The Official 2010-11 Miami Heat Thread
Options
Comments
-
Nolan Smith is a good defender. Great all around player. Only knock on his game is they said he's an undersized SG and he's not "explosive" enough to be a PG. But on this team he wont be looked at to carry us. He's a better all around player than Chalmers and doesnt turn the ball over.bless the child wrote: »Does Nolan Smith play D? At 6'4 he would give Miami a big lineup out there on the perimeter. -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/27/2237646/miami-heats-dwyane-wade-gets-defensive.htmlHeat notebook
Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade gets defensive first
CHICAGO -- Dwyane Wade’s commitment to defense in Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference finals subtracted from his offense. The Heat’s star guard said Thursday morning that he’s fine with reduced offensive production if it results in wins.
Wade acknowledged before Game 5 that the energy he has expended on the defensive end has taken something from his offense. He was held scoreless in the second half of Game 4 and entered overtime period with just eight points. In Game 3, Wade had 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting.
“When you play so hard on the defensive end, sometimes you get on the offensive end and you’re not saving yourself,” Wade said. “You’re trying to go all out.”
To a man, the Heat credited its turnaround in the Eastern Conference finals to a strong commitment to defense. Much of that credit goes to Wade, who helped limit Bulls guard and MVP Derrick Rose in Games 2, 3 and 4. Wade’s block against Rose in the final minute of overtime during Game 4 sealed the Heat’s win and its 3-1 series advantage.
“It’s defense first, and when I don’t do things on the defensive end, coach will say something to me first about that end,” Wade said. “He never really says anything to me about the offensive end. It’s mostly on the defensive end, so it’s a different challenge, and I enjoy it.”
Wade said his commitment to defense has grown throughout his career. On Thursday, he said he took plays off defensively when he was younger and paired with veteran defenders.
“When I was younger, I had the luxury of saving myself a lot,” Wade said. “I had Gary Payton; I had Shannon Anderson; I had James Posey — I had those guys who came in the game and told me just to go chill out and guard someone who wasn’t an offensive threat. So, I had the opportunity to just focus on that end of the floor.”
Wade said defense was the focus this summer when the Heat’s roster was assembled and now that vision is being realized in the postseason. On Thursday, he ran off the individual defensive attributes of himself, James, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers like a general manager or a strategist breaking down a game plan. Wade’s role is wing defender, which demands maximum effort.
“Now, I’m focusing on this end of the floor more, trying to be assertive, be a better defender,” Wade said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/27/2237688/dwyane-wade-rises-to-occasion.htmlDwyane Wade rises to occasion, helps lead Heat’s stunning rally
By Bob Hurst
Special to The Miami Herald
CHICAGO -- If Chicago-area native Dwyane Wade wanted anything more, it would be to knock out the team that he grew up cheering for in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Heat did not necessarily need Wade to have a big game to reach its first NBA Finals since 2006, but it wouldn’t have hurt.
After a sluggish overall game, it was Wade who ended up igniting an 18-3 finish, as the Heat prevailed 83-80.
Miami now returns to the Finals, and Wade got his wish.
Wade said before Game 5 that the Heat was just as desperate as the Bulls, and needed to play like it. And although he started out well with seven points in the first quarter, Wade looked more like he might have been waiting to get back to Miami for Game 6 with a chance to clinch at home.
“We’re desperate, too,” Wade said. “We didn’t work this hard to put ourself in this position, to be up 3-1, to not be able to match their energy and effort.”
Wade made a basket along with 5 of 6 free-throw attempts in the opening quarter, but his play fizzled from there. He scored just two points in each of the next two quarters. Wade was 1 for 5 from the field in the middle periods, as the Heat trailed the Bulls 45-38 at halftime and 62-57 after three.
There was a missed three-point attempt by Wade in the third that would have gotten the Heat within two. After he drove the lane for a layup, making it 50-44 Chicago, Wade missed two more shots before picking up his third foul.
Wade’s biggest problem wasn’t his scoring though. He committed four turnovers in the second quarter and three more in the third for a total of nine going into the final period. He came into the game with 11 turnovers in the playoffs, all in the first four games of the series.
In the second quarter, Wade had a ball stolen, traveled twice and threw the ball away on a bad pass. The third quarter wasn’t much better, as Wade continued his sloppy passing, turning the ball over two more times on errant feeds.
But nobody can ever count Wade out. That desperation he was talking about going into Game 5 showed up in the fourth quarter.
Despite playing with four fouls, Wade turned it up a notch.
He made a running bank shot to trim the Bulls’ lead to 77-67 with 3:03 left in the game. Then he stole the ball and scored on a driving layup to trim the deficit to eight.
