SB Nation - Quentin Richardson

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

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.

Game #24: Orlando Magic (19-6) vs. Miami Heat (12-11)

DolPhanDave — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:26:12 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

Dwyane Wade driving with the ball...something we'll hopefully see much more of in the near future.

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If the first game between these two teams is any indication, we're in for some kind of slugfest between these interstate rivals. I'm sure the Magic remember the first meeting with Miami very clearly, likely with that image of Michael Beasley taking the D-Wade airball and slamming it home to win the game burned into their memories.

On top of that, Orlando also will notice that Beasley has been playing the best ball of his young career the past few weeks and is coming off of one of his most productive games of the season. While he hasn't been able to bring that supreme effort every night, the good games outnumber the bad ones and it's starting to become a reasonable expectation for Beasley to have a 20-10 night every game.

The Magic definitely used the last second loss to Miami as inspiration because since that game they've won 8 of 10, including six straight immediately following the Heat victory. The only two losses came on the road, at Utah and at Phoenix. Orlando did play last night at home against Toronto, but the game was never really close as the Magic got out to an 11-point lead after the 1^st quarter and never looked back.

As inconsistent as the Heat have been the past several weeks, a big home win over Orlando would go a long way for both the players and coaches. Coach Spo was quick to point out after Tuesday's win over Toronto that while it was nice, it was just one game. However, should the Heat bring the same kind of effort and intensity tonight against a much better squad in Orlando, it could send a message that these players are ready to start re-claiming the respect they earned over the first couple weeks of the season.

A developing situation this week has been the status of Mario Chalmers. He was relegated to the bench for Tuesday' game after starting all 104 games of his young career. Afterwards, Coach Spoelstra said that it was a one-time thing; a ‘punishment' for Rio being late to the team's shootaround...but that may not be the case.

Chalmers was working with the second team during practice on Wednesday, suggesting that Spoelstra was pleased enough with the play of Carlos Arroyo with the first unit to keep that squad together for another game. When asked about who would be starting for Miami against Orlando, Coach Spo told the media "I'm going to wait and see".

While the ceiling is still high for Chalmers, he still has a ways to go when it comes to running the offense. My main knock on Rio is that too many times he'll bring the ball up the floor and spend way too long dribbling around the perimeter, giving the Heat under 10 seconds to run a play and try getting a favorable look at the rim.

With the offensive weapons that Miami has at their disposal, you want to give them as much time as possible to get the matchup the coaches want. Whether it be trying to isolate D-Wade on the baseline, getting it down low to Jermaine or letting Beasley work with the ball at the elbow, the more time they have to operate, the better.

GAME NOTES

Dwight Howard had 8 blocks last night against Toronto, and has 12 in his last two games. He also had a 7-block game earlier this month against the Clippers.
Forward Matt Barnes is coming off of his best game in a Magic uniform, scoring 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and adding 6 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.
Before scoring 13 points in last nights win, Jason Williams had just 2 points in the previous 3 games combined, shooting 1-for-13 from the field. Also to note, in 7 games played in the month of December J-Will has taken only 2 free throws.
The Heat are just 1-2 on their current six-game homestand.
A win against Orlando will put Miami back over .500 at home, where after starting the season 6-3 they had lost four straight before getting the W against Toronto on Tuesday.
The Magic have lost their last two on the road after winning 8-straight games away from home before that.
D-Wade needs two free throws to tie the Heat franchise record set by Alonzo Mourning.
Quentin Richardson is officially listed as questionable for tonight's game, but even if he does dress I'd expect the Heat to take it very slow with Q.

Tonight the tipoff will be at 8pm from the AAA because the game will be nationally televised on TNT. If you happen to be going to the game, they are giving away car flags so get there a little early if you'd like one.

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.

Game #22: Memphis Grizzlies (9-13) vs. Miami Heat (11-10)

DolPhanDave — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:22:17 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Gross - Getty Images

Welcome back, Jermaine O'Neal.

