SB Nation - Chris Quinn

Contributions from all over have Heat off to best start this decade

DolPhanDave — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:36 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

Does it really matter who is starting...?

I don't know if even the most optimistic Heat fan could've predicted the great start that they are off to. After an offseason that was less then thrilling, filled with Michael Beasley's antics and a lot of upset Heat fans at the lack of moves made by Pat Riley, the Heat went into training camp preaching mature youngsters and the same defensive principles that were instilled during the previous season.

The things that needed to happen in order for Miami to be playing at their best are in fact happening. While its still very early, there hasn't been anything significant that has gone wrong. I wanted to take a closer look at why the Heat have been doing so well and hopefully the reasons they'll continue to win and be the surprise team of the Eastern Conference.

Jermaine O'Neal

As we discussed throughout training camp and preseason, Jermaine was going to be the Heat's wild card. All he has done is look like the guy who made 6 straight all-star teams from 2002-2007. His only ‘bad' game was on the 2^nd night of a back-to-back in which he was playing with a broken nose (sustained the night before against the Suns).

He is shooting 60.7% from the field, hitting the long-range jumpers and running hooks that he has been known for. He's averaging 14.3 points and more importantly 7.8 boards; in six games this season, he grabbed at least 7 rebounds in all but one. The only thing down are his blocks. He usually averages about 2 per game, but this year he's a tad under 1 (0.9 per game)...but in the Heat's last game (that big win against Denver), Jermaine blocked 3 shots, so hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

Quentin Richardson

The Heat's lone off-season acquisition (technically, Carlos Arroyo came during the pre-season), ‘Q' is having perhaps the best all-around season of his career. After a relatively slow start to the season, he has become a major component in Erik Spoelstra's defensive minded system.

His D has been supreme all season, but his overall game has been kicked up a notch in the last three games. 18, 19 and 13 points to go along with 10, 9, and 9 rebounds are numbers that are pretty amazing, especially considering that he has also been arguably our best defender. Oh, and he's also shooting 43% from beyond the arc.

Overall Team Defense

From the inside to the perimeter, the Heat have been playing the best defense that I've seen from this team since the Timmy and Zo days. Just go through our roster and you can see improved defense across the board. Our centers, Jermaine and Joel, have been doing a great job of keeping opposing centers out of the paint and off of the glass. Remember last season, when getting out-rebounded was the norm? This year the Heat have only lost the rebounding total twice, and have grabbed 40 boards or more in each game but one.

Our perimeter D has been what I think is the most improved. If you remember, last season we would constantly get burned by outside shooting, but this year that is far from the case. Opposition teams are shooting just 41.6% against the Heat (2^nd best in the league behind Detroit's 41.4%) and a minuscule 25.4% from beyond the arc, which is good for tops in the NBA.

The Bench

Obviously we'll start with the guy who many are talking about as the (very) early favorite for 6^th man of the year, Udonis Haslem. Now nobody really knew how he would react to being demoted to the bench after starting for the Heat for the last five seasons, but the move has appeared to be a stroke of genius. Haslem is averaging a double double (11.8 points and 10.0 rebounds), still providing shutdown defense and doing it all in 32 minutes/game. Maybe more importantly, U-D is still a leader both on the court and in the locker room. He may not be starting anymore, but he has been soaking up almost all of the 2^nd half minutes at power forward, showing that he is still ‘the guy' at that position for the Heat.

This is not a knock on Michael Beasley, who I feel is still right where he should be as far as his progression goes. I think when people see guys like Brook Lopez, Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose they assume that any high draft pick who doesn't dominate out of college is 'struggling'. Beasley is still very young and has a lot of talent around him. He has always been a first option around players that he could dominate; now he is learning how do just that but at a much higher level. Where he was picked in the draft is irrelevant now. He is going to be playing for the Heat for at least the next four years and will mature and improve the same way that Dwyane Wade did, showing vast improvements each season and becoming one of the best at his position.

Getting back on topic, another bright spot from our bench has been Carlos Arroyo. Last season one of our biggest weaknesses was defensively at the point. Mario Chalmers has some very quick hands but he gets beat off the dribble a little too easily, and last year coming off the bench was Chris Quinn, who is just awful on D. Now this year, Rio has shown some improvement but just the fact that we get to bring Arroyo off the bench instead of Quinn is huge. Carlos can hold his own on D and provide an offensive spark if needed, but don't under appreciate how big of an upgrade he is at his back-up PG position.

Then there are guys like Joel Anthony and Dorell Wright, who very quietly have been adding depth on both ends of the floor in limited minutes off the bench. Anthony has improved by leaps and bounds offensively; his hands no longer look as though they are made of stone. This is something that he and coach Askins have been working very hard on, his finishing ability. We already knew that Joel was a good defender and that he'd be among the league leaders in blocks if he got any kind of significant minutes.

