SB Nation - Daequan Cook

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

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...

Game #19: Miami Heat (10-9) vs. Sacramento Kings (9-9)

DolPhanDave — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:42:06 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

It's ok Jermaine, we'll see you back in the 305.

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Tonight the Heat will wrap up their 4-game western road trip (which has felt more like a 2-week marathon) in Sacramento. The Heat are in danger of moving to .500 for the first time this season, and this coming after a 6-1 start. Granted, it isn't unheard of for a good team to drop 5-games over the course of a couple weeks, but still it kinda sucks.

The Kings are fresh off a road loss last night in Phoenix, in which they we're outscored by 9 in the 4^th quarter and ended up losing by 8. Sound familiar? Maybe with the road game last night the Kings will be a bit more tired then the Heat. I know that some of the Heat players were ‘relaxing' last night because around 1-2am our time I was watching Michael Beasley, Daequan Cook and Mario Chalmers on ustream.com. They were just chillin', watching Hannah Montana and answering some of the ridiculous questions being asked by the 115-or so viewers. It was funny for a while but when Beasley started singing I had to go...

Starting at center tonight for the Miami Heat...Joel Anthony! Nope, not a type-o. Jermaine O'Neal had to fly to South Carolina to deal with his ongoing family emergency, which I was under the impression was a very sick relative. Either way, it will be Anthony with a side of Magloire tonight in Sac Town.

Maybe a return to local T.V. is just what the Dr. ordered for the Heat. They have been on National broadcasts the past couple games, but tonight its just Sun Sports for us. Yes...I realize that this is pretty absurd to be suggesting, but apparently there have been several ridiculous comments on this page the past few days.

GAME NOTES

Sacramento is a very tough home team, winning 4 straight at Arco Arena and holding an 8-2 home record on the season.

However, the Kings are 1-2 on the second night of back-to-backs.

More record stats! The Heat have won 10 of 12 against Sacramento, and 4 of 5 at Arco.

The Kings will be without Kevin Martin, who is still about 6 weeks away from returning from a wrist injury, and forward Francisco Garcia, also dealing with wrist problems.

Remember Andres Nocioni? He drilled four 3-pointers last night for the Kings.

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.

Kevin Garnett leads Boston to late victory over the Heat

DolPhanDave — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:55:23 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

Notice the Paul Pierce stiff-arm on Ray Allen?

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Nobody would call this game unentertaining, but once again the end result is sour for Heat fans. This time it was a lack of someone stepping up down the stretch for the Heat, as Boston was able to get key buckets from Kevin Garnett in the final minutes, but really their entire team contributed to the nice road win.

A great start for the Heat with Jermaine O'Neal drilling back-to-back jumpers and D-Wade getting a block on Ray Allen on the Celtics first offensive possession. The early success was short lived for Jermaine, who committed two quick fouls and was on the bench less then 90 seconds into the game. He was replaced by Joel Anthony who also picked up two quick fouls, which prompted the entrance of Udonis Haslem.

Meanwhile, it took D-Wade about 3 minutes to get off his first shot, a 21-foot jumper that he missed. The next time Wade had the ball he drove the baseline, spinned inside and sunk the shot off glass. Soon after he received a nice pass from James Jones, drive right down the middle and put down a nasty 2-hand jam. Think maybe something clicked in his head?

With both teams shooting so well early in the game (Boston 6-of-7, Miami 6-of-9) there were only three total rebounds brought down by both teams combined over 6 minutes into the game. Early on this game had all the indications of a high-scoring slug fest. The Heat were able to escape the first quarter with a 31-29 lead; Miami finished the quarter shooting 55%, Boston finished shooting 75%.

The back and forth game continued throughout the second quarter, with both teams getting buckets from all over the roster. The game was tied at 41 with about 4 minutes left but Boston outscored Miami 14-7 over that span and went into halftime with a 55-48 lead.