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I wouldn't say the Heat are desperate for a win, but after the tough loss to Dallas on Friday, this is a team that really need to log a W. Memphis comes to town with a poor 3-9 road record, but they are facing a Miami team that has lost three straight on their home court. At this point, the Heat can't be looking at their opponents record or players, all that is irrelevant. Right now the one and only thing players should be worried about is getting wins. Plain and simple.

The timing is tough for Miami, with a couple starters banged up and playing hurt. Quentin Richardson tried to play through a hamstring injury on Friday but managed to play just six minutes against the Mavs. He'll miss the game tonight and its unknown how long he will have to rest his nagging hammy. It's also unknown who will start for Q. Dorell Wright has been gobbling up minutes of late, but he had a sub-par game against Dallas. It will be either Wright, James Jones (who has already started 5 games for an injured Richardson) or Daequan Cook.

Also injured for the Heat is D-Wade, who hurt his right (shooting) wrist breaking his fall after a failed reverse dunk attempt on Friday. Wade has been getting treatment for his wrist and both he and Coach Spoelstra expect Dwyane to play on Sunday. I see this as a possible blessing in disguise...as maybe Wade will shy away from the long jumpers and drive with the ball more for the ‘easier' looks at the basket.

GAME NOTES

The Heat are averaging just 88.7 points over their last 6 home games.

Memphis had won 3 straight before losing to the Thunder on Friday.

Jermaine O'Neal will be back in the lineup for Miami. He returned to practice with the team on Saturday after missing 2 games due to the passing of his uncle.

The guy to watch on the Grizz is Zach Randolph, who has 4 straight double doubles. In those games he is averaging 23.8 points and 14.8 rebounds.

Tipoff will be 6pm from the AAA, the usual Sunday start time. Hopefully there will be a decent crowd in the Heat's house...

Mavericks Vs Heat: Game 23 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:39:21 -0000

Phil is out tonight so you have me (zdgmans) coming off the bench (don't get used to it). To his credit, he did write part of this post!

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: This is the situation that every Mavericks fan does not look forward to. A young stud point guard with something to prove. While Mario Chalmers is not a Chris Paul he is definitely someone who can score in bunches. Jason Kidd has shown that he can slow down these young bucks but he isn't a lock-down defender by any stretch of the imagination. Look for J Kidd to come out on top while getting some help defense from his friends.

vs.

Mario Chalmers: Mario has had a pretty shaky start this year, there have been a few spectacular nights along the way but for the most part he has struggled on the offensive end, and on several occasions on the defensive end as well. Good PG play is essential for the Heat, without it they must shift Wade to that spot causing their offense to go stagnate. Chalmers has been playing with a sore shoulder for a while now, and who knows how much that it is affecting his play.

Edge: Mavs

Shooting Guard

Jason Terry: JET gets another start in place of Josh Howard or Roddy. I would have been really interested to see Josh get the start to see what sort of defense he could play against Wade but I am sure that it is a bit too early for him to take on the task of guarding the top tier players just yet. This is a definite mismatch for the Mavericks as JET is not one of our best defenders and while he can score he is just no match for Wade's offensive potential.

vs.

Dwayne Wade: Okay I have been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to come up with something to say about D Wade, and well this is all I can come up with... FUCK YOU Wade!

Edge: Heat

Forward

Shawn Marion: Everyone including myself is waiting for Shawn to have a "big" game where he drops 30/10 and just push his defensive assignment around (like the old Matrix). It definitely could happen tonight if Marion decides that he wants to be aggressive with Richardson. Quentin is not a prolific scorer and is only a sub-par defender when it comes to matching up with a player of Marion's talent level. While I can't discount some of the good games he has had, this is a match-up in Marion's favor.

vs.

Quentin Richardson: Deadly in stints but definitely not someone that should be considered a true starting forward (who else do the Heat have though). Quentin has had some good games this year but he is basically at his maximum potential when it comes to this Heat team. Look for Quentin to host up a bunch of early jump shots to try and get himself going.