Dorell Wright is still far from reaching the extremely high expectations that come along with being a 1^st round pick in the NBA, but at this point I think that any kind of productivity is welcomed with open arms. What did we know about Dorell coming into this season? He can play excellent defense. His shooting has gotten better and better over the past 2+ years, although not many people would know it since for the most part he has worked on it during practice sessions with Erik Spoelstra. This year, all he's needed to do is play the defense that he can and hit the occasional shot. Throwing the expectations out the window, Wright has had a very productive season, although his role in the future is uncertain with guys like Daequan Cook and James Jones likely taking his minutes. Still, at this point he has been a very valuable bench player for the defense first Heat and should not be overlooked.

Sure, the Heat are already exceeding expectations...but nothing they are doing is above and beyond their capabilities. On the contrary, we still have not seen major contributions from Daequan Cook, who has been out with a shoulder injury, and James Jones, buried on the bench despite being one of our best outside shooters and usually a very reliable defensive player.

While I feel my list is pretty accurate, I'm sure there are things that some of you feel I missed as to why the Heat are off to such an amazing start. Please feel free to let us all know your thoughts in the comments, and hopefully this is all just scratching the surface on what could very well be one of the funnest seasons the Heat franchise has seen.

Heat dominate Knicks on Opening/Tim Hardaway Night.

DolPhanDave — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:15:11 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

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Opening night could not have gone any better. It began with a wonderful ceremony for Tim Hardaway who got to watch his #10 jersey get lifted up into the American Airlines Arena rafters. It's very true that Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning made the Heat what they are now, a team with a winning history and dedicated, loyal fans.

Those fans were rewarded tonight, as the Heat dominated the Knicks on both ends of the floor, cruising to an easy 22-point victory. As we saw in the second half of the preseason, the Heat continued to shoot the lights out, shooting 56% from the field as a team, and 7-of-15 from 3.

Every player shot the ball well last night. The Heat's worst shooter was actually their leading scorer, as D-Wade shot 10-for-22 for 26 points. He still struggled with his jumper, missing his first 5 long-range shots, but found his stroke late and hit back-to-back 18-footers.

Jermaine O'Neal was definitely the player of the game for the Heat. He opened the game with turnaround jumper, then made a very nice pass to D-Wade for an easy layup. He was also the force we have been begging for on the glass, grabbing five 1^st half rebounds.

He wasn't done there, grabbing another 5 in the first six minutes of the 3^rd quarter. Jermaine was also scoring at ease, finishing the game 10-of-12 from the field and starting the season with a 22-12 double double. Games like this will be HUGE for the Heat if O'Neal can consistently bring this kind of effort.

GAME NOTES

-Mario Chalmers started out very aggressive, hitting 3 of his first 4 shots. He finished a solid 5-of-7 (11 points) and dished out 4 assists as well. He looked good running the point, and defensively his positioning was much improved, but that can be said for several of our young guys. Good job, coaches.

-Speaking of the Heat coaches, you know they were loving the two new guys (Richardson and Arroyo) drawing offensive fouls in the 1^st quarter. Richardson would take another charge in the 3^rd quarter.

-One cool moment was when Dwyane Wade stole a Knicks inbound pass, did a mid-air 360 to lay it in and put the Heat up by 22. In the first game of their 22^nd season the Heat had a 22-point lead. What could be cooler then that? How about winning by 22!

-I could really get used to Udonis Haslem coming off the bench and playing just like he always does. He was drilling his outside J's but was still getting dirty in the paint. 8 points and 9 boards along with his usual great defense; it seems for at least one night Erik Spoelstra looks like a genius.

-Quentin Richardson had a solid debut, despite not taking a shot until the 2^nd half. He drilled his first two jumpers, including a trey, and his D was up to par.

-Daequan Cook showed us a little bit of the improved ball handling that was advertised throughout training camp, but his shooting was just as good as ever. He was confident when putting the ball up and I thought he moved very well without the ball. We just have to hope that he keeps it going for an entire season, as opposed to the 2^nd half sputter of a year ago.

-The Heat must have played well if it's this late in the post and I'm just getting to Michael Beasley. Beas looked good playing both the 4 and the 3, but the best part of Beasley's game was his defense. His positioning and footwork made him look like an entire different player.

-Offensively, Beasley is such a natural scorer it's difficult for him to look bad. Now that he is driving the ball as much as shooting from the outside, he'll get that much more room to maneuver.

-Wasn't it nice to see someone other then Chris Quinn coming off the bench in relief of Mario Chalmers?

-James Jones only made it into the final 2 minutes of the game, but still drilled his first and only trey of the night. Spoelstra said after the game that guys like Jones will get more minutes, that tonight it was just the beast of the rotation.

-Joel Anthony: solid bench D. 2 blocks and 3 boards in 19 minutes don't do him justice.

Next game is Friday night when Jermaine O'Neal leads the Heat back into his old stomping ground, Conseco Fieldhouse, to face the Pacers.

Lots of positives come in loss to Spurs

DolPhanDave — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:18:51 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

Daequan for 3....kaboom.

