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...Oh.
U beat me to it
Heat Vs Pacers East Semi-Finals. Good Series Folks, Now Time To Destroy Boston.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by oasis,
- Start date
U beat me to it
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Not at all saying that it's going to disappear. But depending on what happens tonight with the Lakers/Thunder game perhaps some of the media spotlight shifts towards that series. Don't think Spo would be worried about Wade and Lebron handling the pressure but rather those other guys on the team. Anyways...practice today or not, I don't think this is a big deal.
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ha, that's what I was thinking. MVP, Coach of the Year, now Exec of the Year.
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Wow, what a career he's had...Funny there was talk of him being forced out or leaving prior to the season starting...
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Haslem's decline is hurting them just as bad as Bosh's injury. He's normally just as good a shooter as Bosh, comparable/better defensively, and a better rebounder. But he's awful now.
I like that Hawks deal a lot. Horford & Bosh would be great together and Joe Johnson would get to be the #2 option which is a better role for him. And I would get to see Wade 41 times a year.
runningfishy
Banned
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So glad Indianna beat the heaters disgusting to see lebron and wade win.
why was wade angry with john leguizamo?
why was wade angry with john leguizamo?
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solarius49
Banned
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confusing avy to post ratio
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Save this talk for when/if the Heat really do lose. The Pacers have a long way to go. I'm not conspiracy theorist but I would be expecting more games to be called the way Game 1 was called.
Wade's performance was a worse version of the Lebron meltdown in 2010 - the complete lack of care, only with getting in your coach's face added in. Onlly difference was that was a pivotal Game 5 at home for Bron.
Wade's performance was a worse version of the Lebron meltdown in 2010 - the complete lack of care, only with getting in your coach's face added in. Onlly difference was that was a pivotal Game 5 at home for Bron.
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Of course
LeBron in Cleveland all over again?
Spoiler [+]
LeBron James has to be having déjà vu right now.
There he was Thursday night, in a playoff series, trying to carry four overmatched teammates on his back against a deeper, more balanced opponent. There he was, setting up open jumpers that teammates missed, enduring a huge minutes load at both ends and ultimately running out of gas at the end from the burden.
Welcome to Cleveland South, Mr. MVP. Because with Chris Bosh out injured, Dwyane Wade laboring through his own horror show of a series and nothing of substance to back them up, it's once again a LeBron-on-5 playoff series. He's good, but nobody's that good.
The irony, of course, is that he went to Miami so he wouldn't be in this position. The Heat were supposed to have complementary stars like Wade and Bosh to ease his burden, and then splurged on role players like Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony to fill out the roster.
Right now, none of that is working.
The talk is that James' play hasn't been up to his usual standard, but that's inaccurate -- he was amazing in Game 1, nearly as good until the final minute of Game 2 and more ordinary in Game 3. For the series he's averaging 27 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals, taking nearly nine free throw attempts per game … basically, he's been just as dominant as he was in the regular season, aside from a 3-point malaise (1-for-11) that has overtaken the entire team. He missed two free throws at the end of Game 2 and has looked winded late in games from the heavy load on him right now, but otherwise there's little room for complaint.
LeBron also would have twice as many assists if any of his teammates could make a shot. Here's an amazing stat from ESPN's Stats & Info group: The Heat are 3-for-19 on unguarded, catch-and-shoot jumpers this series, including 2-of-12 in Game 3. That's like striking out in batting practice.
So if there's no penalty whatsoever for sending the kitchen sink at LeBron, his task will only get harder in the coming games. James didn't attempt a shot inside 10 feet in the second half of Game 3, the first time all year he went an entire half without one. Credit the Pacers' defense, yes, but one can fairly wonder whether fatigue is mounting.
Or perhaps it's a sore back, so to speak, from carrying his teammates. Wade's baffling awfulness in Game 3 -- part of a widening superstar sickness that has apparently infected Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant as well -- apparently is the result of a lower leg injury that also plagued him late in the regular season. But the weird part is that in between he went back to being the normal Dwyane Wade. He shot 50.6 percent in the team's gentleman's sweep of the Knicks, with the usual supporting Wade stuff -- 18 steals in five games, 30 free throw attempts, etc.