Edge: Mavs

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: There isn't really much that hasn't already been said about Dirk. The Mavericks franchise player will do his part tonight against the Heat. It seems in Monday's game against the Suns Dirk got some of his scoring touch back (finally breaking the 30 pt barrier after a few bad starts). Look for a continued trend upwards as Dirk pours in a 30+ and 10 performance. Defense is no question here as Michael Beasley is a bit hard to slow when he gets in the zone. Fortunately, Dirk can quickly get the young Beasley in trouble if he is as aggressive with his play as Beasley is with his D.

vs.

Michael Beasley: Is Beasley really a forward? Only a few years removed from college, Beasley is definitely still a bit wet behind the ears. Make no mistake about it, Beasley is a very good basketball player who can score in bunches and defend with a passion but sometimes he lacks focus. This is definitely the year we start to see Beasley mature a bit (now with some of his problems behind him). Although we already know who the match-up goes to in this case, look for Beasley to still have a great game (if he doesn't get into foul trouble).

Edge: Mavs

Center

Drew Gooden: Drew isn't in the game to score but he is in there to bring energy and get the Mavs offensive rebounds. If Gooden decides to be active tonight on the boards he could make a killing (as long as O'Neal is definitely out). Here's to hoping Gooden doesn't decide he wants to take any 15 foot jump shots and instead takes everything close to the basket.

Vs.

Jamaal Magloire: Okay as a backup but definitely not someone you would enjoy starting. Do I really need to say anything more about Jamaal Magloire?

Edge: Mavs

Injuries/Suspensions

Miami Heat

OUT - Jermaine O'Neal (personal reasons)

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Quinton Ross (back)

Prediction: As long as Wade doesn't explode the Mavericks should be able to keep the Heat on low (I made a cooking pun there).

Dallas Mavericks: 110

Miami Heat: 95

Game #21: Dallas Mavericks (15-7) vs. Miami Heat (11-9)

DolPhanDave — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:13:26 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

D-Wade was visibly upset when reminded of the Mavs win streak against Miami.

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After a nice refreshing week off, the Heat will finally return to action tonight back at home against the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs are one of the best teams in the league and got even better in their last game when they welcomed back Josh Howard after the forward missed 13 games with a sore left ankle. The Mavs are playing back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow (@ Charlotte), and the Dallas Morning News is reporting that Howard will play in only one of the two games, but its unknown which he'll play and which he'll sit out.

On the Heat's side of things, they could be without two of their starters. Jermaine O'Neal could miss his second straight game while dealing with family issues in South Carolina. He attended the funeral of his uncle on Thursday and could be back in Miami in time to play tonight, but nobody is sure. Even if J-O does make it in time, his minutes could be limited due to him being away from working out with the team all week.

Another likely game-time decision will be Quentin Richardson, who strained his right hamstring at the end of the third quarter of the Heat's win in Sacramento on Sunday. While there is no tear, the Heat intend to keep it that way which is why they are treating Richardson with ‘kid gloves'. I can't say I disagree...I'd much rather be without Q for a game or two instead of a week or two.

A key matchup will be at the power forward position. Dirk Nowitzki is having another great season, averaging 27.0 points and 8.5 boards, and has been even hotter of late. He's cracked 30 points in his last two games (32, 33) and in one of those games had four blocks and a pair of treys. Guarding Dirk will be a great test for Michael Beasley, who has been showing lots of improvement on the defensive side of the floor but will certainly have his hands full with Nowitzki. Of course there is always Udonis Haslem on the bench as an insurance policy, but if we have to put U-D on Dirk it will seriously cut into Beasley's minutes.

GAME NOTES

Outside of the 06 NBA Finals, the Mavericks have really owned the Heat the past several years. Dallas has swept the 2-game season series with Miami in each of the past 5 years (10 straight wins), and have won 16 of 18 overall.

Doesn't it seem like a long time ago that Shawn Marion was playing for the Heat? Not quite; a year ago he was still playing for the Heat. Now...he starts for the Mavericks.

I can't remember ever thinking to myself the night before a Heat game ‘I can't wait to see what Dorell Wright does tonight', until now that is. I'm honestly quite anxious to see how the not so youngster responds after his best game in years.