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Without Dwyane Wade, Quentin Richardson, Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Quinn in the lineup on Sunday night, the Heat youngsters decided it was time to step up. Sure, it was against a Spurs team who had just as many substantial guys missing as the Heat (no Duncan or Ginobili, and Jefferson only played 12 minutes), but it's nice to see something good coming from the guys who a lot is expected of this coming season.

Michael Beasley started at power forward for the 1st time this preseason and looked very comfortable. The best sign that I saw was that Beas wasn't afraid to drive with the ball. We all know that the kid can shoot, but he needs to add dimensions to his offensive game. He finished with 16 points in 27 minutes, shooting 7-for-17. He also added 6 boards and 2 assists.

His co-sophomore Mario Chalmers also broke out of his shooting slump, drilling 6-of-12 from the field, including 1 of his 2 trey attempts. He was equally as good handling the ball, looking very comfortable running the offense. I kinda figured that Tony Parker would have his way with Chalmers, especially on defense, but that was not the case at all. Parker was made almost invisible, hitting only 1-of -4 and not doing much to stop Rio on offense.

The final ‘young star' to step up was perhaps the best player for the Heat on Sunday. Daequan Cook was the Heat's go-to guy on offense, and he did a great job handling and shooting the ball despite wearing a splint on his right wrist. I can definitely where the rumblings of Cook playing the point came from as he looks to have added another dimension to his game with his improved ball skills.

If Cook can create shots for himself while holding the ball, that would be a huge plus. He was the ‘Wade' of the game last night, as when the Heat we're down by 2 with under 10 seconds left, you knew coming out of the timeout who was going to get the ball. The shot was a little long, but he still managed to dribble his way into an open look for the game winner. Still, shooting 8-of-17 (4-of-9 from 3) for 20 points is something that I could definitely get used to coming from Dae Dae.

OTHER NOTES

In limited minutes, Udonis Haslem looked much better. He stayed out of foul trouble and hit his outside jumpers which are key to his game. He shot 4-of-7 for 10 points and added 6 boards in only 18 minutes.

Dorell Wright finally hit a shot, making his third and final attempt of the night, moving him to 1-of-10 for the preseason.

Erik Spoelstra gave us a little insight to Dwyane Wade's injury, which is a bit unique and may not be the simple thing that it was first made out to be.

"He was actually able to do quite a few exercises in the weight room and that's going to be part of the proactive approach we take with him, to try to gain more flexibility and also build up some strength," Coach Erik Spoelstra said of the rib injury. "What the training staff wants to do is build flexibility and build some strength in that area and hopefully that'll help. It's a unique injury."

John Lucas III looked good in extended minutes, but not good enough to make me write that he should be an everyday NBA backup. Apparently the Heat coaching staff feels the same way, as Coach Spo told reporters that he is meeting with Pat Riley about the possibility of bringing in a PG.

"That's something we'll definitely address," Spoelstra said. We haven't targeted a specific guy right now. But we've met about it and will continue to meet."

Pat Riley has a knack for bringing in guys just before the season begins (see Mourning, Alonzo), so the next few weeks could get interesting. One thing is for sure...the Heat brass is not pleased with what they have seen from their team so far, and I have to agree. For the talent they have on the roster, the level of play should be much better. Hopefully last night was a start.

Preseason Game 3: Spurs @ Heat GAMEDAY

DolPhanDave — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:03:56 -0000

For the first time in what feels like forever, the Heat will play a game in front of their home crowd. How much of a crowd is another story, but we'll find out soon enough. Either way, it's nice to get the feeling that basketball season is just around the corner. This could be the best time of year, when all four of the major sports are going at the same time.

Tonight the San Antonio Spurs come to town, but they will face the Heat without their superstar. Dwyane Wade suffered a strained muscle in his rib cage sometime during the Heat's loss in Orlando on Wednesday, but an MRI taken on Friday showed no major damage. Wade even said that if it was a regular season game he'd very likely be in the lineup, but no need to take any chances in the preseason.

"It's preseason. It just felt weird. It's a precaution and not overly serious," said Wade, "We got a long season ahead of us so I'm not trying to be a hero right now."

There will be a couple other Heat regulars out of the lineup tonight, as Chris Quinn and Jermaine O'Neal will also be sitting this one out. Quinn suffered a strained right foot during practice on Friday and will be wearing a protective boot for at least a week. As long as it's nothing serious, this is cool with me. I wanted to get a look at John Lucas III against some non-scrubby opponents.

O'Neal sat out practice again on Saturday with his bruised left foot and will be a game time decision. He has missed almost half of the Heat's workouts and practices since the preseason began last week.

Despite both teams being without their starting shooting guards (Manu Ginobili is also sitting this one out), several Heat starters will have very tough matchups to face against the Spurs.

Mario Chalmers will have a hard time breaking out of his defensive funk against Tony Parker, who is already playing like it's the regular season. Michael Beasley will be lined up against Richard Jefferson at small forward, which should be a great way to judge how far Beasley has come on the defensive side of things over the past few weeks.

