SB Nation - Dwyane Wade

Talking Heat with 790 The Ticket's Jonathan Zaslow

DolPhanDave — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:56:21 -0000

Pretty mediocre homestand, huh? I certainly didn't see this homestand going this way. I figured 4-2 would be a good mark, and now you're looking at 3-3 at best. This team has done a good job of squandering all these home games in the early part of the season. They play a ton of road games in the second half of the season.

A few things that have been bothering me lately (And, I am usually very level-headed when it comes to this team).........

The Portland game is a great example of something that's been bugging me of late, and it involves two of my favorite things to get upset about lately: 1) Michael Beasley's lack of 4th quarter playing time, and 2) Dwyane Wade's incredibly uneven season.

At this point, it has to be pretty clear to everyone involved that Michael Beasley is pretty darn good. I understand Coach Spoelstra trusts Udonis and wants him on the floor in the 4th quarter. But that whole scenario reeks of letting up on the gas pedal, and playing not to lose. What I mean by that is rather than getting your best defender out there in that spot, and removing one of your best offensive players, I'd rather them continue to attack. By putting Haslem in there, you're taking away your "attack" player in Beasley and you're leaving the game squarely on Dwyane's shoulders. From what we've seen so far this season...that's certainly not good enough. Dwyane needs Beasley. And when he's been relied upon, he's delivered for the most part.

Middle of the 4th quarter vs. Portland, Beasley gets removed for "defensive" purposes, and the Heat have trouble scoring and Dwyane can't do it by himself. What happens after that is something the Heat fan has seen a TON of lately: Dwyane Wade complaining for fouls and not getting back on defense. As far as I'm concerned, that whole scene is pretty tired at this point. The problem is, I don't know what you can do about it.

I know Dwyane is Dwyane, and he gets to do what he wants. But it's kind of hard to stomach Dwyane taking 30+ shots, and Beasley doesn't play the 4th quarter. Now, I don't have a problem with Dwyane shooting a lot. The problem with that is Dwyane normally doesn't get a ton of field goal attempts. He's been a FT machine, and incredibly efficient over his career. This team isn't going to win a lot of games with him getting credit for over 30 shots in a game.

I'm curious what the Heat fans take on Mario Chalmers is at this point in the season. Without question, the most disappointing part of this season has been the lack of development of two of the three "young" guys on this team. Mario Chalmers and Daequan Cook have been massive disappointments, and are not even close to being definite pieces of this teams future.

Daequan Cook has been an enigma since the All-Star Break last year. I have no answer to what has happened to him, but it is frustrating to have heard how great he looks all summer and then watch him continue to stink up the joint game after game.

As far as Chalmers goes...he needs to get his act together or Riley should get rid of him. I cannot possibly be more down on him than I am right now. This guy was the starter for 82 regular season games as a rookie. This guy started all 7 playoff games as a rookie. This guy started the first 22 games of this season. And now this guy has lost his starting job to a journeyman point guard who does not have a guaranteed contract.

Mario Chalmers did not lose his starting job just because of his performance. Remember at the end of last year we found out that Mario and Beasley were fined repeatedly throughout their rookie seasons for violating various team rules? Remember Beasley wasn't the only one thrown out of the NBA's rookie symposium prior to the 2008-2009 season? Well, a quarter of the way into his second season, Mario Chalmers still has a hard time showing up for practice on time. Spoelstra isn't benching him for being late one time!!! It's why Chalmers said he wasn't surprised when he was told the benching is indefinite. Practice isn't at 8am, it's at Noon! Noon! And the starting point guard continually has a problem showing up on time? That's a joke.

I would not be surprised to see Chalmers, Cook, or James Jones moved before the trade deadline. All as ways to shed some payroll for next season's bonanza.

Heat continue to struggle at home on a very rough Sunday

DolPhanDave — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:00:08 -0000

More photos » by Alan Diaz - AP

Dwyane Wade may be better then Brandon Roy...but not on this night.

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This recap has been extremely hard for me to get started on. Sunday is my favorite day of the week for many many reasons, but it's mainly because of sports. And yes, the root of it is of course football, but even after football season there always seem to be big hockey and basketball games on Sunday's in the winter and spring, and over the summer Sunday Night Baseball is almost always worth watching.

Usually I can handle losses relatively well, although my future wife (together 7+ years) might say otherwise. The point that I'm getting at in the midst of all these personal feelings is that today was just about as close to unbearable as any Sunday I can remember. Obviously I'm talking about the Dolphins and Heat games from yesterday.

I am well aware that this is a Miami Heat blog, and I have never strayed away from the team of topic but tonight I guess you could say I'm abusing my power. Of course it isn't all about the games, as there are always outside factors that contribute to any game, day, blog, etc. I finished watching the Heat game a little while ago as I usually do, a recorded version that I'm forced to watch late due to work or family matters or whatever (it's always fun trying to avoid the results for a few hours).

While sitting here trying to get the blog going, I reflected on the day that just passed. Unfortunately...this is basically all I've got (and my notes from the Heat game, of course). The Dolphin game knocked me down and the Heat game finished me off. I am a big Brandon Roy fan and I've always seen a lot of the same qualities in him that I see in Dwyane Wade.