Dallas has the 10^th ranked offense in the league averaging 101.7 ppg.

The Mavs are 8-4 on the road, averaging 101.1 ppg. The Heat are 6-5 at home and give up 93.3 ppg.

Tipoff from the AAA is set for 7:30 and that place should be rockin' on a Friday night. The Heat haven't played a home game in almost 2 weeks (12 days to be exact), so the fans should have a lot of built up cheering to let out. Lets Go Heat!!

Stats blog #3: Dorell Wright and Q-Rich heading in the right direction

DolPhanDave — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:28:07 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Yup, Dorell Wright can pass too...

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The last stats blog that I posted a couple days ago was mostly a positive one. Lots of good, encouraging numbers to look at while waiting for the Heat to kick off their nice, long home stand. This time around I've got four guys for us to look at. Two of them are making a big different since being put back in the lineup, and the other two have been struggling a little but not greatly hurting the team.

DORELL WRIGHT

Why am I starting with Dorell Wright? Well to be quite honest, yes he has been playing very well the past few games but that's all that it's been...a few games. It's no certainty that Wright will become an integral part in the Heat's rotation, although the way he has been playing of late may dictate otherwise.

With the Heat desperate to get back to the defensive dominance they showed over the first few weeks of the season, its no shock that Erik Spoelstra is giving D-Wright a shot, and he is making the most of it. Wright played more minutes in each of the last 3 games then any other game this season.

When I was interning with Sun Sports during the 15-win season, I was on and around the court a lot on game days. Something I got used to seeing was Dorell on the floor before anybody else, working on his jumpers. He got better and better, convincing me of his ability to be an unsuspectingly good jump shooter. That was two seasons ago...imagine how much more confident he is in his shot now after working on it that entire time then he was back when I was watching.

In his last three games, Wright has gone 14-of-23 from the field (61%) and hit 3-of-4 from beyond. 2-for-2 from the foul line to go with 11 rebounds (3.6/game), 6 assists (2/game), a steal, a block and some of the best hustle D we've seen in a while. I just hope that he doesn't get lost in the shuffle of players. As high as I've been on James Jones, I'm starting to lean more towards wanting to see Wright on the floor more. He has always been a good defender (long limbed guys usually are) but with the addition of offensive production he could finally begin to show us why he was a 1^st round pick all the way back in 2004. Better late then never? You better believe it!

QUENTIN RICHARDSON

A back injury kept Quentin out of uniform for four games, but he came back healthy and ready to re-claim his position in the starting lineup. I get the feeling that he is starting to understand the importance of being a bit more aggressive on offense, which is key for Q. If you have followed his career at all then you know that Richardson can score, and if we can get ‘offense Q' to merge with ‘defense Q' then we'd have some kind of all-star caliber player on our hands.

In his 4 games since re-claiming the starting SF position, Richardson has shown us that he can indeed be that outside presence most of us envisioned when we first acquired him. He's averaging 14 ppg on 48% shooting, and of his 42 field goals taken, 27 of them are of the three-point variety. 41% from beyond the arc isn't the best percentage, but that is still an average of almost 3 trey/game. Considering that in two of those four games Quentin took double digit three point attempts, it seems that he is starting to understand that getting open on the outside will be a big help for Miami.

Hopefully his good shooting continues beyond the scope of the past four games, as well as his 6.5 rebounds and 2 assists/game. And hey...it wouldn't hurt if he could have 5 steals and 3 blocks every four games as well.

DOWN PRODUCTIVITY

Now I'm not saying that these guys are in the doghouse or anything, but the following players aren't playing nearly as well as they once were this season.

Mario Chalmers- I'm looking at Rio's last four games, as that is when his minutes started going down. The reason for that is because of the lack of offensive production and defensive stinginess coming from the PG position of late, so much so that Dwyane Wade has been manning the point during important phases of the game.