We'll also see if Udonis Haslem can stay out of foul trouble for the first time this preseason against Tim Duncan, who never seems to have trouble drawing fouls (and complaining about the ones that don't get called).

For more Heat-Spurs information head on over to Pounding The Rock, SBN's Spurs blog. Really good position by position preview over there.

Tipoff at 6:00pm from the AAA. Anybody going?

Everyone enjoy your Sunday!

Preseason Game Thread #3: San Antonio Spurs @ Miami Heat

Tim C. — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:00:29 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Manu eez not here today. Now who will I talk about Eva and zee other housewives with? (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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The Spurs have a game today in Miami and there's some good news and bad news. I'm going to get the bad news out of the way first: Tim Duncan and His Manuness aren't even at the game, and won't play. Don't worry, though... Pop is just being cautious, and wants them to stay in SA to work on their conditioning - it's preseason, after all. The good news? Miami is likely without their two best players, so maybe it's a wash. Preview after the jump.

San Antonio Spurs @ Miami Heat (Preseason)
Where: American Airlines Arena - Miami, FL
When: October 11, 2009, 5:00 PM Spurs time
Watch: This one might be airing on local TV in Texas, but the rest of us are out of luck.

How They Stack Up


0-0	Home	0-0
0-0	Road	0-0
0.0	Offense	0.0
0.0	Defense	0.0
0	FG%	0
0	3-pt%	0
0	FT%	0
0	Rebounds	0
0	TOs	0
0-0	Last 10	0-0
N/A	Streak	N/A


	PG
	SG
	SF
	PF
	C
	Bench
	Coach
	Intangibles
	Mojo
	Winner

Spurs
(0-0)

Vs

Heat
(0-0)

Matchups

Tony Parker

Mario Chalmers

Tony played in the last game, and we can expect him to be back again tonight, in full dominating form. Chalmers is no spring chicken, but he's also not anywhere close to being on Tony's level. We'll probably see a lot of Chris Quinn and George Hill battles tonight as well, with George winning that matchup pretty easily. Isn't depth a wonderful thing?
Advantage: Spurs

1337 Player

Good Player

Keith Bogans

Dorell Wright

Keith started the last game against Olympiacos, and one would assume Pop will repeat that today. He's very solid on defense, and we'll already have enough offense in the game with Tony, RJ, and Bonner/Ian. However, his defense may not be as neccessary, since Dwyane Wade is sitting this one out(I would assume this has something to do with Manu not being at the game as well). Dorell Wright is just a guess - they might also start Q-Rich in Wade's absence.
Advantage: Tied

Big Head

Err... who?

Richard Jefferson

Michael Beasley

RJ's had some trouble getting involved in the offense the first two games. With Manu out, Pop may have Tony force feed him or call more plays for him. Beasley is still an awesome player, despite the substance use. He's very tall for a SF, and there's no way RJ can post him up. And hey, at least we're not putting Finley up against him.
Advantage: Heat

Princess Peanut

Rehabbed & Ready

Ian Mahinmi

Udonis Haslem

Either Ian or DeJuan Blair should get the start tonight. I'm guessing it will be Ian, since he started our first preseason game. Hopefully we'll get to see Ian's good side tonight, as well as a lot of Blair rebounds/putbacks, since the Miami frontcourt is on the small side. The key difference here is that our guys are faster than theirs. If Ian and DeJuan are at their best, this is one matchup we have in our favor.
Advantage: Spurs

Jekyll... or Hyde?

Decent PF.

Matt Bonner

Joel Anthony

Matty and RJ are the only two players to start both preseason games so far. Joel Anthony might actually be worse than him. Keep in mind that the Heat will probably have Anthony guarding Timmeh, so Matt's likey to match up with Haslem. Our backups will destroy theirs, since Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff are likely to be coming in off the bench again. Who else has players like that on their bench?
Advantage: Spurs

New Hampshire's finest

Plumbing the Depths

George Hill

Bench

Jamaal Magloire

Magloire is the tallest player on Miami's roster, along with Jermaine O'Neal, who probably won't be playing tonight. That's not saying much, but "You can't teach height". George Hill will probably continue looking like he's good enough to be a starter on a lot of teams. In fact, I'm sure the Heat would love to have him. Let's just be glad he's ours.
Advantage: Spurs

OoeyPooey

No Emotion

Gregg Popovich

Coach

Erik Spoelstra

I don't feel the need to explain why Pop is better than Spoelstra, for some reason...
Advantage: Spurs

Nice Brain

Nice Hair

images via yahoo.com

Intangibles: The Spurs are the smartest team in the league, and they're essentially playing against scrubs. Advantage: Spurs

Mojo: A team that made no significant roster moves in the summer against the team that made the best roster change. Advantage: Spurs

Winner: It's preseason.. who cares? But the Spurs would win this in the regular season, so let's just go with that.

