The Official Miami Heat Return to the Playoffs Thread.

Are you ready for some Basketball?

 

I am officially boycotting this basketball team whenever Yakuba Diawara is in the line-up. I will change the channel and keep refreshing Yahoo Sports to see when he hits the bench. He's by far my least favorite player in ALL of South Florida sports right now.

This is why I'm not a big fan of Erik Spoelstra's rotation decisions. He's as bad as I've seen when it comes to choosing the proper rotation.

Start Moon; play Dorell. Diawara should be inactive.

And give Michael Beasley the minutes he deserves.

"We're only going to play Michael at the four because we don't want to confuse him."

Choose one; stupid or dumb? He's a forward capable of playing two positions. That's a gift.

 

Yakuba with the worst drive and worst "attempted" finish in team history right there...

 

Personally I think we should have Cook at the 3.

 

Look at the bright side, it could be Vinny Del Negro instead.

 

Some guys have it and some guys don't. This guy definitely doesn't have it. It's not like his job requires him to do anything, though. All he does is hand the ball to Dwyane Wade and let him generate the entire offense because he refuses to call plays to the other skilled players.

Again, he's not a terrible coach and he's still young... he has a TAD BIT of potential, but he'll never be the coach we need to help guide this franchise back to June basketball.

If Dwyane Wade leaves this team, I think the reason will be Spoelstra. It's too bad that once fired he'd probably never return to the team, because he's a top notch assistant with more basketball knowledge than anyone in his age bracket... I'll tell you that much. He's a great guy to have in the organization. Can't see him coaching this team beyond 2010-2011, though. Pat Riley is the most impatient person in all of sports.

 

And Dorell Wright has to be pissed that this guy comes out of nowhere and basically offers the exact same game (minus the decent jumper Dorell has developed) and is getting PT. I like Moon and I'm glad he's getting PT and he DOES NEED MORE SINCE DIAWARA SUCKS... but I'm saying.

 

He'll end the night with like 20 minutes.

 

False. Most people misinterpret the hell out of the Wade / Spoelstra relationship. There's a soft spot there because Spo is the first assistant to work extensively with Wade when he came in the league. But that's not why he got the job. LOL... no way. If that's the case, then Keith Atkins would be next in line (obviously not). He got the job because Riley is the type who doesn't like to hire outside of his circle, and Spo is / was the only assistant with an OUNCE of head coaching potential. I'm the one on here who talked up Spoelstra since 2006... I know all about the guy and what he brings to the table. Like I said, he's a top notch assistant and it sucks that he'll never return to being that down here. He is not a championship caliber head coach. I highly doubt he can grow into one by the time this team is ready to compete. Maybe Wade will hold his hand along the way and call the shots on the rotation, too. That's about his only shot.

Also, the Miami media (most notably that biased idiot Ira Winderman) raved about this guy's defensive ability when we signed him. I'm still puzzled as to why. I told you guys he was nothing more than a camp fodder on a good team and I still believe that. He's the most limited player on this basketball team outside of (or maybe, "along with") Joel Anthony. He can't stay in front of his man, and his "athleticism" is overstated. When you are a COMPLETE ZERO offensively, then you better be Bruce Bowen on the other side of the ball. He's not even Daequan Cook defensively.

EDIT: Dorell Wright never had an assignment to **** up. Riley said it himself that they never called a single play for him. He was told to go out there, rebound, play defense, and the offense will come to him. It never did because he was never given the opportunity to. Are we seriously comparing Wright and Diawara? Not even a discussion, IMO. Wright is far more deserving of the minutes. Something that he did off the court put him in the dark house. We'll never know of it.

 

And I've got to say that Jamario Moon is really growing on me. Now there's the guy you're describing, Sec... the guy who does all the little things that fail to appear on the stat sheet. Talk about being active 100% of the time you're on the floor. I love watching this guy. Four games in and I'd already be disappointed if he's not re-signed this summer.

 

Yes that's something he'll certainly learn with time. It's important to be aggressive defensively, but sometimes you've got to tone it down.

