SB Nation User Blog: DolPhanDave

Talking Heat with 790 The Ticket's Jonathan Zaslow

DolPhanDave — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:53:49 -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 07:53:14 -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.

Open Game Thread: Blazers @ Heat

DolPhanDave — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:14:48 -0000

16-12		13-11
	@
American Airlines Arena
Blogging for the enemy: Blazers Edge
Game Time: 6:00pm
TV: Sun Sports HD
Probable starters:
Andre Miller	PG	Carlos Arroyo
Brandon Roy	SG	Dwyane Wade
Martell Webster	SF	Quentin Richardson
LaMarcus Aldridge	PF	Michael Beasley
Joel Pryzbilla	C	Jermaine O`Neal

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

DolPhanDave — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:23:45 -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.

Heat continue to move forward with dominating win over Orlando

DolPhanDave — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:53:35 -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.

Open Game Thread: Magic @ Heat

DolPhanDave — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:30:25 -0000

19-6		12-11
	@
American Airlines Arena
Blogging for the enemy: Orlando Pinstriped Post
Game Time: 8:00pm
TV: TNT HD
Probable starters:
Jason Williams	PG	Carlos Arroyo
Vince Carter	SG	Dwyane Wade
Mickael Pietrus	SF	Yakhouba Diawara
Rashard Lewis	PF	Michael Beasley
Dwight Howard	C	Jermaine O`Neal

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

DolPhanDave — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:19:04 -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.

SBN NBA Power Rankings, Week 7

DolPhanDave — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:12:31 -0000

SBN NBA Power Rankings, Week 7

Surprise, Surprise...the Lakers are still #1. Atlanta has crept back into the top 5 while the Heat drop two more spots to #15.

Check it out and see how our collective rankings stack up against what you think.

Heat get much needed win in convincing fashion, beating Toronto by 20

DolPhanDave — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:14:19 -0000

More photos » by Alan Diaz - AP

If he stays healthy, who knows how high Dorell Wright may rise this season.

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Imagine my shock...I come home, power up the DVR, and what do I see? Not only was Diawara back in the starting lineup, but Carlos Arroyo as well? I guess a lineup shakeup could be expected with the way the Heat have been playing lately, but it seemed that Chalmers in the starting lineup was a foregone conclusion despite his erratic play. Arroyo responded to his first start in a Heat uniform well, hitting his first two shots in the opening minutes of the game.

Miami played a pretty decent 1^st quarter, leading it most of the way...just not the very beginning or the very end. In what's becoming unfortunately normal, D-Wade continues to take outside jumpers and miss them badly. Every year of his career he seemed to improve his J, gradually moving further away from the bucket as his shot got better. This year, however, I feel like he's taken a step backwards. The worst part is that he keeps chucking them up when he is more then capable of driving with the ball and either scoring or dishing the ball off to an open teammate.

Michael Beasley had a great sequence with about four minutes left in the 2^nd quarter. He came down with a real nice block on Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozen, passed it up to D-Wade and ran to the other end just in time to catch and slam a lob pass from Dwyane. That bucket put the Heat up by 9, their largest lead of the game at that point. It was also part of an 11-2 run for Miami.

While it was Toronto that got off to the quick start, shooting 55% in the opening quarter, the Heat closed out the first half just as hot. Miami matched their highest point total for a half, scoring 60 on 54% shooting and took a 10-point lead into the locker room. Michael Beasley led the way for Miami with 18 points (on 6-of-8 shooting) and 8 rebounds.

Chris Bosh came out firing in the 3^rd quarter, scoring the first 11 points for the Raptors. He went 4-for-6 in the entire 1^st half, but was 5-for-5 in the first 3:30 of the 2^nd half. Hedo Turkoglu was the first non-Bosh to score for Toronto, hitting a pair of foul shots 5 minutes into the quarter. Meanwhile, Miami was on a 13-4 scoring run capped off by a rare D-Wade three-pointer, and the Heat held a nice 14-point lead.

It didn't matter much who was in the game for the Heat, as everybody was scoring in the 3^rd quarter. Dorell Wright and Mario Chalmers were joining the scoring party and as a whole, the Heat dropped in another 31 points and took a nice 17-point lead into the final period.

Miami coasted through the 4^th quarter led by Dorell Wright. He is slowly starting to become a consistent contributor in the Heat's offense. Last night he scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, grabbed 8 rebounds and added 3 assists, a block and a steal. Also scoring in the 4^th was Yakhouba Diawara, whose dunk with 2 minutes left accounted for his first points of the season.

I have no idea why this guy has started the last two games, but hopefully this game was the last time we see Diawara get any kind of significant minutes. The Heat have much more talented players on their roster who will do more with the minutes then Kooba. There were a couple occasions during the game where he was the recipient of a nice pass down low, but either dropped the ball or just couldn't finish, reminding me of the ‘stone-hands' of Joel Anthony.

GAME NOTES

Toronto hit their first 14 foul shots, most of which came in the 1^st quarter. While it took Miami a little longer, they also hit their first 14 foul shots and only missed two all night, finishing 20-of-22.
Michael Beasley had 8 rebounds in the 1^st half while Chris Bosh had none. Beasley finished with 11 and Bosh finished with 2.
The turning point of the game was the beginning of the 2^nd quarter. With D-Wade on the bench, Miami hit 6 of their first 7 shots and began building on the lead they'd keep all night.
Dwayne Wade took only one 3-pointer, and hit it! He had made just 3 of his previous 25 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Heat had Michael Beasley taking their technical free throws last night. Why not? He's shooting 85% from the charity stripe this season, by far the best percentage of any Heat regular.
Miami had 19 fast break points (they average 9) and 27 assists (they average 18). I love stats like that, and those were courtesy of ‘the coach' Tony Fiorentino during the Heat's post-game show.
Off the bench Mario Chalmers had 6 points, 8 assists, 2 steals and more importantly 0 turnovers in 27 minutes. After the game Coach Spoelstra said the reason for Rio not starting was that he was late for shootaround, and that ‘the point guard must be the example for the team'.
With the benching, Spoelstra snapped Chalmers' streak of 104 consecutive starts.
Carlos Arroyo did fine in his first start of the year, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting (and 4-of-5 from the foul line), with 3 assists, a rebound and a steal in 21 minutes.

The Heat have very little time to catch their breath because coming in on Thursday night are our interstate rivals from O-Town. We can only hope that the Heat are able to keep up the good play, because I'm sure the Magic will be thinking about the last time these two teams played each other.

Open Game Thread: Raptors @ Heat

DolPhanDave — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:41:52 -0000

11-15		11-11
	@
American Airlines Arena
Blogging for the enemy: Raptors HQ
Game Time: 7:30pm
TV: Sun Sports HD
Probable starters:
Jarrett Jack	PG	Mario Chalmers
DeMar DeRozan	SG	Dwyane Wade
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	James Jones
Chris Bosh	PF	Michael Beasley
Andrea Bargnani	C	Jermaine O`Neal