6 Thoughts
1) Okay, it's late, it is a busy day at the Dos Minutos' offices tomorrow, followed by another late night of research and basketball - let's set a game plan. Points 1-4: quick recap of game. Point 5: weather review. Point 6: in honor of this past weekend's Golden Globe awards, a quick Hollywood-themed story...Heat trailed by 5 all night in Minnesota, got over the hump with one final push at the end. Wade - of course, 31 on only 15 shots, to go with the usual 8 dimes, 3 blocks and 3 steals. But also, Mike Beasley - doing it all over the 4th quarter for the third straight game, including a couple of huge late rebounds in traffic. Not a bad win to get to 20-17 -- T-Wolves had actually won 5 straight. The Heat need every win they can get - the pack (Sixers, Bucks, Nets) is closing in on them from behind, and the schedule ahead is brutal.
2) Finally a night where Miami owned the paint. Even rebounding numbers overall, but Haslem and Marion both registered physical double-doubles, and The Beas had 14 and 7 in 23 minutes off the bench. Miami shot 38 free throws to 13 by Minnesota. Miami has been on the other end of that equation all year - it took them 37 games, but they finally found a team that defends the rim worse than they do. Al Jefferson and Kevin Love aren't exactly Bill Russell and Dikembe Mutombo back there.
3) It was one of Bad Santa Marion's best games of the year. 16 points, 11 rebounds, a couple of steals, a couple of blocks, moved well without the ball, made two late free throws in a key spot. Gave an absolutely unintelligible post-game, on-court interview to Heat sideline reporter Jason Jackson (or, as he likes to be known: "Jax!" My friends, never give yourself a nickname...). Marion tends to talk super fast, has a bit of a drawl, odd word choice, and, often, unfocused trains of thought - all of which make it hard to understand him. In fact, the only time all year where it was absolutely clear what he was saying was on Christmas when he yelled at the kid to "open the gift now!" during his charitable travels. Why do I have a feeling there is one 5 year old down in Homestead who is scared to death of who might visit him next week on Martin Luther King Day?
4) Midway through the first quarter play-by-play dude Eric Reid told the viewers that if anyone was wondering why he and sidekick Tony "Foul to Give" Fiorentino were not wearing their championship rings, he didn't want them to be alarmed - there was a good reason. Apparently, Tony's ring needed repairs, so he sent it back to South Florida for some work. In the meantime, Eric, out of solidarity to Tony, will not wear his ring until the road trip is over, they get back to Miami, and Tony gets his repaired ring. Wasn't there actually a scene in Titanic where Jack vows not to wear his championship ring until all his dude friends get back to shore safely? My goodness gracious - I don't even think "bromance" covers it.
5) Okay - weather report. Eric Reid reported that it was -7 in Minnesota, then pointed out the weather had kept most of the fans away from the game. That, and Timberwolves General Manager/Coach Kevin McHale's record of horrific drafting, short-sighted trades, and violation of the collective bargaining agreement for which the league penalized them several first round picks (even stupider - a violation proved by the existence of a written "secret" document). The Heat go to Milwaukee tomorrow where the weather promises to be similarly brutal, and the Bucks haven't made a significant playoff run in approximately whatever number comes after "infinity" years...
6) And finally, I remember as clear as day the first time I ever met Sean Penn. I was in high school, out with my friends late at night at a McDonalds after an evening of beer, and striking out with high school girls. Penn walks in all by himself, leather coat, collar pulled up - it wasn't long after Christmas, kind of the same time of year we are in right now. He had blown up with Fast Times a couple of years earlier but the big news of the moment was that he had just started seeing Madonna. It is easy to forget that they were married. We are standing in line, he's standing in line next to us. Something had to be said - finally my friend Belly goes, "Dude, if I were you I would totally be all over Phoebe Cates. I mean, Madonna is cute, but Phoebe Cates is ridiculous!" And Penn measures us, kind of looks us over, assesses us, and tells all of us, not just Belly, "you may think Phoebe Cates is hot now, but she is going to get all mom-ish, trust me." And there is a long pause while we all consider that, and then he goes, "it's a fuckin' shame," and then he walks out, doesn't even order, like he had done what he came there to do. Fuckin' cool. In any case, I don't know what the hell ever happened to the guy, where he has been all these years, but there he was in the Golden Globes the other night playing some Milk activist dude from the 70s - that's a long fall from Fast Times, boy. I'll tell you one thing, though - the guy was fairly spot on about Phoebe Cates. She is still a handsome woman, but that pool scene in Fast Times was something. We're likely never to see the likes of that again...