Tonight, it was like getting slapped in the face by my own worries. I saw Brandon Roy acting like the superstar that I don't understand why he isn't on a more consistent basis, and Wade...well nobody will ever fault him for not caring about his teammates or about winning. I can't take anything away from the Blazers because they absolutely deserved to win. It's never easy to win on the road, and I give our Heat plenty of credit for playing very tough at home (for the most part...but last night was no exception).

GAME NOTES

What more can you say about Quentin Richardson and his value to this team? I hope the Heat find a way to hang on to this guy. 7-for-7 from the field, all from beyond the arc.
I was pretty surprised when James Jones got off the bench in the 1^st half. He hit his first trey, but hey...we always knew he could do that. Obviously there is more to why he can't seem to get any consistent minutes.
Early foul trouble got Mario Chalmers off the bench in relief of Carlos Arroyo. Neither one did much to impress me; although I still say that Arroyo is much better at running the offense. Chalmers is rarely aggressive, which seems to be when he is at his best.
Since missing two games due to family issues, Jermaine O'Neal hasn't gotten his rebounding edge back. In four games he has 16 total boards (4 per game).
While Michael Beasley did a decent job as the #1 scoring option with Wade on the bench, it was pretty apparent that LaMarcus Aldridge held the upper hand in the matchup.
Considering my already poor mood, I'm going to skip the Wade-bashing. He didn't defer to his teammates much at all in the 4^th quarter, which really threw a wrench into our offense. He still can't hit outside shots with any kind of consistency (unless you call 35% consistent), make some really stupid mistakes and had poor shot selection in general. There, that's all I'm gonna say.

Yeah...I know that this wasn't my finest blogging hour. I'm asking for something of as free pass from you guys because, quite frankly, it's been a very rough day for me. Like I said, it's not all about sports, but overall I just wanna thank you for dealing with my night of venting. I realize that I may not have made a ton of sense tonight, but I promise to be back to normal by the next blog.

Recap: Kings 96, Bucks 95

Frank Madden — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:31:40 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

It took him a couple quarters, but Thompson eventually found ways up, over, and around the Bucks' defense.

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Box Score

My Saturday started in Copenhagen, Denmark about 25 hours ago; in fact, I woke up just in time (about 4 am Danish time) to follow the last minute of the Bucks' 85-82 loss to the Cavs on the hotel wifi. Terrific start to a day. So if I seem a bit incoherent and annoyed that my Saturday is also ending with a last-second Bucks' loss--and one that I got to witness in person at the BC--forgive me. It's not often I get two Bucks losses in one day.

The highlight shows will of course focus on the hype-friendly matchup between the rookies, which is easy given Tyreke Evans (9/19 fg, seven rebs, three assists, six turnovers) scored the final two of his 24 points on a lovely stutter-step layup past Andrew Bogut with just 0.9 seconds left. Brandon Jennings mostly kept his end of the bargain as well, scoring 15 (4/11 fg) with nine assists, six boards and just one turnover. The good also included four clutch free throws in the final minute and a heads-up dish to Ersan Ilyasova for a layup to give the Bucks a 95-94 lead. Evans had the last laugh, however, and Jennings missed his last seven from the field as the Bucks' big names shot blanks down the stretch. Hey, sound familiar? Considering Michael Redd's latest clunker (1/6 fg, three points) and Andrew Bogut's awful second half (1/10 fg), it's in some ways amazing the Bucks kept it as close as they did--until you consider that the Kings also came into this game an awe-inspiring 1-11 on the road.

The Bucks led 53-49 at the half, as Evans scored 17 (albeit on 15 shots) while Bogut contributed 12/4/4 for the Bucks. A night after his 5/21 performance in Cleveland, Jennings looked patient and content to get other guys involved early on, as he didn't take a shot until the three minute mark of the second quarter. But he buried that first triple and added another jumper to round out a solid first half: seven points (2/2 fg), five assists, and three rebounds. Ilyasova (14/10) already had his double-double midway through the third, but foul trouble made him an observer for most of the second half.

The Bucks led by as many as seven in the third, but the Kings were far more composed than their road record would have suggested. After Evans carried the offensive load in the first half, Jason Thompson took over in the second, scoring 17 of his 22 in the period to go with 10 boards. The Kings seemed oddly shy to give him the ball in the first half with Andrew Bogut guarding him, but he showed the full repertoire of inside/out stuff in the second, including seven points in the final three minutes. One of those was a questionable three-point play that cut the Bucks lead from four to one, as Thompson hooked Bogut making a move along the baseline, but instead got the foul and continuation on Bogut. Not to whine though, because the Bucks overall didn't get the short end of the refereeing stick. They even got a charge called on Evans for wiping out Bogut on a play that looked eerily similar to the Kobe call on Wednesday. Also not to be forgotten is Beno Udrih (6/11 fg, 16 pts), who killed the Bucks with mid-range jumpers off P&R in the second and third quarters.

