Disappointing end. I know people will say the Heat met expectations given the circumstances, but we blew Game 2 in TOR and arguably Game 3 too. Didn't take advantage while Lowry and DeRozan were playing like crap. Missed opportunities to have won this thing in 6...that's disappointing to me. I get that we were hurt...I also get that this Raptors team just isn't a good enough opponent for me to stomach losing to. ****.
Got a big offseason in front of us.. Wade stayed healthy and played like a top player, most likely seeking max, Riley will try to offer him a long term contract for less per year. Whiteside will get max from us or Charlotte. Got to make a decision, do we gamble on hoping a top free agent signs with us or do we not take chances and match Charlotte's offer. Udonis, bring him back for the minimum if not retire. Luol Deng, bring him back. McRoberts, we have to find a trade partner for this guy... I look forward to seeing Winslow, Richardson, Tyler, and Briante in summer league. Chris Bosh, his playing future is in the air, we dont know if retirement is coming but if it is, that changes everything.
I dont even know what that means. Nor do I care. Im not even a basketball fan, I pay attention, but couldn't care less. I don't have a team. I watched this game, and several in this series, just because its on and our sports channels here cant get over the fact there is a Canadian team in the finals so, it's not really avoidable unless you want to watch baseball or nascar lol. But some of these comments... man... that's what has me laughing. You don't drop a game by that margin on officiating alone. I hope this feeling I have reading some of this, isn't the feeling that our rivals have when they come here after we drop a game to them. That is all. I do also suspect Cleveland will destroy Toronto. Although, I'm hoping I'm able to find something else on TV when those games are on. That being said, cool story for the Raptors. First time for the franchise this far and all that stuff. It's a pretty cool scene downtown Toronto at times like this. Same with the Blue Jays in the baseball playoffs last year. It's not just a city behind a team, it's an entire country. And a pretty ****ing incredible country at that. Side note... I encourage you all to donate to the Canadian Red Cross in conjunction with the Fort McMurray wildfires. It's a shame what's going on out there. Now, back to your basketball discussions.
Toronto really is an awesome city, it's just a shame that it's so god damn cold all the time up there.
Go in the summer. It's hot and humid typically in june, july and august. That's what I love about all of south western Ontario. From Toronto, down to where I am. We get all four seasons, every single year. Hell... today... at 7:30... We had some thunder snow. Yes, that's thunder, lightning, and... some wet snow. This afternoon, it was sunny and about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Toronto is great though, from all its districts to tourism, to the shores of Lake Ontario, it's a great city. Multi-cultural. Just alot to experience.
You can't expect to play miniature ball again and expect not to be killed on rebounds and give away extra shot attempts. Losing Whiteside was too much to overcome let alone Bosh. The Raptor's coach kept repeating to his players to crash the boards and with every shot attempt the Raptors got into rhythm. Oh yeah the refs were disgraceful yet again.
I mean...you did come in a thread that you "don't care about" made up of mostly Heat fans and drop a LOL emoji after they lose a game 7 by a wide margin. Which is all good with me as a Knicks fan, but just remember this when you start accusing OTHERS of being a troll....when you are the worst kind in this thread. Just saying.
lol Yeah, the emoji in response to some of the comments in here. Not the outcome. I stated that in another post. But, if you want to bring up the past, that I assumed was settled between us, then feel free to PM me bro. My was most towards the comments in this thread, which is a NBA thread. NOT a Miami Heat threat... but I digress... Again, I'm no basketball expert. I dont care for the game really. I monitor the thread, just like every other on here because I'm interested in what others say around here about every sport, but some of the comments to me were just a bit... crazy. Sorry if that offended you. The greater point was... the realization to me, how we as fans of a team, can sound to those who either arent fans of this team (or the Heat in this example) can sound to outsiders. It's really quite... odd. I"ll repeat... am I a Raptors fan? No. Because I don't care about basketball. Am I a proud Canadian, you're damn right I am. Just like all of you are proud Americans. So, when our only team in the country does well, sure, I would identify with that a bit... but all in all, I don't care. I dont know much about the team. I know this though... I HATE Drake I think Kyle Lowry sucks. I don't care for much about basketball. If i did, I'd probably identify myself more as a Pistons "fan" because they're closest to me. I dunno, whatever. I guess I shoudlnt have posted anything... I just found the comments funny, not the outcome. Because, as fans... when we loose, it's always... we got screwed, more than we got outplayed. We never give credit to the other team. That is 110% true with the Dolphins too. We always blame the OL, the Tannehill, The drops. The coach... but we never focus on the fact that there's another team on the field. Anyways... I see the way this is going... so I'll bow out now and retreat to my Igloo..
The Heat DID get screwed by the refs. a 20 FT disparity and especially a 13 FT disparity when the game was within 6 pts., and 7 foul calls that answered runs of 4-0 to 5-0 from the Heat in the 2nd half tends to do that. But of course, you just saw the final score and said..oh ..EYYY..let me post some dumbass **** on thephins.com, and especially where Heat fans are....I am sure it won;t bother them much after they invested 6 months following a team. I am sure your intention wasn't to troll. SMH.
