Napier is starting to put it together a bit. He's been right in the middle of both comebacks in these last two games. When his confidence is up, he sure is a fun player to watch.
I like Spo...but I hope he overlooks Ennis' defensive screw ups....the guy has too much talent. Play him.
Sooo...you know how we keep sh-tting on the city of Cleveland? Cleveland Hopkins Airport just instituted its infectious disease protocol due to ebola...
Yeah, he's still making little mistakes, but I think that will get better as he gets settled in. The talent is certainly there though.
The guy I compared him to before after seeing him a bit in the NBL and Summer League is a poor man's Kevin Durant. Anyone else see a bit of that?
Nothing is more Cleveland than LeBron coming back, Hoyer playing well, the Indians having a winning record in back to back years... ...and then the entire city getting wiped out by some infectious disease before any of them can win a championship. It'd be more surprising if this DIDN'T happen.
The LeBron "pick-gate" scenario is silly and an example of why LeBron is tough to like if he's not on your team. In the game in Rio LeBron clearly mistakenly set a pick for Norris Cole against his own teammate. It was an honest, in the moment mistake considering he had set about 200 such picks for Cole the last 3 years. It was a funny, not a big deal moment that could happen to anyone. When asked about it eysterday, instead of simply admitting it and laughing, LeBron denied that he had set a pick and then gave some long winded explanation for how Matthew Delavadova screwed up which caused it to look like a pick but wasn't/ He then claimed that "non-basketball people" wouldn't understand. Then the worst part, is poor Delavadova had to go along with this ruse to protect LeBron. Complete silliness with a dash of complete arrogance. I'm pretty sure anybody who has watched basketball can tell a pick when they see one LeBron. But of course, the Cleveland media is now protecting him just like the Miami media and fans would have. He is an easy guy to hate. I finally get it now.
A poor man's Kevin Durant is a tough thing to call someone because what he does best is score whenever he wants. I can kind of see what you're saying, but I think the best comparison we can hope for as Heat fans would be Kawhi Leonard.
a little. I see more of a Kawhi Leonard type. Durant wins on skill. Leonard and Ennis win on the court due to freakish athletic ability.
Well...I AM a Basketball Person...... That was not a "Show" on the pick and roll like he said. He set a pick. Had he shown, he would have gone much higher with hand extended to take away the throw back, and his feet would have been apart, instead of firm and planted.
Agreed. I know nowhere near as much as you, but having watched basketball for my whole life and having played it myself quite a bit, as well as having friends who played at various levels...I know what a pick is. That was a pick.
With enough minutes, I think that can be about his regular season numbers this season. He has really impressed me. And hearing that video they played during the last game with Spo and the others talking about what he can be, gives me even more hope that this is more than fans getting excited about a young flashy new toy. Spo generally seemed pretty excited about what he can become.
He's a megalomaniac. You take the good with the bad. Hated him before he came to the Heat, loved him with.. hate him after.
Nice. I got Lakers/Heat tickets a week ago. It's the first time since I've lived in LA that I'm going to be able to go. It's either been impossible to get or on Christmas, or both every year before this one.
My brother bought us our early Holiday gifts and it was the tickets. Tough to get, I had bought the Heat/Laker tickets last season on x-Mas day from stubhub.
Napier continues to impress. He just looks like he's getting more and more comfortable at the NBA level. Khem Birch also was impressive. Eric Reid is the president of his fan club, but his grit on the glass might be something the Heat can use. The other guy on the bubble I like is Andre Dawkins. I think he might be the most likely of all of those guys to carve out a role for himself in the NBA potentially as a Danny Green type. Tyler Johnson's numbers look good, and he hit that big 3, but I don't think he looks like an NBA player. Maybe with some time in the D League he can get there eventually, but I'd prefer Dawkins to him.
Birch could be UD Jr if he can maintain a work ethic. Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 4
Those, including Ira Winderman, who said Napier was likely headed to the D-League look pretty off so far. He's as close to a finished product as you'd want. Of course we'll never know if he's the guy Riley really wanted all along or we picked up for LeBron. So far though, it's looking like a good move considering Chalmers is Chalmers and Cole is inconsistent offensively and sometimes the offense stalls when he's bringing up the ball. I like Cole, but he's more like a backup PG at best. Napier could be the future, or at worst a good trade piece down the road.
Short-term yeah this team's going to need a PG who can hit jump shots. Napier has the best chance to be that guy. His range and his ability to get his own shot is what got him drafted, and those two things are starting to show, as you'd expect. More natural in the P&R than Chalmers and Cole too, imo. His feel in transition is also a plus now that LeBron is gone - slick dish last night. Seems like the game has slowed down a bit for him, getting used to longer players, or his mindset is just better after seeing a few of his usual looks start to go down. The regular season is obviously a different story, but the preseason should be easing some (legitimate) doubts people had about him during the summer. Sounds like he's working his butt off too.
Here are Shabazz' highlights against the Spurs. He's been getting better and better throughout pre-season. Playing extremely well. [video=youtube;45zLoqCiDmE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45zLoqCiDmE&list=UU-Ba10Rmz8pFivAVdQNeFyw[/video]
That was exactly what I was thinking. His ability to shoot, especially off the dribble has been impressive. What I think separates him even more from the other two PGs is his playmaking ability though, which is something this team is really going to need with LeBron gone. McRoberts, a PF, is probably the team's best passer right now.
What's funny about Napier will be if he pans out, the media will all say: "At least LeBron got them to draft a good player before he left them," even though I can't see any way that Pat Riley traded up to draft a player just because LeBron liked him.
Criminy. Wonder what school is going to get their hands on Thon Maker. Yeah, he's a seven footer. He's 16 years old. [video=youtube;xXgW_kPJ_-8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXgW_kPJ_-8[/video] He's 16 year old Chris Bosh.
Glad to see Shabazz is starting to heat up. I look forward to seeing Ennis in the regular season tho.
D-Wade looked awesome tonight...and it wasn't just James Harden letting him score...They used Trevor Ariza on him and Wade went off anyway. Looks awesome. 11-17 for 26 pts., 2 rebs, 6 assists in 29 minutes? Nice.
Would it be a ridiculous exaggeration if I'm tempted to say that may literally be the best I've ever seen Mario Chalmers play? I mean, we've seen him make shots before, and we've seen him do well. But there were times tonight when he genuinely seemed like the guy on the floor, offensively and defensively. And I don't remember ever seeing that before.
I'm hesitant to agree. He honestly did look like the guy but it was only for a quarter really. I don't buy that being Rio's new incarnation for this season. Just a great showing tonight.
