doors.  It should be live to avoid any claims of it being "fixed".  But talk around the league is that the lottery is not preventing teams from tanking.  First of all, it's stupid to tank with a lottery system in place because you're not guaranteed the first pick in the draft.  For instance look at the Bobcats, last season they finished with the 2nd worst record, and ended up with the 4th pick. Two seasons ago, they finished with 7 wins, by far the worst record in the league.  They received the 2nd pick in the lottery and missed out on Anthony Davis.  So, I like the way the draft is now, but there's been speculation about a wheel type of draft also.  The wheel would give each team in the league a chance at the first pick over a 30 year period.  The issue with this is that teams would strategically build their rosters because they would know when they get their picks, BUT we all know the NBA is good at keeping secrets so why not just keep the wheel picks a secret.  Have a computer system determine the order every year.  The NBA could even reveal one pick per week during the season on the TNT pregame special from 30 on down to 1.  Could you imagine the ratings?

Friday, March 7, 2014

Heat Go 0-2 in Texas

Isolation. Chuck a shot. Isolation. Turnover. What a terrible outing for the HEAT in San Antonio.  I think Bosh (24 points) is the only one who didn't look like he was playing for the Sixers.  LeBron has struggled shooting the ball since dropping 61 on the Bobcats.  He's blaming the short sleeved jerseys for his poor night, but the complaint does have some validity.  James struggled against the Lakers on Christmas Day and in the All-Star game.  James also decided to ditch his mask during the 1st Quarter last night.  One bright spot from last nights game was a possession that G.O. played terrific one-on-one D against Timmy Duncan.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.  I think the only way for him to shake off the rust will be to play him more minutes.  Chalmers was absolutely terrible.  He over penetrated and got into trouble several times proceeding to turn the ball over.  Next game is Sunday at Chicago on ABC.  Will the HEAT bounce back against their arch rivals? What's your opinions on LeBron going to Cleveland for Big Z's ceremony?
Photo courtesy AP/Darren Abate

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Welcome!

Hello all! And welcome to my brand new Miami HEAT blog! The purpose of this blog is to analyze, comment, make predictions, and post opinions about Heat Basketball. Everyone stay tuned for my first post after tonight's Finals rematch against the San Antonio Spurs.  Will Danny Green make sixty 3's again? Tune into TNT at 8 p.m. EST and check back here tomorrow morning for my opinion.

Go HEAT!
Image courtesy of gamedayr.com