The second half began as a complete opposite of the first half with both teams struggling from the field. Dwyane Wade seemed to be intent on bringing the Heat back himself, scoring the first 6 points of the half for Miami. The Heat scored 8 straight en route to a 14-3 run to tie the game at 62. The tying bucket came on a sick pass by D-Wade (after getting blocked by Ray Allen) to Mike Beasley for his second big jam of the game. The Heat were playing some supreme D in the 2^nd half, especially on the outside.

The fourth quarter began with another Mike Beasley putback slam to tie the game at 67. That was just the beginning for Beas as he rattled off the first 11 points for the Heat, putting them ahead 76-72. Rajon Rondo responded for Boston with back-to-back layups, tying the game with 6 minutes left.

The game was again tied with under 3 minutes left when Kevin Garnett started making some plays. A nice pass to Kendrick Perkins for a dunk to put Boston up 2, then after a Jermaine O'Neal free throw, Garnett hit a long J to put the Celtics up 3. Next possession for Boston was a Ray Allen trey and suddenly the lead was at 6 with just 98 seconds left.

Dwyane Wade brought the Heat within 4 with a pair of free throws, and after a defensive stop at the other end, Jermaine O'Neal missed an easy dunk but got fouled. What could've brought the Heat within 2, instead turned into a couple missed free throws for J-O. Of course after the missed free points, you knew that Boston would score on the other end and Kevin Garnett did just that, putting the Celts up by 6 again, this time with just 38 seconds left. That would prove to be the dagger for Boston. Ugh...road trip here we come.

GAME NOTES

I'd say a big part of the loss was the Heat shooting just 61% from the charity stripe.

It's a shame that the only thing people will remember about Jermaine O'Neal from this game were the two free throws he missed with 1:08 left. Overall he had a very good game despite being in foul trouble for a good part of the first half. He finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

When oh when will we get a consistent Daequan Cook? He was way off tonight, airballing a few, missing his two attempts from beyond and his only free throw as well.

All five Boston starters scored in double digits, led by Kevin Garnett's 24 points.

D-Wade had a solid game, but when you are as good as Dwyane games like this are not good enough. A solid stat line of 27 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block...but he still disappeared for big chunks of time throughout the game.

It had been a while since I'd seen Boston play, and I was very impressed with the range of Kevin Garnett. Maybe it's a common thing, I don't know...but he drilled several J's from just inside the three-point line.

Another start for James Jones and another very disappointing result. All 4 of his points came on free throws as he went 0-5 from the field and 0-4 from beyond.

Quentin Richardson briefly returned for Miami, playing 9 minutes and missing both his shots.

The Heat will now embark on a 4-game western road-trip, beginning in Portland on Tuesday. Late night tipoff is at 10pm. The rest of the trip has the Heat visiting Denver on Thursday, the Lakers on Friday and Sacramento on Sunday.

Relax, Heat fans...things aren't as bad as they seem.

DolPhanDave — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:10:26 -0000

by J Pat Carter - AP

J-O is one of four Heat players shooting over 50% this season.

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I feel there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Heat lately, and understandably so. Over the past couple weeks the Heat have only won two of their last six games, barely scraping by in the two victories. Now I'm sure that most of us will agree that a major lapse in the team's defense is the reason for the sudden string of under .500 play. I thought that I'd try and spread a little sunshine on the situation because quite frankly, the ship can get righted just as quickly as things began going wrong.

You guys know how much I love stats, so I did some digging and found some offensive numbers that should have most of you seeing the growing bright side of the Heat's recent play. Before I get into it, I'll say this: I'm not trying to ignore the defensive problems that have emerged, but I believe that they will get fixed relatively quickly.

Getting Quentin Richardson and Udonis Haslem back into the mix will help a lot, but overall I think players were getting a little too content with how well were going on D. When that happens, the hustle gets a little less frequent and players start trying to defend with their hands instead of their feet. The defensive minded Heat coaching staff will make sure everyone gets back on track...just give them a few practices and film sessions.