Wade followed that with a three-pointer from 27 feet, getting fouled in the process by Derrick Rose. He made the free throw, and all of a sudden the Heat was back in it, down by just three at 79-76 with 1:30 remaining in regulation. Wade then deferred to LeBron James, who sealed the victory by scoring the next five points.
“I had moments where I was struggling, and it’s not the first time in my life I was struggling. Obviously, I wanted to do it [Thursday night], I wanted to play great, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me to do that. Sitting on the bench and watching what our team did, coming into the fourth quarter and being down five points … so when I got back into the game, my mind was free. I’m a person who believes that other people give you confidence, and when LeBron threw me back the ball, I was like, I have to make something happen.”
Wade had a few blemishes Thursday night, but he still finished with 21 points, with 10 of those coming in the decisive fourth quarter.
“He’s got something different, a different makeup inside of him that he’s able to rise to the occasion regardless of what’s happening during the course of the game. And he’s proven that so many times,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/27/2237686/miami-heat-in-nba-finals.htmlJust like that, Miami Heat in the NBA Finals
By Israel Gutierrez
igutierrez@miamiherald.com
CHICAGO -- It’s almost as if they needed another test, something that they hadn’t been through all season, something to remind them just how talented and potentially unstoppable they really are.
Something that will be remembered forever, like that full-court ally-oop in Indiana. Except in the playoffs. Except way more dramatic. Except with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.
There was every reason to believe the Heat was playing Game 5 with the knowledge that this was just one of three close-out games, not the “must-win” that LeBron James claimed it was after the Heat took a 3-1 series lead Tuesday.
And then it happened.
The most dizzying display of shut-your-mouth the NBA has seen in some time.
The most incredible outside-shooting display from players whose strength is well inside the three-point line.
The most remarkable and sudden three-minute turnaround the league has seen in some time, if not ever. Possibly as stunning as Reggie Miller scoring eight points in 11 seconds to shock the Knicks in 1995.
Nothing, except for maybe James’ recent clutch-shooting displays, made you believe the Heat could pull off this 83-80 comeback victory after trailing by 12 with 3:14 remaining.
Nothing. Until, of course, it started happening.
Before those final three minutes, the Heat played mostly like the team that showed up in Game 1, getting battered on the boards and playing mediocre defense as it watched Bulls players hit open shot after open shot, and even a few demoralizing contested shots.
And as if it wasn’t bad enough that the intangibles were apparently absent from the Heat, there was the Dwyane Wade factor.
Usually, the words “Dwyane Wade factor” mean good news for the Heat. This time, though, it was just the opposite. He had been getting progressively worse through this series, showing only brief moments of his usual self. And he showed off his absolute worst through three-plus quarters in Game 5. Nine turnovers, indecisiveness, bricks galore.
And then, just like that, none of that mattered.
Just like that, it was “bring on the Mavs.”
Just like that, a flurry of threes and long jumpers and Bulls mistakes, and the Heat is on its way to the Finals. Again. Somehow.
How did that happen?
Three words: Wade and LeBron.
It started something like this: Wade eight-footer, Wade layup, LeBron three-pointer, timeout Bulls.
At that point, the Heat looked like it was just scaring Chicago. The Bulls did, after all, still have a seven-point lead with two minutes remaining and the league MVP in charge.
But then it continued.
This one stretch might have been even more jaw-dropping. And it went like this:
Derrick Rose eight-footer, Wade four-point play.
Stop on that one for a second.
Wade four-point play.
Wade had been atrocious almost the entire game, to the point where everyone assumed he was injured.
And get this, Wade had not hit a three-pointer in this series until that moment. He had been 0 for 4.
Maybe it took the nudge on the arm from Rose to guide it in, but it went in. And so did the free throw. And, suddenly, the Bulls were more than scared. They were as terrified as their home crowd because the Heat was just three points back, 79-76.
From the bench, there wasn’t any timidity. There wasn’t any, “Let’s not get too excited.” They were all in.
“I was chest-bumping the [heck] out of everyone over there,” Mike Bibby said.
It’s like he knew it would continue like this:
Rose miss, LeBron three-pointer. Again.
Another three-pointer despite the fact there was a minute left and you would think the Heat would settle for a two to cut its deficit to a point.
Nope. Not LeBron. Not on this night.
Tie score. United Center, somehow, quieter than silent, except for those fans ? with disappointment wondering, “What the …?” aloud.
Then the final moments went like this: LeBron long jumper to take the lead, Rose misses 1 of 2 free throws (seen that before), Chris Bosh hits two to extend the lead to three. Then crazy, suffocating, wouldn’t-score-if-they-played-10-more-minutes Heat defense seals the deal.