In any case, the game came down to making plays in crunch time, and as per usual the Bucks didn't make them as often as their opponents. These recaps are starting to write themselves in that sense. The Bucks had seven offensive rebounds in the final five minutes, but all that meant was they were working hard and missing everything. Bogut bricked a pair of freebies with 42 seconds left and the Bucks down one, only for Jennings to retrieve the second miss and start another possession that saw Jennings miss a reverse layup in traffic, Bogut miss two tip-ins, and Jennings grab another rebound and draw the foul.

As he's done so often--and unlike everyone else on the team--Jennings didn't miss with the game on the line, but the Bucks couldn't stop the Kings, either. After Evans penetrated, Thompson dropped a tough hook over Bogut on the right side of the lane to make it 94-93 Kings with 11 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds Jennings nearly had his inbound pass to Andrew Bogut stolen at midcourt, but he scooped up the loose ball, and with two Kings out of the play he found Ilyasova wide open under the basket for the easy two with five seconds left.

It turned out to be too much time. Evans ran P&R from the left with Thompson, and Mbah a Moute unwisely went over the screen, leaving Evans one-on-one with a backpedaling Bogut. That was all she wrote, as Evans smoothly went left and finished with his right off the glass. Bogut had a last-second heave from the baseline that could have won it, but you kind of knew the Bucks didn't have any more tricks up their sleeve.

Three Bucks

Carlos Delfino. It seems like Delfino's usual MO has been hot starts and anonymous finishes, but the Argentine reversed it tonight in a major way. The Bucks were leading 70-65 when Skiles subbed out Bogut and Jennings with two minutes left in the third, and it was Delfino who kept the Bucks' afloat for the next 12 minutes or so. First he scooped a driving layin to finish the Bucks' third quarter scoring, then led the way with three triples and 11 points in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter. He also took on the task of defending Evans for much of that period, yielding only in the final minute to Mbah a Moute.

Luc Mbah a Moute. Mbah a Moute's last contributions were missing a free throw with three minutes remaining and getting rubbed out on the P&R that led to Evans' game-winner, but that shouldn't overshadow what was another solid game from the Prince. It was particularly true on the offensive end, where LRMaM made all five of his shots including a corner triple.

Brandon Jennings. It was another solid game with plenty of ups and downs for Jennings. On the down side, he got smoked by Evans on a couple drives in the third quarter, which is becoming all too common for a small guy blessed with his quickness. With Beno Udrih getting major minutes down the stretch Jennings didn't face off directly against Evans

Three Numbers.

19. By my count, Bogut (7), Redd (5) and Jennings (7) combined to miss their 19 shots from the field. Yeah, not cool. Bogut didn't make a shot in the last 22 minutes and bricked his last five free throws, going 1/10 from the field i the second half after a solid 5/10, 13 point first half. Jennings at least made his free throws (6/6), but went strangely cold in the third quarter after making his first four shots from the field.

13. It wouldn't be the numbers section without some allusion to the Bucks' terrible free throw differential, so here's your daily dose: the Bucks made just 13/20 from the line compared to the Kings' 22/29. Same sh**, different day.

1-8. That's the Bucks' record in games decided by three points or less. Unlucky? Just bad at finishing games? I'll take the easy route and say a combo of both, but either way it's killing them in the won-loss column. History says that close games require more luck than skill, and that even good teams don't win a high percentage of close games over the long haul (they win the blowouts, natch). Still, the fact that the Bucks lack a guy who can a) both draw fouls and make free throws and b) create quality shots for himself reliably means that they'll probably be worse than average. Not quite as bad as they've been, but still not good. We've seen flashes of Jennings being a go-to guy late in games and so far he's had ice-water in his veins at the stripe, but he's not the guy yet.

~~Three~~ Two Good

Rookies. Sure, they've got growing up to do, but Evans and Jennings are damn good for a pair of 20-year old rookies. I've seen very little of Evans since the season started, but in Vegas he looked like a thrifty man's Dwyane Wade (all the slithery slashing and body control, less of the rim-endangering explosiveness) and it was pretty much the same deal tonight. Lots of turnovers and few assists, but he's really not a ballhog and his line would have been even more impressive if he didn't miss so many contested layups.

As for Jennings, he seemed to be in "play like a true PG" mode tonight, which worked reasonably well. Defense could have been better and he still doesn't make shots around the hoop, but you already knew that.

Meeks. I'm grasping at straws here, but it's not like I have that much to choose from. Meeks' minutes would seem to be gone now that Redd is back, but he got an extended look in the second quarter--guarding Evans no less--and held his own with five points, two steals, and two assists. He didn't get a look in the second half, but Meeks' +9 rating was the best of any player on either team.

Three Bad

Skiles. I don't generally call out coaches since, well, they know the game and their players infinitely better than I do. And let's be honest, Skiles isn't exactly Vinny Del Negro. Still, there were a few things that made me scratch my head on this one.

For one, Redd played 15 straight mostly awful minutes from the end of the third until late in the fourth. Why? Don't ask me--the way LRMaM was playing it didn't make sense for him to be sacrificing minutes for the old man. Heck, Bell, Ridnour or Meeks would have been better choices at that point.