After playing 30+ minutes in 13 of the first 16 games of the season, he has only cracked 30 minutes in 1 of his last 4 games. He is shooting just 9-for-21 in those games (43%) and 5-of-13 from 3-point range (38%). The rest of his numbers are also pretty low for a starting PG: 1.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists are low, as is the 6.8 ppg total. The only plus is the 1.3 steals/game. Chalmers is still young with a whole heap of potential, so I see this as nothing more then a speed bump in the sophomore's progression.

The other guy whose numbers are down is Udonis Haslem. I've got back 6 games on Udonis and everything other then his foul shooting and steals are down when compared to his season average. 8.2 points on 44% shooting and just 4.2 rebounds are nowhere near the numbers of U-D for the most part of the young season. If you recall, just last season it took Udonis several months to get his long-range jumper to fall with its normal consistency, so I have no doubt that he'll bounce back sooner then later.

Stats blog #2: Coming home on a hot streak

DolPhanDave — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:02:47 -0000

More photos » by Steve Yeater - AP

D-Wade has been getting to the foul line much more frequently of late, something that bodes well for the Heat.

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Here we go with stats blog #2. The Heat have been slacking defensively but picking it up on the offensive end. They have fallen out of the top-10 in both opponents scoring (97.3) and three-point shooting percentage (34.6%) but are still ranked 6^th in field goal percentage against (44.2%). Very slowly the Heat have been getting back to doing the right things on D, and I think the use of Wade at point guard in crucial minutes, as well as the return of Quentin Richardson and the re-emergence of Dorell Wright are serious contributing factors.

Switching back to offense, a few guys have been taking it up a notch the past couple weeks so naturally we'll take a look at their numbers. The first three guys are all starters, which is very good. I'd much rather have my starters, the guys getting the majority of the minutes, to be playing the best.

DWYANE WADE

Wade is having an interesting year, to say the least. A lot of criticism has fallen on Dwyane because of how many long-range jumpers he is taking instead of just driving with the ball and getting to the foul line, which has been his bread and butter for the past several years.

Looking at his last five games the thing that I must point out is that all of these numbers are improvements over the five previous games. Wade is shooting 46% from the field, averaging 26.8 ppg and while he's only shot 71% from the foul line, he is getting to the line 12.4 times/game in the last 5 and 15.7 times/game in the last 3. Compare that to just 7.4 free-throws/game in the 5 games leading up...

The rest of his stat line is impressive as well: 6.4 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1 steal and 1.4 blocks. All we can hope for is that the numbers remain steady and Wade keeps pushing.

MICHAEL BEASLEY

Beasley has been very good ever since back-to-back rough games against Oklahoma City and the Nets. Since then, Beasley has scored in double digits in 10 straight games, including two double doubles.

However, in his last five games Beas has looked even better, showing confidence with the ball in his hands and proving to be a formidable first scoring option when D-Wade is resting on the bench. His average points (18.8), field goal% (53%), free throw% (84%), rebounds (9.4) and assists (1.2) are all well above his season averages.

JERMAINE O'NEAL

Before the season began I tagged Jermaine O'Neal as the wild card for the Heat. From that standpoint, he has more then exceeded my expectations and has been a model for consistency for the Heat. The biggest knock on him from last year was the lack of rebounding, but that problem is now moot. Looking at his last six games, J-O has stayed hot from the field, shooting 55% but has struggled from the foul line. On the year his free-throw average has been 61%, but a much worse 46% of late.

His other numbers are all big improvements however, starting with his rebounding and assists. How about 11.6 rebounds/game and 2.0 assists/game to go along with 1.6 blocks/game, all higher then his season averages.

HOT HEAT SHOOTERS

In my last stats blog I mentioned that the Heat had four guys shooting over 50%. While the players are different, the statement remains the same....sort of. We'll start with the guy whose leading the pack. None other then the ‘big cat' Jamaal Magloire. That is, of course, if in order to be eligible for this honor you make the minimum amount of shots taken to be six. Magloire is 5-of-6 from the field on the season, in just three games.

Getting back to reality, Jermaine O'Neal still sits at the top of the list, shooting 56%. A nice surprise is right behind J-O, and while the sample size is small its still notable that Dorell Wright has hit 20 of his 36 shots, including 6-of-10 from three-point range. That's 56% and 60% to go with the great defense he's been opening a lot of eyes with.