Even in the first two games of this series he wasn't terrible; Wade didn't shoot well from the floor but offset it with 24 free throw attempts in two games; overall he had 53 points on 57 shots (combining free throw trips and field goal attempts), which isn't great normally but was pretty solid given the defensive nature of the series thus far.
But in Game 3? Yikes. Wade shot 2-of-13, took only one attempt at the rim, stopped playing defense and made five turnovers -- having particular trouble with those pesky black lines surrounding the court. He's gone off the rails mentally too, with a cheap shot on Darren Collison in Game 2, a feud with his coach in Game 3 and getting hung up on meaningless side issues (they're celebrating too much!) rather than the main event.
So with Mario Chalmers suddenly his only reliable teammate, and a stout opponent that isn't getting enough credit, LeBron is in a familiar situation. Put a Mo Williams jersey on Chalmers and it might as well be the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston all over again.
It didn't have to be this way, of course, except for a topic that hasn't received enough attention: As great a job as Pat Riley did in getting the three superstars to come together in Miami, he did a rather poor one assembling the rest of the team.
While still basking in the euphoria of netting the Big Three in the summer of 2010, Miami gave a full midlevel exception contract to Miller and nearly as much to Haslem. Haslem gave the Heat one really good series against Chicago in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals; Miller hasn't even done that much. Miami's other monetary splurges were on Chalmers, Shane Battier and Anthony; only Chalmers has paid dividends.
I can't help wondering whether Miami's "grinder" culture has something to do with this as well. The Heat love guys like Anthony, Haslem and Battier who are limited but bust their butts every day, play defense and sacrifice for the team. It's not hard to see why. Nonetheless, they're committing scarce cap dollars to assets and roles that other teams often fill with minimum contracts. This has been a staple of Riley teams in Miami, and he's made almost all of his worst mistakes on this type of player -- most notably with the Brian Grant contract, but also with countless lesser deals like these three.
So they reward Haslem, Battier and Anthony to the tune of $10.5 million in cap money, split nearly equally among the three. Take a look at free agents over the past two years who signed for that kind of money, and you can see the talent divide between what Miami bought and what the money could have gotten them: Shannon Brown, Mike Dunleavy, Vince Carter, Jason Smith, Jordan Farmar, Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea, Tony Allen, Corey Brewer and Matt Barnes, as well as Dorell Wright and Daequan Cook (both of whom they already had on the team!) all signed for similar dough over the past two summers.
Think any of those guys could have helped Miami?
I'm oversimplifying, of course; there were some fairly terrible players who also signed for similar money. On the other hand, you can find better deals signed much more cheaply. Atlanta handed out seven minimum contracts this summer and wound up with a bench that runs circles around Miami's.
The Heat were unlucky, too. Haslem hurt his foot last year, Miller ended up being the wrong choice of shooter (the correct answer, Kyle Korver, went to Chicago), and some potentially helpful players turned them down.
Nonetheless, the Heat had four tries at adding a free agent to provide some real help, and largely struck out. Miami has four players who fill a specific role at the end of the rotation but don't do an iota more. For a second straight postseason they're starting another team's scraps (Mike Bibby a year ago, Ronny Turiaf this year) and scrambling to give their stars enough support.
Only this time they don't have three stars playing at a high level; they have one. Perhaps they'll survive anyway -- sooner or later these open jump shots will fall, and James may have a monster game or two left in him. But with Bosh injured, Wade neutered and the help wanting, The Decision is rapidly turning into The Re-Enactment.
Welcome to Cleveland, Fla., Mr. James. Hope you like the palm trees.
There he was Thursday night, in a playoff series, trying to carry four overmatched teammates on his back against a deeper, more balanced opponent. There he was, setting up open jumpers that teammates missed, enduring a huge minutes load at both ends and ultimately running out of gas at the end from the burden.
Welcome to Cleveland South, Mr. MVP. Because with Chris Bosh out injured, Dwyane Wade laboring through his own horror show of a series and nothing of substance to back them up, it's once again a LeBron-on-5 playoff series. He's good, but nobody's that good.
The irony, of course, is that he went to Miami so he wouldn't be in this position. The Heat were supposed to have complementary stars like Wade and Bosh to ease his burden, and then splurged on role players like Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony to fill out the roster.
Right now, none of that is working.