Second, why did Jennings inbound twice in the final minute? I guess I can understand him inbounding with 11 seconds left since he can get it right back. But his pass was deflected and almost stolen (fortunately he recovered to both get the ball and find Ilyasova for the layup), so maybe we should take that as a sign that the little guy may not have been the best option. Moreover, with 0.9 seconds left I would have thought Jennings' ability to make tough shots would make him an obvious option as a shooter, but instead he was again summoned to make the pass, this time throwing a tough entry pass Bogut not surprisingly couldn't turn into a miracle. I vote we cut Elson and bring back Toni Kukoc (tall + great passer = great inbounder) purely as a late-game inbounding specialist.

Lastly, I would have dared Evans to shoot a jumper on the last play by having Mbah a Moute go under the screen rather than chase around. I'm assuming Mbah a Moute went over the screen on direction from the Bucks' coaches, though in fairness Evans didn't always kill them on that strategy earlier in the game. But do the math--Evans is a 59% shooter around the rim and 45% from 16-23 feet. Bogut might have been hoping to force Evans to hesitate by backpedaling, but give credit to the rookie for making such a decisive move.

Bogut's ability to put a ball in the basket. Ignore the shooting numbers and there'd be nothing to dislike about Bogut's line: 13 boards, five assists, one turnover and three blocks. Include the shooting numbers and...well, not so much. Bogut continues to struggle from the field (6/20) and the line (3/8)--the latter being expected at this point while the former is a more recent phenomenon.

Part of the issue tonight was the Kings doing a good job getting bodies in Bogut's way--Spencer Hawes' length bothered Bogut on two misses to start the game, and even though Bogut began to bully Hawes and co. for much of the rest of the half, they were mostly denying him the deep position where he's so dangerous. They showed the double teams on a number of occasions as well, and while Bogut managed to take care of the ball better than usual tonight, he sometimes seemed to be rushing shots just to get them off.

Michael Redd's ability to do anything. The silver lining from the Laker game was the hope that the old Mike Redd wasn't too far away--or that the new one wouldn't be that much worse than the old one. But in two games since Redd has again looked out of sorts. He started the game fairly judicious about his shot selection, but with Skiles playing him for extended periods with the second unit things fell apart more quickly. On paper, the idea of Redd going to work while Bogut/Jennings rest is a nice one, but thus far it's only reiterated why Redd shouldn't be starting.

Game #25: Portland Trail Blazers (16-12) vs. Miami Heat (13-11)

DolPhanDave — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:28:38 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

D-Wade and Dorell Wright have been building an on-court chemistry since Wright began getting significant minutes

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The main question that I'm pondering about tonight's Heat game is ‘which Heat team will show up?' While I'd like to sit here and show my full confidence that the squad that's won two straight games in convincing fashion is for real...unfortunately I'm just not at the point yet. It's absolutely possible, with the talent on this roster for the Heat to be just as scary to play as the Boston's and Orlando's. But those teams have both the talent and the consistency, the latter of which being the elusive factor for the Heat in their up and down season.

A lot of focus tonight will be on Dwyane Wade, but not for the usual ‘he's amazing' reasons. Wade has been battling through injuries for most of the season, with his recent wrist problems being added to by a now sore back. He was limited in practice yesterday after suffering from some upper back spasms, but despite everything Wade is still ranked 5^th in the NBA in scoring and is fully expected to be in the lineup tonight.

Portland is coming off of a 9-point loss in Orlando last night in which they battled hard for 3+ quarters, but in a surprising defensive battle against the offensive-minded Magic, the Blazers could only muster 18 4^th quarter points after the game was tied at 65 heading into the final period. Portland is having a tough time but it's understandable with several of their key players out with injuries; Greg Oden, Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez are all on the shelf.

GAME NOTES

In the last 5 games Dorell Wright has shot 58% and averaged 13.2 ppg.
Portland has lost 7 of their last 8 games away from home.
Michael Beasley led the way with 27 points in the 107-100 Heat win in Portland on 12/1/09, and Beas has averaged 25 points in his last two games.
LaMarcus Aldridge missed the first game between these teams, but he'll be in the lineup tonight.
Including Thursday's win over Orlando, the Heat have won 21-straight games when shooting 50% from the field.
This is the 5^th game of the Heat's 6-game homestand. After dropping the first 2 games, they have drawn even at 2-2.

For the second straight week the Heat will play a late afternoon game at home. Tipoff from the AAA is set for 6pm.