Wright has always been known as a great defender, but while he's been hiding the past few seasons, he has been working extremely hard on his shot. Should he continue to hit them, you better believe that D-Wright will be stealing minutes away from James Jones and Quentin Richardson. Oh, and have you noticed the on-court chemistry between Wright and Dwyane Wade?

The final 50% shooter is none other then Mario Chalmers, who has hit 50.4% of his field goals this season. He's taken about 100 more shots then Dorell Wright, so obviously the consistency is there. The troubling thing is that Rio only takes 6.8 shots a game. When your point guard can shoot at or around 50%, it should be a priority to get him move involved in the offense.

Of course, there is only so much ball to go around. The Heat have several guys who are lethal with the ball in their hands and Chalmers isn't high on that list. Mario has to learn to get the offense going a bit quicker too; there have been too many times where I've seen the Heat just standing still on offense and not get a play going until the shot clock is in single digits.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at a couple guys who could be on the brink something big for both themselves and the Heat, as well as a pair of guys in need of a jolt.

Preview: Heat at Kings

Ziller — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:00:16 -0000

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THE OPPONENT

For all the worry about the toughness of this stretch (guilty!), Miami actually isn't that much better than the Kings. The Heat come in 10-9, with a points differential of -0.37 and an SRS of +0.34, 14th in the league. The Heat offense is ranked 18th, the Heat defense is ranked 18th. This has been a thoroughly average team so far.

Our Kings, of course, are 9-9, with a points differential of +0.11 and an SRS of -0.30, 15th in the league. Sacramento hosts the 6th-ranked offense and the 23rd-ranked defense. This match-up is really, really even. On paper, the Kings have the advantages: ARCO Arena is the site, and starting Heat center Jermaine O'Neal is out. O'Neal has had a bit of a renaissance season, playing 32 minutes a game, and contributing 14/8/1.2 for the Heat. His back-up is Joel Anthony, who is a great shotblocker but happens to do most other things quite poorly. Miami could also use a Udonis Haslem/Michael Beasley frontcourt, considering how strong a defender Haslem has been opposite 7-footers (like Dirk Nowitzki in the 2006 Finals, for one example) in the past. For what it's worth, Erik Spoelstra told the Miami Herald that Jamaal Magloire could get "a dose of extended action" in Sacramento. Like Anthony, Magloire is not very good these days. (The Kings have always been good at making "not very good" opposing big men look like All-Stars, of course).

The Heat are mediocre on the offensive glass and a bit above average on the defensive glass. I think the Kings can win the rebound percentages tonight. It could be a matter of hitting shots.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Dwyane Wade	19	38.4	8.7	20.7	42.2	0.9	3.8	24.7	8.3	10.9	75.5	1.1	4.2	5.2	5.8	3.3	1.8	1.2	2.6	26.7
Michael Beasley	19	31.8	5.9	13.4	44.5	0.4	1.9	21.6	2.8	3.3	85.7	2.1	4.7	6.8	0.9	1.7	0.8	0.6	2.9	15.2
Jermaine O`Neal	18	31.8	5.9	10.6	56.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	2.4	3.9	61.4	1.8	6.2	8.1	1.6	1.5	0.4	1.2	3.8	14.3
Udonis Haslem	17	29.1	4.1	9.0	45.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.1	2.9	71.4	2.6	5.2	7.8	0.9	1.1	0.3	0.4	2.2	10.3
Mario Chalmers	19	30.7	3.6	6.9	51.5	1.4	3.6	39.7	1.5	2.1	72.5	0.3	1.6	1.9	4.0	1.8	1.5	0.2	2.7	10.1
Quentin Richardson	15	28.7	3.1	6.6	46.5	1.6	3.9	41.4	0.3	0.3	80.0	0.8	4.2	5.0	1.3	1.1	0.7	0.2	2.7	8.0
Daequan Cook	12	17.6	2.0	6.7	30.0	1.2	3.7	31.8	1.2	1.3	87.5	0.2	2.3	2.5	1.1	0.7	0.3	0.2	1.0	6.3
James Jones	11	21.2	1.5	3.9	37.2	1.3	3.2	40.0	1.0	1.4	73.3	0.4	1.7	2.1	1.0	0.4	0.3	0.0	1.8	5.2
Carlos Arroyo	18	15.2	1.8	3.9	47.1	0.1	0.2	33.3	0.8	1.1	78.9	0.4	1.1	1.5	1.8	0.8	0.2	0.1	1.4	4.6
Jamaal Magloire	3	9.7	1.7	2.0	83.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	1.3	25.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	0.0	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.7	3.7
Dorell Wright	12	10.8	0.9	1.9	47.8	0.4	0.8	55.6	0.2	0.2	100.0	0.2	1.4	1.6	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.8	2.4
Joel Anthony	18	12.9	0.8	1.9	44.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.9	58.8	1.3	1.2	2.5	0.3	0.7	0.1	1.1	1.9	2.2
Shavlik Randolph	2	11.5	0.5	3.5	14.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5	2.0	3.5	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	2.5	1.0
Yakhouba Diawara	1	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0