Shifting our focus back to the offensive side of things, there are a few players who have been putting up some great numbers on a consistent level and I've got the stats to back it up. I was going to use our five starters, but its no secret that Quentin Richardson hasn't been the offensive force that he has been in years past, despite hitting some big shots already this season. Instead I'm going to focus on the other four starters and one bench player.

DWYANE WADE

He started the year struggling with his jumper, and then more recently has not gotten to the foul line as much as usual. I've also gotten on his case for taking way too many ill advised three-pointers. Looking at his numbers over the past week, the only thing that needs to get a little better are the free throw attempts.

Last 3 games: 28-of-63 from the field (44%), 6-of-14 from 3-point range (43%) and 14-of-19 from the foul line (74%). All three are big improvements on his early numbers, and just by watching him you can see that lately he has seemed much more comfortable shooting from the outside. He has also been contributing elsewhere, with 17 boards, 16 assists, 3 steals and 5 blocks in the last 3 games.

MICHAEL BEASLEY

Sticking with the last 3 games, Beasley is another guy who has quietly been improving on all his early season numbers. I know I give him a lot of grief for not consistently being able to finish when he drives, but he has still been making a huge difference for Miami.

23-of-36 from the field (50%), 2-of-3 from beyond the arc (67%) and 11-of-12 from the foul line (92%) are all really good numbers. He is also averaging 10 rebounds/game over the last three. Slowly but surely, Beasley is maturing into a hell of a power forward, and his body is still growing, as is his knowledge of how to play and succeed in the NBA.

JERMAINE O'NEAL

For the next three players we're expanding our viewing range to the last four games, and starting things off with the big guy. Before getting to the stats, I could have probably taken a look at his offensive numbers from any four games this year and they still would be impressive, but the main thing I wanted to bring attention to here is his rebounding, which slowly has been decreasing.

26-of-46 from the field (57%) and 11-of-16 (69%) from the foul line. On the season he is shooting over 57% from the field, which is just awesome. Getting to the boards, he's got 25 over the last four games which is 6.3 per game, one below his season average of 7.3. Since he has played in 12 games, lets look at his rebounding in groups of four games at a time.

Over the first four games of the season O'Neal pulled down 33 boards, an 8.3 per/game average. The next four games he snared 29 boards; a 7.3 average over those four games, which moved his season average down to 7.8 a game. As I mentioned before, in his 4 most recent games J-O has only 25 rebounds, which is 6.3 per game. This moved his season average down to 7.3. While his shooting has been amazing, hopefully he'll catch himself before letting his rebounding numbers continue to decline.

MARIO CHALMERS

There hasn't really been much attention paid to Rio this season, be it positive or negative. I don't see this as a bad thing because last season Chalmers was focused on a lot when talking about defensive weaknesses on the team. While he still has a ways to go, he is no longer consistently getting beat off the dribble and his perimeter coverage has gotten significantly better.

Offensively he has just started to get more aggressive and the benefits are showing. He has a quick little first step and almost always finishes when he gets to the rim, often times dunking the ball. To the stats we go...

In the last four games he's gone 20-for-36 (56%) from the field, 8-of-19 (42%) from 3-point range but just 9-of-14 (64%) from the foul line. On the year he's shooting 53% from the field and 44% from beyond, but he takes just 6.9 shots/game. In the last four games however, he is taking 9 shots/game and making them at a slightly higher percentage.

And while he may be taking a few more shots per game, it hasn't effected his production in other areas. 12 rebounds, 18 assists and 5 steals in four games should have a lot of people happy with his all-around performance, and hopefully he'll continue to play as well all-around as he has over the past week or so.

DAEQUAN COOK

Dae-Dae is having a rough start to his season. While he missed five games due to a shoulder injury, I'd say that he played in another 3 games in which the injury was affecting his productivity. His minutes have been wavering over the last four games as Erik Spoelstra is likely waiting for his shooting stroke to get back to normal. Still, we take a look at numbers not as much to enjoy, but more to see his struggles because we all know what kind of shooting he is capable of.