Miami Heat 104, Orlando Magic 86

Ben Q Rock — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:34:35 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

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In arguably their worst overall performance of the season, the Orlando Magic did little more than go through the motions against the Miami Heat, and came away with a 104-86 defeat as a result... and the game wasn't even really that close. Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley led Miami with an effortless 25 and 22 points, respectively, while the bench combined for 32 points. The Heat shot 58% from the field and from three-point range through three quarters and held a well-deserved 29-point lead. Only an impressive showing from J.J. Redick (11 points on 4-of-6 shooting), coupled with indifference on the Heat's side, made the score look more respectable.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	88	97.9	49.4%	11.5	17.1	14.8
Heat	86	121.2	56.2%	16.0	22.0	10.5
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

What makes the loss so jarring, from an Orlando standpoint, is just how decisively Miami out-worked it, in every facet of the game. Point guard Carlos Arroyo twice managed to out-race a Magic player to an offensive rebound, for instance. The Heat moved the ball about as well as I've seen a Magic opponent do this year, making the right pass to the right guy, which helps to explain how Joel Anthony scored 3 baskets. The Magic's defense scarcely took any of the Heat's offensive options away through the first three quarters, in which Dwight Howard, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, did not rest a single second.

The offense looked just as bad, really. Howard showed some nice moves inside early, with a rolling hook from the left block and a drop-step-to-layup maneuver from the right one, which had TNT analyst/NBA legend Kevin McHale, in a rare courtside appearance, raving. Other than that? Rashard Lewis rimmed out some open three-pointers and mid-range jumpers, while Vince Carter attempted to play HORSE with an invisible adversary, launching all variety of off-balance, contested looks. Carter's played much better of late, tending to drive to the basket rather than settle for jumpers. Tonight? 2 free-throw attempts, 4 three-point attempts (all misses) and 4-of-10 shooting overall.

It truly was an instance of Miami doing almost everything right and Orlando doing almost everything wrong, on both ends. Redick, to his credit, obviously came to play, finishing with 13 points, 5 boards, and 2 steals. But on the whole, the Heat chewed the Magic up and spit 'em out. Orlando rarely plays so uninspired on the road. Incidentally, it's now dropped 3 consecutive away games after an 8-game win streak. The good news, then, is that Orlando finishes out 2009 with 5 straight games at Amway Arena, where they can hope to rediscover their winning ways.

Heat continue to move forward with dominating win over Orlando

DolPhanDave — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:00:40 -0000

by Wilfredo Lee - AP

The Heat were all over the Magic from start to finish

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I don't know what you may have been expecting before Thursday nights showdown with our in-state rivals, but I'm quite certain that what happened on the court of the AAA caught everybody by surprise. Even if you thought Miami was going to come away with the victory, it would be hard to expect that Orlando would get beat that badly. It was all about the Heat, who played pretty amazing from start to finish. Something happens to this team when Q-Rich is in the lineup...

From the opening tip you could tell that the Heat came to play. Quentin Richardson announced his return to the starting lineup by drilling back-to-back threes in the opening minutes. Miami was attacking the boards and creating 2^nd chance opportunities, holding the Magic to just 5 rebounds in the 1^st quarter. The Heat closed out their amazing 1^st with a 10-0 run, and Miami found themselves up by 15.

One of the funniest things I'd seen in a while was when they showed a shot of Stan Van Gundy after the Heat pushed their lead to 18. Those priceless moments are what I miss most about our former coach. Other then Dwight Howard the Magic we're really struggling to keep up with the Heat on both ends, but its just amazing to me how different of a team the Heat are when Quentin Richardson is in the lineup.

Orlando tried making a push at the end of the 2^nd quarter, but every time they hit a shot Miami answered right back. In the final minute, Jason Williams hit back-to-back buckets for the Magic, the last one coming with just 6 seconds left. Carlos Arroyo would respond to J-Dub's run by hitting a three with under a second left, keeping the Heat up 15 into the half.

Whatever scream-fest the Magic had to endure in the locker room wasn't enough to get them playing better then the Heat. D-Wade led the way, but it was a very balanced scoring attack by Miami that was keeping them a step ahead of the Magic. It also helped that the Heat were playing very smart basketball, turning the ball over only twice after 2 ½ quarters.

The final minute of the 3^rd was a Dwyane Wade party. He started by pulling up and hitting a trey to give the Heat a 27-point lead. Nope...not a type-o. Twenty seven. Anyway...shortly after that, Wade came from out of nowhere to block a J.J. Redick layup from behind. A couple of Mario Chalmers free throws later, the Heat took a 29-point advantage into the final quarter. Miami had 21 assists on their 36 baskets while the Magic had only 7 on 23, more proof that the Heat were doing what they wanted offensively.

When the 4^th quarter began, the only starter in the game for either team was Michael Beasley. With both teams utilizing their bench players, the advantage should have lied with the Heat because they still had guys like Chalmers, Haslem and Wright, who are all major contributors. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. After Udonis scored in the first minute, the Heat went cold. Over 4 minutes later, Michael Beasley got the Heat back on the board and luckily for the Heat, Orlando was only able to score 6 points during the dry spell.

A late 10-0 run by the Magic would provide a nice ‘eye rolling' moment for Heat fans, but the overall results were just awesome. A reminder of how good our young squad can play when all the right buttons are being pushed. We all came into tonight expecting (or hoping for) a dogfight, with the Magic likely looking for revenge for the Heat's victory on their home floor a few weeks ago. Instead, the Heat blew out the Magic like a bunch of pin-striped birthday candles.