Keys To The Game

Avoid a letdown - Just because this should be an easy win doesn't mean the Spurs should treat it as one. But losing a preseason game isn't the end of the world.
Dominate the frontcourt - The biggest mismatches in this game will be in the frontcourt, and the Spurs need to take advantage by relentlessly feeding the ball to the bigs, and letting them bring down the hammer.
Bench Play - Miami has nobody that can match Hill or Blair off the bench, and our bench goes way deeper than just those two guys anyway. Most of these guys are fighting for minutes and/or a spot in the rotation, so they would be wise to make good things happen out there for the Spurs. Malik Hairston could be an X-factor again tonight.

Last Time They Met

The Spurs last played the Heat in Miami on January 5th, winning 91-84. I wonder if there were any interesting things that happened in that game involving players who won't be on the court tonight...

Some Other Reading

Heat

Peninsula is Mightier - Miami's SBN blog, with a lot of good information. Stop by and say hi, and let them know nicely which team is going to win. :)
Hot Hot Hoops - This is the TrueHoop network blog for the Heat. The more of the TrueHoop Network I see, the more thankful I am for Tim Varner and Graydon Gordian.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: Speaking of Tim and Graydon, they're still doing their thing over at 48MoH. This is required reading for any Spurs fan... right after PtR, of course.
Project Spurs: This is a pretty slick fan blog, and they usually have good content about the Spurs.

The (sort of) Daily Twitter

manuginobili I won't be at the game tmrw. Just wanted to let u know. Had to stay in SA working out ... http://bit.ly/aOpcI

DeJuan45 Just woke up still tired getting ready 4 MIA

Some Other Viewing

Other things of possible interest

Addicting Things - This one is ~~not~~ more constructive, Mr. Beasley.
Playboy Covergirls - This is umm, different. But I promise you the link is safe.
Random Nostalgia comes out of nowhere.

Where to Tune In

TV

Spurs.com doesn't list anything, but since this is an away game, it might be on FSN. No blackouts for away games.

Online

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in this thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance.

Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year, but won't be working until the regular season. Bookmark it now, especially if you don't have the video league pass.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM). Yahoo might have an audio link at gametime, and we'll post that here if it becomes available.

Poll

Who will be the Spurs' biggest contributor tonight?

Tony Parker

14 votes

Richard Jefferson

15 votes

Antonio McDyess

0 votes

DeJuan Blair

103 votes

George Hill

29 votes

Ian Mahinmi

6 votes

Someone else (use comments section)

2 votes

169 votes | Poll has closed

Heat fall to Pistons 87-83 in preseson opener

DolPhanDave — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:04:05 -0000

The Heat kicked off their 2009 preseason campaign in Detroit last night, and as you'd expect from a first game, there are a lot of things to work on. As a team they shot poorly and came out flat in both halfs, and at one point in the 2nd half they trailed by 17. Despite a noble comeback effort at the end, the Heat ultimately fell at the hand of the Pistons 87-83. In the final 30 seconds John Lucas III had a chance to put the Heat up by 1 with a 3 and missed, then missed another jumper to tie.

Game Notes:

Beasley started at small forward, but only lasted there for 4 minutes. Udonis Haslem committed 2 early fouls, which prompted Coach Spoelstra to slide Beasley to the 4 and bring in Yakhouba Diawara off the bench.

Haslem was issued a technical foul when he slammed the ball down after being whistled for his 3rd foul in the 2nd quarter. This game was refereed by replacement refs.

Jermaine O'Neal looked very similar to the guy we saw last season. He hit his first shot, then missed his next 5 en route to a 2-of-8 night. He only recorded 1 rebound in 21 minutes. That is something that HAS to improve.

Overall our ‘big guys' had a poor game, getting dominated in the painted areas on both ends of the floor. The Heat were out rebounded by 8 (40-32).

Daequan Cook seems poised for a breakout year. He is showing much-improved ball handling skills, prompting questions to Erik Spoelstra about possibly playing Cook as a backup point guard. He didn't seem to enthused with the idea...

"I don't know about playing him as a backup point guard," Spoelstra said. "But you can see it. His confidence level, handling the ball, is totally different than it was the last two years."

D-Wade seemed his normal self, getting to the basket with ease. He finished with 18 points in 23 minutes on 6-of-13 shooting. He also went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe, and had 5 assists and 4 steals.

Dorell Wright played over 20 minutes but was held scoreless, going 0-for-4 from the field and ended up fouling out of the game. He had 2 boards and turned the ball over 3 times.

Our point guards were both pretty poor. Chalmers constantly was beat by Pistons PG Will Bynum, and Chris Quinn couldn't keep anyone in front of him. Quinn also couldn't help but reaching, getting called for 3 fouls in his first 4 minutes on the floor. Chalmers only bucket was a three pointer, finishing 1-for-3 from beyond the arc and 1-of-4 overall. Quinn missed his two field goal attempts and his only point came on a free throw.