10-of-29 (34%) from the field, 7-of-21 (33%) from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 (89%) from the charity stripe. Sure, he's the only player other then Beasley who has given us really good foul shooting numbers, his overall shooting is just atrocious. The worst part is that these numbers are actually better then his overall season stats. He's shooting just 28% from the field and 29% from 3-point range on the season.

While he really needs to get his shot going, it shouldn't be very difficult for him to improve on both his early season numbers from this year and his final stats from last year, when he shot 37% from the field and 38% from 3. The one bright side of Cook's play this year has been his rebounding. He is pulling down 3.3 boards a game this year which is almost a full rebound more then his average last year (2.5). He also has 5 or more rebounds in three of his eight games this season.

I hope that this first ‘stat blog' of the season has given you all a closer look into how despite the Heat have been falling in the standings, there are still some things that indicate why the Heat will get back to their winning ways as opposed to a continued slide.

Individually, Michael Beasley and Jermaine O'Neal are playing some great offensive basketball. Dwyane Wade is in the process of getting back to his 30+ ppg routine. Then there is Mario Chalmers, who is giving us very little to complain about in the early season. Daequan has a ways to go, but there isn't as much pressure on his this season as there was a year ago. Coming off a bench littered with good shooters (Haslem, Jones and Carlos Arroyo, who is shooting 51%) will allow Cook to find his rhythm and get his minutes back without hurting the teams overall performance.

Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade lead Heat back to victory

DolPhanDave — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:35:35 -0000

by Alan Diaz - AP

Get up here and high-5 me Rio

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As the game began there was one thing I was looking at and that was how the Heat would look defensively. After getting a turnover on their first defensive possession, Miami committed back-to-back fouls resulting in 5 points. Meanwhile at the other end Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley both failed to finish on seemingly easy layup attempts. My main knock on Beasley remains the same...he needs to be able to finish drives consistently.

Jermaine O'Neal was very active early in the game, scoring 6 of the Heat's first 12 points. Then on back-to-back plays he was fouled and despite them not counting, hit a couple tough shots. Definitely the most active he'd been in the 1^st quarter of a game since opening night. A scary moment though as O'Neal was seen heading into the Heat's locker room with 3 minutes left in the quarter, but he would return soon after.

Mario Chalmers was all over the place in the first quarter, showing us how good he can be when he gets aggressive with the ball. He had 7 early points, slashing and cutting all over the floor. D-Wade was also super active in the 1^st half, playing like the superstar he is. 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the opening half for Wade, who hit his only three-point attempt and stepped it up defensively with two blocks.

The Heat continued scoring at will in the 2^nd half led by D-Wade, who was getting in the paint much more then he had been in the past week. Maybe a little too aggressive (if that's possible for Wade) as he missed 3 dunks, throwing them down a little too hard and clanking the ball off the back iron.

Turnovers were becoming a problem for Miami and that is what was keeping the Hornets in the game. Half way through the 3^rd quarter the Heat already had 10 turnovers. New Orleans was being led by Marcus Thornton, who scored 5 big points at the end of the quarter. Overall New Orleans used a 10-2 run to close out the 3^rd, drawing within 3 points of the Heat.

The 4^th quarter began pretty poorly for Miami. A missed shot and a turnover for Miami turned into 4 quick points and the lead for New Orleans. It didn't last though as Michael Beasley hit his first trey of the game to put the Heat back up by 2, but then the back and fourth game continued when former Heat player James Posey hit back-to-back triples, and half way thorough the fourth the Heat were down by 5. Maybe the 4^th quarter wouldn't have gotten so exciting if the Heat hadn't missed 7 of their first 9 field goals, but I digress...