GAME NOTES

How sweet was Dorell Wright's buzzer beater at the end of the 1^st quarter? The home crowd went absolutely crazy...it was a much needed ‘Heat fan' moment.
A great shooting 1^st half for the Heat: 55% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
I find myself more and more impressed with the improvements in Joel Anthony's offensive game. His hands are softer, his footwork is much better and he is actually putting touch on the ball. It may be safe to say that he is no longer an offensive liability when on the court.
Carlos Arroyo did all the right things for the Heat, running the offense efficiently and racking up the assists. He had 7 dimes last night to go along with 5 points and 4 boards.
Meanwhile, Mario Chalmers was solid coming off the bench. For the time being, the Heat seem better off having the veteran starting and let the sophomore continue to provide quality backup minutes.
Luckily for the Heat it didn't come down to free throws. They hit just 13-of-19.
The Heat's 33 1^st quarter points matched a season-high, and their 15-point lead was the largest advantage after the opening quarter this season.

The Heat now have a couple days off to enjoy their sudden string of good, solid basketball. Portland comes to town for another late afternoon Sunday home game, with tipoff coming at 6pm.

What They're Saying Before the Orlando Magic Face Off Against the Miami Heat

erivera7 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:15:46 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

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Chalmers may have to wait his turn
Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel explains why Heat coach Erik Spoelstra benched point guard Mario Chalmers in favor of Carlos Arroyo.

Apparently, Mario Chalmers didn't escape with just a mere a warning.

Instead, he very much is going to have to go to court to beat this rap.

Wednesday, Chalmers was back working with the second unit, after being stripped of his starting position following one of what apparently have been many late practice arrivals. While it initially appeared that Carlos Arroyo's Tuesday start at point guard was a one-shot deal, that may not be the case.
Evaluating the Evaluator
Michael Wallace of The Miami Herald shares Pat Riley's thoughts "on the team's performance and expectations this season" ...

"I think we're right where we are, with nine other teams, with the opportunity to run past a No. 4 team. So Cleveland is four games ahead of us, and we're four games ahead of the 14th team in the conference. So we're not running place. We're competing like crazy with nine other teams. You can't always get to the next level overnight. We've got a lot of time. There's a lot of time in this season."
Dwyane Wade not immune to Pat Riley's criticism
... and gathers his take on Dwyane Wade.

Riley said Wednesday the team plans to address some concerns about Dwyane Wade's conditioning that might be a factor in the guard's drop-off in production from last season.

``He's not there right now,'' Riley said. ``So I get out of my president's chair and into my coaching chair -- I know he'll probably say I'm nitpicking. His efficiency is down. We'll address what it is we can do to help you maintain that lean, mean scoring machine you were a year ago.'
Vote: How many points will Dwyane Wade score against the Magic tonight?
UPDATE: Tania Ganguli conducts a poll, asking the public whether or not Wade is going to have another big game against the Magic.

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - A "Beastley" Performance

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:00:46 -0000

by Alan Diaz - AP

The Raptors had no answer for the intensity from Michael Beasley or the rest of the Miami Heat last night...

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The most agonizing and maddening season in Raptors' history only 27 games in? After yet another lackluster performance by the Dinos last night, Franchise ponders this question and compares the club to the hapless 2005-06 edition of the team...

Yesterday in his preview of Toronto's match with Miami, Howland compared watching this Raptor team to a bad relationship; games like the one against Houston on Sunday are enough of a tease to keep you hanging around even though the majority of the time, there aren't enough other reasons to justify your continued involvement.

Well, last night's 115 to 95 loss to the Miami Heat sure provided yet another "Exhibit A" to this argument.

Toronto was completely outworked again as Miami snapped a four-game home-slide and sent the Raps off to Orlando with their scaly tails between their legs.

Frankly, I'm running out of words to discuss this team's apathy.

Last night there wasn't a single Toronto player who looked locked-in aside from maybe Sonny Weems as even Chris Bosh, who again carried the team's scoring load with 28 points, had but two rebounds.

And it wasn't as if the team didn't need any more rebounds on the evening; the Raps were clocked on the glass and in the paint, and again, a Raptor opponent was essentially allowed to do whatever they wanted offensively.

Michael Beasley was particularly impressive, torching Andrea Bargnani for most of his 28 points using an array of jump shots, up-and-unders, drives and post-moves. And while Dwyane Wade, usually a Raptor-killer, was somewhat quiet with a measly 19 points on 8 of 19 shooting, he was nursing a sore right wrist and yet you'd never have known it.

And that's really all that needs to be said about last night's game folks as it's the same old story. I mean, I could write the script for tonight's game right now;

"Talented offensive team relies on hot shooting to keep things close for a while, even though defense allows opponent to do whatever they want. Opponent tightens things up defensively, said talented offensive team goes cold, then gets blown out."

Michael Bay, step right up, we've got one for you!

And I'm not even exaggerating here unfortunately. After last Friday's loss to the Hawks, I noted that Toronto had lost by 13 or more points this year on nine occasions already.

Last night made it number 10.

This got me curious as to the team's ineptitude in this capacity so I reached out to the great site, basketball-reference.com to compare this season to date, with Toronto's last great flop; the 2005-2006 season.