 

This kid is going to be so good when he develops a low post game. Well, more like when he becomes more confident in his low post game. His ability with his left hand is going to make him unstoppable once he bulks up a bit. He's got to drive to the basket a bit more. I mean, it's not like he's a guy who takes "too many" jumpers, but I just think he's a better driver than shooter at this stage, although both are solid aspects of his game.

 

Way to go, J.O.

Stupid *** Ira keeps complaining about Jermaine's lack of rebounding, but talk about the amount of charges he's drawn in his four game tenure with the team.

Damn. I should have went to this game. Had the tickets.

 

Weezy rocking the D-Wade / Nelly band aid. Dear Lord. Please tell me this won't be followed?

 

Nelly must be mad as **** right now... I must admit that the "FLASH" band aid is pretty dope.

 

well then I wont tell you I own five of them.......

 

Nah, Sec.. I know that Wade had a say in the hiring of Spoelstra as he has a say in pretty much everything that goes down in the organization. It's obvious that he has an emotional attachment to the guy. What I'm trying to say is that Spoelstra was really the ONLY option for this basketball team. Pat Riley never for a single second considered going outside of his own circle. There is no way he'd ever bring in another established head coach with the possibility of ego's colliding. He's basically the same person as Bill Parcells... he goes about business the mafia way, so to speak. Every important chip develops from within. He only trusts guys that he brought up himself.

Like I've stated in the past I like Coach Spoelstra a ton, but as an assistant far more than a head coach. With the right pieces on the team, any head coach can win a title in the NBA... but not every head coach can be the one to actually guide the team itself. As Heat fans, we should know that more than any other fan base after seeing Larry Brown completely out coach Stan Van Gundy in 2004-2005. We were by far the superior basketball team, and sure there were injuries but blah, blah, blah... Larry Brown defeated Stan Van Gundy in every way possible in that series. The following year, we witnessed Pat Riley out coaching Avery Johnson in the same fashion. Once again, I still believe the 2005-2006 Dallas Mavericks had a better basketball team than we did. Pat Riley was the difference. He played that team to perfection with how he used James Posey and Udonis Haslem defensively. Dallas had everything necessary to win that series. They were well equipped. They had the play makers to make big plays, and they had the bodies to pile up the fouls on Shaq, making him a non factor in most games. As amazing as Dwyane Wade was, it was the adjustments made by Coach Riles throughout that series that even gave us a shot... it gave us a light.

I just don't see it in Erik Spoelstra. I don't see the ability to make those timely adjustments. I don't see what he sees in his choice of rotation which is close to absurd. Although I will admit, that DNP next to Chris Quinn's name going up against a guard selection of Allen Iverson, Rip Hamilton, and an emerging Rodney Stuckey was Spo's first big time adjustment. Still... I can see Spoelstra being the cause of not winning a title vs. the cause of actually winning one. Of course we're talking beyond 2010 here... but I'm more concerned about the future than anything. It's early in the process, and I hate to change the topic of sports... but don't you ALREADY see it in Tony Sparano? I mean, don't you just KNOW that he's a guy you can trust in ANY big time situation? Spoelstra seems far more amateur.

I've been wrong many times and I do hope I'm completely wrong about Coach Spo because I like the guy. He's done a nice job as a rookie coach, I'm just concerned about HOW GOOD he can become.

 

Definitely. But as of right now, Michael Beasley is the second most talented player on this basketball team. Even while still tender in the developmental stages, he's still our second best offensive scoring threat. He needs to be on the floor. Dwyane Wade, although he hasn't missed a single game yet, man, I worry that his legs are going to fall off. He's carrying too much of a load right now. You can't tell me that with 30-35 minutes per game, Michael Beasley won't be able to lighten that load... SIGNIFICANTLY... without the team losing a step.

I agree with your assessment of Daequan Cook, but Diawara looks as lost out there as Dorell Wright did in 2007. I can't count how many times we've been burned because he lost track of his man or forgot to rotate properly. Let's not forget that he's giving us 3 points per game on 35% shooting in 14 minutes. That's too unproductive for a guy who is no more than a decent team defender.