THE KEY BATTLE

Dwyane Wade vs. Tyreke Evans. No word on line-up adjustments from Paul Westphal -- in the backcourt, the Heat are a bit traditional with Mario Chalmers at the point. Quentin Richardson isn't terribly undersized at small forward (especially not against the Kings), and Wade creates problems for any defender or opposing offensive player. I figure that Evans and Wade will match up some, and it'd be a joy to see them go mano a mano down the stretch. Evans has to watch his dribble, or Wade will be darting the other way on repeat.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Dwyane Wade will hit the floor at some point.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 2.

DETAILS

The Sunday 6PM tip-off. KHTK 1140 AM on radio and Comcast SportsNet on TV. Game thread at 6, post-game thread at 8:45, recap blinking on a gutter.

Lakers-Heat Preview

DexterFishmore — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:00:25 -0000

The Miami Heat look like a team that's ready to get owned. They arrived in Los Angeles early this morning having absorbed an 18-point nutshot in Denver last night. When they play at Staples this evening, it'll be their sixth game in 10 days. The six opponents they'll have faced in that stretch have a combined winning percentage of 0.694. Of the Heat's last four wins, three have come by a single point, including "victories" over NBA speedbags New Orleans and, ahem, New Jersey.

Also, their opponent tonight is the Lakers, who are rested and vibing on a streak of seven straight blowouts.

Other than that, this matchup looks great for Miami.

Tonight will be the first time this year the Lakers have seen the Heat up close, but their roster isn't much different than when we all last hung out. It's still Dwyane Wade, a couple respectable supporting players, and then trash all the way down. As you'll recall, team president Pat Riley tried to poach Lamar Odom over the summer. Tried, and failed.

It feels like Wade's been in the league a decade, but he's still only 28 and he remains a stellar talent. His production this year has, however, slipped from "unbelievably awesome" to merely excellent. From last season's MVP-caliber numbers, his assist rate is down and his shooting is way down. Wade's effective field-goal percentage has fallen from 52% last year to only 45% this year.

A look at his shot-location chart at HoopData reveals the problem: Wade isn't getting to the rim nearly as much. In 2008-09 he attempted 7.5 shots at the rim per game, a rate that's dropped to 6.1 per game - still good but not otherworldly. All those layups and dunks are being replaced by midrange looks out to 15 feet, where he (like most everyone else) isn't as proficient. He's also going through a serious three-point slump, having made only 2 of 18 over the past five games. Wade has remained highly productive because he gets to the free-throw line at an insane rate and does so many other things well aside from scoring, but he's not playing like a Jordanesque talent capable of plucking a road win from the Lakers.

Miami's second option on offense is highly decorated weed aficionado Michael Beasley. The Beez can score some, but his per-game average of 15+ overstates his value because he uses so many possessions to get there. For some reason he thinks he's a three-point shooter and will jack up a couple per game. This is great news for Heat opponents because he's been hitting less than 25%.