Wade was so bad in this game, after two subpar games in Miami, that everyone was assuming he was hurt.
And then, somehow, he did that. Crazy thing about slumps. When you’re as good as Wade, they turn around in the blink of an eye.
LeBron had not hit a jumper, it felt like, since the opening quarter.
And then, all of a sudden, he did that. James, though, had done enough of that in these playoffs to almost expect it at some point. But at that point?
All you could say was “Wow!”
And thanks to “Wow!” the Heat is back in the Finals.
It might take you three times watching this one again to figure out how it happened. It might take you a day or two to even think about the Mavericks because that ending is worth about two days of savoring.
But you got it. The Heat is in the Finals again, ready to take on the Mavs again.
If you’re looking for an edge, there is this: The Heat already had the more impressive come-from-behind victory on the road in the conference finals.
Dallas made up 15 points in five minutes against the Thunder. The Heat made up 12 in 3:14 against the Bulls.
Advantage Heat.
And with Wade and LeBron wearing the jersey, isn’t it always advantage Heat? -
Lebatard just now,
You had the black Sammy Sosa, we got the white Sammy Sosa
Dead -
Lebatard just now,
You had the black Sammy Sosa, we got the white Sammy Sosa
Dead
lmao........ -
Tommy bilfiger wrote: »Congrats to the heat a lot of haters(including me) got silenced
Ima "new" heat fan but this is real sportsmanship. Respect. -
LMAO!!! This board is going nuts with the Bron haters....they salty as hell!! LOL I LOVE IT!!
-
im hearing that james jones might play in the finals
-
LMAO!!! This board is going nuts with the Bron haters....they salty as hell!! LOL I LOVE IT!!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -
yea miami needs to sign this ? this summer
-
Tommy bilfiger wrote: »Yup
Let the heat win the title and lebron get that finals mvp ? will be on building ledges
+ the fact kobe got SWEPT and failed this year.? would be the GOAT
? will be watching the finals like this
Hoping and praying they lose
Swear on everything I hold dear I have never seen this man Mavs fans either. Errybody keeps going off on the Heat bandwagoners (understandably)...but keep it real...its like the entire laker fan base has shifted to the Mavs just to make it look like they got swept by the Dream team or something. -
Tommy bilfiger wrote: »Congrats to the heat a lot of haters(including me) got silenced
Good sportsmanship tommy -
Swear on everything I hold dear I have never seen this man Mavs fans either. Errybody keeps going off on the Heat bandwagoners (understandably)...but keep it real...its like the entire laker fan base has shifted to the Mavs just to make it look like they got swept by the Dream team or something.
congrats to lebron... real ? . since dallas sonned my boys so bad i hope yall show them ? the exit
-1.
i dont root for teams that beat mine. ? the mavericks i hope miami win in 5 -
im hearing that james jones might play in the finals
That's great, we gonna need him.
Spo need to rotate the roster and use Eddie House, Big Z and Eric Dampier.
Especially Dampier, he was on Dallas when they lost to Miami in 2006, he knows Dirk well and they could use him to guard him on some positions.
Jamaal Magloire and Juwan Howard should gets some looks too, especially Juwan Howard he has never been to The NBA Finals and I think he deserves to play. -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/28/2239335/miami-heat-has-sacrificed-much.html
...................Miami Heat has sacrificed much to reach NBA Finals
BY DAN LE BATARD
dlebatard@MiamiHerald.com
Cut through the noise and nonsense. Go to the core of what we are actually watching here. Don’t let your clarity get clouded by the color you paint your face. Don’t let anger clog your filter. Just make these players faceless. Take the names off the uniforms.
And let’s start with the starters:
The point guard has been in the league for more than a decade. His body is kind of broken. He has played nearly 100 playoff games, not one of them in the NBA Finals. On his last legs, he wants a championship. How much is it worth to him? At least $6.2 million. That’s how much he gave up. All he had to do next season was show up for work in Washington. That money is now gone forever, though. He can’t and won’t get it back next year, his body not quite as healthy as his desire. So, clearly, he plays now for the kind of riches not measured in dollars. But here’s the shocking part: Many of his teammates, plural, have given up more money than him.
The center is a self-made stoic who works so hard that his boss has had to kick him out of the gym and tell security not to let him back in. And he has snuck back in anyway. He is a very quiet overachiever. Never talks trash. You won’t see a change of expression from him, or any kind of outburst, not even when he blocks five shots in a playoff game. All the little things basketball millionaires don’t like to do? That’s the entirety of his job. It would be hard for him to be a more model teammate. His current coach once told others that he simply wasn’t NBA material. But he proved him wrong with work, not words. He won’t tell you how much he cares. No, he will show you.