Ok...first of all..yes..the NBA assigned Danny Crawford. The most whistle happy ref in basketball (5.2 more Foul calls per game than any other ref screw) to a Game 7 where the Home team heavily relies on the whistle to make up for most of their Offensive Efficiency. Some would say that alone is a conspiracy..but no..it was expected. It is why game 7's are hard to win on the road. We have benefited in the past by this phenomenon. You remedy this fact,,,with this: A) win more games and get a higher seed so you play a game 7 at home. B) Don't let opportunities like game 2 and 3 slip out of your hands. C) Don't lose your 2nd and 3rd best player to injury. They won. Period. IS what it is. Just sucks that NO game in this series was officiated like this and then here it was. If Toronto gets this whistle vs. Cleveland...they beat them (just like they did in the reg. season). Of course, THEY WON'T. We know how that goes. Pecking order, and the NBA seems to have it by regular season standings. As for the team. Couldn't be more proud. Fell a game short of the stated goal, but you gotta have some perspective. Maybe that was all there was when missing Bosh and Whiteside. They probably reached their ceiling all things considered. As for the offseason, I am told that they will go VERY far to keep Whiteside. As I was told ..."You don't let go of that asset, no matter what." It is not inconceivable that this team, healthy, with some tinkering could be in the NBA Finals, next year. and yes, the sexy name, they are aware of him, and will pursue him as they deem appropriate. The future is plenty bright. The Team had a win share projection of 47 to 51 last offseason (got 48 wins). it could easily be 51 to 58 AS IS. So a top 2 seed next year should be the goal, sight unseen.
What they do in the offseason will be very interesting. If they sign Whiteside and Wade, how much will they have left to add to the roster? It's really too bad Whiteside went out in addition to Bosh. With both, or even one of those two you can get a feel for how close you are to beating the Cavs. Now, it's really hard to judge. If you keep pretty much the team you had this year, is that enough to contend? Or is that shooting your wad on a group that will never get over the hump rather than waiting a year and going after the big names that could shake free in 2017? It's tough. The wildcards here could be the young players. Winslow is a fantastic defender that will only get better. He was atrocious on offense at times, though. His hands are like bricks, and I can't remember a player blow as many layups as he does. But I wonder how much of his struggles have to do with confidence. Today he looked like a different player on offense. He still struggled with some aspects, and he's hesitant to shoot, but he had a more confident look about him with the ball. Twice he drove with confidence to the basket, and while he missed a dunk and a layup on this drives the level of difficulty was higher. If he can develop into a competent offensive player like UD in his prime, then he'll be a real asset. If he can develop past that, he could be a star. Then there's Richardson. At the very least he looks like he'll be a solid 6th man type. He could be a really good player too. Lastly there's Johnson. I'm not as bullish on him as many fans or the team is, but I hope I'm wrong. If those guys develop and the rest of the team stays the same, with a healthy Bosh, you might have a real shot against Cleveland.
I find it ignorant to claim that every time a fan says the officiating was unbalanced that it must be sour grapes. Reality is that the officiating in the NBA is often unbalanced. This is a league where at least one referee has been convicted of betting on the games he was officiating. That official counter-claimed that the league actually used officials to manipulate the outcome of games. Whether you believe him or not it is unquestioned that the referees have huge impacts on the games. In this game in particular you had one team get 20 more FT attempts. You'd have to be particularly dense to not understand that one team getting 20 more point opportunities will have a large and probably decisive impact on the game. I know that I personally do say when I believe another is better or out-played the team I'm rooting for. In fact, I have said that far too often over the last several years as a Dolphin fan. In this case however, I do not believe that Miami ever had a chance. Toronto may have slightly out-played them (maybe??) but the officiating was so unbalanced that we have no idea what the game would have looked like if it had been officiated evenly. Lowry did hit some big shots late, but the Raptors were allowed to mug Heat players under the basket which led to so many second shot opportunities while Heat players were being called for touch fouls on the other end. The unbalanced officiating was far and away the biggest factor in this game. Nothing else was even close.
As for the Heat season. I would have to label it a success. Despite key injuries they made it to the second round of the playoffs. Whiteside developed into a max worthy level player. Bringing him back will be the key to this off-season. Wade is finally healthy. I believe he will be a superstar level player for another two seasons. Dragic is a very good PG capable of controlling the game. I don't have as much faith that Bosh will come back, but if he does then that gives this team four very good players for the next two seasons or so. I think Winslow will continue to develop his offense. I don't think he'll ever be a great offensive player b/c I think he lacks the jumping ability to finish near the rim (or Dragic's knack for it), but he he should easily develop into a 3 and D player. Richardson has a higher ceiling. He's not as consistent defensively, but his length causes problem for opponents and his offensive game is coming along nicely. He could easily be a guy you can count on for 10+ pts every game next season. I also like what Deng brings in terms of defense and occasional scoring. I think they need to upgrade to a better back-up two than Green. I go back and forth on what to do about Joe Johnson. The disappearance of his 3 pt shot was a problem. Miami probably wins this series before game 7 if he had just been average.
