Bovada has Warriors in 6 at +425. In a SEA of bull**** lines...this one looks really good. (Cavs-Raps lines not up yet...got some cooking to do..evidently)
Why is Brian Windhorst still writing stories about the Heat? Does he have one, single lonely source in this organization?
ESPN's basketball coverage is unbearable. Windhorst is a douche bag and the studio crew of Rose and Collins is unwatchable. At least TNT is watchable.
westbrook and durant shot a combined 33% today... They play a cleaner game in game 2, and theyll have a shot at taking both games. Just had a feeling the Thunder wont be rolled over like most were expecting. This is a different team that found their identity in Round 2.
I really want to root for OKC, but if they win, then there's essentially no chance Durant or Westbrook ends up in a Heat uniform.
Now that we are some time removed from the game - some thoughts. (haven't read the thread since the game, so apologize if im repeating) I think going in to the season even the most optomisitc HEAT fans agreed that ECF was ceiling for this team. Generally speaking if you told a HEAT fan if you are going to reach ECF vs Cleveland and let it ride, it's the ultimate scenario. We were 30 minutes away form that with 3 of out 4 tops players hurt. Our arguably 2 best players, or at very least 2 of 3 top players were out. Bosh unquesitoned #1. Since the allstar break. Didnt stop team from rallying and balling the **** out. I am proud of this team. I never expected to win a series vs Cleveland but based on regular season, and assuming we were healthy, we had the best chance of at very least giving Cleveland a run for their money. That of course didn't happen. As far as game 7...I wouldn't say the refs won that game, because Toronto started hitting shots in the 2nd half...but the way the game was reffed (30 something FTs to teens of Mia heading in to 4th? cmon now) definately dictate how Miami defended and acted. I've been saying this entire postseason run - 14 games, two 7 game series is a fantastic experience for rook 1 and 2 and my only regret not getting some more games under their belt in the ECF vs Bron. Valuable lessons. Couldn't be happier with Winslow, Richardson and Wade. Everybody else but Goran might be gone, which is crazy. Another crazy part is that Cleveland might sweep their way to the finals and STILL be an underdog on paper. In aiddition, 6th straight Finals for Bron? Sheesh.
Officials out to get the Warriors?? Or just suck nearly every game? Would love to see OKC find a way to pull this out so I can avoid seeing ESPN eat sleep and breathe Steph Curry 2 weeks less.
There never was that chance lol And i thiught the officials were pretty poor on OKC, so they didnt call the one travel, big deal they gave Golden State about a hundred moving screens that were not called.
I suspect that we're reaching the point where public sentiment will start to turn against Curry. It almost always happens b/c people just get tired of the incessant coverage. I've thought most of the criticism's from the older players has been based on jealousy and resistance to change and generally misplaced. But I do believe that he's gotten a pass on the arrogant behavior thus far. I expect that he'll be called out for that more often going forward and you'll see more people rooting against him and the Warriors.
It'll be interesting if the media starts leaning on him more for opinions on social issues. LeBron gets a ton of pressure to comment on non-bball issues (the hoodie, etc) - we've heard rumors about the church Steph belongs to and their views on LGBT, etc. Not saying he won't handle it well - but he's more or less universally praised no matter what he does right now. It'll be interesting to see what happens if he starts to catch some heat.
For some reason whenever I think of Andy Ellisberg, I picture his bald head in between some titties at a strip club whenever the Heat land a good FA/trade. Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
It is. But be honest, if you flipped Bron and Wade you would've loved it. The Curry one I literally LOL'd....
http://heathoops.com/2016/05/getting-creative-with-hassan-whiteside/ Absolutely brilliant stuff from Albert Random. Some very smart team should hire this guy
He can replace 90% of the ESPN/ABC analyst alone and id be happy with it. The guy knows his stuff unlike most of the clowns they hire.
What's interesting is Random didn't even account for the state tax thing. His idea of getting a $17.6 million deal instead of a $21.6 million deal is great, but if you consider the state tax advantage then Miami could get even better terms. But I guess the Heat could only try and sharp-shoot an offer based on state tax estimates once they know which teams are offering Whiteside.
Whiteside will be the ultimate test to this Heat loyalty thing. I would say it is unlikely that he takes any kind of discount. If he does, Pat Riley should be legally ordained a wizard.
Even if the "discount" is in the form of uncertainty around achieving incentives that should be highly achievable for him? Keep in mind that what Albert Random is suggesting isn't really a "discount" at all. His Heat contract would pay Whiteside exactly what he would be paid elsewhere, provided he achieves the minutes incentive (30 per game) that Random suggests. I think if you want to ease Whiteside's mind about the minutes thing, then you could switch to Games Started. There is an opportunity there because the Heat for about 30 games went with this idea that Stoudemire would start in place of Whiteside, and then Whiteside would end up with 30+ minutes anyway. As a result he only "started" 43 of 73 games in 2015-16. So you could structure an incentive as gimmicky as Whiteside starting in at least 60% of his games and that would still be consider "Not Likely to be Earned". If you're Whiteside, you would have to believe that the Heat are a bunch of lying weasels to think that they'll go on and bench you in order to not end up activating that incentive. And I think the Heat have very much earned the credibility to say that's not going to happen. So basically you give Whiteside that $17.6 million with the incentive that kicks in if he starts 60% of his games that puts him at $20.7 million, and then escalate his salaries at the 7.5% rate the Heat are allowed but the rest of the league are not...there would be no "discount". It's the same money. Virtually identical. And that's before even considering tax equivalency of the offers he might be getting elsewhere. But there are other states without state tax so the Heat would have to KNOW exactly who are offering Hassan if they want to structure a discount based on the tax equivalency. All of that is achievable before you even broach the subject of a TRUE discount.
The More I look at this summer....the more it makes sense to retain your guys, supplement the rotation, and with a healthy Bosh, make a run at the Finals AS IS, next year and sit for the summer of 17', when the real FA bonanza takes place. If you read between the lines, they have given me two quotes: A) "You don't let an asset like Hassan walk away over money." B) "We will not do ANYTHING that hinders the further development of Justise, J-Rich and TJ." With those two quotes..it tells me that the three young guys are LOCKS for large rotation roles (happy about that), and that they will go very far to keep Hassan. This tells me that they are also seriously considering supplementing the team to make a run at it next year and dive into 2017'. In fact, the summer of 2016 has turned into the summer of really good 3rd options...the Heat should try to pick one up on the cheap.
We'll see. If he gets hurt, he doesn't get the money, though. Albert's idea sounds great, but even he says it's never been done before, so I think it's far from likely. I think the Heat will try and get him to take a real discount, and I'm not sure he will.
What are some of these 3rd options you're looking at? I truly believe we'll have the same starting 5 next season as it is and am wondering what bench pieces we can bring in.
I think the guy that fits the best if they can make it happen is Batum. That guy has Miami Heat all over him IMO. If you can make it fit this year, do you do that knowing it might blow your chance at getting a bigger name in 2017, though? I think Ryan Anderson makes some sense too, but I'm not sure I'd be ready to blow that 2017 space for him.
I agree that the focus should be on retaining our guys first. The only way I look at bringing in any big names is if Bosh doesn't come back and we free up that cash. I actually don't feel all that confident about his return though. Other than a little more time passing w/o a clot while not participating in the potentially dangerous activity, I don't see what will change from a medical perspective to change the current medical opinion. In the games started scenario the only real risk for Whiteside is injury. He's not providing a discount. Taking on that risk would be his only hometown concession.