James Jones was bothered by migraine headaches in the morning and despite dressing, didn't get on the floor. Quentin Richardson also didn't play for the Heat.

Next game: Wednesday night @ Orlando. Tip-off is at 7:00pm.

As training camp approaches, Erik Spoelstra thinks there is a lot to be excited about with this years team

DolPhanDave — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:30:14 -0000

Erik Spoelstra thinks that the Heat are going to be a much-improved squad this season. That kind of optimism you would expect from the teams Head Coach, but Spo is backing it up with some facts that you cant help but pay attention to. We have guys coming back healthy who played much of last season hurt, or didn't play much at all. We have top-notch rookies coming back for a 2^nd season who have been working their butts off all summer.

Starting off with the youngsters, lets begin with the one who has gotten the most attention this offseason. Obviously, that's Michael Beasley, who returned to the American Airlines Arena on Monday and began working out with some of his Heat teammates. He had been working with Heat coaches, including Erik Spoelstra, while at the rehabilitation clinic in Houston, doing lots of on court exercises.

Spoelstra said Beasley (240 pounds) added 10 pounds of muscle, and "improved his perimeter skills -- he would show us something new all the time. He made dramatic improvements with individual defense. He's quicker. People will see more versatility. He can play either forward position. You'll see a different Michael Beasley. His skill level is so much more advanced than what it was. "

I'm still banking on Beasley coming off the bench this year, as Udonis Haslem is already penciled in as the teams starting power forward, and according to Spoelstra the starting small forward job is very much an open competition. It will be between Beasley, newcomer Quentin Richardson and James Jones.

Jones has come right out and said that he is back to 100% and should be playing at a high level after spending most of last season recovering from wrist surgery. When he finally returned to the lineup last year he was nowhere near his usual self, and is now very hungry to make up for a sup-par last season.

As for Richardson, I am very happy about that trade. Not only because we were able to dump the useless contract of Mark Blount, but more so because Richardson is going to fit right in with our team and add an element that we were really missing last year. Quentin can play the 2 or the 3; he can run the floor well, shoot from the outside and play the kind of defense that our coaching staff loves. Hard nosed, long armed and quick.

Spolelstra said Richardson ``is in the best shape of his life, 230 pounds. He hasn't weighed that since he was at DePaul 11 years ago. He's got defensive toughness, can post up guards and some small forwards.''

We'll move on to the guy who I see as this year's wild card, Jermaine O'Neal. Going into a contract year, J-O is out to prove he can still play at a high level, looking to regain his all-star form that would demand a high paying contract next summer. He is already going to be competing with other UFA's who are better and younger, so a great season would really help his cause.

Apparently, O'Neal is well on his way to having that kind of season. His main goal has been to regain the strength in his knees and regain some of the stamina he prided himself on while playing for Indiana. Should all the work he put forth this offseason translate into Jermaine being a 15 point 10 board kinda guy for us, while playing in around 70-75 games, I think that's a huge success. Says Spo about J-O:

``He's as healthy as he's ever been. We rewound the clock and brought him back to 26. He spent seven weeks with us'' working on strength and conditioning, then eight weeks with Chicago-based trainer Tim Grover. ``I went to Chicago and saw him in pickup games. He looks quick, jumping well. He looked like the guy I remembered with the Pacers, but stronger.''

You have got to love the way things are sounding, as well as the optimism that Coach Spoelstra is showing for his team. Apparently, the Heat organization holds a similar optimistic feeling about their coach, as it was announced earlier this week that Miami had extended the contract of Spoelstra. The teams of the extension have yet to be released, but it's believed to be for a year. That will be added to the reported 3-year contract that he received before last season, after he had been named the teams new Head Coach.

HEAT ADDING PLAYERS TO TRAINING CAMP ROSTER

As of now nothing has been confirmed, but it appears the Heat are going to add some players to their training camp roster. John Lucas III is a 6' point guard who went undrafted out of Oklahoma State is 2005. He spent two years playing for the Rockets, but after the 06-07 season he headed east to play in Italy, and since then he's spent time in the Spanish league as well as the NBA's D-League.

Lucas has been working out with fellow free agent Shavlik Randolph, and both are expected to receive contracts to join the Heat in training camp. Randolph, also undrafted in 05 (Duke), began his career in Philly. It was just beginning to get good when he broke his ankle during a late November practice. He spent one more year with Philly, then last year he signed a non-guaranteed contract with Portland. He did spend the season on their roster, but only played in 10 games and didn't do much to stand out.

Someone who worked out with the Heat a few weeks ago is also on the verge of returning for training camp. 6'9" power forward Andre Brown will compete with Shavlik Randolph for minutes behind Udonis Haslem. How much playing time and what kind of roles they are needed for will depend on whether Coach Spoelstra uses Michael Beasley as a power forward or a small forward. Brown is also a member of the undrafted club, coming out of DePaul in 2004.

