6 Thoughts
1) Ground out at home by a taller, deeper team. Miami jumped out to an early 11-0 lead, but that was as good as it got. As often happens when they play a long team like Atlanta, got killed on the boards (53-37), and at the line (32 free throws to 10). Atlanta did a great job on Wade, making his catches tough, and bringing long help while still playing passing lanes. Limited him to 21 on 9-24 shooting. The only Heat with spring in his step was Emcee Chalmers, and he was limited to 28 minutes with foul trouble.
2) Mike Beasley missed the game with the flu. Play-by-play man Eric Reid pointed out Beasley "had symptoms so bad that he missed shootaround this morning!" Hypothetically, after a night spent at, say, Bed, on South Beach, what symptoms would Mike Beasley have to have to determine that he couldn't make it to practice the next morning? A sneeze? A runny nose? He was hungry? It was a Friday? At least the Heat copped to him having the flu. It is one of Mrs. Minutos' pet peeves when a player misses a game with "flu-like symptoms." Teams are very reluctant to label illnesses the actual flu -Hey, we're the Miami Heat, not the Mayo Clinic...
3) Jamal Magloire has shaved his beard. He looks more Canadian than ever, not that there is anything wrong with that. Also, a very eventful 13 minutes tonight in which he: got a dunk after shouldering Zaza Pachulia 10 feet backwards; went a loud 1-4 from the free throw line; horsecollared the aforementioned Pachulia on his way to basket, a borderline flagrant foul which was not called, then pushed him after the play for a borderline technical foul which was called; and, became hopelessly entangled with a member of the Hawks under one basket or the other approximately 40 times. Also, grabbed not one, but two rebounds one-handed! Not like he went up, swooped the ball, and cradled it to his body - he actually reached up, grabbed the ball with one hand, and just held it there, like you or I would hold a tennis ball. Quite a night for the Big Cat.
4) Quiet night for Shawn Marion - 10 points and 4 rebounds. He has actually played quite well the last couple of weeks. He has rebounded and defended very well, and has made some shots. Assuming he doesn't get traded for an asset, the Heat have only two chances to improve their roster a little bit. Tonight, a game where Wade was only human, demonstrated why they need to do that. They have to have ways to be competitive even when he is not at his absolute best...Both Dorell Wright and James Jones could be back at some point over the next month from injuries. James Jones is a professional NBA shooter, and a competent defender, and long enough to grab a rebound. Dorell Wright is an athletic 6'9" wing who is a legitimate NBA rebounder. It isn't so much that either is a dynamic NBA game changer. But both are upgrades at the Heat wing off the bench. Thunder Yak Diawara has had his moments, but the reality is he would be behind both of those guys in the rotation for the minutes that he has played. And Jones, especially, will jeopardize Daequan Cook's minutes. Daequan just has not shot the ball well enough to merit rotation minutes. A lot of it is still his shot selection - but at a certain point when a guy is making only 35% from the floor, it would be nice to have another option. He shoots 3s at the same rate, but his inability to make other plays is limiting him. Although his defense has been good, Dorell Wright is also a strong defender. Are either of those two guys going to win a game like tonight? No. But they are an upgrade, perhaps, nearing on the horizon.
5) Noticed an ugly 0-13 from Vince Carter tonight in New Jersey's loss at home to Toronto. Haven't seen the Nets play much, but they are off to a pleasantly surprising 11-10 start (although not surprising to the Plumber, who, if I recall correctly, predicted an 82-0 season for the 12th straight year - or, rather, surprising to him in that they haven't won more). However, they have one of the oddest home-road splits in the league. They have been competitive and tough on the road, going 7-3, but are only 4-7 at home, and seem to get blown out there far more than a .500 team should - tonight's loss by 22 to a below .500 Toronto team which only can seem to beat Miami isn't the first time that has happened to NJ. Always something strange going on up there in the Swamp.
6) Finally, a Dos Minutos favorite, Syracuse University guard Eric Devendorf, has been accused of hitting a woman in the face: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3760958. No, it isn't the best thing to do, but as Syracuse native The Captain points out, "How do we know she didn't have it coming?" Good point - we don't. Not yet. We have to let due process take its course here before we can definitively assume that. One thing we do know at this point: if hitting a woman in the face were grounds for some kind of limited participation in general society, we probably wouldn't even have James Bond, there would have been no Extraordinary League of Gentlemen, and The Untouchables would have featured even more Kevin Costner than it already did, which, by the way, is far more than anybody ever wanted...