The talk is that James' play hasn't been up to his usual standard, but that's inaccurate -- he was amazing in Game 1, nearly as good until the final minute of Game 2 and more ordinary in Game 3. For the series he's averaging 27 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals, taking nearly nine free throw attempts per game … basically, he's been just as dominant as he was in the regular season, aside from a 3-point malaise (1-for-11) that has overtaken the entire team. He missed two free throws at the end of Game 2 and has looked winded late in games from the heavy load on him right now, but otherwise there's little room for complaint.
LeBron also would have twice as many assists if any of his teammates could make a shot. Here's an amazing stat from ESPN's Stats & Info group: The Heat are 3-for-19 on unguarded, catch-and-shoot jumpers this series, including 2-of-12 in Game 3. That's like striking out in batting practice.
So if there's no penalty whatsoever for sending the kitchen sink at LeBron, his task will only get harder in the coming games. James didn't attempt a shot inside 10 feet in the second half of Game 3, the first time all year he went an entire half without one. Credit the Pacers' defense, yes, but one can fairly wonder whether fatigue is mounting.
Or perhaps it's a sore back, so to speak, from carrying his teammates. Wade's baffling awfulness in Game 3 -- part of a widening superstar sickness that has apparently infected Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant as well -- apparently is the result of a lower leg injury that also plagued him late in the regular season. But the weird part is that in between he went back to being the normal Dwyane Wade. He shot 50.6 percent in the team's gentleman's sweep of the Knicks, with the usual supporting Wade stuff -- 18 steals in five games, 30 free throw attempts, etc.
Even in the first two games of this series he wasn't terrible; Wade didn't shoot well from the floor but offset it with 24 free throw attempts in two games; overall he had 53 points on 57 shots (combining free throw trips and field goal attempts), which isn't great normally but was pretty solid given the defensive nature of the series thus far.
But in Game 3? Yikes. Wade shot 2-of-13, took only one attempt at the rim, stopped playing defense and made five turnovers -- having particular trouble with those pesky black lines surrounding the court. He's gone off the rails mentally too, with a cheap shot on Darren Collison in Game 2, a feud with his coach in Game 3 and getting hung up on meaningless side issues (they're celebrating too much!) rather than the main event.
So with Mario Chalmers suddenly his only reliable teammate, and a stout opponent that isn't getting enough credit, LeBron is in a familiar situation. Put a Mo Williams jersey on Chalmers and it might as well be the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston all over again.
It didn't have to be this way, of course, except for a topic that hasn't received enough attention: As great a job as Pat Riley did in getting the three superstars to come together in Miami, he did a rather poor one assembling the rest of the team.
While still basking in the euphoria of netting the Big Three in the summer of 2010, Miami gave a full midlevel exception contract to Miller and nearly as much to Haslem. Haslem gave the Heat one really good series against Chicago in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals; Miller hasn't even done that much. Miami's other monetary splurges were on Chalmers, Shane Battier and Anthony; only Chalmers has paid dividends.
I can't help wondering whether Miami's "grinder" culture has something to do with this as well. The Heat love guys like Anthony, Haslem and Battier who are limited but bust their butts every day, play defense and sacrifice for the team. It's not hard to see why. Nonetheless, they're committing scarce cap dollars to assets and roles that other teams often fill with minimum contracts. This has been a staple of Riley teams in Miami, and he's made almost all of his worst mistakes on this type of player -- most notably with the Brian Grant contract, but also with countless lesser deals like these three.
So they reward Haslem, Battier and Anthony to the tune of $10.5 million in cap money, split nearly equally among the three. Take a look at free agents over the past two years who signed for that kind of money, and you can see the talent divide between what Miami bought and what the money could have gotten them: Shannon Brown, Mike Dunleavy, Vince Carter, Jason Smith, Jordan Farmar, Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea, Tony Allen, Corey Brewer and Matt Barnes, as well as Dorell Wright and Daequan Cook (both of whom they already had on the team!) all signed for similar dough over the past two summers.
Think any of those guys could have helped Miami?
I'm oversimplifying, of course; there were some fairly terrible players who also signed for similar money. On the other hand, you can find better deals signed much more cheaply. Atlanta handed out seven minimum contracts this summer and wound up with a bench that runs circles around Miami's.