Can't tell me that you'd honestly rather have that on the court than Dorell Wright, a guy who at one stage was snatching 7-10 rebounds in 25 minutes on a nightly basis while adding the same amount of points on 45-48% shooting. Remember the stretch where we couldn't stop raving about his play? It was right around the time where he had a few LOCK DOWN sequences on Kobe Bryant that Christmas afternoon. Then he got hurt and never got another chance...

I'll admit that Dorell's basketball IQ was lacking a bit, but that's Pat Riley's fault and responsibility for drafting a guy straight out of high school over a seasoned player like Jameer Nelson. This was to be expected with Dorell Wright, who was what, 21 years old the last time he played a major role in the rotation?

There's a reason why he was signed to a 2-year contract this past summer. Riley still sees something in him. Spoelstra needs to give him another chance. I don't understand why this team has always been so impatient with Dorell Wright. James Jones is my boy, but he's been terrible since his return, which is expected because he's as rusty as can be with his best asset as a player... his hands. But we kept with him until his recent injury. Kept him in the rotation. Kept feeding him the minutes and the opportunities. Why not with Dorell? Why is it that when Dorell Wright makes one mistake he becomes the forgotten man? It's been like that since 2004-2005, and it has always bothered me. I still believe he can become a good player.

 

But it looks like Jamario Moon will be eating up those SF minutes pretty soon. He's been remarkable. Once James Jones gets back, there won't be any minutes available for Diawara with Moon, Jones, and Cook.

 

James Jones is expected to return to the court on Friday night.

So much for Chris Perkins radio report of Jones being "out for the season" ... ****ing amateur.

 

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!11

Pat Riley has waved the headband rule. I never thought it would happen.

This means the LeBronze deal is finalized for 2010.

 

Going to keep pounding this one... Yakuba Diawara has to be the biggest liability in the starting line-up of any playoff team this year. The guy is being left completely open by Atlanta tonight, while committing two guys on Wade the entire possession. He's 0/3 shooting on three shots where no one was within spitting range of him. I don't want to hear about his "defense" anymore... we're playing 4 vs. 5 on offense, and that is unacceptable, COACH.

 

I don't see that starting line-up beating any good teams, especially on the road. We start off way too slow. Way too slow. Not enough firepower, yet the bench is loaded with firepower. Our second and third best scorers come off the bench. Let's get some balance out there, man. I know this is a soft spot for most Heat fans, but all I care about is winning. Udonis Haslem is not a starter in this league. I could care less whether or not he started on a championship team. So did Horace Grant. Haslem needs to come off the bench where that extra, extra hard work can be better appreciated in a TAD BIT more of a limited role. Chalmers, Wade, Diawara, Haslem, O'Neal... seriously, who is the second option? Nobody.

 

G - Chalmers / Wade / Quinn
G - Wade / Cook
F - Jones / Moon / Cook
F - Beasley / Haslem
C - O'Neal / Haslem / Anthony

That's the only line up I can see winning a series. Our starting line up is a joke right now.. not only do we not possess a second option, but we don't have a true shooter out there either. That's ******ED. Often times people talk about only who finish the game matters, but sometimes that is crap. Of course it's proper to refer to San Antonio and Manu Ginobili in this situation, but Parker provides the same slashing ability, and they've got a solid defender (Bowen) and shooter (Mason) to round out the perimeter, enabling Manu to be used properly off the bench. You've also got Parker taking some load away from Duncan. We don't have the second option to advocate Beasley being a "spark" off the bench. I could see if we were a team that likes to get out and run, but we're a half court team... you need two major scoring options on the floor, and you need shooters to space the floor at ALL TIMES. Our starting line up includes one major scoring option, and zero shooters (Chalmers can should but that shouldn't be his classification).

Plug in James Jones (give 2-3 weeks to get healthy and caught up) and Beasley and the problem is solved.