You remember that season right?

The one ironically where the Raps' lone win in the first 17 games came over last night's opponent, the Miami Heat?

Well here's a scary fact for you:

In the entire 2005-06 season, the Raps got blown out by 13 or more points 13 times. After 27 games, this current version of the Dinos is already at 10.

At this rate, the 2009-10 edition of the Raptors is going to smash that mark.

And considering how poor the 2005-06 team was, and the "talent" it contained, that previous statement should make you want to either puke, or start burning effigies of Hedo Turkoglu.

Or both.

And it gets worse.

That 2005-06 team lost games by an average of 3 points on the season. The 2009-10 Raptors are losing games by an average of 5 points already this year.

Nope, this is not what you'd call a good trend.

Am I saying for a fact that this current version of the Raptors is worse than the 2005-06 version?

Not exactly - but I think those numbers speak volumes as to the effort, grit, and fight that's lacking from a group that I would argue is massively more talented.

And this is the single-most infuriating thing for me about the team this season.

I expected them to struggle and have chemistry issues etc, etc. But to keep getting blown out in this fashion is ridiculous, and it's extremely hard as a fan to be passionate about a team that rarely displays any themselves!

I mean forget 13 point losses, the Raps have already been beaten by 20 points or more six times!! I love Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson and perhaps even have a bit of a soft spot for Marcus Banks strangely enough, but if we're seeing these guys this much it's not a good thing. I'm not naive. While most readers know I love second round picks and the "undiscovered upside types," these guys for the most part aren't the ones winning you games. These guys should be getting specific role duties or garbage time minutes.

And unfortunately the latter has been far too common so far this season.

So I'm not going to get into "3 keys" for tonight's game against Orlando.

Frankly, there's only one key on the night and for the rest of the season, and that's to show some pride, fight, grit...and other manifestations of testicular fortitude.

Some of this is indeed on the coaching staff, but in my books, the majority still falls on the players. They're the ones out there heaving ill-placed jump shots (ahem Hedo), missing box-outs (ahem Andrea), "protecting" the paint (ahem Bosh)...etc, etc.

It's got to be a team effort and if it doesn't start tonight, this season may end up much like the 2005-06 edition of the Toronto Raptors.

With a trip back to the NBA draft lottery.

Game #23: Toronto Raptors (11-15) vs. Miami Heat (11-11)

DolPhanDave — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:41:31 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

Yeah...this about sums it up

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It isn't often that I don't watch a game. Even when I know the results, and sometimes those results aren't pretty, I'll still watch. This time, however, I wasn't upset that I forgot to set my DVR before heading north to Jacksonville for the Dolphins game.

I kept track of the game for a while on my cell, and even without actually seeing any live game action, two free throws and six turnovers in the first quarter told me all I needed to know. I saw (or read) about Memphis getting to the foul line 17 times before the Heat took their first foul shot, which came with just seconds left in the 1^st quarter.

I had a bad feeling before the game even started though, as I first logged onto Twitter and saw that the Heat's starting small forward was going to be Yakhouba Diawara. Where the hell did that move come from? Spoelstra said after the game that he went with Kooba because he wanted to keep Dorell Wright within his role as the first perimeter guy off the bench, which I can understand.

But we have guys like James Jones and Daequan Cook who could use the minutes much more then Diawara. I think they need to give Cook as many minutes as they can spare because the only way he is going to get better and get out of this funk is by playing through it.

I'm hoping that the Heat use this game as some serious motivation. Immediately following the embarrassing home loss there was a team meeting that was about thirty minutes long. When asked about what was said in the meeting, D-Wade said that he kept quiet and only listened.

Udonis Haslem wasn't as quiet; talking to his teammates about the lack of effort they've put fourth of late, as well as the teams poor record at home. Bet you didn't realize that the Heat were under .500 at home (6-7) and over .500 on the road (5-4).

Looking at tonight's opponent, the Raptors are coming off of one of their better defensive efforts of the season, holding the Houston Rockets to just 88 points on 37% shooting in a 13-point victory. Keep an eye on Chris Bosh, Heat fans. We all know how much Pat Riley loves this guy, and more then likely is going to go after him more then any other free agent.

That being the case, just imagine what it will be like having this amazingly talented and athletic big guy dominating the post area and moving guys around in the paint, creating all kinds of space and lanes for Dwyane Wade to maneuver and score. Yea, I know that its way to early to assume anything...but if Bosh has any kind of inkling about playing in Miami with his boy D-Wade, you better believe that Pat Riley will make it happen.

GAME NOTES

After going 2-2 on a tough west coast road trip, the Heat are 0-2 so far on their 6-game homestand.
Toronto gives up the 2^nd most points in the league, allowing 108.0 points/game but are 6^th in the league in scoring, putting up 104.0 points/game.
On the other hand, Miami is right smack dab in the middle of the pack at points given up, surrendering 98.6. They aren't as good offensively, ranked 22^nd in the association by putting up 97.0.
The Raptors are a perfect 8-0 this season when holding their opponent under 100 points.
The 37 points surrendered by the Heat in the 1^st quarter against Memphis on Sunday was the second most points given up in a quarter this season by Miami. The most? So glad you asked...it was the 43 points scored in the second quarter of the Heat's visit to Toronto on November 20^th.
I wouldn't expect to see Quentin Richardson back in the lineup yet. He is officially listed as doubtful with his strained right hamstring.
For Toronto, guard Jose Calderon (hip) and forward Reggie Evans (foot) are both out.