Bringing the Heat right back was D-Wade who continued his dominance. He hit a couple of treys to get the Heat back in front, the first time this season Wade made more three-pointers then he missed. As the game winded down the Hornets kept shooting from beyond the arc and Peja Stojakovic hit a big one to put N.O. up by 2 in the final minute.

Responding for Miami was Udonis Haslem, tying the game up at 100 with 44 seconds left. Then after Marcus Thornton hit one-of-two from the foul line, Udonis hit another huge jumper, this one off glass, to put the Heat up by 1 with under 15 seconds left. The Heat would then clamp down defensively, forcing David West to take an ill advised jumper (to put it nicely) at the end. The shot didn't fall and the Heat would get a much needed win.

The Heat hit just 6 field goals in the 4^th quarter but still managed to come away with the ‘W'. Michael Beasley and Dwyane Wade each had a pair of triples and Udonis Haslem hit the two BIG jumpers in the final minute. Wade finished with 31 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Beasley finished one rebound shy of his 3^rd double double this year, recording 17 points and 9 boards. It was the third time this season that Beasley came up one rebound short of a double double, and his average of 6.2 per game is almost a full board more then he averaged last season (5.4).

GAME NOTES

The Heat put up 59 points in the first half (on 57% shooting), their highest scoring output in a half this season.

Finally the Heat were able to win a game when allowing their opponent to score 100 points. Defensively, Miami held New Orleans to just 39% shooting, but the Hornets hit 12 three pointers which kept them in the game.

With his second trey of the 4^th quarter Dwyane Wade tied Steve Smith for 13^th on the Heat's all-time 3-pointers list.

Jermaine O'Neal had a tough rebounding night, finishing with just 4. He was stuck on just two boards for a while, grabbing two more in the games final 5 minutes.

Daequan Cook came down with an uncharacteristic 6 rebounds in limited minutes but still found himself on the bench during ‘crunch time'. It's going to take a little while before Spoelstra feels comfortable with Cook on the floor down the stretch; maybe when he starts drilling shots on a consistent basis.

Quentin Richardson missed his second straight game with a lower back strain. He's listed as questionable for the Heat next contest on Wednesday in Orlando.

Cavs outlast Heat after Wade and LeBron put on hell of a show

DolPhanDave — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:11:37 -0000

The result may not have been what Heat fans were hoping for, but the first Wade-LeBron match up of the season lived up to the expectations. The two superstars combined for 70 points, but it was James who got the last laugh. He shut the door on Miami himself, scoring the Cavs final 8 points over the last 2:42 of the game and keeping the Heat's comeback at bay.

As impressive as his offensive domination was LeBron's defense. He has such long arms and legs that, when combined with his supreme athleticism, make James one of the top man on men defenders in the NBA.

While on the subject of defense, Udonis Haslem has always been one of the Heat's best defenders but it may not have been such a good idea for Erik Spoelstra to put him on LeBron James. After Quentin Richardson was called for two early fouls, Spo put U-D on King James and two quick fouls later it was Dorell Wright coming off the bench to defend James. D-Wright did a good job on LeBron and on offense as well in his limited minutes.

Michael Beasley had a decent game, stretching the floor offensively by drilling a few outside jumpers and driving the ball when he could. My knock on Beasley is that he hasn't finished well when attacking the rim, often getting himself in a situation where he has two or three defenders around him. Too many bad looking forced shots from inside the paint for my liking...but we know that Beasley is a work-in-progress.

GAME NOTES

Beasley finished with 24 points and 6 rebounds. He hit 2-of-5 three-pointers and hit all four of his free throws.

How about the Cavs winning @ Orlando and @ Miami on back-to-back nights? I think its safe to say that Cleveland has gotten over their rough start to the season.

Moment of the night: Dwyane Wade's 1-handed posterization of Anderson Varejao in the 1^st quarter.

Daequan Cook returned to the court after missing five games with a sore shoulder. He started the 2^nd quarter, went 0-for-4 from the field (including two 3-pointers) and then sat out the entire 2^nd half.