The power forward is unusually introspective and honest. You don’t get that combination much in this testosterone-soaked world, bravado often a mask for the vulnerable. This gets him called soft, even though the soft don’t survive in this jungle, never mind average 19 and 8. After a playoff victory in which he scored 34 points, he revealed that he didn’t know he had a big ego until he got here and had to start sacrificing shots, glory, money. When do you ever hear that? This was after he admitted that the first playoff game in Boston rattled his emotional equilibrium. When do ever hear that? He will never again be The Man on his team, but he does endure a disproportionate amount of the criticism when things go wrong. He’s OK with that. He explains in his way that you never know how hard sacrifices really are until you are actually making them.
The shooting guard is unusually humble for a superstar. Professional, too, always. He has this way of treating arena security, staff and workers with gentle grace. His teammates take his lead. They follow him, out of respect. He goes to the gym late, late at night to work on his shot alone, after all these years. It is odd to say, but the two-time MVP of the league looks up to him. They have a little-brother-big-brother relationship and are genuine friends. Pressed, the shooting guard says awkwardly in this testosterone-soaked world that, yes, they love each other. The Heat was banking on this respect to reform any bad habits a big ego might have picked up in Cleveland. And, following big brother’s lead, it is worth noting that, despite the storm around them, neither of them has failed to live up to a media responsibility this entire noisy season.
But the two-time MVP is the problem, of course. He did a TV show that still echoes all these months later. It felt soaked in ego, hubris, bad advice and lack of self-awareness. Still, the sacrifices he made to win are real and large. His good name and image, for one. And then there’s this: He’s making $19 million less than Joe Johnson. He made these sacrifices to admit he needed help — something a frustrated Derrick Rose now sees clearly as he finally gets past little brother and finds big brother waiting for him at the rim. An hour of TV has overwhelmed the choice he made, but it isn’t irrelevant that the very worst thing this team has done all season resulted in a multi-million-dollar donation to a boys and girls club in Connecticut.
And how about the best players off the bench? How much do they care? The power forward is a hometown guy who has only sacrificed $24 million to remain in Miami. He is always thanking Pat Riley, publicly and privately, for believing in him when no one else did, and he repays this with a gratitude you see in elbows, floor burns and a rushed return from injury. By his side is the shooter who can’t really shoot because his thumbs don’t work. He will need surgery after the season. He should have had it already, actually, but he declined because this is how his playoff résumé looks after a decade in the league:
• 2000-2001: Four games.
• 2001-2002: Four games.
• 2003-2004: Four games.
• 2004-2005: Four games.
• 2005-2006: Four games.
And none since.
So he took less money to be here, and he keeps diving all over the floor with thumbs that don’t work, and he flies to Chicago despite having a sick infant in the hospital, because of how much he cares about winning. It doesn’t sound like there is much of anything that’ll keep him from appreciating every moment in the 12 playoff games he already has played this year with those thumbs that don’t work.
Put this team in an Olympic uniform, and our country would wrap itself in the flag and root for this group with uncommon zeal.
Alas, the word “Miami” is stretched across the jersey. So, instead, America will now root for the German guy. -
which Sac Town alumn will finally get the ring they deserved in 02
Bibby or Peja!!!!!! -
Lebatard just now,
You had the black Sammy Sosa, we got the white Sammy Sosa
Dead
smh @ ric puker saying d.rose is better than bron... -
Lets go Bron and Wade......Let da haters hate...
-
stringer bell wrote: »
smh @ ric puker saying d.rose is better than bron...
LOL @ him saying "That's The Sound That All Of Charles Barkley's Rings Makes When He Throws Them Together On A Table" LMAO! -
Yall better win now. Dont waste thz opportunity cuz Okc got thz next season
-
good game by the heat... rio played really well and hit some big shots.. bron did a good job facilitating.. and d-wade was great for second game in the row.. dwade also did great closing the game down the stretch in the 4th...
-
2 more to go!
-
Good game i still dont like how we let off the gas during the game but we did beat the refs and the Mavs tonight
-
Miami showed you how to win, when you got the refs robbin you.
Big 3 all did their thing.
2 more. -
thatni99ajahmal wrote: »Good game i still dont like how we let off the gas during the game but we did beat the refs and the Mavs tonight
U ain't lying Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler been at the foul line more then Wade and Bron.
Dirk gets all those foul calls at the last 2 or 3 minutes, ? is crazy, they know he never really misses that's how Dallas is able to get back into the game to make it close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnSE4-eqlg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOYSmufqtbg
This discussion has been closed.