Tuesday night tipoff from the AAA is set for 7:30.

Heat kick-off homestand by getting shredded by Dallas

DolPhanDave — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:41:19 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

The Heat had no answers for Dirk and the Mavs

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After a relatively long layoff for the Heat, and even longer for Heat fans waiting to see their team in person, this game was an absolute let down. I'm not sure which was harder for the Heat, scoring or defending. Either way, it was embarrassing at times for the home team and now Miami has lost 11 in a row to Dallas. If there ever was a game where you see how important Jermaine O'Neal is to this team...this was that game.

The Heat began this game like a team who hadn't played in a while, looking slow and uninspired. They didn't make a field goal until there was 6:24 left in the 1^st quarter, starting the game 0-for-10. That allowed Dallas to get out to a 13-1 lead, putting the Heat in a big hole before the game really got going. By the time the Heat reached double digits in scoring the Mavs already had 24 points. A late 11-4 run by Miami got them back to within 10 points late in the first quarter, but they still ended up trailing by 12 after 1.

The Heat kept their foot on the gas when the 2^nd quarter started, scoring the first 5 points and using a 9-3 run to close the gap to 6. Miami kept on pushing but their defense was a little suspect. More then once the Heat left men unattended in the paint resulting in easy points for Dallas. While he racks up the blocks, Joel Anthony just isn't the defender that Jermaine O'Neal is, mostly due to his positioning. Anthony did finish the first half with 4 blocks, but that would be the same amount he'd finish the game with.

The Heat were able to get the Mavs lead all the way down to 3, but were unable to get over that final hump. Instead, Dallas used a handful of late free throws to push their lead back up to 6 just in time for halftime. Still, after falling behind by 15 points in the 1^st quarter and being without their starting center, the Heat had to be somewhat pleased with where they were at after the opening half.

The 2^nd half got off to a real crappy start. Miami was taking and missing shots from the outside instead of driving with the ball. Dallas was doing what they wanted on offense and a lot of it had to do with Anthony and Beasley looking lost at times on defense. Dallas pushed their lead back up to 15 with 3:24 left in the quarter when Miami went on an 8-1 run and gained some momentum as the 3^rd quarter drew to a close, but a crucial 5-point swing would prove costly. Udonis Haslem missed a jumper that would've gotten the Heat within 6, then Jason Terry promptly hit a tree-pointer at the other end to put the Mavs up 11 heading into the final quarter.

The Mavs started the 4^th quarter the same way they did the 3^rd, outscoring the Heat early to expand their lead even more. 6 straight points with just under 8 minutes left got Miami back within 11, but their defense was playing so poorly that it was hard to imagine any kind of comeback. The telling stat that indicated the Mavs doing whatever they wanted on offense was that they were assisting on almost every basket.

The Heat never got close in the final period, dropping their record to 11-10 and sending a nice crowd at the AAA home very disappointed. I think this game would've been much different if the Heat had Jermaine O'Neal in the lineup. Erick Dampier absolutely dominated down low, scoring 20 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. He also had 2 blocks, but I was more impressed with his foul shooting. A center that can make free throws....what a concept!

GAME NOTES

Miami started the game just 1-of-14 form the field, then followed it up by making 14 of their next 18 to get back into the game.
Udonis Haslem had his best game in a while, going 6-for-6 for 13 points and 4 boards in the first half. His first miss would come on his 9^th shot, and he finished 9-of-10, good for 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Two other Heat players had double doubles, with Mike Beasley coming away with 16 and 11 and Dwyane Wade finishing with 28 and 11. You could tell at halftime that they would both probably end up with dub-dubs; Wade had 8 boards at the half and SuperCoolBeas had 7.
Wade went 0-for-2 from beyond the arc and has now missed 20 of his last 22 three-pointers.
Dorell Wright played 29 minutes but wasn't really a factor. He did miss another dunk though, which is becoming very annoying. I think he's missed a dunk in each of the past 3 or 4 games.
Dallas finished with 30 assists on 38 field goals. That is an amazing stat for the Mavs, and shows that A- the Mavericks are a great passing team with a lot of offensive chemistry and B- the Heat really let Dallas do whatever they wanted on offense.
The Mavericks have now won 6-srtaight games at the AAA. But hey...we've still got rings.
This loss dropped Miami to 6-6 at home this season after starting 4-0. Their last home win was on November 22^nd against the Hornets, 19 days ago.
Where was Jamaal Magloire? Anyone...? Anyone...? Bueller....?

The Heat get a day to think about this one, then they're back in action on Sunday. Memphis will be the opponent with the usual ‘early' tipoff time coming at 6pm.