All three will get non-guaranteed contracts, and its possible that none of them make the final roster, though unlikely. The Heat can carry up to 20 players on their roster until the regular season, at which time they must trim the roster down to 15.

These moves would leave the Heat's training camp roster looking like this:

Center- Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Magloire, Joel Anthony

Power Forward- Udonis Haslem, Michael Beasley, Shavlik Randolph, Andre Brown

Small Forward- James Jones, Yakhouba Diawara, Dorell Wright

Shooting Guard- Dwyane Wade, Daequan Cook, Quentin Richardson

Point Guard- Mario Chalmers, Chris Quinn, John Lucas III

That's 16 players, meaning should the Heat like what they see from everyone, only one player will have to be cut in time for Opening Night (Oct 28^th) against the Knicks. However, Pat Riley has said that its possible the Heat may end up carrying as few as the NBA minimum 13 players. Training camp begins in just 4 days on Tuesday the 29th.

I'd like to send out a thank you to everyone on this site for your patience during my recent health issues. Your kind words, comments and e-mails were amazing to read, and I fully appreciate everything. Thank you so much, it's refreshing to know what good people we have in our little online community.

Poll

How many games do you think the Heat will win this season?

60 or more

26 votes

55-60

34 votes

50-55

82 votes

45-50

117 votes

40-45

42 votes

35-40

10 votes

35 or less

13 votes

324 votes | Poll has closed

Chalmers, Cook and Beasley lead the Heat's youth movement

DolPhanDave — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:25:54 -0000

First off I want to say that this is not a ‘season preview' article...it's more just a little thinking out loud as training camp approaches. There have been so many changes around the Eastern Conference this offseason that it's going to be amazingly difficult to predict where anyone outside of the top 3 will finish.

As of now (September 8^th) the Heat haven't done a whole heck of a lot as far as adding depth or layers to their roster from last season. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as you have to consider the maturation of guys like Mario Chalmers, Daequan Cook and of course Michael Beasley into consideration. All three should be much improved, which in itself is an upgrade to our roster.

I strongly feel that despite not adding any major players, we will be a better team. Mario Chalmers has been working especially hard all summer in an attempt to improve his all around game. I expect him to show much better stamina which will keep him from hitting any late season walls, which was a problem last spring. I'd like to see him moving his feet more on defense to go with his extremely active hands/arms, as it was a major problem for Chalmers getting beat off the dribble. Granted, he is a much better defender then Chris Quinn, but as we all know that isn't saying much.

If you remember the first half of last season, one of the bright spots was the bench play of Daequan Cook. He was the outside presence early on that the Heat lacked down the stretch and into the playoffs, and hopefully the experience of losing his touch in the 2^nd half will give him all the incentive to ensure that doesn't happen again this season. His defense continued to improve, as did his shot selection...but the key will be playing a ‘full season' at a high level. Many of our bench problems will be solved should Dae-Dae play 82 games at a high level. I will get into this more as the season gets closer, but I see Cook as one of the big X-factors when considering how the Heat will finish in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Then, of course, there is Michael Beasley. It's not secret the issues that he dealt with this summer, but some would say that they were blown a bit out of proportion. I sincerely doubt that any of those ‘issues' will hinder him when training camp rolls around. He is simply a young man who was likely overwhelmed with everything that comes with being a 19-year old that is suddenly an NBA star in the spotlight, with more money then you know what to do with.

Beasley showed throughout the year the pure scoring ability that will likely make him an even bigger star as his career progresses, and despite his ‘issues' he has also been working very hard to improve his game this summer. The main thing he needs to get better at is his post up game. If he is going to be a successful power forward in this league he is going to need to play more with his back to the rim. We already know how well he can shoot and drive the ball from the outside, which will make posting up easier when he can establish that part of his game.

It will be interesting to see how these youngsters develop, but I reference Dwyane Wade when thinking about the timeline. Wade ‘broke out' in his 3^rd year, but was still a force in his first two. With Wade, he had to develop his outside shot, which has progressively gotten better with each passing year, and now he has gotten to the point where he is getting more confident shooting the 3-ball.

Its going to be the opposite with Beasley, who has shown he can drill jumpers with the best of them, but needs to be a bigger presence in the paint. A main key will be in his rebounding. His best games last year were usually attributed to great rebound efforts, which lead to 2^nd chance points and more offensive opportunities for Miami.

Chalmers will need to improve his off the dribble defense and be able to play a full season at a high level. The same can be said for Daequan. If he can have a full season playing the way he did during the 1^st half of last year, we're already looking at a much-improved Heat squad without adding any new players. I'm sure this is something that Pat Riley has thought about many times this offseason as he has done little to add depth to our roster.

I love the addition of Quentin Richardson, who should set a good defensive example and provide another scoring threat off the bench. Combine that with a healthy James Jones and Jermaine O'Neal and we have a very formidable unit.