As I reported in here two weeks ago...Dan LeBatard has confirmed this morning: Chris Bosh is expected back... playing to start next season. and Windy looks like a Heat hating idiot..once again.
Hell yeah. I'm so excited for this team next year, especially with a healthy Whiteside and Bosh. Look how much Richardson and Winslow blossomed as the season went on. You have to imagine they will get even better this offseason. Miami probably upgrades from Green and hopefully finds a partner for McRoberts, and I hope we add a big man for depth besides Amare. TJ has looked great too and I am excited to see what he does with an expanded role next year. So thankful to have this team.
How can we keep Whiteside + Bosh + resign Wade AND sign Durant? Can it be done? I know McRoberts with that contract of his is destined to be a casualty. But how can we get all these guys on board? Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Riley would try to sell sacrifice, but unless you can find someone to take on Dragic's contract it's not happening.
Apparently Philadelphia has signed a 3 year deal with stub hub to put their logo on the Sixers jerseys. Ads on jerseys are just beginning.... https://mobile.twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/732153704049074176?s=09
Can it be done without trading Goran? I know Elisburg is a wizard, but is it even possible? And if that doesn't work, and they have Wade, Whiteside, and Goran, do they have enough left for another part like a Batum?
His jumping ability is a real enigma to me. Often it does look like he lacks hops, but there are times when you see him really get up there. When he tried to dunk on the entire Raptors team yesterday was one of those. This was another one:
I wouldn't put anything past Riley but I think Durant is staying in OKC or perhaps going somewhere he can keep a seat warm for Westbrook. He'd be foolish to break up a 1-2 punch of him and Westbrook. They have 2 of the top 5 players in the league if they are both on the same team. If the cap goes up and they can bring help to OKC they can beat GS. Heck they might beat GS right now.
My calculator starts to cry when I try to make it work with everybody...but I am not Andy Elisburg. Let the man do his job. What is obvious to me is that we must trade McBob at all costs.
Albert Nahmad wrote a good piece on the possibilities for Miami this offseason. It's his usual detailed, great stuff. Here is the link: http://heathoops.com/2016/05/a-preliminary-look-at-the-miami-heat-2016-offseason/ Here are some of the cliffnotes: 1. If Miami goes all out for Whiteside, he's almost certainly not leaving because they can offer him a decent amount more than anyone else when factoring in the CBA and state taxes. 2. If Miami can somehow convince Whiteside to take less on a 1 or 2 year deal in exchange for a bigger max deal in the future, that could give the Heat a lot of money to spend. 3. Even if Whiteside wants to get paid, every dollar he agrees to take less than the maximum they can pay him can be used on other FAs because they have to use cap space to sign him. 4. Would Miami spend almost all of their money on Whiteside (at or near the max they can offer) and Durant leaving Wade with the option to take the min for a year with more coming in the future, or potentially look elsewhere? 5. If they lose out on Durant, would they sacrifice big cap space in a loaded 2017 free agent class to keep Wade, Deng, and Joe Johnson?
Start sending teams film of McBob's Game 6 performance. Maybe that'll work. He really was pretty fantastic in Game 6.
He also had a spurt right after the trade deadline where he was probably even better. His passing was really on display then. I still think he can be a decent complementary piece on the right team. I bet he'd be a nice role player on a team like San Antonio.
Doesn't sound to me like they will go after KD. Sounds to me like they want another crack at this season without blood clots.
Fair warning..Heat tried to get Festus Ezili last year (14'-15') for McBob. Were told no. Ezili is gonna cost them a PRETTY PENNY this offseason. Facilitate a three way deal for somebody to take McBob off our hands?
He took 13 attempts in March and 9 in April, so that's just having some fun with numbers. You can also say he shot 50% on 3s on Wednesdays and only 08% on Thursday - but that's only talking about a total of 28 attempts.
Kyle Lowry actually said "Lebron is probably one of the best players in the league, besides Steph"? Uh, Lowry, you dug your own grave there buddy.. I'm no Cavs fan but I've seen Lebron respond to things like that and it's never pretty for the ones who play against him.
Cavs in 6, Warriors in...5? OKC isn't great defensively, so they'll have to try to outscore the Warriors and that's impossible, so... Going to be the same issue the Cavs have with the Warriors- defense isn't good, so have to try to outscore them - but GS can take Love / Frye off the floor by going small and then you're paying their game.
Dion Waiters playing the Cavs in the Finals would just be so incredible - he'd probably have a game where he attempts 30 shots.
Very stupid. And that's ignoring the lack of understanding of the English language in that sentence. I never thought I'd root for the Cavs in a playoff series (not because I don't like LeBron, but because I don't like Gilbert, the organization, JR Smith, and many of the fans), but I hope they destroy Toronto. I hope it's the worst 4 game sweep in NBA history. That's how much I do not like Kyle Lowry.
If you carry that Toronto team to 6 games..then the Heat healthy this year would have smashed your Cavs.