Slowly but surely Dorell Wright is earning his minutes. Defensively he has been very sharp, and now he's starting to hit the few shots he takes.

Forgive the short post...I don't do well when feeling under the weather. Tomorrow night its Nets @ Heat, a nice way to bounce back after the tough loss to Cleveland.

Game #8: Cleveland Cavaliers (5-3) vs. Miami Heat (6-1)

DolPhanDave — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:54:42 -0000

D-Wade and LeBron discuss carpooling should James sign with the Heat

Obviously much of the attention surrounding this game will have nothing to do with the actual outcome. In the last week there have been several articles, stories, etc. about the possibility of LeBron James signing with Miami as a free agent, teaming up with Dwyane Wade and forming a team that many are saying would rival the Bulls teams of the 90's.

Just thinking about the possibility of D-Wade, LeBron, Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley, Daequan Cook, (maybe) Quentin Richardson....wow. I'm sure there are plenty of good players who would be happy to play for a little less money if it meant joining a team like that. Look, I'm well aware that it's amazingly early to be thinking about this, and that there is still no guarantee that Wade will be staying. But as you know, I am a firm believer that Dwyane isn't going anywhere and that Pat Riley will be bringing in at least one superstar to play next to him.

After practice on Wednesday, Wade was asked several questions about King James and the possibility of the two playing together. Here is some of what he had to say:

On if he and LeBron have talked about playing together: "It's something that we've talked about, of course. He's one of my good friends and we both decided at the same time to sign the same contract to give ourselves the ability to be able to control our own destinies. You know, if we want to we could team up. If not, we could stay separate and compete against each other for years to come. "

On if he and LeBron can check their egos: "Not too many people can do it. It takes the right individuals to understand that at the end of the day success brings whatever anyone wants, and that's what makes a special team."

On what the odds are that he'll play with Lebron: "It's a long shot but at the end of the day it's still a shot."

Ok, back to the actual game...

Since losing their first two games of the season the Cavs have gone 5-1, but played their best game of the young season last night when they easily beat Orlando on the road. Defense will be a big key to victory for the Heat as Cleveland is 4-0 this year when scoring 100 points. The Heat have given up 100 points just one time this season, it just so happened to be their only loss.

The big defensive assignment of covering LeBron James will likely go to Quentin Richardson, who has proven to be the Heat's best man on man defender this year (other then Udonis of course). Don't be shocked if you see James covering D-Wade on the other end of the floor, as LeBron has become of the games premier defenders...you just don't hear too much about it because of how sick he is in general.

In a slightly less interesting storyline, this will be the second time that Shaq returns to the AAA as an opponent since playing for the Heat. He isn't nearly the force that he once was, and the big guy will be lined up against the Heat's new O'Neal, Jermaine. J-O has been turning up the defensive intensity of late; recording 3 blocks in each of his last two games. Comparing the two, Jermaine is averaging 13.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while Shaq is bringing in 11.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.

Mario Chalmers is coming off of his best two offensive games this season, scoring 16 and 13 on 65% shooting. He also dropped in 7-of-10 from beyond the arc in those two games. Rio will be lined up against Mo Williams, who had been averaging only 12.7 points over his last three games before putting up a season high 28 in Orlando last night. Williams has been very good from three-point range this season (51%), but so has Super Mario (52%). The only difference is that Williams has attempted 14 more treys then Chalmers.

GAME NOTES

Dwyane Wade's 41-point game against the Wizards on Tuesday was his fourth game of 40 points or more against Washington, which tied them with Cleveland for the team(s) that Wade has the most games of 40 or more points against.

Another nice defensive stat...the Heat have forced 41 turnovers in their last two games.

Miami will be going for their best start in franchise history. Never before has a Heat team started a season 7-1.