Sure, it will be great to add a veteran guard to help mentor our young guys, and I'm sure Riley will make some kind of move before the season begins. He seems to have a knack for making moves right before the season begins, and this year is shaping up to provide a similar roster move. Still, we should be looking at a much-improved Heat team, and despite other teams swapping free agents, I wouldn't count the Heat out of the mix.

Assuming that we don't get bit by the injury bug, and we get the kind of improvement out of our young guys that I am expecting, it is not crazy to think the Heat could win around 50 games this season. For the handful of teams that look to be improved this year, there are still plenty of teams who have stayed the same or even taken a step back in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, the way it works in the East is once we get into the Playoffs, making it out of the 2^nd round will be hard. Considering what the Heat did with the roster they had last season, I firmly believe that we should have a better year then last.

Orlando Magic Sign Jason Williams: The Morning After

Ben Q Rock — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:09:49 -0000

In case you missed it, here's Eddy's questions for Jason Williams from this morning's media availability session, which the Orlando Magic hosted at their practice facility/headquarters in Maitland.

And now, reaction to Williams' signing with the Magic from around the blogosphere:

JWill Signing Makes Us Question The Meaning of 'Controversy'
There's plenty to love about Matt Moore's take on the likelihood of Williams challenging Jameer Nelson for the starting job, but this line is tops, at least to me:

Apparently, if you were popular at some point in the early to mid 00's, you now qualify as a threat to a 27 year old All-Star.
Jason Williams joins the Orlando Magic
Kelly Dwyer is dubious about Williams' ability to contribute--he notes that Williams averaged only 8.8 points and 4.6 assists for a 15-win team in his last full season--but hopes it all works out. He also gives us a bit of a history lesson:

Topping it off is the fact that Orlando, badly, wanted Williams as the final piece in what they saw as a Eastern Conference-contending puzzle heading into what we thought was going to be the 1998-99 season. Working with the 12th, 13th, and 15th picks in the 1998 Draft, Orlando assumed that Williams (who had been working out in Orlando for months by then, and had developed a solid friendship with Magic guard/forward Nick Anderson) would fall in their laps.

Instead, the Sacramento Kings lapped him up with the seventh pick. Good fortune for all concerned. It'd be nice to see the full circle actually end with Williams' ~~first~~ second ring.
Orlando Enlists White Chocolate
Ryne Nelson, who thinks the signing is "a great move," notes Williams' similarities to another infamous pro athlete who came out of retirement:

No, he's no Brett Favre, but the parallels are rather curious: both are American icons, lead the offense, and can't come to terms with retirement. Both guys you don't say 'no' to when they offer their wisdom and services for a season.
Sizing up the real contenders, plus the real-life Juwanna Mann?
Dime Magazine thinks the league's contenders are finished shuffling their rosters, now that Williams has signed:

White Chocolate signing with the Magic yesterday likely signaled the last offseason move by any of the NBA's legit championship contenders before training camp.

Dime also believes the Magic won't reach the Eastern Conference's first or second playoff seed, due to Rashard Lewis' 10-game suspension for testing positive for using a performance-enhancing substance.
UPDATE: White Chocolate melted for Magic opportunity
Ira Winderman, who covers the Miami Heat for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, thinks Williams' signing might push Anthony Johnson down on the Magic's depth chart. He believes Johnson makes sense for the Heat, and proposes some Magic/Heat trade possibilities:

The Heat's interest in Johnson dates to when it tried to acquire him from Dallas at the trading deadline in 2007, with its offer trumped by Atlanta.

Of course, adding Johnson by such means would double the luxury-tax hit, a hit that could be mitigated by sending Chris Quinn or Dorell Wright the other way. [Magic coach Stan] Van Gundy was no fan of Wright during his Heat tenure, but, then again, he also never seemed to be big a fan of Vince Carter, either.

It seems unlikely (to me) that the Magic and Heat would conduct business, but if they should strongly consider unloading Johnson if it meant they could obtain the 25-year-old Quinn, a deft passer and three-point shooter.
UPDATE 2: Orlando and selfishness
The Curse of the Big Aristotle doesn't feel one way or the other about Williams, assessing the transaction thusly in a post about the Magic's team-oriented style of play:

a signing I am so indifferent toward that I don't think it deserves a full analysis

Heat to resume negotaitions with Jamaal Tinsley

DolPhanDave — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:28:43 -0000

Accoring to Tinsley's agent Raymond Brothers, he has spoken to Pat Riley and is set to resume negotiations with him sometime in the near future. Brothers feels his client could soon land in Miami

"I talked to Pat when he was out there (his off-season home in California). There's still interest on both sides,'' Brothers said. ``We'll see what happens. But we'll talk again.''

Pat Riley, however, said through a team spokesman on Thursday that no formal meeting had been planned...so we'll see how this pans out. Remember, the two sides canceled a meeting after free-agent Lamar Odom elected to stay with Los Angeles.

The Heat has depth at PG with Mario Chalmers, Chris Quinn and Patrick Beverly, but with only 4 years combined between the 3 players, a veteran presence would definitely be helpful.