The Heat were unlucky, too. Haslem hurt his foot last year, Miller ended up being the wrong choice of shooter (the correct answer, Kyle Korver, went to Chicago), and some potentially helpful players turned them down.
Nonetheless, the Heat had four tries at adding a free agent to provide some real help, and largely struck out. Miami has four players who fill a specific role at the end of the rotation but don't do an iota more. For a second straight postseason they're starting another team's scraps (Mike Bibby a year ago, Ronny Turiaf this year) and scrambling to give their stars enough support.
Only this time they don't have three stars playing at a high level; they have one. Perhaps they'll survive anyway -- sooner or later these open jump shots will fall, and James may have a monster game or two left in him. But with Bosh injured, Wade neutered and the help wanting, The Decision is rapidly turning into The Re-Enactment.
Welcome to Cleveland, Fla., Mr. James. Hope you like the palm trees.
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^ I can't help but chuckle everytime I see tan mom in your sig Proshares. damn that $%@#! is fugly...
solarius49
Banned
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After reading that article, I got to thinking how much Luke Ridnour could have helped Miami. I think at some point, you have to take the autonomy of the offense out of the hands of Lebron and Wade. Being that they dont have anybody playing point guard who can run a half court offense, Ridnour would have been GOLD for that team....it would have been Lob City except with much more skilled players and athletes
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Even without bosh I think this team is better than the Cleveland team he took to the finals. This series is far from over though.
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Bron, Wade, Bosh aren't getting traded IF the Heat lose again. They know where the bodies are buried.
runningfishy
Banned
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I never liked LEBRON, and don't think I ever will.
Pacers looking good, but ain't got no veteran leader to calm them down.
Pacers looking good, but ain't got no veteran leader to calm them down.
solarius49
Banned
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David West? Barbosa? I think Granger just wants to go at Lebron's neck regardless....dude wont be happy until one of them snuffs the other
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All I know is..
Lebron better not let these weak Pacers knock em out.
Jordan only had Pippen for the most part..
Lebron got Wade. No excuses. Unless Wade is really hurt.
And to you Indiana fans.. You guys shouldnt even be hyped.
Series aint over. Especially with that simp Grainger guarding Lebron.
Lebron better not let these weak Pacers knock em out.
Jordan only had Pippen for the most part..
Lebron got Wade. No excuses. Unless Wade is really hurt.
And to you Indiana fans.. You guys shouldnt even be hyped.
Series aint over. Especially with that simp Grainger guarding Lebron.
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except both of those guys were in love with Lebron until he left and their passion turned into the ire of a scorned woman.. you should have said Deshawn StevensonOriginally Posted by Peep Game
Ok Mo Williams or Dan Gilbert.
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Originally Posted by CreekShow
All of you saying The Pacers? Youre gonna lose to the Pacers? How quickly you all forget that they had the 5th best record in the NBA. This isnt the same squad you have been used to the last 5 years.
I love the way they are playing. Amazing how well this team works together. I will say 1 thing tho, Danny needs to CALM DOWN. Cant be costing the team pts bc you wanna punk Lebron.
I have to disagree with the bold part. If "costing the team points means" 4-5 points (tech, flagrant and a solid foul or two) then that's exactly what he needs to do to keep LeBron in check. Charge it to the game. Granger literally needs to do everything but get rejected. Study film of The Worm and bury this dude mentally. He has LeBron on the ropes. LeBron knows this doesn't work without Bosh, and even if it could, Wade is done for. So this could go one of two ways: 1.) Granger leads the way in helping the Pacers keep their edge or 2.) He lets LeBron wake up and make this series a lot harder than necessary. Kick the man while he is down and send his wife some roses.
As for the Pacers' lack of popularity, they don't have the sexy setup that ESPN wants to push. They have the names they read to make the meter arm swing right and none of those names are on the Pacers. It's good to see conflicts like this though. It shows that the sport still has some integrity to it. I think we are about to return back to a time where the NBA has more parity and less artificially boosted superstardom.
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Does anyone think this series is rigged? We know the NBA makes more $ the longer the playoffs last. Maybe Stern wants a game 7 wherever possible.
solarius49
Banned
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So the team with the 5th best record in the NBA is weak huh?
And Granger a simp? You must not have been watching the series, bc right now he owns Lebron's soul