The Cavs new backup center, Zydrunas Ilgauskas is in the middle of a very rough shooting slump. For a big guy, his outside shooting is what makes him so dangerous, but over his last four games he's shooting only 4-of-28.

Daequan Cook is officially listed as questionable for tonight's game, and it will likely be another game time decision. He dressed for Tuesday's game but never made it on the floor, so obviously he is very close. This early in the season there is no reason to take any chances with Cook, especially with the team playing so well.

Cleveland is the 2^nd best three point shooting team in the league (46.6%) and Miami is the best three point defending team in the league, holding opponents to just 25.7%.

Tipoff is at 8pm for the nationally televised game on TNT.

Dwyane Wade's 41 keep Heat rolling, Miami now 6-1

DolPhanDave — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:49:39 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

Dwyane Wade must REALLY like playing the Wizards. 81 points in two games....nice.

Browse more photos »

Could the game have started any better for Michael Beasley? He opened the scoring with a big dunk, and was very aggressive on both ends of the floor. He had 5 points in the games first four minutes, but still looks a little uneasy when trying to dictate the play on offense. It's nice to see him driving the ball though. We know he has the raw talent; it just has to be fine tuned to dominate in the NBA. He finished with 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Washington used a 12-2 run that spanned through the first and second quarter to go up by 10, but then (finally) starting missing some shots. The Heat took advantage of the Wizards cooling off and went on a 12-3 run that briefly brought them right back into the game. Another Wiz run would put them up by 8 at the half and 11 early in the 3^rd quarter.

After starting only 6-of-16 from the field, D-Wade scored 7 straight points to get the offense going, and the Heat used a 16-3 run to take their first lead since early in the 1^st quarter.

The Heat started the 4^th quarter up by 3 and with a very odd lineup. Anthony, Haslem, Beasley, Wright and Arroyo. Really...? The lead was gone in under two minutes as that lineup missed their first four shots. After that, both teams began scoring at will and there were six lead changes spanning just seven possessions.

With the game tied at 71 half way through the 4^th quarter, this game of runs was going to come down to which team could close with the better one. With Dwyane Wade leading the way, the Heat finished the game on a 19-3 run. Now the Heat are 6-1 for the first time since 1999.

GAME NOTES

At halftime Dwyane Wade told his teammates that losing this game would linger for the rest of the season. The Heat responded by holding the Wizards to only 27 2^nd half points, possibly their best defensive effort of the season.

D-Wade scored 29 points in the second half (2 more then the Wizards), finishing with 41 on 14-of-29 shooting. He also added 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block. For the first time this season, chants of MVP rang down on Dwyane late in the game.

The Wizards starting the game on fire, hitting 6 of their first 7 field goals and finishing the 1^st quarter shooting 69% (11-of-16).

It looked like Daequan Cook was going to make his comeback tonight, and despite dressing for the game, still sat on the bench with his shoulder wrapped up.

Dorell Wright gave the Heat some good minutes defending Gilbert Arenas. You've got to hand it to him....he is utilizing the little time he has and playing well.

Mario Chalmers was another guy who woke up in the 2^nd half, hitting a couple BIG treys. He continues to shoot the ball well while taking limited shots, finishing with 13 points on only 5-of-8 shooting. He hit three 3-pointers, had 5 assists and 4 steals.

Jermaine O'Neal had a rough game, finishing with only 6 points and 6 rebounds. I think the tough night had more to do with Brendan Haywood then anything he may have done wrong.

Quentin Richardson never got into the game offensively, but still had a significant impact on the game. He drew 3 offensive fouls (2 charges, his 6^th and 7^th of the year) and grabbed all 5 of his rebounds in the 3^rd quarter.

In just 15 minutes, Carlos Arroyo had10 points, 4 boards and 2 assists off the bench. Anybody not loving this guy?

Thursday night the AAA is going to be PACKED with LeBron James and his Cavaliers come to town. With the sudden speculation that James could end up in Miami next summer, there should be plenty of attention surrounding this game.