Starting point guard Mario Chalmers and center Jermaine O'Neal are decent role-players, nothing more. Chalmers doesn't use a lot of possessions, but he's an important cog in the Miami offense. With him on the floor, they've scored 14 points more per 100 possessions than when he's on the bench. O'Neal's enjoying a modest bounce-back season, and good on him for that. He's nonetheless likely to get worked by Andrew Bynum.

(Remember when the Lakers almost traded Bynum for O'Neal? Yikes.)

O'Neal is backed up by Udonis Haslem, who has his uses, but the rest of the Heat rotation is beyond feeble. Quentin Richardson or James Jones, neither of whom should be getting minutes in the NBA, will start at small forward. Somehow they make about $12 million combined. Q Rich has played almost 400 minutes this year and attempted only one free throw, which he missed. Daequan Cook plays 18 minutes a night but still finds time to jack up 4-5 threes every game. He makes less than a third of those attempts and shoots even worse on his twos. You have to admire his self-confidence, I guess.

(Seriously, the next time you're pissed off about the Lakers' bench, go look at the numbers for some other teams. There is a lot of nastiness out there. Bad benches are the rule in the NBA, not the exception.)

Miami will have to deal with at least two other problems that jump out at me from the numbers. One is that their defense is really starting to crack. In the table below, I've listed their points allowed per possession in each of their last five games. The league average, keep in mind, is slightly less than 1.07 PPP.

Opponent	PPP Allowed
Orlando	1.09
Washington	1.08
Boston	1.06
Portland	1.15
Denver	1.24
Weighted Average	1.12

Wade and Chalmers make up a pretty good defensive backcourt, but O'Neal isn't nearly the defender he once was, and Beasley is downright awful. As we've already seen in so many games this year, Bynum and Pau Gasol are going to get a ton of excellent looks. Miami can mitigate the problem by subbing in Haslem for Beasley, but that move comes at an obvious cost on offense. Against this Lakers team, there's just nowhere to hide a bad frontcourt defender.

The other big problem is that Miami is one of the jump-shootingest teams in the league, and they're going to be playing tonight on dead legs. Thanks again to HoopData, we know they take fewer shot attempts at the rim per game than any other squad. Having played at altitude yesterday and traveled overnight, the Heat could be in for a hugely sucky shooting performance.

If absolutely everything were clicking and Wade were in vintage form, I could imagine Miami giving the Lakers a game. At the moment, thought, the conditions just aren't right - quite the opposite, in fact. This looks to me like another tasty beatdown waiting to happen.

I can think of worse ways to start the weekend.

	Lakers	Heat
*RECORD*	14-3	10-8
*NET POINTS PER GAME*	+8.1 (3rd)	-0.3 (16th)
*PACE*	98.3 (6th)	93.2 (27th)
*OFFENSIVE RATING*	104.6 (14th)	103.7 (17th)
Turnover Rate (Off.)	13.3% (11th)	13.1% (7th)
FTA/FGA (Off.)	0.26 (25th)	0.33 (9th)
Free-Throw %	74.4 (19th)	75.4 (16th)
Effective FG% (Off.)	50.4 (13th)	49.2 (20th)
True Shooting% (Off.)	53.9 (15th)	53.8 (17th)
Off Rebounding Rate	27.1% (13th)	25.0% (23rd)
*DEFENSIVE RATING*	96.6 (2nd)	101.7 (10th)
Turnover Rate (Def.)	14.6% (11th)	13.4% (17th)
FTA/FGA (Def.)	0.26 (5th)	0.32 (21st)
Effective FG% (Def.)	45.7 (1st)	48.1 (7th)
True Shooting% (Def.)	50.2 (1st)	52.6 (11th)
Def Rebounding Rate	72.6 (19th)	73.7 (13th)

All statistical terms defined here. Parentheses indicate league rankings. Numbers are courtesy of Basketball Reference and HoopData and, except for record and net points per game, are through Wednesday night's action.